Tuesday, August 6, 2019

International Trade and Finance Speech Essay Example for Free

International Trade and Finance Speech Essay One may try to understand what exactly a foreign exchange rate is. To help understand, let’s view a foreign exchange rate as exchanging one dollar at a department store for a product. If one were to go into a department store and purchase a pair of socks in a three pack for one dollar, or each for 33 cents, one would be able to relate that the dollar-to-socks exchange rate is three socks because one exchanged a single dollar for three pairs of socks. Similarly, the sock-to-dollar exchange rate would be one-third of a dollar, meaning 33 cents. This is because if one decides to sell a single pair of socks, one would get 33 cents in exchange. Moffatt) The same principle hold true for foreign currency. On May 9, 2013 the U. S. -to-Euro exchange rate was . 767 EUR, meaning that for one U. S. dollar, one could purchase . 767 Euros. In order to determine the amount that one could exchange one Euro to the dollar, one could use this simple formula: Euro-to-U. S. exchange rate = 1 / U. S. -to-Euro exchange rate. Euro-to-U. S. exchange rate = 1 / 3767 = 1. 303. This equation shows that one Euro would be exchange for 1. 303 U. S. dollars. (Moffatt) Now that what have an understanding of what a foreign exchange rate is, let discuss how these rates are determined. Using the two previously discussed currencies, each of their rate are determined in a foreign exchange market that is open to a very large range of various sellers and buyers. Each country incorporates mechanisms that will in turn aid in managing the value of their currency. These mechanisms help in determining the, either pegged and fixed, or free-floating. A peg system is when a country tries to keep their currency at a fixed exchange rate, as the Chinese have done between 1994 and 2005. Doing this sometime devalue or over-value their currencies, which can result in either a trade deficit or surplus. Free-floating is when the currency’s exchange rate is allowed to vary against currencies of other countries, allowing supply and demand in the market forces to determine its exchange rate; exchange rates for these currencies are determined around the works by banks and are quoted through the financial markets. (Mayer) International Trade The effects of international trade means lower prices for goods and services; competition for the domestic markets and less of a choice for employment for University of phoenix students after graduation. When the country invests more in international trade that local business and companies; the Gross domestic product may start to suffer and business may start to go out of business due to loss in business. International trade takes away from local farmers and business owner’s success. If the country is constantly making international trades, eventually the United States would no longer have a need for local farmers. The local farmers would have surplus that may spoil due to not being sold. This could cause the farmer to become bankrupt. International trades mean less cost for products and services for the consumer, (Investopedia, n. ). So in return that means less business for the local farmers and business owners as mentioned before. The effect of international trade effects University of Phoenix student mainly after graduation. If all of the jobs are being outsources or traded overseas; what opportunities does that leave the new potential employees? The students would not have a job of choice, depending on the degree they have pursued. It would be unfortunate for a student to complete a program and not be able to use their degree effectively due to their job of choice being outsourced overseas. International trade is not all that bad as it is made out to be. Without international trade, we would not be able to experience different types of foods from other countries that cannot be produced in our country, (Investopedia, n. d). Tariffs and Quotas International relations and trade can be affected by the choices governments choose to fallow. First, what are tariffs and quotes? Tariffs or sometimes known as custom duties also, they are a certain amount of tax value placed by governments on international trade goods and are typically on imported goods. Quotas are limits placed on the importers, which gives them a certain amount of time they may import their goods. Quotas generally favor the importer, because they tend to drive the cost of goods up, which in turn gains revenue for the importing companies. Tariffs do the opposite, they generally will bring revenue to the government, because they are a tax and the government will gain in revenue. Although tariffs and quotas bring revenue to the companies and the government, they can also have a negative affect if the tax is too high or if the quotas are so small. Price of the goods will sky rocket and problems in the international trading world will arise. One example, which according to Colander (2010) stated,â€Å" Probably the most infamous tariff in U. S. istory is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, which raised tariffs on imported goods to an average of 60 percent. It was passed at the height of the Great Depression in the United States in the hope of protecting American jobs. It didn’t work. Other countries responded with similar tariffs. As a result of these trade wars, international trade plummeted from $60 billion in 1928 to $25 billion in 1938, unemployment worsened, and the international depression deepened. † (Colander, 2010, p. 458). Import of Goods If the U. S. restricted all goods coming in from China then the U. S. would lose a significant amount of comparative advantage with China. What this means is that goods manufactured in China, India and other Asian countries are creating demand for advertising, management, and distribution, and are therefore creating jobs and income in the United States† (Colander, 2010, p. 453). Currently the U. S. is now a debtor nation and China plus India are creating jobs and helping the U. S. economy. The U. S. could not afford to restrict China because this could cause problems internationally with the two countries and the U. S. economy would suffer from bad relations. Why cannot the U. S. just minimize the amount of imports coming in from all other countries? The U. S. annot minimize the amount of imports coming in from other countries because this would hurt the U. S. economy as a whole. Minimizing the amount of imports could also hurt the reputation of the U. S. on the international trade level and the U. S. could end up losing trading partners with other countries. The U. S. is consuming more imports then selling of exports so minimizing the amount of imports would also be very difficult. Again this could make the U. S. economy crash from the loss of imports. â€Å"International trade, and changing comparative advantages, will become more and more important for the United States in the coming decades† Colander, 2010, p. 470). Surplus A surplus of imports that is brought into the United States is when imports exceed exports, meaning that the demand for U. S. goods or services is in the negative. A negative export affects the economy’s income and output, the employment rate, prices of goods and services, and the rate of inflation. An example of a product with an import surplus, and the impact that it had on the U. S. businesses and consumers is the motor-vehicle manufacturing sector. â€Å"The motor-vehicle manufacturing sector is the second-largest employer among all U. S. anufacturing industries, and auto parts and tires contribute the most direct jobs (nearly two-thirds or more) to the motor-vehicle sector. † (Scott, 2012) Since the United States Government helped with the restructuring of General Motors, there has been a strong turnaround in U. S. auto sales, but this still does not stop the massive import and surplus of automotive parts available on the U. S. market. Chinese exports to the United States have increase by 900 percent in the last decade, thus affecting the employment rate of those that would be working in the United States auto-parts industry.

