Geographical Information System (GIS) in Qatar Essay

Geographical Information System (GIS) in Qatar - Essay Example Without a doubt, Qatar foresees hurdles and challenges it has to face during the course of implementing its plans, and designs the contingency plans as well. On the technological side however, the continually changing trend in modeling and concepts linked to GIS data heavily strains the resources. Moreover, software solutions that are comprehensive and are at per with other Information Technology fronts and address all the needs required by this unique model have not yet emerged. Such models are the country’s pressing GIS needs for cruising into the next millennium. Qatar, a country characterized by desert topography, experienced rapid growth over the past decades following the country’s discovery of oil. Consequently, a spurt in physical growth occurred, followed by infrastructure development at a large scale, a fete which had to be at per with the rapid growth. Inefficient resource management, inadequate coordination, and duplication of efforts among government agencies heavily strained the government in the face of shrinking budgets and the ever-growing demands. In utilizing resources optimally when the country faced such rapid growth, the availability of the correct information at the correct time, became apparent as the key and efficient system of management and decision-making. This perception, along with the realization that close to eight percent of this vast body of information was related to the country’s geography, prompted the government’s option for a nationwide fully implemented GIS program for Qatar. Towards this end, the Center for GIS (CGIS) and the National Steering Committee were formed in 1990. Currently, digitally common base maps are available online for access by all agencies using GIS in Qatar, via a fiber optic network of high speed. Data consistency and the control of duplication efforts

