Thursday, October 31, 2019

Advising the client,site and location analysis Assignment

Advising the client,site and location analysis - Assignment Example While the initial construction of factories was solely based on their functionality as a mechanism for the mass production of goods, giving little consideration to the environmental or social ramifications of its existence, the architects of the MAS Intimates facility sought to counteract this trend by creating a structure that would allow every occupant to enjoy the fresh air, natural light, comfortable surroundings, and beautiful outdoor views of intact natural settings within their work environment (Holcim, 2008). Such considerations have allowed MAS Intimates to surpass the traditional model of the factory to create an extraordinary facility that is not a detriment to the environment, but an asset to the ecosystem in which it occupies (Holcim, 2008). From the humble beginnings of a small factory sweatshop in Ratmalana with 26 sewing machines and 60 employees purchased by three brothers in 1986 (Business Superbrands) and revitalized by MAS Holdings in 2006, MAS has grown into a wo rkplace in unison with nature that has significantly diminished its carbon footprint through carbon-neutral power sources and uses 25-40% less energy than companies of the same magnitude (Holcim, 2008; MAS Intimates Thurulie, 2009). ... This plan was initiated as a 340 million (USD), five-year, company-wide environmental and social sustainability program consisting of a hundred points to be achieved by 2012, including establishing green factories that supply goods to Marks & Spencer (MAS Intimates Thurulie, 2009). MAS Intimates Thurulie was the first purpose-built green clothing factory in the world to be designed in compliance with USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) standards for green buildings and to attempt to qualify for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification (Holcim, 2008). MAS Fabric Park cost 2.66 million (USD), which Marks & Spencer partially financed in the amount of 400,000 (USD), paying for the majority of the green design and the largest photovoltaic system in Sri Lanka (MAS Intimates Thurulie, 2009). The concept of sustainable construction seeks to incorporate the concepts of fairness and respectful treatment to everyone throughout the design, construction, use, and recycli ng of buildings and cities (Holcim, 2008) and the ecological design of the factory was conceived as an ethical response to consumers demanding stronger environmental stewardship from the businesses they patronized (MAS Intimates Thurulie, 2009). The new MAS Fabric Park factory has renewed a historic industrial center and reestablished a local economic base while providing sustainable long-term employment for 1,300 neighborhood inhabitants (Holcim, 2008). In the renewal of the Thulhiriya Textile Mills, 75% of the MAS Intimates Thurulie spatial area has been left in its natural state left to nature and managed as a habitat for the native flora and fauna (see Appendices 1-5) (Holcim, 2008). In the landscaping of the new site, approximately 400 trees

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Introduction to Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Introduction to Business Law - Essay Example In matters concerning offer and acceptance, communication is of paramount importance. In the given case, Eddie telephoned Adele on Monday to ask for quote for the delivery of 12 wild boar piglets to the Eagle Pub. This is not an offer. It is a mere inquiry and it does not amount to an offer. Adele informed Eddie that the piglets would cost ?1,100 each and would be delivered on Thursday morning at a cost of ?150. This is again just a piece of information and not an offer. Eddie was satisfied with the price but wanted the delivery to be made on Wednesday. From the facts, the conduct of Eddie is such that it can be construed that this was an offer. Adele promised to give an answer on the next morning via fax. She sent a fax next morning confirming that the delivery was possible on Wednesday and it would cost ?13,350 in total. According to the given facts, Eddie was not in his office on Tuesday morning. If the courts are convinced that the aforementioned offer by Eddie was a valid offer, his absence from his office on Tuesday morning would be immaterial. A question can be raised whether Adele’s fax’s communication to Jane was enough. It would also be immaterial. It is because of the establishment of ‘Postal Rule’. In Adams v Lindsell 1818 EWHC KB J59, the defendants offered the plaintiffs through a letter to sell some fleeces of wool and asked them to answer via post. The plaintiffs received the letter late due to misdirection but posted their acceptance right away. Before their acceptance could reach the defendants, the defendants contracted with another party to sell the wool. Almost a similar scenario was encountered in Henthorn v Fraser 1892 2 Ch 27. The courts, therefore, specified a definite time of acceptance via post. The acceptance of an offer would be deemed to have been made when the letter of acceptance is posted and is out of the power of the offeree. This rule can also be stretched to communications with fax. Adele’s acceptance was made when she sent the fax to Eddie’s office. It does not matter whether Eddie saw the fax or not. Since the offer was accepted, the object was legal, both parties had consideration and there was an intention to create legal relations, a contract had formed and was legally binding on both the parties. It had formed at the time when the acceptance was made. Eddie is wrong in his thinking that he owes nothing to Adele. His contract with Peter is a breach of contract with Adele. He can be sued for damages by Adele for his breach of contract. The damages would amount to a sum that puts Adele in such a financial position in which she would have been if there was no breach by Eddie. However, Adele would not be able to recover the loss of ?400. It is because the loss was too remote. In Hadley v Baxendale 1854 9 Exch 341, the defendant contracted to take the plaintiff’s mill shaft to London where it was to be used as a model to build a new one. Due to defendantà ¢â‚¬â„¢s fault, the shaft was returned late and it caused the plaintiff to lose profits. The plaintiff sued to recover damages for loss of profits. It was held that the loss caused was too remote and it could not have been recovered. Therefore, by the application of above case, Eddie would not have to compensate Adele for lost profits of ?400. Answer 2 In the given case, Adele went to Bambi Stores Ltd to purchase some animal feed. She was absolutely unalarmed and unwarned when she was hit by a fork-lift truck driven by

