Song dynasty and its significance in Chinese History Essay Example for Free

Song dynasty and its significance in Chinese History Essay In this article, I would like to introduce the Culture History of Song dynasty. I will mainly talk about Literature, which will be divided into 4 parts that are: 1)Poetry; 2)Prose; 3) Ci(è ©Å¾); and 4)History. After introducing the Literature, I would like to explain Song dynastys significance in Chinese History. In Zhen Zong period, Xi Kun Ti became popular among the high officials. The representative of the Xi Kun Ti were Yang Yi, Liu-yun, Qian Wei-yan and the like. Besides Xi Kun Ti, there were some poets with special style in early-Song period. They were called Late Tang group. For instance, Wei-ye, Lin Bu, Kou Zhun and the like were all the representatives of Late Tang group. Then in the Ren Zong period, Ouyang Xiu had proceeded Classical Prose Movement and created created a flow of poetry new to each other model, with the help of Mei Yao-chen and Su Shun-qin, also reference by Han Yu. In the period of Shen Zong, Wang An-shi was active on creating political poem. He did write poem about politics, in the expression of a neat style while incorporating the ancient poems poetry-Story. Another wonderful poet must be introduced is Su Shi. He created a lot of marvelous poems and taught many students, For instance, all of Huang Ting-jian, Zhang Lei, Chao Bu-zhi and Qin-guan were students of Su Shi. Especially Huang had the greatest impact on posterity-statement gave birth to a stream called Jiang Xi Shi Pai after. Then, to represent the sadness of the lose of North China and the lather of being oppressed in Gangnam were Chen Yu-yi, Ceng Ji and Lu Ben-zhong. Many poems of them had mentioned the sadness of losing kingdom and reflected the age. Among three, Chen Yu-yi, who respected Du-fu very much, had the most similar style with Du-fu that always criticized the problems of the country in his poems. Entering into the reign of Xiao Zong, poetry celebrated the heyday again as Southern Song Dynasty gained a certain extent of stability. The representatives of this period were Fan cheng-da, Yang wan-li and the best poet in Southern Songï ¼ Lu You. Lu You had been the top in Ke Ju, but because of Qin Xun, who was the grandson of Qin Gui, he could only be No.2. Until he died when he was 86, he had created 9000 poems which is a surprising amount. Followed by a period of peace since the end of the Xiao Zong period, the number of people read poems had increased significantly. Yong Jia Si Ling was the representative of this period and they were called Jiang Hu Pai. Yong Jia Si Ling included Xu Zhao, Xu Ji, Weng Jaun and Zhao Shi-xiu. At the Late-Southern Song period, Mongolias attack was intensifying day by day. And Wen Tian-xiang was the one who could mostly describe the sadness and lather of worrying the dynasty. Song of sanity was famous that giving a deep impression on posterity patriot. After the fall of the Southern Song dynasty, people who presented themselves, as remnants of the Song people even became the era of the original weave. They reminisced about the poem in the song of past days. The representatives in this period were Wang Yuan-liang, Xie Ao and Zheng Si-xiao. After introducing the poetry, I would like to introduce prose in Song dynasty. In the early Song, Pian Wen was the major form of poetry. However, Liu Kai, Wan Yu-cheng, Shi Jie and Fan Zhong-yan had claimed a return to the simple and spartan style that was used in Qin Han dynasty. Especially the Tai Xue Ti created by Shi Jie was even used as the form for exam. However, Tai Xue Ti was actually affected by Han Yu, who was using a form that was arduous to understand. In 1057, when Ouyang Xiu served as the examiner, he let some people like Su Zhe and Ceng Gong passed but failed the answer of Tai Xue Ti. As a result, the form of Ouyang Xiu and other people who had same thinking with him like Su Xin, Su Zhe, Su Shi, Wang An-shi and Ceng Gong, that means Tang Song Ba Da Jia became the major form. Even in the same category of Guwen, Ouyang Xius guwen was described as Yin Rou while Han Yus was described as Yang Gang. Although Ou was lack of inflection, his writing was plain, clear and easy to understand. Therefore, even in Southern Song period, the form of guwen basically still followed Ous form. Thus, we can say that Ou Yang-shiu should be the most momentous person of prose in Song dynasty. Then, I would like to introduce Ci. Northern Song Ci prosperity was largely taken over five generations. Ren Zong period and its after was the true prosperity period. The representatives of this period were Yan Shu, Ouyang Xiu, Zhang Xian, Liu Yong and the like. Especially the last two had opened a new field of Ci. Ci included mundane things since Zhang wrote daily things in Ci. Also, after Liu Yong, a form called Slow Ci also became famous not only among civilians but also the literati. The most important person in the Shen Zong period was Su Shi. Su Shi formed a friendship with Zhang when he was appointed to Hangzhou as passing judgment, and was greatly affected by Zhang. Su Shi genius did not stop there, but picked a theme, such as the Battle of Red Cliff in Three Kingdoms, which was a topic that did not appear in the traditional Ci. By this, he opened a new frontier of Ci. In the Hui Zong period, Zhou Bang-yan had done the culmination of the Ci. Zhou was good at music, so was ord ered to set up the music departments Da Cheng Fu. Zhou had extremely large effect that Zhou derived almost all of Southern Song Ci writers. The style of Zhous Ci was described as Hun Hou He Ya. Another person should be mentioned is Li Qing-zhao, who was a female Ci writer. She intensived colloquial expression, emotional expression was also characterized by delicate feminine. In the Southern Song dynasty, Ci had change a lot by entering into the Old Southern area, which was a place Ci was being famous. The representatives of this period should be Xin Qi-ji and Jiang Kui. As Xin supported occurring war against Jin, he was unfortunate for spicy. His Ci was similar to Su Shi and both of them were called Hao Fang Pai and also Su Xin, which is a simplified name by taking their surnames. On the contrary, Jiang Kui inherited the style of Zhou Bang-yan that his Ci was very elegant. Although Jiang did not want to be official, he could still form relationships with many officials by his Ci. Finally, in the late Southern Song period, Chinese Sanqu poetry had been the major instead of Ci as many Ci had been changed to something about the lost of kingdom. It was better to sing with melody but not just by reading words. Thus, Ci started being long forgotten since the fall of Song dynasty. The last thing I would like to introduce is History of Song dynasty. The most representative history book written in Song period must be Zizhi Tongjian, which is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084, in the form of a chronicle, by Sima Guang. Besides Zizhi Tongjian, there were also other historical books like Bo Gu Tu by Lu Da-lin and Xuan He Bo Gu Tu Lu by Hui Zong. It should also be mentioned that epigraphy, which is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the writing and the writers, was started by Ouyang Xiu. Ouyang Xiu collected all the epigraphs and editd them as Ji Gu Lu. Therefore, history was also a remarkable point of Song culture history. Last but not least, the significance of Song dynasty in Chinese History will be talked about in the follows. First I would like to talk about the significance of Song culture in Chinese History. About the Song Ci, Ci had established music literature, or we would say that Chinese music was started by Ci. Many literati had participated in the writing of the word and they were even called Hao Fang Pai. From a literary point of view, Hao Fang Pai had created a new kind of Ci. Xin Qi-ji also engaged in the writing of the patriotic words; but from the musical point of view, Ci written by Hao Fang Pai caused the deviation of Ci. Because the scores of Ci was generally Qian Zhen Di Chang and Chou Mou Wan Zhuan, such as Nian Nu Jiao, it expressed the amiability of prostitutes by music. However, this kind of music was obviously different with Su Shis creation Da Jian Dong Qu by using the Cipai. Unfortunately, Ci scores now had basically lost, but the Ci had created an important mode of music, had a significant impact on the development of drama. From the Yuan Dynasty to Modern Peking Opera and local opera, the basic mode was to write Ci by fixed scores. People often called Ci as Song Ci, of course, it means people have marked the Song as the highest level of Ci of this literary genre. Then about prose, after the beginning of Song Dynasty, prose became popular and almost been handed down till now. For instance, Tang Song Ba Da Jia included 6 people of Song Dynasty. As Chinese characters seem like square, the most suitable genre to express the beauty of words should roughly be Parallel Prose, ancient poems and couplets. Parallel Prose should not be totally rejected, but the Guwen was undoubtedly more freely and fully express ideas and depicted on the analysis things comparing to Parallel Prose. Overall, Song prose achievement was greater than the Tang Dynasty. About History, Song Dynasty was the heyday of Chinese History. Many history books were edited by the official. Some history new genre was created. In addiction, the realm of history expanded from the compiling of geography and chronicles to epigraphy. The epigraphy pioneered by Song was the forerunner of modern archeology. All these, and also the great lengthy books, historians achievements of Song was great and it is enough to override the Han and Tang Dynasties, even can be arrogant to the Ming and Qing. Then I would like to introduce other significance of Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty formated a new social class structure. The old social class structure in mid-steps of the Tang Dynasty like Gentry Clans and Jun Tian households, slaves capacity, ragtag, Fan Carpenter and slaves changed to the Song Dynasty bureaucratic landlord and Tian Ke of, above and under group of village, poor-employed Carpenter, and employed Carpenter, human and women to make a new social class structure. This is a major change of the internal class relations of ancient Chinese society. This is an adjustment of the social relations of production. This change gradually affirmed by the law. After the down of late Tang emperor and the total collapse of the Shi Zhu polity, the Song Dynasty established the Centralization, Autonomy. This actually already pointed out that the status of the Song Dynasty in Chinese history, which means it was a continue to develop the new period following the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, not only the social and economic development was on the basis of the conventionalism