Corporate Social Responsibility In Society Media Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility In Society Media Essay Corporate social responsibility is like; What you are giving back to the society? Any company or organization forms up in a society. The company interacts with the society and utilizes its resources and opportunities to gain benefits and profits. As a law of nature, its always Give and Take. You take something, then in return you have to return something as well. Corporate social responsibility dictates the company to do so. COROPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY binds the company to conduct the business in an ethical manner keeping in mind the interests of the majority of the community. It also urges the company to respond positively towards the evolving social concerns and their expectations from the company. COROPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY is more of a legal obligation; it goes for the ethical part. No doubt the company is there to get maximum profit for the shareholders, but there are other stakeholders, on which the company has direct impact like employees, consumers, suppliers etc a nd company needs to take account of their interests as well. COROPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY formulates the balance between the interest of the shareholder as well as the stakeholders. COROPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ensures that the company acts like a good and ethical citizen in the community. The most progressive companies have a social or ethical binding that they must atleast return something back to the society; afterall this is how a good business is being carried out. The companies following COROPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY have a basic theme of making this world a better place to live!Companies like Google, Intel, Disney, Exxon etc tend to go for more and more charitable as well as sponsored programs in order to promote the help in the social causes of the country or world. It is something more than getting profit in green bucks. Its more than that. Its about building a reputation and a good will among the general public and the society. If this reputation goes a bit down , it has a very negative impact on the company. The example goes on the Exxons Oil tanker spillage at Alaska a decade ago. Still people rate Exxon as the worst company despite of their extensive apologetic campaigns and $3.5 billions upon the clean up. But the people still state that Exxon as the killer company whos oil spillage killed millions of sea fish and birds. Now Exxon, a multinational company with soaring profits still cant manage to get things straight. This is one example; another example of Google. Now Google got kicked out of China due to violation of privacy issues in China. Chinese laws mount some privacy issues and google doesnt follow that, this is not a good social responsible aptitude of a citizen who actually came from abroad. The reason is that Chinese Information Technology Ministry kicked out Google and banned Google services and offices in China. On the other hand, Microsofts Bing is trying to take control of it by portraying itself a much more responsible ci tizen in the Chinese society. COROPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY is comprised of certain models and theories; One of the most widely used models is Carrolls Pyramid. This pyramid describes the levels of Corporate Responsbility. The types of morality among the managers and directors of the organization. This pyramid shows the level of social responsibility of a company. At the start, the company; ethically as well as legally bound; to make profits for the share holders. The company has to obey the laws and regulations of the society. Recall the case of Google, it failed to obey the laws and regulations of the Chinese Government and it got kicked out. Next step is about the ethical responsibilities, here the company may have to forgo some of the profit share. The example goes of Unilever and Proctor and Gamble. Unilevers business Intelligence once went beyond the enemy lines. They started to collect the garbage from the Proctor and gambles research and development facility; bring it back to Unilever labs and try to r eengineer that. After some time, they got exposed and Unilever, apologized the Proctor and Gamble in a press conference and handed over all its own research on their waste materials. This is one case of ethical breakdown, the oil spillage in the ALASKA and another oil spillage by the coast of Australia back in 1980 triggered ethical dilemmas against the companies. As the company goes to Philanthropic responsibilities, it has to contribute to the society. Like Disney did for the kids and parents . Disney gives charity to certain institutions around the globe in an attempt to improve the quality of life. Now companies like Coca Cola, Microsoft, Google, Disney, Exxon etc they generate huge profits and their annual budgets are more than the budgets of third world countries. They try to give something back to the society in an attempt to make the society better. This model dictates that the social and ethical responsibility of the company goes beyond the mere compliance with the laws and regulations of the societies. The laws made by the society for the betterment of the society must be followed. Laws like Child Labour, workforce work environment not only ensures the safety of the people working in the company but also ensures the motivation and level of loyalty from them towards the company. The Carrolls Pyramid model defines the levels of morality of the managers. In order to be a successful COROPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY company, the company must have managers who are totally MORAL and they stick to the code of the ethical and moral as well as legal issues of the society and company. One way to get this is promoting an ethical and socially responsible culture within the company. This would help to promote the