Saturday, December 28, 2019

Battle of Charleroi in World War I

The Battle of Charleroi was fought August 21-23, 1914, during the opening days of World War I (1914-1918) and was part of a series of engagements collectively known as the Battle of the Frontiers (August 7-September 13, 1914). With the start of World War I, the armies of Europe began mobilizing and moving towards the front. In Germany, the army commenced implementing a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan Conceived by Count Alfred von Schlieffen in 1905, the plan was designed for a two-front war against France and Russia. Following their easy victory over the French in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, Germany saw France as less of a threat than its larger neighbor to the east. As a result, Schlieffen sought to mass the bulk of Germanys military might against France with the goal of winning a quick victory before the Russians could fully mobilize their army. With France eliminated, Germany would be able to focus their attention to the east (Map). Predicting that France would attack across the border into Alsace and Lorraine, which had been ceded following the earlier conflict, the Germans intended to violate the neutrality of Luxembourg and Belgium to attack the French from the north in a large-scale battle of encirclement. German troops were to defend along the border while the right wing of the army swept through Belgium and past Paris in an effort to crush the French army.   French Plans In the years prior to the war, General Joseph Joffre, Chief of the French General Staff, moved to update his nations war plans for a conflict with Germany. Though he initially desired to create a plan that had French forces attack through Belgium, he was later unwilling to violate that nations neutrality. Instead, he and his staff designed Plan XVII which called for French troops to mass along the German border and mount attacks through the Ardennes and into Lorraine. Armies Commanders: French General Charles LanrezacFifth Army Germans General Karl von  Bà ¼low  General Max von HausenSecond Third Armies Early Fighting With the beginning of the war, the Germans aligned the First through Seventh Armies, north to south, to execute the Schlieffen Plan. Entering Belgium on August 3, First and Second Armies drove back the small Belgian Army but were slowed by the need to reduce the fortress city of Liege.   Receiving reports of German activity in Belgium, General Charles Lanrezac, commanding the Fifth Army at the northern end of the French line, alerted Joffre that the enemy was advancing in unexpected strength.   Despite Lanrezacs warnings, Joffre moved forward with Plan XVII and an attack into Alsace.   This and a second effort in Alsace and Lorraine were both pushed back by the German defenders (Map).      To the north, Joffre had planned to launch an offensive with the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Armies but these plans were overtaken by events in Belgium. On August 15, after lobbying from Lanrezac, he directed Fifth Army north into the angle formed by the Sambre and Meuse Rivers. Hoping to gain the initiative, Joffre ordered Third and Fourth Armies to attack through the Ardennes against Arlon and Neufchateau.   Advancing on August 21, they encountered the German Fourth and Fifth Armies and were badly defeated. As the situation along the front developed, Field Marshal Sir John Frenchs British Expeditionary Force (BEF) disembarked and began assembling at Le Cateau.   Communicating with the British commander, Joffre requested that French to cooperate with Lanrezac on the left. Along the Sambre Responding to Joffres order to move north, Lanrezac positioned his Fifth Army south of the Sambre extending from the Belgian fortress city of Namur in the east to just past the mid-size industrial town of Charleroi in the west. His I Corps, led by General Franchet dEsperey, extended the right south behind the Meuse. To his left, the cavalry corps of General Jean-Franà §ois Andrà © Sordet linked Fifth Army to Frenchs BEF.   