Organizational Structure and Culture Essay

Knowledge – Mastery of facts, range of information in subject matter area. Skills – Proficiency, expertise, or competence in given area; e.g., science, art, crafts. Abilities – Demonstrated performance to use knowledge and skills when needed. KSA Definitions Interpersonal Skill Is aware of, responds to, and considers the needs, feelings, and capabilities of others. Deals with conflicts, confrontations, disagreements in a positive manner, which minimizes personal impact, to include controlling one’s feelings and reactions. Deals effectively with others in both favorable and unfavorable situations regardless of status of position. Accepts interpersonal and cultural diversity. Team Skill Establishes effective working relationships among team members. Participates in solving problems and making decisions. Communications Presents and expresses ideas and information clearly and concisely in a manner appropriate to the audience, whether oral or written. Actively listens to what others are saying to achieve understanding. Shares information with others and facilitates the open exchange of ideas and information. Is open, honest, and straightforward with others. Planning and Organizing Establishes courses of action for self to accomplish specific goals [e.g., establishes action plans]. Identifies need, arranges for, and obtains resources needed to accomplish own goals and objectives. Develops and uses tracking systems for monitoring own work progress. Effectively uses resources such as time and information. Organizational Knowledge and Competence Acquires accurate information concerning the agency components, the mission[s] of each relevant organizational unit, and the principal programs in the agency. Interprets and utilizes information about the formal and informal organization, including the organizational structure, functioning, and relationships among units. Correctly identifies and draws upon source[s] of information for support. Problem Solving and Analytical Ability Identifies existing and potential problems/issues. Obtains relevant information about the problem/issue, including recognizing whether or not more information is needed. Objectively evaluates relevant information about the problem/issue. Identifies the specific cause of the problem/issue. Develops recommendations, develops and evaluates alternative course of action, selects courses of action, and follows up. Judgment Makes well reasoned and timely decisions based on careful, objective review and informed analysis of available considerations and factors. Supports decisions or recommendations with accurate information or reasoning. Direction and Motivation Sets a good example of how to do the job; demonstrates personal integrity, responsibility, and accountability. Provides advice and assistance to help others accomplish their work. Directs/motivates self. Decisiveness Identifies when immediate action is needed, is willing to make decisions, render judgments, and take action. Accepts responsibility for the decision, including sustaining effort in spite of obstacles. Self-Development Accurately evaluates own performance and identifies skills and abilities as  targets of training and development activities related to current and future job requirements. Analyzes present career status. Sets goals [short and/or long term]. Identifies available resources and methods for self-improvement. Sets realistic time frames for goals and follows up. Flexibility Modifies own behavior and work activities in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles. Views issues/problems from different perspectives. Considers a wide range of alternatives, including innovative or creative approaches. Strives to take actions that are acceptable to others having differing views. Leadership Ability to make right decisions based on perceptive and analytical processes. Practices good judgment in gray areas. Acts decisively. KSA Definitions {General Supervisory/Manager Competencies} Problem Solving and Analytical Ability Identifies existing and potential problems; notes, understands, and includes the critical elements of problem situations; obtains and evaluates relevant information; demonstrates awareness that new and/or additional information sources are required; notes interrelationships among elements; identifies possible causes of the problems; recognizes the need to shift to an alternative course of action including innovative or creative approaches; and appropriately terminates information collection and evaluation activities. Planning and Organizing Identifies requirements; allocates, and effectively uses information, personnel, time, and other resources necessary for mission accomplishment; establishes appropriate courses of action for self and/or others to accomplish specific goals; develops evaluation criteria and tracking systems for monitoring goal progress and accomplishment; and specifies objectives, schedules, and priorities. Decisiveness Makes decisions, renders judgments, and takes action on difficult or unpleasant tasks in a timely fashion, to include the appropriate communication of both negative and positive information and decisions. Judgment Develops and evaluates alternative courses of action; makes decisions based on correct assumptions concerning resources and guidelines; supports decisions or recommendations with data or reasoning; defines and implements solutions to problems; and recognizes when no action is required. Communication Skill Presents and expresses ideas and information effectively and concisely in an oral and/or written mode; listens to and comprehends what others are saying; shares information with others and facilitates the open exchange of ideas and information; is open, honest, and straightforward with others; provides a complete and timely explanation of issues and decisions in a manner appropriate for the audience; and presents information and material in a manner that gains the agreement of others. Interpersonal Skill Is aware of, responds to, and considers the needs, feelings, and capabilities of others; deals effectively with others in favorable and unfavorable situations regardless of their status or position; accepts interpersonal and cultural differences; manages conflict/confrontations/ disagreements in a positive manner that minimizes personal impact, to include controlling one’s own feelings and reactions; and provides appropriate support