Scenario Of Family Business Management Information Technology Essay

Scenario Of Family Business Management Information Technology Essay A family business is a business in which one or more members of one or more families have a significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business overall well-being. In some countries, many of the largest publicly listed firms are family-owned. A firm is said to be family-owned if a person is the controlling shareholder; that is, a person (rather than a state, corporation, management trust, or mutual fund) can garner enough shares to assure at least 20% of the voting rights and the highest percentage of voting rights in comparison to other shareholders. Family businesses may have owners who are not family members. Family businesses may also be managed by individuals who are not members of the family. However, family members are often involved in the operations of their family business in some capacity and, in smaller companies, usually one or more family members are the senior officers and managers. Many businesses that are now public companies were family businesses. Family participation as managers and/or owners of a business can strengthen the company because family members are often loyal and dedicated to the family enterprise. However, family participation as managers and/or owners of a business can present unique problems because the dynamics of the family system and the dynamics of the business systems are often not in balance. PROBLEMS IN FAMILY BUSINESSMANAGEMENT The interests of a family member may not be aligned with the interest of the business. For example, if a family member wants to be president but is not as competent as a non-family member, the personal interest of the family member and the well being of the business may be in conflict. The interests of the entire family may not be balanced with the interests of their business. For example, if a family needs its business to distribute funds for living expenses and retirement but the business requires those to stay competitive, the interests of the entire family and the business are not aligned. Finally, the interest of one family member may not be aligned with another family member. For example, a family member who is an owner may want to sell the business to maximize their return, but a family member who is an owner and also a manager may want to keep the company because it represents their career and they want their children to have the opportunity to work in the business. . For example, if a family needs its business to distribute funds for living expenses and retirement but the business requires those to stay competitive, the interests of the entire family and the business are not aligned. Finally, the interest of one family member may not be aligned with another family member. For example, a family member who is an owner may want to sell the business to maximize their return, but a family member who is an owner and also a manager may want to keep the company because it represents their career and they want their children to have the opportunity to work in the business. SCENARIOS OF FAMILY BUSINESS MANAGEMENT But balancing competing interests often become difficult in three situations. The first situation is when the founder wants to change they are involved in the business. Usually the founder begins this transition by involving others to manage the business. Involving someone else to manage the company requires the founder to be more conscious and formal in balancing personal interests with the interests of the business because they can no longer do this alignment automatically-someone else is involved. The second situation is when more than one person owns the business and no single person has the power and support of the other owners to determine collective interests. For example, if a founder intends to transfer ownership in the family business to their four children, two of whom work in the business, how do they balance these unequal differences? The four siblings need a system to do this themselves when the founder is no longer involved. The third situation is when there are multiple owners and some or all of the owners are not in management. Given the situation above, there is a higher chance that the interests of the two sons not employed in the family business may be different than the interests of the two sons who are employed in the business. Their potential for differences does not mean that the interests cannot be aligned, it just means that there is a greater need for the four owners to have a system in place that differences can be identified and balanced. SUCCESS OF FAMILY BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Successfully balancing the differing interests of family members and/or the interests of one or more family members on the one hand and the interests of the business on the other hand require the people involved to have the competencies, character and commitment to do this work. Often family members can benefit from involving more than one professional advisor, each having the particular skill set needed by the family. Some of the skill sets that might be needed include communication, conflict resolution, family systems, finance, legal, accounting, insurance, investing, leadership development, management development, and strategic planning. INNOVATIVE TRENDS IN FAMILY BUSINESS MANAGEMENT . There are three major trends among the most innovative family business management that together will have a strong impact on wealth holders and the providers to these families: Develop new sources of knowledge. Family business continuously gather practical information from a wide variety of sources. As a result, much of the information these families receive comes from providers of products and services, who have a commercial motive. To further complicate matters, products and advice are often bundled together, with free services subsidized by the revenues generated from other components of the package. Unsurprisingly, the most complex and/or illiquid offerings tend to have the highest embedded costs. Family business management increasingly supplement these sources of information through peering communicating with each other to compare experiences and solutions.At its best, this is a global exercise in which family business actively seek to learn from their peers around the world. Leading families recognize that local networks must be supplemented to ensure that they access more than a location-specific consensus shared by those who, for example, live in the same place, share the same social network, or rely upon the same sources of information. Unbundle, measure, and innovate. The most sophisticated family business recognize that products, platforms, and advice, are fundamentally distinct. They are creating customized solutions from select providers in each category, rather than accepting a bundled offering from a single source. This unbundling allows for more accurate measurement of the value provided by each component. This