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Performance Management At General Motors (GM)

Performance Management At General Motors (GM) The following assignment explores General Motors Europe in four dimensions as set out by learning outcome spertaining to performance management module. The four learning outcomes (LO) would measure, LO1: Setting GME performance targets to meet strategic objectives. LO2: Agreement on team performance targets and subsequent contribution to meet those objectives. LO3: Monitoring and control process for the goals. LO4: Politics of personal interaction of Sir Leahy. A discussion on his leadership, persuasion and influencing skills. In order to achieve these learning objectives, the author has drawn upon from his practical work experience together with the primary and secondary research through various resources. This article would primarily be divided into two segments within the domain of learning objectives as defined above. The division would be between Performance Management and Performance Measurement. Performance is defined as potential for future successful implementation of actions in order to reach the objectives and targets. The article shows that performance is constructed by the management system and by managers from his own experience of working at GME and taking a more macro view of the organisation. Performance management explains performance measurement and gives it meaning. (Lebas, 1995) Setting performance target to meet strategic objectives General Motors, one of the worlds largest automakers. GME was founded in 1908 by William C. Durant. GM headquarters is in Detroit, GM employs 209,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM has been the global automotive sales leader since 1931.GM and its strategic business partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling. GMs largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Russia. General Motors Europe acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. GME is running business with revenue of $135.6 billion (GME, 2010a). GME is using different performance management tools . In this assignment score card methodology is discussed that GME is using. Balance Score Card can be used as a short and long term fortheir financial and non financial performance measurement. There are four parts of balance score card; financial perspective, internal business perspective, customers perspective,learning and growth perspective. Balance Score Card is like your cars dash boardwhere there is indicator on as you drive, you can look at the dashboard to obtain real-time information such as how fuel, speed and the distance youve traveled or even anyfaulty system etc.Its known to help companies and implement the changes required to meet their business goals (Pangakar Kirkwood, 2007). The balance score cardenables the companies to develop a more comprehensive view of their operations andto better match all operating and investment activities to long- and short-term strategic objectives (Punniyamoorthy Murali, 2008). Link of each perspective in the Balance Score Card (BCS) High performance work system (HPWS) is also another method to explain the situation in General Motors. Independent work teams, open systems and performance-based pay are known collectively as high-performance work systems (Rouse, 2000). HPWS have also come to be known as high involvement work systems, flexible work systems and high commitment work systems (Aghazadeh Seyedian, 2004) In other words, they are simply work practice that can be deliberately introduced in order to improved organizational performance. The main focus of HPWS is rearranging work so that the employees participate in decisions that affect the everyday operations of an organization. There are three potential factors that can affect high performance work system in General Motors; retrenchment of workers, technology used and layout design. A worker is the key success to any organization. Retrenchment will cause General Motors to lose talented workers subsequently lose competitive edge. To survive in the changing environment, a company must rely on their workers creativity, ingenuity problem solving ability and strong team work. Workers are able to make their own decision on the best way to accomplish their work. The knowledge and skill shared will create a high performance work system. For example, an engineer in General Motors is developing a fuel efficient engine. Engineer A may need assistants from Engineer B, however when GM decided to retrench workers, Engineer A will face difficulty in developing the engine. Performance of employee can be boost through team works. A study by Thompson, Baughan and Motwani indicates that company such as General Motors, Proctor Gamble, Xerox Corporation had huge increase productivity as high as 250 percent and double their profit (1998). The use of technology is another feature in High Performance Work System. All managers in every department of General Motors are able to identify the technology they use in their organization. The application of Human Resource Information System that can store information on workers that can assist managers in deciding which employee is performing and which is not. The use of technology without human operating it is also meaningless. Managers in General Motor can identify whether the qualified workers are able to operate the tools or not. 1.1 The link between team performance and strategic objectives As it is clear from the figure that all the perspectives link eachother. So all the four parts directly effect the strategic objectives of the company. This principle is used at strategic level. 