Top down and control style management

Top down and control style management In the present economic world management Style can be defined as the style adapted to control or lead a business efficiently for the attainment of objectives set by the business. So the effective management style helps in maintaining the motivation of the employees and as a result enhances productivity. It is very important to look at the prominent management styles and how they function in the real world before we draw in to change process. A top-down/command and control style management can be defined as a style where the leader or small number of people takes all the decisions on their own and employees are told what to do and are closely controlled. The top management does not consult his subordinates or takes their opinion in consideration for decision making and dominates and controls the entire task. The person or persons who possess these personal qualities would be task oriented. In other way this can be described as a centralised way of governance. When the changes needed to be taken place involve high risks and the circumstances request quick and immediate decision making, this kind of management style proves to be the most effective. But it involves the use of power and fair amount of politics than the other management styles. As a result this causes demotivation as it implies the skills and ideas of others being ignored and it can also lead to the alienation of the staff. Typical characteristics of a centralised structure of decision making, or governance within an organisation would be an autocratic structure, because everyone is answerable to the leader or the top management. This brings advantages to the organisation in terms of focus and clarity of purpose; everyone is likely to know the companys goals and what is expected from them. Consistency is often a beneficial by-product, possibly because of lack of variety or maybe the attention to detail that becomes viable. The speed at which decisions can be made and passed down to the relevant persons is an obvious advantage. A high degree of flexibility is also associated with centralisation; the ability to change direction with the market is a valuable characteristic. However, it becomes clear that too much responsibility can be placed upon one person, usually the owner or manager. An autocratic nature usually has very little opinion, points of view or other valuable information passed up the hierarc hy; wholly undemocratic, emphasised by the lack of accountability and scrutiny. Centralised models of decision making tend to only work effectively in small organisations, most of the associated advantages are lost in large organisations, for example, it becomes much more difficult for employees to share one uniting aim or goal, speed of decision and information flow would undoubtedly be adversely affected in larger hierarchies etc, as would flexibility. Implementation of change in the organization will require the leader to weigh resistance to change at both the individual and organizational levels. Because change invariably threatens the status quo, it inherently implies political activity. The following chapter looks at different kinds of leadership qualities and how they managing the change process with in an organization. Leadership is cautiously defined as the process of influencing people and providing an environment for them to achieve team or organization objectives. (McShane, 2002). Effective leaders can help individuals or teams define their goals and identify ways to achieve them. Effective leaders also create conditions that enable others to realize their potential in the workplace. Leadership styles will influence the effectiveness of the change management process by recognizing and varying the style with the specific situation. The identification of when to give directions, times to empathize, times to use stretch goals, and times to involve subordinates in decision making will influence the effectiveness of the change management process under the guidance of specific leader. The Directive leadership style or task-oriented leadership is effective when clarification of performance goals, the means to reach the goals, and identification of the standards used to judge reaching the goals is need ed by the organization undergoing the change. The Supportive leadership style is effective when the need is for a leader that is understanding, approachable, friendly, and is able to guide the employees involved in organizational change through stressful situations while treating them with equal respect and showing concerns for their needs and well-being. The Participative leadership style is effective when employees undergoing change are motivated by involvement with the decisions beyond their normal work activities. The Achievement-oriented leadership style is effective when employees are motivated by encouragement to reach their peak performance and the leader shows a high degree of confidence in their ability to set and achieve change goals. Task structure, team dynamics, employee skill and experience, and locus of control are contingencies that will impact the effectiveness of the leaders impact on the change management process. (McShane, 2002). Over the following paragraphs I will be discussing two examples of participative change processes namely Appreciative Inquiry and Public Conversations Project and how they differ from the command-and-control styles of managing change. 1. Appreciative Inquiry In this process there will be ongoing discussion among the organization members at different levels and they will be actively participated on decision making. This type of process normally follows a problem solving method and involves identification of problem, analysis of causes, analysis of possible solutions and possible treatment. Appreciative inquiry takes off on this idea that how we think about, and talk about, our organizations influences how we work in them. Appreciative inquiry is based on the belief that if we conceive of organizations as problems to be solved, we end up in an endless cycle of problem definition and problem solution. This in turn saps energy for productive change since people end up feeling criticized or accused of having done something wrong. Appreciative inquiry removes organizational habits of distrust, animosity and blame, and replaces them with a willingness to learn, mutual respect, and cooperation. Appreciative inquiry sees organizations as miracles to be appreciated. If we see organizations in this way, we begin to understand what is working well and how this is coming about, and we can intentionally amplify those positive factors. This will create forward motion, positive energy and the possibility for lasting change. There are usually four steps of appreciative inquiry. a.  Appreciating what gives life (appreciating the best of what is) This phase is a quest to identify positive stories and spread them throughout the organization. The discovery phase shifts the attention from what isnt working to what is working and may possibly work in the future. In order to find out what is working, an appreciative interview is generally performed. This involves exploring a persons beginnings with an organization, what they value most about themselves, their work and the organization, and their hopes and dreams for the organizations future. b.  Imagining what might be (envisioning what might be) This phase is a time for groups of people to engage in thinking big, thinking outside the box, and thinking out of the boundaries of what has been in the past. It is a time for people to describe their wishes and dreams for their work, their working relationships, and their organization. This phase takes place in a large group meeting during which data and stories collected in the previous phase are shared. Wishes and dreams for the future of the organization are often acted out to dramatize the positive possibilities envisioned for the organization. c. Determining what will be (dialoguing what should be ) This phase provides an opportunity for large numbers of employees and stakeholders to come together to co-create their organization. This phase allow members to make important decisions on what steps or actions are required to make the dreams come true. d. Creating what will be (innovating what will be) This phase focuses on action planning at both the personal and organizational levels. During this phase, commitments are made to ensure that their dream will be realized. This takes huge commitment from individuals to comply with the action plans, small groups to work on collaboration efforts, and new teams that have been established for new projects. Since all these phases involve large number of employees and stakeholders, the likelihood that these action plans for changes will be accepted and implemented will be high. Appreciative inquiry engages the whole organization in discovering the best of what has been and dreaming about the best of what might be. Appreciative inquiry focuses on what is right and do more of it rather than the traditional approach that focus on what is wrong and do less of it. It focuses on what works and determining how to do more of what works. Positive learning and innovation comes from studying, adapting, and replicating what works. Also, appreciative inquiry is based on the past of all the employees and aims to involve all the employee and stakeholder for the future of the organization. This can only lead to positive attitudes about the organizations future and brings unity among all the members of the organization. Comparing to control command style of management this process takes much longer time to give the result and it is quite obvious as a successful participative change process. 2. Public Conversations Project This is another example of participative change process where the management can work with groups in conflict with in the organization. The main task is to facilitate and create dialogue sessions among the conflict groups or participants and allow addressing their own issues regarding the problematic relationship. Questions like, How did you get involved?, Whats the key issue?, Whats your grey area? Will be asked from both parties. The main objectives are to discuss the popular misconceptions of stereotypes, how to promote better relationships among people and the importance of diversity among people living/working together. The facilitators meet with participants prior to each dialogue, in a pre-meeting designed to exchange their hopes, concerns and experiences. A draft of ground rules being given to the participants intended to prepare them to deal with issues in a way that results in a dialogue rather than debate. Group discussions will be carried out with a facilitator guiding the whole process under his observation, to be start with a series of questions will put forward that each person must answer. The outcome of the dialogue generally will be participants sharing their reflections on the process and exploring implications and next steps. As a main feature of this participation change process members who participated are also asked to fill out evaluation forms and will be requested by the facilitator to participate in follow-up conversations. There will be minimal degree of control, power and command will be involved just to progress with the process. Every participant contributes them selves for the conversation and during the progress a pattern will be identified which will guide them to disclose the information more freely among the members. The facilitator must take action to make sure that every member of the group will be pace with the ongoing conversation so they will be heard. To facilitate change of the information or knowledge they can be asked to interrupt the pattern of conversation or conventions of the group and contribute them selves. Contributions are linked together to conversation will be continued as a joint action. Narrative therapy is another way of participative change process where it views problems as separate from people and assumes people have many values, skills, beliefs, competencies, commitments and abilities that will assist them to change their relationship with problems in their lives. This is a kind of a non-blaming, respectful approach to counselling and community work, which centres people as the experts in their own lives. The client plays an important roll to decide which direction they should take during the consultation, making it more similar to a person centred counselling session. Always maintaining a curiosity stance and willingness to ask questions to which we dont know the answers genuinely are the main features of this process.