On August 18, Lanrezac received additional instructions from Joffre directing him to attack north or east depending upon the enemys location. Seeking to locate General Karl von  Bà ¼lows Second Army, Lanrezacs cavalry moved north of the Sambre but were unable to penetrate the German cavalry screen.   Early on August 21, Joffre, increasingly aware of the size of German forces in Belgium, directed Lanrezac to attack when opportune and arranged for the BEF to provide support. On the Defensive Though he received this directive, Lanrezac adopted a defensive position behind the Sambre but failed to establish heavily-defended bridgeheads north the river. Additionally, due to poor intelligence regarding the bridges over the river, several were left completely undefended. Attacked later in the day by the lead elements of Bà ¼lows army, the French were pushed back over the river. Though ultimately held, the Germans were able to establish positions on the south bank. Bà ¼low assessed the situation and requested that General Freiherr von Hausens Third Army, operating to east, join in the attack on Lanrezac with the goal of executing a pincer. Hausen agreed to strike west the next day.   On the morning of August 22, Lanrezacs corps commanders, on their own initiative, launched attacks north in an effort to throw the Germans back over the Sambre. These proved unsuccessful as nine French divisions were unable to dislodge three German divisions. The failure of these attacks cost Lanrezac high ground in the area while a gap between his army and Fourth Army began to open on his right (Map).   Responding, Bà ¼low renewed his drive south with three corps without waiting for Hausen to arrive. As the French resisted these assaults, Lanrezac withdrew dEspereys corps from the Meuse with the intent of using it to strike Bà ¼lows left flank on August 23. Holding through the day, the French again came under attack the next morning. While the corps to the west of Charleroi was able to hold, those to the east in the French center, despite mounting an intense resistance, began to fall back.   As I Corps moved into position to strike  Bà ¼lows flank, the lead elements of Hausens army began crossing the Meuse.   A Desperate Situation Recognizing the dire threat this posted, dEsperey counter-marched his men towards their old positions.   Engaging Hausens troops, I Corps checked their advance but could not push them back across the river. As night fell, Lanrezacs position was increasingly desperate as a Belgian division from Namur had retreated into his lines while Sordets cavalry, which had reached a state of exhaustion, needed to be withdrawn. This opened a 10-mile gap between Lanrezacs left and the British. Further west, Frenchs BEF had fought the  Battle of Mons. A tenacious defensive action, the engagement around Mons had seen the British inflict heavy losses on the Germans before being forced to give ground. By late afternoon, French had ordered his men to begin falling back. This exposed Lanrezacs army to greater pressure on both flanks. Seeing little alternative, he began making plans to withdraw south.   These were quickly approved by Joffre. In the fighting around Charleroi, the Germans sustained around 11,000 casualties while the French incurred approximately 30,000. Aftermath: Following the defeats at Charleroi and Mons, French and British forces began a long, fighting retreat south towards Paris. Holding actions or failed counterattacks were conducted at Le Cateau (August 26-27) and St. Quentin (August 29-30), while Mauberge fell September 7 after a brief siege. Creating a line behind the Marne River, Joffre prepared to make a stand to save Paris. Stabilizing the situation, Joffre began the First Battle of the Marne on September 6 when a gap was found between the German First and Second Armies. Exploiting this, both formations were soon threatened with destruction.   In these circumstances, the German Chief of Staff, Helmuth von Moltke, suffered a nervous breakdown. His subordinates assumed command and ordered a general retreat to the Aisne River.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Should The Federal Government Should Allow Free College...