sense of ethical and social responsibility among the workers and managers which ultimately depicts the whole company. Company Background: A company founded in 1930s and now became a colossal in family entertainment. Disney; also known as Mickey Mouse Company; now own 11 theme parks around the globe. The company is currently a multinational. The company owns different TV Channel and still committed to their basic commitment of producing shows and movies for the kids of all ages. Disney enjoys the legacy of Mickey Mouse, Snow white and the white dwarfs, Cindrella, The little mermaid, WALL E etc movies. The movies which not only enjoyed by kids but adults as well. Disney is currently operating five major sections: Media Networks Disney enjoys a whole array of network channels across US and around the globe. The 31 channels collaborated with abc network and local channels in florida, Chicago etc makes the Disney a significant player in the game of business market share in Media Networks. The most favourite channel The Disney Channel which has programs for all ages, Phinneas and Ferb, Kimpossible, for kids and Hanna Montana, Suite Life on Deck for teenagers etc. In the market of media networks, Disney is giving a tough time to its competitors Parks and resorts Disney has a range of 11 theme parks in three continents of the world. These 11 theme parks are both owned and co owned. The first theme park was launched in 1952 and now Disney is 100% share holder in the market of theme park resorts. Disney has no such competitor in that. Interactive Media The Disneys interactive media is the one involved in the interactive websites and web portals for kids and parents. The interactive media involves secured web for the kids. The interactive media games like whenever the you log on the site, the mouse pointer changes and the flying Barbie along with tinker bell guides you the whole website. The interactive media is quite successful in attracting the customers and kids alike. Consumer Products Disney has very diversified set of operations, on one hand it has studio entertainment and on the other hand, its has theme parks and resorts. Disney also deals in consumer products, products bearing the logo of Disney. The products include a lot of variety, from goodies of successful movie characters to home dà ©cor items bearing the silhouette of Mickey mouse. The merchandise is another profitable section of Disney. Daily numerous people visit theme parks, they take the merchandise and its sales are high. Studio Entertainment The studio entertainment is no doubt one of the most profitable sections of Disney. Disney Animation, Pixar Animations etc are just a very few names of the distributors of Disney. Disney enjoys the memories of blockbuster and oscar winner movies like Snow white and seven dwarfs, Wall E , UP , Cindrella, The Lion King etc. The grammy award for best original soundtrack of 2008 awarded to Ratatouille; a movie in which a mouse wants to be a chef and it becomes a chef in the end. The Disneys studio entertainment surely gave out some very classic and memorable movies. Movies like UP who won 2 Oscars in 2010 was highly admired and loved by all age groups. A story of love, with comic and very unique plot tagged with extraordinary animation and colourscheme made the ultimate recipe of success. On the other hand, the classic movies like Pocohauntus, Mulan, The little mermaid, Pinnochio not only conquered the box office for quite a time but also gave out some positive messages to the society an d children. 3. Children and family: The cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie, and Goofy, combined with the intelligent use of music, sound, and folk material, made the Disney successful among children all over the world. This success led to the establishment of the hugely commercial, Disney-controlled sidelines in publicity, publishing, and merchandising. For children fairy tales are produced like Snow white and seven dwarves, Alladin, Cinderella, Sleeping beauty etc. These fairy tales are told and executed beautifully so that children get entertainment and moral lessons. The latest hit of Disney is Wall-e which has won Oscar award and is very popular among children as well as in Parents and teenagers. Disneys Distribution Channels include Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and Disney Toon Studios Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax Films. Disney is fulfilling its social responsibilities by getting children aware of the code of ethics and rules of living in a society. On , 1957, Disney opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, the most successful amusement park in history, with millions of people visiting it by 1966. The idea for the park came to him after taking his children to other amusement parks and watching them have fun on amusement rides. He decided to build a park where the entire family could have fun together. In 1971 Disney World in Orlando, Florida, opened. Since then, Disney theme parks have opened in Tokyo, Japan, and Paris, France. Disneys parks continue to grow with the creation of the Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom, and an extensive sports complex in Orlando. Parks and resorts depicts the company theme. Here characters of animations are shown alive and appropriate atmosphere is created for it by the help of experts. So, that children as well as Parents enjoy in Parks rather then sitting alone seeing their children playing. There are 11 parks some owned and some co-owned by independent entities on three continents. The Disney Corporation has also branched out into other types of films with the creation of Touchstone Films, into music with Hollywood Records, and even into vacations with its Disney Cruise Lines. In all, the Disney name now covers a multi-billion dollar enterprise, with business ventures all over the world. In 1939 Disney received an honorary (received without meeting the usual requirements) Academy Award, and in 1954 he received four more Academy