A College Student And The Son Of A Mechanical Engineer

Being a freshman college student and the son of a mechanical engineer, I get to see, in depth, what the life of an engineer consists of. I’ve seen how my dad travels all over Europe every month for business meetings, where he checks in and out of the most luxurious hotels and drives around BMW and Mercedes-Benz rental cars, then spends any free time sightseeing in Paris, Rome, Greece, and many other places all over Europe—all paid for by his company. When he returns home after a week or two in Europe, he goes back to his regular routine, where he gets his work done on his own watch and gets a 6-figure salary. I often talk to my dad about the engineering field and how different types of engineering jobs are related. I gathered that basically all engineers travel a lot and have all work expenses covered by his/her company. Also, many engineers get to see everything their company produces before it is released to the public. I can recall a time in the spring of 2012 when m y dad, who works for Ford Motor Company, dropped me off to school in the highly anticipated 2013 Ford Fusion, a car that was not available to the public yet. I remember all the surprised faces of my classmates as they saw me coming out of a car they’ve never seen before. An amazing experience it was to me; it was just another part of my dad’s job. This type of lifestyle certainly caught my interest. At this point in my life, I need as much exposure to jobs that I could possibly want to pursue. WithShow MoreRelatedEthos And Pathos In Bernard Roths The Achievement Habit994 Words   |  4 Pageswhat you are trying to say and the credibility of the statements, that, is ethos. You can use this to look at the characteristics/credibility of Roth to see if it justifies what he is writing about. 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Homelessness Is A Problem That Affects Many Americans

Homelessness is a problem that affects many Americans, whether it is for a day or the rest of their lives. There are no cities in the United States that can shelter all of its homeless, and this is one of the main reasons that we cannot help them like we want to. Often times there are not enough housing for homeless people. Sometimes homeless people are arrested, though, and there they have a warm place to sleep, with the food that they need. The case may be that they did this on purpose because they are usually only arrested for minor infractions. There are many reasons for a person to be homeless, including being a veteran. A veteran is a man or woman who has served our country by fighting for our freedom, and most of the time they end up on the streets. This is not how they should end up, as they risked their lives for the country. When a soldier becomes a veteran, they have to live on what they were paid for fighting for our country. 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Ancient Greece Essay Introduction Example For Students

Ancient Greece Essay Introduction Ancient Greece is a peninsula located off the Mediterranean Sea, and is surrounded by several islands. Ancient Greece was made up of different types of government. There were two types of city states an oligarchy , which is ruled by a small group of citizens and a direct democracy ruled by the people . All citizens could make speeches and vote at the Assembly. The Council made up of 500 citizens made new laws which were debated in the Assembly . Only citizens could vote ,women ,foreigners, slaves did not have the right to voteReligion and myths were very important in Greek citizens lives . They used Gods and Goddess to explain things which happened in science and everyday life . They built temples to honor their Gods and Goddess and held the Olympics in honor of the king of the gods Zeus . The Parthenon was a temple built to honor the Goddess Athena . The people believed the Gods and Goddess would favor you if you gave them offerings such as gold ,silver ,and the fruit of the harvest .A few of the Gods and Goddess were Zeus king of the gods ,Athena Goddess of wisdom, warfare, and the city , Apollo , god of the sun , light ,truth , music and , prophecy , Hades brother of Zeus and king of the under world and afterlife , and Poseidon, ruler of the seas . All of the gods and goddess lived at Mount Olympus the highest mountain in Greece . The Greeks had many occupations , traders , merchants , architects , philosophers, dramatists , sculptors , doctors , poets , astronomers and , physicists however ; each citizen protected the city state . Every citizen had a duty to defend the state as a hoplite, which is a heavily equipped warrior .They operated in a large rectangular formation of thousands of men all equal in rank . The Greeks influenced the way we live today .The educated Greeks wanted explanations for the world and things around them . they made observations and came up with theories . These people were known as philosophers which means the love of wisdom Socrates , Plato , and Aristotle were famous philosophers . Hippocrates is known as the father of medicines today doctors take the Hippocratic Oath , named after him , which requires them to act ethically and morally . Anaxagras , an astronomer explained that a solar eclipse is caused by the moon passing between the earth and the sun blocking out the suns light . Literature was made up of myths and poems . The most famous Greek poet was Homer , who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey . A Greek theater which began in the marketplace with dances and songs was the start of the present day theater . Architecture was important in the Greek culture . There were three types Doric , simple whit thick sturdy columns , Ionic , a thinner column and , Corinthian thin columns with elaborate capitals decorated with acathus leaves . Life in Greece was different depending on where you lived . I would prefer to live in Athens because the military requirements are not as restrictive . In Athens rich boys ,at the age of seven , went to school to study reading , writing , arithmetic , music , and debating . Poor boys did not go to school . Girls stayed at home and learned how to spin and weave from their mothers . The children did not have pencils , they used a stylus and a wax covered wooden tablet . Pebbles or an abacus was used to help with math . Boys participated in sports to honor the gods to help them prepare for the military . They played games such as knucklebones , which is similar to jacks and played music on a lyre , cymbals or kitharas , which was a harplike instrument. In Sparta they had a very militaristic government and trained for war during the day . At the age of seven boys trained to be soldiers . They learned how to use spears , swords and to help them become stronger they lived in all kinds of w eather . They used sports to help them become better soldiers .If a man was married he would have to stay in the military for another ten years . Then he was free to live with his family . Spartan women had to learn how to use a spear and a sword , so they could prepare their sons for battle . The reason Sparta needed such a strong military was because they were afraid their slaves , called helatsas would rebel . Bibliography Eastern HemisphereSilver,Burdett,GinnMorristown,NJThe Iliad and The OdysseyDorsett PressBy HomerNY NYKids Discover MagazineNY NYVolume 4Issue 7

Strategies for Effective Managerial Communication and Listening free essay sample

Strategies for effective managerial communication and listening Interpersonal communication plays an important role not only in our personal life but also in business field since interpersonal communication is the procedure that we can receive information and feeling from someone immediately and then to lead us to express our opinions, feeling, and emotion back. According to Hartley (as cited by Sethi Seth, 2009), he defined interpersonal communication as having three characteristics. First, communication is from one person to another. Another characteristic is communication which is face-to-face. Last, both the form and content of the communication reflect the personal characteristic of individuals, their social roles, and relationship. Thus, effective skills in communication are necessary to maintain and increase the quality of our lives and relationships with our family, friends and coworkers. If we cannot communicate effectively, we may have misunderstandings within relationships. Besides, it would be very easy to become confused, frustrated and disappointed simply if we are unable to communicate appropriately with someone. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategies for Effective Managerial Communication and Listening or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Likewise, in business management, the process of communication between managers and employees would dramatically affect morale, teamwork, productivity, employee retention, and customer relation, and so on. Therefore, to sustain long term relationship with either employees or customers and to reduce managerial frustration about subordinate error, it is extremely significant for a manager to understand what and how the managerial communication strategies and skills can be applied effectively when interacting with colleagues, employees, stockholders, and the public as well. The purpose of this paper is to give some suggested strategies which can be implemented and applied in communication management. First of all, since normal managers may mostly spend their time on assigning tasks to their subordinates or transmitting information, most managers are deficient in listening skills. Besides, some managers may tend to emphasize their roles to be followed, rather than accepting other perspectives or paradigm shifts from their employees. In these communication processes, communication cannot be very effective for either a manager or a subordinate. Thus, to cultivating a listening skill is profoundly important to be implemented in the communication process by a manager. According to Covey (1989), he stated that the habit five â€Å"seek first to understand, then to be understood† is the key to effective interpersonal communication. He also interpreted that we should listen to understand with empathy and appreciation, not intending to reply quickly. Even though we usually seek first to be understood, it is more significant to try to get into the persons frame of mind and think as they are thinking. He also mentioned that when we take an open mind to be genuinely influenced by a person, we can obtain a totally new view and thinking of life. Therefore, the effective listening strategy can be suggested for a manager is that a manager can learn to listen deeply to other subordinates, he or she will discover tremendous difference in perception and sustain relationship with subordinates, instead of continuous speaking or responding directly. Besides, to communicate employees effectively, there are several ways can be established and encouraged. First of all, communication with employees may be improved if the manager is aware of their feeling and opinion. Opinion poll is a good method which can be used by managers to examine or investigate whether or not their employees are working in favorable conditions or unfavorable ones. For example, employees may provide something which needs to be improved immediately in the company. Employees may tell something in the opinion polls if they may be afraid of speaking with their managers directly. Eventually, the opinion polls will help the manager to understand the satisfaction within the employees and how to improve and facilitate communication process in the company. Additionally, because employees are sometimes more attentive to communication from another employees than from their employers, the other most efficient tool for effective communications is gossiping secretary since gossiping secretary would be more considerably faster than conducting opinions polls which are possibly held monthly, quarterly, or even seasonly. Moreover, it is also helpful to directly communicate with the natural leaders who can be apparently founded as a natural leader in all groups of employees. Communications with all employees can often be improved if the manager can communicate first with the company’s natural leaders since the natural leaders would basically understand how current employees’ feeling and thinking is. Since communication skills do not merely consist of listening and speaking, written skills are also play an important role in communication. However, most managers may describe a thing by showing too many terminology and phraseology. It would be too much complicated to read and understand for their employees. Employees may neglect the good intention of written message because unclearly written communication may have a tendency to frustrate employees. Therefore, â€Å"Keep it simple† is a good rule to follow when preparing written communications. (Duft, n. d. ) Additionally, the most demanding problem for managers is that they need to communicate with the general public. If the managers lack communication skills, the firm may apparently lose customers and lose business. Thus, it is also essential for managers to improve their ability to communicate with the public. There are some guidelines that managers should strive to follow. First of all, the message should attract, or at least maintain a receiver’s attention. Besides, the message should be easy to remember. Third, the message should convey a favorable image of the business and its personnel. The other guideline is that the message should be meaningful and believable. (Duft, n. d. ) However, there are some barriers to impact effective interpersonal communication. (Sethi Seth, 2009). First of all, when people communicate an idea, the receiver can feel how the sender perceives the subject matter. Different people may have different feeling on construing the messages. Intense emotions may make effective communication more difficulty since the receivers may understand the sender’s words or actions wrongly. The sender should avoid reacting to the subject matter if the receiver is upset or angry since the receiver may not able to think rationally in the communication. Besides, the sender may manipulate the information when communicating to the receiver. People sometimes tend to shape the message to make it sound favorable to the receiver. Thus, the sifting information may deceive the receiver into thinking or into something favorable. The receiver may be disappointed or upset if founding out that information has been sifted. Additionally, it is likely to be perplexing for a receiver to receive excessive information about the same subject matter. For instance, we may not clearly understand if we have 20 e-mails on the same theme, each email includes some part of the theme. Instead, it would be better for the receiver to have a single e-mail from the sender that emphasize on clear information which the receiver needs. Thus, it is important to just take in required information since too much irrelevant information will exceed the receiver’s capacity and hard to read and organize it. Moreover, effective interpersonal communication may be impacted by people who are from different cultures since they probably could not comprehend each other’s cultures and misunderstand the true meaning of what each other is trying to express the feeling. Last but not least, the receiver may not familiar with other’s argot or jargon words, so the sender should avoid using argot during the communication. Argot may affect communication ineffectively. The communication barriers may also occur in business when a manager tries to convey information to employees and customers. Thus, there are some methods to avoid and overcome the barriers. First of all, the receiver would be able easily understand what the sender is saying by structuring own language and uncomplicated sentences. Moreover, since sensitive issue may occur during the conversation, both senders and receivers should control own emotion and take rationally when they are communicating. Besides, it is also essential for a receiver to place themselves in the sender’s position and try to comprehend exactly what the sender would like to express and convey. To make sure the receiver’s understanding is also important. We can confirm our receiver by using closed-ended question such as â€Å"Did you understand what I have just said? † or â€Å"Is what I said clear to you? † The way can make sure that the receiver has completely understood what is being communicated. (Sethi Seth, 2009). As a result, most managers spend the largest proportion of their time commutating with employees and customers. Cultivating and improving their communicative ability is extremely important since the communicative skill is a fundamental element of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling. To achieve an effective managerial communication, a manager should be aware of what their subordinate and employee concern and require instead of insisting on own perspectives. Thus, a manager should have a good listening skill to first understand what the senders try to convey and express and comprehend more other paradigms. Besides, a manager should transmit information clearly and rationally. Do not make too complicated information and sentences because it is hard to read and understand. Properly controlling emotion during communication is also necessary for a manager since showing too much emotion may lead the receivers have other different feeling although the manager is not intentional. Nevertheless, a manager may spend most time thinking strategies on how to make firm performance well and how to manage business successfully. Therefore, a manager should better spend time on realizing the strategies for the managerial communication. If a manager is deficient in managerial communication skills, he or she may not conduct business well and effectively.