In order to have a decent job it is believed that one must attend college and submerge with a degree. It is exactly why most people in the states pursue higher education, a key component to possess financial security. The task at hand has become a challenging achievement, now more than ever, as a result of skyrocketing tuition cost. It causes students to take out massive loans which, at times, cannot be returned and therefore creating billions in debt for the United States. The idea that student loans are putting this country in massive debt motivates our government to consider granting free tuition for public college. Therefore, leading to this discussion on why the federal government should allow free college tuition and the effects and consequences of doing so. Introducing the Issue According to Dan Lips, (an analyst at the Heritage foundation) tuition and fees of public colleges have had over a 125% increase since 1986. This is the direct result of government subsidies that try to make college â€Å"affordable†. Doing more harm than good, these subsidies have been giving power to colleges and universities so that they could raise tuition every year because these institutions have few reasons to keep cost low to attract students. Therefore, students must now take on hefty loans in order to pay for higher education. Now, close to two thirds of students graduate with student debt. Over 10% of graduates are found unemployed and even more are found under employed with massiveShow MoreRelatedBarack Obama s New College Compact, And How The Compact Will Alleviate The Cost Barriers2157 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction College tuition has increased throughout the past decade, with little change on making the costs more affordable. With the recession state spending on higher education has decreased by 20 percent, and colleges have raised tuition, passing the costs onto students and their families. 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Table of Contents The Madoff Affair†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 Early Life and Career†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Read MoreDownsizing7053 Words   |  29 Pagesand | |their ability to achieve sustained commercial success. Among the significant developments: | |Downsizing Goes Global. The combination of industry restructuring, regional economic fluctuations, the spread of free | |enterprise, and shifting market demand has led to downsizing and layoffs in all parts of the globe. 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Wednesday, December 11, 2019

A Proposal on Knowledge Management

Question: Discuss about A Proposal on Knowledge Management. Answer: Introduction: A report is to be prepared on Knowledge Management. It is to be noted that knowledge management is to extract the optimal knowledge from the resources the organisation possesses. On the organisational front, knowledge management is very well connected with the idea of intellectual capital(Hislop, 2013). The intellectual capital consists of Human Capital, Structural Capital and Social Capital. The human capital are expressed by the level of education, skills, expertise and attitude. The structural capital consisted of brand names, system and processes and sorts of management philosophy. The social capital is concerned with the relationship of the organisation with that of its customer, partners, employees and other stakeholders(Holsapple, 2013). The subject would be well understood if cited from an organisational aspect. To do so the instance of the Central Bank of Oman would be taken. The effective handling of the knowledge management, its usage and relevance with respect to the afor esaid organisation would be discussed. Background Knowledge is one of the most competitive resources and is concerned with the development as well as cultivation of systems which enable a company to improve, distribute, detect as well as leverage the assets of knowledge. 21st century is the era of knowledge and in order to progress, knowledge would play an inevitable part. So applies for the organisational progress of the Central Bank of Oman, knowledge management is very much essential as it takes into account of all the relevant facts to provide an effective platform for the same. Knowledge management (KM) consists of the following steps, which are: Generation of knowledge Sharing knowledge Adaption to knowledge Application of knowledge Creation of new knowledge. It can also be viewed as a process of input and output where the individual knowledge of a person is represented as the input which is then generated, created as well as integrated within the firm whereas the organizational knowledge represents the output (Fuller, 2012). Apart from being just a business of money, banking is also considered to be a business of information. Due to the change in the global environment of business banks are supposed to rationalize their products along with evaluating the part played by knowledge management in the improvement in competitiveness. Management of knowledge is essential in any type of organization including the banking sector. The most significant way which can help banks to create a competitive advantage is by leveraging knowledge. The initiatives for knowledge sharing should focus on the creation of an environment which would promote various cultural factors which incorporates the structures of communication and cohesiveness as well as professional autonomy. The creation of a work context should be emphasised by the banks which is distinguished by greater levels of organizational citizenship. This would result in the formation of mutual social relationships along with increasing the intentions of sharing knowledge. Furthermore, the