High School Diferences Essay Example for Free

High School Diferences Essay There are four different grades in high school; freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. From when you are a freshman you always want to meet new friends, and get good grades. No matter what your grade is, you are still a student. So in a way, all the students are the same, but they do have tons of differences. Freshmen, first of all are still learning where L-Hall is, but they are trying to make new friends too. Freshmen are not bad people, they don’t hurt anyone, and that’s one of the good sides. The main problem about them is that they are stuck too much in middle school. Their body is in high school, but their brain was left over at Mountain View. To be honest, some freshman are great, they are nice, and respectful. The other three-fourths are immature and laugh at any â€Å"Your mom† joke still. Seniors are the â€Å"All Powerful†. Everyone (besides teachers) look up to them. Freshman try and talk to them, and juniors try to act like them. I believe that seniors are the role models of the school, and are treated much better than other underclassmen. Seniors are usually skipping class, and procrastinating. The other seniors are trying to keep their grades up while frantically looking for Financial Aid and planning on what they will do next. Seniors are much better than freshmen, and everyone knows it. Seniors are the laid-back, I-don’t-want-to-be-at-school kind of people. They usually show up late to class while the freshmen get there ten minutes early. Seniors are usually driving over to Taco Bell for lunch, while freshmen stare at the nasty school food waiting for it to move. Yes, they do have all these differences, but seniors were once freshmen. In conclusion, seniors are much more mature, but lazy people. While the freshmen are trying to fit in, and find L-Hall, They all have their differences, but they are all students. They are all just kids, going to school day to day, thinking about their future.

Illegal Immigration Essay Example for Free

Illegal Immigration Essay There are 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States today. This number has risen by 3 million in only 10 years. Illegal immigration has been a problem in the United States dating back to the early 1980s. In the 1980s and still until today, the United States has seen a massive increase of illegal immigrants entering the United States. While most of these immigrants were from Latin America and Mexico, they were also from other parts of the world. Many illegal immigrants were crossing the unguarded border between the United States and Mexico. Border security has increased over they years, yet the rise of illegal immigrants coming into the United States is also increasing. Illegal immigration has become a very controversial topic of today’s society, and lawmakers and legislators have been debating the topic for a while now. Their hasn’t been much reform from the federal government; however, many states have passed their own set of immigration laws. States such as Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Utah, and Indiana have developed their own state immigration laws. These laws are being reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States and these decisions would be heard in the near future. In Arizona, if any police officer pulls over a immigrant who is suspicious of being illegal; that person has to present documents of being in the United States legally or faced with being detained and presented in front of an immigration court. Some kind of enforcement like this is also being enforced in the other states. Immigration needs to be reformed nationally throughout the country, and the government needs to strike down on illegal immigrants living in the United States because they cost America billions, take American jobs, and also take away student financial aid for citizens and legal immigrants trying to attend college. Using evidence from a wide range of sources, I make the statement that illegal immigration laws need to be reformed in the United States, by using statistics and fiscal numbers. Illegal Immigrants cost the Unites States billions of dollars that the government does not have. Their are 11 million illegal immigrants living within the boundaries of the United States, and only 7.2 million of these immigrants contribute to the workload of America. Those other 3 million plus the 7.2 million immigrants use welfare and unemployment money from the government by having children that are born in the United States. â€Å"Illegal-alien households cost the federal government approximately $26 billion in social services and criminal justice system expenses annually† (Albo). By collecting welfare and unemployment checks from the state and federal governments, illegal immigrants cost the American government significant amounts of tax-payer money. Many immigrants are taking money away from American citizens who need unemplyoment checks in order to survive and to look for a new job. Arizona’s Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (Arizona SB 1070) does an excellent job of limiting illegal immigrants and also helps in the addition of illegal immigrants because they can be deported if they ever are suspicious in front of law enforcement. This would decrease the overall amount of money spent on illegal immigrants because it would lower the total amount of illegal immigrants; thus causing a trickle down effect of the amount of money spent on undocumented immigrants. Another way illegal immigration negatively influences the American economy is by the amount of money that the government spends to keep undocumented immigrant children in school. Undocumented children also lead to an increase of overcrowded classrooms in certain states. Illegal immigrants account for nearly 3 billion in more tax-payer money for just California to keep these children in school because of the No child left behind act of the Bush Administration. â€Å"300,000 to 400,000 illegal alien [schoolchildren †¦ account for the estimated $3 billion annual service costs provided to the estimated 1.7 million illegal aliens in the State† (Joch). More states also had to pay more for undocumented immigrant children. â€Å"During the 2003-2004 school year, Minnesota estimated that it spent between $79 and $118 million of its $8 billion state budget to educate an estimated 9,400 to 14,000 unauthorized immigrant schoolchildren. New Mexico spent $67 million of its $3 billion state budget on an estimated 9,200 unauthorized schoolchildren. Colorado claimed that it spent approximately $220 million on social services for unauthorized immigrants but only collected between $159 and $194 million in revenue from that segment of its population.† (Joch) Illegal immigrants have accounted for many millions of dollars in other states also, and this is a sign nationally. There needs to be a immigration law reform that makes sure that undocumented children may be allowed to go to school in the United States only if they were born here. If children come along with their parents are are already in school age, I believe and the stats prove my point that undocumented children take tax-payers money away from where they are supposed to go. Illegal undocumented immigrant workers take away American jobs from the American people. Since the early 1980s, when illegal immigration became a major problem for the United States of America, illegal immigrants have been taking millions of jobs from the American people. â€Å"Today, there are 7 million individuals working in the United States illegally. (Devadoss/Luckstead) Most of these jobs are hard working and low education level jobs; nevertheless it takes away nearly seven million jobs away. The unemployment rate in the United States as of today is 7.8% and seven million jobs are a lot of jobs. During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created federal program called the Civilian Conservation Corps (commonly known as the CCC) where young adults would work in preserving forests and helping with farmland. This would decrease the United States unemployment rate while also reducing jobs for illegal immigrants. With less jobs, immigrants would naturally self-deport back to their own countries where they might have a better job in finding jobs to support their families. Another way to make sure jobs are going to the American people is to adapt the E-Verify program. The E-Verify program is a program where before employers can hire potential employees they have to enter their documents to make sure that the employee can work in the United States. The E-verify program has already been enacted by five states in the United States and many more states are considering the program as a big immigration law reform. Many other states have partially enacted E-verify. â€Å"More than 404,000 employers, large and small, across the United States use E-Verify to check the employment eligibility of their employees, with about 1,200 new businesses signing up each week†. (Harvard Law Review) I firmly