Tuesday, December 31, 2019

John Dunlop and Charles Goodyear The Inventors of Tires

The pneumatic (inflatable) rubber tires that are featured on millions of cars across the world are the result of multiple inventors working across several decades. And those inventors have names that should be recognizable to anyone whos ever bought tires for their car: Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop. Of these, none had so great an impact on the invention of the tire than John Dunlop and Charles Goodyear.   Vulcanized Rubber According to the latest statistics, consumers purchased nearly 80 million cars between 1990 and 2017. How many are currently on the road is estimated to be about 1.8 billion—and that was in 2014. None of these vehicles  would be operational if it hadnt been for  Charles Goodyear. You can have an engine, you can have a chassis, you can have a drive train and wheels. But without tires, youre stuck. In 1844, more than 50 years before the first rubber tires would appear on cars, Goodyear patented a process known as vulcanization. This process involved heating and removing the sulfur from rubber, a substance that had been discovered in the Amazon rainforest  of Peru by French scientist Charles de la Condamine  in 1735 (although, local Mesoamerican tribes had been working with the substance for centuries). Vulcanization made rubber waterproof and winter-proof, while at the same time preserving its elasticity. While Goodyears claim to have invented vulcanization was challenged, ​he prevailed in court and is today remembered as the sole inventor of vulcanized rubber. And that became hugely important once people realized it would be perfect for making tires. Pneumatic Tires Robert William Thomson (1822–1873) invented the actual first vulcanized rubber pneumatic (inflatable)  tire. Thomson patented his pneumatic tire in 1845, and while his invention worked well, but it was too costly to catch on. That changed with John Boyd Dunlop (1840–1921), a Scottish veterinarian and the recognized inventor of the first practical pneumatic  tire. His patent,  granted in 1888,  wasnt for automobile tires, however. Instead, it was intended to create tires for  bicycles. It took another seven years for someone to make the leap.  Andrà © Michelin and his brother Edouard, who had previously patented a removable bike tire, were the first to use pneumatic tires on an  automobile. Unfortunately, these did not prove durable. It wasnt until Philip Strauss invented the combination tire and air-filled inner tube in 1911 that pneumatic tires could be used on automobiles with success. Other Noteworthy Developments in Tire Technology In 1903, P.W. Litchfield of the Goodyear Tire Company patented the first tubeless tire, however, it was never commercially exploited until it was used on the 1954 Packard.  In 1904, mountable rims were introduced that allowed drivers to fix their own flats. In 1908, Frank Seiberling invented grooved tires with improved road traction.  In 1910, B.F. Goodrich Company invented longer life tires by adding carbon to the rubber.  Goodrich also invented the first synthetic rubber tires in 1937 made of a patented substance called Chemigum.The first snow tires for passenger cars, Hakkapeliitta, was invented by a Finnish company (now Nokian) in  1936.  The tire is considered one of the best in the industry and is still in production today.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Racism and Stereotype in Karl Linders Speech - 1157 Words

Racism is a fatal flaw in human society. Whole cultures could be eradicated or brought to the brink of destruction, such as when Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi regime, brought on the Holocaust. In his efforts to bring the Jews to extinction he captured and imprisoned the Jews into concentration camps separated from the rest of society. Karl Linder in his efforts to keep the community of Clybourne Park â€Å"pure† for his growing family, attempts to assert dominance over the Stoller family (the Caucasian family moving away) and the Younger family (the African American family moving in), as if attempting to create a reverse concentration camp. He uses deceptive language, racial propaganda, and his position of power to influence the world†¦show more content†¦On pages twenty-eight through twenty-nine, Karl initially ignores Bev’s requests to be informed of what Karl was explaining to Russ and Jim the upcoming residents of the household, that is until she que stioned his logic by asking â€Å"[b]ut don’t they [the Youngers] have needs, too?† (Norris). After the rejection of his bribe produced by his leadership role in the Community Association by Walter Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, instead of arguing with the large man, he retreats and attempts to convince the Stollers to either stay in Clybourne Park or to deny the house to the Youngers. Another example of his cowardice towards men is on page forty, where he taunts Russ about his threat to punch Jim in the face by saying that Russ’s actions were â€Å"very masculine† in a sarcastic tone and the Russ was â€Å"mentally unstable† as he started to retreat from Russ and proceeded to go through the door (Norris 40). Though Karl made bad decisions throughout his efforts to keep the community ethnical â€Å"pure†, he had the best intention at heart. His racists views keeps viewers from seeing that fact, a critic of the play named Kevin D. William son said it best by saying that â€Å"Lindner is a oleaginous, conniving, and cowardly, but he is not evil nor is he motivated by malice, but has sincere concern for the stability of the neighbor, the cohesion of the community, and the vacillations of the real-estate market.† This is even supported by