in turn allows family business management to see new areas of opportunity and to swap out only the individual components that are not working according to specific performance criteria. While trust remains paramount, the foundation of trust is shifting to be based on competence and track record rather than simply a personal relationship. The most enduring relationships are being built upon informed trust, which requires a clear understanding of the way a providers business works. Family business are increasingly focused on measuring inputs and outputs. This means that they are paying closer attention to the transaction costs of interm ediation and actively seeking to calibrate economic incentives to better align costs with value. This requires a nuanced understanding of the inner workings of products and services so that meaningful benchmarks and cross-comparisons can be established. The most sophisticated families consider both absolute and relative value, using peer-based benchmarks as an input to their evaluations. Pursue opportunities globally. The inputs that family business use to create their solutions increasingly come from all over the world, not just their home countries. This trend is a direct result of the two trends described above. Family business have both the means and the incentives to invest in understanding foreign markets and practices. The empirical case for doing so is strong, particularly when local knowledge can be applied to less efficient markets. In addition to globalizing their portfolios, family business increasingly seek opportunities from direct investments. Family business are pursuing returns through country-specific direct investments, such as real estate or private equity, which require a greater level of due diligence and commitment (and offer greater potential rewards). These investments are often made in partnership with other sophisticated private investors who have relevant expertise in co-direct investment or club investing arrangements. The pervasive changes underway in the family busin ess market reinforce each other. Increased knowledge leads to better analysis of a wider set of opportunities, and this allows investors to unbundle and measure, so that they can be more creative in devising comprehensive, global solutions. The more innovation that occurs in the market as a result of this creativity, the greater the additional knowledge creation and sharing.While the effects of this shift are now being felt. STRUCTURING OF FAMILY BUSINESS MANAGEMENT When the family business is basically owned and operated by one person, that person usually does the necessary balancing automatically. For example, the founder may decide the business needs to build a new plant and take less money out of the business for a period so the business can accumulate cash needed to expand. In making this decision, the founder is balancing his personal interests (taking cash out) with the needs of the business (expansion). ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Organizational structure defines the roles and activities required of people in order to meet the objectives of the business. The structure should also help people accomplish their own career and personal goals. Concern with motivation and communication should influence the organizational structure. In defining an organizational structure, the manager has four objectives in mind: (1)- division of tasks, (2)- coordination of efforts and tasks among people and enterprises, (3)- control over the way in which tasks are performed and (4)- flow of information. To accomplish these four objectives, the manager must decide the positions to be filled and the duties, responsibilities and authority attached to each position. PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS OF ORGANIZING Regardless of the specific characteristics of a horticultural business, some principles of organizing will be helpful. These principles have two uses. First, they are helpful in the actual design of the organizational structure. Second, they can serve as a check list for evaluating and improving the current organizational structure. EXCEPTION PRINCIPLE Someone must be available to handle the exceptions to the usual, i.e., someone must be in charge. When an employee or worker has a problem he or she can not handle, the organizational structure should provide for someone higher in the organization to provide assistance. DECENTRALIZATION Decisions should be pushed down to the lowest level possible in the organization. The more routine a decision, the lower the level in the organization where it should be handled. To illustrate, workers waiting each morning to be told what to do and where to do it can be a great waste of manager and worker time. Workers having a routine not requiring daily instruction, and workers being trained to handle with confidence decisions within their job descriptions illustrate decentralization. The objective is to overcome the waste of time stemming from too much centralization of decision making. Working managers rather than managed workers should be the goal. PARITY PRINCIPLE Decentralization requires delegation. With delegation comes responsibility. Authority should be delegated along with responsibility. To illustrate, assume the 18 year old son of the owner of a landscape firm has been given the responsibility of taking a crew of 3 people, each over 25 years old, to a landscaping site to plant 5 trees and 30 bushes. Further assume that the son has no authority to decide how hard it has to be raining before the crew stops working, no authority to correct a person who is digging the holes for the trees and bushes too deep and no authority to reward the crew member who is doing by far the best job. It is easy for the 3 workers to ignore the son if they have been accustomed to taking orders only from the owner and the owner has given the workers no indication of what authority the son does and does not have. SPAN OF CONTROL The span of control is the number of people a manager supervises. The organizational decision to be made is the number of subordinates a manager can effectively lead. The typical guideline is a span of control of no more than 5-6 people. However, a larger span of control is possible depending on the complexity, variety and proximity of jobs. The ability, experience and style of the manager also affects the desirable span of control. Finally, worker characteristics should affect the span of control. Well trained, motivated, experienced and satisfied workers require relatively little supervision. Owner/operators of family businesses often have span of control problems because of a me attitude. As a family business grows and people are added, the manager still may want everyone reporting to her rather than delegate responsibility and authority to a middle manager. UNITY PRINCIPLE Ideally, no one in an organization reports to more than one supervisor. Having more than one supervisor causes an employee relatively few problems if the supervisors have good coordination and