Thursday, October 31, 2019

Post-Staff Reduction Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Post-Staff Reduction Plan - Essay Example But the security perspective of the installation will not change in any way (No reduction of the size of the building or installation is possible).My line of action to cope up with the unpleasant responsibilities will be by adopting the following strategies: 1. Generally, reduction in the staff strength will be on the basis of seniority, by applying the procedure of ‘last in first out’ method. In the present case, I will follow this method strictly, to remove any apprehensions in the minds of the staff. If any other member of the staff has to be removed on out of turn basis that will be by adopting the normal disciplinary proceedings and on the basis of the findings of the departmental enquiry. Reduction in staff on any count will be an unwelcome change, but I will face the situation with a positive attitude by orally assuring the staff that the impending retrenchment will be hopefully be a temporary phenomenon, and as soon as the budget constraints are improved they can look forward for a favorable response from the management. I will be guided by this principle: â€Å"Your behavior and attitude are critical elements in steering the group successfully through the transition. A positive attitude does not imply that you sho uld deny the difficult and unfortunate aspects of what might be happening.† (www.ucdmc.) The staff shall be in a state of anxiety. As such I will keep the doors of communication open, and deal with them with utmost patience. 3. I will impress upon the staff, that there is nothing wrong with the management of the company, the top management is responsible and ever eager to mitigate the difficulties of the employees facing retrenchment, but the bad shape of the economy and the market forces are responsible for the present state of affairs. I shall try my best to normalize the reactions of the employees and assure them of all lay-off benefits which will be settled within the quickest possible time. 4. I shall

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Considering the Climate of the IT System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Considering the Climate of the IT System - Essay Example If a system is designed such that it will remove autonomy or authority from the end user and place it in the hands of the system, it is important to plan for that. In an organization that has a traditional management style, workers may be more accepting of relinquishing control to a more bureaucratic system. However, in an environment where the organization is more empowered, failure to consider this can result in resistance to the implementation. A successful system design will involve the organization and not significantly disrupt the hierarchy or alter the perception of control. While it is important that people's perceptions and attitudes be considered, it's imperative to keep in mind that the organization will have to use the system. Any problems in the organization such as arrogance or disinterest will be magnified when implementing a new system. One of the most important factors affecting a new system or modifications to an existing system is employee acceptance. Many system implementations fail because the system designers did not consider the behavioral climate resulting in a lack of acceptance (Headrick and Morgan). It is also important to consider the social environment of the organization prior to implementing a new system.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Solving Large Systems of Linear Simultaneous Equations