1.1.1 Organisations Strategic Objectives Goals of GME Lead in advanced technologies and quality in creating the worlds best vehicles Give employees more responsibility and authority and then hold them accountable Create positive, lasting relations with customers, dealers, communities, union partners and suppliers to drive our operating success Strategic Objectives of Organisations Financial Growth: Increase the revenues, gross profit and sales. Financial Efficiency: To improve overall productivity. Current Customer: To expand sales to existing customers, To increase customer retention, To increase customer loyalty, To create and use a customer database. New Customer: Introduce existing products into a new market, Anticipate future customer needs through customer feedback. Customer Service: Improve our service approach for new and existing customers. Product/Service/Program Managment: To have all product meet standard of  excellence guideline. Operations Managment: To continually improve internal process to realize  efficiencies, Capitalize on physical facilities (location, capacity, etc.) Improve organizational structure.Redirect or restructure  available resources. Technology Managment: Increase efficiencies through use of wireless or virtual  technology. Communication Management: Improve internal communications. Customer Management: Acquire enhanced CRM data mining capabilities. Marketing Management: To continuously broaden our customer database by  getting new information on customer characteristics  and needs. Develop and implement a promotional plan to drive  increased business. Channel Management: To aggressively strengthen our upstream channels. Improve the distributor and supplier relationships. People: To hire, develop and maintain the right people, in the right place Employ professionals who create success for customers. Training:Develop broad set of skills useful for customer support. To develop the leadership abilities and potential of our team. Strategic Objectives of GME Integrity: We will stand for honesty and trust in everything we do. We will say what we believe and do what we say. Continuous Improvement: We will set ambitious goals, stretch to meet them, and then raise the bar again and again. We believe that everything can be done better, faster and more effectively in a learning environment. Customer Enthusiasm: We will dedicate ourselves to products and services that create enthusiastic customers. No one will be second-guessed for doing the right things for the customer. Teamwork: We will win by thinking and acting together as one General Motors team, focused on global leadership. Our strengths are our highly skilled people and our diversity. Innovation: We will challenge conventional thinking, explore new technology and implement new ideas, regardless of their source, faster than the competition. Individual Respect and Responsibility: We will be respectful of the individuals we work with, and we will take personal responsibility for our actions and the results of our work. Sourse: gm.com 1.1.2 Workforce requirements that are capable of achieving the  organisations objectives General Motors Europe is using the hierarchical approach. In this method each and every employee is controlled by the respective supervisor. And each supervisor gives the performance report of the employee to the top management. In GME every employee is loyal. The company place the right employee to the right job to achieve the objectives of the organisation. There are 209,000 employs of the company. Each and every employee get the proper training for its job which helps the organisation to achieve the objectives with the help of compitent employs. 1.2 Tools and Techniques available to set team performance targets The following important purposes are derived from different resourses including General Motors website,articles,General Motors final reports. The operational performances of GME are reported and viewed on the quarterly at board level and than the summary report is send to the top management. The performance of employs are checked with the help of score card. I gives the daily performance measurement which could be also used for the long term strategic purposes. Daily , weekly and monthly targets are reviewed regularly. An important consideration is to make sure the objectives remain appropriate and robust measures of performance in the company. GME core purpose is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty. GME,s success depends on customers. The customers who shop with them and the people who work for them. If customers like what the company offer, they are more likely to come back and shop with them again. If the GME team find what the company does rewarding, they are more likely to go that extramile to help their customers. 1.2.1 Processes that deliver outcomes based on organisational goals and aims GME use balanced score card methodology throughout its organisational operations. Every department change the balance score card according to their needs. These performances are measured during team meetings at lower level and is discussed at strategic level. 1.2.2 Appropriate methods for evaluating performance Each and every employee has Personal Development Planning folder. This folder contains all the performance appraisals, the training already given and the future training needs and some departmental performance data. Again the score card helps the company to identify the improvement . 1.2.3 Review capacity and capability of current work force Using the current work force GME has become the largest company and employer in Europe private sector.GME is still expanding by leaps and bounds and earning higher profit than before.The market has enough labour to cater for the recruitment at Europe level. However, for international operations,the recruitment is carried out at local countries. With the current workforce of 209,000 people, the company is more than capable to sustain itself against any future expansion plans. 1.2.4 Plans to meet long term, medium and short term requirements Increase General Motors U.S. market share to 33% Improve customer satisfaction as evidence by points of market share, not fractions GMs Future Hydrogen Power Plans (Mike Floyd, 2010) GM Cuts Unnecessary Spending GM Sales Soar 11.4 Percent In March On Market Shift First Posted: 04/ 1/11 Medical plan and insurance for the employs All of these plans meet the objectives criteria and are in alignment with the growth. 