believe that if a nationwide e-verify program be required to check if employees are legally allowed to work in the United States that many of the potential jobs that illegal immigrants would take, would now be filled with Americans. More American jobs would cause less dependency on food stamps, welfare, and also less unemployment checks from the US government. Naturally, this would reduce the national and state debts, while also allowing the government to spend more money on schools and education. Speaking of education, their are many illegal immigrants taking state money for higher education purposes. In a Supreme court decision in Martinez v. Regents of the University of California, the supreme court ruled in favor that illegal immigrants are allowed to use in-state tuition to pay for school and may receive state funding. This is not only in California, but this kind of legislation is available in many different states. â€Å"California gives illegal aliens between $222.6 and $289.3 million dollars in aid to attend college in their state. Texas gives between $80.2 and $104.4 million dollars, Illinois $23.3 and $30.5 million dollars, and New York gives between $28.8 and $37.5 million dollars of aid†. (Kasarda) While many college students are suffering today to pay for higher education, the state has to give illegal immigrant college students aid every year. Along with the education budget cuts, this has sparked controversy in many universities throughout the United States. This needs to end. States should not be giving American dollars to illegal immigrants. By reforming the law in each individual state, less aid will be available to someone who lives in the United States illegally, and more aid needs to be given to more students who are deserving based on merit or poverty. Imagine in California if $270 million dollars was given back to the public universities, how many more teachers would be hired and how much more financial aid would be given to deserving students. Many of the supporters to allow the 11 million illegal immigrants to stay in the United States state that they provide a service that not many Americans would do and they help provide to each individual state economies. Other supporters also say that illegal immigrants pay federal, state, and local taxes in their perspective region. â€Å"about 6 million unauthorized immigrants file individual tax returns each year estimate that between 50 percent to 75 percent of unauthorized immigrants pay federal, state and local taxes†. (Albo) However, thats only about 50% of the total illegal immigrant population. Many supporters are adamant in saying that illegal immigrants pay their taxes; however, that is simply not the case. Yes, six million immigrants pay, but what about the other 5 million illegal immigrants. Supporters need to realize that while the 6 million contribute a small amount to the government, the other 5 million cost more to maintain. If their weren’t as many ille gal immigrants then the US government would not spend as much money on illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration law reform is greatly needed in the United States. Another argument that many supporters of keeping illegal immigrants in the United States is that they do jobs that Americans just simply won’t do. They say the hard labor jobs that illegal immigrants work help provide a spark in local economies throughout the Untied States. â€Å"The absence of the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our gross state product of $17.7 billion. Undocumented immigrants produced $1.58 billion in state revenues, which exceeded the $ 1.16 billion in state services they received†. (Albo) Supporters would show statistics like these that show their services produced more money for the local economy, then taking from the local governments. That illegal immigrants create a surplus for the economy. However, if we look at the same quote, that is just not the case. â€Å"However, local governments bore the burden of $ 1.44 billion in uncompensated health care costs and local law enforcement costs not paid for by the state†. (Albo) If we also look at the healthcare costs and increased law enforcement, the cost of maintaining illegal immigrants, in reality, creates deficit for the local economies. Many supporters twist statistics and truths to make their point about maintaining illegal immigrants, but in the real facts, they are proven wrong. Illegal immigration law reforms need to be discussed in Congress and also in individual State Congress’s. In all, illegal immigration has been a controversial topic ever since the 1980s. Many legislators and lawmakers have tried to reform the law and Congress has even a developed a bipartisan committee to try to develop a reform bill, but lawmakers haven’t gotten past preliminary talks. I believe the only way that Congress is going to reform its immigration laws is that if the American people stand up and petition in every state. Many individuals should talk to their regional representative and try to get talks discussed in the House and also in the Senate. Illegal immigration is a major problem in the United States and they are taking money that simply the United States does not have. Illegal immigration laws need to be reformed as soon as possible.

Novating design team to a contractor

Novating design team to a contractor Synopsis Clients within the Construction Industry prefer to use the JCT Design Build Contract rather than other traditional procurements methods. Novation is a process that allows Clients to oversee the early stages of design development of a project and then transfer the responsibility for the design to a Contractor after the contract has been awarded. By transferring the responsibility to the Contractor through novation the Client takes minimum risk contractually while retaining an influence on project design from the initial stages. This process transfers maximum risk to the Contractor as he becomes responsible for all future design of a project and all past design completed up to the point of a contract being awarded, this includes any design errors. Both Contractors and Designers must work together closely on any design and build project, but particularly when novation has taken place. For a project to be profitable and be completed on time it is essential that there is a good working relationship between Contractor and Designer. Research to establish if the process of novation has an adverse affect on the working relationship between Contractor and Designer was conducted. The aims were to identify factors that may affect the working relationship of the two parties and to understand the opinions of both Contractors and Designers about what affect novation has on their working relationship. The objectives of the research were to highlight specific problems within the process of novation and recommend improvements to industry. To achieve this research in the form of a literature review, questionnaires and an interview with Contractors and a Designer was performed. The report recommendations are aimed at Clients to hold more pre-contract meetings with Contractors not just Designers, and understand the criteria a Contractor follows when appointing a Designer to ensure compatibility between parties when in Design and Build contract together. Acknowledgements I would like to express gratitude to the following people and organisations for their time, knowledge and support in assisting the in the successful completion of this research project: My final year Supervisor Dr Ron Craig of the Civil and Building Engineering Dept of Loughborough University, for constructive criticism and guidance throughout the process of developing the dissertation. HBG UK Ltd for using a lot of Commercial Managers, Design Co-ordinators, Legal Correspondents and Personnels time in completing the literature review and aiding in the data collection. The Commercial Manager of the second Contracting Company questioned The Architect questioned for his experience and opinions of the process of novation. Mr Andrew Moss for proof reading the final draft of this report and suggesting possible alterations. Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction to Subject The Design and Build form of J.C.T contract (please see chapter 4.0) has become more popular with construction Clients that employ Contractors to construct new buildings and/or renovate existing structures. The Authors research has shown that the percentage of contracts tendered for under a Design and Build form of J.C.T has increased over the last five years. In conjunction with this the traditional form of JCT contract has decreased in popularity with Clients. In many cases the designs which make up part of the contract between the Client and Contractor, under JCT Design and Build, are completed by a Design Team on behalf of the Client before the contract between the Client and Contractor is made. To ensure that the Contractor who successfully tenders for a project retains the Design Consultant that the Client employed prior to the contract being made it is sometimes necessary for a Client to novate (please see chapter 5) the design team across to the Contractor. The purpose of this report is to investigate into the problems, if any, with the process of novating a design team to a Contractor from the Client and suggest solutions. This report will also detail the affects on the working relationship between the Contractor and the Designer, and how novation either aids or hinders the working relationship 1.1.1 Aims of Chapter One To introduce the Dissertation subject area. The reasons behind the investigation of this Dissertation. To outline the work carried out and a description of the contents of the Dissertation. Detail a well constructed hypothesis that the investigation will either prove or disprove. To outline a guide to the report, and introduce each individual chapter. To detail the aims of the report and the objective that must be achieved to meet the aims. 1.2 Rationale behind I nvestigation The interest into the investigation of Are there always problems with novating a design team to a contractor? came about after the Authors industrial placement. While working on site for a Contractor on a J.C.T. Design and Build contract where the design team was novated it became apparent to the Author that there were many differences of opinions between the Designers and the Contracting Company. The main items of debate and disagreement between the Contractor and the Design Team were the Clients requirements. In the Authors experience there was a large difference of opinion of how design changes and/or variations should be treated between the Design Team and the Contractor. Whilst profit-driven Contractor seemed to always look for the cheapest and most cost effective way of bridging any design problem; where as the Design Team gave the impression that they were more concerned about the aesthetics of the design and the Clients design opinions rather than the buildability and cost. Many design variations that were requested by the Client, or those forced upon the Contractor were not always as the Contractor had specified to the Design Team. The Contractor felt that his time was wasted by the Consultant not designing elements as originally specified. The working relationship between the Contractor and the Designer seemed to deteriorate from the project start date, until beyond the design completion stage. After the Author had asked other members within the Contracting Company about the novation of a Designer to the Contractor it became apparent that the relationship between Contractor and Designer was similarly affected on other projects. The Author had discussions with the Client of the project he was placed on. The Client stated that more building work was being undertaken using the J.C.T. Design and Build form of contract as this reduces the risk to the client and/or the person funding the project. The Author found that under Design and Build more risk was placed on the Contractor, and that management techniques had to change to appropriately manage higher risk projects. He also realised that as more contracts were being made under the Design and Build form of contract with the Designers being novated to work for the contractor a greater knowledge of the subject area would be beneficial to the Author in the management of Design and Build contracts. 1.2.1 Originality of Thought The Author had discussions with his Supervisor before commencing the research about the subject matter. A hypothesis was agreed upon that gave the Author scope to research areas of the process of novation in design and build contracting that have not previously been discussed in an undergraduates research project for the Supervisor. The process of novation being used in the design and build contract has recently become popular with Clients. The aim of the research is to establish if Contractors and Designers have not yet fully adapted to the change and improvements in the working relationship between the parties must be made to ensure that they remain competitive and profitable. 1.3 Subject Definition Novation is a process in which [1]a contract between party A and party C is turned into a new contract between party B and party C. This process can only be achieved if all three parties agree that novation can take place. A Deed of Novation[2] is commonly used to terminate a contract between parties A and B, and then create a new contract between parties A and C. There are standard legal documents, blank deeds of novation, which are available as downloads from the internet, for example at (www.citysolicitors.org.uk/legal_activities as of 28/03/06). A deed of novation has been used for many years before it became popular with Clients in the construction design and build context. It is used in the sale of manufacturing companies, where components made are used by other larger companies. For example, the purchase of a windscreen wiper company by a new owner whilst retaining the commitment to an existing customer car manufacturer. Novation has many other wider applications other than construction; Porsche in their latest brochure[3] offer a novated lease for their new motor cars. In this case an Employee of a company (the lessee) signs a lease agreement with Porsche (the lessor). A Deed of Novation, then supplied by Porsche, is signed by Porsche, the Employee and the Employer. This then transfers the responsibility for the payment to the Employer. Novation is used in a construction context where the relationship between two parties has developed over time and the introduction of a third or new party is necessary. There then needs to be provision to contractually protect the existing parties in the relationship. 1.4 Report Intention The intention of this report is to investigate how the working relationship between the Contractor and the Designer novated to the Contractor from the Client could be improved to their mutual benefit, and to the benefit of the Client. However, the report may show that there is no improvement to be made, and that the process of novation as it presently stands is adequate. 1.4.1 Aims To identify clearly factors that may affect the relationship between the Contractor and the Designer under novation To discover any adverse characteristics that may cause a poor working relationship between the Contractor and the Designer To clearly understand the opinions of Designers and Contractors that has been involved with novation To understand the attitudes of Designers and Contractors towards novation To clearly understand the definition of novation and the context in which it is used within the construction industry To identify any differences in attitudes between Contracting Companies towards novation under a J.C.T. Design and Build contract To understand why Clients now prefer to use the Design and Build form of contract rather than the Traditional contracts they favoured to use To identify why Clients within construction novate the Design Team across to the Contractor 1.4.2 Objectives To highlight specific problems within the process of novation that requires improving To investigate how the process of novation may differ between contracts and/or with varying Clients To identify differences between the Contractors and Designers opinion of novation under the J.C.T. Design and Build Contract To highlight areas within construction where it is necessary to use novation in Design and Build contracts To advise the Contracting Companies of the most economic way of managing a Design Team that has been novated by a Client To identify if a Contractor and Designer have a better working relationship, i.e. have a greater understanding of each others objectives and needs, under a traditional contract rather than novation under a Design and Build Contract 1.4.3 Hypothesis The working relationship between Contractor and Designer is adversely affected by Novation. 1.5 Overview of Research Methodology The methodology of the research for this project will take the form of the following; please see the methodology in chapter three for a detailed discussion on the report methods used: A review of past and current literature concerning the background of novation within the construction industry. A review of specific literature concerning the working relationship of a Contractor and Designer. Discuss the definition of novation within construction, and where it is most commonly used in the industry. Design a questionnaire to send out to a selected Contractor and a Designer. Design an interview format and questions for a specific Contracting Company to answer on the subject of novation. Design an interview format and questions following the results of the previous interview to issue a separate questionnaire to a different Contracting Company to analyse company differences. Analyse results gathered in the interview to form a conclusion about the effect of novation in construction. Make suggestions or recommendations to the industry and Clients within the construction industry. 