Monday, August 5, 2019

Introduction to MATLAB

Introduction to MATLAB 3.1.1. What Is MATLAB? MATLABÂ ® is a high-performance language for technical computing. It integrates computation, visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar mathematical notation. Typical uses include Math and computation Algorithm development Data acquisition Modeling, simulation, and prototyping Data analysis, exploration, and visualization Scientific and engineering graphics Application development, including graphical user interface building. MATLAB is an interactive system whose basic data element is an array that does not require dimensioning. This allows you to solve many technical computing problems, especially those with matrix and vector formulations, in a fraction of the time it would take to write a program in a scalar non interactive language such as C or FORTRAN. The name MATLAB stands for matrix laboratory. MATLAB was originally written to provide easy access to matrix software developed by the LINPACK and EISPACK projects. Today, MATLAB engines incorporate the LAPACK and BLAS libraries, embedding the state of the art in software for matrix computation. MATLAB has evolved over a period of years with input from many users. In university environments, it is the standard instructional tool for introductory and advanced courses in mathematics, engineering, and science. In industry, MATLAB is the tool of choice for high-productivity research, development, and analysis. MATLAB features a family of add-on application-specific solutions called toolboxes. Very important to most users of MATLAB, toolboxes allow you to learn and apply specialized technology. Toolboxes are comprehensive collections of MATLAB functions (M-files) that extend the MATLAB environment to solve particular classes of problems. Areas in which toolboxes are available include signal processing, control systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic, wavelets, simulation, and many others. 3.2: The MATLAB System The MATLAB system consists of five main parts: 3.2.1: Development Environment This is the set of tools and facilities that help you use MATLAB functions and files. Many of these tools are graphical user interfaces. It includes the MATLAB desktop and Command Window, a command history, an editor and debugger, and browsers for viewing help, the workspace, files, and the search path. 3.2.2: The MATLAB Mathematical Function This is a vast collection of computational algorithms ranging from elementary functions like sum, sine, cosine, and complex arithmetic, to more sophisticated functions like matrix inverse, matrix eigen values, Bessel functions, and fast Fourier transforms. 3.2.3: The MATLAB Language This is a high-level matrix/array language with control flow statements, functions, data structures, input/output, and object-oriented programming features. It allows both programming in the small to rapidly create quick and dirty throw-away programs, and programming in the large to create complete large and complex application programs. 3.2.4: Graphics MATLAB has extensive facilities for displaying vectors and matrices as graphs, as well as annotating and printing these graphs. It includes high-level functions for two-dimensional and three-dimensional data visualization, image processing, animation, and presentation graphics. It also includes low-level functions that allow you to fully customize the appearance of graphics as well as to build complete graphical user interfaces on your MATLAB applications. 3.2.5: The MATLAB Application Program Interface (API) This is a library that allows you to write C and FORTRAN programs that interact with MATLAB. It includes facilities for calling routines from MATLAB (dynamic linking), calling MATLAB as a computational engine, and for reading and writing MAT-files. 3.3: MATLAB Working Environment 3.3.1: MATLAB Desktop MATLAB Desktop is the main MATLAB application window. The desktop contains five sub windows, the command window, the workspace browser, the current directory window, the command history window, and one or more figure windows, which are shown only when the user displays a graphic. The command window is where the user types MATLAB commands and expressions at the prompt (>>) and where the output of those commands is displayed. MATLAB defines the workspace as the set of variables that the user creates in a work session. The workspace browser shows these variables and some information about them. Double clicking on a variable in the workspace browser launches the Array Editor, which can be used to obtain information and income instances edit certain properties of the variable. The current Directory tab above the workspace tab shows the contents of the current directory, whose path is shown in the current directory window. For example, in the windows operating system the path might be as follows: C:MATLABWork, indicating that directory work is a subdirectory of the main directory MATLAB; WHICH IS INSTALLED IN DRIVE C. clicking on the arrow in the current directory window shows a list of recently used paths. Clicking on the button to the right of the window allows the user to change the current directory. MATLAB uses a search path to find M-files and other MATLAB related files, which are organize in directories in the computer file system. Any file run in MATLAB must resides in the current directory or in a directory that is on search path. By default, the files supplied with MATLAB and math works toolboxes areincluded in the search path. The easiest way to see which directories is soon the search path, or to add or modify a search path is to select set path from the File menu the desktop, and then use the set path dialog box. It is good practice to add any commonly used directories to the search path to avoid repeatedly having the change the current directory. The Command History Window contains a record of the commands a user has entered in the command window, including both current and previous MATLAB sessions. Previously entered MATLAB commands can be selected and re-executed from the command history window by right clicking on a command or sequence of commands. This action launches a menu from which to select various options in addition to executing the commands. This is useful to select various options in addition to executing the commands. This is a useful feature when experimenting with various commands in a work session. 3.3.2: Using the MATLAB Editor to create M-Files The MATLAB editor is both a text editor specialized for creating M-files and a graphical MATLAB debugger. The editor can appear in a window by itself, or it can be a sub window in the desktop. M-files are denoted by the extension .m, as in pixel up. m. The MATLAB editor window has numerous pull-down menus for tasks such as saving, viewing, and debugging files. Because it performs some simple checks and also uses color to differentiate between various elements of code, this text editor is recommended as the tool of choice for writing and editing M-functions. To open the editor, type edit at the prompt opens the M-file filename. m in an editor window, ready for editing. As noted earlier, the file must be in the current directory, or in a directory in the search path. 3.3.3: Getting Help The principal way to get help online is to use the MATLAB help browser, opened as a separate window either by clicking on the question mark symbol (?) on the desktop toolbar, or by typing help browser at the prompt in the command window. The help Browser is a web browser integrated into the MATLAB desktop that displays a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) documents. The Help Browser consists of two panes, the help navigator pane, used to find information, and the display pane, used to view the information. Self-explanatory tabs other than navigator pane are used to perform a search.

Traits Theory Of Leadership Management Essay

Traits Theory Of Leadership Management Essay Early research by Burns (1978) concluded that leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth (Burns, 1978). To enhance our understanding of leadership this chapter will critically review the early theories of leadership to current leadership research on transformational and transactional leadership style. It will also discuss how the current findings on leadership are likely to impact the commitment of members in National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE). 2.0 Leadership Leadership has become a hot topic with a burgeoning but fragmented literature in the past few years that draws on both the arts and the sciences. So far there is no agreed paradigm for the study and practice of leadership. The concept of leadership has seized the attention and concern of many researchers in the field of management, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and others in the last century. Such a concern is due to the important roles leaders play in facilitating organizational effectiveness and performance through their behaviors or styles they exhibit and competencies they posses. Indeed, in this context, one measure organizational effectiveness is members commitment (Meyer et al., 2002). It is the contention that the present study is conducted to determine how leadership style affects commitment amongst employees at work. So, what is leadership? The concept of leadership has been defined differently by scholars in terms of the emphasis on leaders traits, influence, competencies, individual vs., and group orientation and cognitive vs. emotional orientations. Burns (1978) defines leadership as a mobilization process by individuals with certain motives, values and access to resources in a context of competition and conflict in the pursuit of goals. More recently, Nigel Nicholson speaks of leadership as either a position or a process (Bradshaw, 2002). If a process, he says, it is about influencing other people, and this requires knowing oneself, knowing those other people, and knowing how to influence them. In order to understand how leadership is conceptualized, it is necessary to look at the leadership styles and variety of leadership theories developed, as follows. Traits Theory of Leadership Trait theories on leadership started in the twentieth century and formal theories on leadership were given by sociologists, experts in human behavior and psychologists. The researchers from 1920s to 1960s focused on the personality of leader and tried to find some traits as the basic of successful leadership (Adair, 1984). Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) cultivated the theory of leadership for the first time for leading in the formal organizations. His basic idea was to increase output by using scientific parameter. According to Bass (1990), successful leadership is determined by factors classified into six groups: achievement, responsibility, capacity, participation and situation. He also claimed that leaders are born but no made. The main assumptions of trait theory are the (a) the common features that characterize are considered as the criteria to define the suitability and successfulness of leadership; (b) an effective leader inherits and learns his/her traits, and (c) leaders are born and not made. To test the traits theory, Gordon (1987) carried out a study to define the relationship between characteristics of personality and leadership. He found a significant relationship between the ability of taking responsibility and leadership. He further found a weak but positive relationship between intelligence, authority and intelligence, and leadership. In a different study to illustrate the differences between leaders and non-leaders in terms of their personalities and traits, Beer et al. (1990) found that leaders were identified as being serious, self-dependent, confident of their competencies, best decision makers, and reasonable in expressing thoughts. They also revealed that leaders are characterized by being able to take responsibility, are self motivated, more persuasive, more capable in influencing others, more energetic, and more diplomatic. Stogdill (1974) carried out a survey of the factorial studies between 1945 and 1970 to define the main features of a leader. He found that leadership traits are defined into six main types: corporal traits, social background, intelligence, capability, personality traits, relevant to task, and social features. The results also showed that an effective leader has skills such as social and personality skills, technical skills, managerial skills, intellectual skills, friendship-achievements skills, being supportive for team work, and being defensive towards work. Situational Theories of Leadership Situational theories appeared as a reaction to the trait theory of leadership. Situational Leadership Theory Ability level of the officer High 5 4 3 2 1 Delegating Supporting Coaching Directing Willingness level of the officer Low High Low 1 2 3 4 5 The Situational Leadership Theory suggests that effective leadership requires both acts of leadership and management. Depending on the level of each of these acts necessary, four different styles of leadership can be utilized. These are delegating, coaching, directing, and supporting. For a leader to be purposeful in their direction, they must use the correct style by being able to evaluate a followers readiness level. In other words, they must meet a follower where they are. Fiedler Contingency Model Functional theory 2.3 Early Description of Relation- Oriented and Task-Oriented Leadership Behavior The study of leadership has an important place in the study of management and organization behavior for several decades. There is no other role in organization has been focused more interest than the leader (SchwandtMarquardt, 2000). The early study of leadership behavior separate those behaviors into relation-oriented and task oriented leadership. Relations-oriented leadership focuses on the quality of the relationship with followers, whereas task oriented leadership focus on the task to be accomplished by followers (Bass, 1990). Researchers have used various terms to describe relations-oriented and task oriented leadership behaviors. Bass (1990) provides an overview of terms used by several researchers. For example, descriptions of relations-oriented leadership behaviors have included participatory decision making (Ouchi, 1981), supportive (Bowers Seashore,1966), concern for people (Blake Mouton,1964), emphasizing employee needs(Fleishman,1957), people centered (Anderson,1974) and leadership (Zaleznik,1977). For both types of leadership behaviors, the most recent descriptions came from Bass Avolio (1995, 1997). They describe relations-oriented behaviors as Idealized Influence (attributed), Idealized Influence (behavior), Individualized Consideration, Intellectual Stimulation and Inspirational Motivation. Their task-oriented description include contingent reward, management-by-exception (active) and management-by-exception (passive) Burns (1978) comprehensive theory formed the foundation for Basss (1985) transformational-transactional differentiation which has become considerable importance in the study of leadership in organization. 2.4 Transactional and Transformational Leadership Leadership style is defined as a pattern of emphases, indexed by the frequency or intensity of specific leadership behaviors or attitudes, which a leader places on the different leadership functions (Casimir, 2001). Theorists have come up with various leadership styles, namely autocratic leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and servant leadership. Some have been widely studied of by researchers and their effects on organizations have been established. Transformational leadership is one of the leadership styles that have been studied and its relationships with various elements in management have been established. Transformational leadership is a style of leadership whereby a leader can motivate a subordinate to perform above and beyond what he or she had previously believed possible (Bass, 1985). A study performed by Parry (2003) in public sector organizations found that transformational leadership style has a positive effect on the innovation and effectiveness of these organizations. According to Bass Avolio(1995), transactional leadership refers to an influence process to exchange valued rewards for performance. Thus, transactional leadership embraces based exchange relationship. The leader promotes uniformity by providing extrinsic (positive or negative) reward to the collaborators (Cardona, 2000). Transactional leadership encompasses fairly traditional managerial styles where managers or leaders gain compliance and performance by either offering rewards or punishing deviations from standards. This is the pattern of leadership prevalent in most organizations and organizational situations because it contains a basic mechanism of exchange relations which becomes possible when there is no outstanding sense of impeding threat or anxiety. Bass (1985) conceptualized transformational leaders as unique motivators who encourage follower to go beyond their believed capabilities in pursuit of a shared, common goal. Transformational leaders are concerned about efficiency and the achievement of organization goal. They do so with a focus in supporting staff emotionally and intellectually. Basss initial views, characterized transformational leadership as the ability to elicit support and participation from followers through personal qualities. The significance of transactional and transformational leadership has been elaborated in the Full Range of Leadership Model (Avolio and Bass,1991) 2.5 The Full Range Leadership Model The full range leadership model is probably the most validated leadership model in use world-wide today. The originality of the full range leadership (FRL) model lies in the concept of a range of leadership behaviors which all leaders demonstrate. This model required a change for a balanced leadership behavior whereby moves away from the more transactional leadership towards the transformational leadership style. Bass (1999) was the one of the researcher to argue for a transformational style of leadership to transactional forms. Scholars have studied the full range leadership model (FRL) as a predictor of a variety of outcomes in organizations such as employees commitment, employee satisfaction, motivation, organizational effectiveness and performance. (Base and Stogdill, 1990; Barbuto et al., 2007) The Full Range Model describes three main types of leadership behavior to transformational behavior ranging from completely inactive (laissez-faire) to transactional behaviors to transformational behaviors. Thus, transactional and transformational leadership are seen to be in a continuum rather than being mutually exclusive (Yammarino, 1993; Bass and Avolio, 1994). According to Base and Avolio(1995) Laissez-faire is non leadership behaviors that imply the leaders indifference towards both followers actions and organizational outcomes, as well as demonstrating an attitude of abdicating responsibility (to make decisions, or address important issues). The laissez-faire leader, who is also referred to as non transactional is characterized by a relative lack of concern for his subordinates (Bass and Riggio, 2006). The Full Range Leadership (FRL) Model consists of three transactional leader characteristics. Contingent Reward Contingent reward is the classical transactional leadership style. Here the leader sets very clear goals, objectives and targets and clarifies, either openly or by inference, what rewards can be expected for successful completion. Contingent reward leaders are found to be reasonably effective, although not as much as the five Is in transformational leadership for motivating others to achieve higher levels of performance. These leaders assign agreements on what needs to be done and promise rewards or actually reward followers for satisfactory carrying out the assignment. Management by Exception (passive) Management by exception (passive) refers to the process of paying attention to the exceptional rather than the normal. Thus management by exception leaders tend to be relatively laissez-faire under normal circumstances but take action when problem occur, mistakes are made or deviation from standards are apparent. Leaders wait passively for deviances and errors to occur and then take corrective action (Avolio and Bass,1991) Management by Exception (active) Management by exception (active) leaders is found to be less effective than contingent reward leaders but is still required in certain situations. They arrange to actively to actively monitor deviances from standards, mistakes and errors in the followers assignments and to take corrective action as necessary. The leader pays very close attention to any problem or deviations and has extensive and accurate monitoring and control system to provide early warnings of such problems. In the Full Range Leadership (FRL) Model, Bass (1998) divided transformational leadership into four scales. Idealized Influence Idealized Influence is often associated with charismatic leadership (e.g Shamir et.al., 1993; Yulk,1999). Leaders portraying idealized influence attributes have the socialized charisma (Avolio and Bass, 2002). They are perceived as being confident and powerful, and viewed as focusing on higher-order ideals and ethics. Such leaders are often seen as being high on morality, trust, integrity, honesty and purpose. House and Shamir (1993) have said that charismatic leaders demonstrate determination, optimism, and confidence in them to accomplish the mission and realize the vision. For example, Dr Martin Luther King inspired people through his oratorical skills in the face of unpromising resistance. Leaders who exert idealized influence behave