1.2.5 communicate workforce plan GME communicates above mentioned plans through its staff briefings, pamphlets, staff benefits periodical, staffs own website, intranet, films and advertising. The use of flexi hours is very popular in organisation at GME due to the nature of people doing part timer jobs at operational end therefore each department maintains a rota and extra hours available folder through which employees can communicate and leave message for each other along with using staff message boards. The formal training program in GME consists of five components, of which the first three are available through GM University, which is one of the largest corporate educational programs in the world. General Motor has established a learning organization and culture for its employees across the entire enterprise.GM University is designed to align the companys training investment with its business needs, and disseminate best practices and core value. Foundation skill training (i.e. computer software, GM history and business orientation) Functional specific skills and techniques Leadership and professional development On-the-job training in each department In addition, GM supports advanced education and certification through tuition assistance, Cardean e-MBA program, and technical education programs. Tuition Assistance Program: This program regular active salaried employees are eligible for tuition assistance upon date of hire. Graduate Education: Variety of graduate programs are available throughout GM. Checked with the operating unit of interest to you for individual opportunities. On-Site Classwork: Number of educational courses are offered in conjunction with educational institutions throughout the United States. New Hire Mentoring: The GM New Hire (GMNH) is the unique support system for new GM team members. Simply put the GM new hires are paired with our experienced GM team members with the primary objective of professionally transitioning and developing new hires into the GM culture. Providing and enabling to experience professional growth, corporate culture, new ideas and perspectives, while driving for business results. Mentoring is critical as move into the future. The new hires of today, will be our leaders for tomorrow. 1.2.6 Improvements made are in line with the organisations vision and objectives Total worldwide vehicle sales $8.4 million in the year Offering a lease product in certain geographic areas In the year ended December 31, 2010 company worldwide market share was 11.4%. Total of 20,215 distribution outlets throughout the world. Currently offer 19 FlexFuel vehicles for the 2011 model year. Increase the volume of vehicles produced from common global architectures to more than 50% of company total volumes in 2015. Diesel vehicles have become important in the European marketplace, where company encompass 50% of the market share. 1.2.7 Improvements to reduce gap between what customers and  stakeholders want The success of the GME means that the stakeholders at all levels are very happy with the performanceof company. GMEs share is considered to be the most reliable on the market.The gap between customer and stakeholders is substantially reduced by keeping the community and different stakeholders at the heart of scorecard where the progress is checked on recurrent basis. Agreeing Team Performance Targets To Meet  Strategic Objectives This sections aims to look into the team performance targets which match with theultimate strategic gains. 2.1 Required Performance Targets Within Teams Against Current Performance It is the duty of the company to engage with the community and find out about their local shopping preferences. Teams are urged to be polite, helpful and cordial . every company have targets. These targets are compared with the year on year,season on seaon and like for like weekly targets. All the section managers and staff have the access to the relevant information and these targets are reiterated through an internal communication channel. Every single staff working at company has targets. 2.1.1 The type of skills, knowledge, understanding and experience required to undertake current and planned  organisational activities At operational level, there is not much need for high skills required but along with the increment in the hierarchy of the management, the relevant skills are also increased. For example, sectional managers have to be versed in time keeping and management, store managers are more project oriented and have to be more financially aware. GME identify the training needs of its staff. As the company is becoming more technologically oriented, company is investing a lot in the training of systems such as self help check outs monitoring and online reporting. Company employees can manage their own profile these days online and have their personnel related matters sorted through this channel. All this need to be communicated and people are trained through GME Academy. 2.1.2 Systems for collecting and assessing information on the overall performance of theorganisation to identify opportunities for improvement GME relies heavily on digital ways of collecting and assessing information. Although, it does engage with community through local leaflets and local surveys but on strategic level it engages through CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative. It has found out that it needs to invest ingreener and more fair trade products. Every transaction at GME front end is stored for 5 years,this huge amount of data helps to analyse and compare sales data on the overall performance. 2.2 Encourage individual commitment to team performance in achieving organisational objectives. Staff members are encouraged through motivational techniques such as staff value awards competition, employee of the month and encouragement for every staff to become team members. Such techniques help raise the staff morale ultimate resulting in getting individuals commitment. 2.3 Context of delegation, mentoring and coaching to achieve organisational objectives The concept of mentoring is used at graduate training schemes where graduate recruits get their mentor for a year or so period. Operational staff tend to get more coaching and any limitations in their skills are catered for locally in the staff training room. At grass root level there is not much of delegation involved, more or less the operational teams do the jobs that they are asked to do with avery little chance of job rotation. 3 Monitor activities to improve team performance A strategy implementation to improve team performance process has to be a top to bottom approach. Communication lies at the heart of strategy implementation. If the top management doesnt have the required motivation coupled with strong communication channels then it would behard to monitor any strategic systems and processes. (Mabey 2002). Therefore, GME has adopted various channels for the smooth flow of information and introduced various checks and balances so that the balance score card is measured according to the objectives set. This whole process encompasses the involvement of supervisors, team leaders and other managers during staff appraisals which are conducted twice a year. Employees are encouraged to take part in company development programme which is labelled as personal development planning(PDP). Every employee develops his own objectives. The progress is monitored through PDP folder and staff appraisals. Identification of the work objectives, key dates and support materials are provided by the management and also at their daily and weekly staff meetings so that staff can measure their contribution. The balanced score card is considered to be used for organisational fitness for the purpose and is classified as the in-out approach to controlling strategic performance. Balanced score card helps to strengthen the core competencies of an organisation and enables workforce to sustain the competitive advantage in the market. (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Teeceet al., 1997). 