ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Phoenix is a financial service company that has its headquarters in Arizona but operates in the national market of the United States. The active online operations of this firm mean that it cannot afford regular failures within its IT system. It must have an effective system of measurement that will help it to measure its performance in the market (Anderson and Goodman 59). The system must be easy to use and it must take into consideration the uniqueness of this firm in the market. As a consultant, the researcher will develop a plan that can be used by the management to judge the operation of the teams within the IT department in a discrete way to ensure that the functions are conducted as per the expectations of the management. System of Measurement at Phoenix’s IT Department According to Daim and Albar, when developing a system of measurement, it is important to be very specific (43). Measurement systems or plans must focus on a given area within the department instead of looking at the broad operations of the firm. At Phoenix, the department of interest was the IT unit. It is important to note that this is a unique and very sensitive department that needs primary measurement plans. The first plan can focus on the employee’s output within the department while the other will focus on the output of the structures such as the servers, networks, computers, and any other tool used in the department (Dwivedi 52). In this analysis, the plan will focus on a system of measurement for the employees within this department. The assessment plan will try to determine how efficient the employees are in using the current system before the management can consider how to upgrade the infrastructure. It is only after using this plan that the Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be able to make informed proposals on what needs to be improved during the planned upgrade. The following model is a summary of the proposed system of measurement that will be used by the IT department to measure the performance of the employees and to identify issues that need to be addressed to improve this performance. Figure 1: Proposed Performance Measurement Plan. As shown in the figure above, there will be a systematic measurement of performance that will be done at this firm, and the chief operating officer will be able to monitor it easily at the firm’s headquarters. In the proposed system, there will be three subcategories of the performance assessment that will take place. To understand this system, it will be necessary to start at the lowest end. The firm currently has 17,846 investors being served in 13 branches and also at the firm’s headquarters. These investors a
Introduction My transformational project involved two photos of a toothpaste tube. I took a photo of the toothpaste tube immediately after it was taken from the shop before it was used. I took time to see how the tube transformed its shape from the original one when it was bought, to a final irregular shape when all the paste had been forced out of it. Using Nikon camera, it was amazing to see how the tube was deformed with every squeeze made on it by those who were using it to get the toothpaste. Although the involved parties never realized that their actions were transforming the tube, it was evident that they were keen to try to retain the original shape of the tube. They knew that the more the tube got deformed, the sooner they will be forced back to the shop. Thesis Statement I think that the transformation of the tube tells more about the character of its users. It reveals something about their mindset because I feel this is not the form that the tube was to assume finally. It seems that transformation emphasized the diversity of humanity. Discussion As mentioned in the introduction, this study involved analyzing the transformation of a toothpaste tube as it was used immediately after being bought. This work is like taking a short journey from a city to a remote rural setting. It reminds me of the changes that take place as one moves out of the city with all the amenities, he or she will be amazed at the great change that takes place as he or she moves to the remote setting of the rural set-up. The tube below was taken immediately after the toothpaste was taken from the shop. It had an asymmetrical shape, and in my opinion, it looked very attractive at this stage. However, this was not to stay long after it was put into use by members of the family. The photograph above shows that the tube still has its original shape that I consider attractive. This is a sharp contrast when it is compared to the photograph that is shown below. It would be interesting to understand the journey that the tube took from the above regular shape to the shape we have below. Everyone who used it had to squeeze it, and with every squeeze, the shape would be lost. The attractive shape of the tube disappeared consistently with every touch of a human hand. It was experiencing what most art-works always experience, the wear and tear. It is what happens