of the Song Dynasty, their political system and some of its iconic prominent social phenomenon was also emerging as early as the Song Dynasty. For instance, Chu Rui-xi indicated that Ming and Qing eight-legged essay prototype was started from Song. Also, Li Hong-qi thought that Ming Qing Ju Rens benefits and privileges has existed in the Song Dynasty. These phenomenas are still many, just because we cant research the all. Such as the country of residence of the Ming and Qing dynasties and fame, who are extremely similar to the official and on behalf of the local forces, but actually they are just normal people, had been appeared in Northern Song Dynasty and in the Southern Song Dynasty, the number was even greater. Taixue in Song dynasty and local counties, colleges of boom. Among them, College influence in particular. In Shen Zong period, Taixue triple care law, that is, homes on residential care homes and rounded down and upgrade system, which is the first in the history of China and even the whole world education, in fact, pioneer of modern education classification system. Northern Song dynasty on the previous-generations Education Division has been developed, in addition to Taixue, establishing martial arts, law, medicine, programme, as well as calligraphy, painting, although not enough attention to other subjects, but is undoubtedly higher education branch of green shoots. Thanks to the development of printing, such as the Chinese surnames, of the thousand character classic spelling book series of popular education larger than the former was popular in the Song dynasty, there have been many urban and rural areas dedicated teachers, many districts use year organizing winter study. Educational achievement in the song at the same time, should also be noted that, starting from the Northern Song dynasty, completed the study of imperial examination, education and Trinity together, thus education features simply, narrowly linked to career, which gave birth to Chinese education towards backward factors. The golden age of Chinese ancient science and technology development was the Song dynasty. Known in the four great inventions of ancient China, compass, printing and gunpowder was the three main application and development of the Song dynasty. Shen Kuo is the main representative figures of science and technology in the Song dynasty. His scientific achievements are manyremarkable. Northern Song dynasty had two famous Supernova records in the history of astronomy. The astronomical clock tower and armillary sphere were great. Others such as Agronomy, agricultural technology, architecture also had notable achievements. Beginning of the Northern Song dynasty, people almost build a large pontoon bridge across the Yangtze River, history of bridge initiative. The view was expressed that study the history of science, must focus on the continuity of scientific development, which means people constantly added to the predecessors on the basis of results, just as it is in the history of science. From this point of view, the ancient Chinese science could be mainly divided to mathematics and medicine, which has connection to the fact that there were medical school in Song dynasty. Mathematics achievement was great in the Song dynasty, but had no impact on modern mathematics. Unique theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine is well received by the influence of ancient philosophy. Medical theories had new development in the Song and Jin dynasties period, and forensic books even occurred. Medical Branch at the time of the Northern Song dynasty was already similar to the branches of modern medicine. The Jin people did not know medical, so medicine of Jin should be the continuation of the Northern Song dynasty medicine and development. The meridian of the body mechanisms and Qi Gong was the oriental important scientific endeavor, even though so far we havent been able to resolve modern exact sciences. Making bronze and correlated with acupuncture and moxibustion in Song dynasty medical books was a landmark progress of acupuncture and moxibustion. Different from ancient mathematics, Chinese traditional medicine is still benefiting the Chinese nation, and make a greater contribution to human health. Thus, we can say that the Song Culture History is an important and momentous page of Chinese History. Although Song may not be a perfect dynasty, it still has its significance among the 2000 years Chinese History. References [1] Toktoghan and Alutu, History of Song (Zhonghua Book Company, 1977) [2] Pratt, Keith L. and Richard Rutt. (1999). Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary. Surrey: Curzon Press [3] Hargett, James M. Some Preliminary Remarks on the Travel Records of the Song Dynasty (960–1279), Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) (July 1985): 67–93. [4] Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 1, Introductory Orientations. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. [5] Bol, Peter K. The Rise of Local History: History, Geography, and Culture in Southern Song and Yuan Wuzhou, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies (2001) [6] D.C.M. Platt, Finance, Trade and Politics in British Foreign Policy 1815-1914 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), p. 281. [7] Ebrey, Patricia Buckley; Walthall, Anne; Palais, James B. (2006), East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Boston: Houghton Mifflin [8] Twitchett, Denis and Paul Jakov Smith (ed.). 2009. Cambridge History of China: Vol. 5 Part One: TheSung Dynasties and its Precursors, 907-1279. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [9] Franke, Herbert and Dennis Twitchett (ed.). 1994. Cambridge History of China: Vol. 6 , Alien Regimes and Border States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [10] Uno Naoto, Kanshi no Rekishi (Touhou Shoten, 2005) [11] Maeno Chokuakira, Chugoku Bunkashi (Tokyo Daigaku Shubankai, 1975) [12] Murakami Satoshiken, Soushi no Sekai (Asia Books 50, Taishukan Shoten, 2002) [13] Kojima Tsuyoshi, Soumana no Keisei to Tenkai (Soubusha, 1999) [14] Mizoguchi Yuzou, Maruyama Matsusachi, Ikeda Tomohisa, Chugoku Shisou Bunka Jiten (Tokyo Daigaku Shubankai, 2001) [15] Chen Yinke, Chen Yin Ke Wen Ji Volume 2 (Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Publishment, 1980) [16] Chu Ruixi, Song Yuan Shi Dai de Shi Wen (Li Shi Yan Jiu, 1990) [17] Li Hongqi, Song Dai de Ju Renï ¼Å½Guo Ji Song Shi Yan Tu Hui Lun Wen Ji (Taipei: China Culture University, 1988)

Travel Time Reliability Analysis

Travel Time Reliability Analysis CHAPTER TWO Literature Review 2.1 Introduction Lyman (2007) states that travel time reliability is vital measure of congestion and can serve as benchmark for prioritizing improvements into a city transportation system. This research start with a literature review of travel time reliability and its worth as a congestion measure. Travel time reliability can be denoted as the probability of successfully completing a trip within specified time interval (Iida, 1999). Therefore, the increase of travel time will lead to the unreliability and variability of travel time (Recker et al., 2005). The better understanding of travel time reliability and variability might assist transport planner to select proper transport policy in conjunction with reduction congestion problems as well as lessening the impact of different type of incidents (Recker et al., 2005). It can be said that, the more reliable the transportation system, the more stable is the performance. In addition, lower travel time fluctuation also contributes to less fuel consumption as well as less emissions due to a reduced amount of acceleration and deceleration by vehicles (Vlieger et al., 2000). Moreover, from a transport users point of view, more reliable travel times mean more predictable journey times and improved activity schedules. In accordance with just in time services, reliable travel time will significantly increase the freight industrys performances to deliver goods (Recker et al., 2005). As travel time reliability considers the distribution of travel time probability and its variation at road network, the higher travel time variance the lower travel time reliability (Nicholson et al., 2003). It can be also said that under ideal conditions travel time reliability would have a variance equal to zero. Indeed, the increase of its variance will therefore significantly reduce its reliability. However, the relationship between travel time variance and its reliability is not linear, so that, it cannot be generally accepted that a double of travel time variance will lead to a half of its reliability. To conclude, the greater travel time fluctuations will have significant impacts on transport network reliability. According to different purposes of travel time reliability study, there are several travel time reliability surveys. By comparing different aspect of the travel time study and by considering the complexity of data collection as well the data analysis, Lomax et al. (2003) has reviewed the suitable assessment of travel time reliability. Based on the scope and the limitation of each method this work suggested the different study in terms of measurement travel time variability and travel time reliability. The analysis of the archive traffic data is not proper in measuring the travel time reliability due to the lack of data constant and the lack of other attribute related with the traffic condition. However, the data is easy to obtain. In addition, the micro simulation techniques have been used extensively, however according to Lin et al (2005) there are some deficiencies in travel time micro simulation modeling in terms of the high need for data calibration. In order to gain real life traffic conditions, some travel time reliability research used the probe vehicle methods. Since this method requires ext ensive labour and only covers some of the study area or some of the road segments, it cannot be applied in terms of assessing the travel time reliability on large road networks. Indeed, Lomax et al also recommended some reliability measurements by examining the reliability and variability percentage (e.g., 5%, 10% and 15%). Those approaches take into account the effect of irregular conditions in the forms of the amount of extra time that must be allowed for travelers. The first measurement is the percent variation which expresses the relationship between the amount of variation and the average travel time in a percentage measure. The second is the misery index that calculates the amount of time exceeded the average slowest time by subtracting the average travel time with the upper 10%, 15% and 20% of average travel rates and the last is travel time buffer which add the extra travel time of 95% trips in order to arrive on time. In addition, since reliable travel time is the key indicator of users