Organizational Research and Theory

As defined by Daft (2009), organizations are bodies with goals, structured and coordinated activities, and are linked to the external environment (p.11). Organizational theory depends on how a company operates and how the environment affects the running of the organization. In simple terms, organizational theory, also referred to organizational behavior, is defined as the study of how individuals or groups of persons act in an organization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Research and Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The organizational research and design are essential during restructuring or effecting changes in organizations; however, it is essential to apply the correct organizational changes to increase effectiveness and efficiency (Bollingtoft, Hakonsson and Niesen, 2009, p.79). Organization theory is a tool used by managers to understand, diagnose, and respond to organizational needs ( Daft, 2009, p.10). This theory can be applied to all industries, for-profit and non-profit organizations. Since organizations are not static, there is need for constant changes to adapt to new environment in the market. Some of the causes of the constant change include globalization, competition, diversity, technology, ethics, and social responsibility. On the other hand, organization designs are means of evaluating which/and why certain methods are chosen to effect and manage structure and culture, and to control activities in order to achieve goals. Moreover, the benefits of proper organizational design are; the company is able to handle contingences, gains competitive edge, facilitate management of diversity, and promote efficiency, speed, and innovation. Introduction to Organizational Theory Code of ethics provides a framework of operation and code of conduct for persons and stakeholders in an organization (Berbeito, 2004, p.122). Code of Ethics The intent of this code is to gui de all stakeholders and employees on lawful and ethical behavior. This code applies to all people including the directors. Various codes of ethics are discussed below. Compliance with laws, regulations, rules, and policies: The employees and the directors should learn and comply with the rules, regulations, and policies of the company and the government, while any contravention will result to disciplinary measures.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conflict of interest: Employees should not engage in activities that will result in conflict of interest; they should engage in acts that promote the interest of the company. Employees’ relations: Employees should promote harmony and avoid discrimination at the work place. In addition, they should embrace diversity, inclusiveness, and understanding. Confidential company information: Confidential company information is defined in three ways: information that is not known to the public, information that confers the company economic advantage and any information that reasonable measures are taken to keep it secret. All employees have the obligation of protecting classified information from the public domain or other competitors. The employees have a clear understanding of what information is confidential or not. Violation: Violation of the code of ethic will result to disciplinary measure to the parties involved, and this may be in form of dismissal, legal recourse, or compensation for losses incurred by the firm as a result of employees failure to comply with the code of ethics. The relationship between organizational theory, design, and change on one hand and organizational structure and culture on the other hand is that, they both depend on each other and influence one another to an extent that neither will be effective without the presence of the other. Organization culture refers to the common values and norms that control how individuals in an organization interact. It includes interaction between members in the organization, with customers and suppliers and other persons outside the organization. On the other hand, the organizational designs are routes picked by managers to manage the structure and culture, while change is the process of current position to a desired one. Organizational structure involves formal or informal frameworks and policies that define reporting relationships, procedures, controls, and authority and decision-making processes. Moreover, organizational structures are indicators of type of culture in an organization. Managers can use these structures to shape the culture, values and strengthen or introduce the desired culture (Daft, 2009, p.381).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Research and Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Organizational Design within the Global E nvironment There are several types of organizational structures used in organization, each having its advantages and disadvantages. Centralization is a structural policy where the decision-making organ of the organization is concentrated at the top of the organizational hierarchy while decentralization is structure where decisions are made in consideration of all levels of the hierarchy (Griffins and Moorhead, 2009, p.418). Employees at the lower end of hierarchy are involved in decision-making in decentralization, while in centralization, they are not involved. The importance of decentralizing is that decisions are made by the persons who are involved in the implementation – lower rank staff. The factors that affect the balance between centralization and decentralization are purpose and goals of an organization, knowledge, and experience of the executives, size of the organization, geographical dispersion, technical complexity of tasks, and the period of the decision. Furthe r, others include the importance of the decision, views of subordinates, planning and control procedures, and environmental factors (Rao Rao, 1999, p.105). Mutual adjustments and standardization are important in a business organization; however, their application varies from firm to firm. Primarily, mutual adjustment is informal communication between employees about process of their work. On the other hand, standardization refers to planning and implementing of standards and procedures that regulate the performance of duties in an organization (Wagner and Hollenbeck, 2009, p.241). The tasks are specified and programmed by rules and procedures to obtain the required results. Factors that influence striking a balance between mutual adjustment and standardization are size of an organization, level of skill and knowledge of the staff, types of tasks involved and technicality of the tasks. Dependency theories indicate that organizations are interlinked in inter-organizational and societ al networks that influence inputs and outputs, beliefs and norms (House GLOBE, 2004, p. 81). The Resource dependency theory is the most well developed theory of inter-organizational partnership. The basic assumption of resource dependency theory is that individual organizations do not have all the resources they need to achieve their goals, thus they must acquire resources such as money, people, support services, and technological knowledge from other sources in order to survive.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The motivation of inter-organizational linkages is that it provides stability in organization. These networks help organizations to deal with the uncertainty of lack of resources in the future and to achieve similar, compatible, or congruous goals. In addition, similarity in values and attitudes make the formation of inter-organizational linkages more probable and make these linkages more stable over time. A firm may at times engage in strategic alliances, which are links that firms form in a specific area with other firms; the nature could be arms-length contracts to joint ventures (Yoshina and Rangan, 1995, p.4). Primarily, alliances aid firms to learn new techniques and technology of production from other firms. On the other hand, resource sharing facilitates use of expensive technology, which smaller firms cannot afford. These alliances can sponsor and fund research programs that aid in availability of information and technical advancement, they provide a quicker means of growin g ones organization (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, 2008, p.187). Designing Organizational Structure Organization structures are essential parts of an organization as they determine how efficiently and effectively an organization accomplishes its goals and objectives. This will involve empowerment, which is a motivation concept that enables employees to achieve desired levels of performance; it occurs when employees are trained and equipped with tools, and information and are fairly rewarded for their contribution (Jain, 2005, p.173). An organization will as well require manage cross-functional teams and self-managed teams, whereby the former involves works teams with members of the same hierarchy level but from different fields of work who come together to accomplish a task, and the latter involves a group of employees who are endowed with authority to make decisions on how its members perform their duties (Boone Kurtz, 2010, p.395). In tall organizational structure, the management should provide empowerment, which is associated to enabling rather than delegating duties, hence employees have capacity to engage and participate in attainment of organizational objectives. By use of self-managed teams, the organization benefits from sound decisions, as decision are made by the persons who are tasked with implementing, hence there is more owning of the decisions. According to DuBrin (2008, p.256), most organizations find it important to address the issue of bureaucracy, which is a systematic mode of organization where regulations and techniques of control are laid. As an organization becomes bureaucratic, it crushes individualism; the people at the top of the hierarchy become further removed from the dynamics of human relations at the problem-solving level, while organization becomes inflexible, which decreases the ability of an organization to respond to changes in the market. Moreover, over-bureaucratization causes inefficiencies in organizations as there is conf using titles and overlapping roles and duties of employees. Nevertheless, bureaucracy characteristics assist managers to formulate hierarchies of authority and specific regulations, which brings order, and prevent abuse of power in organization. By decentralizing, managers can lower the cost of bureaucracy as lower-level managers can make decision (Hill Jones, 2009, p.386). Organizational Specialization, Coordination, and Management of Culture Organizations should participate in CSR activities; indeed, the participation in CSR by companies does directly reflect or promote growth in a company. The promotion of the well-being of its staff influences their productivity. In addition, an organization benefits from increased financial performances and improved relationship between the customers, employees and the community. Corporate organizations are involved in CSR to recognize the significance of its stakeholder with