in ways that demonstrate high standards of ethical and moral conduct (Bass, 1998). Idealized influence is behavior that encourages followers to use their leaders role model. Inspirational Motivation Inspirational Motivation involves communicating the vision to followers, fostering follower identification with the vision, focusing follower efforts, arousing their self awareness of higher goals and motivations and sustaining positive emotional arousal and identification with these goals (Bans, 1990).Inspirational motivation leaders motivate and inspire followers by providing meaning and challenge to work. These leaders engage followers in envisioning attractive future states and created communicated expectations that followers want to meet. Intellectual Stimulation Intellectual stimulation essentially involves the leader stimulating the follower to think through issues and problems for themselves and thus to develop their own abilities. This leadership approach reflects in large measure the coaching, morale building strengths of individualized consideration. Leaders stimulate followers effort to be innovative and creative by questioning assumptions, reframing problems and approaching old situations in new ways. New ideas and creativity problem solutions are solicited from followers who are included in the process of addressing problems and finding solutions. Individualized Consideration Individualized consideration includes mentoring, coaching, continuous feedback, and linking the individuals current needs to the organizations mission (Bass, 1990).leaders pay special attention to the needs of each individual follower for achievement and growth. Leaders who use this style of leadership show consideration for their workers need and are prepared to encourage and coach the development of appropriate workplace behavior. Individualized consideration leaders pay special attention to the needs of each individual follower for achievement and growth. Followers are developed to successively higher level of potential (Fukushige and Spicer, 2007) In the Full Range Leadership (FRL) Model, the transformational leader follower relationship is viewed as one of mutual stimulation (Barbuto, 1997). The influence of transformational leaders was distinguished on the hierarchical scale of moral development measured by Kohlbergs conceptualization (Popper et, al., 2002). This in more study also reports transformational leaders are classified as more morally advanced than transactional leaders. Figure 1: Full Range Leadership Model 1 PASSIVE ACTIVE Effective Transactional Laissez-faire Laissez-faire Transformational Leadership Management Figure 2: Full Range Leadership Model 2 Increase impact on commitment Laissez-faire Management-by-exception Contingent Reward Intellectual Stimulation Inspirational Motivation Idealized Influence Individualized consideration McGuire and Kennerly (2006) identifies the relationship between organizational leadership and members commitment in the literature since 1950s. McGuire and Kennerly states that transactional and transformational leadership style provides a framework for interaction that might affect the employees relationship, commitment, and work environment. The leadership style adopted by the leaders of National Union of Bank Employees(NUBE) will influence all the activities of union.(Naude and McCabe,2005). According to Bass (1990), transformational leaders demonstrated the four characteristics of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. Transformational leaders inspired others to improve performance, satisfied and achieved outcomes beyond expectations. McGuire and Kennerly (2006) reported increased loyalty, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and morale with transformational leaders compared with limited levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of organizational commitment with transactional leadership. Many studies involving the broad categories of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors, as well as specific behaviors within those categories have demonstrated that these behavior impact both individual and organizational effectiveness. Organizational commitment is a construct that explores effectiveness outcomes in similar areas. 2.6 Organizational Commitment Organizational commitment plays an important role in the study leadership. This is in part due to the number of works that have found relationships between organizational commitment and attitudes and behaviors in the workplace (Porter et al, 1974, Angle and Perry, 1981). Organizational commitment has linked to leadership behaviors that are relations-oriented and task-oriented. DeCotiisSummers(1987) found that when employees were treated with consideration they show greater level of commitment. Jermier Berkes (1979) discovered that employees who participate in decision making had higher levels of commitment to the organization. Organizational commitment provides a broad measure of the effectiveness of leadership behaviors. This relationship offers a way to further explore the subject of leadership. Bycio, Hackett, Allen (1995) reported positive correlations between the leadership behaviors of charisma, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, and contingent reward and affective, continuance and normative commitment. Studies suggest that committed workers contribute to the organization in more positive ways (Meyer and Allen,1997). 2.6.1 Definition of Commitment Organizational commitment has been defined differently by different scholars depending on their background. Multiple definitions of organizational commitment are found in the literature. However, Mowday et al (1979) defines organizational commitment as the relative strength of the identification of the individual and his involvement in his particular organization. According to this definition, organizational commitment has three basic components: A strong belief in and acceptance of the organizational goals and values(identification) A willingness to exert a considerable effort on behalf of the organization(involvement) A strong desire to remain with the organization. Sheldon (1971) defined commitment as being a positive evaluation of the organization and the organizational goals. According to Buchanan (1974) most scholars define commitment as being a bond between an individual (the employee) and the organization (the employer). In explaining the significance of organizational commitment, Bateman and Strasser(1984) state that the purpose of studying organizational commitment are related to (a) employees behavior and performance effectiveness, (b) attitudinal, affective and cognitive constructs such as job satisfaction, (c) characteristics of the employees job task, such as responsibility and (d) personal characteristics of the employee such as level of education. Commitment involves a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization and acceptance of the values and goals of the organization (Ingersoll et al., 2000). Organizational commitment is influenced by such factors as individuals and organizational characteristics (Angle and Perry, 1983). For example organizational members continued commitment towards an organization could be influenced by such factors as benefits, status, monetary and interpersonal rewards. 2.6.2 Three Types of Organizational Commitment Meyer and Allen (1991) and Dunham et al (1994) identified three types of commitment; affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. The differences between these three types of commitment reflect the psychological state that binds the individual to the organization. They argued that the affective component is determined by work experiences relating to the job of the person and structural characteristics. Continuance is determined by the magnitude and number of investments that have been made in the current organization and the number of perceived alternatives. Lastly, the normative component is determined by an individuals experiences prior to entry and during employment in the organization in terms of familial, cultural and organizational socialization. Affective commitment is defined as the emotional attachment, identification, and involvement that an employee has with its organization and goals (Mowday et al., 1997, Meyer Allen, 1993). They further state that affective communication is when the employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals in order to maintain membership to facilitate the goal. Meyer and Allen (1997) continue to say that employees retain membership out of choice and this is their commitment to the organization. Continuance commitment is the willingness to remain in an organization because of the investment that the employee has with nontransferable investments. Nontransferable include things such as retirement, relationship with other employees, or things that are special to the organization (Reichers, 1985). Continuance commitment t also includes factors such as years of employment or benefits that the employee may receive that are unique to the organization (Reichers, 1985). Meyer and Allen (1997) further explain that employees who share continuance commitment with their employer often make it very difficult for an employee to leave the organization. Normative Commitment (Bolon, 1993) is the commitment that a person believes that they have to the organization or their feeling of obligation to their workplace. In 1982, Weiner discusses normative commitment as being a generalized value of loyalty and duty. Meyer and Allen (1991) supported this type of commitment prior to Bolons definition, with their definition of normative commitment being a feeling of obligation. Normative commitment can be explained by other commitments such as marriage, family, religion, and etc. Therefore when it comes to ones commitment to their place of employment they often feel like they have a moral obligation to the organization (Wiener, 1982). In arguing for their framework, Meyer Allen (1991) contended that affective, continuance, and normative commitment were components rather than types because employees could have varying degree of all three. For example, one employee might feel both a strong attachment to an organization and a sense of obligation to remain. A second employee might enjoy working for the organization but also recognize that leaving would be very difficult from an economic standpoint. Finally, a third employee might experience a considerable degree of desire, need and obligation to remain with the current employer (Meyer Allen, 1997). Even though the authors present this argument, they do not imply that there is a rationale for summing all the scales to obtain an overall score for organizational commitment. 