ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking involves comparing a business operations and performance ranking of a company or industry with top performers from other industries. Factors weighed include quality, time, and value. After benchmarking a company or the industry players need to improve from learning by doing things effectively and efficiently. My industry is the investment and banking sector. Over the years the investment and banking sector has been hit hard by many challenges which have threatened to tear the industry, even to an extent leading to the winding up of some of the industry players. The most recent scandals were pyramid schemes and scrupulous deals that have seen consumers loose their lifetime investments. Also banks have been hit by the global economic downturn which saw the closure of several banking halls. This has seen lose of consumer confidence in the industry. Many customers are trading cautiously in, scared of succumbing to any scandals. The industry needs put in place measures that regulate the investment companies or associations to avoid arise of any loopholes in the industry which could expose investors to any kind of threat of their funds. The industry should improve the customers’ confidence by offering secured means of investing and guaranteeing adequate returns (McNair, Kathleen & Leibfried, 2004) The industry is vulnerable to changes in the market and needs to insulate itself from rapid changes occurring in the market, to ensure that their operations are not interrupted by changes in the market. For example, the global economic downturn saw the industry players affected adversely leading to negative effects in the market. Comparing the investment and banking industry with manufacturing industry, the manufacturing industry seems more dynamic and can absorb shock in the market easily. The management team in the banking sector should to identify the top companies or industries, where they undertake related processes, and compare the results of those targeted to its own performance to study how well the others fair and how they attain that (Damelio 1995). For a company to appreciate the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of a particular benchmark in use, it has to look at how the practitioners of benchmarking have achieved their goals, the costs incurred or saved by the practice and the organizations insight of the process. Through benchmarking an organization can increase significantly on its supply-chain efficiency. Therefore organizations that use the benchmark techniques in their supply chains by comparing its performance against that of its competitors have typically reduced their expenses by 81 percent. Thus those who use applicable bench marks have spent less on logistics of doing business than the median. In addition, applicable be
Even those people who do not know the details of the “Manhattan Project” have strong negative associations while focusing on the notion. The explanation to this phenomenon is in the fact that the “Manhattan Project” is the assignment developed by a group of the US scientists who worked out the atomic bomb to prevent the Nazi attacks during World War II. However, the history of using the first American atomic bombs is associated with Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki the population of which suffered significantly from the dangerous effects of atom (Bernstein). The group of scientists who created the weapon of mass destruction tried to prevent the usage of atomic bombs with the help of providing the petition to the President. Although the petition was developed by the head of the project Leo Szilard and signed by the scientists who participated in creating the bomb, the argument presented by Szilard cannot be discussed as effective to persuade the audience to change the decision. In “A Petition to the President of the United States”, Szilard follows the definite structure, accentuating the introductory part and concluding statements. However, the main part of the petition does not include the factual information to support the claims presented in the introductory part. Thus, the author uses the effective hook to draw the audience’s attention to the petition and appeal to the readers’ emotions. Szilard states, “Discoveries of which the people of the United States are not aware may affect the welfare of this nation in the near future” (Szilard). This statement makes people continue the reading of the petition. The audience of the petition is the President of the USA. That is why, the direct appeal to the President is presented in the further sentence, “It places in your hands, as Commander-in-Chief, the fateful decision whether or not to sanction the use of such bombs in the present phase of the war against Japan” (Szilard). The next paragraphs are expected to provide the arguments for the President to make the right decision and not to use the atomic bombs in the war against Japan. However, the body paragraphs include only vague considerations which are not supported by any evidences or data and developed only to evoke the definite emotions (Gest). The tone of the petition can be discussed as emotional rather than convincing. The author uses general sentences in which there are a lot of words with different connotative meanings, but there is the lack of factual arguments to support the main ideas presented by Szilard. For instance, stating “We feel, however, that such an attack on Japan could not be justified in the present circumstances”, Szilard does not present any reasons why the attack on Japan cannot be justified (Szilard). In spite of the fact the author appeals to the morality and ethical principles, there ar