inception of a knowledge sharing system is ought to aggrandize the knowledge sharing and communication at the workplace, specifically in organizations which are geographically dispersed from the technological viewpoint. Organizations should also focus on creating communities of practice within the workplace since the best way to attain knowledge sharing is through networks of humans. The employees should receive appropriate and adequate feedback from the managers regarding the attai nments of the referring communities (Holsapple, 2013). The sense of self-worth of an individual is enhanced through these actions and the behaviour of knowledge sharing is also motivated. Since the capability of generating new knowledge is highly pertinent to the intellectual capital in the banking sector, the banks should connote their own resilient mechanisms for the creation of knowledge so that ability of knowledge creation is improved. The knowledge creation in banks should be aimed on the sharing and exchange of information. The usual approach which might be adopted by the bank in question may comprise of workshops and brainstorming which team oriented. Expected Deliverables: In terms of knowledge management, the organisations like Central Bank of Oman has to deal with the deliverables of Data, Information and Knowledge. The aforesaid elements are an important part of the organisation as they are the stepping stone for the organisation which exposes them to the world wide open to the arena of the knowledge management. These three elements collaborate as a process to bring up the concept of knowledge management(Liebowitz Frank, 2016). Data Data is termed as the unprocessed facts which are very much required to create for an information(Hislop, 2013). It is the distinct information that needs to be structured in a special way which could be used by the organisation to serve its purpose. In the current scenario, data is stored in the software and programmed to make better use of it. Likewise the Central Bank of Oman has a wide set of diverse data which the organisation process to gain the right information. Information Information is the message which is derived by the interpretation of the data processed by the system(Holsapple, 2013). Information is a valuable resource as it influences the behaviour, decision or an upshot. The main purpose of information is to make for a change, so the change as happens create a value for the organisation. So if the information does not bring any change in the organisational scope, it is considered as valueless. For instance, OMR1000 was granted as a loan amount at an interest rate of 5% by the Central Bank of Oman. This statement gives the information that OMR1000 is the principal amount and 5% is the interest to be charged on the loan amount. KnowledgeKnowledge is to be derived from the information, the way it was derived from the data(Fuller, 2012). It is the fact or information or skill that is to be attained either through learnings or experience. It apparently contributes to the theoretical or practical understanding of the business. In short, knowledge stands to create for an awareness. Again, it is the knowledge that Central Bank of Oman is granting loan against an interest. Potential Risk: Knowledge management could pose problem to an organisation. Though the concept is utterly helpful to the organisation still it could be problematic as it might happen that the employees could not be ready to handle the data effectively and might stay away from it. This is because it needs the staff to upgrade their knowledge and for that they need to undergo rigorous training as required by the organisation. This kind of situation could be found everywhere. This problem is quite evident in case of a financial organisation like that of the Central Bank of Oman. This is because owing to a dynamic business situation, the financial market and mechanism are up for change at any moment. So the bankers has to keep them abreast with the latest information and knowledge to give their customers the best of service(Hislop, 2013). It is the situation where the employees does not seem to upgrade their knowledge or skills. But the same is quite important for the organisation to implement for its growth and to do so it needs the employees to be skilled of the latest technology or knowledge as the situation demands for. So the continuous updating of knowledge is a big challenge that the Central Bank of Oman counter. Approach to the Solution: Knowledge management should make for an initiative on its part to make the organisation and its people come together for a greater good. It is the systematic management of the knowledge of the firm taking into stride the importance of the assets in order to create a value. This is being done to meet the strategic and tactic needs of the organisation. Knowledge management could be a complex scenario but in order to make it acceptable, Central Bank of Oman should make it innovative and easily understandable(Fuller, 2012). It would help the organisational staffs to counter the issue of increasing domain convolution, growing market instability, exaggerated speed to get responses and declining individual experience. Knowledge management is the need of the day and in an emerging economy like Oman, it needs to be given due importance. This is because it is the tool which would give boost to the organisation of the Central Bank of Oman to have a glorious run to its path of progress. The primary aim of knowledge management is to facilitate the operational and functional activities within the organization and in this case the primary importance for the bank would be the implementation of appropriate Knowledge management system structure that would help in eliminating the conflicts