3.1 Monitoring team performance Following a resource based review of the adopted balance score card methodology at GME. It encapsulatesthe daily, monthly, quarterly and annual strategic control and the steps through which it iscontrolled and monitored. Balanced score card focuses on alignment and integration of the human activity factor with the operations. It conditions how people work instead of directly trying to influence people (employees and community) what they should achieve. The balanced score card helps to review the objectives and progress through all structures of management and at all levels. GMEs recurring operational issues are discussed at weekly or monthly basis whereas, the strategic issues come up more often at managers meetings on quarterly basis. This is in alignment with the classical view of the balance score card evolution. 3.2 Evaluation of team performance against agreed objectives Team performances are evaluated through 360 feedback, team briefings and by adopting Demings PDC approach. The areas of improvement are defined and are communicated at once throughTeam Exercise. 4 Contribution of influence and persuasion to team dynamics Since the evolution of different management theories, the modern business world uses a mix of all these. Employee motivation through monetary means is still a bigger factor behind better labour output. The contribution of these motivational techniques to influence the team dynamics is measured in this section. 4.1 Methodologies to gain commitment to action GME management uses a combination of Taylorism and Maslow theory of need such that it enriches the job satisfaction by really involving its staff into decision making allowing them to become a part of the organisation and by giving them monetary incentives through bonus and other performance related pay increments. This is a proven methodology to gain GME Staffs commitment in achieving the targets. GME employs over 209,000 and all of them take part in Staff Question Time Sessions which enables the company management to obtain a valuable feedback about the work conditions (Email GME, 2011). This is a 360 degree exercise such that it not only gives feedback to employees but also enables staff to share their experience and opinions to help serve customers better. Staff Training and development is another successful tool that company use to engage with its staff and to enrich their experience of working with them. A good programme such as HPWS (High Performance Work System) is highly eff ective in experienced staff retention. Staff retention and loyalty is a trademark of every successful organisation. 4.2 Impact of individual dynamic on securing commitment to action The impact of the chief executive on securing its staff s commitment to action is distilled at all levels of GMEs organizational structure. For any strategic action has to be channelled through effective top level management. GMEs current boss has earned industry as well as its employees respect by achieving various awards and taking GME,s success to an unprecedented level. Conclusion The above assignment has tried to explore GME within four learning outcomes as specified aboveand has found that due to visionary leadership and innovative performance management measures. The four learning outcomes inspected setting of performance targets through the purpose and balance score card methodology adopted by the company. GME further uses various controlling and monitoring mechanism together with its High Performance Work System to help implement its objectives. Different motivational techniques are used to build up the morale and generate higher labour output by the team members.These teams include enrichment of employees experience through training and development,sharing of success through shares and profits incentives. And eventually, the all important strategic leadership has been discussed. It is argued that without the visionary leadership of management GME would not enjoy the benefits that it is enjoying today. Despite being the leading supermarket, GME continues to expand into more diversified portfolio and the author of this article, having worked in one of the stores, feels confident that the trend would continue in the foreseeable future.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Information Relevancy for Online Consumer Decision-making Essay

Introduction The emergency of Internet has largely changed the travelers’ decision-making process (Buhalis, 2007) and websites have become such an integral component of today's businesses that website effectiveness are of strategic importance to companies at large and hospitality and tourism businesses in specific. It has been a customary practice for hospitality and tourism companies to conduct business transactions to market themselves (Buhalis, 2003; Buhalis & Law, 2008; Wang, 2008) and to enhance communication between suppliers and consumers (Law, Qi, & Buhalis, 2009). As a result, website effectiveness has been a topical area that received sustained scrutiny from tourism and hospitality researchers. However, only a moderate level of success has been achieved (Law, Qi, & Buhalis, 2009). Recent literature in tourism website evaluation have attempted to investigate this area from various angles including website design and functionality, consumer hedonic experiences and perception of information quality (Law & Bai, 2006; Law, Qi, & Buhalis, 2009). However, only limited research has been conducted in evaluating online travel agencies’ (OTAs) websites and travel agencies’ websites (Kaynama & Black, 2000; Chung & Law, 2003; Roney & Ozturan, 2006). The majority of existing studies in this area are conducted in the context of hotels or tourism destinations. Methodologies employed by these studies are mainly using survey questionnaires to measure the overall satisfaction level of online travelers, or other exploratory approaches such as content analysis or attribute/functionality counting against a predefined checklist (Law, Qi, & Buhalis, 2009). It should be noted that most of the existing research tended to only measure the o... .../desire/action to make final booking. 