route choice there are many recent research works which investigated the travelers behaviour under unreliable travel time. According to travelers behavior in route choice survey, the greater the variance of travel time of selected links the less attractive it is (Tannabe et al., 2007). Additionally, Bogers and Lint (2007) investigated traveler behavior on three different road types in The Netherlands under uncertainty conditions, as well as the impact of providing traveller information on route choice. They conclude that providing traveler information has significant impact on effecting travelers decision, in addition, based on travelers experience they will choose the route with minimal travel time variance. It means that the routes that have high travel time reliability are not attractive for users. Indeed, according to Lomax et als review that the best alternative to measure the travel time variability and route choicer behaviour under uncertainty condition is by using probe vehicles. Though this method was highly labourious and expensive, it is more realistic (Lomax et al., 2003). Then Tannabe et al (2007) undertook an integrated GPS and web diary in Nara, Japan. This study found that travelers might change their route to reduce the uncertainty in travel time. In addition, there was a positive correlation between coefficients of variation (CV) of the commuting routes. It is found that the appropriate functional hierarchy of road may be disturbed by the uncertainty of travel time. These findings suggest that a reliability index of travel time is very useful and important for evaluating both actual level of service (LOS) and functional hierarchy of road network. Recent travel time reliability research investigated the relationship between the traveler behavior and their response to the provision of travel information system while they experience high travel time variability. Asakura (1999) concluded that the Stochastic User Equilibrium model can generate the user route choice behavior based on the different levels of information provision. This study analyzed two different groups, the first group being the well informed users and the second the uninformed users. He concluded that providing better information can improve the transportation network reliability. In order to find out the different perspectives of travel time reliability for different persons with different purposes, Lo et al (2006) studied the notion of the travel time budget, in which each traveler seeks to minimize their own individual travel time budget (the amount of time that the individual is prepared to devote to travelling), which means the total travel time of the individual should not exceed their allocation of time to travel. To evaluate the link between the presence of ramps on motorways and travel time reliability, recent reliability network research has been undertaken in The Netherlands. Th is study analyzed whether the geometry of road network also affected the travel time reliability (Tu et al., 2007) by investigating the presence of ramps on six major. This study concluded that the presence of ramps in the road network has reduced the travel time reliability. Since road network reliability considers the probability of transportation system failures in how to meet performance parameters such as reasonable travel time and travel cost, level of service and the probability of connectivity of the transport network and lack of measuring the consequences of link failure to the community, the concept of road network vulnerability might be an alternative way to fill some of road network reliability deficiency, particularly in assessing the adverse socio-economic impact to community (Taylor et al. 2006). ROAD NETWORK VULNERABILITY Due to the potential socio-economic cost of degraded transport network to community, the concept of road vulnerability has been developed by researchers under transport network reliability umbrella. The definition of vulnerability has not yet been generally agreed. Several authors notion of the vulnerability focused on the negative events that significantly reduced the road network performance. Berdica (2002) defined the vulnerability as a susceptibility to incident that can result in a considerable in road network serviceability. The link /route/road serviceability described the possibility to use that link/route/road during a given period of time. Furthermore, since accessibility depend on the quality of the function of the transportation system, this concept relate to the adverse of the vulnerability in terms of reducing accessibility that occurs because of the different reasons. As the idea of network vulnerability relates to the consequences of link failure and the potential for adverse socio- economic impacts on the community (Taylor et al., 2006, Jenelius, 2007a), thus vulnerability can be defined in the following terms: 1. A node is vulnerable if loss (or substantial degradation) of a small number of links significantly diminishes the accessibility of the node, as measured by standard index of accessibility. 2. A network link is critical if loss (or substantial degradation) of the links significantly diminishes the accessibility of the network or of particular nodes, as measured by standard index of accessibility. Therefore, it can be concluded that road vulnerability assesses the weakness of road network to incidents as well as adverse impacts of the degraded road network serviceability on the community. In relation with the road network vulnerability definition which focuses on two different aspects; selecting critical road network elements and consequences of measurements, Jenelius (2007a) has identified that road network vulnerability assessment can be distinguished into two stages. The first stage is to select a critical link by identifying the road network likelihood and by quick scanning of wide road transport and the second one is measuring the consequences of link disruption to community. Based on previous works, different approach has been applied in order to scan wide road network. Jenelius et al ( et al., 2006) selected particular major arterial road which connect the district at the Northern Sweden to be the worst case scenario and selected road links randomly as the average case scenarios. Scott et al (2006) has also introduced topology index and the relation between capacity and volume then select the critical link. Indeed, Jenelius (2007a) has suggested that conducting comprehensive assessment of road network will be helpful for identifying roads that are probably affected by the traffic accident, flood and landslides. Berdica et al (2003) undertake a comprehensive study in order to test 3 types of software to mode l road network interruptions. This study simulated the short duration of incidents on University of Canterbury networks by using SATURN, TRACKS and Paramics. They modelled a total block of one link on the small network then run the model at the macroscopic level by using TRACKS, at mesoscopic level by using SATURN and at the microscopic level by using Paramics. Based on the simulation, the different packages gave different result in terms of their responsiveness to model the short incidents, for instance, Paramics might be considered as a suitable software package for short duration incidents because it is more responsive than other softwares. SATURN which is more detail in its formulation than TRACKS has less responsiveness than TRACKS. Given the lack of generally recognized measurement of road vulnerability, it has been common practice to consider measures such as the increase of the generalized travel cost, the changes of the accessibility index or the link volume/capacity ratio when one or more links were closed or degraded as road vulnerability measurement. Taylor et al (2006) studied the network vulnerability at the level of Australian national road network and the socio economic impact of degradable links in order to identify critical links within the road network, by using three different accessibility approaches. The study introduced the three indices for vulnerability. The first method was the measurement of the change of the generalized travel cost between the full network and the degraded one. This method has concluded that by degrading one particular link the generalized travel cost will increase, and then the links which gave the highest travel cost was determined as the most important link. The second method used the changes of the Hansen integral accessibility index (Hansen, 1959) in order to seek the critical links. It was assumed that the larger the changes were after cutting one link, the more critical that link was on the basis of the adver se socio-economic impacts on the community. The last approach considered the changes of the Accessibility/Remoteness index of Australia (DHAC, 2001). This method was similar to the second method which sought the critical link depending on the difference between the ARIA indices in the full network and the ARIA indices in degraded network. Moreover, Taylor et al (2006) also studied the application of the third approach at the regional level in the state of Western Australia. This study concluded that removing a link gave different impacts for the cities, for example, by cutting one link, the impacts on the several cities were only local, in contrast, other cities where they were available similarly alternative road performance did not give significant changes of the ARIA indices. Due to the importance of a particular link within the wide road network, Jenelius et al (2006) introduced a similar approach to Taylor et al (2006). They studied the link importance and the site exposure by measuring the increase in generalized travel cost in the road network of the Northern Sweden where the road networks were sparse and the traffic volumes were low. By assuming the incident was a single link being completely disrupted or closed so the generalized cost increases, then the most critical link of the operation of the whole system and the most vulnerable cities because of the link disruptions were determined. The study concluded that the effect of closing a link was quite local and the worst effect was in the region where the road network was sparser with fewer good alternative roads. This research suggests that the road network vulnerability assessment can be applied in road network planning and maintenance, to provide guidance to the road administration for road prioritization and maintenance. In addition, Taylor (2007) studied the road network vulnerability in South Australia road network which included all the freeways, highways and major main roads. This research used a large complex road network and evaluated the ARIA indices changes for about 161 locality centers with populations exceeding 200 people. This study found the top ten critical links in the South Australia