2.6 Previous Studies Ooi Chai Liang(2002) has conducted a research to identify whether there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership style and commitment in the organization. Research sample consist of 35 employees under the supervision of supervisors in Hotel Mercure Ace,Johor Bharu. Results from this research have proven that when situational factor is taken into consideration, motivation does not show significant effect on the relationship between transformational leadership and commitment in the organization. Whereas, situational motivation factor act as a predictor to the commitment in the organization. Research result also shows that there is no significant relationship between transformational leadership and commitment in the organization. Tan Bee Hong (2000) has conduct a research to identify the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership style with job performance. Research sample consist of 282 employees of blue collar in Technocom System Sdn Bhd(TSSB), Johor Bahru. Statistical technique such as Pearson Correlation Analysis used to determine the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership style with job performance. Research result shows that there is a significant relationship between dimensions of transformational and transactional leadership style with job performance. Wee Kok Cheng (2000) carried out research to identify the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership with job satisfaction. The researcher has concluded that transformational leadership style show a greater relationship with job satisfaction compared to transactional leadership. The study has been conducted on 45 respondents who are nurses and assistant nurses. The purpose of the study is to identify the leadership styles and job satisfaction of nurses in the department of Hospital Daerah Mersing, Johor Bahru. Research result shows that there is a positive relationship between transformational and transactional leadership style with job satisfaction. There were two dimensions of transformational leadership (Idealized Influence and Intellectual Stimulation) which shows the highest significant relationship with job satisfaction. Othaman Mohd Yunus(1994) has conduct a research to study the effect of transformational and transactional leadership between organizational culture and inspiration of a police and job performance and work stress among Polis Diraja Malaysia. Findings of the study shows, in certain situation dimensions of transformational and transactional leadership style plays a moderate role especially in the relationship of PDRM cultures with performance and work stress. Liong (1990) has carried out research to identify the validity of the transformational leadership in a sample of principles and teachers who were selected from 90 secondary schools in Singapore. According to the researcher, principals and teachers who adopt the characteristics of transformational leadership shows high level of job satisfaction and commitment towards schools. Effectiveness of leadership is manifested indirectly through measuring the effectiveness of schools such as higher academic achievement in public examination and success in the field of curriculum. Wiener Vardi(1980) states the impact that organizational commitment had on commitment to the job and career commitment. Their respondents were 56 insurance agents and 85 professional staffs. The researcher reported positive relationship between organizational commitment and the other two types of commitment. In nine studies involving 2734 people, Dunham, Grube Castaneda (1994) examined how participatory management and supervisory feedback influenced employee level of commitment. The researcher founds found that when supervisors provided feedback about performance and allowed employees to participate in decision making, employee levels of affective commitment was stronger than both continuance and normative commitment. It indicated employees staying with the organization were more related to wanting to, rather than needing to or feeling they ought to. In the study of 238 nurses, Cohen (1996) investigated the relationship between affective, continuance and normative commitment and the following other types of commitment: work involvement, job involvement, and career commitment. Findings revealed that affective commitment was more highly correlated with all the other types of commitment. In other words, exhibit higher levels of commitment to their work, their job and their career. Irving, Coleman,Cooper(1997) investigated the relationship between affective, continuance, and normative commitment and the outcome measures of job satisfaction and turnover intervention. Total participants for the study included 232 employees. Results revealed that job satisfaction was positively related to both affective and normative commitment. However, job satisfaction was negatively related to continuance commitment. All three types of commitment were negatively related to turnover intentions, with continuance commitment having the strongest negative relationship. . 2.2 Leadership Styles(Intro)chap 1 Grint (2000) has underscored that a clear understanding of leadership requires an historical approach. He stresses that a particular leadership style during a process of change is time based and that every period has room for a limited palette of leadership qualities (Velde, 2002). A style organizes the pragmatic activity of a leader, indicates how his actions are coordinated and how things and people that matter are determined and changed (Spinosa et al., 2001). It has been argued that organizations beliefs, values and assumptions are of critical importance to the overall style of leadership that they adopt (Bunmi, 2007). Leadership style is the behavior pattern used by leader to resolve the organizational issues. There are several different leadership styles that can be identified in various leaders.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Struggling Powers in the Movie The Mission :: essays research papers

The movie The Mission takes place in 1750 in South America. The main characters in the movie are Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro), who was a Spanish slave trader, and Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), who was a Spanish Jesuit. This essay will demonstrate the four struggling powers in the movie, the Guarani Natives, the Jesuits, the Spanish and Portuguese government, and the Cardinal. The Guarani Natives in South America did not like the Spanish at first because the Spanish were using them as slaves and killing them. The Natives were living a life of hiding, they were scared, they were poor, and they were starved. Later on they started to get along with the Jesuits as they start to Christianize them and build missions, and when the Spanish become nicer to them. At the end of the movie most of the Natives were killed off by the Portuguese Rodrigo Mendoza was a Spanish slave trader who went to South America to capture the Natives and turn them into slaves. Mendoza kills his brother in a fit of rage for taking his girl, and is taken to jail. After he is taken to jail he has to do Pennants for the Jesuits, and he begins to feel sorry for himself, and he stops killing. He then becomes a Jesuit and starts to help out the Natives by fighting the Portuguese. Mendoza is killed during a shootout by Portuguese in the mission. The Jesuits come to South America to build missions and spread Christianity to the Natives. Father Gabriel was one of these Jesuits. Their goal was to create peace between the Natives, the Spanish, and the Portuguese, and to build missions and convert the Natives to Christianity. The Jesuits were very helpful and caring to the Natives, for example when the Natives were being run down by slave traders the Jesuits came in to help them build homes and feed them. They also helped to build a foundation of knowing the Lord. The Spanish and the Portuguese government came to South America for land, and to use the Natives as slaves to work on Plantations. They believed that the Natives were animals, so they used them as cheap labor, however the Jesuits did not agree on using the Natives as slaves, so war broke out between the Jesuits and Natives, and the Portuguese.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Use of Technology in Teaching Essay -- education, pedagogical approach

In this paper I will introduce you to my reflections that helped influence my pedagogical approach in the use of technology to address my learner needs. I will deliberate how this impacted on my current and future teaching, learning and assessment practices. I aim to discuss technological advances in my industry, which is health, and how this impacts on my students now and into the future. I will explain ways I made adjustments in the use of technology within my teaching area to better meet both mine and the student’s needs. My goal is to explain the strategies I will use to strengthen this area for ongoing development and how this will help in making adjustments to specific occupational and personal needs of my students. Reflections on past, current and future approach in the use of technology I would like to discuss how I went from delivering a face to face class of 12 students to today having over 100 students externally using technology as my main delivery method. Lets go back to the beginning of my delivery of a Certificate IV level in the health area. I started at my workplace by being given a qualification to deliver, and nothing much else. I wrote the material required for a face to face class, as that is all that I knew to do at the time. I did this for over a few years in which time I collated a reasonable amount of feedback from both my current and prospective students. This started me on a journey of critical reflection resulting in distant and online delivery. Looking back on my reflective practice approaches and journey, I have come a long way but still have a way to go. John Dewey’s vision in1923, was â€Å"School should be less of a preparation for life and more like life itself.† (Dewey, 1923) Although he was... ...reditation MIMS Australia . (2013). Retrieved from MIMS Australia : http://www.mims.com.au/index.php/products/product-overview Dewey, J. (1923). Democracy and Education-An introduction to the Pilosophy of Education. Los Angeles, Calafornia: Indo European Publishing. Martha Burkle, M. C.-I. (2013, January). Defining the role adjument profile of learners and instructors online. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks,, 17(1), 73 -87. Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2005). Distance Education: A Systems View of online learning. Belmont,CA : Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Rory McGreal, M. E. (2011). Technologies of online learning (E-Learning). In T. Anderson (Ed.), The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton: Au Press, Athabasca University. Rushton, I. S. (2012). Reflective Practice For Teaching In Lifelong Learning. Maidenhead, GBR: Open University Press.