Solving Large Systems of Linear Simultaneous Equations NICOLE LESIRIMA METHODS OF SOLVING LARGE SYSTEMS OF LINEAR SIMULTANEOUS EQUATIONS PROJECT DESCRIPTION Linear systems simulate real-world problems using applied numerical procedure. The main aim of this project is to consider what factors affect the efficiency of the various methods of solving linear simultaneous equations. So far, one of the main factors is rounding errors that can produce inaccurate solutions. Moreover, MATLAB programs have been produced to time the calculation speed to determine the efficiency of the methods. Generally, these methods are subdivided into two; direct and iterative methods. Direct methods are commonly used to solve small systems of equations. The iterative methods are used to solve real-world problems that produce systems of equations for which the coefficient matrices are sparse. The relevance of studying these methods have its real world applications. The real world applications can be seen in various fields such as science and engineering, accounting and finance, business management and in operational research. The approach provides a logical framework for solving complex decisions in a wide range of industries. The advantage is that, decisions are founded on data analysis. Environmentalists and meteorologists may use large systems of simultaneous linear equations to predict future outcomes. For instance, to predict weather patterns or climate change, a large volume of data is collected over a long span of time on many variables including, solar radiation, carbon emissions and ocean temperatures. Queen Mary University of London (2015). This data is represented in the form of a transition matrix that has to be row reduced into a probability matrix that can then be used in the prediction of climate change. The objective of an enterprise is to maximize returns while maintaining minimum costs. Whereas the use of large systems of simultaneous linear equations may provide a basis for evidence based business decision making in an enterprise, it is important to know which linear systems are most appropriate in order to minimize undesirable outcomes for an enterprise. PROJECT REPORT OUTLINE Chapter 1 Introduction Large systems of linear simultaneous equations are used to simulate real-world problems using applied numerical procedure. The real world applications can be seen in various fields such as science and engineering, accounting and finance, business management. The approach provides a logical framework for solving complex decisions in a wide range of industries. The advantage is that decisions are founded on data analysis. The aim of this project is to explore the efficiency of a large systems of linear simultaneous equations in the optimal decision making of an enterprise. Chapter 2 Direct Methods: Gaussian Elimination and LU Factorisation Direct methods of solving linear simultaneous equations are introduced. This chapter will look at the Gaussian Elimination and LU Factorisation methods. Gaussian Elimination involves representing the simultaneous equations in an augmented form, performing elementary row operations to reduce the upper triangular form and finally back substituting to form the solution vector. LU Factorisation on the other hand is where a matrix A finds a lower triangular matrix L and an upper triangular matrix U such that A = LU. The purpose of this lower triangular matrix and upper triangular matrix is so that the forward and backward substitutions can be directly applied to these matrices to obtain a solution to the linear system. An operation count and computing times using MATLAB is calculated so as to determine the best method to use. Chapter 3 Cholesky Factorisation Introduction to the Cholesky method. This is a procedure whereby the matrix A is factorised into the product of a lower triangular matrix and its transpose; the forward and backward substitutions can be directly applied to these matrices to obtain a solution. A MATLAB program is written to compute timings. A conclusion can be drawn by comparing the three methods and determining which is the most suitable method that will produce the most accurate result as well as take the shortest computing time. Chapter 4 Iterative Methods: Jacobi Method and Gauss-Seidel This chapter will introduce the iterative methods that are used to solve linear systems with coefficient matrices that are large and sparse. Both methods involve splitting the matrix A into lower triangular, diagonal and upper triangular matrices L, D, U respectively. The main difference comes down to the way the x values are calculated. The Jacobi method uses the previous x values (n) to calculate the next iterated x values (n+1). The Gauss-Seidel uses the new x value (n+1) to calculate the x2 value. Chapter 5 Successive Over Relaxation and Conjugate Gradient Other iterative methods are introduced. The Successive Over Relaxation method over relaxes the solution at each iteration. This method is calculated using the weighted sum of the values from the previous iteration and the values form the Gauss-Seidel method at the current iteration. The Conjugate Gradient method involves improving the approximated value of xk to the exact solution which may be reached after a finite number of iterations usually smaller than the size of the matrix. Chapter 6 Conclusion All the project findings and results are summarised in this chapter. Conclusion can be made from both direct methods and iterative methods whereby the most accurate method with the shortest computing time can be found. Drawbacks from each method will be mentioned as well its suitability for solving real world problems. PROGRESS TO DATE The project to date has covered the direct methods of solving simultaneous equations. Gaussian Elimination This involves representing the simultaneous equations in an augmented form, performing elementary row operations to reduce the upper triangular form and finally back substituting to form the solution vector. For example, to solve an mxn matrix: Ax = b The aim of the Gaussian elimination is to manipulate the augmented matrix [A|b] using elementary row operations; by adding a multiple of the pivot rows to the rows beneath the pivot row i.e. Rià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Ri +kRj. Once the augmented matrix is in the row echelon form, the solution is found using back substitution. The following general matrix equation has been reduced to row echelon form: This corresponds to the linear system Rearranging the final solution is given by For all other equations i = n 1, . . ., The operation count and timing the Gaussian Elimination was performed. The total number of operations for an nxn matrix using the Gaussian elimination is with O(N3). LU Factorisation This is where a matrix A finds a lower triangular matrix L and an upper triangular matrix U such that A = LU. The purpose of this lower triangular matrix and upper triangular matrix is so that the forward and backward substitutions can be directly applied to these matrices to obtain a solution to the linear system. In general, L and U is an m x n matrix: L =   U =   For higher order matrices, we can derive the calculation of the L and U matrices. Given a set of n elementary matrices E1, E2,†¦, Enapplied to matrix A, row reduce in row echelon form without permuting rows such that A can be written as the product of two matrices L and U that is A = LU, Where U = En†¦E2E1A, L = E1-1 E2-1†¦En-1   For a general nxn matrix, the total number of operations is O(N3). A Matlab program has been produced to time the LU Factorisation. So far, this method has proven more efficient than the Gaussian Elimination. Cholesky Factorisation This is a procedure whereby the matrix A is factorised into the product of a lower triangular matrix and its transpose i.e. A = LLT   or    =      The Cholesky factorisation is only possible if A is a positive definite. Forward and backward substitution is employed in finding the solutions. The method was also timed at it can be concluded that it is the most effective and efficient direct method for solving simultaneous equations. The indirect methods have been introduced with a short outline of what each method entails. Work Still to be Completed       As from the objectives layed out from the terms of reference, the following are the objectives that are yet to be completed. Week 13 16: Evaluating the convergence rate of the iterative methods in detail as well as finding out which method improves the solution efficiency.   Production of MATLAB programs analysing the different methods and other methods. Over the next 3 weeks, the conditions for convergence will be analysed. One of the most important conditions that will be studied is the spectral radius. This is a condition applied on the indirect methods to determine how fast or slow a method takes to achieve the state of convergence. Moreover, the project will also produce Matlab programs for the iterative methods and employ the spectral radius on these programs to determine the speed of convergence for large sparse matrices. Weeks 17 19: Introduction to the Successive Over-Relaxation (SOR) method and the Conjugate Gradient method. Successive Over-Relaxation method improves the rate of convergence of the Gauss-Siedel method by over-relaxing the solution at every iteration. While the Conjugate Gradient improves the approximated value of x to the exact solution. Matlab programs will be produced for the two methods together with the speed of convergence of different sizes of matrices. Week 20 24:Writing the findings and conclusions of the report, finalising on the bibliography and doing a review of the project as a whole.   Preparing oral and poster presentation.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Ghost Story of Lurking Louis :: Ghost Stories Urban Legends