the aim of bringing sustainable results to benefit both the communit y and the company. Customers are drawn to consume products from organizations that are corporate friendly even if they are sold at a premium rate. In terms of environmental conservation, organizations have to maintain and protect the environment in which they operate, and preserve the natural resources. Functional structure is a structure that splits its organization into different departments depending on their roles and functions namely accounting and human resources. These departments are headed by line mangers, with the overall head of the organization being a chief executive officer who is in charge of the whole organization (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, 2009, p.314). One advantage of functional structure is that it allows specialization and active sharing of information among the various functions in the organization, as well as supporting the use of business level and corporate level strategies. This structure is mainly used in simple organizations that have little diversific ation. An organization may also organize itself around a multidivisional structure, which separates various departments or divisions in an organization led by divisional managers. This is a contrast to functional structure, which has all the branches of the organization under one key leader. Another distinction between the two is that multidivisional structure groups divisions of an organization based on products, services or the market, while functional structure has departments that are based on the functions they play. Therefore, multi-divisional structure can be adopted by organizations when they grow and develop, and there is need for diversifying the products or market. Organizations that produce several types of products or services or conduct their business in different countries or regions also adapt multi-divisional structure. Finally, organizations that cater and produce goods to different customers also favour this organization structure. Organizations move to multidivis ional structure as they grow and diversify their businesses; indeed, this structure enables the managers to compare the performance of each division in terms of profitability (Hill Jones, 2009, p.427). In addition, organizations shift to multidivisional structure when entering new markets and/ or start to produce different products and services to a variety of markets (product diversification). Organizational Design in Changing Global Environment Due to the ever-changing global business environment, organizations have to embrace designs that address the issue of technical complexity, which refers to the level that machinery is used in production at the expense of human resources. Continuous-process technology involves productions, which are entirely mechanized, and complex technology is involved. Technical complexity is higher in continuous process technology since the level of human involvement is very limited; the process also runs continuously from the start to the end (Daft Ma rcic, 2008, p.277). The level of technical complexity of an organization influences the complexity of its structure. Primarily, â€Å"massive technological changes are apparent in areas including manufacturing processes, computer-assisted design, data transmission, advanced communication links, and sophisticated information systems† (Hill Jones, 2009). However, the complexity of an organization structure does not always because of the level of technical complexity. Technical complexity sometimes may result to greater complexity of the employees; this can be dealt with by hiring more qualified and experienced workers, thus raising the cost of operation. Corporate level strategies are strategies that a firm uses to acquire competitive advantage by choosing and managing different groups of businesses competing in different products market (Hill Jones, 2009, p.154). Organizations choose to engage in corporate level strategy to expand their core domain as it facilitates resource allocation process. This is a crucial element in organizations that have multi-business allocation of limited resources. In addition, organizations use corporate-level strategies to expand their business, as the strategy defines the market and helps to evaluate the viability introducing new product lines on top of the existing ones (Hill Jones, 2009, p.285). Similarly, it directs whether to compete directly with other firms or to establish cooperative relationships i.e. strategic alliances are influenced by corporate-level strategy. Corporate strategies determine the type of structure an organization would adapt when they expand from their core domain. In addition, it evaluates the viability of setting up strategic alliances, to what level an organization can diversify and how to enter or leave businesses to maximize the long-run profitability of an organization. When organizations enter new domains, their culture, and structure are likely to be affected or altered. Moreover, some cultures can shift from individualism to collectivism or vice versa. Organizational Change and Stages of Transformation When implementing organizational change, firms have to choose between two main forms of changes, which include evolutionary and revolutionary change. Evolutionary change occurs over a long spell of growth and does not cause any major disturbance to the organizational structure, while revolutionary change is more dramatic or shifts organizational structure (Henry, 2008, p.320). Change is referred to as revolutionary when quantum change radically transforms many elements of a structure of an organization. An example of revolutionary change is sudden closure or merger of some functions or business in organization that result to cut down of staff. An illustration of evolutionary change is improvements or incremental steps to fix a problem or a large part of a system. Organizations are constantly experiencing change caused by various factors in the environment. In this case, planned changes are effected to bring operational efficiency or generate new market, or introduction of new technology while unplanned changes i.e. loss of market or loss of employees can affect organizations negatively. Organization change is any change in the work environment i.e. methods of organizing and running of organizations (Kondalkar, 2009, 159). In addition, organization change can involve major corporate restructuring or minor changes in basic operation procedures. Organization change is also viewed as evolution changes, which result to revolutionary change. Organizations exist in environment that involves constant interaction; there are external forces that contribute to organizational change including technology, socio-cultural changes, political, legal and economics (Kondalkar, 2009, 161). Resistance to change is attributed to both contextual and individual factors. The status quo is the main hindrance of change among individuals, as individuals are accustomed to habits and routines that are difficult to alter. Similarly, the fear of unknown plays a big role in hindrance of organizational change. Contextual factors like roles, attitudes, behaviors, and norms offer resistance to organization change. Therefore, managers should develop and introduce incentive programs that assist employees to accept change. Other factors that cause resistance to change include uncertainty of job security, lack of information, and loss of power or control that may result from the change. Rapidity and the extent of change may also result to resistance; gradual change is easily adapted compared to one that is effected with speed. These types of changes are resisted as they bring about loss of power, downsizing of departments or transfer of managers to sections that are presumed less influential. Moreover, employees in an organization resist technological change if it will result to downsizing or reduce their power and control (Kondalkar, 2009, p.172). Organizat ional Decision Making, Technology, and Innovation The rational approach to decision making is the systematic analysis of a problem and choice of a solution; it consists of two stages, problem identification, and problem solution. It also involves analyzing quantitative data obtained through observations, mathematical analysis or modeling to make long-term decision. There are three main theories that explain the process of decision making in organization – Carnegie decision theory, Garbage Can theory and Incremental theory. Carnegie decision theory illustrates that decisions are not made from a single entity but collection of subunits that comprise an organization. Moreover, Carnegie allows diversity, unlike rational approach (Slack and Parent, 2005, p.263). Garbage Can model/theory factors in, the social and economic structure when making a decision on whom to participate in decision-making and discusses how the cultural values limit the choice outcomes. Garbage Can theory of decision-making indicates that the identification of solution policy does not necessarily arise from problem identification and its analysis. It is important to distinguish Garbage Can model from Incremental model, with the main difference being based on the number and systematic of decisions made; for instance, in Garbage can model, there is flow of multiple decision-making while incremental considers how a single decision is made (Daft, 2009, p.470). Incremental model places less emphasis on the political and social factors that may affect decision-making. Moreover, the incremental decision-making happens over duration of time and not on one spontaneous decision. Innovation is the leading cause of technological change, new and improved methods of operations are being discovered. Technology change enables organizations to produce products and services more effectively. In quantum change, the process is dynamic and continuous; there is constant change in quantum and incremental tec hnology change. This change causes emergence of new range of products, services, industries and affects the economy directly or indirectly. Technological change has resulted to shift of new type of labor, which is cheaper and effective. These changes produce economic growth and increased productivity in the end. They also help to alleviate adverse environmental impact and overcome resource constrains and scarcity (Daft, 2009, p.417). Managing Power, Conflict, and Politics Power, conflict, and politics in an organization seem to be interrelated and interdependent. Power is the â€Å"capacity to influence the attitudes or behavior of others† (Griffins and Moorhead, 2009, p.357); however, politics and influence depend on the â€Å"power relationship between the parties involved.