Friday, August 2, 2019

The Increasing demand on the UK’s construction industry

Britain's construction activities have risen considerably over the last decade and according to industry forecasts, the next five years will see more large projects commencing and highlighting once again the need for skilled labour in the UK. The government already has many construction plans underway which all lead to an 11% predicted increase (Olympic shortfall 18/11/07) in construction output between now and 2011. Some of the major projects that contribute to the rising demands include a surge in schools construction, increased spending on transport and projects for the London Olympics. The government has invested in a reported à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4.7bn (Financial Times Limited 2007 17/11/07) to rebiuld or renew every secondary school in the country. This is a massive project and dwarfs the construction of the London olympics in comparison. ConstructionSkills is one of a series of employer-led sector skills bodies established by government to help produce enough skilled workers to meet the high demand. ConstructionSkills says that employment in the industry will need to rise by almost a sixth to 2.8m by 2011, compared with 2.4m in 2005 and 87,600 new recruits will be needed by the industry â€Å"each year between 2007 and 2011 in order to meet demand†.(ConstructionSkills 2007) Infrustructure activity is also increasing with construction underway for the redevelopment of King's Cross and Crossrail and the expansion and refurbishment of the Birmingham New Street and Nottingham railway stations. Other infrastructure developments include work on the Manchester Metro Link, the M6 toll road, the M25. Also the Scottish Executive's (Financial Times Limited 2007 17/11/07) planned à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3bn capital investment programme in strategic road and rail projects and expansion of ports at Harwich, Felixstowe and Great Yarmouth. Aside from all these major developments, there is still as high demand as ever for more residential housing. It is reported (UK home supply way below demand 17/11/07) that Britain is now so short of new houses that an extra 39,000 need to be built each year just to keep up with the UK's population growth. The huge shortage of skilled labour in the UK is undoubtedly a major factor and could undermine the success of the 2012 Olympics in London. Reports made through the Research by the sector skills councils has revealed the Olympics needs around 13,000 construction workers and 1,500 electricians and plumbers a year between now and 2012 (Olympic shortfall 18/11/07). The new Heathrow terminal 5 is another project that highlights the severe skills shortage in the construction sector. The new T5 is estimated to cost à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4bn and is one of Europe's biggest projects at the moment. Terminal 5 will have roads and rail links built for it and will have over a hundred aircraft stands as well as the tallest control tower in the country. All these projects are desperately in need of skilled labour and huge investments are being made by the government and big companies to provide training schemes for people to help overcome these demands. The construction of the Heathrow terminal 5 has influenced BAA, the company that manages Heathrow to collaborate with the learning and Skills Council (LSC) to set up the Heathrow Construction Centre to train young people in carpentry, joinery and bricklaying. Many young people are now applying to the training centre with the influence of high salary opportunities being advertised for a wide range of jobs. David Boyer, a representative of LSC says â€Å"the key is finding something that they want to do and that employers will pay for†¦and construction fits the bill perfectly.† (David Bower 2007) CSV, the UK's largest volunteering and training charity is another organisation that has many Construction Training Centres around the country. Its main aim is to take on young people from the age of 16 and train them up in a construction field that interests them. The Training Centre on Hornsey Road is CSV Springboard Islington Trust's training facility and is helping to meet the demand from employer training needs arising as a result of the Kings Cross re-generation programme or the Olympics. The Islington training centre has three sectors in the area and alone provides learning for over 600 students (Sky-high salaries for airport construction workers 18/11/07). The main issue with the construction industry in the UK at the moment is that activity continues to rise at a rapid pace and with all the training schemes at the minute, not enough skilled craftsman and professional workman are coming out of it to keep up with the demand. There is a reported large number of craftsmen in the UK that don't have the qualifications that are required to work on the Olympic sites etc. Organisations such as Summit Skills are committed to helping provide the necessary qualifications to people with the skills but who have not finished an NVQ level 3 for instance. Students doing a construction course at schools or colleges will commonly do a full NVQ which includes gaining technical certificates and national vocational qualifications. Some of the courses involve training on-site to acquire the appropriate qualifications. The government has also addressed the issue for the need of more skilled labour by introducing new courses at schools and colleges. In 2008, a new diploma in construction and the built environment will be introduced. However many specialist diplomas and GCSE's will not be available until 2013. The other opportunities that are given to young people to work in construction are through the apprenticeship or scholarship schemes. Such schemes are usually offered directly from companies. It's often the best route for young people who do not have the appropriate background. The apprenticeship programme was introduced to the UK in 1994 (as modern apprenticeships). Apprenticeships give the student the opportunity to study at college to receive the required qualifications and do work based on the site on a part time basis. Apprentices earn while being in education and for most young people it is a very attractive prospect. It also gives a higher rate of employment for those that do it as the companies, for the majority of the time offer the person a full time job after they have completed their apprenticeship. But in the last couple of years, the numbers of apprenticeships have reduced as the interest for them has increased. With over 50,000 applications for 10,000 places (Olympic s hortfall 18/11/07), the traditional apprenticeship route cannot meet growing demand. However, to help overcome this problem, there are many colleges today that are involved with big construction companies making it easier for students to find the apprenticeship that interest them. In apprenticeships, the students are usually required to stay in education until they achieve a full NVQ before they are offered a full time job but a scholarship on the other hand requires the student to attend university either part time or full time in order to gain higher qualifications such as a degree to make them eligible for high skilled work afterwards. Scholarships are also offered usually directly from a company and offers to support the student financially by paying the tuition fees to the university and the company will often offer a the student work placement between their time at university to give them the required experience in the job. Although there is many efforts being done to overcome the shortage of skilled labour in the UK, it is still evident that yet more needs to be done to reduce the gap between the demand for skilled labour and the amount of trained personnel coming up every year. In the next five years, there is going to be an increase in activity for the UK construction industry and it is estimated that 87,600 new recruits (Financial Times Limited 2007 17/11/07) will be needed by the industry every year to cope with the work needed. I believe that in order to tackle this problem for the shortage of skilled labour in the UK, more efforts must be made concentrating on the source of the problem, the training of personal to meet the levels required by the industry. It is a fact that yet not enough programmes are being opened to help encourage young people to look for a career in construction and to educate and train them to the required levels. At the moment, the government is concentrating on opening new training centres in London because of the increasing work being made by the construction of the East London Olympic sites. However, training centres should be opened in more cities around the UK in the next few years to help train up as many people in as short time as possible to help overcome the shortage of required labour. I think that more training programmes should be done on development sites such as the Heathrow construction centres helping to train young people. I believe that such programmes help to train and educate a person on the job and give them the required skills in a short period of time. Other steps that can be taken is to introduce more specialized construction courses at schools and colleges to help encourage young people to choose a career in the construction field. At the moment, a successful example is the Construction and Built Environment Diploma which around 4000 people take every year (Construction Digital 17/11/07) Another step that can be taken is to encourage more construction companies to introduce more apprenticeships and scholarships to young people. This will attract more people to join the construction industry and will produce more high skilled labour to meet demands of the modern day. If the UK construction industry remains to be in the situation it is now with a huge shortage of skilled labour then the only solution left will be to bring in even more migrant workers from east European countries, such as Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, to fill gaps on building sites. This will in effect reduce the building standards and safety on the site just so companies can give out low wages and save costs. In reality, this is very likey to happen but the government will only apply it in a worst case scenerio to overcome the problem. Although it might not be possible to finish all these huge projects in the UK without aquiring the help from migrant workers, we could however train as many people as we can so that less workers from abroad are needed, making the UK construction industry stronger and more successful.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Foundation and Empire 25. Death Of A Psychologist