A curious eye cannot help but note the disparate presentation of the two bank names. That of Lloyds bank is in capital letters while that of Northern Rock is in small letters. Apparently, this is a representation of their respective trademark names used for distinction and identity purposes. On the other hand, we have the bank images depicting two types of architectural classicisms. These include figurative classicism for Lloyd bank and post-modern classicism for Northern Rock (Alessandrini 2001). Semiotic analysis of the architectural aspects of these banks can help make clear how socio- economic relations and nature of banking is reflected in terms of the appearance of the buildings. In a nut shell, post modern classicism is consumer oriented in that image is used as a symbol of status and as a sales driver. Canonical or figurative classicism acts as a preserver of history. This classicism does carry single theme or code in that it focuses on the old only (Mollerup 1997). Besides being canonical in nature, it also tends to revive history. This architecture bears no ambiguous messages with it as its message is succinct. The appearance of Lloyds bank is severe in manner. The entrance door resembles that of a temple indicating that there must have been some religious influence on its design at the time when it was being constructed. The design of this building is reminiscent of the renaissance period. Its appearance is also formal in manner indicating the kind of clientele it intends to attract, probably those in their late fifties and onwards. A curious on looker can easily arrive at the opinion that the bank is run by government due to its somber appearance. The windows are huge but elevated in a manner that makes passersby hardly see what is going on inside. The high rise building is designed in a base, body and head style with white walls made up of huge bricks. Its apparent Palladian disposition makes it less ambiguous (Stuart & Muzzelec 2004, p. 473). Public entities are known to be less particular when it comes to looks. Private enterprises on the other hand which due to the value that they place on competition tend to enhance looks through fancy architectural designs. With this assumption, a nonchalant onlooker will quickly decide that Lloyd bank is a public entity while northern rock is a private enterprise. Figurative look is less likely to attract new customers especially of younger age since most of these banks are associated with huge business deals that are out of reach for ordinary young people. Lloyd bank is somehow symmetrical in design, a
The labor environment and the specifics of the employees’ activities at their workplaces are changed significantly under the impact of globalization tendencies which can be discussed as characteristic features of the social and economic development in 21st century. Several decades ago, the job of the majority of people was closely associated with that definite workplace where employees could perform their functions as professionals. Thus, the activity of the staff depended on the place where they worked. Today, the situation is often rather opposite to the traditional vision of the occupational activity associated with the certain workplace. Many people have the opportunity to work in the international or foreign companies without leaving their houses. The other persons can freely work in the foreign countries to perform effectively as professionals in the definite field. Modern technologies allow the public’s avoiding all the geographical boundaries at their way to the desired work. The distributed workforce influenced by the globalization processes and dependent of the technological progress is characteristic for the modern work environment, and it is significant for forming a new social identity based on the occupational identity. Today, it is typically to refer to the labor market as independent from any boundaries. This vision is the result of the globalization tendencies. Moreover, the globalization process is closely connected with the idea of multiculturalism according to which laborers as the representatives of different cultures and nationalities can work together to complete the project and present the definite result. If several years ago work was often discussed as geographically tied, today a lot of migrations are characteristic for the labor market. Furthermore, this statement is right both for the people’s migrations and for the distribution of work. According to Huws, “there has thus been a double uprooting—a movement of jobs to people and a movement of people to jobs” (Huws Fixed, Footloose, or Fractured 1). From this point, the mentioned situation created the conditions for the further accent on the distributed workforce as the characteristic feature of the modern labor environment. Huws pays attention to the fact that “the combination of technological change and globalization is bringing about fundamental changes in who does what work where, when, and how” (Huws Fixed, Footloose, or Fractured 1). That is why, it is important to concentrate not only on the trends of globalization but also on the technological progress as the trigger for the further changes in the field. The technological progress has affected the development of the concept of the distributed workforce significantly. Today, employers pay much attention to the workers’ skills and knowledge without references to their location because it is possible to perform effectively an
