...Models with Reality Stages 6 and 7. Implementing Feasible and Desirable Changes Observations and Conclusions Exercise References Figures. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. Soft Systems Methodology map. Transformation process for producing Rich Picture. The routing of Systems Thinking. Shell's MF Rich Picture. Shell's MF world view of training. Shell's MF training conceptual model. Tables. Table 1. One to one transformations involving different world views. Table 2. Shell's Comparison with reality. Abstract This document deals with Soft Systems Methodology as developed by Professor Peter Checkland. This methodology is a way of dealing with problem situations in which there is a high social, political and human activity component. This distinguishes SSM from other methodologies which deal with HARD problems which are more technologically oriented. Introduction Hard problems are problems characterized by the fact that...
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...Supertoys last all summer long Where do we draw the line? Is it okay to medicate feelings away? Who is responsible for the actions undertaken by autonomous systems? With the increasing development on genetic modification, autonomous machines and the knowledge about our brain and nervous system’s chemistry, things we see in science fiction movies are beginning to seem possible and this poses questions to ethicists and scientists. In the short story “Super toys last all summer long”, Brian Aldiss is questioning what is real and what makes something real, through a story about a woman struggling to love her son. Already in the start of the short story, where it says, "She had tried to love him"(p. 32, l. 19), Brian Aldiss shows us that there is something, which is not right in the relationship between the mother Monica and the son David. A mother’s love for her child is endless, therefore this makes us question whether David is Monica’s real child or not. Later on in the short story, Brian Aldiss alludes to the fact that David is not a normal boy. “He went with her without protest into the house, his dark head bobbing at the level of her waist. At the age of three, he showed no fear of the ultrasonic dryer in the kitchen.”(p. 32 l. 28-32). It is not normal for a three-year-old boy to do as his mother says without protest or not to be afraid of the ultrasonic dryer, which properly is big and noisy. Through the short story, more and more tells us that the communication between Monica...
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...“It is believed that one of the failures of the previous government was that effective communication with the people; with reference to the present economic crisis did not take place. Comment on this and suggest ways that the former government could have communicated the situation more effectively.” “Communication is the process of transmitting information, ideas and opinions from one person to another. It involves sending messages to a target person and receiving feedback that the massage has been understood and acted on.” 1 Communication could be informing your sub-ordinates about their performance, telling them about the new objectives of the company and giving direction to employees about their work. These are all examples of communication. “Poor communication is the inability to convey your message to the other person or a group. In an organization, poor communication leads to de-motivation of employees.” 2 Poor communication was clearly evident from the previous Government. Fianna Fáil and The Green Party failed to communicate with the public and the opposition parties the crisis we as a nation were facing. We were aware of a down turn in the economy with house prices dropping and people signing on the live register everyday but the Government tries to “pull the wool over our eyes” when it came to knowing the actual facts, “Anglo Irish Bank”. “We’re taking unpopular decisions because they’re necessary in the national interest,” Mr O’Dea said.”But we don’t...
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...The theme of freedom and responsibility appear throughout Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa. In particular the extract highlights the responsibility Kate feels she has over her family. She is the stabilizing economic and social force holding the family together and therefore takes on the role of maintaining the household. She is dismissive of allowing the Mundy sisters to attend the dance because she realises that it would interfere with her responsibilities. As a result the entire conversation of attending the Lughnasa festival is ‘silly talk’ to her. Kate is also concerned about the responsibilities of her sisters as well. She believes Chris’ circumstances are not deemed appropriate for such an event as she reminds her that ‘you have a seven year old child’. While this is Kate’s view it seems to represent that of their society also. In fact, Kate is also trying to protect her family’s name amongst the community as she feels that it has been already tarnished by Father Jack’s paganism, and for that reason she takes on the responsibility of preserving any remaining respect and dignity in the Mundy household. Kate is afraid that her sister’s would worsen the situation by embarrassing themselves and shaming her family which is shown when she says ‘do you want the whole countryside to be laughing at us?’ She refuses to give in to the idea and even says ‘I don’t want it mentioned again’, which shows that she considers the festival to be a risk for the said reasons. Kate is used...