How Technology Is Destroying Jobs   * Scope: The scope of the article is to analyze and overview the connection between productivity and employment figures in the US.   * Method: The method used by the researcher/author is nationwide calculation and combination of data from unemployment indexes, the number of robots sold, and household income.   * Context: The worldwide automation has brought a polarization of the workforce, which leads to the decline of the middle class.   * Findings: The hourly wage graph illustrates that workers with average skill percentile are at the highest risk of job loss, whereas high skill percentile occupations are experiencing the fastest growth.   * Conclusions: There are two conflicting elements, which are productivity and employment. The nation’s struggle to raise productivity levels causes painful side effects for people with less skill percentile jobs. Robots at Work   * Scope: The scope of the article is to analyze the automation’s effect on the economy through statistical tools.   * Method: The data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) in combination with a survey conducted by Sky News, which is a British TV station. Two factors were considered, which are replaceability, and reaching and handling.   * Context: Technological advancement is an essential part of the economy; therefore, its rapid growth causes substantial consequences, such as removal of sophisticated industry-related jobs.   * Findings: The robot market is experiencing a price decline due to the improved production rate, which leads to an increased replacement of people by technology.   * Conclusions: The fear of unemployment among people possesses substantial evidence because robots are becoming cheaper workforce per hour. Technological unemployment: Educating for the fourth indust
The given passage analogizes Gumball candies and SuperBall toys and contains an argument. The issue is whether the Gumball candies can be sold to small children. The conclusion is that candies cannot be marketed to children. The premise is that the Gumball candies are similar to SuperBall toys (Jackson and Newberry 240). The passage contains a sub-argument. The intermediate conclusion is that the Gumball candies are similar to SuperBall toys. The first premise is that the toys and the candies can choke children. The second premise is that both the toys and the candies are small and round. This is an inductive analogical argument. The source of the analogy is SuperBall toys. The target of the analogy is Gumball candies. The feature is the likeness that is present between the two. The author presents one analogy. There are two similarities mentioned (small size together with round shape and the choking qualities of both the toys and the candies), which provides a supporting point for the analogy. Both similarities are relevant to the feature of the likeness of the Gumballs and SuperBalls. A point of weakness that this argument has is that the similarities do not show much difference from each other: size and shape are considered but other qualities are overlooked. Also, the conclusion that the author makes is quite too strong: it could be weakened by a supposition that the candies could be marketed with precautions (i.e., simply carrying a warning on them), but the author claims that the marketing should be prohibited whatsoever, which, in turn, weakens the argument. Another problem with the argument is that there is a false analogy between the toys and the candies. Candies are food, and toys are not edible; the author has overlooked this primary fallacy. Also, Gumball candies are designed to be put in one’s mouth, which SuperBalls are not intended for. Besides, the argument does not include the possibility of parental control over what small children put in their mouths. Finally, the author does not seem to consider that the target consumers for the Gumball candies are children. The argument, thus, has its advantages and disadvantages, and if the author would be less categorical and stated that the Gumball should only confine itself to the “choking hazard” label, it would be strong enough. Works Cited Jackson, Debra, and Paul Newberry. Critical Thinking: A User’s Manual , Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
For this assignment, I chose to visit the elementary school from which I graduated and sat through a fifth-grade reading and writing session, making observations. My primary focus was on the teacher and how she was conducting the class as well as the response she was getting from her students. Before attending the class, I met with the teacher and sought to know a few things about her background in the school. Currently pregnant, the teacher joined the school seven years ago, and she spent three of her initial years teaching the first grade. She was later promoted to teach in the fifth grade, where she has been for the past four years. According to her, teaching in the fifth grade is more interesting and less taxing than the first grade because the former, unlike the latter, has its classes departmentalized. In this regard, she only specializes in reading and writing, a unit which she teaches to multiple fifth-grade classes. After this brief chat, I took a position in the classroom and waited for the session to start. The class had approximately 40 students and each had his/her desk, with the desks being arranged in neat rows, across the classroom. The students came into the room in small groups-boys together and girls together, happily chatting and/or arguing with each other. Naturally, being a stranger in the class, my presence generated a buzz for a while. Some of the bolder students approached me and sought to know who I was and what I was doing in their class. I explained my mission, and my attention gradually shifted away from me. When the teacher entered the class, all the students who had not assumed a position at their desks hurriedly moved to their seats and took out the books for the unit. However, some did not appear to notice her presence and to capture their attention she clapped a unique beat. In response, everyone in the class joined her in making the tune as an indication that they were now giving her their full attention. The teacher formally introduced me to the class and let everyone know that I was there observing my class project. She then introduced the day’s topic which was a non-fiction narrative and asked the students to take out the book Cactus Hotel, which was to serve as the guide for the day. The first 15 minutes of the one and a half hour class was dedicated to independent reading, and each student was to read the book from start to finish while taking note of its unique features and elements. Each student had his/her reading posture, which from an observer’s perspective was quite interesting to look at. Some slumped back in their seats with the books held high up covering their faces, while others placed the book flat on the desk, and with the head cupped betwee