† There is constant competition between different subunits in organization, mainly for resource allocation. This can bring about rivalry among the managers of each subunit with the more influential units influencing decision to their favor. Dominating of a subunit over the others results to conflict whenever a subunit influences decisions without considering the goals of other parties or subunits. Moreover, the subunit in a firm that has the capability of obtaining and controlling most of the resources attain more power over the other subunits. Subunits that are capable of dealing and coping with uncertainty caused by the constantly changing task environment acquire more power over other units. Primarily, prevention, absorption, and acquiring information are methods that organizations can use to cope with uncertainty. The problem of uncertainty can be dealt with by attaining information of likely trends in the future i.e. the information of possible change of prices of raw material in the future help an organization to prepare how to deal with the problem. Another way is absorption, which helps organizations to deal with uncertainties as they affect a subunit. Subunits centra l to work flow, which the other subunits depend on in order to perform their duties, tend to gain power and may influence decision making to their favor. Similarly, subunits that are less centralized from workflow have less power. In addition, subunits that are irreplaceable or non-substitutable exercise power in decision-making, while subunits that are headed by employees who are influential or irreplaceable can use their power and influence to increase the power of their subunits and hence decision-making. Lastly, organization structure can aid a subunit to gain power by allocating roles of decision-making on important issues; subunits, which are actively involved in decision-making, became the most powerful in an organization (Jain, 2005, p.171). Conclusion The organizational research and design are essential during restructuring or effecting changes in organizations. A code of ethics outlines the mode of behavior that is expected from employees of an organization. Organization s tructures like centralization and decentralization determine how organizations make decisions. Additionally, strategic alliances enable organizations to access technology and resources that they cannot afford hence promoting their growth. Empowerment of employees through training and provision of tools and information ensure high productivity of employees, while self-managed teams and cross-functional teams facilitate productivity through cooperation and teamwork. Organizational structure, which may be functional or multidivisional, is important in enhancing the flow of communication and running operations in an organization. Organizations use corporate level strategy to identify the types of product or service they should produce, which markets to venture in or leave and what geographic regions to operate. Subunits can acquire more power through centralization, being capable of handling uncertainties, and ability of subunits to acquire resources. References Berbeito, C. (2004). Hum an resource policies and procedures for nonprofit organizations. NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=I9qQxaaU6WgCpg=PA122dq=code+of+ethics+in+organizationhl=enei=gpgITafLL8L0sgbm2tyTAwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CDMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=code%20of%20ethics%20in%20organizationf=false. Bollingtoft, A., Hakonsson, D. Niesen, J. (2009). New Approaches to Organization Design: Theory and practice of adaptive Enterprises. NY: Springer publishing. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=UkHHEXoDJmMCpg=PA79dq=Organizational+theory,+design,+and+changehl=enei=1QsHTbiwIYSbnAevmOn-DQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=5ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA#v=onepageq=Organizational%20theory%2C%20design%2C%20and%20changef=true. Boone, L. Kurtz, D. (2010). Contemporary Business. NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=LPYgF-y7IVICpg=PT650dq=concepts+of+empowerment,+self-managed+teams,+and+cross-functional+teamshl=enei=xJQHTayNIM-jn gfiiIyYDgsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CDUQ6AEwAw#v=onepageqf=false. Daft, R. (2009). Organizational Theory and Design. OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=CmFjF5tNmuECprintsec=frontcoverdq=Organizational+theoryhl=enei=3xEHTajEI8POswbEyvXcDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=6ved=0CD4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepageq=Organizational%20theoryf=false. Daft, R. Marcic, D. (2008). Understanding Management. OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=aML0tCTGA6UCpg=PA277dq=Why+is+technical+complexity+greatest+with+continuous-process+technology%3Fhl=enei=7FgHTfK1M4_Oswbzr63pDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=Why%20is%20technical%20complexity%20greatest%20with%20continuous-process%20technology%3Ff=false. DuBrin, A. (2008). Essential of Management. OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=dNThzoekGQcCpg=PA256dq=Bureaucracy+in+organizational+structurehl=enei=kkEHTam3DsLOswbqha3y DQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CCsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=Bureaucracy%20in%20organizational%20structuref=false. Griffins, R. Moorhead, G. (2009). Organizational Behavior: managing people and organizations. OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=RidV6vh08xMCpg=PA418dq=what+is+centralizationhl=enei=ii4HTebPMMf5sgbCo6X4DQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CDYQ6AEwAw#v=onepageq=what%20is%20centralizationf=false. Henry, A. (2008). Understanding strategic management. NY: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=Sli7_rbsEgcCpg=PA320dq=revolutionary+changehl=enei=o2EHTeTiPI3xsgaakeHkDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=8ved=0CEkQ6AEwBw#v=onepageq=revolutionary%20changef=false. Hill, C. Jones, G. (2009). Strategic Management theory: an integrated approach. OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=CzIK9ELsyYwCpg=PA381dq=Designing+Organizational+Structurehl=enei=Jz4HTYyoIZDFswaa-7jyDQsa=X oi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CDIQ6AEwAw#v=onepageq=Designing%20Organizational%20Structuref=false. Hitt, M. Ireland, R. Hoskisson, R. (2009). Strategic Management: competitiveness and globalization: concepts cases. OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=ul5FsIlWa3ECpg=PA314dq=Functional+structurehl=enei=91AHTYaZNKWJnAeH6-DlDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=5ved=0CD0Q6AEwBA#v=onepageq=Functional%20structuref=false. Hitt, M. Ireland, R Hoskisson, R. (2008). Competing for advantage. OH: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=ptLXkW9lT2gCpg=PT208lpg=PT208dq=advantages+of+strategic+alliances+as+a+way+of+exchanging+resources%3Fsource=blots=ga0nztBPPusig=RKjsBqkj8wO7Oa0ub_5qCJDkbw4hl=enei=7ZAHTb6-C9D2sgb3qvHiDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=6ved=0CFIQ6AEwBQ#v=onepageqf=false. House, R. GLOBE. (2004). Culture, leadership, and organizations: the Globe study of 62 societies. NY: SAGE. Retrieved from https://books.googl e.com/books?id=_KsXEJQg9pkCpg=PA81dq=resource+dependency+theoryhl=enei=qjoHTcGWH4zOswavtODvDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=6ved=0CD4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepageq=resource%20dependency%20theoryf=false. Jain, N. (2005). Organizational Behaviour Vol. 1. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers Distributors. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=XuPsE7J-6GcCpg=PA171dq=how+subunits+can+acquire+powerhl=enei=89IITan1M43Eswacq6yUAwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=how%20subunits%20can%20acquire%20powerf=false. Kondalkar. (2009). Organization Effectiveness and Change Management. New Delhi: PHI publishing. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=QBHtaadF3DICpg=PA174dq=Describe+and+explain+the+forces+for+and+resistances+to+organizational+change.hl=enei=T2kITdvZHsSy8QO10dj-Dwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CDQQ6AEwAw#v=onepageqf=false. Rao, M. Rao, V. (1999). Organization Design Change, and development. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House. Retrieved fr om https://books.google.com/books?id=IAVn__L9r8cCpg=PA106dq=Balance+between+Centralization+and+Decentralizationhl=enei=Pn8HTeDcO6XrnQeZyc25Dgsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=5ved=0CDkQ6AEwBA#v=onepageq=Balance%20between%20Centralization%20and%20Decentralizationf=false. Slack, T. and Parent, M. (2005). Understanding sport organization: the application of organization theory. NY: Human Kinetics. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=6bs9-2bD3cCpg=PA263dq=Carnegie+approaches+to+decision+makinghl=enei=SssITcTnAZH6sgb-__mTAwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=Carnegie%20approaches%20to%20decision%20makingf=false. Wagner, J. Hollenbeck, J. (2009). Organizational Behavior: Securing competitive advantage. NY: Taylor Francis. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=Ezb4y6oGYiwCpg=PA243dq=standardization+and+mutual+adjustmenthl=enei=kzYHTeK5LMbEswaf-PXpDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=standardization%20and%20mutua l%20adjustmentf=false. Yoshina, R. (1995). Strategic alliances: an entrepreneurial approach to globalization. NY: Harvard Business Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=QPm5OnFvrE4Cprintsec=frontcoverdq=what+are+strategic+allianceshl=enei=4UQHTfvZG4HtsgbmwN3oDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepageqf=false. 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Ellen Gates Starr Biography

Ellen Gates Starr Biography Ellen Starr was born in Illinois in 1859.  Her father encouraged her in thinking about democracy and social responsibility, and his sister, Ellen’s aunt Eliza Starr, encouraged her to pursue higher education.  There were few women’s colleges, especially in the Midwest; in 1877, Ellen Starr began her studies at Rockford Female Seminary with a curriculum equivalent to that of many men’s colleges. In her first year of study at Rockford Female Seminary, Ellen Starr met and became close friends with Jane Addams.  Ellen Starr left after a year, when her family could no longer afford to pay tuition.  She became a teacher in Mount Morris, Illinois, in 1878, and the following year at a girls’ school in Chicago.  She also read such authors as Charles Dickens and John Ruskin and began shaping her own ideas about labor and other social reforms, and, following her aunt’s lead, about art as well. Jane Addams Her friend, Jane Addams, meanwhile, graduated from Rockford Seminary in 1881, tried to attend a Woman’s Medical College, but left in ill health.  She toured Europe and lived for a while in Baltimore, all the while feeling restless and bored and wanting to apply her education.  She decided to return to Europe for another trip and invited her friend Ellen Starr to go with her. Hull House On that trip, Addams and Starr visited Toynbee Settlement Hall and London’s East End.  Jane had the vision of starting a similar settlement house in America and talked Starr into joining her.  They decided on Chicago, where Starr had been teaching and found an old mansion that had become used for storage, originally owned by the Hull family – thus, Hull House.  