frequent communication. However, supervisors typically lack the time for the necessary coordination and communication. Too often, employees get conflicting instructions and assignments. Employees should not have to decide which of their supervisors to make unhappy because of the impossibility of following all the instructions given them. OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE There is no one family or ownership structure; it have family businesses that are owned by one sole owner. When it comes to the second generation, most of them turn into a sibling partnership with very few but strong owners who hold large shares in the company. In the next generation, it come to a cousin federation and maybe one day we are a family dynasty like Haniel or Wendel. Each stage has its own problems. It must understand the stage you are at, asking the right questions and giving the right answers relevant to that stage. The transition from one stage to another creates a crisis because, in the next generation, you have different questions and you have to give different answers. If you understand that there is a crisis and find the right answers, this crisis may create a chance. Owner strategy starts, like every strategy, with some simple key questions: what is our vision, what is the mission statement we have as owner family. More specific questions for owner families include the following: who can become a member of the owner group. From whom can member groups inherit their shares  and to whom can they sell shares? How do we want to deal with in-laws and the next generation Emotions must be dealt with effectively when managing a family business and managing a family that owns a business. Successful families are families who are better at addressing emotional problems and then solving them. Values and aims must be clarified if any group wants to be successful. This helps prevent conflict when making decisions. Knowing the company goals and the family aims is important otherwise, a family cannot determine whether it is successful or not. In successful family businesses, strategies will change, but the values remain very stable over generations. BUSINESS STRUCTURE This is the business model follow. It often starts with the entrepreneurial stage and then it turns to a traditional and classical family business. There are several different business models and each family should address some essential questions when choosing the correct one. Do we want to be a more focused or more diversified owner family? How do we want to influence the business? Do we want to run it or just control it? Do we want only to act as owners and let outside people control it? How should we manage the owner family so that we maintain family unity and commitment? New Ideas We must formulate a family code that is sensitive to new membership values, aims and a changing business model. Family Education All the owners should know what it means to own a family business, and what  professional ownership means. Emotion-Added Value It is important to come together and have family days so that you have the chance to enjoy being a member of the group. Family Office You may want to start a family office and do family philanthropy together. FUNDS AND INVESTMENT STRUCTURE With a dedicated funds, investment and tax team, including lawyers with corporate, tax and trust experience, we are able to provide the targeted investment structuring advice on which family offices depend. leading investment managers and fund managers, to ensure that private investments are designed and structured to mitigate taxation and provide the greatest opportunity for returns. LEGAL RISK STRUCTURE Risks from many directions, including legal liability, risk of investment loss or devaluation, compliance failure, tax and property law change, security (this includes risks to property and person) family dissension, divorce and indiscretion. The mitigation and balancing of risk in all its forms is of paramount importance for many family business management. Wealthy families and family members are faced with many legal and investment challenges, and increasing regulatory scrutiny. These issues become more acute in the case of multi-generational families with members based in various countries who have international asset holdings Another key risk for clients is breach of confidentiality, especially in a world where the Internet means information anywhere is information everywhere.. It is possible to reduce such risks by the use of appropriate structuring and third party contracts but these measures should be taken when the office is established. If a breach occurs our Reputation Management team can help. . These include the offices of substantial international families with assets and family members in numerous countries, as well as more traditional families with large landed estates or entrepreneurial interests. Theses point should be consider: Conducting an audit of various substantial wealth-holding structures, to ensure they were watertight from a fiduciary and tax perspective. Undertaking a major review of the trust and asset structures of a large international family with international assets. One of the main purposes was to identify potential areas of risk for the family and take measures to safeguard against such risks going forward. CONCLUSION To conclude , we can say that this was the aforesaid explained report on innovative family business. Main facts that are dicussed in study are 1 meaning of family business management 2 current scenario 3 Type of structure for family business management 4 problems 5 innovative trends in family business management After studying all the above given study it is been very clearly understood that family business structure is one of the very common structure of business structure that is been used worldwide. As every business structure has its scenario, advantages , disadvantages, problems, and its new and emerging trends, it is similarly applied here. We can say that family business management is a trend that has been followed for years. Innovative method could be used for more flexibility in family business. RECOMMENDATIONS 1 overcome the internal dispute 2 proper engagement of all members 3 follow the structure that is bet suited to ones business 4 proper management 5 go as by the time. 6 properly implementing the strategy BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFRENCES http//www.family-business-experts.com http//www.familybusinessmagzine.com http//www.businessweek.com/magazine.com Astrachan, J. and Shanker, M. (2003). Family Businesses Contribution to the U.S. Economy: A Closer Look. Family Business Review, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 211-219. Colli, A. (2003). The History of Family Business, 1850 2000. Economic History Society. Chua, J., Chrisman, J., and Sharma, P. (1999). Defining the Family Business by Behavior. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 19-39. Davis, J., Pitts, E., and Cormier, K. (1997). Challenges Facing the Family Companies .