After that there were only two weeks left to the life of Ebling Mis. And in those two weeks, Bayta was with him three times. The first time was on the night after the evening upon which they saw Colonel Pritcher. The second was one week later. And the third was again a week later – on the last day – the day Mis died. First, there was the night of Colonel Pritcher's evening, the first hour of which was spent by a stricken pair in a brooding, unmerry merry-go-round. Bayta said, â€Å"Torie, let's tell Ebling.† Toran said dully, â€Å"Think he can help?† â€Å"We're only two. We've got to take some of the weight off. Maybe he can help.† Toran said, â€Å"He's changed. He's lost weight. He's a little feathery; a little woolly.† His fingers groped in air, metaphorically. â€Å"Sometimes, I don't think he'll help us muchever. Sometimes, I don't think anything will help.† â€Å"Don't!† Bayta's voice caught and escaped a break, â€Å"Torie, don't! When you say that, I think the Mule's getting us. Let's tell Ebling, Torie – now!† Ebling Mis raised his head from the long desk, and bleared at them as they approached. His thinning hair was scuffed up, his lips made sleepy, smacking sounds. â€Å"Eh?† he said. â€Å"Someone want me?† Bayta bent to her knees, â€Å"Did we wake you? Shall we leave?† â€Å"Leave? Who is it? Bayta? No, no, stay! Aren't there chairs? I saw them-† His finger pointed vaguely. Toran pushed two ahead of him. Bayta sat down and took one of the psychologist's flaccid hands in hers. â€Å"May we talk to you, Doctor?† She rarely used the title. â€Å"Is something wrong?† A little sparkle returned to his abstracted eyes. His sagging cheeks regained a touch of color. â€Å"Is something wrong?† Bayta said, â€Å"Captain Pritcher has been here. Let me talk, Torie. You remember Captain Pritcher, Doctor?† â€Å"Yes- Yes-† His fingers pinched his lips and released them. â€Å"Tall man. Democrat.† â€Å"Yes, he. He's discovered the Mule's mutation. He was here, Doctor, and told us.† â€Å"But that is nothing new. The Mule's mutation is straightened out.† In honest astonishment, â€Å"Haven't I told you? Have I forgotten to tell you?† â€Å"Forgotten to tell us what?† put in Toran, quickly. â€Å"About the Mule's mutation, of course. He tampers with emotions. Emotional control! I haven't told you? Now what made me forget?† Slowly, he sucked in his under lip and considered. Then, slowly, life crept into his voice and his eyelids lifted wide, as though his sluggish brain had slid onto a well-greased single track. He spoke in a dream, looking between the two listeners rather than at them. â€Å"It is really so simple. It requires no specialized knowledge. In the mathematics of psychohistory, of course, it works out promptly, in a third-level equation involving no more – Never mind that. It can be put into ordinary words – roughly – and have it make sense, which isn't usual with psychohistorical phenomena. â€Å"Ask yourselves – What can upset Hari Seldon's careful scheme of history, eh?† He peered from one to the other with a mild, questioning anxiety. â€Å"What were Seldon's original assumptions? First, that there would be no fundamental change in human society over the next thousand years. â€Å"For instance, suppose there were a major change in the Galaxy's technology, such as finding a new principle for the utilization of energy, or perfecting the study of electronic neurobiology. Social changes would render Seldon's original equations obsolete. But that hasn't happened, has it now?† â€Å"Or suppose that a new weapon were to be invented by forces outside the Foundation, capable of withstanding all the Foundation's armaments. That might cause a ruinous deviation, though less certainly. But even that hasn't happened. The Mule's Nuclear Field-Depressor was a clumsy weapon and could be countered. And that was the only novelty he presented, poor as it was. â€Å"But there was a second assumption, a more subtle one! Seldon assumed that human reaction to stimuli would remain constant. Granted that the first assumption held true, then the second must have broken down! Some factor must be twisting and distorting the emotional responses of human beings or Seldon couldn't have failed and the Foundation couldn't have fallen. And what factor but the Mule? â€Å"Am I right? Is there a flaw in the reasoning?† Bayta's plump hand patted his gently. â€Å"No flaw, Ebling.† Mis was joyful, like a child. â€Å"This and more comes so easily. I tell you I wonder sometimes what is going on inside me. I seem to recall the time when so much was a mystery to me and now things are so clear. Problems are absent. I come across what might be one, and somehow, inside me, I see and understand. And my guesses, my theories seem always to be borne out. There's a drive in me†¦ always onward†¦ so that I can't stop†¦ and I don't want to eat or sleep†¦ but always go on†¦ and on†¦ and on-â€Å" His voice was a whisper; his wasted, blue-veined hand rested tremblingly upon his forehead. There was a frenzy in his eyes that faded and went out. He said more quietly, â€Å"Then I never told you about the Mule's mutant powers, did I? But then†¦ did you say you knew about it?† â€Å"It was Captain Pritcher, Ebling,† said Bayta. â€Å"Remember?† â€Å"He told you?† There was a tinge of outrage in his tone. â€Å"But how did he find out?† â€Å"He's been conditioned by the Mule. He's a colonel now, a Mule's man. He came to advise us to surrender to the Mule, and he told us – what you told us.† â€Å"Then the Mule knows we're here? I must hurry – Where's Magnifico? Isn't he with you?† â€Å"Magnifico's sleeping,† said Toran, impatiently. â€Å"It's past midnight, you know.† â€Å"It is? Then – Was I sleeping when you came in?† â€Å"You were,† said Bayta decisively, â€Å"and you're not going back to work, either. You're getting into bed. Come on, Torie, help me. And you stop pushing at me, Ebling, because it's just your luck I don't shove you under a shower first. Pull off his shoes, Torie, and tomorrow you come down here and drag him out into the open air before he fades completely away. Look at you, Ebling, you'll be growing cobwebs. Are you hungry?† Ebling Mis shook his head and looked up from his cot in a peevish confusion. â€Å"I want you to send Magnifico down tomorrow,† he muttered. Bayta tucked the sheet around his neck. â€Å"You'll have me down tomorrow, with washed clothes. You're going to take a good bath, and then get out and visit the farm and feel a little sun on you.† â€Å"I won't do it,† said Mis weakly. â€Å"You hear me? I'm too busy.† His sparse hair spread out on the pillow like a silver fringe about his head. His voice was a confidential whisper. â€Å"You want that Second Foundation, don't you?† Toran turned quickly and squatted down on the cot beside him. â€Å"What about the Second Foundation, Ebling?† The psychologist freed an arm from beneath the sheet and his tired fingers clutched at Toran's sleeve. â€Å"The Foundations were established at a great Psychological Convention presided over by Hari Seldon. Toran, I have located the published minutes of that Convention. Twenty-five fat films. I have already looked through various summaries.† â€Å"Well?† â€Å"Well, do you know that it is very easy to find from them the exact location of the First Foundation, if you know anything at all about psychohistory. It is frequently referred to, when you understand the equations. But Toran, nobody mentions the Second Foundation, There has been no reference to it anywhere.† Toran's eyebrows pulled into a frown. â€Å"It doesn't exist?† â€Å"Of course it exists,† cried Mis, angrily, â€Å"who said it didn't? But there's less talk of it. Its significance – and all about it – are better hidden, better obscured. Don't you see? It's the more important of the two. It's the critical one; the one that counts! And I've got the minutes of the Seldon Convention. The Mule hasn't won yet-â€Å" Quietly, Bayta turned the lights down. â€Å"Go to sleep!† Without speaking, Toran and Bayta made their way up to their own quarters. The next day, Ebling Mis bathed and dressed himself, saw the sun of Trantor and felt the wind of Trantor for the last time. At the end of the day he was once again submerged in the gigantic recesses of the library, and never emerged thereafter. In the week that followed, life settled again into its groove. The sun of Neotrantor was a calm, bright star in Trantor's night sky. The farm was busy with its spring planting. The University grounds were silent in their desertion. The Galaxy seemed empty. The Mule might never have existed. Bayta was thinking that as she watched Toran light his cigar carefully and look up at the sections of blue sky visible between the swarming metal spires that encircled the horizon. â€Å"It's a nice day,† he said. â€Å"Yes, it is. Have you everything mentioned on the list, Torie?† â€Å"Sure. Half pound butter, dozen eggs, string beans – Got it all down here, Bay. I'll have it right.† â€Å"Good. And make sure the vegetables are of the last harvest and not museum relics. Did you see Magnifico anywhere, by the way?† â€Å"Not since breakfast. Guess he's down with Ebling, watching a book-film.† â€Å"All right. Don't waste any time, because I'll need the eggs for dinner.† Toran left with a backward smile and a wave of the hand. Bayta turned away as Toran slid out of sight among the maze of metal. She hesitated before the kitchen door, about-faced slowly, and entered the colonnade leading to the elevator that burrowed down into the recesses. Ebling Mis was there, head bent down over the eyepieces of the projector, motionless, a frozen, questing body. Near him sat Magnifico, screwed up into a chair, eyes sharp and watching – a bundle of slatty limbs with a nose emphasizing his scrawny face. Bayta said softly, â€Å"Magnifico-â€Å" Magnifico scrambled to his feet. His voice was an eager whisper. â€Å"My lady!† â€Å"Magnifico,† said Bayta, â€Å"Toran has left for the farm and won't be back for a while. Would you be a good boy and go out after him with a message that I'll write for you?† â€Å"Gladly, my lady. My small services are but too eagerly yours, for the tiny uses you can put them to.† She was alone with Ebling Mis, who had not moved. Firmly, she placed her hand upon his shoulder. â€Å"Ebling-â€Å" The psychologist started, with a peevish cry, â€Å"What is it?† He wrinkled his eyes. â€Å"Is it you, Bayta? Where's Magnifico?† â€Å"I sent him away. I want to be alone with you for a while.† She enunciated her words with exaggerated distinctness. â€Å"I want to talk to you, Ebling.† The psychologist made a move to return to his projector, but her hand on his shoulder was firm. She felt the bone under the sleeve clearly. The flesh seemed to have fairly melted away since their arrival on Trantor. His face was thin, yellowish, and bore a half-week stubble. His shoulders were visibly stooped, even in a sitting position. Bayta said, â€Å"Magnifico isn't bothering you, is he, Ebling? He seems to be down here night and day.† â€Å"No, no, no! Not at all. Why, I don't mind him. He is silent and never disturbs me. Sometimes he carries the films back and forth for me; seems to know what I want without my speaking. Just let him be.