1.6 Overview of Main Conclusions The Authors completed research shows that there are ten factors that could adversely affect the working relationship between a Contractor and a Designer under a novation agreement. The Author found through analysing an interview and questionnaires completed by two Contractors and an Architect that the reasons for novation having an adverse influence on the working relationship of a Contractor and Designer were that: The time allowed for Contractor to Tender is not increased The loyalty of Designer to Client remains evident after novation to the Contractor There is usually a large distance between the Designers head office and the project Insufficient design fees are allocated at the tender stage There is an increased risk of error in design There could have been a previously poor working relationship between the parties The Designer may be inappropriate for the project The performance of the Designer is not consistent throughout the process of completing the design Novation is usually late or rushed from the Client There is an increased probability of conflict between the two parties The Author found that many of these factors were specific problems which could be attributed to the process of novation under a design and build project. Therefore, the results support the hypothesis of the research. However, additional research is required if the hypothesis is to be proven to be correct. 1.7 Guide to the Report Chapter One: Introduction This section introduces the study and outlines the hypothesis, aim and objectives of the research. It indicates the origin of the Authors interest in the subject, why the hypothesis was chosen, and describes the methodology that was followed. Chapter Two: Literature Review This section examines the literature research conducted by the Author. It is an investigation into the definition of novation, and describes where it is used within the construction industry. This section details the current view of the contractor in a novation agreement. Chapter Three: Methodology This section of the report describes the methodology which was used to conduct this research. It shows how the information was collected. It also includes the topics covered within the interview and the design of questionnaires that were employed. Chapter Four: Design and Build Contracts This section describes the forms of J.C.T. contract used and highlights the advantages and disadvantages to the Design and Build form of JCT contract. It provides an introduction into Design and Build and details the differences between the Employers Requirements and Contractors Proposals that are a key feature of the Design and Build contract. Chapter Five: Novation This section of the report describes in detail the uses of novation within a construction context. It gives a definition to the process of novation as used in a Design and Build situation. This chapter details the conflict of interest the Contractor and the Designers tend to experience due to novation. It illustrates the problems that may arise in the design, payment of design fees and the varying levels of the Consultants performance. Chapter Six:Analysis This section of the report is the analysis of the questionnaires sent to Clients within the building industry and their Project Managers and the Designers. It analyses the interviews conducted with the contractors and additional information gathered. Chapter Seven: Conclusion This section of the report presents the Authors conclusions based upon the findings within the analysis chapter of the report. It suggests solutions to the aims and objectives set out in the introduction, criticises the hypothesis around the report was based and highlights the possibility for further research. Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction The literature review is a comprehensive analysis of all relevant articles, books and publications to this research project. Derek Swetnam[4] describes the literature review as a report; That is central to the dissertation and in all styles of work it has a number of functions: It shows that you have read widely around your chosen topic It demonstrates your critical understanding of the theory It acknowledges that work of others It informs and modifies your own research The Literature review in this chapter is broken down into eight sub-headings. The chapter talks about the description of novation, then goes on to describe where novation is used today both in and outside the construction industry. The literature review describes the process of a Designer being novated to a Contractor. The final section of this chapter discusses and analyses in what way the literature which is reviewed is relevant to the Authors research project. 2.1.1 General Aims To break down the causes of the problem highlighted in the hypothesis into logical stages. To collect and analyse previous research and literature to further investigate the subject area of this project. To research any previously made recommendations. Make recommendations which have been concluded from a detailed literature review. 2.2 Aim of This Literature Review What is the description of Novation and in what context was it used before in construction? Where is Novation used today outside of construction and what is its main purpose? What other uses are there of Novation within construction other than a Designer being novated to a Contractor? When did Novation of a Designer to Contractor become popular with Clients in the construction industry? Have there been problems with the novation of a Design team to a Contractor in the past? When is Novation practical in construction contracts? What are the risks to the Contractor in the novation process? 2.3 Contents of Literature Review 2.3.1 Description of Novation David Janssens[5] stated that: Occasionally, an Employer may stipulate that the successful Contractor is to engage one or more of the Employers consultants to complete the design and detailing of the project in the post-contract stage. Such consultants are employed by Contractors under novation agreements, i.e. a novation agreement is a new agreement in substitution of a previous agreement between the Consultant and the Employer. Novation exists when an agreement or contract between two parties is going to be broken and a third party enters to take the place the agreed or contract role of the party which is leaving the agreement or contract. Novation can also exist when a third party enters into an agreement or contract without any other party leaving. Jeremy Hackett[6] stated that: Novation is a legal concept, formally providing for the re-employment of a Consultant by the Contractor, as part of the contract agreement between the Employer and Contractor. Should the Contractor merely choose to re-employ the same individuals who have previously sat the other side of the interview table from himself that would not be novation, but its effect would be very similar. 2.3.2 Uses for Novation. Novation is not only used within the construction industry, the use of novation in law is much more commonly used in the buying and selling of manufacturing companies. In this context a novation agreement maybe drawn up by lawyers of a manufacturing company which intends to sell to buyer whilst still retaining the same business clientele. In this instance a customer of the business being sold would be novated across to the new buyer of the business, this ensures that the customer can always source what ever item the new buyer manufactures. Ann Arbor[7] Stated that: A hospital in Texas is taking electronic commerce beyond purchase orders and usage reports to adoption of digital contract management. The sooner hospitals are able to sign up to participate in new contracts, the sooner they are able to access contract pricing. Using the enhanced form management program, materials managers can submit forms online where suppliers can approve them, also online. In this example a hospital in Texas is using the agreement of novation over the internet to sign up for new contracts much faster than it was able to previously. This has benefited materials managers the most as they are able to source cheaper or higher quality materials from differing suppliers and simply transfer the agreement they have with one supplier to another using novation. 2.3.3 Alternative uses of Novation within construction. The section above discusses how different forms of novation are implemented in areas other than the construction industry. However, within the realms of construction there are many more uses for the novation agreement to be used. The use of novation within construction has only been commonly used during the past decade or so, the main reason for this is the introduction of the JCT Design and Build Contract which made the novation of Designer to the Contractor much easier for the Client. Before the introduction of Design and Build Contract novation was present in the same format it exists today in other industries as mentioned above. If during the construction process a Client was unable to fund any further necessary works and there was a willing buyer to stand in for the Client, it may be in the interest of the entering party to continue to use the existing Contractor. The easiest and least time consuming way to do this would be using the Novation agreement. The second way in which novation occurred in a construction context before the introduction of the Design and Build Contract was if the Contractor was suffering from financial issues or the relationship between himself and the Client has been irreparably affected in someway. If a situation like this occurred it was beneficial for the Client to take on board a new Contractor through a novation agreement. This removed the necessity for the remaining works to be re-tendered, and the likelihood that the Client would have to pay an excess for the works to be completed. 