Effect Of Technology On Architecture Construction Essay

Effect Of Technology On Architecture Construction Essay Technology has played a big role in shaping the current society and its surroundings. It has affected every aspects of human life and one of them is space in the field of architecture and interior design. As technology changes, so does the practice of architecture and interior design. Previously, without the technology, the value of architecture lies in the process of crafting experience in a space. But, nowadays, with the technology, the value has changed into privileging the visual aesthetics of the space or described as visual architecture. Therefore, this essay aims to investigate the current effect of technology in architecture and interior design. As well as to argue that the current visual architecture has decreased the value of architecture. INTRODUCTION Technology opens the door to the future. It is one of the main essences that shape and change the way society behaves, as well as transcends the surrounding to suit the way society lives. Nowadays, the effect of technology has reached almost every level of the society, and one of them is modern building technology. It has great implication in the creation of space in both architecture and interior design. Since the early days, architecture is one of the most important needs of man. It provides space to live and works, an environment for interaction and provoking emotions, as well as a realm where experiences and memories are created. Feelings and emotions are evoked by the form and shape, the arrangement of forms and by relationships that space draws with the surroundings. It affects every part of human senses. As technology developed, the meaning of architecture started to adapt accordingly. Formerly, with conventional building construction technology such as wood-framed, stone-stacking and mud bricks structures, the shape and form of architecture that could be achieved was only a simple and pure form. It led to a trend of homogeneous building, which made architecture looks similar with its surroundings. Because of this limitation, architects and designers became more sensitive and focused on crafting experiences in a space. These experiences then become memories that will be remembered by the visitor and elements that differentiate one building from another. As this continues, because of the limitation on the materials, buildings visual aesthetic is slowly decreasing. Currently, with the creation and development of new building materials and technologies, the inventions of cutting-edge and futuristic looking forms and shapes are possible. New materials and structures are evolved and manufactured everywhere. These advancements have made architects trying to work out and explore the possibility of how these new materials can be used to elaborate and create new structures for buildings. Unintentionally, these advancements has also made them became so attached to visual appearance. Meaning that majority of them concentrate on using technology in order to discover new forms and shapes for architecture in order to reflect the idea for which it was designed. The design of the building that focused on visual aesthetics has led to a trend of creating a form that looks good rather than a space that feels good. With this trend continuing, it seems that the role of visual sense has being privileged when compared to other human senses. The impact of this trend causes the design of the current architecture being reduced and restricted into visual senses. With the absence of other senses, the strength of interaction between our bodies and a space is being diminished. This is because human experience space and environment through all of their senses, not only through the visual. The trend also indicates that the tendency in architecture of image rather than architecture of experience is increasing. The products of architecture of image will only offer visual consumption which wont create lasting impressions that all the architects strive for. It will only become a nice looking postcard of visually striking building. Hence, the essay aims to prove that the current use of technology in architecture is only being used to achieve visual aesthetics and has decreased the value of architecture. The essay will also argue that technology to achieve powerful or aesthetically pleasing form to the sight has to be able to grow hand in hand with other human senses, in order to create valuable experience and memory in a space. Only then, the value of architecture can be pushed to a full potential. Architecture of Experience rather than Visual Instead of experiencing our being in the world, we behold it from outside as spectators of images projected on the surface of the retina. Pallasmaa, J, 2005, p.47 Before we can move forward to the main issue, to question the effect of technology towards current architecture, it is important to look and understand briefly what is the nature and value of architecture since the early days it was created. Throughout the history, despite of a large number of definitions which have been proposed by numerous architects, the answer to the nature and value of architecture has never come to a conclusion. Maybe it is because there are diverse ways to formulate an answer to this. Davies (2008) noted that one of the numerous definitions of architecture that can be found in dictionaries, refer to the meaning of, a method or style of building. It seems that this definition leads to a diminishing understanding that building is just an object of visual aesthetic. Some even make comparison of architecture with other form of arts which is sculpture. For instance, Santiago Calatrava, a world-renowned Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture into Architecture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Spanish architects that combined sculpture and painting with architecture. He is claimed as a building sculptor and had a world-wide exhibition of his works. James Gardner (2005, The Art Behind the Architect, The NY Sun newspaper) mentioned that there is no clear line whether Calatrava is a sculptor that design buildings or an architect that makes sculptures. And whether his works are sculptures that are in a form of architecture or a combination of both art and architecture. So is architecture is just a method of applying aesthetics consideration to the form of buildings? Or it is just an art of making buildings beautiful? This idea of definition seems to have missed a central core of the nature and value of architecture. Previously, in the prehistoric time where architecture was not even born yet, human lived in a nomadic way. They moved from one place to another. When night came, they stopped and lighted a fire to warm themselves up. By doing so, they started to define a place. And if they intend to stay there longer, they started to define a place to sleep, a place to shelter them from the rain, a place to collect and store food, a place where they could defend themselves from danger, etc. From their chosen site, experience of their surrounding, until the organization of their place, this leads to an evolution from a place to architecture. Based on that, one can say that the nature and value of architecture is in the sense of a place that is created by the organization between buildings with the surrounding and context itself. Thus, architecture relates to the way people live, it changes and evolves based on the environments, experiences and needs. As time goes on, places that people used have became more diverse, sophisticated and complex which made architecture consistently changing as well. Starting from the prehistoric era where human dwells in occasional caves to stone-stacking shelters. Then evolves to temporal tents make by frame-wood structures and into round houses that made of mud bricks. And as human becomes more civilized, the needs of place for different functions emerged too. From a place to worship gods, a place to trade things, a place for entertainment and so much more. These places will keep on expanding to meet the different needs of human. Moreover, tools to build and transport