Awards. In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) presented Disney with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in the same year Disney was awarded the Freedom Foundation Award. Nutritious food Disney aims to provide healthy and full of nutrition food to the children as the parents are now a days getting worried about their children health because of availability of junk food. Children are fond of junk food which is causing health problems like lack of energy, poor concentration, heart diseases and high cholesterol level. Disney is providing beverages and side dishes. For beverages milk is given and apples are given as side dishes providing full of nutrition food and Parents worries are finished. Except of that Disney is also providing treats and other kinds of foods for children. Several millions of meals in a year are being given in parks and resorts. Food has specific conditions like limitation on fat, calories, saturated fat and sugar. It is also offering birthday cakes, confectionary products and other kinds of sweets. Along with food items Disney is manufacturing different consumer products. From childrens writing tablet to their tee-shirts, home dà ©cor, books, magazines, interactive games, online websites etc. It is providing toys of different characters, other accessories, footwear even beauty kits, all of them are having brand name of Disney. Children are more attracted towards Disneys stationary, Disney home, their room decorated with Disney wall papers, toys, other house hold accessories manufactured by Disney. For online service Disney has made some groups like Club Penguin, Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Disney Fairies. They provide different interactive games and allow children to make their profile and make friends online to chat and play with them. Parents also have regular check on their childs profile and his activities. Work Places Safety and security measures are taken for customers as well as employees. Proper facilities are available for the safety of workers. Disney fulfills quality, ethics and social responsibility on the part of its employees. Disney provides social friendly environment to its workers so that they work with ease and provide better results. Disney also make sure that its employees maintain the decorum of social responsibilities and do not break the codes of ethics. Disneys best policy is engagement of employees. Disney has provided quality leadership to its employees. Starting fro the process of recruitment to the process working employees are focused on development and progress. The abilities of employees are tested and they are given work as per their capability. Workers talent is admired and they are given that work which they can do efficiently. Open Communication is done among employees in the form of meetings, questioners etc. Its helps in finding out the problems faced by the workers. Different surveys are done to know the employees working conditions and ways of improving them. Company provides opportunities to participate in decision making process, it helps to make employees come closer to the company and their loyalties are increased for the company. The members and workers of Parks and resort are sanctioned to participate in delivering magic to meet the customers requirements and expectations. They are allowed in innovation of new ideas to attract new customers at the same time retain the old ones. Disney provides employee benefits to its workers. These benefits include retirement and saving options which make the future of the workers secure. Other facilities are also provided like health and wellness programs for the security and well being of the workers. Disney facilitate its workers by the health programs having confidential health pursuits, so that employees know about their health and also their family health. The company also provides insurance policy so that in case of any accident the employee can get advantage from it. Employees also get other benefits. They have benefit of complimentary Theme park tickets. They get these benefits in Disney owned parks. Employees can get silver or main entrance pass for allowance of their entry and their dependants. They can also get benefit form other discounts given by the company. Employees at major occasions can go to the screening of the upcoming movie in the theater. Disney also provides child care financial scholarship to his workers. Disney also provides tuition assistance to the employees. Disney gives financial assistance for eligible employees who effectively complete trained courses that are related directly to post duties. Disney also work for the training and development of the employees by the help of effective leadership. This training lays emphasis on the communication, increase in effective communication not only among employees but also with the higher authorities. t innovation, innovative ideas and creative work is need of the century. So, Disney works on the creativeness of the employees. Time management, is also very important tool in practical life without it nothing can be done properly. So, it is also taught to the employees. Methodological and creative skills improvement, employees have the necessary skills but they need to polish it under correct supervision to make its proper use. Cultural awareness, it is important in order to survive in an environment. Code of ethics are the societal rules and employees should be aware of the moral values of the society in which they live and work. Disney also helps its employees in career planning and development. It helps its employees to attain its goals. Disney has a diverse workforce in which people from all ages, experiences, backgrounds, ethnic groups, and lifestyles are included which work for the company. These people forget their personal issues and work for the company. Minorities are given same chance depending upon their talent and skills. Disney has also worked for the safety and loss prevention. Proper safety measures are taken not only for the customers but