as better management framework will be developed (Haines, 2016). It is imperative to develop cultural construction that would help in motivating individuals. There are various initiatives has been undertaken in this context and they are as follows- Managing domain convolution Domain convolutionmanagement is oneof the most emerging issues that has to be carried out with the helpof appropriate techniques and modern technologicalapplications that would help in serving thebest possible functional activities within the organization. Economic instability This refers to the presence of excessive fluctuations in the macro economy due to unemployment rates, inflation, rising prices and consumer confidence issues. It affects the ability of a business to survive along with affecting hugely the cost of living as well as financial, emotional and physical well-being of the consumers and families. Framework and hypothesis of study System quality This refers to the effectiveness, speed, ease and completeness of the function of storage of knowledge management system. In a qualitative study, it has been found that ease of storage encourages people in contributing their knowledge. Hypothesis: the sharing of knowledge to a repository knowledge management system improves with the improvement in the system quality. Service quality The assessment of service quality is done by 5 characteristics: empathy, assurance, responsiveness, training and reliability. It is a significant criterion for the effective deployment of KM system. Hypothesis: the knowledge sharing is improved by a greater service quality to a repository KM system. Management support It signifies the clarification of importance, vision and goals of KMS as well as providing encouragement to the end-users. The acknowledgement and open approval of knowledge exchange by the management diminishes the fear of the individual experts that they would lose their value. Moreover, when employees are provided with the time for knowledge sharing they are encouraged to put effort in it. Management support is extremely crucial to endorse knowledge management along with changing the attitudes of the employees (Haines, 2016). In the Arab culture, managers are considered to be high authority therefore, when they support KMS it instantly boosts the confidence of the employees to share their knowledge. Hypothesis: the knowledge sharing is improved by a greater management support to a repository KM system. Rewards policy Rewards are incentives which might be non-trivial or non-monetary. This is a vital factor since the depth and range of a project in KMS is based on the employee participation for creating and codifying their knowledge for the use of others. Rewards does influences the participants to gather the required knowledge and implement the same in the organisational scope to create for a mutual growth. So by setting a reward policy the organisation could influence its staff to participate in the training and from the staffs side, the rewarding system is a motivational factor which they accept wholeheartedly. Hypothesis: the knowledge sharing is improved by aneffectiverewards policy to a repository KM system. Peers trustworthiness Trust can be described as a set of mutual expectations which are shared by people who are involved in exchange and collaboration. In the context of sharing of knowledge, trust refers to the trustworthiness of the utilizers of knowledge. If the sellers of knowledge are not being paid enough credit by the buyers, the sellers do not get anything. Hence, peers trustworthiness diminishes the fears of the owners and motivates them to share. Hypothesis: the knowledge sharing is improved by peers trustworthiness to a repository KM system. Individual benefits There are various benefits which might be gained by individuals from the contribution of their knowledge to a repository KM system. These benefits are associated with benefits which are tangible such as promotions or increment in long term salary or intangible ones such as performance benefits, autonomy and reputation (Hislop, 2013). By having the requisite knowledge they could be an important asset for the organisation as human resources are the most important resource in the organisational front. So this aspect of the KM should be highlighted to the staff to be a part of the mechanism. Hypothesis: the individual benefits are higher when the knowledge sharing to a repository KM system is higher. Literature review Knowledge sharing process Knowledge sharing process one of the most effective approach that helps in delivering knowledge and guidance to the other employees with the supervision from the primary leaders. With the help of this particular process the available knowledge is shared throughout the member to execute a particular activity in an innovative way that brings several advantages to the organization and also increase the overall reliability. In the word of (), knowledge sharing through repository KMS is primarily referred to a codification and storage process. In this particular case, the repository KMS can be implanted by the manager as it involves data management along with domain facilitation. On the other hand, it will also help in protecting the significant data because in banking sector the data protection is one of the most significant initiatives that have to be done in way that would provide the best system defence. Repository KMS is a traditional process that involve a network model which helps in synchronising all the activities. This particular approach also provides a major support to the organization by delivering organizational memory (OM) that provide articulate knowledge to the organizational members regarding the operational and functional activities and better execution