materials, such as wheels or pulleys, have advanced and are still growing in order to make construction process becomes more efficient. So, not only materials have evolved, functions and tools to build each building have advanced as well. From the early civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Roman Empire and the East, the develo pment in architecture to create buildings for different purposes have greatly varied. Egypts Pyramids, Greeks Temples, and Romans Amphitheatres are just few illustrations of various functions that could be found globally. The forms, materials, tools and functions of the architecture evolve because of the resources that are available in the environment. The needs for stronger materials to create shelter and suitable types of materials to craft the atmosphere for different functions have pushed the tool and building technology to an advanced level too. With the application of the advanced materials and technologies, humans are able to generate unique experiences which would enrich the physical and psychological experience in architecture. In the time where modern building technology was not developed yet, there was a limitation in the creation of architectural form. Architects and engineers were only able to create certain kinds of form because of the limitation of the materials and tools at that time. Considering this constraints, the focus of architecture at this time is in the creation of experience, which is the nature and value of architecture since the early days. People lived through experiencing the world with body senses. One sense interacts with other senses to be able to let human integrate with the surrounding and the world. As a result, architecture is the product of this constant interaction between people with their surrounding and the world. Architecture provides spaces where people could do their daily activities, experience the environment, feel comfortable with it and generate impactful memories through these interactions. The interaction that happens can be either simple or complex. It means that t he space within the architecture should be able to interact with at least one or all of the body senses. This is due to, as human we have needs and desires, beliefs and aspirations, as well as aesthetic sensibility that are affected by warmth, touch, odour, sound and visual stimuli. Every interaction that happens will be experienced by the body. And if the experience through the space is strong enough, it will formulate an impactful memory to the users mind. And if this is successful, the lasting impression that every architects strive for will be achieved. That is why architecture should be designed with a thought of multi-sensory experience inside the space. Some examples of ideal architecture that illustrates significant historical buildings with good space design are The Colleseum in Rome, The Louvre in France, and Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca. For the first one which is The Flavian Amphitheatre or widely known as The Colosseum at Rome. The reason that it is one of significant historical buildings with good space design lies within the successful achievement of the monumental and grandeur size, practicality, efficiency for controlling the crowd and the most important is its ability to radiate the crowds and spectators excitement and experience throughout the whole space experience at that time. The hugely impressive vast ellipse form that is filled with tiers of seating was created to strike awe into anyone who saw this great monumental building. It was a symbol of the glorious power and cruelty of Rome and its emperors. Its classical design features, reminiscent of classical Greek architecture is the quintessential symbols of Roman cultur es and was meant to convey that Rome was a great, mighty wealthy, and civilised nation. The Colleseums design was heavily influenced by concrete and vault arches which are two of their greatest inventions. And the construction technique that the Romans used is the standardised parts system so that the components are interchangeable which similar to the current modular system. This standardised system allowed some components of the building such as stairs and seats to be built off-site and then brought to the amphitheatre to be fitted in to their specific location. Along with the standardised parts system, there were also a huge number of entrances and exits being built throughout the amphitheatre. These entrances and exits were imperative to the amphitheatre in order to ensure the crowd to be seated quickly and efficiently. All of the design and system of The Colleseum has been used as the basic for the architects and designers to design and construct the current stadiums globally. The design and form of The Colosseums breath-taking architecture was as a result of the needs of major requirements as a theatre or arena for staging various forms of entertainment to the Romans. As well as, it is a result of the consideration towards the excitement that the designers wanted the spectators to feel. And even today, The Colosseum is still one of the hugely impressive skyscrapers and the memories of how Romans culture, social and life was like before can still be felt through exploring and experiencing the interior of it. Another significant historical architecture with good spatial qualities is The Louvre in France. Currently, it is one of biggest art museums in the world. Built in the 12th century, it was constructed with a cut stone bearing masonry system and previously it was function as some kind of royal or defensive fortress against invasion until the late 18th century where it was first open to the public to display the royals collection such as paintings and sculptures. The reason that The Louvre is considered as significant historical building that has good spatial design lies in the strong sense of the countrys cultural knowledge that the building exhibits and can be identified through its architectural quality. Although The Louvre has a history of the ever-changing function of the architecture, started from a fortress to a palace and eventually becomes one of the worlds largest museums, no matter what it always bear and have its original identity, history and culture of that time it was bu ilt. It is because of the consideration towards the identity, history and culture aspects in mind that the designer had the idea of the form of the architecture and was able to craft the experience inside the space in order to display and showcase those aspects through the test of time. And the third architecture that illustrates significant historical architecture with good spatial design is Masjid Al-Haram which is located at Mecca. It is the largest and considered as the holiest mosque in the world. The current architecture of the mosque is not what it was like since it was first built in the 7th century. There have been major rebuilt, modifications and expansions on its architecture and because of these expansions it has became the largest mosque in the world. The expansion happened in order to accommodate the increasing number of the pilgrims. Since the past, mosque has been considered as a medium for communication; either it is a communication between God and pilgrims or between fellow pilgrims. This idea of the mosque that it is built as a centre for social interaction rather than a building only for ritual or worshipping is being clearly shown and felt in the architecture of Masjid Al-Haram. For examples the presence of the courtyard surrounds the Kaaba or t he grey square house which is designed or placed there with the intention of providing the best meditative and interactive atmosphere for the performance of prayer and community interacting experience to happen inside. And the placement of the minarets or the tall free standing towers is based on the topography of the site in order to create harmonious balance with the Kaaba. These considerations towards the pilgrims experience and the meaning for every placement or form that is created has made Masjid Al-Haram or The Holy Mosque a significant historical building with good spatial design. These 3 architectures