Castlereaghs foreign policy 1815-1822 was more successful than Cannings foreign policy 1822-1827 Essay Example

Castlereaghs foreign policy 1815 Castlereaghs foreign policy 1815-1822 was more successful than Cannings foreign policy 1822-1827 Paper Castlereaghs foreign policy 1815-1822 was more successful than Cannings foreign policy 1822-1827 Paper Essay Topic: Claim of Policy History Whilst Viscount Castlereagh and George Canning were foreign secretary, both achieved many things, some of which still exist in modern day foreign policies. They also can be seen to have failed in some areas, but to find out which of the two was the more successful, both need to be studied to enable one to make a conclusion. In 1815, Viscount Castlereagh became foreign secretary. At the time, his first and main problem would have been the problem of how to deal with France, who had recently been defeated in the Napoleonic wars. The Congress of Vienna 1815 drew up a treaty that formally ended the Napoleonic wars. This all began in 1813 when Napoleons Empire began to fall, France was invaded and Napoleon later abdicated. 1814 brought the Treaty of Paris which restored peace, reduced France to its 1792 frontiers and restored the Bourbon monarchy. It was then decided that a congress would be held in Vienna, however, all the important decisions would be made by the four great powers: England (represented by Castlereagh), Austria (Prince Metternich), Prussia (Count Hardenburg) and Russia (Tsar Alexander I). Vienna had three main aims. The first was to make sure that the French, who were primarily responsible for the wars, paid for what they had caused. Secondly, the great powers gained some compensation for what had happened in the wars. The third was to prevent further French aggression which may have threatened the peace and resulted in another war. A key issue from Vienna was trying to maintain a balance of power (maintaining no single power dominated the rest). This would ensure that all the powers remained on good terms. As Lord Acton said: All power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely. In some ways the Congress of Vienna was unsuccessful because it ignored principles such as liberalism (liberal ideas) and nationalism. However, it can be seen as mainly successful because it didnt humiliate France, which prevented further aggression (and therefore another possible outbreak of war) and, importantly for British interests, Britain gained useful possessions overseas. There is evidence for supporting the claim that Vienna was successful in there being no wars until the 1830s. For starting the period of peace in Europe and for the successful conclusion to the French wars, Castlereagh is given the credit. 815 also brought with it Castlereagh becoming part of the Quadruple Alliance. The members of the Alliance were Austria, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia. They agreed to have meetings at fixed periods and the main interest of the Alliance was to preserve the Peace of Europe. Two months before the Quadruple Alliance was formed another Alliance came into being The Holy Alliance. The members of the Holy Alliance were three monarchs; Tsar Alexander I of Russia, Francis I of Austria and Fredrick William III of Prussia. This was a reactionary alliance as all three monarchs were trying to prevent revolution in Europe and preserve autocracy. Castlereagh refused to commit Britain to the Holy Alliance because he didnt consider revolution was necessarily always a bad thing. Castlereagh once described the Holy Alliance as a piece of sublime mysticism and nonsense. There was a need for both of these alliances because the Holy Alliance was purely for preserving autocracy and the Quadruple Alliance (formed by Great Britain who was democratic as opposed to autocratic) was concerned with keeping the peace in Europe. For Castlereagh, the Quadruple Alliance was a way of upholding the Vienna settlement -it wasnt a way of interfering in European affairs. The Congress system was an attempt to maintain peace and order throughout Europe and Congresses were held to resolve disputes. The first congress was the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle 1818. It met to consider what to do about France which had paid off the 700 million franc indemnity and was settling down under Louis XVIII. It decided that the army of occupation should be removed and that France should take part in congresses, so France was admitted to what became the Quintuple Alliance. The Congress of Troppau Castlereagh refused to attend the Congress of Troppau 1820 as he knew would be a response to revolts in Spain, Portugal, Piedmont and Naples. He instead sent his half brother, Lord Stuart, as an observer. The Congress of Laibach 1821 was the same as Toppau in reference to Castlereaghs disapproval and he again sent Lord Stuart to show his disapproval. At Laibach, Austria and Russia were ready to send soldiers against Italian revolts and as Castlereagh didnt want to use the alliance to quell revolts, he refused to attend. Castlereagh is also responsible for the base of foreign policy for many years after he was foreign secretary. These principles were in his May 1820 state paper. At the time his objectives in foreign policy were to check French expansion, check Russian expansion and support Turkey, to protect British trading interests, prevent a combination of France and Russia (Britain could handle France by themselves and Russia by themselves, but a combination of the two would have been much too much for Britain to take on. ) and to maintain a balance of power in Europe. The reason Britain was so interested in Russian expansion was because Britain had to travel through Turkey to reach India. India became known as The jewel in Britains crown as it had so many resources that Britain traded as Britain had very few of its own. Russia had no access to the sea for some months as its coastline froze for part of the year. Russia wanted control of the straits between Europe and Asia, which would give her access to the Mediterranean and thus aid the growing business of grain exports. This expansion worried Britain as it was easy to travel through Turkey to reach India as Turkey was weak. With this in mind, Britain decided to support Turkey against Russia. The principles of Castlereaghs State paper of May 1820 remained from 1815 to 1865 unaltered. This can only be seen as a success on the part of Castlereagh. However in some aspects, Castlereagh can be seen to have failed. The Congress system had a tension built into it the fact that three great powers were autocratic where as Britain and only Britain was democratic, so from the very start there were going to be disagreements. Castlereagh was also poor at communicating with others and especially the public. Being able to talk to people and express reasons why you are doing certain things can be seen as a very important skill of a politician and Castlereagh didnt have this skill. Many people seem to have misunderstood him as is illustrated in a rather harsh obituary on the death of Castlereagh: The name of Castlereagh will long be connected with tyranny abroad and all that is slavish and oppressive at home. (The Scotsman Newspaper) After Castlereagh commits suicide in 1822, George Canning takes over as foreign secretary. Canning had many aims whilst he was foreign secretary. Canning was not an enthusiastic supporter of liberalism and revolution abroad, but he did believe that whenever there was a bad government, change must come. Like Castlereagh, Canning didnt approve of great powers interfering all over the world as they saw fit. Whereas Castlereagh had merely protested against the Metternich policy of intervention, Canning intended to be more decisive and actually help the revolutionaries in Greece and Portugal. However, this is what Castlereagh had been contemplating. Cannings overriding concern was to protect British interests rather than to preserve the Alliance. His policy was based on a careful, even opportunist calculation of what would best preserve peace and promote Englands prestige and prosperity. (Wendy Hinde (Cannings Biographer)) Cannings specific aims were to prevent the French from interfering in Spain, preserve the new Portuguese constitution, maintain the independence of the Spanish colonies with which Britain had developed valuable trade and help the Greeks, while at the same time making sure that the Russians didnt gain too much advantage of the situation. Canning feared that the French and Spanish might invade Portugal and may even be tempted to regain lost colonies. To prevent the French and Spanish from doing so, the British navy was sent to defend the Portuguese and their defense was successful. Plus, this course of action had restored Britains prestige. Canning, like Castlereagh had many successes through his time as foreign secretary. He achieved recognition of the south American states. In 1823 France offered Spain to restore the Bourbon monarchy (restore autocracy). This news appalled the British government as all the work of eighteenth-century British statesmen to get France out of the New World would be undone so Canning proposed that the United States and Great Britain join to warn off France and Spain from threatening to take over new republics. John Quincy Adams (Secretary of State) argued against the proposal saying: It would be more candid, as well as more dignified, to avow our principles explicitly to Russia and France, than to come in as a cockboat in the wake of the British man-of-war. Adams won over the cabinet and resident Monroe delivered what is now known as the Monroe Doctrine which declared four basic points. The United States would not interfere in the internal affairs of or the wars between European powers; the United States recognized and would not interfere with existing colonies and dependencies in the Western Hemisphere; the Western Hemisphere could not be colonized in the future and any attempt by a European power to oppress or control any nation would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States. Cannings successes continued in the development of a constitution in Portugal, the ending of the Quadruple Alliance (Canning didnt approve of it), Greek independence, South Americas independence and he gave huge emphasis on British interests. Canning was more independent and nationalistic as opposed to Castlereaghs approach. He believed in a Diplomatic free-for-all in which every country looks after their own which would eventually achieve peace. But along with his successes, Canning failed in some areas too. Canning helped, through his policies, to develop Greek independence but this in the long run weakened Turkey and strengthened Russia which was definitely not in Britains interests. South American republics were not Cannings idea; he merely carried out what Castlereagh had started. Castlereagh had also set up a period of peace which Canning ended. This can also be said for South Americas independence as it said to have been Castlereagh to have started off this process. In conclusion I think that Castlereaghs foreign policy between 1815 and 1822 was more successful than Cannings foreign policy of 1822 to 1827 for a number of reasons. Castlereagh laid down principles whereas Canning appears to have simply carried out policies and made things worse by leaving Turkey weak and Russia strong. Castlereaghs policies were misunderstood whereas Caning took the time to explain to the public what he was trying to achieve. This gained him public support and popularity but appears to have cleverly turned everything into a publicity campaign, which from some peoples point of view may make him appear to be less serious and less of a politician. T may have made him look like he took the job less seriously than he should have and that he was more interested in public support than what he actually achieved, which is the opposite of the impression one gets of Castlereagh. A quote that supports this argument is: There was no fundamental change of policy when Canning took over in 1822. Canning merely accelerated existing trends

