Thursday, December 19, 2019

The Modern Age Of College Is A Dream That Almost All...

College is a dream that almost all parents share for their children. Getting a college education is the gateway to becoming a doctor, or a lawyer, or possibly even an astronaut. In reality, the modern era is filled with technological advancements that require one to have a specialized education – an education that is only obtained at a college institution. Unfortunately the modern age is directly colliding with the wallets of many families whom want their kids to go on to college and obtain such dreams. Some students decide that college is far too expensive, thus his or her hopes and dreams are crushed do to inflating college costs. This creates a disparity in society. Those who come from more wealthy families are better able to take on the financial burden of college. The wealthy students are able to acquire a degree and therefore obtain a better job. Due to this, generational poverty as well as other socioeconomic issues ensue. These chain of events create an inequa lity in power best described by Karl Marx. In his conflict theory, Marx claims that society is in a continual state of conflict due to the competition of limited resources. Conflict theory holds that those with wealth and power will try to keep it by any means necessary. If America is to continue making great strides in areas like medical advancements, it needs as many individuals to attend college as possible. If public colleges are not made free to all students, then not only will America eventuallyShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis Of Maya Angelou And Alice Walker927 Words   |  4 PagesMaya Angelou and Alice Walker are two well-known contemporary African- American writers. Although both women are from different generations they share some of the same qualities and experiences. Both women used their past experiences of tragedy and hardship as a stepping stool for growth by turning that pain into what now are famous stories and poems. 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The debates with the domineering Freud and other members of the group had, however, helped Adler think through his own emerging theory of personality. He soon started his own society, called the Society for Free Psychoanalysis (laterRead MoreSocioeconomic Status And Class Based Societies1825 Words   |  8 Pages The Consequences of Socioeconomic Status and Class Based Societies Dainer-Best The Consequences of Socioeconomic Status and Class Based Societies Many questions have risen in this day and age in which ones wealth can greatly effect almost every aspect of their lives. There has been much controversy as to whether the recognition of socioeconomic classes are for the benefit of society as a whole. Socioeconomic class is defined as some combination of occupation, education, and income levelRead MoreEssay on Alexander Hamilton: Triumph and Tragedies3955 Words   |  16 Pagesdestiny and shape ones future from the humblest of beginnings- to forge a legacy by a medium only those heralded as our countries Forefathers have per chanced to meddle with- these are the makings and the foundations for which great men and the dreams of our country rely upon. Everyone has heard the name Alexander Hamilton, but few are familiar with his views and actions regarding the survival of the young American republic. 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He inspires in her the feeling of a mother talking to her son, where she says: â€Å"Boy,†¦ oh boy; I’ll say...Pretty good† (150) And â€Å"You’re welcome†¦ dear ...† (158) Stenz says that â€Å"Albee deliberately parodies theatrical conventions in order to satirize the vacuity

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Technology Audit & Technology Assessment

Question: Describe about the Technology Audit Technology Assessment. Answer: Introduction Audi is one of the leading car manufacturers that produce high quality premium cars with modern designs. The company is currently operating in over 100 markets of the world. It has several manufacturing units in Germany, Belgium, Hungary, and China. 3D printing is an additive manufacturing technology in which objects are produced using layer by layer addition of small nano sized particles. This report would explore the concept of 3D printing, its applications, its limitations and industry scenario. Audi is one organization that has adopted 3D printing for printing its parts and thus, in the reflective section of this report, the case of Audi would be explored and a framework for technology adoption of 3D printing would be created for Audi as an automotive brand. This framework would be based on the understanding of the concept learned about technology management in the course curriculum. Article Summaries Additive Manufacturing: The effects of 3D printing The paper explored global opportunities for 3D printing considering consumers, SMEs, and large corporations. The technology is already used in crafts and animation by consumers, medical services, auto parts and toys manufacturing by SMEs and industrial RD by large corporations. Companies have also started to use it for apparels, food, bicycles, life science experiments, and power tools. Some applications are still being researched such as organ replacement and consumer electronics(KANDELA, 2015). In additive manufacturing very small components of the size of 100 nanometers are made and deposited to create an object. Initially, the technology was used only for mockups and prototyping but now its use is spread to production of finished parts as well as products. 3D printing can produce light weight materials at lower costs. Scientists today are exploring if it can be used to produce self-organizing materials that can change shape based on the changes in the environment. 3D printing is growing fast today and is expected to reach $5 billion sales by next year, 2017. Major industries using it include automotive, industrial, aerospace, and healthcare. 