2.3.4 When did novation become popular with Clients Jim Smith[8] stated that: The choice of a procurement method is probably the single most important decision the client makes, other than the decision to build. The various procurement methods can be described, as defined by Masterman (2002), under these three distinct categories: Separated and co-operative. Integrated. Management orientated. In the last few years and particularly within the past decade the procurement methods for contractors have been moving away from the more traditional contracts as described above. The change to a procurement method which uses the second and third categories above has largely been Client-driven; the main reason for this is that the Contractor has to accept a high level of risk if he is to tender successfully for a project. As more design development has been shifted across to the Contractor it is becoming easier and more cost effective for the Client to shift higher levels of risk to the Contractors. The Design and Build contract and all its variations have expanded considerably to accommodate a Clients needs in recent times. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) [9] in 2000 stated that: Design and build and its variations have expanded considerably in the last decade. It has increased dramatically in the 1990s going from a 10 percent share during the 1980s up to a 35 percent share of the construction procurement market, with management contracting declining to a 10 percent share. Chan stated[10] that: 21% of private Clients in the UK use the Design and Build system, of which 42% commonly use Design-Novate and Construct for their projects. Design-Novate and Construct has also been widely adopted in Australia and Hong Kong. David Jaggar[11] Stated that: The major advantages of design and build are that all the risks, both financial and period for completion, are transferred to the design and build contractor, with the client only dealing with one organisation, so eliminating the complexities and frustrations of dealing with a range of separate organisations. The approach also overcomes the problem of the separation of design and construction, so saving overall time and allowing the design to reflect improved buildability in the construction solution. The argument against this is that a Contractor may be taking a higher percentage of higher risk projects. However, as a Client is off loading a lot more risk than what was traditionally not possible in the past they are able to fund much more projects and engage a lot more designers. The result of this is that the Contractor has more work to tender for and a much higher chance of winning projects as more tenders will be processed. 2.3.5 Issues arising from using Novation in construction. Jim Smith[12] stated that: There is considerable debate as to the merits and demerits of the approach and it is fair to say that many design professionals were unhappy about the approach, not least because there was a reduction in their own influence and independence. However, a valid view put forward, which undoubtedly design and build suffered from in the 1980s, was that the quality of the final building was often inferior and the role of design was devalued, as the design and build contractors shaped the design to suit their particular methods of construction. More recent views from clients noted above indicate that they were satisfied with the quality of their completed design build projects. The Design Manager of a Contracting Company plays a critical role in the development of design to determine a contract value for a project. The role involves being able to balance cost and quality and time constraints within a framework. This is an essential skill for all Design Managers or Project Co-ordinators. The Design Manager will work closely with the Commercial Manager at the tender stage of a Design and Build contract when novation of the Design team is being used by the Client. It is crucial that both managers work together to reduce the amount of design and financial risk the contractor will have to carry through the contract period if the tender submission is to be successful. Allinson[13] states that: The developments in the construction industry, the continuing specialisation of professions and the rising application of alternative procurement methods have all contributed to the gap between design and management, but they have also emphasised the need for a design professional with management and technological skills. The management of the process should ensure a successful and deliverable project When Design and Build contracts first became widely used by Clients in the 1990s Contractors tended to manage the building works in the same way they managed traditional contracts. Here a Project Manager was responsible for the development of the construction and concluding the outstanding design issues as well as resolving any building sites day-to-day issues. Project Managers were supported by a number of other managers such as Services Engineers, Site Management and Quantity Surveyors. Jim Smith[14] states that: However, a single reporting source on all aspects of design and cost has not always benefited the client, contractor or the project. Projects have been organised in a very flat structure with numerous lines of responsibility reporting directly to the project manager. The larger projects would have over half a dozen separate factions directly beneath the project manager, including the above stated managers, structure coordinators, documentation managers, tendering coordinators, contract administration, project administration and occupation health safety and rehabilitation (OHSR). In practice, this structure has proved to be an inefficient and ineffective form of management on many projects.

Romanticism and Realism in War Stories :: Romantic Period Essays

Romanticism and Realism in War Stories Tom Brokaw called the people who lived through World War II (WWII) â€Å"The Greatest Generation†, where he shares many heroic war stories in The Greatest Generation. The classic character displayed in the book was a decorated war veteran who returned to the United States (US) and developed a prosperous lifestyle. The WWII veterans came to symbolize strength, honor, unity, justice, success, and noble sacrifice. This image was portrayed through literature and film. Books and movies created an image of the WWII veterans which the US would idolize. Popular culture gave the war a romantic appeal. People fell in love with the idea that the US was liberating Europe from the Nazi Hun and the evil Japanese Empire. After the war, men came back to marry their sweethearts and had several children who were called the Baby Boomers. This romanticism continued through television shows like Leave it to Beaver and literary titles similar to Dick and Jane, which dominated popular culture . Though popular culture defined the perfect life, the lifestyle was not typical for the average American. The Baby Boomers were called into the Vietnam War and expected to follow in their father’s heroic footsteps; but unlike their father’s generation they failed to live up to the expectations. The Baby Boomers rebelled against the state and popular culture, developing flower power, free love, and equality. The Vietnam War conflicted with many of the generation’s values, resulting in internal conflict with many of the nation’s youth. Some men joined the military to fight, while other dodged the draft, creating conflict within a generation. Overall, the Baby Boomer generation symbolized individuality, dishonor, injustice, failure, and wasteful sacrifice. Unlike the WWII era, the Vietnam War brought realism into literature and film. There were no heroic movies of men fighting in Vietnam. Men could no longer shoot fifty enemy combatants on top of a tank without being hurt. Instead, popular culture brought a realistic view of war, death, pain, and destruction. Author Tim O’Brien, like many war veterans, struggled with his Vietnam experience and expressed them through writing. Tim O’Brien exposed the truth behind war stories because he shows the difference between WWII romanticism and Vietnam realism. The difference between romanticism and realism can be seen through two variations of the same war story.