Sizing the ComboBox Drop Down Width

Sizing the ComboBox Drop Down Width The TComboBox component combines an edit box with a scrollable pick list. Users can select an item from the list or type directly into the edit box. Drop Down List When a combo box is in dropped down state Windows draws a list box type of control to display combo box items for selection. The DropDownCount property specifies the maximum number of items displayed in the drop-down list. The width of the drop-down list would, by default, equal the width of the combo box. When the length (of a string) of items exceeds the width of the combobox, the items are displayed as cut-off! TComboBox does not provide a way to set the width of its drop-down list :( Fixing The ComboBox Drop-Down List Width We can set the width of the drop-down list by sending a special Windows message to the combo box. The message is CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH and sends the minimum allowable width, in pixels, of the list box of a combo box. To hardcode the size of the drop-down list to, lets say, 200 pixels, you could do: SendMessage(theComboBox.Handle, CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH, 200, 0); This is only ok if you are sure all your theComboBox.Items are not longer than 200 px (when drawn). To ensure we always have the drop-down list display enough wide, we can calculate the required width. Heres a function to get the required width of the drop-down list and set it: procedure ComboBox_AutoWidth(const theComboBox: TCombobox); const HORIZONTAL_PADDING 4; var itemsFullWidth: integer; idx: integer; itemWidth: integer; begin itemsFullWidth : 0; // get the max needed with of the items in dropdown state for idx : 0 to -1 theComboBox.Items.Count do begin itemWidth : theComboBox.Canvas.TextWidth(theComboBox.Items[idx]); Inc(itemWidth, 2 * HORIZONTAL_PADDING); if (itemWidth itemsFullWidth) then itemsFullWidth : itemWidth; end; // set the width of drop down if needed if (itemsFullWidth theComboBox.Width) then begin //check if there would be a scroll bar if theComboBox.DropDownCount theComboBox.Items.Count then itemsFullWidth : itemsFullWidth GetSystemMetrics(SM_CXVSCROLL); SendMessage(theComboBox.Handle, CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH, itemsFullWidth, 0); end; end; The width of the longest string is used for the width of the drop-down list. When to call ComboBox_AutoWidth?If you pre-fill the list of items (at design time or when creating the form) you can call the ComboBox_AutoWidth procedure inside the forms OnCreate event handler. If you dynamically change the list of combo box items, you can call the ComboBox_AutoWidth procedure inside the OnDropDown event handler - occurs when the user opens the drop-down list. A TestFor a test, we have 3 combo boxes on a form. All have items with their text more wide than the actual combo box width. The third combo box is placed near the right edge of the forms border. The Items property, for this example, is pre-filled - we call our ComboBox_AutoWidth in the OnCreate event handler for the form: //Forms OnCreate procedure TForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject); begin ComboBox_AutoWidth(ComboBox2); ComboBox_AutoWidth(ComboBox3); end; Weve not called ComboBox_AutoWidth for Combobox1 to see the difference! Note that, when run, the drop-down list for Combobox2 will be wider than Combobox2. The Entire Drop-Down List Is Cut Off For Near Right Edge Placement For Combobox3, the one placed near the right edge, the drop-down list is cut off. Sending the CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH will always extend the drop-down list box to the right. When your combobox is near the right edge, extending the list box more to the right would result in the display of the list box being cut off. We need to somehow extend the list box to the left when this is the case, not to the right! The CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH has no way of specifying to what direction (left or right) to extend the list box. Solution: WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX Just when the drop-down list is to be displayed Windows sends the WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX message to the parent window of a list box - to our combo box. Being able to handle the WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX for the near-right-edge combobox would solve the problem. The Almighty WindowProcEach VCL control exposes the WindowProc property - the procedure that responds to messages sent to the control. We can use the WindowProc property to temporarily replace or subclass the window procedure of the control. Heres our modified WindowProc for Combobox3 (the one near the right edge): //modified ComboBox3 WindowProc procedure TForm.ComboBox3WindowProc(var Message: TMessage); var cr, lbr: TRect; begin //drawing the list box with combobox items if Message.Msg WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX then begin GetWindowRect(ComboBox3.Handle, cr); //list box rectangle GetWindowRect(Message.LParam, lbr); //move it to left to match right border if cr.Right lbr.Right then MoveWindow(Message.LParam, lbr.Left-(lbr.Right-clbr.Right), lbr.Top, lbr.Right-lbr.Left, lbr.Bottom-lbr.Top, True); end else ComboBox3WindowProcORIGINAL(Message); end; If the message our combo box receives is WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX we get its windows rectangle, we also get the rectangle of the list box to be displayed (GetWindowRect). If it appears that the list box would appear more to the right - we move it to the left so that combo box and list box right border is the same. As easy as that :) If the message is not WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX we simply call the original message handling procedure for the combo box (ComboBox3WindowProcORIGINAL). Finally, all this can work if we have set it correctly (in the OnCreate event handler for the form): //Forms OnCreate procedure TForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject); begin ComboBox_AutoWidth(ComboBox2); ComboBox_AutoWidth(ComboBox3); //attach modified/custom WindowProc for ComboBox3 ComboBox3WindowProcORIGINAL : ComboBox3.WindowProc; ComboBox3.WindowProc : ComboBox3WindowProc; end; Where in the forms declaration we have (entire): type TForm class(TForm) ComboBox1: TComboBox; ComboBox2: TComboBox; ComboBox3: TComboBox; procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject); private ComboBox3WindowProcORIGINAL : TWndMethod; procedure ComboBox3WindowProc(var Message: TMessage); public { Public declarations } end; And thats it. All handled :)

Plan for Establishing a Career Development Function HRD 420 Research Paper

Plan for Establishing a Career Development Function HRD 420 - Research Paper Example In this discussion, I will provide comprehensive information concerning my plans for the development of career function in the Transliners Company. I am a Human Resource Manager at a Company known as the Transliners; it is a transport Company that offers the Public local transportation services by use of Buses and Cars that are hired. The Company also transports luggage and other goods; I have conducted substantial research and found out that the transportation business is a very crucial and sensitive sector that requires personnel with properly developed careers. This will be the first step I will take in the development of the careers of the employees at the Transliners Company. It shall involve identification of the available capacities, knowledge and skills that are currently possessed by the employees (Rouda 2008). This assessment shall be undertaken through different five imperative steps involving: Conducting a gap analysis study which will provide data on available and lacking pertinent career development aspects. The second stage under needs assessment will be identification of the Company’s interests as well as the priority and the need for career development among the employees. Consequently, the third step will encompass identification of the possible employee performance challenges that may arise due to poor career planning. This step shall be followed by, undertaking a comparison by finding out future challenges that may occur among the employees if the career development function is not conducted. Finally, I will communi cate my findings to the top managers on the importance of a proper career development function in the Company. This shall involve the identification and evaluation of new ideologies, skills, experiences and knowledge that various employees possess and those that they would like to acquire. The objective of formulating the goals shall be driven by several questions such as:

War and Genocide against the Jews in Europe Essay

War and Genocide against the Jews in Europe - Essay Example Anti-Semitism has been one of the most important reasons behind the genocide conducted against the European Jews during the World War II. The development of the World War inspired the Germans to have control over the entire territory captured by them; due to this factor, they initiated rapid military movements in the German-occupied areas. Genocide is regarded as an unethical and barbarian activity by the entire world but there was little effort made by different countries to stop the genocide carried out by the German military forces. The European Jews were completely isolated from the rest part of the world during the progress of the World War II. The Germans got extra mileage to carry out the entire Holocaust because they did not experience any obstacles from the best part of the world. After detailed analysis, some historians such as Arnold Toynbee has been able to conclude that most parts of the world did not have any respect towards the Jews community because of their personal beliefs. The Christians believed that the Romans had killed Lord Jesus Christ and the Jews community supported the actions of the Romans (Crowe 17). Genocide against the Jews recorded mass killings of 5-6 million people in Europe because of the lack of interference of other communities. â€Å"It is significant that early Christians blamed the Jews for the crucifixion, which was actually practiced by the Romans during the period. The beliefs of the Christians have been supported by stating that the Jews mobs demanded Jesus’ death under the power of Roman governor Pontius Pilate† (Bergen 161). It has been observed that the convictions against the Jews society were not accurate but there are very few evidence in favor of them. The genocide of Europe was conducted by the German military forces under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and the Christian society isolated the Jews and left them to suffer under the brutal tortures of the Nazis.