above show that designing through paying considerations towards the experience and behaviour of the visitors or occupants would create lasting impression that could stands the test of time. Nevertheless, through this time, because of the limitation on the materials and tools that they could be worked or used, architects and engineers were only able to build certain kinds of forms which made them unsatisfied with the visual aesthetic of the building. With this feeling of unsatisfactory as the main force that drives architects and designers to overcome this issue, which then becomes one of the main factors of the emerging trend of visual architecture or an architecture that the visual aesthetic considerations is being privileged or have dominated the designers thoughts rather than the experiential value. It is until the late 18th century, in the industrial revolution era, when cast iron can be produced in a large numbers and cheaply enough and has opportunities in creating new forms. This is when architects and designers started to become aware of the glorious potential of cast iron used in architecture. One of the first architectural projects that are entirely made from cast iron is The Iron Bridge in Shropshire (Potter, D, 2006). And this marks the dawn of Modern building technology. As technology has advanced towards a new stage, which is the modern building technology, the nature and value of architecture started to shift and adapt as well. The birth of modern technology is as the result of architects using experimental science and engineering theory and tools to inform the form and construction of their buildings. Which previously form and structures of buildings were relied strongly on the knowledge of the craftsman or builder. This development has begun to revolutionize architecture into an entirely new direction. Through this modern building technology, architects and designers are provided with a new range of materials and tools to achieve and satisfy their hunger for more advanced forms. Previously, the architectural form of each location has their own unique characteristics. This is because of their environment would only be able to produce certain kinds of materials. Due to this constraint, architects and designers had lesser choices of resources that w ere available. This led to vernacular architecture of that area which meant that the material and building tool that they used to construct buildings in a location would have a more deeply grounded meaning with the context of the building and in a way was more purely defined with the unique representative form of that certain location. For instance, the Pyramid in Egypt that is made from stone is entirely different from the Temple in China which is made from wood. But since the developed worlds industrialisation trend has expanded globally throughout the world. This has influenced the local architects and designers wanting to follow the international architectural fashions style and has become another factor that contributed in the emerging trend of visual architecture. With modern building technology , transportation of materials from one location to another location has became possible, the ability of mass production has lowered the cost of construction, and computer software has accelerated the time to finish the drawing or design of a building. These developments have made the process of realizing architecture become more efficient and effective in every layer, either it is the time span to complete, the construction, the planning of the project, the creation of the buildings form or even the innovation of new and better materials is continually increasing. The development of materials has played a big role in the creation of advanced architectural form. It is one of the aspects that started the trend of architecture of image. Beginning by looking into the traditional materials that have been used since the prehistoric times, which is wood. This material could be considered as the forefather of all current materials. In the early days, prehistor ic people used these to build tents as their shelters from the sun and rain. By constructing tree trunks or branches together creating the shape of an inverted V-shape, putting some support to hold it firm on the ground and covered with leaves. This creates the simplest foundation of architecture form. As human evolved so did materials for shelter. Moving from wood to stone, as a stronger material, the form of the shelter started to develop into tent-like house by stacking different stones together. As human moves on to the times of early civilizations, the needs, desires, and beliefs have been greatly varied too. This leads to the creation of places of worships, sacrifices, monuments, and governments. Based on this, the form of the architecture started to goes vertically higher and bigger. At this time, pillar, column, beam, arch and dome has started to be built to fulfil the functions of the architecture. Moving on from the prehistoric times into the middle age, at this time, castles are becoming common forms of architecture in every part of Europe. And as it moves through The Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism and Gothic revival, from 15th century to 18th century, architects and designers feel that every architectures in their own location has looked similar because of the limitation of technology and materials provided at that time and that location. Until early 19th century, when modern building technology was discovered. This technology allowed iron to be used in architecture because it has became relatively cheaper while previously it was considered as a very expensive material. Iron is architecturally unique because of being relatively lightweight and malleable as well as strong. Moreover, because of its properties, it can be used for free-form designs. In this period, glass has also been widely used and available. Glass is widely used for its optimal balance between aesthetics, functions and its ability to create effects that could change experience. The reason is because glass has the property that allows light to transmits in and by using it, the architects or designers has the power to controls light which creates an illusion that the building are able to change, move and create certain atmosphere. And for architect light is one of the powerful tools in crafting experience in architecture. One of the architecture that ref lects a building of high technology in this period is the Joseph Paxtons Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition. Built in 1851 in London, this building was made of modular cast iron and glass which symbolized the industrial, technological and economic superiority of the modern building technology. Progressing to the late 19th century, which reinforced concrete is invented. At this time, concrete is being reinforced with iron or steel in order to increase the strength of tension in concrete to minimize cracking problem. By doing so, this reinforced concrete have special properties which are more durable to thermal expansion, provides strength to optimize building structures and it has the ability to bend allowing it to be made into any shape or size for architectural purpose. Because of these special properties, reinforced concrete is still one of the most popular materials that are being used for construction purposes until now. And in 20th century, plastics became widely known and popular as well. It is because plastics are lightweight, resilient, generally resistant to corrosion and moisture, and can be moulded and formed into complex shapes. And because it is the only man-made material, this allowed it to be developed even more in the future. This development in modern building technology has opened the door for architects and designers to realize all the unrealized ideas that they had in mind. And with this the notion of architecture of image is slowly becoming a trend. With advancement in modern building technology, materials and tools to construct a building have greatly expanded. Back then, buildings are limited with height. Mainly it is because of the limitation of materials and tools that caused