regional road network. Moreover, in relation with vulnerability approach in D Este and Taylor (2003), Chen et al (2007) tries to assess the vulnerability of degradable networks by using the network based accessibility and by combining with a travel demand model. Their study concluded that themodel can consider both demand and supply changes under abnormal conditions. Thus the vulnerability network assessment can be measured by considering the duration of the disruption (increase the travel time) and modeling the user equilibrium both the cases when there are alternative roads or the case when there are not alternative roads (Jenelius, 2007b). Indeed, Scott (2005) introduced the measurement of the Network Robustness Index by considering the ratio between the link capacity and link volume and assigning topology index for each link then test whether the particular links can cope with the changes of the traffic demand when one or more links were closed or degraded (Scott et al., 2005). Jenelius (2007b) introduced the new method in order to incorporate dynamic road condition and information by assessing the increase travel time using the extended of the user equilibrium model. This study assumed that there was no congestion and there was at least one alternative route between the origin and destination. Further, this study also assumed that the road users have perfect road information about the length of road closure so that they can decide whether they need either to take a detour or to go back to their origin and wait until the road reopened. This method calculated the additional travel time which is calculated since the road users were informed about the road closure, the waiting time until the road reopened. The difference between the normal travel time and t he additional travel time due to road closure was assigned as the increase travel time. However, this study did not take into consideration the change of the travel flow at the alternative routes. This assumed that the mix of the current and diverted traffic can flow at the free flow. In order to assess the increase of the flow when the diverted traffic mix at the current traffic which already meet the capacity or are already congested, the study which conducted by Lam et al (2007) can be considered. This method introduced the path preference index which is the sum of the path travel time reliability index and the path travel time index. To examine road network vulnerability in an urban area, Berdica et al. (2007) studied the vulnerability of the Stockholm road network by examining 12 scenarios involving partial and total closure of selected links, including bridge failure. Also, it assessed the road network degradation in three different times of day, morning peak hour, middle of d ay and afternoon peak hour. This study concluded that by closing one link or all links as well as bridge failure would increase the total travel time and total trip length (on the assumption that travelers chose their minimum time route based on user equilibrium method). The model of different scenarios at different times gave different results but the most vulnerable links were the Essinge route and the failure of Western bridge scenario. To conclude this study calculated the increase of total travel time a day and then multiply that by 250 days to obtain the total increase travel time for yearly basis. Though the highest total travel time increase in only 8% per day, however if it is calculated by 35 SEK (travel cost per hour) it gave significant impact of total travel cost increase. However, it did not take into account the duration of the closure and left some discussion of link disruption impacted such as the effect of noise and pollution during the road closure. Moreover, Knoo p and Hoogendoon (2007) assess the spillback simulation in dynamic route choice in order to examine the spillback effects then evaluated the road network robustness and the vulnerability of links. This study concluded that it is necessary to assess the spillback effect in order to identify the most vulnerable link within the wide road network. Tampere (2007) investigated the vulnerability of highway sections in Brussels and Ghent. This work was quite challenging, it tried to consider the different aspect of the road network vulnerability criteria related to the amount of vehicle hours lost due to major incidents. This work compromised of two steps; the first one is the quick scanning of the most vulnerable link from the long list into short list by considering the several aspects and then by obtaining the short list links then the vulnerability measure was conducted. Since this method used the dynamic traffic assignment, there are some drawbacks during the model run such as the lack of traffic distribution after the occurrence of the incident which resulted an illogical of travelers route choice. In general this method has successfully measured the vulnerability by not only considering the traffic condition but also taking into account the different road networks. Though this method has not considered traffic assignment criteria, it is still considered as a refinement over similar studies Measures of Congestion used in Transportation Planning Measures of congestion are intended to evaluate the performance of the transportation network and to diagnose problem areas. They provide information on how well the system has met certain stated goals and targets, and can also help to explain variations in user experiences of the system. There are four general categories of congestion measures. The first category contains measures that explain the duration of congestion experienced by users in some way; these include delay, risk of delay, average speed, and travel time. The next category includes measures that analyze how well the system is functioning at a given location. This category primarily consists of the volume to capacity (V/C) ratio, which is usually expressed as a level-of-service (LOS) category. LOS is a performance rating that is often used as a technical way to express how well a facility is functioning. For example, a facility functioning poorly is likely to be rated as LOS F, but could just as easily be described as poor. The third category is that of spatial measures, including queue length, queue density, and vehicle miles traveled. It is important to note that some of the duration and spatial measures are actually measured as point measures. The final category of measures is the other category, consisting primarily of travel time reliability and the number of times a vehicle stops because of congested conditions. Easily the most common measure of traffic congestion is the volume-to-capacity ratio. The V/C ratio measures the number of vehicles using a facility against the number of vehicles that the facility was designed to accommodate. This ratio is an important measure for planners to use, and represents an easily understandable measure of whether or not a roadway is congested. However, it can lead to some philosophical problems, such as whether transportation systems should be built to handle the highest demand or the average demand, and what level of service is acceptable. In addition, it is difficult to accurately measure the capacity of a roadway. The volume-to-capacity ratio is an important tool for comparing a roadways performance to other roadways and over time, but does not necessarily reflect the overall user experience and values in the system. Despite the prevailing usage of the volume-to-capacity ratio, and perhaps because of its inherent philosophical difficulties, the (FHWA) ha s strongly encouraged agencies to consider travel time experienced by users as the primary source for congestion measurement. They also state that currently used measures of congestion are inadequate for determining the true impact of the congestion that clogs up the transportation system from a users perspective, and that they are not able to adequately measure the impacts of congestion mitigation strategies. What is travel time reliability? As mentioned in section 1.1.1, the OECD (2010) provides a general definition for Travel Time Reliability: The ability of the transport system to provide the expected level of service quality, upon which users have organized their activities. The key of this definition is that a route is reliable if the expectations of the user are in accordance with the experienced travel time. But this does not directly lead to a TTR measure. Nonetheless, this definition shows that user expectations should be taken into account when selecting a proper TTR measure. Congestion is common in many cities and few people will dispute this fact. Drivers become used to this congestion, always expecting and plan for some delay, especially in peak driving times. Most drivers budget for extra time to accommodate traffic delays or adjust their schedules. Traffic delays are mostly much worse than expected when it happens. All travelers are less tolerant of unpredicted delays, the effect is that it makes then to be late for work or vital meetings, miss appointment, or suffer additional childcare fees. Shippers and freight forwarders who experience unpredicted delay may lose money and interrupt just-in-time delivery and manufacturing processes. Traffic congestion used to be communicated only in terms of simple average in time past. Nevertheless most travelers experience and remember a different thing than the simple average as they commute within a year. Travelers travel time differ from day to day, and remember the few bad days they suffered through unexpect ed delays. Commuter build time cushion or buffer in planning their trip to account for the variability. The buffer helps them to arrive early on some days, though not a bad thing, but the additional time is carved out of their day time which could have been used to pursuit other activities than to commute. Travel time reliability time frames Travel Time Reliability can be categorized by its time frame. Bates et al. (2001) discusses three levels of variability: inter-day, inter-period and inter-vehicle. Martchouk et al. (2009) explains these as follows: Inter-day: Variations in the travel time pattern between days. Some days of the week might have substantially different traffic volumes than others. For example, a Sunday will generally have less traffic than a Monday. Same weekdays should have about the same travel time pattern, but there can still be variations. Also, events such as road works or inclement weather cause inter-day variations. Inter-period: Variations in travel times during a day. Many road sections have a morning and evening peak, during which travel times are larger. These variations are caused by variations in traffic volume. Inter-vehicle: Relatively small differences in travel times between vehicles in a traffic stream. These are caused by interactions between