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Human Resources Management Contribution Free Essays

â€Å"How can Human Resource Management contribute to the success of an engineering business? † Although there is no widely acknowledged definition for the term Human Resource Management, as far as I can understand it Human Resource Management is an approach to personnel management that sees people as the key resource of a company. In short it is a system that believes it is important to communicate well with employees and include them in what is going on with the organization, to increase the commitment and help them to identify with the organization. HRM specifically is a body of functions and policies that shape the work environment and control the relationship with employees. We will write a custom essay sample on Human Resources Management Contribution or any similar topic only for you Order Now Some functions contain alternative methods or practices from which managers can choose. The key functions in HRM are; Planning the HR needs of the organization, particularly for the future. Integrating HRM with the organizations strategic management process and co-ordinating clusters of HR practices to achieve the desired goals. Staffing correctly; obtaining the correct people with regards to their skill set, abilities, knowledge and experience. Some practices involved within this are HR planning, Job analysis, Recruitment and selection. Developing skills, to ensure that workforce can perform satisfactorily in their jobs and can advance within the organization. To identify employee’s key skills and where they are competent the ‘Performance appraisal’ practice can be employed. Motivating employees through reward system, this can be done through performance appraisal, job evaluation. Designing and maintaining work systems that are safe and promote workplace wellness and employee health so as to fulfil health and safety legislations and retain a capable workforce. Managing relationships between employees, it covers a wide range of practices that can be used to create a better co-operation between employees and also a better feeling of involvement/participation. It also extends to co-operation with unions if they are involved. Managing change for the future by helping others be able to envision and understand the change, along with setting expectations for performance and helping develop the capability to reorganize and reallocate resources (including people). Evaluating the value of the entire HR system y designing procedures and processes that measure it. All of these functions and practices are underpinned by legislation. In a practical application typically a company would set out organizational objectives and then decide on a strategy in order to achieve those objectives. In the context of an Engineering company/business the strategic focus could, for example, be on the following: †¢ Ensure effective training and development of all st aff in order to ensure flexibility and competence within roles. Develop effective communication between employees and between departments/functions. †¢ Develop mechanisms to cope with future environmental change including social, political and technological. In this example strategic focus is on developing a flexible organization that can adapt to change in the environment and has a good communication structure in order to achieve this. Intel is a good example of a company in the Engineering business world whose business competitive advantage is its speed and flexibility in meeting the changing needs of various market niches. Given the extremely short product life cycle in this industry, there is a pressing need, according to Andy Grove, CEO of Intel, to channel resources swiftly from declining areas into emerging/growing areas. In these scenarios technological and financial resource transfer can be done quickly, but people are the hardest part of the system to redeploy. In order to develop and encourage continuing success the business must develop a HRM strategy that focuses on the correct HR areas in order to maximise competitiveness. To develop a successful HRM strategy, the business strategy must first be understood (Key driving forces of the business [technology, competition etc. ], Implications of these driving forces and the fundamental contribution of people in the business). From here a mission statement can be developed that relates to the people side of the business, establishing what they contribute. Analysing the organization (Culture, Organization, People, HR systems) and the external business and market environment will determine potential performance, skill issues etc. and highlight opportunities/threats. For each critical issue options can be generated considering the consequences of possible actions. From this a set of broad objectives can be created that can be split into specific HR areas, for example, Management, training/development, communication etc. The choice of strategy will have a big effect on the company’s success. Smaller companies will have to choose different objectives, for example, it is more expensive for a smaller company to offer effective training to their workforce, so a better option would be to select and recruit the correct staff. This is illustrated by Small to medium sized companies in China, which were found to have focused their HR efforts on selection and recruitment, performance-based remuneration and employee involvement in decision-making. This may be working well for these SME’s but for future success it would be a good idea to develop effective training/development programmes in order to further develop their employee’s skills. The problem here is that in order to compete with other companies there has to be compromise in certain areas. SME’s can’t always provide effective/quality training because of the cost, but over a longer period of time the cost-benefit ratio can be swung in a positive way as effective training can mean future development for the organization. In terms of Engineering industry this can provide greater benefit as development in certain skill areas, and skilled workers in general are essential for business growth. Problems can arise here though as if employee’s leave for other, better paid jobs once they have had training and developed skills in certain areas, the companies lose out on work time and incur costs. Another focus of HRM is to develop the central role of managers and also to prevent the view from workers as ‘us and them’ with regards to managers and help create an ‘us and us’ view. Cost can be controlled to a degree within a larger business by developing the roll of line managers as people managers, this cuts down the need for HR persons and helps to create a more ‘personal’ environment for employees. This is shown by Hewlett-Packard (HP) who relatively recently have been moving back towards developing the central role of managers. Primarily the role of the HR department now is to facilitate, measure, and improve the quality of management and teamwork, not to provide an avenue for managers to abdicate their responsibilities for people. HRM also helps to develop workers ability to manage themselves, many companies now are emphasizing flexibility and cohesion through team based activities and self managed work teams. One of the largest and most successful companies in the electronic engineering world, Apple, are a good example of focusing on self managed work teams and creating very strong employee-company bonds. By facilitating the development of self-managed work teams, HR departments can remove themselves from the intermediary role and allow employees to be self-determining. The HRM system can provide great success for an engineering business. It provides a method to narrow down the problems within an organization relating to the people within it, and create specific areas to focus on headed by generalised terms to provide an easy to follow and implement strategic plan. It has many advantages, such as the ability to create a flexible work environment, focusing on specific areas of the business to maximise competitiveness. However it also has some disadvantages, for example if quality training for workers is provided at great cost to the business, without proper precautions in place it is possible for trained employees then to leave and obtain better paid jobs with their provided training. In many of the examples illustrated here it is possible to see that there is strong links between the success of an engineering company and the use of HRM. Without effective management of people the business can fail to achieve its goals or sufficiently succeed in its market. The many different aspects of HRM allow enough flexibility and variation to allow a business to select and develop specific areas to meet its needs, for example Intel has a built a flexible structure for its employees to allow the business to move in and out of growing/declining markets. Resources An empirical study of high performance HRM practices in Chinese SMEs Connie Zheng, Mark Morrison Grant O’Neill The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol 17 No 10, October 2006 Allbusiness. com – Lower cost, higher value: human resource function in transformation. By Brockbank, Wayne -THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE AND OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON COMPANY PRODUCTIVITY Human Resources Management (Theory and Practice 4th Edition) [Bratton and Gold] The essence of Human Resource Management [McKenna and Beech] Introduction to HRM [Maund] Managementtoday. com – Working Human Resoruces into the system How to cite Human Resources Management Contribution, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Distorted and unattainable sexist mass images are Essay Example For Students