2) Questions related to their perceptions how relevant the information presented at each webpage is in assisting their decision-making. 3) Questions related to their personal information. Expected Contribution Providing relevant and timely information at each page of a website can be crucial in supporting consumer decision making and therefore website effectiveness. This research would be able to identify specific types of information that online travelers would need at certain stage of their decision-making process. It will potentially provide recommendations to OTAs for online information optimization. Additionally this research could build academic linkage between traditional service industry where customer-employee interaction mostly occurs and online service industry where customer-computer interaction mostly occurs.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Recrystallization Lab Essay

Recrystallization is a method used for purifying solid organic compounds. It is the most efficient method to purify and remove impurities from a solid to allow a crystal to grow. The method is when the solute in a hot solvent yields to a solution. Once the solvent cools, the solution is saturated with respect to the solute, which is when it recrystallizes. A crystal is the end result of the method and it is a single pure substance with the impurities being excluded from it. The recrystallization method can be broken down into seven steps: 1) Choosing the solvent, 2) Dissolving the solute, 3) Decolorizing the Solution, 4) Filtering suspended solids, 5) Recrystallizing the solute, 6) Collecting and washing the crystals, and 7) Drying the product. Activated Charcoal is used in Recrystallization to absorb the impurities that are in the solution. Experimental Section 1) Recrystallization of Phthalic Acid 2) Recrystallization of Benzoic Acid 3) Recrystallization of Naphthalene Table of Chemicals Melting point Boiling Point Molar Mass Color Phthalic Acid 230 °C Decomposes 166.13 g/mole White Benzoic Acid 122.4 °C 249.2 °C 122.12 g/mole Not available Naphthalene 80.2 °C 218 °C 128.19 g/mole white Results Phthalic Acid Benzoic Acid Naphthalene Mass .143 g .126g (w/ out water) .098g (w/ water) .439g Percent Recovery 71.5% (0.143g/0.2g) 252% (.0126/0.05g) 196% (0.098g/0.05g) 43.9% (0.439g/1.0g) Melting Point 220 °C 110 °C (w/ out water) 105 °C (w/ water) 70 °C Discussion The percent recovery of Benzoic Acid is way above 100%. This indicates that an error was performed during the experiment. Phthalic Acid melted just 20 °C less than the standard melting point for Phthalic Acid. Naphthalene melted 10 °C less and Benzoic Acid also did not reach the standard melting point. Reasons for a low percent Recovery for Phthalic Acid and Naphthalene is probably because not all of the solid were collected when filtered out. Reasons for Benzoic Acid being over 100 % is probably because there was an excess of solute and it was not filtered out correctly. Conclusion To conclude, the experiment was successful in creating crystals and removing them from impurities. Only fault was not taking out enough of the crystals to get the right percent recovery. The techniques for recrystallization can be used for any chemicals as long as there is a solvent that it can mix with and it is an impure compound. References Weldegirma, Solomon. Laboratory Manual: CHM 2210L and CHM 2211L. Tampa: Chemistry Department, 2014. Print. â€Å"Phthalic Acid Msds.† Science Lab. N.P., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014 â€Å"Recrystallization Technique.† – [www.rhodium.ws]. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Giver

Creating an Acrostic Poem In this lesson, you will create an impressive acrostic poem. You will use your Intel-based MacBook, or iMac, (or other Macintosh computer running OSX 10. 5 or higher), and the preloaded software to complete the project. Images are provided to help you along the way, and there is a sample poem on the last page of this lesson. Try to follow the steps in the activity as closely as you can, but once you have a feel for the way the software works, feel free to elaborate in order to personalize your poem and further develop your computer skills.Here is a list of the tools you’ll use: HardwareSoftware ComputerMS Office-Word iSight CameraDashboard Widget-Dictionary/Thesaurus PrinterPhotoBooth, iPhoto (optional) Procedure: Setting Up the Document 1. Open MS Word application. Look for the icon in the Dock. If you can’t find it there, open a New Finder Window, then click on Applications, then scoll down to MicroSoft Office 2004 or Office X, then open (or expand) that folder to show the icon. Double-click on it to open the application. 2. Pull down the File menu to New Blank Document, or, in the Project Gallery, click Word Document, then click Done. . Type the title of the poem (name of the person, animal, item) on the first line of the page, ideally with all capital letters. 4. Press the return key two or three times to leave some space between the title and the first line of the poem. 5. Now type the same word vertically, down the left side of the page, again in all captial letters, pressing the return key after each letter, so that each letter is on its own line. Don’t worry about the appearance being rather dull at this point. The first task is to get the structure down. 6. Save your document.Some students may remark that they â€Å"†¦have not finished yet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is a good opportunity to remind ourselves that we should be saving our work early on in the process, and then repeatedly as the document grows. Pull down the File menu to Save†¦ A ‘sheet’ will appear at the top of your window. The one shown here shows that the document will be saved as: HENRY. doc on the Desktop. (You may elect to have your students save their work with a more specific name, and in another location. ) Click Save. Using the Dashboard Widget – Dictionary/Thesaurus 7. Click on the Dashboard icon in the Dock. 8.The dictionary widget may already be present on your desktop, but if it is not, click on the plus sign (in the circle in the lower left corner of the screen), and other widgets that are available will appear. 