† â€Å"Very well – but, Ebling, doesn't he make you wonder? Do you hear me, Ebling? Doesn't he make you wonder?† She jerked a chair close to his and stared at him as though to pull the answer out of his eyes. Ebling Mis shook his head. â€Å"No. What do you mean?† â€Å"I mean that Colonel Pritcher and you both say the Mule can condition the emotions of human beings. But are you sure of it? Isn't Magnifico himself a flaw in the theory?† There was silence. Bayta repressed a strong desire to shake the psychologist. â€Å"What's wrong with you, Ebling? Magnifico was the Mule's clown. Why wasn't he conditioned to love and faith? Why should he, of all those in contact with the Mule, hate him so. â€Å"But†¦ but he was conditioned. Certainly, Bay!† He seemed to gather certainty as he spoke. â€Å"Do you suppose that the Mule treats his clown the way he treats his generals? He needs faith and loyalty in the latter, but in his clown he needs only fear. Didn't you ever notice that Magnifico's continual state of panic is pathological in nature? Do you suppose it is natural for a human being to be as frightened as that all the time? Fear to such an extent becomes comic. It was probably comic to the Mule – and helpful, too, since it obscured what help we might have gotten earlier from Magnifico.† Bayta said, â€Å"You mean Magnifico's information about the Mule was false?† â€Å"it was misleading. It was colored by pathological fear. The Mule is not the physical giant Magnifico thinks. He is more probably an ordinary man outside his mental powers. But if it amused him to appear a superman to poor Magnifico-† The psychologist shrugged. â€Å"In any case, Magnifico's information is no longer of importance.† â€Å"What is, then?† But Mis shook himself loose and returned to his projector. â€Å"What is, then?† she repeated. â€Å"The Second Foundation?† The psychologist's eyes jerked towards her. â€Å"Have I told you anything about that? I don't remember telling you anything. I'm not ready yet. What have I told you?† â€Å"Nothing,† said Bayta, intensely. â€Å"Oh, Galaxy, you've told me nothing, but I wish you would because I'm deathly tired. When will it be over?† Ebling Mis peered at her, vaguely rueful, â€Å"Well, now, my†¦ my dear, I did not mean to hurt you. I forget sometimes†¦ who my friends are. Sometimes it seems to me that I must not talk of all this. There's a need for secrecy – but from the Mule, not from you, my dear.† He patted her shoulder with a weak amiability. She said, â€Å"What about the Second Foundation?† His voice was automatically a whisper, thin and sibilant. â€Å"Do you know the thoroughness with which Seldon covered his traces? The proceedings of the Seldon Convention would have been of no use to me at a as little as a month ago, before this strange insight came. Even now, it seems – tenuous. The papers put out by the Convention are often apparently unrelated; always obscure. More than once I wondered if the members of the Convention, themselves, knew all that was in Seldon's mind. Sometimes I think he used the Convention only as a gigantic front, and single-handed erected the structure-â€Å" â€Å"Of the Foundations?† urged Bayta. â€Å"Of the Second Foundation! Our Foundation was simple. But the Second Foundation was only a name. It was mentioned, but if there was any elaboration, it was hidden deep in the mathematics. There is still much I don't even begin to understand, but for seven days, the bits have been clumping together into a vague picture. â€Å"Foundation Number One was a world of physical scientists. It represented a concentration of the dying science of the Galaxy under the conditions necessary to make it live again. No psychologists were included. It was a peculiar distortion, and must have had a purpose. The usual explanation was that Seldon's psychohistory worked best where the individual working units – human beings – had no knowledge of what was coming, and could therefore react naturally to all situations. Do you follow me, my dear-â€Å" â€Å"Yes, doctor.† â€Å"Then listen carefully. Foundation Number Two was a world of mental scientists. It was the mirror image of our world. Psychology, not physics, was king.† Triumphantly. â€Å"You see?† â€Å"I don't.† â€Å"But think, Bayta, use your head. Hari Seldon knew that his psychohistory could predict only probabilities, and not certainties. There was always a margin of error, and as time passed that margin increases in geometric progression. Seldon would naturally guard as well as he could against it. Our Foundation was scientifically vigorous. It could conquer armies and weapons. It could pit force against force. But what of the mental attack of a mutant such as the Mule?† â€Å"That would be for the psychologists of the Second Foundation!† Bayta felt excitement rising within her. â€Å"Yes, yes, yes! Certainly!† â€Å"But they have done nothing so far.† â€Å"How do you know they haven't?† Bayta considered that, â€Å"I don't. Do you have evidence that they have?† â€Å"No. There are many factors I know nothing of. The Second Foundation could not have been established full-grown, any more than we were. We developed slowly and grew in strength; they must have also. The stars know at what stage their strength is now. Are they strong enough to fight the Mule? Are they aware of the danger in the first place? Have they capable leaders?† â€Å"But if they follow Seldon's plan, then the Mule must be beaten by the Second Foundation.† â€Å"Ah,† and Ebling Mis's thin face wrinkled thoughtfully, â€Å"is it that again? But the Second Foundation was a more difficult job than the First. Its complexity is hugely greater; and consequently so is its possibility of error. And if the Second Foundation should not beat the Mule, it is bad – ultimately bad. It is the end, may be, of the human race as we know it.† â€Å"No. â€Å"Yes. If the Mule's descendants inherit his mental powers – You see? Homo sapiens could not compete. There would be a new dominant race – a new aristocracy – with homo sapiens demoted to slave labor as an inferior race. Isn't that so?† â€Å"Yes, that is so.† â€Å"And even if by some chance the Mule did not establish a dynasty, he would still establish a distorted new Empire upheld by his personal power only. It would die with his death; the Galaxy would be left where it was before he came, except that there would no longer be Foundations around which a real and healthy Second Empire could coalesce. It would mean thousands of years of barbarism. It would mean no end in sight.† â€Å"What can we do? Can we warn the Second Foundation?† â€Å"We must, or they may go under through ignorance, which we can not risk. But there is no way of warning them.† â€Å"No way?† â€Å"I don't know where they are located. They are ‘at the other end of the Galaxy' but that is all, and there are millions of worlds to choose from.† â€Å"But, Ebling, don't they say?† She pointed vaguely at the films that covered the table. â€Å"No, they don't. Not where I can find it – yet. The secrecy must mean something. There must be a reason-† A puzzled expression returned to his eyes. â€Å"But I wish you'd leave. I have wasted enough time, and it's growing short – it's growing short.† He tore away, petulant and frowning. Magnifico's soft step approached. â€Å"Your husband is home, my lady.† Ebling Mis did not greet the clown. He was back at his projector. That evening Toran, having listened, spoke, â€Å"And you think he's really right, Bay? You think he isn't-† He hesitated. â€Å"He is right, Torie. He's sick, I know that. The change that's come over him, the loss in weight, the way he speaks – he's sick. But as soon as the subject of the Mule or the Second Foundation, or anything he is working on, comes up, listen to him. He is lucid and clear as the sky of outer space. He knows what he's talking about. I believe him.† â€Å"Then there's hope.† It was half a question. â€Å"I†¦ I haven't worked it out. Maybe! Maybe not! I'm carrying a blaster from now on.† The shiny-barreled weapon was in her hand as she spoke. â€Å"Just in case, Torie, just in case.† â€Å"In case what?† Bayta laughed with a touch of hysteria, â€Å"Never mind. Maybe I'm a little crazy, too – like Ebling Mis.† Ebling Mis at that time had seven days to live, and the seven days slipped by, one after the other, quietly. To Toran, there was a quality of stupor about them. The warming days and the dull silence covered him with lethargy. All life seemed to have lost its quality of action, and changed into an infinite sea of hibernation. Mis was a hidden entity whose burrowing work produced nothing and did not make itself known. He had barricaded himself. Neither Toran nor Bayta could see him. Only Magnifico's go-between characteristics were evidence of his existence. Magnifico, grown silent and thoughtful, with his tiptoed trays of food and his still, watchful witness in the gloom. Bayta was more and more a creature of herself. The vivacity died, the self-assured competence wavered. She, too, sought her own worried, absorbed company, and once Toran bad come upon her, fingering her blaster. She had put it away quickly, forced a smile. â€Å"What are you doing with it, Bay?† â€Å"Holding it. Is that a crime?† â€Å"You'll blow your fool head off.† â€Å"Then I'll blow it off. Small loss!† Married life had taught Toran the futility of arguing with a female in a dark-brown mood. He shrugged, and left her. On the last day, Magnifico scampered breathless into their presence. He clutched at them, frightened. â€Å"The learned doctor calls for you. He is not well.† And he wasn't well. He was in bed, his eyes unnaturally large, unnaturally bright. He was dirty, unrecognizable. â€Å"Ebling!† cried Bayta. â€Å"Let me speak,† croaked the psychologist, lifting his weight to a thin elbow with an effort. â€Å"Let me speak. I am finished; the work I pass on to you. I have kept no notes; the scrap-figures I have destroyed. No other must know. All must remain in your minds.† â€Å"Magnifico,† said Bayta, with rough directness. â€Å"Go upstairs!† Reluctantly, the clown rose and took a backward step. His sad eyes were on Mis. Mis gestured weakly, â€Å"He won't matter; let him stay. Stay, Magnifico.† The clown sat down quickly. Bayta gazed at the floor. Slowly, slowly, her lower lip caught in her teeth. Mis said, in a hoarse whisper, â€Å"I am convinced the Second Foundation can win, if it is not caught prematurely by the Mule. It has kept itself secret; the secrecy must be upheld; it has a purpose. You must go there; your information is vital†¦ may make all the difference. Do you hear me?† Toran cried in near-agony, â€Å"Yes, yes! Tell us how to get there, Ebling? Where is it?† â€Å"I can tell you,† said the faint voice. He never did. Bayta, face frozen white, lifted her blaster and shot, with an echoing clap of noise. From the waist upward, Mis was not, and a ragged hole was in the wall behind. From numb fingers, Bayta's blaster dropped to the floor.