Epistemology Reason Essay Example for Free

Epistemology Reason Essay Is it true to say that there is no truth? The very concept itself is contradictory, but is still a topic worth exploring. If a person were to simply go about their life believing everything they ever heard or experienced to be true, they could be deceived without their own knowledge. Say they overheard someone talking about Sam Houston when they stated, â€Å" and then Sam Houston claimed her land. † Rightfully, without any other knowledge but their heard facts, the listener would assume â€Å"Sam Houston† to be a â€Å"Samantha† due to the possessive pronoun â€Å"her. † However, what the listener did not hear was the full sentence in which â€Å"Eliza surrendered and then Sam Houston claimed her land. † By basing their belief off of their senses of hearing, the listener was unable to acknowledge the truth behind the pronoun â€Å"her. † Similarly, in the case of epistemology, truth should not be simply based off of senses, or feelings, but off of sound reasoning. However, sometimes senses can be useful in arriving at a proven truth. The rationalist response to the view of Epistemology states that â€Å"all knowledge ultimately comes through reason† (Cowan/Spiegel, 52). This view claims that knowledge is proven true through deducing what is true from possible truths, as opposed to using the senses. As Descartes reasoned, truth can be acquired if every belief is tested to be false. Then, if it is proven that something cannot be false, it is therefore true. By taking a Biblical rationalist response to the view of Epistemology and using faith, Christians are able to acquire sound surety in their faith and view on what is true. Logic points to the rationalist response over all other views of epistemology. For example, the skeptical response states that truth is unattainable and we have no knowledge. However, if this view is to be believed, then it disproves its own claim by showing that there is truth in believing there is no truth. Skeptics put forth absurd hypotheses that cannot be proven false, but at the same time have no way of being shown true. For example, The Matrix, or Descartes’ belief in an â€Å"evil genius† who could potentially be controlling every aspect of life and humans have no way of proving this false. Summarily, the skeptic believes that there ultimately is no knowledge. This view largely contradicts Christianity because the Bible continually states from Genesis 3:5 â€Å"For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil† to Revelation 3:15 â€Å"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! † that knowledge does indeed exist. Therefore, if Christians believe in the scriptures, they also must believe that knowledge does exist. Another view that can be proven to be false is the empiricist response, which states that â€Å"all knowledge arises from experience† (Cowan/Spiegel, 54). This is the view is based largely off of feelings, sensations, and the experiences people learn from them. However, as exemplified in the introduction, sometimes senses fail. Anesthetics, holograms, sleep deprivation, noise recordings, candles and so many other factors can easily misguide senses. Proverbs 23:33 states, â€Å"Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. † This verse shows that the mind doesn’t always perceive what is being seen correctly. On the other hand, many people in the Bible were guided by their senses in visions, miracles, angels, and other events. Many times the Bible describes foolish people as being senseless (Psalm 92:6, Ecclesiastes 10:3, Jeremiah 5:21) but the senses can be swayed by the devil. 2 Timothy 2:26 says â€Å"and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. † So while senses can be used by God, they can also be used by the devil and ultimately should not be the deciding factor in determining what is true. People ought to not always rely on senses, but rather they should rely on the reasoning behind the senses and testing them to be false to determine what is ultimately true. As Galileo alleged, â€Å"Where the senses fail us, reason must step in. † A Biblical rationalist response is the most logical response to take while trying to understand epistemology largely because it deduces all false options and true knowledge is only acquired through seeking God. By using Descartes method of proving false beliefs false to find what is true, rational thinking deduces what is true. Proverbs 1:7 says â€Å"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. † Christians are only able to start to be able to attain knowledge when they start to reason and grasp how great God truly is. Only when people’s thoughts are in the correct perspective can they begin to reason properly. Through awe, Christians are able to truly contain a proper fear through respect for God, and with that in turn, truly begin to know.

The Pigman :: essays research papers

The Pigman   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The topic I chose to write about is lonely. Many characters in The Pigman are lonely. Some of the characters in the story that are lonely are John, Loraine, Mr.Pignati, and Bobo. My definition of lonely is to be by ones self. Another definition of lonely is being forgotten, left alone. An example of lonely is â€Å"The boy was left alone in the park.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the story, the most lonely character was Mr.Pignati. He was lonely because he had no children and his wife recently passed away. Mr.Pignati always went to the zoo. The reason he went to the zoo was to see his best friend, a baboon named Bobo. Bobo was lonely to.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Loraine was lonely at times to. She was lonely when she first moved there. No one would talk to her and she started to get upset because of this. Then one day John had to sit next to her on the bus and he started laughing. Loraine told him to shut up and this is when they became friends. They started the L&J fund together and this is how they met Mr.Pignati.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At one time they took the other baboon out of his cage. He got so lonesome one week he wouldn’t eat. Bobo got very sick. Mr.pignati would always visit him to make sure he was getting better. Loraine and John would also go with Mr.Pignati to visit Bobo. Bobo got pneumonia and died.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They started out not very trusting Mr.Pignati, but then they found out he wasn’t such a bad guy. They started to visit him more often and became good friends with him. They went shopping and to the zoo and played memory games with each other. They went roller balding together and Mr.

Term Democracy

Democracy is by far the most challenging form of government – both for politicians and for the people. The term democracy comes from the Greek language and means â€Å"rule by the (simple) people†. Is it a democracy we are living in. Since the coalition government has taken up the charge , it’s more of a secular dictatorship rather than a democracy. After 50 years of Independence what we have achieved seriously. Every time the elections come we talk of the same issues.We are still stuck up with the issue of reservation rather than concentrating on improving the primary education. Some things like freedom of thought and expression are taken for granted because we don’t even have the freedom to express. Recently issue of blogging came into news. Is it worthwhile. It is the fast and most effective way of reaching information reaching all over the world and it is most apt way of expressing one’s views about any topic. It is the voice of a common man.If we are not able to express, how we’ll bring about a change. Recently the Mumbai blasts took a toll of hundreds of people and blogging was the most effective way but then it was banned. It’s not that democracy has proved to be a total failure. Software boom has come which has given India a different image altogether. Now whether it’s an automobile industry, airline industry, beverages industry- all are doing well. After the financial reforms came and globalization and privatization has crept in, it has changed the overall scenario.Now we can talk of really good projects such as Golden Quadrilateral, but since the government has changed , all this is a talk of past. We were lucky to have a prime minister like Atal Bihari Vajpayee under whose leadership, India has seen some positive changes. India has always been seen as a soft country who is not capable of doing anything especially in terms of Kashmir Issue which has not been solved yet. But now it is time to take a tough stand. Leader is one who is powerful in himself and who is able to take his own decision.But if ministers like Manmohan Singh is there to protect our country under the leadership of Ms. Sonia Gandhi, then India is surely moving towards the wrong path. In my opinion, the democracy system as practiced in India has not delivered what was expected of it. Sure, there had indeed been certain things that were taken for granted in India like freedom of thought and expression, but what have we acheived by them?. The freedom of expression has given us freedom to express but has it given any chance to change what is wrong?.No, the system has seen to it that, though there are laws, nothing can be effected. Democracy as a system needs a high level of participation from the people, but had we given it to them? Why has it not happened in India?. Are we as people to be blamed for this state? Are we Indian's been practicing this Democracy well before the concept took shape with its current name in the west? There are many referrences in earlier Tamil Literature about the way the adminisatrator is elected in villages of the â€Å"Sangham† period.Then when did we slid down the path?. Why do we behave like people who doesnt know that to claim a right, the corresponding Duty has to be performed? How many of us complained about an erring Policeman to his seniors? Can we then complain about corruption? Conclusion: In my point of view democracy is both boon and bane. when considered from the view of the people democracy is boon as they have freedom or recognition for the speech. so democracy is boon from people's view and bane from government's view. Term Democracy Definition:Democracy is by far the most challenging form of government – both for politicians and for the people. The term democracy comes from the Greek language and means â€Å"rule by the (simple) people†.Is it a democracy we are living in. Since the coalition government has taken up the charge , it’s more of a secular dictatorship rather than a democracy. After 50 years of Independence what we have achieved seriously. Every time the elections come we talk of the same issues. We are still stuck up with the issue of reservation rather than concentrating on improving the primary education.Some things like freedom of thought and expression are taken for granted because we don’t even have the freedom to express. Recently issue of blogging came into news. Is it worthwhile. It is the fast and most effective way of reaching information reaching all over the world and it is most apt way of expressing one’s views about any topic.It is the voice of a commo n man. If we are not able to express, how we’ll bring about a change. Recently the Mumbai blasts took a toll of hundreds of people and blogging was the most effective way but then it was banned. It’s not that democracy has proved to be a total failure. Software boom has come which has given India a different image altogether. Now whether it’s an automobile industry, airline industry, beverages industry- all are doing well. After the financial reforms came and globalization and privatization has crept in, it has changed the overall scenario.Now we can talk of really good projects such as Golden Quadrilateral, but since the government has changed , all this is a talk of past. We were lucky to have a prime minister like Atal Bihari Vajpayee under whose leadership, India has seen some positive changes. India has always been seen as a soft country who is not capable of doing anything especially in terms of Kashmir Issue which has not been solved yet. But now it is ti me to take a tough stand. Leader is one who is powerful in himself and who is able to take his own decision. But if ministers like Manmohan Singh is there to protect our  country under the leadership of Ms. Sonia Gandhi, then India is surely moving towards the wrong path.In my opinion, the democracy system as practiced in India has not delivered what was expected of it. Sure, there had indeed been certain things that were taken for granted in India like freedom of thought and expression, but what have we acheived by them?. The freedom of expression has given us freedom to express but has it given any chance to change what is wrong?. No, the system has seen to it that, though there are laws, nothing can be effected. Democracy as a system needs a high level of participation from the people, but had we given it to them? Why has it not happened in India?Are we as people to be blamed for this state? Are we Indian's been practicing this Democracy well before the concept took shape with its current name in the west? There are many referrences in earlier Tamil Literature about the way the adminisatrator is elected in villages of the â€Å"Sangham† period. Then when did we slid down the path?. Why do we behave like people who doesnt know that to claim a right, the corresponding Duty has to be performed? How many of us complained about an erring Policeman to his seniors?Can we then complain about corruption?Conclusion:In my point of view democracy is both boon and bane.when considered from the view of the people democracy is boon as they have freedom or recognition for the speech.so democracy is boon from people's view and bane from government's view.