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...© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy. The Impact of Action The world seems to belong to those who reach out and grab it with both hands. It belongs to those who do something rather than just wish and hope and plan and pray, and intend to do something someday, when everything is just right. Successful people are not necessarily those who make the right decisions all the time. No one can do that, no matter how smart he is. But once successful people have made a decision, they begin moving toward their objectives stepby-step, and they begin to get feedback or signals to tell them where they’re off course and when course corrections are necessary. As they take action and move toward their goals, they continually get new information that enables them to adjust their plans in large and small ways. It’s important to understand that life is a series of approximations and course adjustments. Let me explain. When an airplane leaves Chicago for Los Angeles, it is off course 99 percent of the time. This is normal and natural and to be expected. The pilot makes continual course corrections, a little to the north, a little to the south. The pilot continually adjusts altitude and throttle. And sure enough, several hours later, the plane touches down at exactly the time predicted when it first became airborne upon leaving Chicago. The entire journey has been a process...
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...Virat Kohli set to beat Dhoni, Tendulkar in endorsement earnings Team India's batting sensation, Virat Kohli, has been a huge hit with the youngsters - thanks to his quick rise in the international cricket over the past few years. An eye candy for the domestic and international brands, the Delhi lad is all set to surpass the incumbent Indian skipper MS Dhoni and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the endorsement earnings. Team India's vice-captain, who seems to be the most comfortable young gun on screen, has reportedly signed a Rs.10-crore per year deal with German sports goods giant, Adidas. The 24-year-old cricketer will be seen endorsing Adidas' apparel and shoes as per his three-year contract. Sachin Tendulkar was the face of Adidas shoes for quite some time in India but it seems that the master blaster's age is finally catching up on his endorsements. According to the TOI reports, the right-hander has also struck a Rs.6.5 crore a year deal with a popular tyre brand that had Tendulkar and Steve Waugh as its ambassadors. The new deals will help Team India's probable future captain to beat the likes of MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar in terms of annual earnings per brand endorsement. With these two deals in his kitty, Kohli is set to take on the big players with an increase in his annual earnings from last year's Rs.40 crore in endorsements. He is currently the face of 13 brands including Pepsi, Toyota and Cinthol deodorants. The Indian skipper MS Dhoni...
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...Following diplomatic negotiations dating back to 1986 among the three nations, the leaders met in San Antonio, Texas, on December 17, 1992, to sign NAFTA. U.S. President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas, each responsible for spearheading and promoting the agreement, ceremonially signed it. The signed agreement then needed to be authorized by each nation's legislative or parliamentary branch. Before the negotiations were finalized, Bill Clinton came into office in the U.S. and Kim Campbell in Canada, and before the agreement became law, Jean Chrétien had taken office in Canada. The proposed Canada-U.S. trade agreement had been very controversial and divisive in Canada, and the 1988 Canadian election was fought almost exclusively on that issue. In that election, more Canadians voted for anti-free trade parties (the Liberals and the New Democrats) but the split caused more seats in parliament to be won by the pro-free trade Progressive Conservatives (PCs). Mulroney and the PCs had a parliamentary majority and were easily able to pass the 1987 Canada-US FTA and NAFTA bills. However, he was replaced as Conservative leader and prime minister by Kim Campbell. Campbell led the PC party into the 1993 election where they were decimated by the Liberal Party under Jean Chrétien, who had campaigned on a promise to renegotiate or abrogate NAFTA; however, Chrétien subsequently negotiated two supplemental agreements with the...
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...Sachin Tendulkar (i/ˌsətʃɪn tɛnˈduːlkər/; born 24 April 1973) is a former Indian cricketer widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.[4][5][6][7] He took up cricket at the age of eleven, made his Test debut on 15 November 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi at the age of sixteen, and went on to represent Mumbai domestically and India internationally for close to twenty-four years. He is the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries, the first batsman to score a double century in a One Day International, the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket.[8] and the 16th player and first Indian to aggregate 50,000 runs or more in all forms of domestic and international recognised cricket.[9] In 2002 just half way through his career, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Don Bradman, and the second greatest ODI batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards.[10] Later in his career, Tendulkar was a part of the Indian team that won the 2011 World Cup, his first win in six World Cup appearances for India.[11]He had previously been named "Player of the Tournament" at the 2003 edition of the tournament, held in South Africa. In 2013, he was the only Indian cricketer included in an all-time Test World XI named to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.[12][13][14] Tendulkar received the Arjuna Award in 1994 for his outstanding sporting achievement, the Rajiv...