also for the workers, suppliers and equipment. Disney has Television and Motion Picture Safety: Every script is read by safety professionals for the evaluation of possible risks and exposures. It also has worked for Media Network Safety: loss prevention is needed in case of availability of variety of entertainment and news content . Safety in Motion: For the reduction of potential losses resulting from body-motion injuries, this program is focused on dropping body-motion and musculoskeletal injuries special in case of park . More than 20,000 Cast Members have received this benefit. As a result, body motion claims have been reduced by 38% at the Walt Disney World Resort, with similar results at other business units. Not just employee diversity Disney has supplier diversity too. Number of minorities and women owned companies doing business with Disney have increased. Due to this Disney was recognized as Corporation of the Year by the Womens Business Enterprise Council West, the Southern California Minority Business Development Council and the Florida Minority Business Development Council and as Entertainment Company of the Year by the Greater Los Angeles African-American Chamber of Commerce. Disney has introduced Disneys International Labor Standards (ILS) program It is considered to assess and address the working conditions of the employees. The environment of their work, their difficulties are considered in this program. Report is made and is send to Audit committee of the Board of Directors to take necessary actions. 4. Criticism on Disney Corporate Social responsibility: Nothing is perfect, there is always a room for improvement. Disney evolved from the 2 room studio to a world level brand. Despite of the fact that it has a very impressive reputation among the consumers, some call Disney as the Devil Organization. Disney has to face many lawsuits but most of the lawsuits got settled up without going to the court. The critics claims DISNEY as its not the wholesome as it portrays. The shiny and attractive family pictures where kids and families are smiling and enjoying a quality time with the happy employees and a corporate social responsible feel doesnt tell the whole story. As there are two sides of any picture, the shiny and the attractive side has been shown by their Annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report. The other side of the picture is quite dark. Disney has been a focus for many criticism from various groups like religious groups, ethnic groups, human rights, child labour etc. Each of the criticism is explained later in this section. Dis ney has always depicted itself as a corporate social responsible company and it has literally spilled money on that. The charity funds, the involvement of parents, the image of quality time spending with your loved ones etc are just a part of it. Disney has won many awards for their corporate social behaviour. Disney has resorts in 3 continents and in USA, the daily visitors count exceed 60000. On the other side, the theme park at Hong Kong is proving to be a golden egg laying hen for Disney. Disney claims to have special training programs and user manuals for the promotion of corporate social responsibility among the employees, from lower to higher level. Recently, Disney won Reputation award for Employees and Human resource capital satisfaction. But, is this really worthy enough to make Disney as a model organization in Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility? Is Disney the better than its competitors in terms of CSR? Is Disney literally portraying a true image of itself or its just another fairy tale? The answers of such questions and many more has been given later in this section. As Disney has major stakeholders; Children and Family Disney boasts the need of spending quality time with your family. It depicts the fact by showing family pictures enjoying together with a lot of happy faces. It shows that in this world of hassle and insecurity, you can still spend time with your loved ones and enjoy your life. Disney theme parks come up with a feeling of a fairy tale. Moreover, Disney boasts that its programs can be viewed by the Kids of all ages. Recently, Disney claimed in its 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Report that it has taking some strong measures against smoking in films but in the reality, smoking is getting promoted quite effectively via Disney Cartoon and shows. In the movie, The Princess and the Frog, the villain smokes the cigarette quite stylishly. Same goes for Alladin and other movies. This sort of imagery creates a very negative image in the minds of the children. The children tend to take such things in a fun manner and they try to adopt it. The mind of children has been designed to learn but it couldnt differentiate to mark the thing as right or wrong. This is a fact which Disney should take account of. The depiction of smoking in movies, in any character or in any sense leaves an impact of the children. Especially when they try to adopt the character. Another critics point out some crucial issues for the mind and personality development of the children. Disney claims that it has shown Be yourself in the characters of the movies like Alladin , Pocohauntus, etc but critics pointed it out in a different manner. Critics claim that Disney movies promotes sexuality, religious and ethnic discrimination, homosexuality etc. Critics also back their claims with certain facts like, in the movie The Lion King, the characters Timon and Pumba Promoted the first gay cartoon couple living happily. Now this type of stereotyping leaves a very very negative impact in the mind so this sort of corporate responsible attitude is not acceptable at all. Moreover, the promotion of sexuality in the movies are the subject of criticism from time to time. The most critized movie over this subject of matter was Jessica Rabbit which not only dressed erotically but also her certain body parts got exposed during the movie. Certain religious and parent groups heavily criticize