3-Dimensional Carbon Nanotube for Li-Ion Battery Anode

3 Dimensional Carbon Nanotube for Li-Ion Battery Anode (Journal of Power Sources 219 (2012) 364-370) Chiwon Kang1†¡, Indranil Lahiri1†¡, Rangasamy Baskaran2, Won-Gi Kim2, Yang-Kook Sun2, Wonbong Choi1, 3* Nanomaterials and Device Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Florida International University; 10555 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33174, USA 2Department of Energy Engineering, Hanyang University; 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, Korea 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas; North Texas Discovery Park 3940 North Elm St. Suite E-132, Denton, TX 76207, USACorresponding Author *Email: [email  protected] edu Author Contributions †¡These authors contributed equally. Abstract Carbon nanotubes, in different forms and architectures, have demonstrated good promise as electrode material for Li-ion batteries, owing to large surface area, shorter Li-conduction distance and high electrical conductiv ity. However, practical application of such Li-ion batteries demands higher volumetric capacity, which is otherwise low for most nanomaterials, used as electrodes.In order to address this urgent issue, we have developed a novel 3-dimensional (3D) anode, based on multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), for Li-ion batteries. The unique 3D design of the electrode allowed much higher solid loading of active anode material, MWCNTs in this case and resulted in more amount of Li+ ion intake in comparison to those of conventional 2D Cu current collector. Though one such 3D anode was demonstrated to offer 50% higher capacity, compared to its 2D counterpart, its ability to deliver much higher capacity, by geometrical modification, is presented.Furthermore, deposition of amorphous Si (a-Si) layer on the 3D electrode (a-Si/MWCNTs hybrid structure) offered enhancement in electrochemical response. Correlation between electrochemical performances and structural properties of the 3D anodes highlights the possible charge transfer mechanism. Graphical abstract Keywords Li-ion batteries, carbon nanotubes, 3D Cu current collector, anode materials, amorphous Si, a-Si/MWCNTs composite 1. IntroductionLi-ion batteries (LIB) has been widely used as one of the most important energy storage devices in diverse applications such as green electric vehicles (EV), portable electronics and power tools, since it is commercialized by Sony in 1991 [1]. The commercial cell is assembled by carbonaceous anode, separator and a Li containing layered structure cathode (e. g. LiCoO2). In terms of carbonaceous anodes, graphite and soft or poorly ordered carbons (e. g. mesocarbon microbeads or spherical graphite, microcarbon fiber) have been employed.The reasons behind their commercial prominence contain the relatively low cost of carbon, the excellent mechanical sustainability for lithium insertion and desertion (having minimum volume change ) and their formation of a protective surface film with many elec trolytes [2-4]. Nevertheless, fully intercalated highly crystalline graphites have relatively lower specific capacity (372 mAhg-1, the stoichiometric formulae of LiC6) and cannot meet the demands of next generation LIB with respect to high specific capacity and volumetric capacity. To address these issues, other elemental compounds have been explored such as Al, Si, Ge and Sn [5].Among those elements, Si is known to have highest theoretical specific capacity (4,200 mAhg-1), however huge volume expansion/contraction (300–400%) during lithiation/delithiation brings about pulverization, resulting in capacity fading in a high number of cycles. To overcome such inherit limitations of bulk electrode materials, worldwide research groups have intensively focused on novel and suitable nanomaterials such as silicon nanotubes [6], silicon nanowires [7], nano sized transitional metal oxides [8-10], graphene [11] and carbon nanotubes 12-14]. Out of the many nanomaterials available, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted great attention for anode materials due to their high surface area, short diffusion length of Li+ ions and high electrical conductivity [15]. Past researches including from our group have demonstrated outstanding performance of MWCNT based binder-free anodes in terms of high specific capacity, excellent rate capability and extremely or nil capacity degradation during long cycle operation [16-17].However, carbon nano materials are known as low-density materials, which results in low volumetric capacity and low volumetric energy/power density. Therefore higher solid loading of MWCNTs as active materials is one of the most significant issues to be realized in practice. Very recently, it argued that nanotube based active materials have a critical shortcoming in terms of their very low weight per unit electrode area [18].Thus, their gravimetric energy density may not give a realistic picture to commercial application. The critical limitation may lead to s cale-up issues for their potential application in the development of EV. To counter this issue, we propose a new geometry of 3D Cu current collectors, which can play a crucial role in creating higher surface area to accommodate more solid loading of MWCNTs on the uniformly arrayed patterns in the 3D structure, leading to higher specific capacity and C-rate capability.Until now, efforts have been dedicated to employ a number of 3D structured current collectors including carbon papers [19], a self-assembled 3D bicontinuous nanoarchitecture [20], aluminum nanorods [21], and nanoporous nickel [22]. The previous research proved that a self-assembled 3D bicontinuous nanoarchitecture could be one of the ideal electrode architectures in order to realize not only high volume fraction of nanostructured electrolytically active materials (NiOOH/Nickel and MnO2 cathodes) but also their efficient ion and electron transport [20].In addition, ALD coated TiO2 anodes on 3D aluminum nanorod current co llectors showed the 10 times increase in their theoretical area and total capacity (0. 0112 mAhcm-2), compared to those resulted from the same anodes on 2D flat aluminum plate and high rate capability (the capacity ratios at 10 C/0. 5 C and 20 C/0. 5 C of the 3D anode were 0. 4 and 0. 35, respectively. ) [21]. Currently, the diverse types of hybrid anode structures have been designed and synthesized in order to expect the synergetic combination of two different types of nanomaterials for the igher electrochemical performances. As one of the most preferable combinations, MWCNTs/Si hybrid structure can be chosen due to the better mechanical accommodation of MWCNTs of the large volume expansion/constriction of Si during lithiation/delithiation process and the higher bonding strength between MWCNTs and Si. There were some selected reports on MWCNTs/Si composite structures, employing either SiH4 CVD method [23] or sputter deposition [24]. In this study, we present a novel concept 3D anod e system, comprising of MWCNTs directly grown on 3D Cu mesh using catalytic thermal CVD method [25].Electrochemical performances of this 3D anode structure are compared with those of MWCNTs directly grown on 2D Cu foil. Furthermore, enhanced electrochemical properties of a-Si/MWCNTs hybrid structure, synthesized on 3D Cu mesh using a two step process of CVD and sputtering deposition, are presented. Morphology and structure of as-grown MWCNTs and a-Si/MWCNTs hybrid anode structures and their role in the electrochemical performance are discussed. 2. Experimental A Cu mesh (TWP Inc. with average dimensions of 50  µm thickness and 65  µm hole size was prepared. In parallel, a 50  µm thick pure Cu foil (Nimrod Hall Copper, 99. 9% purity) was also employed. Both types of samples were used as substrates for depositing Ti (underlayer)/Ni (catalyst) thin film through a RF and DC magnetron sputtering system. These Ti/Ni thin film deposited samples were cut to 14 mm diameter disc shape f or 2032 button cell assembly, before inserting into a thermal CVD system for direct MWCNT growth.During CVD, samples were heated very rapidly, under an inert Ar gas environment, to the growth temperature of 750 °C, and MWCNT growth began with flow of a mixture of ethylene (C2H4) and hydrogen (H2) gas (1:2 volume ratio) in the chamber. After 50 minutes of growth, the samples were cooled to room temperature within the furnace under an Ar gas envelope. Amorphous Si (a-Si) was deposited further on the as-grown MWCNT samples using the sputtering system with the incorporation of Ti adhesion layer in order to enhance bonding strength between a-Si and MWCNTs.Weights of samples were measured before and after CVD growth to exactly identify weights of the active materials (i. e. MWCNTs and a-Si thin layer). Morphology and structural properties of the prepared anode structures were carefully investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopes (FESEM) (JEOL, JSM-7000F), an energy d ispersive spectroscope (EDS) (Thermo Electron Corporation, NORAN System SIX), a Raman spectrometer (Ar+ laser with ? = 514 nm, 33 mW power) and a field emission transmission electron microscope (FETEM) (FEI, TECHNAI F20).Electrochemical performance for these anodic materials was conducted in a typical coin cell (half cell). The cells were assembled in a CR2032 press. The complete cell assembly was carried out in an argon glovebox under extremely low levels of oxygen and humidity (both individually

Confusing Passed with Past

Confusing Passed with Past Confusing Passed with Past Confusing Passed with Past By Maeve Maddox Reader Peggy Lanahan asks Is it correct to say, â€Å"how does the food always get passed the bib? or past the bib†? The frequent confusion between the words passed and past is understandable. They are pronounced alike and have similar meanings. Careful writers need to find some trick for remembering the difference. Both words derive from the same Latin noun: passus step, pace. From that noun came a Vulgar Latin verb passare to step or to walk. English took the word from Old French passer. The form passed is the past participle of the verb to pass. Pass can be used transitively: I passed the church on my way to the store. or intransitively: He passed through life without a care. Intransitive pass is also used as a euphemism for die, as in When did your father pass? The word past can be used as an adjective: Dont hold grudges for past offenses. as an adverb: I thought he would stop, but he just ran past. and as a preposition: How does the food always get past the bib? For more on Past vs Passed, read this post by Ali. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:English Grammar 101: All You Need to Know40 Synonyms for â€Å"Lie†12 Misunderstood and Misquoted Shakespearean Expressions