They took up residence on September 18, 1889, and began â€Å"settling† in with the neighbors, to experiment with how to best serve the people there, mostly poor and working-class families. Ellen Starr led reading groups and lectures, on the principle that education would help uplift the poor and those who worked at low wages. She taught labor reform ideas, but also literature and art. She organized art exhibits. In 1894, she founded the Chicago Public School Art Society to get art into public school classrooms.  She traveled to London to learn bookbinding, becoming an advocate for the handicrafts as a source of pride and meaning.  She tried to open a book bindery at Hull House, but it was one of the failed experiments. Labor Reform She also became more involved in labor issues in the area, involving immigrants, child labor and safety in the factories and sweatshops in the neighborhood. In 1896, Starr joined the garment workers’ strike in support of the workers. She was a founding member of the Chicago chapter of the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) in 1904.  In that organization, she, like many other educated women, worked in solidarity with the often-uneducated women factory workers, supporting their strikes, helping them file complaints, raising funds for food and milk, writing articles and otherwise publicizing their conditions to the wider world. In 1914, in a strike against Henrici Restaurant, Starr was among those arrested for disorderly conduct. She was charged with interfering with a police officer, who claimed she had used violence against him and â€Å"tried to frighten him† by telling him to â€Å"leave them girls be!†Ã‚  She, a frail woman of at best a hundred pounds, did not look to those in court like someone who could frighten a policeman from his duties, and she was acquitted. Socialism After 1916, Starr was less active in such confrontational situations. While Jane Addams generally did not get involved in partisan politics, Starr joined the Socialist Party in 1911 and was a candidate in the 19th ward for the alderman’s seat on the Socialist ticket.  As a woman and a Socialist, she did not expect to win but used her campaign to draw connections between her Christianity and Socialism and to advocate for more fair working conditions and treatment of all.  She was active with the Socialists until 1928. Religious Conversion Addams and Starr disagreed about religion, as Starr moved from her Unitarian roots in a spiritual journey that took her to conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1920. Later Life She withdrew from public view as her health grew poorer.  A spinal abscess led to surgery in 1929, and she was paralyzed after the operation.  Hull House was not equipped or staffed for the level of care that she needed, so she moved to the Convent of the Holy Child in Suffern, New York. She was able to read and paint and maintain a correspondence, remaining at the convent until her death in 1940. Ellen Gates Starr Facts Known for:  co-founder of Chicago’s Hull House, with Jane AddamsOccupation:  settlement house worker, teacher, reformerDates:  March 19, 1859 - 1940Also known as: Ellen StarrReligion: Unitarian, then Roman CatholicOrganizations:  Hull House, Women’s Trade Union LeagueEducation: Rockford Female Seminary Family Mother: Susan Gates ChildsFather: Caleb Allen Starr, farmer, businessman, active in the GrangeAunt: Eliza Allen Starr, art scholar

How To Stress Syllables in Japanese Pronunciation

How To Stress Syllables in Japanese Pronunciation For non-native Japanese speakers, learning the cadence of the spoken language can be very challenging.  Japanese has a pitch accent or musical accent, which can sound like a monotone to a new speakers ear. It is quite different from the stress accent found in English, other European languages and some Asian languages. This different accent system is also why Japanese speakers often struggle with putting the accent on the correct syllables when learning English.   A stress accent pronounces the syllable louder and holds it longer. English speakers speed up between accented syllables without really thinking about it, as a habit. But the pitch accent is based on the two relative pitch levels of high and low. Each syllable is pronounced with equal length, and each word has its own determined pitch and only one accent summit. Japanese sentences are constructed so that when spoken, the words sound almost like a melody, ​with rising and falling pitches. Unlike Englishs uneven, often halting rhythm, when spoken correctly Japanese sounds like a steadily flowing stream, particularly to the trained ear. The origin of the Japanese language has been a mystery to linguists for some time. Although it bears some similarities to Chinese, borrowing some Chinese characters in its written form, many linguists consider Japanese and so-called Japonic languages (most of which are considered dialects) to be a language isolate. Regional Japanese Dialects Japan has many regional dialects (hogen), and the  different dialects all have different accents. In Chinese, dialects (Mandarin, Cantonese, etc) vary so widely that speakers of different dialects are not able to understand each other.   But in Japanese, there are usually no  communication problems among people of different dialects since everybody understands standard Japanese (hyoujungo, a dialect spoken in Tokyo). In most cases, accentuation doesnt make a difference in the meaning of the words, and the Kyoto-Osaka dialects dont differ from Tokyo dialects in their vocabularies.   The one exception is the Ryukyuan versions of Japanese, spoken in Okinawa and the Amami Islands. While most Japanese speakers consider these to be dialects of the same language, these varieties may not be easily understood by those who speak Tokyo dialects. Even among the Ryukyuan dialects, there may be difficulty understanding each other. But the official stance of the Japanese government is that the Ryukyuan languages represent dialects of standard Japanese and are not separate languages.   Pronunciation of Japanese The pronunciation of Japanese is relatively easy compared with other aspects of the language. However, it requires an understanding of Japanese sounds, pitch accent, and intonation to sound like a native speaker. It also takes time and patience, and its easy to get frustrated. The best way to learn how to speak Japanese is to listen to the spoken language and try to imitate the way native speakers say and pronounce words.  A non-native speaker who focuses too much on the spelling or writing of Japanese without taking into account the pronunciation will have difficulty learning how to sound authentic.

Entrepreneurship in the Creative Economy Research Paper

Entrepreneurship in the Creative Economy - Research Paper Example The more significant aspect of this process has been the creativity and innovativeness of individuals in exploiting emerging opportunities in business. In doing so, they have improved their own welfare, and laid down an operational base upon which other people can build their social and economic livelihoods. The academia world has also moved fast to cover, encourage, and promote all levels of entrepreneurship, especially in the context of creative world economy.Entrepreneurship has been accorded significant attention in every level of entrepreneurial-based operations. Although entrepreneurship is associated with individual operations in relation to setting up and running business ventures, it has come to be a source of social and economic livelihood for massive populations around the world. Firms and organizations have embraced entrepreneurial function in many aspects of their operations, in a bid to exploit the creativity and innovativeness of entrepreneurs across the globe. The int egration of entrepreneurship in global business undertakings, and the subsequent advancement of entrepreneurial concepts have captured the attention of various scholars. Charlotte and Naudin (2006) consider curriculum design and development for the various creative industries, with specific concern on current attitudes and emerging issues in these creative industries. The enterprise curriculum considered in this text does not fail to treat entrepreneurship with utmost interest. Entrepreneurship is a key driver in today’s economy, at both national and international levels. The curriculum specifically tries to assess and evaluate the issues and attitudes that characterize the existing creative industries, entrepreneurship included. Entrepreneurship practices are guided by various attitudes, and also face diverse and dynamic issues from time to time. Entrepreneurs establish their operation for different motives, but are commonly guided by the need for social and economic success . In that pursuit, they work their way to satisfy variant market needs within the relevant industries that entrepreneurial ventures are established. The motive to succeed and at the same time satisfy market demands shapes the observed attitudes in entrepreneurial operations (Charlotte & Naudin, 2006). Emerging issues in the same context could be cultural, social, economic, or political in nature. However, the creativity, innovativeness, knowledge and skills that entrepreneurs exhibit counters the negativity of such issues. Cultural, social, economic, or political factors also influence entrepreneurship positively. Entrepreneurs have realized enormous encouragement and assistance for each of the mentioned factors in every level of entrepreneurial practice. Each of these factors has provided a favorable and efficient environment within which entrepreneurs thrive. Literature and academic sources have developed interest into entrepreneurial matters, resulting in the integration of entre preneurship and other enterprises into the development of curriculums for use in academic purposes. Green community entrepreneurship: creative destruction in the social economy Globalization has enhanced entrepreneurship practices around the world. This has been realized due to the ever rising industrialization, economic integration between economies, and state interdependencies across the globe in relation to

Discuss the banking regulatory and market framework in UK, address Assignment