3D printing has many benefits as well as challenges that were described in detail in this paper such as the benefits of inexpensive single item prototyping, reduced lead times, and rapid innovation, and challenges of dependence on printer speed, limitations on materials, and high cost of production in large volumes. 3D printing adoption framework was presented in the paper that identified steps including establishing initiative, investing in the technology, creating a network, changing organization with respect to skills and abilities, and implementation of innovation(Halmes Pierreu, 2014). The Impact of 3D Printing on the Automotive Sector Factors like continues improvements in manufacturing processes, expiring patents, and newer processes of manufacturing such as 3D printing have created several opportunities for automotive organizations and newer consumer segments are emerging as a result. With the use of 3D printing, manufacturing parts and tools can be produced at lower costs. 3D printing has got much media attention and questions have been raised on its potential to replace traditional manufacturing processes. This report explored various companies cases to examine how 3D printing technologies like those provided by Stratsys and 3D systems are being used in automotive sectors(IHS, 2015). How will 3D printing make your company the strongest link in the value chain? 37% of German companies have already adopted 3D printing technology for improving their supply chains while 12% are planning to adopt. Traditional machines and materials are being replaced by that 3D printed. This has helped companies in two ways - produce lightweight or complex components that improve the quality of the product and allowing customization even in low volume production. Further, 3D printing makes a flexible and low cost production process for spare parts that can help companys turnaround their supply chains. However, there are still some barriers to its adoption such as high level of initial investment and technical limitations on size, color and material printing. Yet, because of its sustainability potential and cost effectiveness, companies have started to adopt it in large numbers. Operational models of companies using 3D printing as the manufacturing process can involve an acquisition of a facility, joint establishment, or use of existing 3D printing network of suppliers. The choice of operational model is dependent on value add by process, necessity for in-house production, cost of implementation, and so on. 3D printing can help a company at three levels: Supply chain operations that can be made more cost effective and efficient with reduction of transportation and inventories; product designing through new structures and use of customization; and company through addition of business models and value chain re-positioning(EY, 2016). The Current Status and Impact of 3D Printing - An Analysis of Six Case Studies The paper talks about some benefits of 3D printing such as reduced need of fixed assets, low cost production even in low volumes, and ability to easily produce complex shapes in parts. It also highlighted major applications of 3D printing such as consumer products, medical products, commercial hardware, and toys. The paper also discussed intellectual property implications of replacing traditional parts with 3D printed parts. AS per European Design Directive while producing a new part with 3D printing, it should have new design and must also have separate individual characteristics that do not match with existing produces manufactured using patented traditional manufacturing processes. The paper presented some case studies on different markets included automotive, domestic appliances, and customized goods. Automotive market case study covered 3DP parts, automotive aftermarket, additive manufacturing drivers, AM limitations, and data considerations. Domestic appliances use cases were described. It was found that Am presented many short-term opportunities in automotive production but parts produced cannot fully replicate traditionally produced parts. In domestic appliances production, 3D printing is still majorly used for DIY products and its use for production of spare parts is still in the nascent stage of adoption. The paper also highlighted the fact that consumers have started to act as designers with the use of 3D printing solutions like MakiLab, UCODO, and N-E-R-V-O-U-S system making way for many online production tools(Reeves Mendis, 2015). The 3D opportunity in the automotive industry 3D printing has changed the way companies design, develop, manufacture and distribute products. Additive manufacturing is majorly used by Original Equipment Manufacturers for rapid prototyping. OEMs in automotive sector are few due to high entry barriers but competition in suppliers is high as there are over $1.5 trillion suppliers of parts and accessories of automotive sector. Additive Manufacturing can become a game-changer when considering the competition between the manufacturers as it provide a source of innovation, can reduce overall costs of production, reduce lead times, and reduce complexity of supply chain. When considering the value provided by AM, there can be performance trade-offs like capital versus scale and capital versus scope. If a company uses less of capital and is still able to achieve the scale, it can affect the configuration of supply chain and if it can achieve a greater scope with it, the impact would be on product design(Wahlstrm Sahlstrm, 2016). While using AM, companies can take any of the four tactical paths from improving value delivery, transform supply chains, achieve innovation with performance improvement, or alter both supply chain and products. Most automotive companies are currently on the path 1 or stasis which involves only improvements in value delivery and no radical changes are made. In this path of adoption of 3D printing, companies use it for product design improvements, rapid prototyping, customizing tools, and reducing tooling