Introduction Making sure that all customers enjoy a quality service is an important preoccupation of telecommunication firms. Arokiasamy and Abdullah (2013: 3) say that quality and prices are important drivers of customer loyalty in the telecommunication sector. Based on this conception, different researchers have used various models and frameworks to explain customer satisfaction and service quality models (Arokiasamy and Abdullah, 2013: 3). Furthermore, since many telecommunication firms do not disclose information about the quality of their services, it is difficult for customers to get enough information about the same (Upal, 2008: 18). Generally, dominant telecommunication firms have little impetus to improve the quality of their services. However, smaller companies are highly concerned about the quality of their services. Nonetheless, this variation does not mean that different companies have varied levels of importance for service quality. Indeed, as Arokiasamy and Abdullah (2013: 3) argue, all companies need to undertake a rigorous quality management exercise. Quality management is an important component of organisational processes. It is a management tool for making sure that all companies have consistent products and services. Upal (2008: 18) says the discipline has only three main components – process orientation, employee involvement, and continuous improvement. There are universal ISO standards for quality improvements. However, they do not meet the specific industry requirements of every economic sector. Therefore, different economic sectors have different subsets of quality management standards that apply to their economic sectors. Based on this background, this paper focuses on quality management in the telecommunication sector. It investigates voice quality as a significant quality issue in the sector. Based on this analytical focus, details of this paper show how to monitor the quality issue and investigate the current patterns in quality management in the sector. Literature Quality Issue Although price is an important factor in most economic sectors, other factors also outline the performance of telecommunication firms. Being a service-oriented industry, quality ranks among the most important factors to consider in the sector. Furthermore, unlike prices, which telecommunication firms publicise, telecommunication companies often do not publicise their quality standards (Arokiasamy and Abdullah, 2013: 4). Different companies have introduced different minimum standards of service quality for their companies. In Europe, Latvia and Italy champion the adoption of such metrics for benchmarking service quality in the European telecommunication sector (ATK, 2010: 1). In Asia, India leads other companies in the same regard. Evidence shows that benchmarking service quality in this regard has helped to improve voice quality through next generation networks
Cultural identities such as femininity and masculinity are concepts that cannot be limited to a biological definition, which is measured by physical attributes only. Even the addition of psychological traits does not sufficiently define masculinity; cultural issues come into play and the social context of the day. (Beynon, 2000, p.23). Both identities cannot free themselves of culture and areas result expressed differently at different times in different circumstances. (Beynon, 2002, p.24). Cultural identities are socially constructed. Beynon reports that while Western population culture (films records television, cyber games, and video) continue to celebrate the ‘he-man’ by the images seen in sport, war films, and comic books, there has been dysfunction in the portrayal and as a result, many men have developed “hybrid masculinity that is displayed differently depending on the time and circumstances. The public culture has therefore led to the giving up of the stereotypes based on biological differences. Initially, masculinity was characterized by a representation of manliness as competitiveness aggression, and violence due to raging hormones. There has been a change and most young men nowadays have acquired a lifestyle that was not so ‘male’ before. This is illustrated by the increasing number of men agreeing to help around in the household, performing duties that were left for the women. Generally, the roles and values of both men and women have become very similar. The emergence of gay men is also a trend that was not considered male before. The development of masculinity studies is viewed by many as a reaction to feminism that has exposed past cruelties of masculinity. The vehicle for this expose has been the media through written press newspapers, magazines, and books and in latter days through the electronic media. Kahn in his review of Steve Craig’s, Men, Masculinity and the Media points out that men’s studies have a different focus from women’s studies; while men’s studies focus on the stereotypes of masculinity most women studies focus on empowering women and usually lead to social action. Kahn reiterates that in the women’s studies he has taught the student to engage in activities that enhance the status or image of women for example organizing protests (Kahn, 1994). The media portrays masculinity with such images as ‘heavy metal/rock bands, beer commercials, sports, Hollywood war films and comic books’ (Craig, 1992) These are regular stereotypes but presently the media has also been portraying images that deviate from this sexist bias. This has led to a new culture among men, which has not spread to all of them but is rampant among young men. Local cult