vehicles and variations in driver behavior, including lane changes and speed differences. Although Martchouk et al. (2009) shows that individual travel times on a motorway section can vary strongly in similar conditions, due to driver behavior, this study focuses on inter-day variations. It is assumed that inter-vehicle variations have no significant influence on Travel Time Reliability. In urban areas, the speed difference between vehicles will generally be smaller than on highways. The reasons for this are: the average speed on highways is higher, there is more overtaking, trucks cannot drive at the maximum allowed speed, and routes are longer. Inter-period variations are also not considered, because it is presumed that road users know that travel times within a day vary according to a more or less fixed pattern. It is the deviations from this daily pattern which are interesting in the light of TTR, since these cannot be predicted by road users. Therefore, the focus of this investigation is on inter-day variation. Why travel time reliability is important? Travel time reliability is vital to every user within the transportation system, whether they are freight shippers, transit riders, vehicle drivers and even air travelers. Reliability allows business travelers and personal to make better use of the own time. Because reliability is so significant for transportation planners, transportation system users, and decision makers should consider travel time reliability as a key measure of performance Traffic management and operation activities is better quantified and beneficial to traffic professionals by the use of travel time reliability than simple average. For instants take into consideration a typical before and after study that attempts to quantify the benefits of an accident management or ramp material program. The development in average time may seem to be modest. However reliability measure will show a much greater development because they show the effect of improving the worst few days of unexpected delay. The Beginning of Travel Time Reliability as a Performance Measure Hellinga (2011) states that in the past, analysis of transportation networks focused primarily on the estimation and evaluation of average conditions for a given time period. These average conditions might be expressed in terms of average traffic stream speed; average travel time between a given origin and destination pair; or some average generalized cost to travel from an origin to a destination. This generalized cost typically includes terms reflecting time as well as monetary costs. These terms are summed by multiplying the time based measures by a value of time coefficient. A common characteristic of all of these approaches is that they reflect average or expected conditions and do not reflect the impact of the variability of these conditions. One reason for this is that models become much more complicated when this variability would be included. Also, a vast amount of data from a long period of time is needed. Unfortunately, collecting data is often costly and time-consuming. H ellinga (2011) also observes that more recently, there has been an increasing interest in the reliability of transportation networks. It is hypothesized that reliability has value to transportation network users and may also impact user behavior. Influence on traveler behavior may include: destination choice, route choice, time of departure choice, and mode choice. It is useful for road managers and planners to have knowledge about the relations between TTR and road user behavior, because this can be used to predict or even deliberately influence this behavior by applying traffic management measures. Consequently, there has been an effort to better understand the issues surrounding reliability, and to answer a number of important questions such as: 1. How is transportation network reliability defined? 2. How can/should network reliability be measured in the field? 3. What factors influence reliability and how? 4. What instruments are available to network managers, policy makers, and network users that impact reliability and what are the characteristics of these causal relationships? 5. What is the value of reliability to various transportation network users (e.g. travelers, freight carriers, etc.) and how is this value affected by trip purpose? 6. How do transportation network users respond to reliability in terms of their travel behavior? (E.g. departure time choice, mode choice, route choice etc.) 7. How can reliability (and its effects) be represented within micro and macro level models? (Microscopic models focus on individual vehicles, while macroscopic models pertain to the properties of the traffic flow as a whole.) 8. How important is it to consider the impact of reliability in transportation project benefit/cost evaluations? 9. Does the consideration of the impact of reliability within the project evaluation process alter the order of preference of projects within the list of candidate projects? Hellinga (2011) states that the above list of questions, which is likely not exhaustive, indicates that there currently exists a very large knowledge gap with respect to reliability. Various research efforts around the world are beginning to fill in these gaps, but the body of knowledge is still relatively sparse and there is not yet even general agreement on terminology. Note that the first, second, and (partially) fifth question are part of this investigation What measures are used to quantify travel time reliability? The four recommended measures includes 90th or 95th percentile travel time, buffer index, planning time index, and frequency that congestion exceeds some expected threshold. These measurements are emerging practices, some of

River And Water Management Flood Control Environmental Sciences Essay

River And Water Management Flood Control Environmental Sciences Essay Floods are a major concern in many parts of the world due to the many losses experienced in time of floods. Therefore, flood management techniques are very important in areas that are prone to frequent flooding. Flood management techniques are structures designed with the aim of containing floodwater in order to control floodplains. The designing of flood control techniques entails estimating the levels of water that causes floods and then measuring the required height that will create a working flood defense. Flood defenses are strong barriers that prevent water from flooding floodplains (Woods Woods 2007, p.5). Floods generally occur when flowing surface water spills over the restraining banks into dry land. Floods are a natural occurrence in almost all river systems. Areas that are prone to flooding include those that are located downstream of dams and low lying areas. Flooding causes vast losses which include human and animal life, soil erosion, damages of properties, destruction of vegetation and other environmental damages. Also, areas that are affected by floods could also be prone to droughts. This can even cause further loss of human and animal lives. Flood waters are usually polluted with harmful bacteria resulting from sewage. This means that people affected by the floods are at greater risks of getting infective diseases (Proverbs, et al., 2011, p. 221). However, floods also have positive impacts on ecosystems. One benefit from flooding includes more fresh water for domestic and irrigation usage. Other benefits include large deposits of minerals and nutrients into affected areas. Apart from these, floods also help to improve the condition of water ecosystems. However, they can be considered to be the most damaging compared to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes due to their frequencies. Therefore, strict measures must be in place to prevent the massive losses occurred during floods (Gruntfest Handmer, 2001, p.12). Methods used to control floods Techniques that are applied in controlling floods involve the adaptation of the river environment and areas which are close to the river. Flood control techniques can be applied on the river channel, floodway or on the floodplain (Ghosh, 1997, p.55). Techniques applied in floodplains Floodplains are areas that lie below the flood elevation and entirely on the floodway and river channel. The majority of techniques applied on floodplains lie far from the river but they are designed to reduce flood damage. Levee/Floodwall around structures This technique involves the construction of a levee/floodwall around structures that are located in floodplains. Levees can either be permanent or temporary. Construction of the levee usually requires the use of strong, artificial or natural material that can endure pressure from the floods (Hyndman Hyndman, 2010, p.356). The principle of using levees and other barriers is to raise the height of structures located in floodplains which floodwater must then climb in order cause flooding. These structures are there to offer protection to structures. However, they put other structures at a high risk of flooding due to the then increased water retention in the floodplains. Furthermore, serious damage to protected structures can then occur when the levees are unable to hold back floodwater. This is because the pressure that the floods hit the structure is extremely high compared to when there is no barrier (Green, 2004, p.36). The use of levees, dykes and floodwalls has a negative impact on the natural river processes (Harmancioglu, 1994, p.42). Ideally, developed water spills should form a natural channel which provides a way for the floods to flow. Therefore, levees would reduce the ability of the floodplains to process floodwaters. The inability of the floodwaters to flow freely within the floodplains would interfere with fish in their aquatic habitat. The river would respond by creating other channels in order to allow excess water to flow. The developed channels clear the backwater as well as reduce habitat complications (Harmancioglu, 1994, p.43). Off-stream detention pond The main aim of creating detention ponds in floodplains is to collect the floodwaters once the river has reached its maximum capacity. Detention ponds are constructed away from the floodway but must be within the floodplain catchment. When directing water into the detention ponds it will have an impact on reducing the amount of water a river carries. This will have a negative impact on natural river processes due to the reduction of water flowing downstream. Reduced amount of downstream flow could then cause a reduction in sediment transport, which may lead to the rising of the ground level of the channel and deposition of fine sediments. In addition, allowing water to flow into a detention pond may cause more water to flow into the pond than expected. This may lead to an increased development of river channels (Ali, 2002, p8.3). Detention ponds also