Fredrick Douglass :: essays research papers

Summary Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, near Hillsborough. He doesn’t know for sure of his age, he has seen no proof and his master will not inform him.Most masters prefer for their slaves to stay ignorant. He believes that he was aroundtwenty-seven and twenty-eight when he began writing his narrative - he overheard hismaster say he was about seventeen years of age during 1835. His mother, Harriet Bailey,was separated from him when he wasaninfant and she died when he was seven years old.Frederick’s father was awhite man who could have been his master but he never foundout. Education was of utmost importance in his life. He received his first lesson whileliving with Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Sophia Auld, Frederick’s "mistress",was very humane tohim and spent time teaching him the A,B, C’s. After he mastered this, she assisted him inspelling three and fourletter words. At this point in his lesson Mr. Auld encountered whathis wifewas doing for Frederick and forbid her to continue. He believed that "ifyou give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell" and continuing with "learning would spoil the bestnigger in the world". The masters felt that an ignorant slave formed a choice slave andany beneficial learning would damage the slave and therefore be futile to his master. His next step on the road to success was during his seven years living withMaster Hugh’s family. Frederick would make friends with as many white boys as hepossibly could on the street. His new friends would be transformed into teachers. Whenhe could, Frederick carried bread on him as a means of trade to the famished kids forknowledge. He would also carry a book anytime he had an errand to run. The errandwould be completed quickly, allowing extra study time. When Frederick was working inDurgin and Bailey’s ship-yard he would notice timber marked with various letters. Hesoon discovered how the letters matched the type of wood and the names of these letters.Any boy he met that could write he would challenge them to a writing contest. Frederickwould use the letters he recently learned and told the child to challenge that. He thencopied the Italics in Webster’s Spelling Book until he knew them well. All this hard workand years of practice gave Frederick the knowledge to write. After his relocation to Mr. Freeland, who was the owner of two slaves, Frederickdevoted his Sundays teaching these two and other slaves how to read.

The Theatre Metaphor in The Tempest :: Tempest essays

The Theatre Metaphor in The Tempest    The theatre metaphor also helps to explain why, in the last analysis, Prospero has to surrender his magical powers. Life cannot be lived out in the world of illusions, delightful and educative as they can often be. Life must be lived in the real world, in Milan or in Naples, and Miranda cannot thus entirely fulfill herself on the island. The realities of life must be encountered and dealt with as best we can. The world of the theatre can remind us of things we may too easily forget; it can liberate and encourage youthful wonder and excitement at all the diverse richness of life; it can, at times, even wake people up to more important issues than their own Machiavellian urge to self-aggrandizement, and, most important of all, it can educate us into forgiveness. But it can never finally solve the problem of evil, and it can never provide an acceptable environment for a fully realized adult life.    Prospero, as I see it, doesn't start the play fully realizing all this. He launches his experiment from a mixture of motives, perhaps not entirely sure what he going to do (after all, one gets the sense that there's a good deal of improvising going on). But he learns in the play to avoid the twin dangers to his experiment, the two main threats to the value of his theatrical magic.    The first I have already alluded to, namely, the danger of using of his powers purely for vengeance. Prospero, like Shakespeare, is a master illusionist, and he is tempted to channel his personal frustrations into his art, to exact vengeance against wrongs done in Milan through the power of his art (perhaps, as some have argued, as Shakespeare is doing for unknown personal reasons against women in Hamlet and Lear). But he learns from Ariel that to do this is to deny the moral value of the art, whose major purpose is to reconcile us to ourselves and our community, not to even a personal score.    The second great threat which we see in this play is that Prospero may get too involved in his own wonderful capabilities, he may become too much the showman, too proud of showing off his skill to attend to the final purpose of what he is doing.

Consumer Behavior Research Project

| |Consumer Behavior Research Project 2011 | | |[pic] | |6-12-2011 |Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company. | | | | Consumer Behavior Research Project 2011 Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company. INTRODUCTION More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of taking care of our environment. Almost everybody has heard about environmental problems (likely) caused by human consumption. In order to stop the constant decline in natural resources and the excessive demand of consumers, things need to change. Business has to change their philosophies into a focus on not harming human and ecosystems (Hofstra, 2011). But in our ‘free market economy’ companies need to be able to make a profit or at least break-even from a change, before they will embrace it. That is why this research papers answers the question: Can a company increase their profitability by engaging in environmental responsibility? To answer this question, the following problem statement was formulated: Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company. Two sub questions need to be answered first: 1. Do consumers want eco-friendly products? 2. Do customers act upon their environmental believes? 3. Is there empirical evidence of increased profits by engaging in environmental responsibility? The first two sub questions are questions that must be answered positively for the hypothesis to hold. Without consumers willing to purchase products from environmentally responsible companies, there is no way that companies can make extra profit from engaging in environmental responsibility. Although a positive answer on the first two questions is a condition for the hypothesis to hold, it is still no conclusive evidence that engaging in environmental responsibility will increase profits. For conclusive evidence empirical proof is needed, which will be provided in the third sub question. The expectation is that engaging in environmental responsibility will increase the profitability of a company. Methodology of the research The first two sub-questions will be answered by examining the results of the provided questionnaire (among 24 respondents by e-mail). Several statistical tests will be used to determine the significance of outcomes and the relationship between several variables. In order to research the third sub-question of the research project, to test whether firms make more profits when they engage in an environmental responsibility, a literature study will be provided to review studies that look at the market value of firms. Due to the limited amount of time and resources for this research project, the use of existing science and literature is required to give a useful insight into the problem statement. These sources will provide an overview of the profitability of firms that are engaged in environmental responsibility. Theoretical background Our research considers 2 backgrounds. First, to research consumers, that is, the demand for environmentally responsible produced products, the assumption is made that consumers are aware of the impact consuming has on the environment. Recent years, media has reported frequently about environmental changes induced by mass consumptions and its corresponding mass production. Furthermore, more products use labels to signify they are produced in an eco-friendly manner. Also companies actively try to build their ‘green’ image with marketing. Therefore this research assumes that people are aware of harming the environment by consuming. For the supply side of our research, the standard economic theory (SET) is used. One of the aspects of this theory states that firms are