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...At Pacific Brands we touch the lives of everyday people. We are accessible. We are iconic. We are everyday! Pacific Brands has come a long way from manufacturing Dunlop bicycle tyres in 1893. Today, Pacific Brands is famous for marketing iconic everyday brands our consumers love including Berlei, Bonds, Clarks, Dunlop, Everlast, Grosby, Hard Yakka, Holeproof, Hush Puppies, King Gee, Mooks, Mossimo, Razzamatazz, Sheridan, Slazenger, Tontine, and Volley. With our headquarters in Melbourne, Pacific Brands has operations throughout Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Malaysia, China and Indonesia. The passion of our 5,000 employees is the driving force behind our success. Last financial year Pacific Brands generated sales of over $1.6 billion. Our participation in an extensive range of product categories, coupled with our strong and diversified customer network, underpin our position as a market leading supplier of everyday brands to the Australasian retail marketplace. We make in excess of 300,000 different products and sell over 200 million units per year. We leverage the benefits of our scale to increase efficiencies and generate innovation across the entire company. Ultimately, we seek to improve our speed to market and deliver quality products to our customers. Our brands have become iconic household names with the support of Australian sporting legends such as Sir Donald Bradman, Ken Rosewall, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Margaret Court and Mark Waugh. Current identities...
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...“Life is a series of melancholic events.” –Ada Gonzalez ------------------------------------------------- I have always been so melancholic and cynical when it comes to life. I see things in quite a very different perspective, though I am very optimistic when dealing with life, a part of me is very dark when it comes to entrusting people with love. Why? That I can really never understand and so that I can never explain. One can never explain something that he has never understood. I had a lot from life. A lot meaning troubles and good times but mostly good times or I just don’t want to remember anything that makes me sad because life is just so sad for me. ------------------------------------------------- I have a friend. Her name is Kitkat. She has a long blonde hair and clear blue eyes. She is really gorgeous. She’s the meanest and kindest girl I have ever met. She’s always there for me. When I was young, kids would call me names and push me. She said I should not fight back, I was not born to fight with dumb kids, and I deserve to have better friends. Kitkat was my only friend back then. We play tea parties together, she sings me songs to sleep and she listens to all my complaints. But whenever I would tell my Mom about Kitkat, she would smile and tell me how much I need to go outside and play with the kids on our block. I would tell Mom that they are mean and they are bullying me and Kitkat said that I should not play with them because I deserve better friends...
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...Faith Faith can be a substitute to “belief”, “hope” or “trust”. These are all verbs that are missing in the relationship between Paul and Sarah. However when we are introduced to Brian, a football passionate who starts camping on their rooftop, we are also introduced to a confidence and certainty of a cause. This is one of the main themes in the story “faith” by Nick Hornby, which proves to us, the readers, just how important believing in yourself, and realizing how great an impact your surroundings might have. The story takes place in a flat in London where the couple Paul and Sarah lives. This is where the husband and father Brian invades the roof and life of Paul and Sarah’s. We suppose it takes place in the 21’st century at least build on the mentioning of TV-programs (l. 2, p. 50) and an open-top bus (l. 42, p. 50) for an example. Even though the story has a 3rd person omniscient narrator, we learn mostly about Sarah’s thoughts and a big part of the story is also through her point of view. It is also generally her that changes throughout the story. Sarah feels stuck in her life (l. 21, p. 46), and perhaps that is why she considers the thought of having a baby in the first place. But then she has doubts whether, she is ready to the commitment: “What about work? What about money? What about sleep and friends and smoking and drinking and travelling and what about eating curry, for God’s sake […]” (p. 46 l. 12). As said, Sarah feels stuck and sees her life...