took place. Thu, OM is a remarkable conflict solution process which provides a major platform to the organization members to reapply the workplace knowledge and enlarge the knowledge sharing. The transmission of cultural routines results in adaptation and familiarity of the individual employees within this change management process as it is a major aspects to maintain the quality of service as well as security and safety of data (Haines, 2016). Repository KMS is entirely dependent upon the amount and quality of knowledge which is being structured within the system and there are several social inhibitors are present that provide critical significance to the system. Determinants of knowledge sharing It is evident from various knowledge management studies that the deployment of the concept of knowledge management in a particular organization depends upon several activities and factors which include various social and technical factors that provide critical impact to the knowledge sharing behaviour. Most importantly, the reliable working culture development should be the prime importance that would help in better working framework development along with the effective implementation of knowledge management process. DeLone and Mcleans provide an innovative model in the years of 2003 which is regarded as IS success model. There are some technical factors that may provide critical impact to the information quality, system quality and service quality. However, the organizational culture has to be more reliable and familiar with professional working condition that would helps in better knowledge and data management. Organization culture can be regarded as the combination of value, belie fs and practices that would help in achieving the best possible productivity of the organizations. Motivation is one of the most significant factors that provide crucial impact to the internal stakeholders significantly to the employees because their contribution and hard out make ach of companys goals successful (Liebowitz Frank, 2016). According to Herzberg two factors theory motivational factors helps in better knowledge sharing and, thus, motivational theory implementation along with the knowledge management process would be the most suitable way for the manager particularly in banking sector to maintain the reliable working culture along with enhanced productivity. Therefore, the appropriate management should be carried out according to the need of the organization and the conflicts of knowledge management play a crucial role in streamlining of organizational activities. Barriers to Knowledge Management within Arab Countries The primary reason which has proved as a hindrance in the revelation of knowledge and communication is culture. The main reasons for the deficiency of KM are as follows: Differences in culture and beliefs between the western and Arab nations. The rate of illiteracy is high among the population The availability as well as dependability of technology and communication networks is poor and the investment in RD is lacking. Several political factors such as quitting the country by political dissenters take their knowledge away with them which gives rise to the phenomenon of brain drain. The shortage of skills which is recently being faced in the Arab regions can be regarded to be a prime factor in the lack of successful implementation of knowledge management as many of the employees are not sufficiently trained to effectively implement the practices of knowledge management. In addition to this, differences in culture which are relevant to trust prove that with the context of the Arabian world, knowledge sharing can only be done with individuals by the managers with whom they have established a strong relationship which is based on trust and confidence. The accentuation on personal relationships might prove to be a key obstacle in the formal sharing of knowledge within the organizations. According to the American Productivity and Quality Centre (APQC) 6 emerging strategies for knowledge management have been identified which have been noted down below: Knowledge strategy as business strategy Here knowledge is treated as the product and the strategy is comprehensive and runs throughout the enterprise. Intellectual asset management strategy Here the assets of the company are either exploited or enhanced. Personal knowledge asset responsibility strategy Employees should be encouraged and assisted to develop as well as share their knowledge and skills. Knowledge creation strategy RD should be used to accentuate the innovation as well as creation of the new knowledge. Knowledge transfer strategy In order to improve the efficiency and quality of the operations best practices and knowledge should be transferred. Customer focused knowledge strategy This focuses on understanding the needs of the customers better. Systems Thinking: System thinking is the understanding of the system which studies the connexions and communications between the machineries comprising of the entire defined system (Haines, 2016). The concept of systems thinking is concerned with the thought of how well integrated are the systems and in case of any sort of failure how it could be traced and made up for it. This approach would be very relevant to counter the issues as come across for the Central Bank of Oman(Liebowitz Frank, 2016). The banking system is an integrated process and the components associated could point out the particular lacking in any case if faced by the organisation. Gant chart Knowledge Management Major Activities Start Time End Time Duration (days) Problem Identification 25.06.2016 26.06.2016 1 day Potential risk identification 27.06.2016 29.06.2016 3 days Project development Planning 30.06.2016 2.07.2016 3 days Preliminary