NOWAK - Surname Meaning and Origin

NOWAK - Surname Meaning and Origin The Polish surname Nowak means new guy in town, from the Polish root nowy (Czech novà ½), meaning new. The Nowak surname was also occasionally bestowed on one who converted to Christianity (a new man). Nowak is the most common surname in Poland, and is also very common in other Slavic countries, especially the Czech Republic, where Novk tops the list of most common surnames. Novak is also the most common surname in Slovenia, and the sixth most common  surname in Croatia. Nowak was also sometimes Anglicized as Novak, so it can be difficult to count solely on spelling to determine the surnames origins. Surname Origin:  Polish Alternate Surname Spellings: NOVAK, NOWIK, NOVIK, NOVACEK, NOVKOVIC, NOWACZYK   Similar to  NOWAKOWSKI Where do People with the Surname NOWAK Live? According to WorldNames publicprofiler, individuals with the Nowak last name are found in the greatest numbers in Poland, followed by Germany and Austria. The greatest concentration of individuals with the Nowak surname are found in south and central Poland, especially the voivodeships (provinces)  of Wielkopolskie, Swietokrzyskie, Malopolskie, Slaskie and Lubuskie.  The Polish-specific surname distribution map on  moikrewni.pl calculates the population distribution of surnames down to the district level, identifying over 205,000 people with the Nowak surname living in Poland, with the majority found in PoznaÅ„, followed by  Krakà ³w, Warszawa,  Ã… Ãƒ ³dÃ… º,  WrocÅ‚aw, Sosnowiec,  BÄ™dzin and Katowice.   The Novak surname is found in the greatest density in Slovenia, according to Forebears, followed by the Czech Republic, Croatia and Slovakia. It is also about twice as common in the United States as compared to Nowak. Famous People with the Surname NOWAK or NOVAK Bob Novak - American  TV talk show personalityKim Novak - American film actressJan Nowak-JezioraÅ„ski - Polish journalist and WWII hero (he added Nowak as a noms de guerre)Lisa Marie Nowak - former American astronaut Genealogy Resources for the Surname NOWAK Nowak Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Nowak surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Nowak surname query. FamilySearch - NOWAK GenealogyAccess over 840,000 free historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Nowak surname and its variations on this free genealogy website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. DistantCousin.com - NOWAK Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Nowak. NOWAK Surname Family Mailing ListRootsWeb hosts a free mailing list for researchers of the Nowak surname. They also have one for Novak. Browse or search the archive, or subscribe to submit your own Nowak or Novak query. The Nowak Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Polish surname Nowak from the website of Genealogy Today. Polish Genealogy Databases OnlineSearch for information on Nowak ancestors in this collection of Polish genealogy databases and indexes from Poland, the United States and other countries. Looking for the meaning of a given name? Check out First Name Meanings Cant find your last name listed? Suggest a surname to be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins. - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia.  Bergenfield, NJ:  Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Hoffman, William F. Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings.  Chicago:  Polish Genealogical Society, 1993. Rymut, Kazimierz. Nazwiska Polakow.  Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich - Wydawnictwo, 1991. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back to Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins

Leadership Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Leadership Development - Assignment Example From this discussion it is clear that  the Command and Control Methodology which defines the public safety leadership is no longer viable. Such obedience often fostered insubordination and passivity and did not promote creativity. Command and control management style often hampered the full implementation of community policing. The paramilitary approach that was emphasized in the command and control methodology also neglects the distinction between police and soldier developments. Law enforcement departments now emphasize on strategic management and accountability. It helps in periodically assessing how the police agencies can achieve their goals.As the study highlights an effective public safety leader has high standards for safe behavior that are consistently demonstrated while advocating safety. The best leaders make sure that their decisions reflect safety their communications are clear on safety, and that they consistently observe & coach others on the safety standards. They a re approachable and open to inputs. An effective public safety leader always demonstrate ethical conduct and honesty in addition to maintaining responsibility of the trust and confidence of the public, the regulator, corporation, employees, shareholders and community. They are transparent and self critical. Technical capabilities are crucial for every public safety leaders as they are involved in daily technical decisions that have immediate and long term implication.   

ISO 14644 FOR AN IAP CLEAN ROOM CLASS 8 IN RESPECT OF 0.5 UM PARTICLES Essay

ISO 14644 FOR AN IAP CLEAN ROOM CLASS 8 IN RESPECT OF 0.5 UM PARTICLES - Essay Example Several items must be taken into consideration when approaching the use of a cleanroom. First, air is an extremely important item to take a close look at. The air that is coming into a cleanroom must be filtered in order to get rid of dust, while at the same time, the air inside the cleanroom must be recirculated through high efficiency particulate air (also known as HEPA) and/or through the use of an ultra low penetration air (ULPA) filter in order to get rid of contaminants that can be created internally. Furthermore, in order to control any other possible contaminants that may enter, those working in the cleanroom must leave through airlocks (which sometimes also forces an air shower), along with protective clothing. Within the cleanroom, the equipment has been made to create minimal air contamination. These include the use of specialized mops and buckets. The furniture that can be found within the cleanroom also gathers a very minimal amount of particles and is easy to clean. How ever, cleanrooms are not sterile, as much of the attention here is focused on airborne particles. These levels can often be tested through the use of a particle counter (Particle Measuring Systems, 2009). In order to avoid a disruptive air leak, many cleanrooms contain items that keep them at positive pressure. This means that if there are any leaks, the air will leak out of the chamber instead of bringing in any air that might not have been filtered. To further control air, some cleanroom systems will keep humidity to very low levels. This is done often to make sure that there are no electrostatic, or ESD problems. These EST controls are also referred to as ionizers (Clearn Room Forum, n.d.). Cleanrooms are generally given their status based on the number and size of particles allowed per the volume of air. Numbers that are typically larger, like "class 100," are usually referred to by FED-STD-209E, and denote particle number at a size of 0.5um or larger, depending on the cubic foot of air. Smaller numbers refer to ISP 14644-1 standards, and these focus on the decimal logarithm of the number of particles 0.1um or larger permitted per cubic metre of air (Clean Room Certification Standards, 2009). Thus, a class 8 cleanroom has at most 108 = 100,000 particles per m.Cleanrooms in both categories of FS209E and ISO 14644-1 both have log-log relationships that take place concernint particle size and particle concentration. Therefore, a "zero" count in particle concentration is not existent. Because 1 m equals about 35 ft, both standards are mostly equal when measuring 0.5 m particles, although the testing standards differ. Ordinary room air is approximately class 1,000,000 or I SO 9 (Federal Standards, 2009).

Personal Experience Essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Personal Experience Essays - Essay Example I have always considered luck to be a luxury among few people who either have lost hope or prefer receiving free things. During the family vacation in Africa, I had a chance of visiting Maasai Mara national park in Kenya. At first I was reluctant to make the trip; however, after my parents convinced me that it will be a memorable experience, I decided to give it a try. Previously, I preferred visiting playgrounds, friends and making a good use of my bicycle; however, I gave up this opportunity for the memorable experience. Our journey to Kenya was interesting considering that we had many stopovers. It was not my first time to board a plane; however, I felt new and encouraged to work hard and reach the highest level of education. Arguably, this would allow me exploit-varied fields of development while also quenching my thirst for adventure. Consecutively, the opportunity allowed me to have an aerial view of different towns ranging from Amsterdam to Nairobi. Upon our arrival in the city, we received tour guides at the airport, which had earlier been booked by my parents. The first day involved having a taste of the variety foods prepared by the many cultures. The opportunity gave me a first-hand experience to taste what felt like food and others that that I found limited interest in having a bite. Nevertheless, my parents were receptive to the diverse cultures hence an encouragement. Day two was the day to remember that confirmed my worst fears while at the same time changing my view of the entire world. This was a day to take a view of the beautiful wildlife and nature, which has been admired by many people. It was a day to have a personal encounter the lion, Giraffes, baboons, monkeys, and other exciting sceneries only common to many in pictures and national geographic programs. Contrary to other days, I was happy; however, the excitement was laced with