Lurking Louis Urban legends can be effective conveyors of entertainment and morals. We all have heard urban legends during our lives, whether it was in a dorm room, the dinner table, or around the campfire, but rarely do we take the time to fully appreciate the value of the stories. Urban legends have this rare ability to make us question reality. We have this feeling in our minds that says â€Å"Oh, this cannot possible be real,† but then our imagination questions that and reels us in and plants a lingering doubt. David Emery, a writer and follower of urban folklore, defines urban legends as â€Å"told [to be] true, and plausible enough to be believed.† Besides this lingering suspense, urban legends and similar folklore often have underlying morals that are hard to uncover, but when they are, the stories become clear. When collecting stories, the best and most unique one was a local story native to a town in New York State. I vividly remember how he told the story: There was this rundown, old split-level on the edge of the town owned and inhabited by a young couple. This young couple did not have much money so they had to rent out the basement. The tenant that lived in the basement was a short, old man by the name of Louis. Louis lived there for about a year, but he NEVER came out of the basement. He NEVER answered the door during rent collection but just slid it through the mail slot. After a year, the couple was considering evicting Louis, mostly because they had a fear of Louis and his shady activities in the basement. Also, the couple was due for a baby in the upcoming year and they felt it was best for Louis to go. Louis did not respond well to the eviction however. So, when the couple was cleaning out the apartment, for another tenant, a skeleton fell out of the closet and landed on the floor with a loud CRASH! The couple ran out and called the police. After the whole thing with the police was sorted out, the couple moved out. More famili es would move in, but on the anniversary of the eviction, the Ghost of Louis would appear and haunt the inhabitants of the house, causing them to move out. The cycle continues today, and no one has seen Louis ever again, but rumor is he died after that eviction.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Holidays & Christmas Carnivals Essay