this and regarded this as demoralizing the whole generation. Jessica rabbit was the centre of attraction of literally Kids of all ages! Such irresponsible behaviour in character making and depicting for a cartoon for kids is not socially responsible. Such cheap publicity stunts and shortcuts brought Disney a good fortune but the social responsible aptitude is down the drain. Another issue is of the ethnic discrimination; as in the CSR Report of 2008, Disney presents the examples of Alladin and Cheetah Girls etc for the diversity and bringing tolerance in the minds of the people; however in reality, the Alladins Soundtrack depicted the difference. The soundtrack depicts the American Arab difference and discrimination policy. The soundtrack deceivingly portrays and states the barbaric nature of the Arab World. This goes same in the case of Lion King, in which the hyenas are depicted as downtown thugs of the streets of United States. The recent movie The Princess and The Frog; as per Disney spokesperson; is trying to develop a sense of tolerance and no discrimination among the children. This has been carried out in such a way that the princess in this film is black whereas all the princesses in the previous Disney movies were white. On the other hand, people call it as racism and still point fingers at the Disneys Think tanks. The above mentioned critics seriously point out the credibility of the Disney movies itself. The Disney has to do some serious steps in order to cater that. Disney should take some serious measures in order to cater issues like that. As far as the competitors are concerned, the DreamWorks Animation Studios Kung Fu Panda and Shrek depicted a more positive message about Be yourself without promoting sex or vulgarity or with other cheap shortcut. DreamWorks Animations Madagascar literally blew the house with laughters, an extreme comedy with an interesting story plot with no issues from parents or any religious groups. Dream Works Animation is literally playing its part in social corporate responsibility. Employees Work Force Disney is the role model of many companies in terms of corporate governance. Disney has proved time and time again that its not only socially responsible to the external stakeholders but it is also equally socially responsible to internal stakeholders as well. Disney has devised out certain User manual for the board of directors to practice corporate governance rules and regulations. Disney has no discrimination policy and it boasts of it widely. Disney ensured that the workers have the safer and user friendly environment for the workplace. The diversity among the employees and zero discrimination policy tolerates race, religion, ethnic group for promotion. Disney always tried to be the role model in employee satisfaction and organizations internal matters. In the corporate reputation, Disney scored the highest among employee satisfaction. Disney maintained its position in the corporate reputation; an independent research conducted by Reputation. On the other hand, there are some fingers rising towards the practices of Disney around the globe. Disney has 11 theme parks, some owned and some co-owned. These theme parks have employees, now the employees which are under the direct umbrella of Disney are reported to be happy, satisfied etc but the employees which are being outsourced to the third world countries, they are exploited in a very shameful manner. 101 Dalmations was the blockbuster hit for Disney Corporations, Disney collaborated with Mc Donalds and they started to give out toy figures of Dalmations in the Happy Meal. Even Mc Donalds benefited from the hit and its sale also rose due to the fact of involvement of Dalmations Goodies and Toy Figures in the Happy meal. These Dalmation figures were produced in Vietnam with a very low low vage of few cents per hour. The woman and children were forced by the local manufacturer to Disney to produce the toy items in such non-human conditions. The constant intake of Acetone and o ther volatile chemicals made the workers terribly sick. This is just one side of the story, one critic pointed out the fact of Disney T-Shrits. The T-shirts were outsourced to BURMA, where the same conditions were there. The whole money, just for the sake of low costing, was given to the third party which ensured the total exploitation of the labour. According to US department of Defence, a significant amount of drugs comes from Burma and Disney actually hired people over there to produce T shirts, generate the finance, and invest it in drugs business. Disney also boasts its policies about Child labour and the charities given to child labour etc.On the other hand, in above mentioned examples, a huge percentage of the labour was child labour. Now the question arises to Disney that how much is its Circle of Corporate Social Responsibility? Does the circle tend to be within the theme park or where people can clearly see? Disney is being held questionable for that but no comments or any sort of explanations except denials have been reported from the Disneys side. During the recession, Disney also had to downsize itself, the downsizing was disastrous for the theme park visitors. As, if there was on ride there were; lets say 6 people in the start; when the downsizing occurred; only 2 remained. On the other hand, the number of visitors daily increased in order to get the costs. A previous worker of the Disney mentioned that Disney had a policy of fixed number of visitors daily. Upon reaching that number, no more entrance policy was exercised but nowadays, the green is more than the human soul. The rides are over running and they are not being properly maintained; moreover, the lack of personnel to assist the visitors is becoming another problem. In order to properly portray what it is and what it really shows to be; Disney need some strict measures to take upon such third party labour issues. Moreover, the security measures at the theme parks and the training and development of the employees must be carried out.