create new surroundings for the breeding and maturing of fish. However, the construction of detention channels must be done in a way that creates a connection between the pond and the mainstream so that the rivers natural environment can be maintained. Severe damage to the environment can occur when the detention ponds break down leading to flooding in the floodplains. Techniques applied on floodway The floodway is made of river banks and the active channel. In general, the floodway forms the part of land that is immediately next to the river. This piece of land allows flood waters to pass without raising the floods depth upstream. One characteristic of floodways is the presence of small banks, either due to cuts made by previous floods or natural levees due to deposits from previous floodwater (Mambretti, 2011, p.66). Reducing the bank slope This technique consists of cutting the riverbank backwards to produce a gentler slope (Masoudian, 2009, p.14). It may involve replanting or resurfacing the bare bank using materials afterwards. Reducing the bank slope will have an impact on the increasing flood transportation at the channel level due to the increased bank width. This usually happens because reducing the bank slope increases the surface area of the bank channel, which then increases the volume of bank flow. However, if slope reduction is done through planting vegetation, it is likely that the bank stability will be increased. This has an effect of creating a natural containment, which reduces the velocity of water. A reduction in the velocity of water then decreases the rates of soil and bank erosion. Vegetation along river banks may also trap sediments within flows, which may then lead to a buildup of banks, increasing the effectiveness of banks in controlling floods (Masoudian, 2009, p.16). The fact that reducing the bank slopes then also reduces erosion along the river banks has a negative impact on natural river processes. Without erosion on the river banks there will be a reduced amount of sediments, a reduced level of wood debris and a reduced amount of channel migration. Therefore, the erosion occurring naturally along river banks is vital in maintaining an active balance within river systems. Aquatic habitats will also be affected; reducing bank slopes has a negative impact of clearing areas where fish may hibernate during the day in order to be safe from predators. Juvenile fish usually hide in undercut river banks making it an essential component of an aquatic habitat (Masoudian, 2009, p.17). Reinforcing riverbanks This technique involves adding supportive material to riverbanks in order to increase their stability and in resisting flood flows. The most commonly used reinforcement method involves planting natural vegetation as it acts as a stabilizer and increases the ability of riverbanks to control floods. Planting vegetation on riverbanks can be done through hydro seeding, which involves various methods to add a mixture of water, fertilizer and seeds into riverbanks. The planted seeds will then grow and form a vast network of root systems. The root system helps in holding the soil together, which then strengthens the riverbanks. The other method used to introduce plant material on riverbanks is hand planting. In this technique, mature plants are inserted into riverbanks to continue with their growth (Stokes, et al., 2007, p.50). Planting mature plants has the advantage of providing immediate protection against floods through flow reduction. The other method involves the use of plant mats, which are either natural or synthetic materials implanted with plant seeds and fertilizers. The mats are then spread on the riverbanks, and then the watering process follows to allow the seeds to germinate and support the following growth. Apart from irrigating the plant mats, continued instabilities in the river level can help in germination and supporting growth (Beek, et al., 2008, p.33). The main impact of introducing plants along river banks is the formation of strong riverbanks that can withstand pressure from flowing water. The other impact is the prevention of enhanced channel migration. Floods that may occur along banks with sufficient plant material may be less severe compared to those occurring in areas without plant stabilizers. The use of plant stabilizers provides a long-lasting solution to control of floods. This technique also offers an environmental friendly method of flood control, which is easy to maintain. Continued increases of vegetation along riverbanks increases channel roughness and reduces the water velocity. The use of plants also comes with the advantage of providing food for the aquatic life in the protected rivers. Fish may also find a natural habitat in the vast root system generated by plants (Beek, et al., 2008, p.34). Gabions Gabions are constructed using wire mesh baskets that are filled with stones of two-six inches. Like plants, gabions are meant to strengthen river banks, which boosts the river banks ability to resist pressure from flowing water. However, for gabions to be effective plants should be added to them. Gabions also deteriorate in time, which means that replacements are required when they stop functioning properly. The use of gabions reduces the natural erosion that occurs along riverbanks. This then reduces the amount of sediments delivered to downstream habitats. In addition, flows that are deflected by the gabions may create new river channels (Mascarenhas, 2011, p.82). Gabions also lead to an increase in water velocity, which has the disadvantage of reducing the amount of backwater that is essential for the survival of fish and other aquatic life. Well-designed gabions may serve as a reliable source for spawning gravel as well as habitats for aquatic life. Techniques applied along the river channel Sediment trap/mining This technique involves excavating or dredging a depression on the riverbed. Construction of sediment traps requires the proper assessment of sediment load within a river in times of flooding. Maintenance of sediment traps require continued mining of sediments after every serious flood event. Sediment mining reduces the amount of sediment deposits in the river channel, which in turn increases the channel volume as well as the flood transportation. Removing sediments could only have a short term impact of improved flood transportation because of the continued deposition of sediments downstream. Therefore, continued removal of sediments is necessary to prevent incidences of flooding (Mascarenhas, 2011, p.105). Removal of sediments within the river channel affects natural river processes. One effect of sediment mining is the change of the channel morphology. Any changes in the channel morphology affect the way the water flow and the river bed interact with each other. Removing sediments from the river channel changes the channel gradient. These changes then have further impacts on the gradient both upstream and downstream. An increase in the gradient in one location of the river may lead to the formation of a v point or otherwise known as a nick point. This leads to increased erosion in the channel, which extends to a point where the gradient is stable or where there is bedrock resistant to erosion (Raudkivi, 1993, p.35). The removal of sediments affects aquatic habitats in several ways. When fine sediments are removed, there is a creation of a spawning habitat for a variety of fish species. On the other hand, removal of spawning gravel reduces the level of spawning habitats (Raudkivi, 1993, p.41). Flow realignment This technique of flood control involves the digging of new and deeper channels on the river bed but with a different position compared to the existing channels. When flow realignment is done to increase flood transportation, there is a reduction in frequency and severity of floods. Flow realignment creates different structures for the river flow. This interferes with natural river processes both upstream and downstream. The most significant impact of flow realignment is obviously on aquatic habitats. The use of heavy equipment to make flow realignments creates disturbances on the river bed; this alters existing aquatic habitats. Therefore, usage of flow realignment techniques needs thorough assessment of potential impacts on the aquatic ecosystem (Fleming, 2002, p.47). Word Count: 2,108

Transfer Pricing at Southern :: Business and Management Studies

Transfer Pricing at Southern Alternatives 1. Cost Based Transfer Price Maintain the status quo within the company. All cost methods require that standard costs be used; therefore each division is encouraged to meet standard cost levels, instead of working around actual costs. This will increase goal congruence. Currently, the price Southern is charging is based on the market but they are running under capacity and had excess inventory. Therefore, Thompson is charging market price even though he is running under capacity. If Southern’s VC = 60% then the 40% represents OH and profit. To prevent conflicts in the future it must be clear that variable costs of one division are not actually fixed costs for the whole company. Thompson’s VC = $400 some of that could be FC for the whole company. (Align this alternative with Rob’s Analysis). Advantages: increases goal congruence, requires that the vice president perform a routine cost analysis, therefore requires little resources. Southern mostly supplies Northern therefore, a market based system would be difficult due to the intermediate nature of the materials being transferred, adding attractiveness to a cost based system. Disadvantages: will be very difficult to determine what profit markup will be. Northern supplies mostly to outside companies and therefore will require additional resources in his division to price internal sales. The resources needed to work through the complexity of this system might not be justified by such a low volume. Two Step Pricing The standard VC is charged per unit sold then a periodic charge is made equal to the fixed costs associated with the facilities reserved for the buying unit. Since Thompson rarely sells to other divisions this might work because the facilities needed could easily be identified. Advantages: the buying unit would have proper information needed for marketing and long-term decisions Disadvantages: requires that FC be negotiated regularly, since Thompson rarely sells to Northern the resources needed for this negotiation might not be justified. 