Discuss the banking regulatory and market framework in UK, address thestrengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats - Assignment Example In 2009, collections for insurance premiums alone totalled nearly ?200 billion. The UK market for equities garnered 17% share of the global market in 2009, ranking only behind New York. Likewise, the fund management industry ranks among the world’s largest, managing some ?4.1 trillion for the year 2009. All in all, the financial services sector turned in the largest volume of corporate taxes for 2010, which comprised 11.2% of total tax receipts for the entire year. Contribution of output & employment to the UK economy from each financial services sector Financial Services Sub-Sectors Output (% of GDP) Employment Banking 5% 435,000 Insurance 2% 300,000 Fund Management 1% 50,000 Others including securities derivatives, commodities, and bullion 3% 208,000 Total 10% 993,000 Source: U.K. Parliament, 2011 Definition of financial stability The Bank of England is the statutorily designated entity to ensure the financial stability of the financial system of the UK, as pronounced in the Banking Act 2009. The specific definition of financial stability is difficult to delineate, because its context evolves over time. According to Adrian Coles, Director General of the Building Societies Association, articulated a definition for the proximate term, â€Å"monetary stability† in terms of a measurable objective, that is, the maintenance of a target inflation at 2%. In contrast, he highlights the elusiveness of the definition of financial stability: â€Å"How do we measure financial stability? How do we measure the success of the PRA? Is it one collapsed institution a year is okay but five, the Governor of the Bank has to write a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer?† (Coles, in UK Parliament, 2011). This is one of the problems that must be faced if an agency is to be created and charged with the monitoring and maintenance of financial stability in the UK financial services industry. A consensus must be arrived at concerning its meaning, the extent to w hich it shall be achieved, the powers needed to ensure it, whether other policy objectives may be traded off for it, and in the case of the latter, how such trade-offs may be carried out. The most likely measures are to institute tighter measures to ensure increased capital ratios and improved quality of capital; however, these may only mitigate the dire effects of a crisis, not prevent them. In the past, however, the economic shocks used to emanate elsewhere in the system, such as in trade or business operations, and sometimes as a repercussion of unforeseen events, and then trickle down to the financial system. The recent crisis, however, emanated from a cause principally within the system, as a direct consequence of the actions of financial institutions, and then transmitted through the financial network by contagion (UK Parliament, 2011). In a market based economy, uncompetitive and inefficiently managed corporations should be allowed to fail: such is the position of the UK fina ncial authorities. In a stable financial system, though, other institutions should not be hard hit by contagion, or the adverse effects should be limited. The companies destined to fail should fail in such a way that it is the shareholders and creditors of the company that bear the risk of failure, not the public. â€Å"If necessary, an institution can be allowed to fail in a way that does not disrupt the financial system as a whole† (Treasury Committee, in UK Parliament, 2011). A major concern that must be addressed in the containment of contagion risks is the

Ir Spectral Analysis Of Oxovanadium Acetylacetone Biology Essay

Ir Spectral Analysis Of Oxovanadium Acetylacetone Biology Essay Complex will have ligand that will form coordination bond to the metal center by donating lone pairs of electrons to the empty d-orbital of the metal which is similar to the Lewis acid-base reaction. In this experiment, Acetylacetone and pyridine is the ligand will act as Lewis base and will be coordinated to the metal center of Vanadium, V, which is the Lewis acid. Acetylacetone is a ÃŽ ²-diketone that contains two alpha hydrogen atoms adjacent to the two carbonyl groups. As carbonyl-group is electron withdrawing group, these two carbonyl functional group will create an inductive effect which cause the alpha hydrogen to be more acidic and be easily deprotonated. Resonance stability of delocalising the anion formed from the deprotonation under basic condition also increases the probability of the deprotonation as shown in Figure 1: Figure 1: Mechanism of the deprotonation and delocalization of the alpha hydrogen Acetylacetone exist in both keto and enol isomer form as shown in Figure 2: Figure 2: Keto-enol tautomerisation of the Acetylacetone The enolate anion is able to act as a bidentate ligand as it can chelate onto the oxovanadium metal ion with the two oxygen atoms as the binding sites to form the VO(acac)2 complexes. Two acetylacetonate ligands are able to bind to the oxovanadium metal and form a square pyramidal complex. Addition of the pyridine compound will form an octahedral geometry complex. These can be further proven using IR spectroscopy where the different strengths, lengths and nature as according to Hookes law, IR absorption spectra is able to be unique for each complex. Experimental Procedure Preparation of VO(acac)2 The preparation of VO(acac)2 started with 5ml of concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) slowly added to 5 ml of deionized water in a 50 ml round-bottomed flask. Then, 18 ml of ethanol and followed by 2 g of vanadium pentaoxide (V2O5) was added into the round bottom flask. The solution was refluxed in an oil bath for an hour. The mixture was then cooled and filtered using cotton wool. Subsequently, 6 ml of Acetylacetone was added drop wise to the filtrate. The reaction mixture was carefully added portion by portion to the solution that contained 7.4g of Na2CO3 in 120 ml of deionsed water in a 500 ml conical flask. The mixture was then cooled in ice water and filtered to obtain the dark green product. Product was dried under IR lamp. The product was weighted and percentage yield was calculated. Preparation of VO (acac)2py The VO(acac)2py was prepared first by dissolving 0.5 g of the VO(acac)2 products obtained in 20 ml of ethanol in a 50ml of round bottom flask. Then, the mixture was refluxed vigorously with 2 ml of pyridine for one hour which was then concentrated using rotary evaporator. Crystal of crude VO(acac)2py formed upon cooling in ice water which was then filtered and wash with 5 ml of ether. Product was dried under IR lamp. The crude dry product was weighted and percentage yield was calculated. The IR spectrum of product was then determined. Data Treatment and Analysis Calculation of Percentage Yield of VO(acac)2 The percentage yield was calculated using the following equation: V2O5 + 4H+ Æ’Â   2(VO)2+ + 2H2O + O2 -Reaction 1 2(VO)2+ + 2 acacH Æ’Â   2H+ + VO(acac)2 Reaction 2 Mole of H2SO4 used = Amount of H+ present = 0.0938 mol x 2 = 0.1876 mol Mole of acac used = Mole of V2O5 used = (limiting agent) The ratio of V2O5 and VO2+ is 1:2, Mole of VO2+ used = 0.0111 mols x 2 = 0.0222 mols As ratio of VO2+ and VO(acac)2 is 1:1, then theoretical mole of VO(acac)2 = 0.0222 mols Theoretical mass of VO(acac)2 = mole of VO(acac)2 x molar mass of VO(acac)2 = 0.0222 mols X 265.16 g/mol = 5.890 g Percentage yield of VO(acac)2 = Calculation of Percentage Yield of VO(acac)2py Mole of pyridine used = Mole of VO(acac)2 used = (limiting agent) VO(acac)2 is the limiting agent. The ratio of VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py is 1:1. Mole of VO(acac)2py = 0.00194 mols Hence, theoretical mass of VO(acac)2py = mole of VO(acac)2py X molar mass of VO(acac)2py = 0.00194 mols x 344.26 g/mol = 0.667 g Percentage of VO(acac)2py yield = Infra-red Spectroscopy Table 1: Summarized Data from IR spectrum of VO(acac)2py Important peaks observed in the spectrum of VO(acac)2 /cm-1 Important peaks observed in the spectrum of VO(acac)2py /cm-1 997.7 998.04 966.04 3449.72 Discussion Geometry of VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py Vanadium [IV] metal exists as vanadyl, VO2+ in aqueous solution. Before the reaction of the VO2+ with the acetylacetonate, VO2+ is coordinated to five water molecules and existed as octahedral geometry. However, acetylacetonate is a stronger ligand that displaces the water molecules. Since Vanadium is bonded to oxygen with a V=O bond, only 2 acetylacetonate will only be able to form coordinate bond with the vanadium central metal ion to form the VO(acac)2 complex with a square pyramidal geometry as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: Reaction diagram of the coordination geometry of VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py The geometry of this complex is in the square pyramidal geometry instead of the trigonal pyramidal geometry is due to the steric effect caused by the acetylacetonate ligands. The geometry of the square pyramidal is to reduce the steric repulsion to the minimum with the optimal distance apart of the two ligands. Also, from Figure 3, it can be seen that there is a vacant coordination site on the principle z-axis available which allow another more coordination site if there is the presence of strong ligand such as pyridine in this experiment. Therefore, complexation occurred between the pyridine molecules and the VO(acac)2 where nitrogen lone pair in the pyridine molecules act as a Ï€- donor-ligand and strong Lewis base that donate the lone pair of electron to the VO(acac)2 complexes at the vacant coordination site. With the new VO(acac)2py complex formed having a distorted octahedral geometry due to the unequal bond length between the V=O bond and the V=N bond at the axial position of the vanadium metal centre which lead to asymmetry. Also, the octahedral geometry of the VO(acac)2py is a 6-coordinate complex that is of high thermodynamic stability. Shifting of the V=O stretching band The complex of the VO(acac)2 has an oxidation complex of +4 which the vanadium(IV) ion exists as a d1. Using the Crystal Field Theory, there is electronic repulsion between the electrons of the acac ligands and the electron on the vanadium metal ion which causes the initially degenerate 5 d-orbitals of vanadium metal ion to split into two different levels. The level with the lower energy has a t2g symmetry and consists of the dxy, dxz, and dyz atomic orbitals. The level with the higher energy has eg symmetry and consists of the dx2-y2 and dx2 orbitals. The difference between the energy levels is the ligand field splitting parameter, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  o. In the octahedral geometry, eg orbitals are on the axial direction and are the most affected by the electrostatic repulsion which destabilize the orbitals and excite them to higher energy level. The t2g orbital is not on the axial position and thus, not much affected by repulsion and thus, stabilized and move to lower energy as shown in Figure 4: eg orbital à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  0 Energy dx2-y2 dx2 dxy dxz dyz t2g orbital Figure 4: Molecular diagram illustration of Crystal Field Theory As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the pyridine is a Ï€ donor ligand that binds to the VO(acac)2 complex at the vacant site at the axial position of the vanadium(IV) ion. The addition of the pyridine to the complex reduces à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  0 which this reduction of the splitting parameter was observed using the comparison of the IR spectrum of the VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py. From the spectrum found in Appendix 2, the spectrum of the VO(acac)2py complex can be seen that the V=O stretching frequency of VO(acac)2py complex is 32 cm-1 lower than the VO(acac)2 complex when the V=O stretching frequency decrease from 998.04 cm-1 to 966.04 cm-1. These reduces of the stretching frequency is proportional to the stretching energy of the V=O bond of the complex. The addition of the pyridine will result in the reduction of the stretching energy of the V=O bond. This shows that the V=O bond of the VO(acac)2py is destabilized upon the