to others. Direction and Motivation Motivates and provides direction in the activities of others to accomplish goals; gains the respect and confidence of others; appropriately assigns work and authority to others in the accomplishment of goals; provides advice and assistance as required. Supervisory role Performance Displays knowledge of the roles, responsibilities, and duties of supervisors and managers; accurately assesses the impact upon others of role performance; and supports and promotes organizational decisions, policies, programs, and initiatives such as EEO and Affirmative Action. Specialty Competence Understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies; maintains credibility with others on specialty matters; uses appropriate procedures or systems in the operation and/or staff environment as the position requires. Organizational Knowledge Demonstrates knowledge of the department’s or agency’s organizational components, the mission[s] of each relevant organizational unit, and the principal programs in the organization. Leadership Establishes work standards and expectations for self and others. Appropriately assigns/delegates work and authority to others in the accomplishment of goals. Keeps goals and objectives in sight at all times, monitors progress toward goals, and works to overcome barriers and obstacles. Provides coaching, advice, and assistance as required; e.g., helps subordinates overcome obstacles and deal with problems. Appropriately assesses contributions and p performance of employees; provides appropriate recognition, and deals with problems as they arise. Instills in others a sense of pride in the job at hand. Executive Core Competencies [ECC] ECC #1Leading Change ECC #2Leading People ECC #3Results Driven ECC #4Business Acumen ECC #5Building Coalitions/Communications ECC #1 Leading Change This core qualification encompasses the ability to develop and implement an organizational vision which integrates key national and program goals, priorities, values, and other factors. Inherent to it is the ability to balance change and continuity – to continually strive to improve customer service and program performance within the basic government framework, to create a work environment that encourages creative thinking, and to maintain focus, intensity and persistence, even under adversity. Key Characteristics: 1. Exercising leadership and motivating managers to incorporate vision, strategic planning, and elements of quality management into the full range of the organization’s activities; encouraging creative thinking and innovation; influencing others toward a spirit of service; designing and implementing new or cutting edge programs/processes. 2. Identifying and integrating key issues affecting the organization, including political, economic, social, technological, and administrative factors. 3. Understanding the roles and relationships of the components of the state or regional policy making and implementation process, including the Governor, legislature, the judiciary, local governments, and interest groups; and formulating effective strategies to balance those interests consistent with the business of the organization. 4. Being open to change and new information; tolerating ambiguity; adapting behavior and work methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles; adjusting rapidly to new situations warranting attention and resolution. 5. Dealing effectively with pressure; maintaining focus and intensity and remaining persistent, even under adversity; recovering quickly from setbacks. 6. Displaying a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment to public service; being proactive and achievement-oriented; being self-motivated; pursuing self-development; seeking feedback from others and opportunities to master new knowledge. Leadership Competencies Creativity and Innovation – Develops new insights into situations and applies innovative solutions to make organizational improvements; creates a work environment that encourages creative thinking and innovation; designs and implements new or cutting-edge programs/processes. Resilience – Deals effectively with pressure; maintains focus and intensity and remains optimistic and persistent, even under adversity. Recovers quickly from setbacks. Effectively balances personal life and work. Continual Learning – Grasps the essence of new information; masters new technical and business knowledge; recognizes own strengths and weaknesses; pursues self-development; seeks feedback from others and opportunities to master new knowledge. Service Motivation – Creates and sustains an organizational culture which encourages others to provide the quality of service essential to high performance. Enables others to acquire the tools and support they need to perform well. Shows a commitment to public service. Influence others toward a spirit of service and meaningful contributions to mission accomplishment. External Awareness – Identifies and keeps up to date on key national and international policies and economic, political, and social trends that affect the organization. Understands near-term and long-range plans and determines how best to be positioned to achieve a competitive business advantage. Strategic Thinking – Formulates effective strategies consistent with the business and competitive strategy of the organization. Examines policy issues and strategic planning with a long-term perspective. Determines objectives and sets priorities; anticipates potential threats or opportunities. Flexibility – Is open to change and new information; adapts behavior and wok methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles. Adjust rapidly to new situations warranting attention and resolution. Vision – Takes a long-term view and acts as a catalyst for organizational change; builds a shared vision with others. Influences others to translate vision into action. ECC #2 Leading People This core competency involves the ability to design and implement strategies which maximize employee potential and foster high ethical standards in meeting the organization’s vision, mission, and goals. Key Characteristics: 1. Providing leadership in setting the workforce’s expected performance levels commensurate with the organization’s strategic objectives; inspiring, motivating, and guiding others toward total accomplishment; empowering people by sharing power and authority. 