Industrialization and Urbanization of Indian Society

In the recent years, the industrialization and urbanization of Indian society has led to an increase in the concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere. Air pollution is defined as a mixture of solid particles and gases in the air which has harmful and poisonous effects. Various experiments and studies have shown that long term exposure to such air pollution can lead to serious health issues such as: aggravated cardiovascular and respiratory illness, accelerated aging of lungs, diseases like asthma, bronchitis, cancer and a shortened life span. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 12 million people die from environmental health risks annually. Air pollution has become the 4th highest risk factor for premature deaths.Such degradation in the air quality levels has made air pollution a serious threat at a global level, especially for the developing countries, towards the sustainability of mankind. This has grabbed the attention of public as well as the government agencies. An air quality index (AQI) is a parameter used by the government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air quality currently is and how polluted it is forecast to become. As the AQI of a region increases, an increasingly large percentage of population of that area will experience adverse health effects.Several projects have been launched to combat air pollution in all major countries worldwide. For e.g.: 1): Hebei Air Pollution Prevention and Control Program (HAP- 2016:18) project in China to reduce the emissions of specific pollutants in Hebei; 2): The Odd-Even Scheme implemented by the Indian Government in national capital Delhi (2016). There are ceaseless fighting efforts for air pollution reduction all around the world. As an endeavor on the course of machine learning based air quality forecasting, this report presents an initiative and algorithmic details of various statistical models in solving this challenging problem. The Machine Learning models used in this paper, to facilitate the prediction of pollutant concentrations, include:Linear regressionLogistic RegressionPolynomial regressionRandom Forest ClassificationDecision Tree RegressionDecision Tree ClassificationSupport Vector regressionSupport Vector ClassificationKNN ClassificationWe target our air pollution forecast to the city of Delhi, India as it is at the forefront for battling against air pollution. We focus on predicting the Air Quality Index (AQI) level of Delhi, as it is a quantitative method to profile air pollution level. In order to reduce the pollution levels in Delhi, we will be analyzing 5 pollutants and 5 other environment parameters responsible for increase in AQI levels. The fixed station data is taken for 3 stations namely : NSIT (Dwarka), RK Puram and Shadipur . Objectives:Compare results of Air Quality Index (AQI) values obtained by different regression models and then propose the best model.Classify the dataset into 5 different AQI categories, and then use Classification models to forecast the pollution category for next month.Analyze the most prominent pollutant, using Back Propagation, responsible for air pollution and suggest methods to control it.The rest of this paper is organized as follows: Section II describes related work, and Section III provides background on data sources, participatory sensing systems and details the 5 regression and 5 classification models used in this study. Section IV describes the steps in our model, while model implementation and estimation accuracy is studied in Section V. The paper concludes in Section VI.