addition of pyridine to VO(acac)2. This can be shown using Hookes Law as shown: where v is the stretching frequency in cm-1, k is the force constant, ÃŽ ¼ is the reduced mass. The binding of the pyridine has decrease the force constant and the lone pair of the pyridine ligand is electron-donating which increases the mass of vanadium ion that result in larger reduced mass, ÃŽ ¼, which according to the Hookes law, result in lower stretching frequency wavenumber. The wave number is proportional to the amount of energy that is needed for transition where it highly depends on the ligand field splitting parameter. The shifting of the stretching frequency indicate that the ligand field splitting parameter has decreased in magnitude which the addition of the pyridine ligand has caused destabilization of VO(acac)2py complex. Similarly, the lone pair of electrons of the nitrogen in pyridine is added onto the anti-bonding of the molecular orbitals of VO(acac)2 complex. This causes the pyridine to be trans to the V=O bond. Also, this bonding of the electrons donated will increase the electron density of the vanadiums d orbitals which will decrease the p Ï€ → d Ï€ donation from oxygen atom to the vanadium atom in the V=O bond. This result in the falls of the bond order of the complex and the lowering of the bond strength which also lengthen the V=O bond length. Overall, there is decrease of energy need to stretch the V=O bond and thus lead to the shifting of the V=O stretching vibration to lower frequency in the spectrum. This also further proven that the VO(acac)2py has an octahedral structure. Also, there is the delocalization of the Ï€ electrons from the aromatic ring of the pyridine which able to stabilize the complex more and decrease the p Ï€ → d Ï€ donation from oxygen to vanadium in the V=O bond. This make the vanadium-pyridine complexation more feasible and stable that result in the stronger V-N stretching bond which gain partial double bond character. As a result of the inter-electron repulsion, the electron density of the V=O bond is then shifted towards the oxygen atom and cause the weakening of the V=O double bond that cause the bond to loses the characteristic of the double bond nature. Thus, lesser energy is needed to stretch the weakened and lengthened V=O bond and lead to the shifting of the frequency of the spectrum. There is also the reason of the trans influence where the trans influence is the effect of pyridine ligand that weakens the bond that is trans to itself in the complex. The electrons of the oxo-ligand in the axial position of the complex occupies the dz2 orbital that will cause new binding ligand to form coordinate bond with the vanadium ion to be trans position to the oxo ligand. Pyridine ligand have donate electrons to the VO(acac)2 complex metal center and reside in the 3dz2 orbital from the site trans to the oxygen atom which causes repulsion. Therefore, the pyridine ligand and the oxo-ligand are in the trans position to each other which uses the same orbitals on the metal vanadium ion for bonding. However, the oxygen atom cannot donate the electrons to the metal as well as the pyridine ligand which causes the V=O bond to be weaker. Therefore, both axial bonds to the vanadium are weakened and lengthened which decrease the force constant (k) and decrease the stretching frequency. The shift also helps to confirm the presence of VO(acac)2py. On the other hand, the VO(acac)2py spectrum found in Appendix 2 have showed peak of 998.04 cm-1 which has a small different to the 997.7cm-1 peak found in the VO(acac)2 spectrum. This shows that there is still presence of VO(acac)2 in the product. Also the literature value of the V=O stretching bond of the VO(acac)2 is found out to be 995 cm-1 which is close to the 997.7 cm-1 in the product spectrum. These further prove that the VO(acac)2 is present. This can explain for the relatively low yield of 58.5% of the VO(acac)2py synthesis as the reaction has not gone into completion. However, comparing the intensity of the peak of 997.7 cm-1 and 966.04 cm-1 which indicate V=O bond in VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py complex respectively, there is higher intensity of the 966.04cm-1 which show that more pyridine adduct is formed in product. This also shows that the reaction may be an equilibrium reaction where both product and reactant can be present. This result can also be interpreted as the reac tion is not complete and more reflux time or higher temperature for reflux is needed to carry out to ensure more products formed. Lastly, there is a broad low intensity peak at 3449.72 at the VO(acac)2py spectrum found in Appendix 2 which was due to the presence of water that may be caused by insufficient drying of the VO(acac)2py product. Observation of Color changes During the synthesis of the complex, there is a series of observation of color changing of the compound in the solution. The color changes observed during the synthesis of the VO(acac)2 is due to the change of the oxidation state of V2O5 (oxidation state of V = +5). The orange powder of V2O2 is being reacted with the H2O and H2SO4 to reduce to a dark green solution of [V(H2O)5]3+ (oxidation state of V= +3) complex during middle of the vigorous reflux. When the reflux is complete, the solution was in dark blue color which is due to the reduction of the remaining V2O5 to dark blue [VO(SO4)(H2O)5] complex (oxidation state of V = +4). During the forming of the pyridine adduct, the dark blue VO(acac)2 is changed to dark green VO(acac)2py complex. This color changing phenomenon can also be explained using the Crystal Field Theory mentioned. Electrons of the two different energy level orbitals can be excited with à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  o energy. The higher the oxidation state, there will be more different between the two splitting energy levels which therefore lead to higher à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  0. For V2O5 (oxidation state of V = +5) will have a higher à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  0 and hence will absorbs light of the electromagnetic spectrum of higher energy with higher frequency and reflect low energy light. Therefore, V2O5 will absorb the blue-green light of higher energy and reflect orange of lower energy light which is shown off as orange with naked eyes. When there is a reduction of the compound to VO(acac)2 or VO(acac)2py compound, the light absorbed was at lower frequency and light reflected was of higher frequency such as blue-green and thus, there is the change of orange powder to blue-green product. Therefore, VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py appe ared as blue-green compounds. Possible Limitations and Sources of Errors in Experiment There are several limitations of the experiment that result in not having 100% yield of the product of both VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py complexes. Firstly, there may be loss of product due to the cotton wool filtration that causes some of the filtrate to be trapped in the cotton wool and unable to pass through. Secondly, according to the Le-Chateliers principle, for the Reaction 2, if there is an increase in the H+ concentration, reaction will shift the concentration of the reaction to the left which result in lesser product produce. When the reaction mixture is added slowly to the alkaline sodium carbonate solution, incomplete neutralization may occur where not all H+ are removed, and hence lesser product is produced. Therefore, longer cooling time will be needed for re-crystallization so as to allow more crystallization of VO(acac)2 and push the reaction to the right. Another limitation is of using of the sulphuric acid, H2SO4 may result in the reduction of the VO2+ ions to V3+ ions which decrease VO2+ ions available for product of VO(acac)2 formations. The lower percentage yield of the VO(acac)2py may be due to incomplete refluxing and thus lead to low yield obtained. Also, impurities may be present in the VO(acac)2 product produced that observed at the bottom of the flaks which lead to false weight measured and inaccurate percentage calculated. The round bottom flask should be swirled every fifteen minutes during the reflux which can prevent the settling of the V2O5 solid at the bottom of the flask and identifying impurities. The yield of the VO(acac)2py can be improved with addition of excess pyridine and increase the reflux time. Possible Precaution in Experiment For the synthesis of the VO(acac)2 complexes, there is a step of the adding of ethanol into the mixture of solution for reflux. Ethanol was used as solvent. The metal vanadium atom is surrounded by non-polar ligands of acetylacetonate or pyridine in second part of the experiment. Ethanol is more non-polar than water and will form solvent-solute interactions with the complexes and dissolve those ligands for better interaction in the solution. The use of the ethanol also helps to separate the VO(acac)2 from the insoluble V2O5 residue that will be filtered and remain in the cotton wool during filtration. Also, ethanol was used to prevent side reaction that will arise so as to increase the yield of the product. From reaction 1, there is the reaction of the V2O5 and the H2SO4 to produce the intermediate VO2+ ion that besides reacting with the acetylacetonate in reaction 2, VO2+ can react with the water and oxygen molecules by-product formed from reaction 1. It is as shown in Reaction 3. The side reaction will decrease the amount of VO2+ available for reaction with the acetylacetonate in reaction 3 to form product of VO(acac)2. This will decrease the amount of yield of the product produced. 4VO2+ + 2H2O + O2  ® 4VO2+ + 4H+ Reaction 3 However, this side reaction can be reduced with the addition of ethanol where ethanol will react with oxygen and produce acetaldehyde as shown: C2H5OH +  ½O2  ® CH3CHO + H2O Reaction 4 Also, using vacuum to remove the oxygen and water formed can be a good way to reduce problem of side reaction with VO2+. Another precaution taken was adding drop wise of the acetylacetonate to ensure sufficient reaction time and prevent influx of the H+ concentration and shift the equilibrium to the left and decrease the yield of the product formed. Anhydrous sodium carbonate, Na2CO3, was dissolved in water so as to form alkaline solution to neutralise H+ ions so as to shift the acetylacetonate toward the enol form. This will increase the formation of the VO(acac)2 products. Also, the mixture solution was added slowly to the sodium carbonate solution so as to prevent the rapid foaming caused by the product of CO2 and lose of product due to overflowing. Also, slowly adjusting the pH with more alkaline environment and less mixture solution allows the reaction to react at steady pace and reduce any side reaction to occur. Conclusion The percentage yield of the product of VO(acac)2 and VO(acac)2py complex were 77.8% and 58.5% respectively. From the IR spectrum of VO(acac)2py, it is shown that the V=O bond have shifted from 9998.04 cm-1 to 966.04 cm-1. This shifting of the peak indicate the formation of the pyridine adduct, VO(acac)2py, with the decrease in the wavenumber of the V=O stretching band.