Future of sports managers It is likely that sports managers will have to work with a series of suppliers for sporting facilities. Mainstream sport has a well-organised supplier base. However, with the emergence of new types of sports, managers will need to open themselves to divergent providers. This also implies that opportunities for entrepreneurship will increase in sports. Therefore, managers should be prepared to work with upcoming businesses. For those individuals handling new forms of sports, it will be essential to be prepared for divergent standards as different facilities can offer different experiences. Conversely, managers in older sports are likely to experience even more stringent rules as sporting facilities will be standardised. It will be critical for managers to sensitise their players about rules of their game and focus on them during training. Mainstream sports have rigid structures that require various sports representatives to liaise with local councils or other government bodies. This can be an impediment to ambitious sporting managers because councils are highly bureaucratic. Many of them may worry about citizen unease, and this could hamper their progress. Sports managers will also find it difficult to participate in sports development as construction projects are likely to increase in costs. Individuals who feel unsatisfied with existing facilities may find it difficult to organise funds for new areas; most of them may not penetrate the rigid mainstream structure. It may become difficult for managers to promote community goals. Mainstream sports have national sports organisations that control many activities. It will be difficult for these sports leaders to create change unless they go through the rigorous process of volunteer membership in those organisations. Overall, sports development is likely to be a painstaking process because of the pyramid structure of mainstream sports. An athlete will have to start from scratch and work his or her way upwards. This can be quite disappointing to managers. BBL articles One of the key advantages of BBL was that it revamped the sport by reaching out to new audiences. The sporting body had ignored women and younger players for a long time. Most of them were not interested in the sport because of its time limits and its format. The approach also provided incentives for all members of the cricket body to play their part. Since owners share their status with players, they encourage the latter to improve on their performance as much as possible. Additionally, since BBL is mostly local, then the stakeholders can exert considerable control over the number and nature of matches that competitors play. This has shifted attention away from the traditional, international competitors. BBL has also added variety to the sport. Individuals did not like a number of things in the old sport. BBL changed these factors by providing new and shorter formats for the new demographics. It thus increased interest in the sport. One key disadvantage is the diversity of the games played. Mar
The claim in this essay is that, ‘practice of medicine has a basis in science. Many arguments are proposed describing different viewpoints on how humanity understands it. There are counter arguments that medical practice has basis in art, intuition and even culture. Practice of medicine is a science. The science community cannot practice without a set of widely agreed beliefs. These beliefs form the basis for education and prepare professionals for practice (Kuhn 5). A normal science is predictable based on assumptions that the scientific community understands the world. Scientists go to extreme lengths to clarify this. Normal science hence represses vital novelties due to their subversive nature of their basic commitments. Research is hence an exhausting and stanch effort that forces nature into conceptual boxes supplied by professional education (Kuhn 5). Neuroscience is one of the major branches of medicine. Neuropsychologist, VS Ramachandran has had special interest in philosophical aspects of neuroscience developments. He has put special prominence on unconscious aspects of cognition. This viewpoint might make him an Epiphenomenalist (Ramachandran 99). This refers to the principles where consciousness is virtually a small aspect of behavior. Those who believe in the notion of epiphenomenalism believe unconscious models process behavior – Volition in this case a mere illusion of the brain. Even though Ramachandran criticizes the idea of humans being epiphenomenon, he does not recognize that many neural processes have only the most peripheral relationships with consciousness (Ramachandran 99). According to Ramachandran, consciousness is casual, though many aspects of human behavior do not relate to consciousness. To practice medicine, issues like consciousness are important to address and attach scientific evidence in relationship to behavior. In this argument, Ramachandran portrays a picture that human beings are strange beings. This can be explained as partly have intractable agency and partly they are zombie (Ramachandran 99). The important thing about Ramachandran is that he was not only a philosopher but also a neuroscientist. Therefore, his mysterious ideas of human consciousness attract some followers. He also builds his argument on evidence from the latest neuroscience. However, regardless of this, it is pertinent to address these arguments (Ramachandran 112). A strong believer in empiricism would consider the use of experimentation of consciousness by observing the variables at work. This will critically help to rise above the logical barrier. Where there is no germane information, philosophy tends to use reason to provide logic. An innovative approach of experiment in science, leads to discovery of new processes that help decipher longstanding problems (Ramachandran 115). Besides the Neuropsychologist, Ramachandran, a mathematician, Jacob Bronowski argues that science is introduced to human imagination and evolution in a unique way (Bro