9. Click on the dictionary widget (it also includes the thesaurus). The widget will appear. You can drag it anywhere you like. Click on the Thesaurus button at the top of the widget, then type in a word you want to find synonyms for. Let’s say, for example, that you want to find a word that means ‘friendly’, but you don’t have an â€Å"F† in your name. Type the word friendly in, and then look for a word that starts with the letter you need. 0. Once you have found the word, click on the Word icon in the Dock to return to your acrostic poem. Type your word on the line that beings with its first letter.Repeat this process until you have filled in all the lines of your poem. Remember to continue to save your work by pulling down the File menu to Save, or by holding down the Apple key and pressing S. (? +S). Using the PhotoBooth Application to Take a Picture 11. Click on the Finder icon. If a Finder window does not appear, pull down the File menu to New Finder Window (? +N). 12. Click on Applications, then scroll down to PhotoBooth. Double-click on the PhotoBooth icon to open it. 3. Adjust your seated, (or for small students, your standing position) in front of the computer. You may also be able to adjust the tilt of the iMac or MacBook screen to change the angle. Get close to the camera so your image is large. 14. If you w ant a standard photo, just click the camera icon below your image, then smile and wait for the 3-2-1 countdown. If you don’t like the result, simply click on the x in the corner of the little image (which deletes it), and then take another. If you want an effect in your image, click on the 1 or 2 next to Effects, click on the effect you want to try, and then click the camera to shoot.Here are a few samples of the types of effects you can use: Once you are happy with the photo taken, you can simply drag and drop (with your mouse) the mini-photo from PhotoBooth onto the Word page. 15. There are several places you can store the photos you’ve taken: a. You can move them to iPhoto, and then create albums to organize them. b. You can save them to a folder on the desktop, or to a USB drive, or to a server folder. To locate the PhotoBooth images you’ve taken in the Finder, click File, Reveal in Finder. There you can rename the files and copy them to one of the storage l ocations mentioned above. 16.Once the photos are saved, you can insert them in the Word document in many ways as well. a. You can copy/paste them in from iPhoto, or drag/drop them from iPhoto, if you had saved them there. b. You can drag the photo into Word just by dragging the icon onto the Word page. c. You can pull down the Insert menu in Word to Picture, From File†¦ and then navigate to the location where you saved the photos. Once you see it, click Insert. Do not worry that that photo ends up in the middle of a sentence. Wherever the photo ends up, just double-click on it. 17. Once you have double-clicked on the photo, the Format Picture dialog box will appear.Click on Layout, then Square, then OK. 18. Handles will appear in the corners of the photo. Click and hold the mouse button down and a square with arrows in the diagonal corners will appear. Drag inward to resize the photo down. (You can always resize the photo later, if necessary. ) Repeat the process if more than o ne photo is desired. Leave space so that you can enlarge the text of the poem. If the poems are exprected to be posted on a bulletin board, make sure the text is at least size 36-48, with an even larger title, so they can be read easily from a distance. Modifying the Text 19. Select the text.Then, using the Formatting Palette, change the size, and font of the text. If you don’t see the palette, pull down the View menu to Formatting Palette. (Tip: If you want to select a single word, just double-click on it. If you want to select an entire line, triple-click on it). Finishing Up 20. Adjust the size of your photo(s) to have a good balance between the size of the text and the photo. Be sure there is enough white space on your page. Having a page that is too crowded is unappealing. 21. Change the color of the title text. 22. Change the color of the first letter to match the color used in the title text. 23.Using the formatting palette in Word, you can add a bordering line around the photo(s), and also a shadow, which helps the picture appear to be ‘lifted’ from the page. 24. Save your work. 25. Once your work is saved, feel free to make more changes until the page looks just right. 26. As an extension of this activity, and to give students opportunities to modify photos using iPhoto, the PhotoBooth photos can be sent to iPhoto and then edited. 27. A common task is to crop the photo, removing unwanted portions of the photo, or enlarge the image of the face, if the student was sitting too far from the computer when the photo was taken.California Reading/Language Arts Standards Included: Grade 3 Research? 1. 3 Understand the structure and organization of various reference materials (e. g. , dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, encyclopedia). Writing Applications 2. 2 Write descriptions that use concrete sensory details to present and support unified impressions of people, places, things, or experiences.? Capitalization? 1. 7 Capitalize geographical names , holidays, historical periods, and special events correctly. HENRY Healthy Easygoing Neighborly Reliable Youthful The Giver Creating an Acrostic Poem In this lesson, you will create an impressive acrostic poem. You will use your Intel-based MacBook, or iMac, (or other Macintosh computer running OSX 10. 5 or higher), and the preloaded software to complete the project. Images are provided to help you along the way, and there is a sample poem on the last page of this lesson. Try to follow the steps in the activity as closely as you can, but once you have a feel for the way the software works, feel free to elaborate in order to personalize your poem and further develop your computer skills.Here is a list of the tools you’ll use: HardwareSoftware ComputerMS Office-Word iSight CameraDashboard Widget-Dictionary/Thesaurus PrinterPhotoBooth, iPhoto (optional) Procedure: Setting Up the Document 1. Open MS Word application. Look for the icon in the Dock. If you can’t find it there, open a New Finder Window, then click on Applications, then scoll down to MicroSoft Office 2004 or Office X, then open (or expand) that folder to show the icon. Double-click on it to open the application. 2. Pull down the File menu to New Blank Document, or, in the Project Gallery, click Word Document, then click Done. . Type the title of the poem (name of the person, animal, item) on the first line of the page, ideally with all capital letters. 