The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 26. Shiny

â€Å"I don't know how much we should tell Renee about this,† Charlie said, hesitating with one foot out the door. He stretched, and then his stomach growled. I nodded. â€Å"I know, i don't want to freak her out. Better to protect her. This stuff isn't for the fainthearted.† His lips twisted up to the side ruefully. â€Å"I would have tried to protect you, too, if I'd known how. But I guess you've never fit into the fainthearted category, have you?† I smiled back, pulling a blazing breath in through my teeth. Charlie patted his stomach absently. â€Å"I'll think of something. We've got time to discuss this, right?† â€Å"Right,† I promised him. It had been a long day in some ways, and so short in others. Charlie was late for dinner – Sue Clearwater was cooking for him and Billy. That was going to be an awkward evening, but at least he'd be eating real food; I was glad someone was trying to keep him from starving due to his lack of cooking ability. All day the tension had made the minutes pass slowly; Charlie had never relaxed the stiff set of his shoulders. But he'd been in no hurry to leave, either. He'd watched two whole games – thankfully so absorbed in his thoughts that he was totally oblivious to Emmett's suggestive jokes that got more pointed and less football-related with each aside – and the after-game commentaries, and then the news, not moving until Seth had reminded him of the time. â€Å"You gonna stand Billy and my mom up, Charlie? C'mon. Bella and Nessie'll be here tomorrow. Let's get some grub, eh?† It had been clear in Charlie's eyes that he hadn't trusted Seth's assessment, but he'd let Seth lead the way out. The doubt was still there as he paused now. The clouds were thinning, the rain gone. The sun might even make an appearance just in time to set. â€Å"Jake says you guys were going to take off on me,† he muttered to me now. â€Å"I didn't want to do that if there was any way at all around it. That's why we're still here.† â€Å"He said you could stay for a while, but only if I'm tough enough, and if I can keep my mouth shut.† â€Å"Yes†¦ but I can't promise that we'll never leave, Dad. It's pretty complicated___† â€Å"Need to know,† he reminded me. â€Å"Right.† â€Å"You'll visit, though, if you have to go?† â€Å"I promise, Dad. Now that you know/usf enough, I think this can work. I'll keep as close as you want.† He chewed on his lip for half a second, then leaned slowly toward me with his arms cautiously extended. I shifted Renesmee – napping now – to my left arm, locked my teeth, held my breath, and wrapped my right arm very lightly around his warm, soft waist. â€Å"Keep real close, Bells,† he mumbled. â€Å"Real close.† â€Å"Love you, Dad,† I whispered through my teeth. He shivered and pulled away. I dropped my arm. â€Å"Love you, too, kid. Whatever else has changed, that hasn't.† He touched one finger to Renesmee's pink cheek. â€Å"She sure looks a lot like you.† I kept my expression casual, though I felt anything but. â€Å"More like Edward, I think.† I hesitated, and then added, â€Å"She has your curls.† Charlie started, then snorted. â€Å"Huh. Guess she does. Huh. Grandpa.† He shook his head doubtfully. â€Å"Do I ever get to hold her?† I blinked in shock and then composed myself. After considering for a half second and judging Renesmee's appearance – she looked completely out – I decided that I might as well push my luck to the limit, since things were going so well today___ â€Å"Here,† I said, holding her out to him. He automatically made an awkward cradle with his arms, and I tucked Renesmee into it. His skin wasn't quite as hot as hers, but it made my throat tickle to feel the warmth flowing under the thin membrane. Where my white skin brushed him it left goose bumps. I wasn't sure if this was a reaction to my new temperature or totally psychological. Charlie grunted quietly as he felt her weight. â€Å"She's†¦ sturdy.† I frowned. She felt feather-light to me. Maybe my measure was off. â€Å"Sturdy is good,† Charlie said, seeing my expression. Then he muttered to himself, â€Å"She'll need to be tough, surrounded by all this craziness.† He bounced his arms gently, swaying a little from side to side. â€Å"Prettiest baby I ever saw, including you, kid. Sorry, but it's true.† â€Å"I know it is.† â€Å"Pretty baby,† he said again, but it was closer to a coo this time. I could see it in his face – I could watch it growing there. Charlie was just as helpless against her magic as the rest of us. Two seconds in his arms, and already she owned him. â€Å"Can I come back tomorrow?† â€Å"Sure, Dad. Of course. We'll be here.† â€Å"You'd better be,† he said sternly, but his face was soft, still gazing at Renesmee. â€Å"See you tomorrow, Nessie.† â€Å"Not you, too!† â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"Her name is Renesmee. Like Renee and Esme, put together. No variations.† I struggled to calm myself without the deep breath this time. â€Å"Do you want to hear her middle name?† â€Å"Sure.† â€Å"Carlie. With a C. Like Carlisle and Charlie put together.† Charlie's eye-creasing grin lit up his face, taking me off guard. â€Å"Thanks, Bells.† â€Å"Thank you, Dad. So much has changed so quickly. My head hasn't stopped spinning. If I didn't have you now, I don't know how I'd keep my grip on – on reality.† I'd been about to say my grip on who I was. That was probably more than he needed. Charlie's stomach growled. â€Å"Go eat, Dad. We will be here.† I remembered how it felt, that first uncomfortable immersion in fantasy – the sensation that everything would disappear in the light of the rising sun. Charlie nodded and then reluctantly returned Renesmee to me. He glanced past me into the house; his eyes were a little wild for a minute as he stared around the big bright room. Everyone was still there, besides Jacob, who I could hear raiding the refrigerator in the kitchen; Alice was lounging on the bottom step of the staircase with Jasper's head in her lap; Carlisle had his head bent over a fat book in his lap; Esme was humming to herself, sketching on a notepad, while Rosalie and Emmett laid out the foundation for a monumental house of cards under the stairs; Edward had drifted to his piano and was playing very softly to himself. There was no evidence that the day was coming to a close, that it might be time to eat or shift activities in preparation for evening. Something intangible had changed in the atmosphere. The Cullens weren't trying as hard as they usually did – the human charade had slipped ever so slightly, enough for Charlie to feel the difference. He shuddered, shook his head, and sighed. â€Å"See you tomorrow, Bella.† He frowned and then added, â€Å"I mean, it's not like you don't look†¦ good. I'll get used to it.† â€Å"Thanks, Dad.† Charlie nodded and walked thoughtfully toward his car. I watched him drive away; it wasn't until I heard his tires hit the freeway that I realized I'd done it. I'd actually made it through the whole day without hurting Charlie. All by myself. I must have a superpower! It seemed too good to be true. Could I really have both my new family and some of my old as well? And I'd thought that yesterday had been perfect. â€Å"Wow,† I whispered. I blinked and felt the third set of contact lenses disintegrate. The sound of the piano cut off, and Edward's arms were around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder. â€Å"You took the word right out of my mouth.† â€Å"Edward, i did it!† â€Å"You did. You were unbelievable. All that worrying over being a newborn, and then you skip it altogether.'7He laughed quietly. â€Å"I'm not even sure she's really a vampire, let alone a newborn,† Emmett called from under the stairs. â€Å"She's too tame.† All the embarrassing comments he'd made in front of my father sounded in my ears again, and it was probably a good thing I was holding Renesmee. Unable to help my reaction entirely, I snarled under my breath. â€Å"Oooo, scary,† Emmett laughed. I hissed, and Renesmee stirred in my arms. She blinked a few times, then looked around, her expression confused. She sniffed, then reached for my face. â€Å"Charlie will be back tomorrow,† I assured her. â€Å"Excellent,† Emmett said. Rosalie laughed with him this time. â€Å"Not brilliant, Emmett,† Edward said scornfully, holding out his hands to take Renesmee from me. He winked when I hesitated, and so, a little confused, I gave her to him. â€Å"What do you mean?† Emmett demanded. â€Å"It's a little dense, don't you think, to antagonize the strongest vampire in the house?† Emmett threw his head back and snorted. â€Å"Please!