Introduction With the increasingly strong power of innovative technologies and the propensity toward engaging in economic relations, the importance of choosing a theoretical framework from which the identified issue can be explained has come into sharp focus for many organizations. Moreover, even though actual militant activities remain in the realm of possibility, the threat of unleashing war is a much more probable outcome of the identified confrontation. In a cyber-setting, the dexterity of response often defines an outcome, and the results of the conflict, while not involving any bloodshed, may turn out to be beyond devastating. Therefore, viewing the issue of cyber warfare from the perspective of a specific theoretical framework (particularly, Realism, Liberalism, Marxism, or Constructivism) will allow exploring the links between the behaviors of key actors and determining the systemic outcomes of cyber warfare. In light of the recent political events, the possibility of cyberwar between the United States and China will have to be considered closely (“Rex Tillerson: Risk of ‘Open Conflict”). Given the political tension between the two states, the threat of open conflict is becoming increasingly more realistic (Doherty). Therefore, a scrutiny of the issue must be deemed as a necessity to isolate key characteristics of the confrontation and generate possible solutions. Theoretical Approach: Behavior of All the Relevant Actors (1.5) Approaching the problem from the Realism perspective will help understand the intentions that guide the choices and behaviors of the United States and China in cyber warfare. Since the specified framework implies that the strategies used by state governments are dictated primarily by the interests of the states in question as opposed to the need to be altruistic and compromising, it will be safe to say that the identified philosophy implies the use of the measures that will prevent China from gaining power over the United States and becoming the dominant power. At this point, it should be noted that the adoption of a Realism approach should not cross borders with the phenomenon that Kirshner identified as Offensive Realism (53). According to Kirshner, there is a world of difference between the Realism that implies taking sensible yet harsh measures to reduce the possibility of a threat to a nation, and Offensive Realism, which suggests affecting a state negatively for the sake of being unprecedentedly and unjustifiably egotistic (Kirshner 54). It would be wrong to assume that Kirshner encourages the idea of the United States submitting to the demands of the Chinese government and, thus, allowing China to be at the helm of the contemporary global political landscape: “This does not mean that realists of any stripe can be at all sanguine about the implications of China’s rise” (Kirshner 54). Nevertheless, to avoid the pitfalls of the Offensi
Introduction Choir directors are engaged in various choral activities. As a result, they perform not only musical but also pedagogical, administrative, and liturgical roles. The manner, in which they are undertaken, influences the attitudes of the participants towards musical activities greatly (Mantie 22). In this way, if the members of the choir reveal the traits of their leader, many future generations can bear the director’s legacy. It deals not only with such things as the attitudes towards the choir and its place in life but also with more personal characteristics. Main body In order to prove this view, the research that consisted of two parts was conducted. Theoretical materials were thoroughly investigated, and the study with ten (10) members of the “Coral de Cámara Exalumnos” (Alumni) of the University of Puerto Rico was conducted. The sample was selected with the help of the simple random technique. It was qualitative research that revealed the views of the participants on the musical and pedagogical impacts of the choir director. The information was gathered through well-structured interviews and observations of the responders’ attitudes and expressions. Finally, the collected data was summarized and classified. The results were discussed with references to the Serious leisure theory, quality life theory, and situational learning. As a result of completing the investigation, it was found out that the members of the chorus tend to treat a director as a leader and are likely to follow one’s example. While working, a choir director encourages the group and develops a love for music. Whiteley also supports such an idea and strongly believes that motivation plays a vital role in this case (73). When a director appreciates teamwork, one makes the members feel like a whole and promotes the development of skills needed in both personal and professional aspects of life. Such attitude improves the music-making process significantly, and the choir achieves success (Pierce et al. 567; Heo et al. 209). The way the members manage their everyday activities alters, as they become more concentrated, disciplined, and passionate about music if their director reveals such traits. Close interaction allows lots of people to share memorable experiences regardless of their cultural diversity. As people’s attitudes and emotions affect the way they perceive information, the learning process also streamlines, and abilities in music-making improve (Heo et al. 17). The director can unassumingly teach the choir to respect musical instruments, the composer, and the audience so that they will have shared values and will communicate them to others. When the director refers to the leisure motives, one can improve the quality of the members’ lives (Rohwer and Rohwer 257). For example, during the concerts, they can be delighted to interact with the audience and receive positive feedback. In this way, under the director’s influence, the choir goes throu