2. Negotiation Increase communication between divisions. Currently, Northern may not know that Thompson is paying a higher then expected price for the intermediate materials they need from Southern. If Northern was aware of the amount of upstream costs and profit involved internally, it might be encouraged to forgo its own profits for the sake of the company as a whole. Profit sharing could be introduced to motivate Northern to do this. A specified set of rules would be set up when each manager is negotiating a price. Such as if there is a match in price internally and externally, the business must be kept internally. Also if the managers cannot come to an agreement on price the outside market price will be used. If true negotiation occurred at Birch, each division manager would Transfer Pricing at Southern :: Business and Management Studies Transfer Pricing at Southern Alternatives 1. Cost Based Transfer Price Maintain the status quo within the company. All cost methods require that standard costs be used; therefore each division is encouraged to meet standard cost levels, instead of working around actual costs. This will increase goal congruence. Currently, the price Southern is charging is based on the market but they are running under capacity and had excess inventory. Therefore, Thompson is charging market price even though he is running under capacity. If Southern’s VC = 60% then the 40% represents OH and profit. To prevent conflicts in the future it must be clear that variable costs of one division are not actually fixed costs for the whole company. Thompson’s VC = $400 some of that could be FC for the whole company. (Align this alternative with Rob’s Analysis). Advantages: increases goal congruence, requires that the vice president perform a routine cost analysis, therefore requires little resources. Southern mostly supplies Northern therefore, a market based system would be difficult due to the intermediate nature of the materials being transferred, adding attractiveness to a cost based system. Disadvantages: will be very difficult to determine what profit markup will be. Northern supplies mostly to outside companies and therefore will require additional resources in his division to price internal sales. The resources needed to work through the complexity of this system might not be justified by such a low volume. Two Step Pricing The standard VC is charged per unit sold then a periodic charge is made equal to the fixed costs associated with the facilities reserved for the buying unit. Since Thompson rarely sells to other divisions this might work because the facilities needed could easily be identified. Advantages: the buying unit would have proper information needed for marketing and long-term decisions Disadvantages: requires that FC be negotiated regularly, since Thompson rarely sells to Northern the resources needed for this negotiation might not be justified. 2. Negotiation Increase communication between divisions. Currently, Northern may not know that Thompson is paying a higher then expected price for the intermediate materials they need from Southern. If Northern was aware of the amount of upstream costs and profit involved internally, it might be encouraged to forgo its own profits for the sake of the company as a whole. Profit sharing could be introduced to motivate Northern to do this. A specified set of rules would be set up when each manager is negotiating a price. Such as if there is a match in price internally and externally, the business must be kept internally. Also if the managers cannot come to an agreement on price the outside market price will be used. If true negotiation occurred at Birch, each division manager would

Rattlesnakes of the Southwest Essay -- essays papers

Rattlesnakes of the Southwest Rattlesnakes are very common in North America; they mainly range from Arkansas to Southern California. Rattlesnakes as most people known use a rattle, located at the ends of their tail, to warn people of their location. Rattlesnakes are from the Pit Viper family of snakes. They use pits located in their head to sense heat from prey or predators. Some rattlesnakes can sense heat from a mouse from as far as twelve feet away. Some common rattlers of the southwest are the Western Diamondback, Mohave, Sidewinder, and Prairie Rattlesnakes. All snakes listed are of the Genus Crotalus; which is the most common among rattlesnakes. Western Diamondbacks are the most common and most likely to come in contact with people. It has the widest geographic range, ranging from Arkansas to Southern California and into Northern Mexico. It is the largest rattlesnake in the southwest, attaining lengths of up to six feet. It also packs the most venom; normal yield is normally around 200-300 mg. A dose of 100 mg is usually lethal to humans, although most bites are defensive and venom is not injected. These snakes are very difficult to see because they blend in so well with their surroundings. They commonly have about ten rattles at 5 to 6 years of age. Mohave, sometimes referred to as Three-Stepper, are the second most common rattlers in the southwest. The main factor of the Mohave Rattlesnake is that it is the most venomous snake in this family. It’s normal yiel... Rattlesnakes of the Southwest Essay -- essays papers Rattlesnakes of the Southwest Rattlesnakes are very common in North America; they mainly range from Arkansas to Southern California. Rattlesnakes as most people known use a rattle, located at the ends of their tail, to warn people of their location. Rattlesnakes are from the Pit Viper family of snakes. They use pits located in their head to sense heat from prey or predators. Some rattlesnakes can sense heat from a mouse from as far as twelve feet away. Some common rattlers of the southwest are the Western Diamondback, Mohave, Sidewinder, and Prairie Rattlesnakes. All snakes listed are of the Genus Crotalus; which is the most common among rattlesnakes. Western Diamondbacks are the most common and most likely to come in contact with people. It has the widest geographic range, ranging from Arkansas to Southern California and into Northern Mexico. It is the largest rattlesnake in the southwest, attaining lengths of up to six feet. It also packs the most venom; normal yield is normally around 200-300 mg. A dose of 100 mg is usually lethal to humans, although most bites are defensive and venom is not injected. These snakes are very difficult to see because they blend in so well with their surroundings. They commonly have about ten rattles at 5 to 6 years of age. Mohave, sometimes referred to as Three-Stepper, are the second most common rattlers in the southwest. The main factor of the Mohave Rattlesnake is that it is the most venomous snake in this family. It’s normal yiel...

Rebuilding the Government: United States History Essay

Critical Essay One Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president, was one of the most decorated commander-in-chiefs in American History, due to his never-ending push to mend our broken nation and move to the beginning. Nevertheless, many African Americans were forced to come to America to be sold into slavery in 1619. While the treatment of slaves was very unfair and, in many cases, inhumane, and was plagued with a lifetime of hard work and humiliation, after a little more than a hundred years President Lincoln took steps to not only voice his discomfort with slavery, but to do something about it. It is because of this discomfort that Abraham Lincoln notably became known as political fgure that to end slavery. Four months after the bloody Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech that would go down in history as one of the most influential speeches in American Historyl . The famous speech given by President Lincoln, the â€Å"Gettysburg Address,† had a specific purpose. It also allowed Lincoln to have a profound effect on the American people as a whole, as well s urge each American to look at themselves critically and promote change. Because of this accomplishment, and many more, Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of America’s best presidents2. An Analysis â€Å"Gettysburg Address† President Abraham Lincoln gave the speech, â€Å"the Gettysburg Address†, on November 19 1863 at the Soldiers National Cemetery in burg, Pennsylvania3 . There were two main purposes for him writing this speech: to consecrate the cemetery at Gettysburg and start to rebuild a torn country4. Although President Lincoln’s speech was very short, sweet, and straight to the point, it was full of vital information that ould begin to reshape the American society. Lincoln starts his speech in a very unique by using the term â€Å"Four score and seven years ago, our founding fathers brought forth this continent†¦ † 5. Lincoln acknowledges the founding fathers that had discovered America eighty-seven years prior to the day he gave the speech. Due to Lincoln’s wording, this phrase became one of the most well-known and celebrated parts of â€Å"the Gettysburg Address† Although Lincoln does not make a direct statement encouraging his audience to believe that he was talking about slavery, hrough the use of context clues, one can derive that this topic was definitely heavy on his heart while making his speech. Furthermore, one could argue that since slaves were not treated equally, Lincoln used the statement of supposed American equality to remind Americans of the true foundations that America was built upon. As Lincoln continues with his speech, he began to move on to the second reason for the speech: consecrating the cemetery at Gettysburg. He accomplished this by talking about how the battlegrounds at Gettysburg should be in honor of the thousands that had lost heir lives for the citizens of America. Dedicating the battlegrounds to those that lose their lives was the start of how America would honor troops the fallen and the soldiers left behind. This was a sign of respect and appreciation for all of the troops that fought during this battle. One last profound statement that Lincoln mentions in his speech is that â€Å"the government of the people, by the people and for the people†¦. 