† â€Å"Bella,† Edward murmured to me while Emmett listened closely, â€Å"do you remember a few months ago, I asked you to do me a favor once you were immortal?† That rang a dim bell. I sifted through the blurry human conversations. After a moment, I remembered and I gasped, â€Å"Oh!† Alice trilled a long, pealing laugh. Jacob poked his head around the corner, his mouth stuffed with food. â€Å"What?† Emmett growled. â€Å"Really?† I asked Edward. â€Å"Trust me,† he said. I took a deep breath. â€Å"Emmett, how do you feel about a little bet?† He was on his feet at once. â€Å"Awesome. Bring it.† I bit my lip for a second. He was just so huge. â€Å"Unless you're too afraid†¦ ?† Emmett suggested. I squared my shoulders. â€Å"You. Me. Arm-wrestling. Dining room table. Now.† Emmett's grin stretched across his face. â€Å"Er, Bella,† Alice said quickly, â€Å"I think Esme is fairly fond of that table. It's an antique.† â€Å"Thanks,† Esme mouthed at her. â€Å"No problem,† Emmett said with a gleaming smile. â€Å"Right this way, Bella.† I followed him out the back, toward the garage; I could hear all the others trailing behind. There was a largish granite boulder standing up out of a tumble of rocks near the river, obviously Emmett's goal. Though the big rock was a little rounded and irregular, it would do the job. Emmett placed his elbow on the rock and waved me forward. I was nervous again as I watched the thick muscles in Emmett's arm roll, but I kept my face smooth. Edward had promised I would be stronger than anyone for a while. He seemed very confident about this, and I felt strong. That strong? I wondered, looking at Emmett's biceps. I wasn't even two days old, though, and that ought to count for something. Unless nothing was normal about me. Maybe I wasn't as strong as a normal newborn. Maybe that's why control was so easy for me. I tried to look unconcerned as I set my elbow against the stone. â€Å"Okay, Emmett. I win, and you cannot say one more word about my sex life to anyone, not even Rose. No allusions, no innuendos – no nothing.† His eyes narrowed. â€Å"Deal. I win, and it's going to get a lot worse.† He heard my breath stop and grinned evilly. There was no hint of bluff in his eyes. â€Å"You gonna back down so easy, little sister?† Emmett taunted. â€Å"Not much wild about you, is there? I bet that cottage doesn't have a scratch.† He laughed. â€Å"Did Edward tell you how many houses Rose and I smashed?† I gritted my teeth and grabbed his big hand. â€Å"One, two – â€Å" â€Å"Three,† he grunted, and shoved against my hand. Nothing happened. Oh, I could feel the force he was exerting. My new mind seemed pretty good at all kinds of calculations, and so I could tell that if he wasn't meeting any resistance, his hand would have pounded right through the rock without difficulty. The pressure increased, and I wondered randomly if a cement truck doing forty miles an hour down a sharp decline would have similar power. Fifty miles an hour? Sixty? Probably more. It wasn't enough to move me. His hand shoved against mine with crushing force, but it wasn't unpleasant. It felt kind of good in a weird way. I'd been so very careful since the last time I woke up, trying so hard not to break things. It was a strange relief to use my muscles. To let the strength flow rather than struggling to restrain it. Emmett grunted; his forehead creased and his whole body strained in one rigid line toward the obstacle of my unmoving hand. I let him sweat – figuratively – for a moment while I enjoyed the sensation of the crazy force running through my arm. A few seconds, though, and I was a little bored with it. I flexed; Emmett lost an inch. I laughed. Emmett snarled harshly through his teeth. â€Å"Just keep your mouth shut,† I reminded him, and then I smashed his hand into the boulder. A deafening crack echoed off the trees. The rock shuddered, and a piece – about an eighth of the mass – broke off at an invisible fault line and crashed to the ground. It fell on Emmett's foot, and I snickered. I could hear Jacob's and Edward's muffled laughter. Emmett kicked the rock fragment across the river. It sliced a young maple in half before thudding into the base of a big fir, which swayed and then fell into another tree. â€Å"Rematch. Tomorrow.† â€Å"It's not going to wear off that fast,† I told him. â€Å"Maybe you ought to give it a month.† Emmett growled, flashing his teeth. â€Å"Tomorrow.† â€Å"Hey, whatever makes you happy, big brother.† As he turned to stalk away, Emmett punched the granite, shattering off an avalanche of shards and powder. It was kind of neat, in a childish way. Fascinated by the undeniable proof that I was stronger than the strongest vampire I'd ever known, I placed my hand, fingers spread wide, against the rock. Then I dug my fingers slowly into the stone, crushing rather than digging; the consistency reminded me of hard cheese. I ended up with a handful of gravel. â€Å"Cool,† I mumbled. With a grin stretching my face, I whirled in a sudden circle and karate-chopped the rock with the side of my hand. The stone shrieked and groaned and – with a big poof of dust – split in two. I started giggling. I didn't pay much attention to the chuckles behind me while I punched and kicked the rest of the boulder into fragments. I was having too much fun, snickering away the whole time. It wasn't until I heard a new little giggle, a high-pitched peal of bells, that I turned away from my silly game. â€Å"Did she just laugh?† Everyone was staring at Renesmee with the same dumbstruck expression that must have been on my face. â€Å"Yes,† Edward said. â€Å"Who wasnt laughing?† Jake muttered, rolling his eyes. â€Å"Tell me you didn't let go a bit on your first run, dog,† Edward teased, no antagonism in his voice at all. â€Å"That's different,† Jacob said, and I watched in surprise as he mock-punched Edward's shoulder. â€Å"Bella's supposed to be a grown-up. Married and a mom and all that. Shouldn't there be more dignity?† Renesmee frowned, and touched Edward's face. â€Å"What does she want?† I asked. â€Å"Less dignity,† Edward said with a grin. â€Å"She was having almost as much fun watching you enjoy yourself as I was.† â€Å"Am I funny?† I asked Renesmee, darting back and reaching for her at the same time that she reached for me. I took her out of Edward's arms and offered her the shard of rock in my hand. â€Å"You want to try?† She smiled her glittering smile and took the stone in both hands. She squeezed, a little dent forming between her eyebrows as she concentrated. There was a tiny grinding sound, and a bit of dust. She frowned, and held the chunk up to me. Til get it,† I said, pinching the stone into sand. She clapped and laughed; the delicious sound of it made us all join in. The sun suddenly burst through the clouds, shooting long beams of ruby and gold across the ten of us, and I was immediately lost in the beauty of my skin in the light of the sunset. Dazed by it. Renesmee stroked the smooth diamond-bright facets, then laid her arm next to mine. Her skin had just a faint luminosity, subtle and mysterious. Nothing that would keep her inside on a sunny day like my glowing sparkle. She touched my face, thinking of the difference and feeling disgruntled. â€Å"You're the prettiest,† I assured her. Tm not sure I can agree to that,† Edward said, and when I turned to answer him, the sunlight on his face stunned me into silence. Jacob had his hand in front of his face, pretending to shield his eyes from the glare. â€Å"Freaky Bella,† he commented. â€Å"What an amazing creature she is,† Edward murmured, almost in agreement, as if Jacob's comment was meant as a compliment. He was both dazzling and dazzled. It was a strange feeling – not surprising, I supposed, since everything felt strange now – this being a natural at something. As a human, I'd never been best at anything. I was okay at dealing with Renee, but probably lots of people could have done better; Phil seemed to be holding his own. I was a good student, but never the top of the class. Obviously, I could be counted out of anything athletic. Not artistic or musical, no particular talents to brag of. Nobody ever gave away a trophy for reading books. After eighteen years of mediocrity, I was pretty used to being average. I realized now that I'd long ago given up any aspirations of shining at anything. I just did the best with what I had, never quite fitting into my world. So this was really different. I was amazing now – to them and to myself. It was like I had been born to be a vampire. The idea made me want to laugh, but it also made me want to sing. I had found my true place in the world, the place I fit, the place I shined.