Importance of Risk Management in Banking

Importance of Risk Management in Banking The fall of Lehman Brothers and Bean Stearns triggered the financial crisis from 2007 to 2008. In the case of Lehman Brothers, which was one of the largest investment banks with old history in United States, illustrated the importance of appropriate internal risk management with control. Self-interview threat occurred and was leading to the bankruptcy. In the event of lacking enough bank reserve for withdrawal, Bank of East Asia (BEA) chose to enter mass of capital and welcome the public to take freely from the account balance. It would like to increase the stakeholder confidence and is finally success and solve the problem. It is obvious that risk management plays an important role in the financial institutions. Risk management is the management of identification, assessment and prioritization of risks to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the internal control system and reduce the impact of unexpected events. (ISO 31000, 2009) Without proper risk management, banks are diffi cult to operate with financial difficulties and survive during the financial crisis. An effective risk management also improves Corporate Governance procedures that help to increase investor confidence, transparency and accountability that helps institutions operate efficiently. If any error or missing occurs in the process of risk management, it causes a failure of corporate governance and may result in operating difficulty. In United Kingdom (UK), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) provides framework of risk management (Arrow), risk assessment framework and financial risk outlook (FRO) for financial institutions to understand the major risks. In addition, Turnbull provides a guidance of good internal control with implication of UK corporate governance code that focuses on the quality and extent of risk management disclosures in an organization and thus reduces the impacts. Combined Code (1998) requires the board of director (BoD) to maintain a good internal control system that includes risk management that safeguarding the tangible and intangible asset and ensure the effectiveness of system. In United States (US), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) 2002 requires that both management and auditor to maintain a sound internal control system. Section 302 requires management to certify the periodic financial reports and disclose significant internal control deficiencies and section 404 requires management to provide assessment of the internal control and auditors to provide opinion on that assessment. And the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) set accounting rules that corporations need to follow, i.e. they need to prepare, present and report the financial statements. In Hong Kong, the international banking regulation Basel III is applicable to banks. And HKMA regulates the economic stability in banking industry. Many large banks, like the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), also implement the SOX act, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) corporate governance rules and USA PATRIOT act of the other countries in the Hong Kong. Internal control plays an important role in enterprise risk management (COSO, 2004 Pagano, 2001) Woods (2008) states the relationship between an effective and efficiently internal control linking with enterprise risk management (ERM). It also claims that management-based internal control includes conflicts of interest for internal auditors, is extremely risky for the financial institution. Harker and Stvros (1998) shows the efficiency of risk management significantly affect financial performance of financial institutions. Without effective risk management, auditing of financial statement and expense of audit may be affected and cause unreliable reports. In the financial crisis from 2007 to 2009, many corporations include banks liquated due to a weak internal control system without an effective risk management. Therefore, a good risk management programme is important to the firm in the Hong Kong banking industry. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) is one of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s largest financial institutions and thus its risk management will be identified, analyzed and compared with its competitors. Banking regulations and frameworks will be reviewed and key elements of risk management will be identified and compared. The debates will be reviewed and the strength and weakness of internal control of HSBC will be identified. In addition, recommendations for future improvement in effective risk management will be drawn. Aim and objectives of study The aims of the study are to illustrate the importance of maintaining a good risk management programme in the Hong Kong banks and to draw recommendations for the improvement of weaken risk management. To achieve this aim, the objectives have been established: To review banking regulations and framework (Basel III) apply to Hong Kong banking industry To compare and examine the risk management of internal control systems in HSBC and its competitors To review different comments given by its stakeholders during financial crisis (2008) and era To identify the strengths and weakness of an HSBCà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s risk management To provide conclusions and recommendations for future improvement in effective risk management in financial institutions 1.3 Proposed Chapter Headings: Introduction Importance of Risk management Background The aim and objectives of the study Structure of the dissertation Literature Review Introduction of risk management Kinds of bank risks Credit risk Liquidity riskà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  funding risk Interest rate risk Mismatch risk Market liquidityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  market price risk Market risk Foreign exchange risk Regulations framework Benefit of risk management Weaknesses of risk management Causes of business failure Stress Testing Example of banks: Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), Bank of China (BOC) Government and authority intervention Conclusion An effective internal audit function of an successful case in Hong Kong The weakness of internal control system cause influence and failure of business performance Research Methods Statistical analysis of annual reports of different corporations to compare their differences with internal control systems Data findings Profile of respondents Data analysis Conclusion Recommendation Research direction Recommendations and Conclusions Summary of the actual findings Recommendations for an effective internal control system and risk management Limitations of Corporate Governance Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction of risk management The uncertainty environment leads to financial services products have become more complex and also increase the accountability of regulation. (Collier, 2009) Doyle (2007) shows that there are common material weaknesses in the risk management of complex and rapidly growing. Krishnan (2005) states limited scope of research leads to insufficient disclosure of internal control. Internal control plays an important role in enterprise risk management (COSO, 2004 Pagano, 2001) It includes 4 stages: risk identification, quantitative or qualitative assessment of risks, risk prioritization and response planning. Role of risk management Collier (2009) ALARM 2.2 Kinds of bank risks COSO (2004) defines enterprise risk management as a process applied with strategies to identify and manage potential risks and thus providing reasonable assurance of achieving corporate objectives. Basel I (1999) states banks should use measurement techniques based on robust data. Eccles et al (2001) reviews the US GAAP and SEC and illustrates 4 major risks: market risk, credit risk, operational risk and accounting risk. Then, Fell Devine (2003) demonstrate operational risk should be separated as liquidity risk, insurance risk and group risk. Further, De Wit (2007) recognizes that risks also include legal risk, concentration risk and reputation risk in financial institutions. There is legal risk of possibility of court cases. If they are well-known of providing good service about criminal, more companies would like to create financial relationship them that concentration risk arises. Also, negative publicity, which is uncontrollable and unpredictable, often lead to reputation risk in money laundering case. Collier (2009) states there are many ways of classification of risks. Recently, Besis (2010) states there are 7 major types of risks in banks: credit risk; liquidity risk (funding risk); interest rate risk; mismatch risk; market liquidity (market price risk ) and foreign exchange risk. 2.2.1 Credit risk Credit risk, which is risk of financial loss that creditors fail to execute their obligation of payment, is the main risk in banking industry that potential loss due to counterparty fail to execute payment obligation. (Besis, 2010) Collier (2009) mentioned that credit risk increases the impact of default as it can be transferred to third parties by using securitization. 2.2.2 Liquidity riskà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  funding risk 2.2.3 Interest rate risk 2.2.4 Mismatch risk 2.2.5 Market liquidityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  market price risk 2.2.6 Market risk 2.2.7 Foreign exchange risk 2.3 Role of governing bodies in risk management and control International Federation of Accountants Committee (IFAC) concludes the role of governing bodies in risk management and control in public sector. (International Federation of Accountants, 2001, cited in Collier, 2009, p.37) They should ensure to establish an effective risk management in the framework of control. Also, ensuring effective internal audit function includes in that framework. Moreover, they should ensure a framework of internal control is well established with practice and the statement of effectiveness is included in the annual report. Lastly, they should form an audit committee that involves non-executive independent members to provide independent review of the framework of control and external audit process. 2.3 Regulations framework 2.3.1 Basel Basel III is a set of international banking regulations developed by the Basel Committee on banking supervision. It revises Basel I and II that requires a higher level of capital. Basel II, which improves the weakness of Basel I, considers regulatory capital with risks. (Glantz Mun, 2008) Basel II provides three approaches for calculation of risk. A standardized approach is commonly used that requires banks to use standard risk assessment to calculate the risk weightings. Next, internal ratings-based (IRB) foundation approach that is based on internal assessment in probability of default from counterparty (PD), quantified estimates of exposure at default (EAD) and loss given default (LGD) can be applicable. And the third approach is called IRB advanced approach, which is based on own internal assessment in PD, EAD and LGD. 2.3.2 Benefit of risk management Weaknesses of risk management Causes of business failure Fight (2004) states that many industry surveys analysed 5 top causes of business failure. First of all, it states cyclical decline in demand is at the top of the five causes. Recession is not the main factor of failure but the element that helps to show the weakness of risk management in firms. It mentions some examples of weakness, such as poor competitive position, problem in internal control of quality and financial and weak capital and liquidity ratios. With these weaknesses, firms lost competitive advantages and cannot fulfill customer needs and also lead to decline in demand. Next, poor top management is followed. Thirdly, lacking of centralized financial control Fourthly, bad acquisition or inadequate integration strategy. The fifth is inappropriate product or market strategy Except the cyclical decline in demand, the other four causes are related to management. It is showed that management of firms plays an important role of survival in economic downturns. Regarding to the case of Lehman Brothers, the creditor fail to execute their obligation of payment that the demand of mortgage or loan was dropped. 2.5 Stress Test 2.6 Example of banks 2.6.1 Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) is a world-wide diversified banking group that involves in different business and activities since 2005. It takes conventional strategy in its entities in different areas, such as Europe, Hong Kong, Rest of Asia Pacific, Middle East, North America and Latin America. HSBC Holdings plc (2009) mentions that there are many factors vary the risks in HSBC, such as environment change. vary the degrees, measurement, evaluation of its risk management. mentions there are 4 main types of risks: credit risk, counterparty credit risk, market risk and operational risk in its business. Its credit risks arise from failure of receiving payment by customers or counterparties in its business, such as direct lending, trade finance, leasing business, guarantees, derivatives and debt securities. It applies 3 approaches in Basel international banking regulations to calculate the counterparty credit risk and determine exposure values. The three approaches are standardized, mark-to-market and internal model method (IMM). HSBC adopt the standardized approach and mainly adopt the IRB advanced approach to eliminate the credit risk. In addition, counterparty credit risk is risk of economic loss that counterparty may default in transactions arises from offer-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and securities financing transactions. HSBC uses the mark-to-market and IMM approaches to reduce the counterparty credit risk. Market risk is the risk of lower income or portfolio value with market risk factors, including foreign exchange rates and commodity prices, interest rates, credit spreads and equity prices. To get rid of it, HSBC applied standard rules of financial services authority (FSA) and value at risk (VAR) models. Lastly, operational risk is a risk of potential loss by imperfect internal processes and systems or external events. Actually, it also includes technological and legal risks. HSBC employed the standardized approach to determine its operational risk in group. To control risks in the IT area, 3 ways is implemented. First, it uses risk bases project management (RBPM) and a global HSBC tool that is called clarity tool to control the software development life cycle and ensure the consistency and efficiency of management. Second, a disaster recovery plan (DRP) is implemented. For example, it is used to recover system in the case of disasters to ensure the continuity of system. Third, it maintains a secure and reliable governance structure to control and response to the technological risk in different departments. For instance, senior management committees are responsible for managing the risk. The committees consist of HTS Steering Committee, Risk Management Committee (RMC), Operational Risk and Internal Control Committee (ORICC). In the way of managing legal risk, HSBC concerns with contractual, litigation, legislative or regulatory, reputation and non-contractual rights. In addition, it established policies and procedures, estimates potential losses from the judicial or administrative resolutions, disclose the relevant information. Moreover, it established policies and procedures for the identification, measurement of legal risk to eliminate or reduce the possible loss due to the non-performance of the norms and avoid adverse resolutions. 