Kate Chopins Awakening - Edna Pontellier as Master of Her Destiny Essa

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, the main character, Edna leaves her husband to find place in the world. Edna believes her new sexually independent power will make her master of her own life. But, as Martin points out, she has overestimated her strength and is still hampered by her "limited ability to direct her energy and to master her emotions" (22). Unfortunately, Edna has been educated too much in the traditions of society and not enough in reason and independent survival, admitting to Robert that "we women learn so little of life on the whole" (990). She has internalized society's conception of woman as guided by her emotions and not her mind and, therefore, in the search for another man to fill the void of love in her life, lets her goal become clouded instead of learning to depend on herself alone. Edna wants to overcome gender stereotypes, and is already using behaviours such as assertiveness and independence to question them, but the struggle is new to her and she fails to discover a method that would allow her to successfully leave behind society's preconceptions. Martin writes, Ambition, striving, overcoming odds, the focusing of energy on a goal are habits of mind associated with masculine mastery. A woman who wants to develop these skills has to defy a centuries-old tradition of passive femininity[.] . . . But Edna Pontellier does not have the emotional resources to transcend the conventions that regulate female behavior, conventions that she has, in fact, internalized. (22) Even in her defiant disobedience to her husband, she is subconsciously aware of the futility of her struggle. During a fit of violent frustration with her marriage, "she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon th... ... Giorcelli, Cristina. "Edna's Wisdom: A Transitional and Numinous Merging." Martin 109-39. Martin, Wendy, ed. New Essays on the Awakening. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988. Papke, Mary E. Verging on the Abyss: The Social Fiction of Kate Chopin and Edith Wharton. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1990. Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1969. Showalter, Elaine. "Tradition and the Female Talent: The Awakening as a Solitary Book." Martin 33-55. Skaggs, Peggy. Kate Chopin. Boston: Twayne, 1985. Stein, Allen F. Women and Autonomy in Kate Chopin's Short Fiction. NY: Peter Lang, 2005. Web. 21 Apr. 2015. Wells, Kim. â€Å"Kate Chopin’s The Awakening: A Critical Reception.† Kate Chopin’s The Awakening: A Critical Reception. N.p., Aug. 1999. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.