profit-maximizing. Firms will only involve in certain activities such as environmentally responsible producing, when it pay-offs in terms of profits. When it does not improve a firm’s profit, it will abandon it. According to SET, when this research shows that environmentally responsible producing results in larger profits, firms will adopt it. Research findings Do consumers prefer environmentally responsible produced products? Are consumers aware of environmental problems? The first four questions of the survey correspond with this question. But before the data from the survey can be used for analysis, an internal consistency reliability analysis is necessary. Such an analysis will tell us whether or not the data is useful and reliable. Reliability is important, because in the absence of reliability it is impossible to have any validity associated with the scores of a scale. Conducting and interpreting the internal consistency reliability analysis can be done through Cronbach's alpha. The following questions in the survey correspond with whether or not the respondent thinks the environment is important: -Q1: An increasing amount of consumers recognizes the relevance of taking care about â€Å"mother earth† considering the design, production and disposing of the purchased products. Do you agree or disagree? -Q2: What is your opinion about the statement? â€Å"Caring about the flora (vegetation) is important† -Q3: What is your opinion about the statement? â€Å"Caring about the fauna (animals) is important† Q7A: Do you consider yourself as a person who is striving to be a more ‘eco-friendly’ consumer? Higher values of Cronbach’s alpha are more desirable. As a rule of thumb a lot of professionals require a reliability of 0. 70 or higher before using an instrument (See Appendix, Figure 1). Using SPSS an alpha value of 0. 878 is obtained, which is considered very high (See Appendix, Figure 2). This means the test results are internally consistent and reliable. The data needs to be normally distributed to use a parametric test; otherwise we will have to use the non-parametric test. Both the Kolmogorov-Smirnov as the Shapiro-Wilk test of normality, tells us the data (Q1,2,3,7A) is not normally distributed (See Appendix, Figure 3). A good non-parametric test is the ‘one sample chi square test’. To use this test the data needs to be simplified to agree and disagree. Running the chi square test on the first three questions, results in a significant positive outcome for all three questions (See Appendix, Figure 4). Looking at the percentages of people that responded positively, it’s very clear in general a significant majority of people care about the environment (Q1: 75%, Q2: 95,8% Q3: 87,5%). Also 95. 8% of the respondents indicated that they are aware of environmental problems caused by human consumption. (See Appendix, Figure 5) When asking respondent’s why they think taking care of the environment is important, a common answer is ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Biodiversity’. In short: The vast majority of people is aware of environmental problems and thinks taking care of the environment is important because of ‘sustainability’ and ‘biodiversity’. Are consumers convinced buying products from environmentally responsible companies will offer a solution for environmental problems? Questions 6A and 6B are both questions indicating that the consumer believes buying products from environmentally responsible companies will have benefits for the environment, if answered positively. A ‘one sample chi square test’ on both of these questions tell us that a significant majority answered these questions positively (See Appendix, Figure 6). This means that consumers think that companies need to pay attention to the environmental impact of their activities. The industry and the shop chains have to change their methods of production and selling of the products. By looking at the way people answered the questions, one can say that consumers almost demand companies to be environmentally responsible. Not only do they want companies to meet the legal requirements (with regard to the environment), but they want companies to really examine and optimize their production process in order to minimize the use of energy, pollution and waste. From our research it is very clear that consumers are aware of environmental problems and want to do something about it. They also believe that the environment will benefit from companies that produce and sell products in an environmentally responsible manner. This is why they are not only willing to buy products from environmentally responsible companies, but are almost demanding companies to be environmentally responsible. Do consumers act upon their environmental believes? In the previous question, we have found that consumers prefer environmentally responsible produced products. However this does not necessarily have to mean that consumers act upon this. First of all we have to know if consumers belief that they (the consumers) are responsible for making a chance and buy eco-friendly products. This is what Q6C asked our respondents. The result of the ‘one sample chi square test’ is that a significant majority of the respondents think that consumers are responsible to make a change in purchasing ‘eco-friendly’ products (See Appendix, Figure 6). So now we know that not only do people believe companies should produce in an environmental responsible manner, but that they also believe consumers are responsible to buy the products of those companies. As it is common knowledge that people don’t always do what they think others should do, let’s take this research a step further and take a look at how the individuals themselves behave. Question 7A answers this perfectly, by asking: â€Å"Do you consider yourself as a person who is striving to be a more ‘eco-friendly’ consumer? † This time a ‘one sample chi square test’ tells us nothing, because there is no significant majority of people who agree or disagree. The ‘one sample chi square test’ is therefore not of use this time. A ‘Related-Samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test’ is useful in this case; this test measures the differences between the answers on question 6C and 7A and then tests if the media between them equals zero (not significant). The result of this test is a rejection of the null hypothesis (H = 0 ? Median of differences between Q6C and Q7A equals zero. ). A closer look at the results tells us that people don’t do what they think others should do (See Appendix, Figure 7). This result is very interesting, and in laymen’s terms means that a majority of the people claims that ‘consumers are responsible to make a change in purchasing ‘eco-friendly’ products’ but do not ‘consider themself as a person who is striving to be a more ‘eco-friendly’ consumer’. To make matters worse the same test between Q6A and Q7B also leads to a rejection of the null hypothesis (See Appendix, Figure 8). Meaning that a majority of the people think consumers are responsible to purchase ‘eco-friendly’ products, but not purchase them themselves or talk about environmental issues with friends. What do these findings mean for the answer on the question if people act upon their environmental believes? Even though our results are not directly in favor of a positive answer on this question, we can make some nuances. Because when looking at the descriptive statistics and frequencies we can obtain that still 37. 5% of the consumers strives to be a more ‘eco-friendly’ consumer (vs. 29,2% not & 33,3% don’t know). (See Appendix, Figure 9). In short, not all consumers how see the importance of ‘eco-friendly’ products, act upon this. Sometimes they do not act upon it, even if they believe consumers are responsible for making chances and buying eco-friendly products. But there are still a lot of people who do act upon it and strive to be more ‘eco-friendly’ consumers. Now we have a positive answer on the first two sub-questions, the conditions for the hypotheses to hold are met. There is demand for products from environmentally responsible companies. However, this is still no conclusive evidence that engaging in environmental responsibility will increase profits. For that, some empirical proof is needed. Is there empirical evidence of increased profits by engaging in environmental responsibility? In order to give a reliable conclusion about the third question of our problem statement, Is there empirical evidence of increased profits by engaging in environmental responsibility? , already existing literature was used. But before something meaningful can be said about increased profits, the term environmental responsibility(ER) and also increased profits itself need to be defined. In the literature studied, the ISO14000 standard was used to signify ER. The use of this standard, or certificate, is to[1] . Recognize and manage the environmental impact of a firm’s activities, products and services. 