As Ict

Edexcel GCE Applied Information and Communication Technology Unit 3: The Knowledge Worker January 2013 Scenario Paper Reference 6953/01 The scenario should be distributed to candidates at least three working weeks before the examination. Practice files: whitecaps_practice. xls, fixtures_practice. txt, haway_practice. txt This scenario should be used for the purposes of preparing candidates for the examination. This copy must not be taken into the examination. The information contained in the scenario will be included in the examination paper.Further details are in the Instructions of the Conduct of Examinations (ICE), available from the Edexcel website for this qualification. Edexcel will not accept any request for special consideration should candidates be given the incorrect scenario for the examination they are sitting. Turn over W41049A Â ©2013 Pearson Education Ltd. 6/ *W41049A* Scenario Havering Whitecaps Maddy Wright and Katy Parrish have supported Havering Whitecaps since th eir boyfriends played for the team. Their boyfriends’ careers and the teenage romances are now very much in the past but their support of the team remains as strong as ever.Until 15 years ago the Whitecaps were a struggling non-league team with little support. There were times, on wet and cold November afternoons, when Maddy and Katy were the only supporters. In 1999 a magical thing happened to the Whitecaps. At that time the team’s position, both in football terms and financially, was perilous to say the least. However, a financial backer appeared in the form of Harold Adenyi. Harold had studied at the local college and even played a few games for the Whitecaps. His progress as a footballer was hampered by a lack of ability.He gave up on a career as a footballer to concentrate on what he was good at, which was IT and mathematics. He made a large amount of money by creating an online accountancy website called lesstax. com. Harold was looking for things he could offset against a huge tax bill and a loss-making football club seemed to be a good start. He bought the Whitecaps from the previous owners for ? 1 and immediately started to spend money on it. Harold’s flair for business meant that the loss-making football club did not stay loss-making for long.Harold signed a talented former football league manager and with his advice, spent money on players who all turned out to be good investments. The way the manager had the team playing soon started to increase its fan base, so Harold built a new stadium. The team continued to be successful and the new stadium was soon filled at every match, putting the club on a healthy financial footing. Financial success and playing success went hand-in-hand and, in 2001, Havering Whitecaps was elected to the Football League. After a few seasons, when the Whitecaps struggled to establish themselves, there followed a eriod of gradual success including promotion to the 1st Division and two years later the Cha mpionship. Last season the Whitecaps won the Championship and are currently looking forward to their first season in the Premier League. Throughout this period of development, Maddy and Katy have been screaming encouraging words to their team (and the occasional discouraging one to the opposition) and they have hardly missed a match. It was inevitable that as the Whitecaps’ two most dedicated supporters they would become the chairman and secretary of the supporters’ club.One of their main tasks is to organise away trips for fans. This involves buying the tickets, booking the coaches and deciding what to charge for the ticket and transport packages. With 14,678 registered supporters, organising the away trips is not an easy task. With the possibility of over 400 coaches travelling to an away match, the number of transport firms the pair could use was limited. Since the Whitecaps were promoted to the Championship Maddy and Katy have used ‘Rubicon Transport’ whose rates are reasonable and who can supply enough coaches on a match day. 2 W41049ARubicon charge a fixed sum of ? 350 per coach, plus a ? 1. 50 fuel surcharge for every 100 miles travelled. In addition, Rubicon’s regulations state that a driver cannot be in charge of the coach for more than 9 hours a day. Should the whole trip last more than 9 hours (including the match time) a second driver would be required. There is a charge of ? 75 for the second driver. Premier League ticket prices vary greatly and Maddy has been quoted a range of prices varying between ? 30 and ? 54 by the Premier League clubs. Maddy and Katy do not need to make an overall profit.Their main aim is to get as many fans as possible to away matches. Although they can afford to make a loss on individual trips, they cannot afford to make a loss overall. Therefore an accurate prediction of the number of people who will want to go to a particular match is vital. They are also aware that more people will wan t to go to some matches than others. To help find out how many people are likely to go to each match they ran an online survey. This was completed by 94% of their registered supporters. To make data analysis easier, Katy has classified the teams as shown in the table.EG Teams fighting for European glory MT Mid-table teams RD Teams likely to be involved in the relegation dogfight PR Newly promoted teams In addition to the classification of the team, she found that other things affect the number of people likely to go to away matches. Fewer people would go if the match was played on a weekday rather than a Saturday (or Sunday). The longer the travelling time, the fewer supporters were prepared to travel. Finally, the overall cost of the package would discourage some from attending certain matches. W41049A 3 Turn over Description of the modelMaddy and Katy have to be as accurate as they