Purchasing Behaviours of Three Major Races in Malaysia

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT III Name: FAWWAZ AIMAN SAKARIA Student Id: 2012645664 Programme: BBA (Hons) Marketing Part: 3 Course: Understanding Consumer (MKT531) Lecturer: Mdm Sharifah Nurafizah Date: 16/11/2012 Answers There are only few differences that can be found on the three major races of Malaysia (Malays, Chinese and Indians) in terms of purchasing behaviour. Based on the household expenses, the Malays purchasing behaviour are influenced by the Islamic religions needs and regulations which concern on the ‘HALAL’ label of the product.Islam constitution plays roles in the daily life of the Muslims. In addition, the Malays are quite incompetent in handling product and market information which may result in the confusion and information overload. From the perspective as consumers, Malays shows much interest in acquiring technologically produced and high quality products, without being materialistic or conspicuous buying.Chinese is the second largest groups in Malaysia and they are viewed as the powerful economics compare to the other two groups. For the Chinese, it’s important to conduct wide information achievement to reduce the uncertainty purchases. The self-pride also play the important roles for the Chinese to decide on their products purchasing. For instance, the more expensive of the products, the more it reflects to the wealthy and level of socials of that person.Indians in Malaysia has quite similar with the Malaysians Chinese buying behaviour but they are viewed as a high degree in product value orientation. Indian consumers are also concerned with the values of natural, care and affection. These values are far more dominant that values expensive and social level purchasing style. The preference for the Indians is more to the traditional products value rather than buying the technology invented products. (253 WORDS)

Mgmt Quiz

1. While there are many routes to competitive advantage, they all involve B. delivering superior value to buyers in ways rivals cannot readily match. 2. A low-cost leader can translate its low-cost advantage over rivals into superior profit performance by B. either using its low-cost edge to underprice competitors and attract price sensitive buyers in large enough numbers to increase total profits or refraining from price-cutting and using the low-cost advantage to earn a bigger profit margin on each unit sold. 3. The major avenues for achieving a cost advantage over rivals include A. liminating or curbing non-essential cost-producing activities and performing essential value chain activities more cost-effectively that rivals. Â   4. A differentiation-based competitive advantage E. often hinges on incorporating features that (1) raise the performance of the product or (2) lower the buyer's overall costs of using the company's product or (3) enhance buyer satisfaction in intangible or non-economic ways or (4) deliver value to customers by exploiting competitive capabilities that rivals can't match. 5.Which of the following is not one of the pitfalls of a low-cost provider strategy? B. Using a cost-based advantage to improve the company's bargaining position with high-volume buyers 6. Opportunities to differentiate a company's product offering C. can exist in supply chain activities, R, manufacturing activities, distribution and shipping or marketing, sales and customer service. 7. In which of the following circumstances is a strategy to be the industry's overall low-cost provider not particularly well matched to the market situation?When buyers have widely varying needs and special requirements and when the cost of switching purchases from one seller to another are relatively high.8. The objective of competitive strategy is to B. build advantage in the marketplace by giving buyers superior value relative the offerings of rival sellers.9. Successful differentiation allows a firm to D. command a premium price for its product and/or increase unit sales and/or gain buyer loyalty to its brand.10. The generic types of competitive strategies include C. ow-cost provider, broad differentiation, focused low-cost, focused differentiation and best cost provider strategies.11. Easy-to-copy differentiating features A. do not offer the promise of sustainable competitive advantage.12. A competitive strategy to be the low-cost provider in an industry works well when E. All of these.13. The most appealing approaches to differentiation are E. those that are tough for rivals to duplicate and that also have considerable buyer appeal. Read also Quiz Week 414. A company that succeeds in differentiating its product offering from those of its rivals can usually E.All of the above.15. A strategy to be the industry's overall low-cost provider tends to be more appealing than a differentiation or focus strategy when C. the offerings of rival firms are essentially identical, standardized, commodity-like products.16. Which of the following is not one of the five generic types of competitive strategy? E. A market share dominator strategy17. Perceived value and signaling value are often an important part of a successful differentiation strategy when E. All of these.18. A competitive strategy of striving to be the low-cost provider is particularly attractive when E. switching costs are high, price competition is strong, and buyers tend to use the industry's products in many different ways.19. A low-cost leader's basis for competitive advantage is D. meaningfully lower overall costs than competitors.20. A company's competitive strategy deals with A. management's game plan for securing a competitive advantage relative to rivals.