architects and designers to think and design horizontally. But with modern building technology, current buildings are able to go higher becoming a skyscraper or go deeper underground, maybe becoming an earth scraper, and not only going vertically, it also allows the buildings to be built diagonally. From geometric to organic form or from masses to pixels, current technology makes everything possible. Moreover, modern building technology is being used for visualizing and selling the ideas that the designers have to the clients too. For example 3 dimensional simulation software that are able to produce photo realistic images of the building even though it has not being constructed yet. Architecture has entered into a realm of visual form which is nothing more or less than the creation of buildings tangible and visible shapes. Beekman Tower, Frank Gehry New York One example of a purely visual architecture is the Beekman Tower in New York by Frank Gehry. It is a curious fusion of public and private zones. The main design feature is the organic form of the buildings facade which is made of aluminium foil. The organic folds evoke the sense of water ripples. And the effects of ripples are being enhanced more on the daytime because of the natural light. This building is surely a successful design and appealing to one of human senses which is the visual. But for the interior, everything inside the space is dully conventional. The consideration towards other senses inside the space in order to experience the space has been neglected. Another one is the Orchard Central in Singapore by DP Architects. The key design element of this shopping mall is on the facade of the mall which is a faceted membrane which will function as massive media wall and is set to be an iconic feature at the junction of Orchard and Killiney roads. The idea of this is to add aural and visual vibrancy to the central stretch of Orchard Road. By doing so, the architectural facade of the building will be able to generate visual connection with the public. But the problem is the elimination of other senses and the dependency towards the vision has made the design of the space unattractive and unable to create a connection with the visitors. In addition to another architecture that illustrates purely visual architecture is The Central Plaza Shopping Mall by Manuelle Gautrand which is located in Bangkok, Thailand. The design of the architecture relies heavily on the faà §ade of the building while the interior is not greatly different from most other shopping mall in the city. The idea of the glowing red lines that simply clad or covered the facade of the building which is the key design element of the architecture is being conceived by the designer as tools that are able to send messages of flow movement and fluidity to the visitors. This perception shows that the design of the building is influenced by technology and only focus on the visual aesthetics to resolve the issue of the space. And by doing so it weakens the architectural value of it and diminished the experiential value inside. Orchard Central, DP Architects Singapore Based on both of the case studies above, it is fairly obvious that the privileged of visual senses over other human senses will create a sense of detachment between the architecture and the visitors. This is merely because humans experience the world and their surroundings through their senses. For instance, the sounds of steps, the light that penetrates through the space, the coldness of the concrete walls, scale and proportion are just few ways of how architecture interacts with the visitors senses. Such interaction is then strengthened and articulated through the complex interaction of human senses and will be perceived by the visitors as an experience. With this two-way interaction between visitors and architecture, it will lead to the creation of meaningful memory towards the space. It is true that vision is the first connection between human and the world. Most of us, when we are walking through a space or street, are affected in one way or another by the looks of the buildings that we pass through, the positions of the objects and the arrangements inside the space. But in architecture, the reliance in the sphere of vision will only made the building existed merely on a surface level which is as an object of visual expression such as a postcard. Architecture should be able to interact with every human sense because it is a representation or expression of human minds. And the only way to communicate with the mind is by experiencing the world and surrounding through the senses. That is when architecture has moved on to another level. So, by using the modern technology, not only to grasped the visual aesthetics that has became a trends nowadays, but also to craft the experience that has been the nature and value of architecture since the early days. This will affe ct the human physically and psychologically and will push the architecture to the full potential. Word Count Word count 4885 (excluding Abstract, Table of Contents, Captions, and Works Cited)

The Value of Work Experience :: Free Essays

The Value of Work Experience A summer or part-time job pays more than money. Even though the money earned is important, the work experience gained has a greater long-term value when one applies for a full-time job after graduation from school. Job application documents (the application blank and the personal data sheet) ask you to list jobs you have held and to list as references the names of individuals who supervised your work. (Gieseking and Plawin, 1994, 22) As one young person was heard to remark, â€Å"You can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without a job.† That dilemma can be overcome, however, by starting work early in life and by accepting simpler jobs that have no minimum age limit and do not require experience. Jobs Teens Can Do Begin early at jobs that may not pay especially well but help to establish a working track record: delivering newspapers, babysitting, mowing lawns, assisting with gardening, and the like. Use these work experiences as springboards for such later jobs as sales clerks, gas station attendant, fast-food worker, lifeguard, playground supervisor assistant, and office staff assistant (after you have developed basic office skills). As you progress through these work exploration experiences, try increasingly to get jobs that have some relationship to your career plans. If, for example, you want a career involving frequent contact with people—as in sales—seek part-time and summer work that gives you experience in dealing with people. Hamel, 1989, 10) How to Handle Yourself on the Job Whatever the job you are able to get, the following pointers will help you succeed in getting good recommendation for the next job you seek. 1. Be punctual. Get to work on time and return from lunch and other breaks promptly. 2. Get along well with others. Do your job well and offer to assist others who may need help. Take direction with a smile instead of a frown.

Essay --

There are six-teen Sovereign State; Queen Elizabeth II is the queen of these states. These states are known as the Commonwealth Realms. During the toughest times Queen Elizabeth II helped and lead people through war and depression. She has made a positive impact on the UK and people world-wide. Queen Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926 at 2:20 am in London. She grew up in London. Her parents took over royal lodge as their country home, when she was 6. There she had her own little small house. After that her grandfather died, which made King Edward VIII, the eldest son, the king. Before the year was over King Edward VIII gave up the throne to be with the woman he loved. Her dad, King George VI, became King and she was first in line to the throne. While her dad was king she got a good education. Queen Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret, were homeschooled. Together they learned history, language, literature, music, mathematics, geography. She speaks fluent French. Elizabeth was privately tutored in constitutional history from Henry Marten and Vice- Provost of Eton College....