4. Press the return key two or three times to leave some space between the title and the first line of the poem. 5. Now type the same word vertically, down the left side of the page, again in all captial letters, pressing the return key after each letter, so that each letter is on its own line. Don’t worry about the appearance being rather dull at this point. The first task is to get the structure down. 6. Save your document.Some students may remark that they â€Å"†¦have not finished yet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is a good opportunity to remind ourselves that we should be saving our work early on in the process, and then repeatedly as the document grows. Pull down the File menu to Save†¦ A ‘sheet’ will appear at the top of your window. The one shown here shows that the document will be saved as: HENRY. doc on the Desktop. (You may elect to have your students save their work with a more specific name, and in another location. ) Click Save. Using the Dashboard Widget – Dictionary/Thesaurus 7. Click on the Dashboard icon in the Dock. 8.The dictionary widget may already be present on your desktop, but if it is not, click on the plus sign (in the circle in the lower left corner of the screen), and other widgets that are available will appear. 9. Click on the dictionary widget (it also includes the thesaurus). The widget will appear. You can drag it anywhere you like. Click on the Thesaurus button at the top of the widget, then type in a word you want to find synonyms for. Let’s say, for example, that you want to find a word that means ‘friendly’, but you don’t have an â€Å"F† in your name. Type the word friendly in, and then look for a word that starts with the letter you need. 0. Once you have found the word, click on the Word icon in the Dock to return to your acrostic poem. Type your word on the line that beings with its first letter.Repeat this process until you have filled in all the lines of your poem. Remember to continue to save your work by pulling down the File menu to Save, or by holding down the Apple key and pressing S. (? +S). Using the PhotoBooth Application to Take a Picture 11. Click on the Finder icon. If a Finder window does not appear, pull down the File menu to New Finder Window (? +N). 12. Click on Applications, then scroll down to PhotoBooth. Double-click on the PhotoBooth icon to open it. 3. Adjust your seated, (or for small students, your standing position) in front of the computer. You may also be able to adjust the tilt of the iMac or MacBook screen to change the angle. Get close to the camera so your image is large. 14. If you w ant a standard photo, just click the camera icon below your image, then smile and wait for the 3-2-1 countdown. If you don’t like the result, simply click on the x in the corner of the little image (which deletes it), and then take another. If you want an effect in your image, click on the 1 or 2 next to Effects, click on the effect you want to try, and then click the camera to shoot.Here are a few samples of the types of effects you can use: Once you are happy with the photo taken, you can simply drag and drop (with your mouse) the mini-photo from PhotoBooth onto the Word page. 15. There are several places you can store the photos you’ve taken: a. You can move them to iPhoto, and then create albums to organize them. b. You can save them to a folder on the desktop, or to a USB drive, or to a server folder. To locate the PhotoBooth images you’ve taken in the Finder, click File, Reveal in Finder. There you can rename the files and copy them to one of the storage l ocations mentioned above. 16.Once the photos are saved, you can insert them in the Word document in many ways as well. a. You can copy/paste them in from iPhoto, or drag/drop them from iPhoto, if you had saved them there. b. You can drag the photo into Word just by dragging the icon onto the Word page. c. You can pull down the Insert menu in Word to Picture, From File†¦ and then navigate to the location where you saved the photos. Once you see it, click Insert. Do not worry that that photo ends up in the middle of a sentence. Wherever the photo ends up, just double-click on it. 17. Once you have double-clicked on the photo, the Format Picture dialog box will appear.Click on Layout, then Square, then OK. 18. Handles will appear in the corners of the photo. Click and hold the mouse button down and a square with arrows in the diagonal corners will appear. Drag inward to resize the photo down. (You can always resize the photo later, if necessary. ) Repeat the process if more than o ne photo is desired. Leave space so that you can enlarge the text of the poem. If the poems are exprected to be posted on a bulletin board, make sure the text is at least size 36-48, with an even larger title, so they can be read easily from a distance. Modifying the Text 19. Select the text.Then, using the Formatting Palette, change the size, and font of the text. If you don’t see the palette, pull down the View menu to Formatting Palette. (Tip: If you want to select a single word, just double-click on it. If you want to select an entire line, triple-click on it). Finishing Up 20. Adjust the size of your photo(s) to have a good balance between the size of the text and the photo. Be sure there is enough white space on your page. Having a page that is too crowded is unappealing. 21. Change the color of the title text. 22. Change the color of the first letter to match the color used in the title text. 23.Using the formatting palette in Word, you can add a bordering line around the photo(s), and also a shadow, which helps the picture appear to be ‘lifted’ from the page. 24. Save your work. 25. Once your work is saved, feel free to make more changes until the page looks just right. 26. As an extension of this activity, and to give students opportunities to modify photos using iPhoto, the PhotoBooth photos can be sent to iPhoto and then edited. 27. A common task is to crop the photo, removing unwanted portions of the photo, or enlarge the image of the face, if the student was sitting too far from the computer when the photo was taken.California Reading/Language Arts Standards Included: Grade 3 Research? 1. 3 Understand the structure and organization of various reference materials (e. g. , dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, encyclopedia). Writing Applications 2. 2 Write descriptions that use concrete sensory details to present and support unified impressions of people, places, things, or experiences.? Capitalization? 1. 7 Capitalize geographical names , holidays, historical periods, and special events correctly. HENRY Healthy Easygoing Neighborly Reliable Youthful