costs. In future, companies are likely to adopt path III and IV with more complex designing, production cost reduction, improvement in market responsiveness, and creation of smaller supply chains. There are some key drivers to adoption of AM such as greater choice in material and their properties, reduced preprocessing, and improved quality of AM manufactured product. There are also certain challenges such as low volume production, limitations on production of large parts, shortage of talent, and concerns of intellectual property rights. Despite these challenges, AM has the potential to support automotive companies through improvement in performance and through innovation(Giffi, Gangula, Illinda, 2014). Framework A technology adoption and management framework may be used for describing the adopting of 3D printing technology by Audi manufacturing organization. Before going into the technology adoption by any organization, a world view may be used for understanding its current operations and their connection with the external environment and the industry. The World view creates boundaries of knowledge in any area of technology including micro environment which explores the organization, its customers and competitors, and macro environment explores industry trends, technology trends, and political trends. Using the model, Audi as a company and automotive industry can be exploring with respect to 3D printing as a potential technology to adopt for manufacturing. Automotive industry is moving towards the use of 3D printing for making small parts that can be used while assembling cars in production line. However, critical parts that go inside the car are not being produced using 3D printing. The automotive industry uses 3D printing mainly for two purposes - one, is to reduce cost of production and second, to bring innovation through flexibilities in part designs. For managing technology, a framework which links technological resources with the objectives of the company can be used in the following ways: Objectives of the company: The Company aims to introduce new models to the market and thus, is spending on building new production capacities and producing innovative automobiles. 3D printing adoption supports the objective as it would help company produce more innovative vehicles and produce them faster with 3D printed parts such that time to market is less and the company is able to achieve its strategic goal of introducing new vehicles and increasing its sales. Environment: The business environment of the company is affected by the fluctuations in currency and variations in the economic environment which can affect operations of the organization. In such a situation, if the cost f production can be reduced such that the margins of the company increase, it would be able to sustain in such fluctuations and still get decent profits. When using 3D printing is used, the cost of production can be reduced drastically which would help Audi company to sustain in the highly dynamic business environment(Audi, 2004). Technology adoption can be seen from technological and commercial perspectives which would the lenses used for exploring strategy, innovation capability and operational decisions of the organization. How each of these factors would be managed in the management of 3D printing technology by Audi is discussed below: Strategy: The Company aims to launch new vehicles which would bring more business value as the company would make more sales in the market. 3D printing would help company produce external parts that are different and innovative designs which would bring an opportunity for the company to come up with more variants and thus, make more products to sell in the market. Innovation: 3D printing can bring in innovation as it provides flexibility in production of parts with varied and complex designs. Moreover, the parts produced by 3D printing can be tailored to individual models of vehicles making the innovation work differently for different models. From the perspective commercial impact of such innovation, it can be observed that innovation would help company sell to wider segments and thus, make more business. Moreover, innovative designs can be priced higher from base models which would further increase the profit margins for the organization. Operations: The Company had already purchased its own 3D printing facility which it is using for the production of some parts of the automobile and in future the same can be used for production of more and more parts. This can be a huge cost at the time of acquisition of the technology but once that is done, it would save on the operational and production costs later on. Conclusions This report was prepared to understand how technology adoption works. A case of Audi was taken and the technology explored was 3D printing. The paper took 5 research reports that were explored to understand 3D printing, its applications, its limitations, adoption and more. A framework for adoption of 3D printing as a business model for Audi was presented. References Audi. (2004). Our Vision, Mission, Strategic Goals, and Objectives. USA department of Commerce. (2016). How will 3D printing make your company the strongest link in the value chain? ErnstYoung GmbH. Giffi, C. A., Gangula, B., Illinda, P. (2014). 3D opportunity in the automotive industry:Additive manufacturing hits the road. Deloitte University Press. Halmes, M., Pierreu, L. (2014). Additive Manufacturing: The effects of 3D printing. Deloitte. IHS. (2015). The Impact of 3D Printing on the Automotive Sector. IHS Technoology. KANDELA, A. R. (2015). IMPACT OF DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESSES. Jamshepur: XLRI. Reeves, P., Mendis, D. (2015). The Current Status and Impact of 3D Printing - An Analysis of Six Case Studies. CIPPM. Wahlstrm, T., Sahlstrm, J. (2016). Additive Manufacturing in Production. Lund University.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Siddhartha’s Road to Enlightenment free essay sample

Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse, is a novel about a man’s journey to finding his inner self, to be enlightened. Siddhartha was born a Brahmin, the highest of the caste system in Hinduism, but he felt that he had to find his own path to enlightenment. As a Brahmin, he was expected to reach Nirvana. He joined the Samanas, listened to the Buddha, lost himself in riches and pleasures, and found himself again at the brink of suicide. Siddhartha finds himself when he looks into the river he is about to jump in. The river awakens him. The novel centers on Siddhartha’s journey through experiencing the extremes of deprivation and excess and leads the reader to understand how he found peace. Hermann Hesse uses the river symbolically to represent Siddhartha’s final understanding of the meaning of life; he lived through the extremes and found the middle path, which put him at peace with himself. We will write a custom essay sample on Siddhartha’s Road to Enlightenment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Through Siddhartha’s journey, he experienced the extremes in order to find the middle path. One of the extremes he went through was depriving himself of all desires and pleasures. Siddhartha became a Samana, which are groups of people who roam around trying to attain non-attachment. This represents one of the extreme experiences because Siddhartha deprived himself of everything in order to reach non-attachment because he tried to be at peace at with himself by getting rid of suffering and desires. â€Å"’Well, Govinda, are we on the right road? Are we gaining any knowledge? Are we approaching salvation? Or are we perhaps going in circle – we who thought to escape from the cycle? ’† (17-18). Siddhartha is trying hard to get to enlightenment so he goes to extremes and joins the Samana’s to get rid of his desires. Siddhartha wants to find his way to enlightenment so he can live in peace. He wants to break the cycle of Samsara and reach Nirvana. Siddhartha is starting to see that the way of the Samana’s might not take him to enlightenment as quick as he had hoped. He wants to get rid of his desires so he can be free minded and not have suffering. Being a Samana made him grow impatient and desired to be at peace with himself. Siddhartha learns from being a Samana to fast, wait, and think. He uses these tools to help him come closer to conquering his inner Self and reaching Nirvana. Siddhartha crosses a river, physically and spiritually. He leaves his past life of a Samana to be a Brahmin again and spoil himself in riches and pleasures. He crosses the river into a town where he meets people who help him become a merchant. He left one extreme for another extreme. Another extreme he had to experience to be able to find the middle path is physical pleasures and desires. He loses his state of being in riches and pleasures. â€Å"†¦the world and inertia creep into Siddhartha’s soul; it slowly filled his soul, made it heavy, made it tired, sent it to sleep. But on the other hand his senses became more awakened, they learned a great deal, experienced a great deal. (Page 76-77). Siddhartha left being a Samana and became rich, in wealth and in desires. He started to suffer, almost to the brink of suicide. Siddhartha forgot a little about trying to be at peace with himself and instead started doing the polar opposite of what he did as a Samana. Siddhartha learned to work with business affairs, to use his power ove r people, to wear rich clothes, to smell nice and he learned how to eat rich and sweet foods. Siddhartha became irritable; he started to feel the suffering that came with all his desires and pleasures. From this extreme experience his senses awoke after being suppressed when he was a Samana. His new use for his senses helped him to become awakened and find the middle path. After being through two extremes, he sat by a river, the same river he had crossed to become a Brahmin again, and he awakened. He felt himself be born again; he became a new Siddhartha. Siddhartha, overcome with suffering, leaves the town and goes stumbling through the forest. He comes across the river and starts thinking of suicide. As he is staring into the water he starts to hear, from deep inside of himself, the word â€Å"Om. The word opens his eyes to the world again and he remembers every thing that he learned from his experiences. â€Å"Then from a remote part of his soul, from the past of his tired life, he heard a sound†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Om,’ he pronounced inwardly, and he was conscious of Brahman, of the indestructibleness of life; he remembered all that he had forgotten, all that was divi ne. † (89-90). Siddhartha was lost, th en found his way. He realized that his wish to find peace would not happen by destroying his body. He realized that all the despair and disillusionment had not brought him closer to finding peace. Siddhartha realizes that in order to be at peace and to find enlightenment he couldn’t do it by doing either one of the extremes but by using the skills and tools he learned from his experiences. By using the things he learned he could go right in the middle of the two extremes and still be able to find enlightenment. Siddhartha had just found the middle path, the shortcut to be at peace. Hermann Hesse uses the symbolism of the river, and the way Siddhartha crosses it, to represent Siddhartha’s final understanding of the meaning of life. On one side of the river, Siddhartha is a Samana and learns to fast, wait, and to think. On the other side of the river he loses him self in physical pleasures, desires and suffering, but he awakens his senses again. Using the experiences and his newfound tools he created him self a middle path between the extremes and a shortcut to finding enlightenment. I don’t think Siddhartha could have found the middle path and enlightenment with out the experiences he went through. Siddhartha’s journey resulted in enlightenment and it shows that your experiences in life shape who you are as a person.