The Branding of IKEA Essay -- Business Management Studies Essays Paper

The Branding of IKEA Company background The first catalogue was introduced in 1951 and with this the founder saw his chance to expand his business on a larger scale, and this was the year he decided to completely focus on low-price furniture, as from the beginning IKEA sold mainly matches, watches, Christmas decorations, picture frames and jewellery. In 1956 the company came up with the concept of 'flat-pack' self-assembly furniture. The first international IKEA store was introduced in Norway in 1963, and was soon followed by the opening of stores in Denmark, Germany, Australia, Canada, and Austria. In 1987 the first IKEA opened in the UK, and in 2001 the company had 143 stores in 22 countries. Today we are the leading furniture retailer in the UK with a 12.1% before MFI and DFS. Our Brand - an introduction The brand name is associated with feelings, attitudes or different meanings, and in our minds it is connected with a certain image. All inspired by the logo, design or colour. Branding is a way to differentiate one company, its service or product, from competitors. But also to provide it with a personality which is both appealing and unique to their potential customers. It is a multifaceted, disciplined and multilayered process. IKEA is seen as friendly, quirky, trendy, social, young, independent, witty and relaxed. Usually the personality of a brand is described as a person, with its different characteristics. The importance of branding In the past decade companies are starting to see their brand assets, and with this branding has taken on a greater significance. So today brands are more than just marketing slogans and logos. All businesses are building their brands through certain actions and in their actual presence they find a 'position' in the mind of consumer and prospects. This is based on experience and exposure of the brand in the competitive marketplace. There are certain advantages to take into account in a Brand Strategy; Financial Advantages, Strategic Advantages and Management Advantages. The financial advantages may be higher sales, and for the companies with more market shares; higher margins. IKEA is one of the leaders in its market place, and therefore many other brands in that particular sector may be 'hitchhiker' brands following us and other leaders (such as MFI and DFS). Strategic Advantages... ...ours, and the name written across in bold letters. It is very much a trademark and this same logo has been used from a very early stage. Conclusion I hope this will help you understand the importance of branding within IKEA. Our company has been a worldwide success for so many years, and this has already created an image in most peoples minds, they associate the name IKEA and the logo with purchase or from one of the award winning advertising campaigns which have been run throughout the world. It is incredibly important to build brand awareness when introducing a new product onto the market, and our company has already achieved this, but there is still the need to maintain customer and market. Bibliography * Mintel (2002) * Internet * San Juan de la Pena website * Rieboviz, Rik * De Chernatony, Leslie (2001) From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation, Butterworth-Heinemann * Brassington, Frances, Pettitt, Stephen (2000) Principles of Marketing, Prentice Hall * Butterfield, Leslie (1999) Excellence in Advertising, 2nd edition, Butterworth-Heinemann * Nilson, Torsten H (1998) Competitive Branding, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Identify laws of motion thermodynamics Essay

The first example is oscillating a pendulum, which is categorized in the law of motion due to the object remaining in that state unless an external force is applied. The second example stating cooling food and drinks in a refrigerator is categorized in the laws of Thermodynamics due to thermalization. The third example of using the coffeemaker can be a combination of both laws due to moving touching to coffeemaker to make create an action is Law of Motion, however, if we were heating the coffee to change the temperature, then this becomes law of Thermodynamics. The forth example is heating dinner which is Thermodynamics due to using temperature as our factor. The next example is heading a football, which uses the second law of motion, which is when velocities change when force is applied. The next example of throwing a baseball is the same concept, which is law of motion due to applying force. The last example of slamming on your brakes is the third law of motion, which is for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. Thermodynamics can be described as the three laws, which physically use temperature, energy (Kinetic and potential energy) and entropy. The three laws of Motion can be described as the first every object will remain in its original state unless an external force is applied. The second law of motion is the exact calculations of when forces are applied to an object and how velocities change. The third law of motion is for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. Reference: 1.Galloway, J. (2013). Physics for biosciences. Sydney: Pearson Australia

Assignments paper

In which development situations would it be unnecessary or even detrimental to define requirements? Some of non-functional requirements are not necessary for some development situation. Sometimes team has to develop some small functionality, for example some update or additional function, etc. In this case follow to all non-functional requirements bring excess price and time spending. Also when the team is building a system which is pre-existing and add on to that system.When user is enhancing or updating the system What are the most frequent types of requirement errors and why are they critical for the final product? ; Usually customers do not know what they exactly want ; Requirements alter during all project lifestyle ; Customers do not understand real timeliness ; Communication problem between customers, engineers and project managers ; Development teams do not understand customer company politics. All of these problems may result of wrong requirements gathering, of course it wil l be a result of serious errors in requirements. The errors are causes of extra costs or even a project failure.What are non-functional requirements and how do they relate to functional requirements? A non-functional requirement is a requirement that specifies criteria that can be used to Judge the operation of a system, rather than specific behaviors. This should be contrasted with functional requirements that define specific behavior or functions. Also Requirements that are not The plan for implementing non-functional requirements is detailed in the system architecture. (can use the table from text book page number 12) Reliability It indicates the quality It measures the number of errors or defects per thousand lines of code Defects /