7† Many presidents after Lincoln have quoted this part of â€Å"the Gettysburg Address,† but have fallen short, in some instances, of taking the statement as a blueprint for heir presidency and using it to help them facilitate a more well-rounded country in which the government and the people of the country are on one accord. However, the statement was supposed to suggest that the government is a group of individuals that will stand by the American people and work for them for the better good of the country. While the speech had many technical terms and references to the government and political leaders of the country, Lincoln was actually trying to reach a very diverse audience that spanned from governmental figures, to surviving soldiers, to the general American public. Abraham Lincoln will forever be embedded in history for delivering a presidency filled with work that was geared towards the best interest of the American people. Lincoln took the seat at a very difficult time in America’s early history, which was the Civil War. Lincoln made sure that after the war, that America rebuilds itself. One thing from Lincoln’s iconic speech that is not forgotten is â€Å"all men are created equal†. In todays society, all people are granted the same freedoms and equalities. It could be said that Lincolns speech though was given in 1863 was the start of the Civil Rights movement in a sense. Even though it was only around 270 words, The Gettysburg Address was a speech with many messages8. These powerful words, spoken by an influential president, was sure to promote change and equality throughout America eventually. Critical Essay 2 â€Å"l Have a Dream Speech† by Martin Luther King There has been many influential figures in American History that have provided the American people with promising messages of hope and equality for all people. One of the most influential fgures of the twenty century was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This time period was marked by the Civil Rights Movement, which was a movement hat prompted a group of individuals to fght for the equality of African Americans. This is because â€Å"African Americans were granted better economic status after World War II but were still a disadvantaged group†. Dr. King started his non-violence approach to civil rights by first leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The purpose of the boycotts was to allow seating to be based on a â€Å"first come, first serve basis,† as advocated by Dr. King. Fueled by the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat to a Caucasian passenger resulted in her arrest. After her arrest, the ourt ruled out the fact that segregated seating was not lawful according to the constitution. The next step that King took was founding the Southern Christian Leadership, which worked to stop segregation. One of Dr. Kings â€Å"ultimate goals were to unite the broken communities through bonds of Christian love. † In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. graced America with a speech that expressed a profound optimism of equality for all individuals in America and his own dreams and hopes for better days. The speech was entitled â€Å"l Have a Dream†. His speech changed the face of America orever, even though equality for African Americans did not occur over night. It is important to consider the message with respect to the time period in which the speech is given. Dr. King hoped for a better society as a whole; His speech was not solely in regards to the equality for African Americans, he wanted equality for all Americans in general. Analysis: â€Å"l have A Dream Speech† by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s speech entitled † I nave a Dream† was given in Washington DC at the Lincoln Memorial. King starts his introduction by eferring back to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburgs Address â€Å"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow as we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 10 King refers to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation because it helped free slaves. However, he called out the fallacies in Lincoln’s speech by making note of the fact that Negroes still were not free, one hundred years after slavery had officially ended. ll During this time period, African Americans’ oppression came in the form of segregation and discrimination. Before delving into the heart of his speech, King mentions how the government had failed he African American population by pacifying them false promises and policies after the abolishment of slavery. King states, â€Å"America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked â€Å"insufficient funds. â€Å"12 This means, America did not grant Negros with the same equality and opportunities as Caucasians, or any other race during this time. Although the government policies banned slavery and poor treatment of African Americans, these policies had also failed the African American population by not making sure that the policies were strictly enforced. In his speech, King answers the critics when they asked, â€Å"When will ou be satisfied? 13 King gives a comprehensive list of things that would satisfy African Americans, as a whole. He mentions police brutalities and the unfair economic statutes of African Americans. King wanted to instill into the minds of the African American people that they should not be satisfied with these injustices, but fght against them in a non-violent way. Before King began to conduct the â€Å"l have a Dream† portion of his speech he ensured the African American people that their efforts had not taken place in vain and that they should not give up hope for better days! Dr. King began his speech by telling his audience that his dream is deeply rooted in the sought-after American Dream14. King mentions this because he wants America’s people to believe the vales, morals, and core roots on which America was established. It was important to him to continuously advocate his never-ending hope that African Americans would obtain the American Dream, Just as other American citizens of other races had done. In his speech, Dr. King mentions how all men are created equal and how the color of one’s skin should not factor into one’s ability to obtain equality. Martin Luther King Jr. phasizes that â€Å"one day little black and white children will Join hands and be as brothers and sistersl 5. † Although he refers to only two primary races, his words can be applied to children of all races. He references children because they are the future and ultimately look to them to become the generation of change. King recites the lyrics to â€Å"My c ountry Tis of Thee† because he wanted to clearly deliver the message that America is supposed to be a land of freedom and opportunities for all. By using one of America’s most prominent, national songs, King showcased that he had not lost faith in America as a whole.

Applying Resource Based View to Strategic Human Resource Essay

What is Resource Based View in Strategic Management? Almost all business management courses have a module that includes study of  strategic management. Our homework helps experts have expertise in the field of strategic management. There are different perspectives and approaches to field of strategic management. This blog post would discuss in detail what resource based view of strategic management is. This perspective stresses and based on the perspective that resources of the company whether tangible or intangible like brand name, assets, cash, customer loyalty, research and development capabilities are an important and main aspect while forming or pursuing a unique strategic position for a company. This concept of strategic management rather than being driven by the environment is internally resource driven and in this perspective of strategic management the organization is viewed as a collection of capabilities and competences. Organizations leverage new actives from its existing core competencies. According to Barney (1991) analysis of the impact of a firm’s environment on its competitive position is based on two assumptions. First, firms within an industry or a strategic group are identical in terms of strategic relevant sources they control and the strategies they pursue and second, these models assume that should resources heterogeneity develop in an industry or group will be very short lived because the resources that firms use to implement their strategies are highly mobile i. e. they can be bought or sold in factor markets (Barney, 1991). Resource based view assumes that companies within an industry or group may be heterogeneous with respect to the strategic resources they control and these are not perfectly mobile, thus heterogeneity can be long lasting (Barney, 1991). Simply, it is suggested that firm resources may be heterogeneous and immobile. According to Daft (1983), â€Å"firm resources include all assets, capabilities, organisational processes, firm attributes, information, knowledge, etc. controlled by a firm that enable the firm to conceive of and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness†. According to Barney (1991), firm resources that hold the potential for sustained competitive advantage must have four attributes which are valuable, rare, In-imitable, and non-substitutable. So in resource based view of the firm, strategy of the firm is basically dependent on firms’ resources. This view again as the market based view is focus on some important aspects but at the same time ignores some other basic aspects of strategy formulation for a company. So resource based view of the firm is also not a balanced view. We hope that this blog post is useful for the students and practitioners of the field ofstrategic management. Please email us toinfo@assignmenthelpexperts. com  if you need any  strategic management  helpregarding the module of strategic management. The Resource Based View (RBV), argued by some to be at the foundation of modern HRM,[13]  focusses on the internal resources of the organisation and how they contribute to competitive advantage. The uniqueness of these resources is preferred to homogeneity and HRM has a central role in developing human resources that are valuable, rare, difficult to copy or substitute and that are effectively organized. Overall, the theory of HRM argues that the goal of human resource management is to help an organization to meet strategic goals by attracting, and maintaining employees and also to manage them effectively. The key word here perhaps is â€Å"fit†, i. e. a HRM approach seeks to ensure a fit between the management of an organization’s employees, and the overall strategic direction of the company (Miller, 1989). The resource-based view to strategic human resource management (SHRM) focuses on the costly to copy attributes of the firm as the fundamental drivers of performance and competitive advantage (Cooner 1991). Linking to the understanding of the resource based view of the firm; Barney (1991) described competitive advantage as â€Å"when a firm is implementing a value creating strategy not simultaneously being implemented by any current or potential competitors†. The task is to maintain this competitive advantage in such a way that competitors’ efforts to replicate that advantage are frustrated and eventually cease. The resource-based view focuses on the promotion of sustained competitive advantage through the development of the human capital rather than merely aligning human resources to current strategic goals (Torrington et al 2002). This essay will show various ways on how the resource-based view of SHRM in organisations can contribute to enhanced organisational performance. Human resources can provide competitive advantage for the business, as long as they are unique and can not be copied or substituted for by competing organisations, competitive success not coming from simply making choices in the present, but from building up distinctive capabilities over significant periods of time (Boxall 1996).