2. Give the firm support to constantly improve their impact on the environment. 3. Give a firm the methods to set environmental goals and methods how to achieve these goals. Among these methods to reach these environmental goals are management sys tems that take into account the environment and also the use of product labels. Beside the certificate for ER, increased profits also needs to be defined. This can be done by looking at the market value of a firm. The market value of a firm represents the book value plus expected future earnings[2]. The book value consists of all assets on the balance sheet of the firm[3]. An increase in the market value of a firm will show that a firm has become more worth, because its assets have increased in value, for example its current assets has risen. Another possible increase in market value is by a change in expected future profits. For instance, the disclosure of forecasted profits by the board of the firm can increase market value. What does the empirical evidence reveals about environmental responsible firms? The study that was used compares the market value of 156 Egyptian firms over 3 years, between 2003 and 2005. Of the examined firms, 84 of them did have an ISO14000 certificate; the other 72 firms did not have a certificate. Next, the research looks at the contribution of such an ISO14000 certificate, the dependent variable, to the market value, the independent variable. Being environmental responsible as a firm, has a positive and significant impact on the market value[4]. Thereby, the research concludes that the firms, who do have the ISO14000 certificate, have increased their market value. In other words, the research found that applying ER to your firm is positively reflected in your market value and, on average, does not lower your market value. 5] Discusion Survey The first obvious shortcoming of the survey is the low number of respondents (24). With such a low number of respondents, statistical test are not very reliable. Most of the respondents fell into the same age group, meaning that the survey is not a good representation of the population. Also a lot of respondents were irritate d by the large amount of open questions, which could lead to rushed answers. Literature Study Now we have seen that the practice of ER is profitable, we will look at the shortcomings of this research and its results. The first downside of the research, from a company's perspective, is the fact that we do not know by how much ER is profitable. Indeed, the goal of the firm is to maximize shareholders value as much as possible, mainly in order to attract new and reward current shareholders. However, we do not know to what extent engaging in ER is more (or less) beneficial in comparison to firms that do not produce with the environment in mind. Firms will only engage massively in ER when it will maximize shareholders value more than when they do not apply ER to their firm. This research does not provide conclusive results on this topic. Another downside of the research is that it only focuses on Egyptian firms. A study that takes firms of other countries into consideration will provide a better conclusion. Although Egypt has a free market economy, a research conducted in the West with positive results regarding to profits due to engaging in ER, will inspire Western firms more than the same outcomes in Egypt. Furthermore, the small period the research evaluates, 3 years, is subject to market fluctuations. It could be that the general stock market, where the market value of a firm is based upon, improved during these examined 3 years. On to other hand, the environmental business is changing constantly. A research that examines a period longer than 3 years needs to account for increased legislation regarding waste and pollution, which would increase the difficulty of the research. Lastly, we also face the limitation of why firm profits increase by involving in ER. Having concluded that engaging in ER is profitable is step 1, why engaging in ER is profitable, is the next step. Is it because firms that practice ER are selling more? Do these firms sell more because they can sell their products for a lower price? Or do they sell more because customers or businesses who purchase these products or services perceive more value because these creations are produced responsibly? Or do profit increase because firms have smaller expenses to produce the same amount of products or services? Are those lower expenses the result of economies of scope or economies of scale? All those questions are beyond the scope of this research should be answered with future research. Conclusions This research tried to answer the question whether or not engaging in environmental responsibility can increase the profits of a company. After finding that consumers really prefer environmentally responsible produced products in the first sub-question, the second sub-question asked if they also act upon this. The answer was somewhat interesting because a lot of respondents believed the consumer is responsible for eco-friendly consuming, but at the same time didn’t strive to be ‘eco-friendly’ consumers themselves. Nevertheless a lot of consumers do strive to be ‘eco-friendly’ customer. It is beyond the scope of the research to look at the reasons don’t do what they want other to do, but is interesting for further research. After concluding there is a demand for environmentally responsible produced products, the research continued by looking at empirical proof for supply these environmentally responsible produced products. Knowing those consumers are willing to buy, there is possibility for firms to supply these environmentally responsible produced products. However, firms will only produce and provide these products when this is more profitable than their current supply. In order to determine whether it actually pays off for a firm to provide environmentally responsible produced products, a literature study looked at this. The literature study provided empirical proof that firms engaging in environmental responsibility have an increase in profit or market value. This conclusion is somewhat positive because there is a positive relation between producing environmentally responsible produced products and the market value of a firm. However, the literature study did not give insight into whether applying environmental responsibility to a firm outperforms firms that do not practice environmental responsibility. This leaves room for future research to examine to what extent engaging in environmental responsibility is beneficial for a firm’s profits. References Books Frank, Robert H. 2008. Microeconomics and Behavior. Europe: McGraw-Hill Education. Blackwell, Roger D. , Miniard, Paul W. , Engel, James F. 2006. Consumer behavior. Mason: Thomson/South-Western. Papers Wahba, H. 2008. â€Å"Does the market value corporate environmental responsibility? An empirical examination,† Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 15: 89–99. Appendix Figure 1 |Cronbach's alpha |Internal consistency | |? ? . |Excellent | |. 9 ; ? ? . 8 |Good | |. 8 ; ? ? . 7 |Acceptable | |. 7 ; ? ? . 6 |Questionable | |. ; ? ? . 5 |Poor | |. 5 ; ? |Unacceptable | Figure 2 |Reliability Statistics | |Cronbach's Alpha |Cronbach's Alpha Based|N of Items | | |on Standardized Items | | |. 878 |. 889 |4 | Figure 3 Tests of Normality | | |Kolmogorov-Smirnova |Shapiro-Wilk | | | Figure 4 |Test Statistics | | |Q1 |Q2 |Q3 | |Chi-Square |10. 714a |20. 167b |18. 182c | |df |1 |1 |1 | |Asymp. Sig. |. 001 |. 000 |. 000 | | | Figure 5 Q1 | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Q6A |Q6C | |Chi-Square |14,727a |11,842b | |df |1 |1 | |Asymp. Sig. |,000 |,001 | | | Figure 7 [pic] Figure 8 [pic] Figure 9 [pic] ———————– [1] http://www. iso. org/iso/iso_14000_essentials [2] http://www. investopedia. com/terms/m/marketvalue. asp#axzz1fUqMwWqQ [3] [pic]()*+,-. 78S†¹ Z? oaIA oA†? n[AH