Introduction Company Gap Inc. is a leading American specialty clothing retailer based in San Francisco in the state of California. It sells casual attires, accessories and other personal care products for both men and women and also children. Their products include T-shirts, khakis, denim, casual wear, boxers and others. “Its shares are traded in the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GPS.” 1 Gap operates above 4,100 stores in the United States, the Canada, United Kingdom, France, Japan and Germany. It employs nearly 165,000 employees worldwide. Gap Inc. maintains a big number of brands, namely: Gap, Piperlime, Banana Republic, Forth & Towne, Old Navy and other minor ones. These singular companies were bought by the parent company during different times. Gap Inc. started as a common jeans retailing store but in the present times has a market value of $13.32 billion. Throughout its yesteryears, Gap Inc. has steadily established itself as a leader in the industry. 2 Gap’s corporate strategy has consisted of major global expansion by amplifying its retail space, increasing its portfolio and delving into diversified markets. Gap’s goal is essentially to become a “megabrand” like Coca-Cola or Adidas. 3 Another strategy includes a formal environmental policy, which is focused on empowering employees to shape environmental policies, building better stores and offices and reduction of waste. In this paper, we aim to examine the effectiveness of Gap’s performance, more so socially, with an emphasis on its employees. Social Responsibility According to the company website, “At Gap Inc., social responsibility isn’t just a catchphrase or a feel-good initiative. It’s a reflection of who we are and how we operate as a company. To us, being socially responsible means striving to embed our values and ethics into everything we do–from how we run our business, to how we treat our employees, to how we impact the communities where we do business.” 4 Corporate social responsibility is an ethical ideology that an organization has an obligation to act to benefit the society at large. This responsibility can be passive, by avoiding engagement in socially harmful acts, or active, by performing activities that directly advance social goals. “CRS has a main aim which is to be accountable for the actions of an organization and give positive encouragement via its doings on consumers, employees, stakeholders, the environment and the public as a whole”. Social injustice an
Abstract Through a review of existing literature, this paper identifies the benefits and problems of electronic tendering in the public sector. The paper also looks at the implementation of e-tendering, and issues that come up during the execution process. Specifically, security and legal issues that hinder a wider acceptance of e-tendering by stakeholders in public and private sectors have been identified. The paper concludes by suggesting that more efforts need to be directed in researching and developing security measures and legal procedures for use in the e-tendering process. An e-tendering system with less security or legal concerns would be more acceptable among government and private sector players. As such, this paper contends that such an e-tendering process would make procurement processes more transparent, efficient, fast and less tedious. Introduction Electronic tendering is a rather new concept in procurement circles. As such, many suppliers and procurers still have reservations about using it. This is despite the fact that e-tendering has the potential to improve tendering processes by making them fast, cheaper and more flexible. This research seeks to unearth the benefits, implementations and problems of e-tendering in the public sector. The research also seeks to find out if indeed governments and suppliers in the private sector are changing their tendering practises from the paper-based methods to electronic tendering. Like most other electronic processes that are just gaining currency in many countries, e-tendering has its fair share of lovers, haters and those who simply chose to ignore it regardless of its benefits. Notably, people justify their behaviours towards the same through the knowledge, perceptions or beliefs that they have on electronic tendering or on the electronic procurement process as a whole. Among the cited reasons why people are cautious about the e-tendering process are the security and legal issues related to its use. Those who are receptive towards e-tendering on the other hand cite reduced costs, reduced paper trail, and saved time as the main reasons why they chose to use it. No matter what side of the divide a person is, it is obvious that governments (in both the developing and developed countries) are embracing technology. As such,
Although the urge to eat is rightfully attributed to the set of essential physical functions of a human body, one must admit that people belonging to different cultures have different eating habits (Willcox et al., 2009). The specified phenomenon can be explained by the fact that different cultures have different concepts of healthy eating and food in general. Despite the pieces of advice provided by healthcare clinicians and nurses as far as healthy eating habits are concerned, the traditions pertaining to specific cultures define the eating habits of their members, thus, triggering the development of diseases and disorders such as obesity, diabetes, CVD, mental health, possibly, cancer, etc. The significance of culture is, perhaps, the crucial factor in determining the eating habits of a certain tier of the target population. As a recent study shows, the implications of cultural dieting traditions are likely to have a drastic effect on the health status of their representatives. For instance, the study carried out by Christakis and Fowler (2007) indicates that the current trends in eating habits development cause a significant increase in obesity rates among the U.S. population. It would be wrong to assume that the unique eating habits that are characteristic of a particular ethnic group are intrinsically wrong and, therefore, harmful. Centuries of a careful observation of the effects that various nutrients have on people allow for defining a rather efficient diet, as some of the current eating traditions show. Particularly, the famous Okinawa diet has proven to serve as an efficient tool for achieving impressive longevity rates in a community and avoiding major health concerns related to obesity, CVD, etc. However, the specified phenomenon can be viewed as an exception from the rule rather than a specific pattern in it. Likewise, the Mediterranean diet explored by Sofi et al. (2010) can be viewed as a good choice for improving one’s health status and reducing mortality rates to a considerable degree. Although the efficacy of long-term observation of effects of certain nutrition styles on the target denizens of the p