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...through factors such as a person’s image,personality,where they were brought up and their accent. All the characters in the play, making history are identified through where they came from and their accent. Here Friel is attempting to illustrate the difference between class and social status in Ireland during the time of play. Friel has also used the crucial times of Hugh O’Neill post and prior to the Battle of kinsale.One of the key ways in which Friel succeeds in doing this is by implementing the theme of identity and O’Neill’s struggles with this issue of identity throughout the play. Other characters are shown to have split identities, which reinforces Friel ideas of how history will portray them. Making history is a play by, playwright Brian Friel. The play is set in the Elizabethan era, during the renaissance period. From the scenes of the play, Friel uses the events of O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone as his attempt to secure a deal with Spain that will drive the last of Elizabeth’s English forces out of Ireland. As this play is not exact history of Hugh O’Neill, Friel has used certain events and key characters, to explore the concept of identity in making history. Act 1 scene 1 the play begins with the discussion of Christening, in which O’Neill has received an invitation, Friel has used to evidently represent the light heartedness of the rest of the act that follows, before events take a more sinister turn. This discussion is carried out between O’Neill and his personal secretary...
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...Think of the sound of your kids laughing playing and have an all-out good time, doesn’t that just put and instant smile on your face? If you could do this and make memories your children will never forget wouldn’t you like that too? Well, you can, simply by taking your family on a simple family vacation. It can be as elaborate as a week long trip to Disney or as simple as a couple days camping or at a water park and amusement park. Whatever your budget may be there are plenty of ways to make sure you and your family have a wonderful time nobody will forget. I still remember the first time my parents, my brother, and I all packed in to our car and headed on down to Florida for the first time, it was one of the best times we ever had together. We all still talk about that, and even occasionally pull out pictures just to prove who is telling the story right. I remember driving down the coast; it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The water looked so blue and the beaches were so white, my brother and I just couldn’t wait to get out and play on the beach. As I think about these times it helps me to realize I can do the same for my kids someday. This year my son is pretty excited about the camping trip we are taking up to Central Lake, Michigan. Although, sometimes the way he talks about it I’m not sure if he’s more excited about the camper we are borrowing from our friends, or the trip itself. He’s five this year so he is finally old enough to enjoy the lake and remember...
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...Brian Randolph Greene (born February 9, 1963) is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds (concretely, relating the conifold to one of its orbifolds). He also described the flop transition, a mild form of topology change, showing that topology in string theory can change at the conifold point. Greene has become known to a wider audience through his books for the general public, The Elegant Universe, Icarus at the Edge of Time, The Fabric of the Cosmos, The Hidden Reality, and related PBS television specials. He also appeared on The Big Bang Theory episode "The Herb Garden Germination", as well as the films Frequency and The Last Mimzy. Early life Greene was born in New York City. His father, Alan Greene, was a one-time vaudeville performer and high school dropout who later worked as a voice coach and composer. He stated in an interview with Lawrence Krauss that he is of Jewish heritage. After attending Stuyvesant High School,[2] Greene entered Harvard in 1980 to concentrate in physics. After completing his bachelor's degree, Greene earned his doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, graduating in 1987. While at Oxford, Greene also studied piano with the concert pianist Jack Gibbons. Career Greene joined the physics faculty of Cornell University...
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...Introduction 66xxx This report uses management science models as a method of solving management issue in Economic Development Initiatives Ltd, a research and consultancy Company located in High Wycombe. The issue identified within the company will be analysed in terms of models in order to support decision-making from a qualitative perspective. The most appropriate method which can be used to solve the issue in EDI will be subsequently identified in EDI while taking into account its limitations. Finally, the systems implications with relevance to the model used and recommendations made will be discussed. Company background Economic Development Initiatives (EDI) is a globally focussed consultancy, research and training company currently operating in two countries; United Kingdom and Tanzania. The UK company is also actively involved in the development of the mobile survey software ‘Surveybe’ which meets the needs of researchers in all fields while its sister company specialises in data collection for clients. EDI has a niche in the market and works with clients such as the World Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation and national governments. Currently the UK Company employs 10 people while the Tanzanian company employs over 75 members (Surveybe, 2013). Problematic situation Ragsdale (2008) state that a problem arises when a gap or disparity exists between the present situation and some desired state of affairs. The author also points out to the Key elements of...
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