Distorted and unattainable sexist mass images are Essay the inevitable consequencesof a social system in which those who are thin and big breasted benefit most. We as a society have created an environment so image obsessed that those with power give approval for being thin and disapproval for being fat, creating a generation of women so self conscious about their body image, that it is affecting their health. In this essay I plan to discuss the inexcusable methods in which the mass media encourages young women to disfigure and mutilate their bodies. When an obsessive media targets and forces young women to hate their bodies it makes them more vulnerable to emulating media stereotypes and prone to compulsive dieting. Perfection looks like magic to those who stand aside and do not know any better. The main problem with perfection in a society so obsessed with perception is that it looks too easy. States Florance Brone a physiologist from Michigan. Media purveyors promote the message that unrealistic thinness equals sexiness and popularity, which equals beauty, success and all the good things in life. Yet, recent interviews have revealed that even glamorous and successful supermodels are afraid of getting fat and what it might do to their careers. In many cases the media has constructed faulty images that suggest that the influence of gender in terms of human nature compel people in the eyes of the media to behave and act in certain stereotypical ways, in turn causing young impressionable women to be wrongfully misled. Babies arent born hating their bodies but instead grow up to learn that fat is bad; and thinness will bring you happiness. states Sarah Stephen in the 1998 article Fat is Still a Feminist Issue These images are being taken to extremes throughout the fashion industry, often displayed by the waif look of hollow cheeks and skeletal bodies. It has been proven that media images do have a powerful effect on young women today due to the extensive reinforcement on our everyday lives. Everywhere we look we see unattainable images sworming around us, it seems as though it is a fad we can not get away from. Women are all too often described in terms of what they look like, rather than what they think or what they do. A womens accomplishments are often based upon her physical appearance as opposed to her personality or possible mental capability. It is clearly apparent that stereotypes are not limited to the prejudiced or the bigoted, to racial categories or to the unschooled. It is to be said that those who are considered more attractive beginning at a young age are led to believe that women are successful in part by their appearance and monetary value, which leads impressionable young women to believe that prestige go hand in hand. In my opinion I believe that many solicitors of the mass media try to lay on bandages of political correctness but only magnify the on going battle against women and their bodies. Yet, we as a society seem to passively disregard the fact that distorted, unattainable sexist mass images are the product of the constant exploitation of women and their bodies as well as our losing battle against anorexia and buleima amongst young women today. Todays pretty woman represents a new breed, mannequins with sex appeal, as glamorous as movie legends and as famous as the designer clothes they parade. However, the wide emphasis on beauty and perfection illustrated and promoted everywhere from sitcoms and commercials to magazines and billboards across the nation is only a small reflection of societys constant obsession with image and outer beauty. According to the narrow-minded society we live in, there just doesnt seem to be a limit on how beautiful one can become.