development phrase 3.07.2016 6.07.2016 4 days Approach to the solution 7.07.2016 9.07.2016 3 days Managing domain convolution 10.07.2016 11.07.2016 2 days Economic instability management 12.07.2016 14.07.2016 3 days System quality management initiatives 15.07.2016 17.07.2016 3 days Service quality assessment 18.07.2016 20.07.2016 3 days Management support development 21.07.2016 23.07.2016 3 days Finalising the project 24.07.2016 25.07.2016 2 days Recommendation: The situation erupting out of the effective handling of the knowledge management could be done with the initiation of a suitable approach to it. The strategic competitiveness of the knowledge management calls in for the implementation of the systems thinking.It could be applied on the organisational scope of Central Bank of Oman to get the matter rightly settled. It would point out the failure that a particular component might lead to and work out a solution for it. References Fuller, S., 2012. Knowledge management foundations. London: Routledge. Haines, S., 2016. The systems thinking approach to strategic planning and management. London: CRC Press. Hislop, D., 2013. Knowledge management in organizations: A critical introduction. London: Oxford University Press. Holsapple, C. (., 2013. Handbook on knowledge management 1: Knowledge matters. Vol. 1 ed. London: Springer Science Business Media. Liebowitz, J. Frank, M. (., 2016. Knowledge management and e-learning. London: CRC press.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Ontario Teachers Strike Essays - Ontario, Education,

Ontario Teachers Strike Education is probably the most important resource in our society. The education System determines our future, by educating the youngest segment of our population. For this reason, it should be of great concern when there is a problem or an issue like a Teachers' strike. The Ontario teachers' strike that began on Monday October 27 involves 126,000 teachers and affects 2.1 Million students in the province. This strike is North America's largest, right ahead of the 1975 New York City strike when 60,000 teachers walked off the job . The main issue of debate is over Bill 160, which is all about who holds The Power to set education policy in the province of Ontario. Bill 160 centralizes control of the education system, putting it in the hands of the provincial government. It eliminates the authority of school boards and teachers' unions to set classroom and teaching conditions locally through collective bargaining. The bill allows the government to regulate class sizes, education property tax rates, teachers' preparation time, the amount of time teachers and students spend in school and the use of non-certified instructors. The issue is whether teachers should have a role in educational reform. The strike is illegal, because most of the te! achers have existing contracts. Ontario premier Mike Harris said that reforms are needed to stop a decline in student performance. Although the same government announced that the bill will allow the education ministry to cut 7,000 teaching jobs and up to $700 million from the $14-billion education budget. The strike is not a typical one, because it's not really a labor issue. It's not about teachers fighting a school board over a collective bargaining agreement. It's a strike protesting against the Harris government and Bill 160. While the teachers want to protest Bill 160, they also have an obligation to teach their Students. Many teachers are caught in this dilemma; do you go to the classroom, or do you go to the wall to defend education? Are teachers responsible first and foremost for their students or should they be loyal to the union? Many teachers in Ontario feel that they should be there for their students, although they're Scared To cross the picket line. Eileen Lennon, president of the Ontario Teachers Federation, has said that teachers who cross picket lines won't be sanctioned. However, they might take heat from individual co-workers when they get back on the job. The Teachers feel that they have to show solidarity with the union, or they will be alienate! d. "Parents should be on the alert that their schools may be closed in the very near future," Lennon said. "When we do it, it will be province wide." Union members met with education minister Dave Johnson over changes to Bill 160, although nothing was resolved. Johnson said he was discouraged following a one-hour meeting with representatives of the five major teachers' unions. He said he would not make changes the unions demanded. "I was presented with a list of issues to pull out of Bill 160," Johnson said. "I've been presented with an ultimatum to take these sections out of Bill 160 and further discussions, according to the Ontario Teachers' Federation, are not able to take place until those sections are taken out of the bill." Union leaders said they asked Johnson to remove some provisions that would allow the province to use non-certified teachers in classrooms and to regulate class size, teacher preparation time and the amount of time teachers spend in the classroom. Johnson says the changes are necessary to improve the quality of education. The government and the unions have each spent over 1 million dollars in advertising, trying to win over the support of the people of Ontario. The most recent polls show that the unions have a slight edge over the government as they prepared for the illegal strike. Though the longer the strike lasts, the opinion will shift to the government. "The question is: How long will people put up with the inconvenience in light of the over-arching motives? "Right now, tone and character become extremely important." Opinion on the issue is constantly changing, with a shift of two or three percentage points a day