2.6.2 Bank of China (BOC) Bank of China applied the stress testing. 2.7 Government and authority intervention Woods et al (2009) states without perfect credit risk management, the survival of numerous financial institutions in the financial crisis relies on financial support or taking-over by government. In United States, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch collapsed because of no financial support to continue the business. On the contrary, United Kingdom mortgage providers, Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley, survive in financial crisis as had been taken over by government. In addition, Derbyshire Building Society and the Cheshire Building Society faced substantial problems and then survived as it had been taken over by the Nationwide, a large mortgage lender with a stronger capital base. Starting from summer 2007, accumulating losses on sub-prime mortgage triggered financial tsunami in the global financial system. The paper analyzes that banks and mortgage providers using special purpose entities (SPE), collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) or collateralised debt oblig ations (CDOs) and illiquidity as the problems Financial Services Authority (FSA) provides operating framework (Arrow II), risk assessment framework and regulations for financial institutions. 2.8 Conclusion Chapter 3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ Research method The research is mainly based on quantitative research by obtaining statistical data, such as complaints or commercial crimes, and related to annual reports and financial statement. Reports from Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will be a part of source to analyze the data as it is easily assessed and convenient in obtaining data. In addition, the risk management system of 10-15 limited companies will be examined and compared. It helps to define the strength and weakness between different risk management systems under sudden events. It supplements questionnaires collection and theoretical research. Questionnaires collection is also used as an instrument in obtaining useful information. To obtain relevant information from stakeholders, questionnaires about satisfaction of financial institutions will be collected and some samples will be further conducted by face-to-face survey. And theoretical research is taken place on reviewing information of theories and practices about an effective internal control system with suitable risk management from academic journals and textbooks. 3.2Limitation: It is difficult to assess information because the internal information is not related to the operation that source is limited and limited samples are not be sufficient to conclude subject to risk management. In other words, recommendations are not be sufficient for the whole banking industry. In addition, the online questionnaires do not have a large number of respondents as the respondent rate is limited due to many reasons. For example, some people do not interest in filling questionnaire and some people feel trouble to complete the questionnaire. Chapter 4 Profile of the respondents A survey was conducted in late 2010, from October to November. Online questionnaires were collected from 30 respondents to understand their confidence level of banks in Hong Kong whether it is influenced by the occurrence of financial crisis and also obtain recommendations of risk management in Hong Kong banks for improvement. There are 25 questions in a questionnaire (see appendix) and it is formed as 3 parts: Personal Details; Before Financial Crisis (2007 -2008); After Financial Crisis (2007 -2008). The first 5 questions are about à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“personal detailsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. For question 6 to 8, questions are part of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“before financial crisisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. And questions 9 to 25 are focused on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“after financial crisisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? that shows present. The major findings drew from the questionnaires are concluded as below. Personal Details Question 1: What is your gender? Female Male Total 16 14 30 In the online questionnaires, there were 30 respondents that slightly more than half of them are Female while slightly less than half of them are male. Question 2: What is the range of your age? From the questionnaires, it was found that the respondents are mainly youngsters which are most (26 in 30 respondents) in the range of 18 to 29 years old. And there are a small number of respondents (2 in 30 respondents) in the range 30 to 39 years old and (2 in 30 respondents) the range of 40 to 49 years old. Question 3: What is your education level? According to results of questionnaires, no respondents are educated under primary level. Three fifths of respondents achieve the degree education whereas the minority of them, 2 in 30 respondents, reach the master or above education level. And the other two sixths of respondents completed secondary to diploma education. Question 4: What is the range of your monthly salary? It is showed that half of the respondents have monthly income less than $5000 while one fifth of them have over $5000 but lower than $10000 and the other one fifth have monthly income between $10000 and $19999. The minority of respondents got income more than $20000 each month that one respondent got more than $20000 but less than $30000 and two respondents got more than $30000. Question 5: What is your role in bank? The respondents are mainly customers in banks that there are over 90% of them, 28 in 30 respondents, as the role of customers and less than 10%, 2 in 30 respondents, of them as the role of employees in bank. Before Financial Crisis(2007-2008) Question 6: Before financial crisis (2007 2008), what was the percentage of your salary you spend on saving in a bank each month? Before financial crisis (2007 2008), almost two fifth (37%) of respondents expressed that they had habit of saving. Only a few of them spent their salaries mostly on saving while a minority spent much more on saving every month. And one in six respondents spent almost half of salary on saving. In the meanwhile, three fifths of them spent fewer while a few respondents spent slightly fewer or none on saving. Question 7: Before financial crisis (2007-2008), did you invest in stock of Hong Kong banks, such as HSBC? Over 70% of respondents, 73%, said that they had habit of investment in Hong Kong stock before financial crisis (2007-2008) while slightly less than 30%, 27%, had not invested. Question 8: Before financial crisis (2007-2008), what was the percentage of your salary you spend on investment each month? Before financial crisis (2007-2008), most of respondents had habit of investment. Three fifths of respondents had spent much more and majority or all of salary on investments each month. For example, less than half of them, 43%, had spent the majority and almost all of salary (80% 100%) on investment while one sixth had spent 60% to nearly 80% of salary. And a small number of them, 10%, had spent almost half of salary (40% 59.99%) on investment while nearly one quarter (23%) of them had spent fewer (25% 39.99) on investment. But, few respondents, 7%, said that they had not invested or spent slightly fewer on investment. Question 9: Did you have habit of checking your balance in your current accounts /investment accounts in banks? And how often did you check your balance each month? Before financial crisis (2007-2008), none of the respondents never check their current account or investment account balance. One in three respondents showed that they seldom (1 to 7 times per month) checked their balance in accounts while half of them often checked their accounts over once a week and nearly once per two days (8-15 times per month). And one in five respondents usually checked their accounts (16-30 times per month). After Financial Crisis (Present) Question 10: Do you own any current accounts for saving in banks? How many banks do you own current account? All respondents have current accounts for saving in banks in Hong Kong. One-fifth of respondents reported that they only owned current account in one bank while almost most of them, 77%, said that they owned current accounts in from two to four banks. In addition, only one respondent responded that hold current accounts in more than five banks. Question 11: What is the percentage of your salary you spend in saving each month? It is showed that most of the respondents have habit of saving. Almost a quarter of them, 23%, spend much more on saving while about two fifths of them, 41%, spent majority or almost all on it. Also, no respondents spend almost half of salary (40%-59.99%) while a minority of them reported they spent fewer and nearly a quarter of them reported they spent slightly fewer and almost none on saving. Question 12: Do you invest in stock Hong Kong banks, such as HSBC? After financial crisis (2007-2008), three fifths of respondents said that they had habit of investment in stock of Hong Kong banks while two fifths did not invest. Question 13: Do you own any investment accounts in banks? How many banks do you own current account? Most of the respondents own investment accounts in Hong Kong banks. For illustrate, more than half of respondents, 73%, only own investment accounts in a bank while 1 in 10 respondents own an investment account in two to four banks. And one-sixth of them, 17%, do not own any investment account and. However, no respondent hold investment accounts in more than five banks. Question 14: What is the percentage of your salary you spend on investment each month? More than half of respondents reported that they spent their salaries less on investment. One third of them spent slightly few and almost none of their salary on investment while one fifth spent fewer as well as the other one fifth almost spent half of it on investment. On the other hand, a small number of them, 10%, responded that they spent much more while 1 in 6 respondents spent most and almost all on investment. Question 15: Do you have habit of checking your balance in your current accounts/ investment accounts in banks? And how often do you check your balance each month? After financial crisis, none of the respondents never check their current account balance. Nearly three fifths of respondents,57%, reported that they seldom (1 to 7 times per month) checked their balance in account while one fifth of them often checked their accounts over once a week and nearly once per two days (8-15 times per month). In addition, about a quarter of them checked their accounts frequently (16-30 times per month). Question 16: After financial crisis (2007-2008), what do you pay attention to the bank before investment in it? (Answers can be chosen more than one.) The table shows the issues about bank whether respondents pay attention to before investment or not. After financial crisis (2007-2008), the respondents mainly pay attention to the news about the bank and also the banking industry before investment. Nearly three quarters of them, 73%, pay attention to the news about the bank and banking industry to concern about their investment. In addition, one-fifth of them pay attention to the risk management of the bank to concern whether risks are minimized and properly controlled. And the other one fifth also pay attention to relevant court cases while three in ten respondents focus on the changes in its share price. However, only a minority pay attention to the big issues, such as big loss or financial difficulties. Question 17: What element(s) do you think it is important in risk management? The table illustrates that importance of elements in risk management respondents revealed. Regarding to questionnaires, almost two fifths of the respondents thought identification of risk was important in risk management while about two thirds of them did not. About assessment of risks, nearly third fifths (57%) of them agreed it was an important element while more than two fifths of them (43%) disagreed. In addition one third of respondents expressed that internal control is an important element in risk management. However, only a minority of respondents, 4%, totally agreed that identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks and the internal control are important in risk management. Question 18: Do you trust the risk management of bank can ensure steadily operation with lower risks to prevent bankruptcy? Two thirds of respondents reflected they trusted the risk management of bank that can ensure it operating steadily with lower risks and prevent bankruptcy while one third said that they did not trust it. Question 19: What is the level you rely on the risk management of bank? After financial crisis (2007-2008), a small number (10%) of respondents reflected that they extremely relied on the risk management of bank while one fifth said that they more relied on it. Half of them remained neutral whereas a minority less relied and a few respondent never rely on the risk management of the bank. Question 20: After financial crisis (2007-2008), have your confidence in bank been cracked? About two fifths of respondents, 37%, thought their confidence in bank had not be cracked after financial crisis (2007- 2008). Nevertheless, half of them reflected their confidence were partly impaired while a minority (13%) revealed that their confidence were mostly damaged. Question 21: What is (are) the issue(s) that impair your confidence in the bank and make you think that it has weak risk management? The chart illustrates the issues whether it can impair their confidence of respondents and affect their investment decision in the bank. According to the responds, a majority of respondents, 90%, thought occurring liquidity problem and big loss can impair their confidence in the bank. And 70% of them expressed that weaken defense of risks and without experience of facing financial crisis can lead to bank have a weak risk management and also impair their confidence. Besides, slightly more than a quarter of them, 27%, considered human resources problem was one of the elements of weak risk management. For example, improper authorization and delegation policies lead to conflict of interest exists in the bank. Moreover, nearly one-fifth thought operating without following regulation, such as Basel framework, is more likely to maintain weak risk management. Finally, only a few of them, 7%, responded that involving in court case impair their confidence in bank and they might think it had we ak risk management Question 22: Do you read the annual report of bank to understand its risk management before investment? The above chart shows that one third of respondents responded that they saw annual report of the bank before investment to understand its risk management. However, two thirds of them expressed that they did not. Question 23: Do you think these banks have good risk management? In five Hong Kong banks, respondents expressed which banks they think have good risk management. As a result, most of them commented HSBC had a good risk management while only one third thought Bank of China had a good risk management. Also, half of them expressed that Hangseng Bank had good risk management while the other half disagreed that. Concerning to standard chartered bank, only one fifth thought its risk management was good. Moreover, slightly less than twenty percent of them reflected that Citibank had good risk management. Question 24: What rank do you give for the risk management of HSBC? (Please rank from 1to 5: 1 is weakest; 5 is best) Rank of HSBC Number of respondents