It is hard to find someone, who does not like Christmas. This is one of the most favorite holidays, when families get together, decorate the house, install Christmas tree, prepare some favorite meals, or even arrange parties. And, of course, give and receive presents! I had many interesting celebrations of Christmas, which were different from each other. Once in primary school we arranged a Christmas carnival. There was a beautiful Christmas tree, a lot of delicious meals and music, and, of course, Santa Claus with his presents for every child. Once, on the day before the Christmas my parents decided to make some huge shopping. We bought full truck of the things for house, starting from armchairs, kitchenware, and ending with decorations. So we spent all the Christmas vacations enjoying our new stuff and arranging it. In my secondary school times I had a table mate, who happened to break her leg right on the eve of Christmas. So I bought some presents and chocolates for her, and went to the hospital to bring some happiness to that girl, whose family was rather poor. When I was 14, we went to my aunt’s place for Christmas. I spent some great time there, because I like my cousins very much and we always have a lot of fun together. We played games and had some amazing night forest hike in Christmas night. Two years later the family of my aunt joined my family in celebrating Christmas. So together with my cousins we went to a bowling club and had amazing evening of playing bowling. I proved to be really good in that! And then we had a good party at home again. Once, before having traditional Christmas family gathering, we went to a music club with my friends. There a female band named Rockland Ladies played live. That was impressive: we were dancing and having pretty good time! The last Christmas I spent in a ski mountain camp with my university friends. We went to one of the ski resorts in Colorado and had some great Christmas vacations on the opened air! I think that it is wonderful to celebrate Christmas holiday in a new way every year. That is how I can recreate myself, have some perfect rest and get ready for a new year, and also receive many positive emotions and different unforgettable impressions. Bibliography: †¢ â€Å"Christmas. † Christmas Carnivals. Compare Infobase Pvt. Ltd. 3 Nov. 2005 .

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Morality and Immorality: Actions vs Results Essay

Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Niccolo’ Machiavelli had their own perspectives on what was moral and immoral. King and Machiavelli view what was morality right and how they would use this judgment in government and how it affected people in everyday life. King fought a moral fight against what was described as immoral laws to oppress blacks during an era of segregation in the United States. He believes that sometime it is moral to take action against immoral laws to get the results he and others that fought alongside him desired. Machiavelli as a Ruler, during a time when his country was unstable and constant political in-fighting, believed it was better to be feared than loved, and he took the immoral action of oppression to gain respect morally from his followers as a result. Machiavelli was a believer of the art of war to gain power, while King believed power was achieved in non-violence. In â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail†, King came to Birmingham for what he believed to be crimes against a race of people as injustice. â€Å"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere† (482). Practicing what he preached, King nonviolent action still landed him in jail. King’s nonviolent campaigns consist of four basic steps to accomplish sometime unachievable goals. â€Å"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue† (483). Protesting and marches was organized because the people that were subject to unjust laws knew that taking their fight before a judge in a court room did not stand a chance. These were the very people that want to keep blacks oppressed. â€Å"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed† (484). King had specific actions for desired results against immoral unjust laws, but fought back morally by obeying lawful constitution rights. My findings from â€Å"The Prince†, Machiavelli can be described as cunning, evil, and violent. Heavily influenced by pre-Christian political hilosophy, Machiavelli believes violence could gain him respect through fear and intimidation which a leader need to have what he called virtue and prudence. Machiavelli claims Moses killed his own people to enforce his will and would have not been unable to do so if he was not armed. â€Å"The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws† (Machiavelli). Machiavelli was cleaver in that he understood the art of providing for his people to ensure they are protect and content, in returning he demand honor and respect from them. He believe, â€Å"A wise prince should follow similar methods and never remain idle in peaceful times, but industriously make good use of them, so that when fortune changes she may find him prepared to resist her blows, and to prevail in adversity† (523). Machiavelli actions to use violence as a power of persuading results to how one want to appear to be seen, â€Å"whether it be better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved† (526). Inaction can be just as dangerous as taking action, when the results are just as detrimental. Action in the moral sense will reveal results with promises of hope. King led by example, stressed nonviolence through his call for sit-ins and marches. He wanted to end segregation in public life and in job discrimination. Machiavelli dictated his ideas and how a leader should guide. He believe to protect yourself from an attack is to attack others. King and Machiavelli had different opinions on how to take action on issues. Their philosophy was similar but their thought process was different in that, King’s theory was to accomplish change through nonviolence and Machiavelli thoughts was to use deception and second guessing to his advantage. Although both men differ in practices their action was to establish security, love, and honor among men.