can when setting the prices as they don’t need to make a profit but cannot afford to make a l oss. Maddy and Katy need a model to help them decide on prices. Therefore, Maddy has persuaded her brother Kieran, who works in IT, to create a model. Kieran wanted to make the model reusable so that he could sell it to other supporters’ clubs. Unfortunately, before he could finish the model, the company Kieran worked for sent him to Dubai on a three-year contract. Maddy has asked you to complete the model and use it to suggest prices for the next season’s away matches.Kieran has left you these notes. Worksheet Description Teams This is the worksheet that will be used to set the package prices. I have listed the teams in the Premier League along with Katy’s classifications. For ease of viewing I have included information from other worksheets and have calculated the total costs, revenue and profit. There is a profit for each trip and a total profit for the season. The worksheet will also calculate the total number of supporters going to away matches. Cell B2 con tains a drop-down box to choose the team you support. FixturesThis worksheet is a calculated page which lists the dates of the home and away fixtures. Lookups This worksheet contains a number of lookup tables. There are two blank areas, these will contain the fixture information provided by the Premier League. There are other tables to look up the day of the week, the likely support based on the teams’ classification, the number of registered supporters and the ticket costs for the various clubs. Distances, Times These worksheets contain the distances between the grounds and the average times it would take a coach to travel those journeys.I got these from a very helpful man at the RAC. Customer This worksheet is incomplete. Once completed it will predict the number of supporters who would travel to each away match. This is based on the number of registered supporters and then adjusted according to the home team classification, then package price and finally the travel time. I haven’t finished the analysis of the survey yet so I cannot put in formulae to take into account the travelling time and the overall cost. A friend of mine is doing the analysis for me and he will forward the results to you as soon as he has them. TransportIn this worksheet I calculate how many coaches are needed, the cost per coach and the overall transport cost for the trip. Transport Rates In this worksheet I have entered the transport rates as quoted by Rubicon Transport. I hope you find it easy to understand my notes. Good luck completing it. Kieran Wright 4 W41049A Some cells in the model are password protected. Should you wish to experiment with the model, the password is edexcel. Be aware that if you change the contents of any protected cell the model may not work. Please note that the Football League and Premier League referred to in this scenario are fictitious. W41049A 5

Compare And Contrast Hermia And Lysander - 796 Words

Helena, however, is not worried. â€Å"Your virtue is my privilege† (2.1.220), she counters, believing that just being around Demetrius is enough to protect her. Once again, this underlines the depth of her love for Demetrius. As long as she remains in the forest with him, the importance of maintaining her femininity starts to become something of an afterthought. On the other hand, Hermia remains overly concerned with being proper and chaste. When she and Lysander are trying to find a place to sleep for the night, he asks her to lie down next to her. Hermia instantly insists that they sleep apart: â€Å"But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy / Lie further off in human modesty† (2.2.62-63). Though Lysander explains that he did not mean to suggest†¦show more content†¦At the beginning of the argument, she remains calm even as Hermia is furiously accusing her. She expresses her surprise at Hermia’s aggressive attitude: â€Å"Have you no modesty, no maiden shame, / No touch of bashfulness?† (3.2.286-287). Clearly, Helena is sticking firmly to idea of a woman remaining docile and well-behaved. Her reactions to Hermia’s aggressiveness only serve to highlight this fact further. Her first instinct is to turn to Lysander and Demetrius and beg for them to protect her. She says that they need to keep her safe from Hermia: I pray you, though you mock me, gentlemen, Let her not hurt me. I was never cursed. I have no gift at all in shrewishness. I am a right maid for my cowardice. (3.2.299-303) In this passage, Helena is comparing herself to Hermia, saying that she is better since she is acting as helpless and afraid as a woman should be. When Hermia still refuses to back off, she switches her tactics to calmly reasoning with her. She tells Hermia that, with the exception of telling Demetrius about her plan, she has never done anything bad to her. She offers to go back to Athens and leave her alone, calling herself foolish: â€Å"You see how simple and how fond I am† (3.2.318). She is trying to appear weak in order to make Hermia forgive her. In the end, once Lysander and Demetrius have run off and she is left alone with Hermia, she still refuses to act aggressive. When Hermia tells her to stay where she is,Show MoreRelatedWaning Of Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1465 Words   |  6 Pagesimpossible by bringing many contradictory elements into his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a comedy on the verge of tragedy. In this play, many of his characters allude to the moon through the use of repetitive metaphors. Shakespeare specifically compares the moon to time as a means to juxtapose various elements of his play: eagerness and reluctance, chastity and fertility, as well as tragedy and comedy. 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