2. Promoting quality through effective use of the organization’s performance management system [e.g., establishing performance standards, appraising staff accomplishments using the developed standards, and taking action to reward, counsel, or remove employees, as appropriate]. 3. Valuing cultural diversity and other differences; fostering an environment where people who are culturally diverse can work together cooperatively and effectively in achieving organizational goals. 4. Assessing employees’ unique developmental needs and providing developmental opportunities which maximize employees’ capabilities and contribute to the achievement of organizational goals; developing leadership in others through coaching and mentoring. 5. Fostering commitment, team spirit, pride, trust, and group identity; taking steps to prevent situations what could result in unpleasant confrontations. 6. R3solving conflicts in a positive and constructive manner; this includes promoting labor/management partnerships and dealing effectively with employee relations matters, attending to morale and organizational climate issues, handling administrative, labor management, and EEO issues, and taking disciplinary actions when others means have not been successful. Leadership Competencies Conflict Management – Identifies and takes steps to prevent potential situations that could result in unpleasant confrontations. Manages and resolves conflicts and disagreements in a positive and constructive manner to minimize negative impact. Integrity/Honesty – Instills mutual trust and confidence; creates a culture that fosters high standards of ethics; behaves in a fair and ethical manner toward others, and demonstrates a sense of corporate responsibility and commitment to public service. Cultural Aw3areness – Initiates and manages cultural change within the organization to impact organizational effectiveness. Values cultural diversity and other individual differences in the workforce. Ensures that the organization builds on these differences and that employees are treated in a fair and equitable manner. Team Building – Inspires, motivates, and guides others toward goal accomplishments. Consistently develops and sustains cooperative working relationships. Encourages and facilitates cooperation within the organization and with customer groups; fosters commitment, team spirit, pride, trust. Develops leadership in others through coaching, mentoring, rewarding, and guiding employees. ECC #3 Results Driven This core competency stresses accountability and continuous improvement. It includes the ability to make timely and effective decisions and produce results through strategic planning and the implementation and evaluation of programs and policies. Key Characteristics: 1. Understanding and appropriately applying procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise; understanding linkages between administrative competencies and mission needs; keeping current on issues, practices, and procedures in technical areas. 2. Stressing results by formulating strategic program plans which assess policy/program feasibility and include realistic short and long-term goals and objectives. 3. Exercising good judgment in structuring and organizing work an setting priorities; balancing the interests of clients and readily readjusting priorities to respond to customer demands. 4. Anticipating and identifying, diagnosing, and consulting on potential or actual problem areas relating to program implementation and goal achievement; selecting from alternative courses of corrective action, and taking action from developed contingency plans. 5. Setting program standards; holding self and others accountable for achieving these standards; acting decisively to modify them to promote customer service and/or quality of programs and policies. 6. Identifying opportunities to develop and market new products and services with or outside of the organization; taking risks to pursue a recognized benefit or advantage. Leadership competencies Accountability – Assures that effective controls are developed and maintained to ensure the integrity of the organization. Holds self and others accountable for rules and responsibilities. Can be relied upon to ensure that projects within areas of specific responsibility are completed in a timely manner and within budget. Monitors and evaluates plans; focuses on results and measuring attainment of outcomes. Entrepreneurship – Identifies opportunities to develop and market new products and services within or outside of the organization. Is willing to take risks; initiates actions that involve a deliberate risk to achieve a recognized benefit or advantage. Customer Service – Balancing interests of a variety of clients; readily readjust priorities to respond to pressing and changing client demands. Anticipates and meets the need of clients; achieves quality end-products; is committed to continuous improvement of services. Problem Solving – Identifies and analyzes problems; distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information to make logical decisions; provides solutions to individual and organizational problems. Decisiveness – Exercises good judgment by making sound and well-informed decision; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; makes effective and timely decisions, even when data is limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences; is proactive and achievement oriented. Technical Credibility – Understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise. Is able to make sound hiring and capital resource decisions and to address training and development needs. Understand linkages between administrative competencies and mission needs. ECC #4 Business Acumen This core competency involves the ability to acquire and administer human, financial, material, and information resources in a manner which instills public trust and accomplishes the organization’s mission, and to use new technology to enhance decision making. Key Characteristics 1. Assessing current and future staffing needs based on organizational goals and budget realities. Applying sound human resource principles to develop, select, and manage a diverse workforce. 2. Overseeing the allocation of financial resources; identifying cost-effective approaches; establishing and assuring the use of internal controls for financial systems. 3. Managing the budgetary process, including preparing and justifying a budget and operating the budget under organizational and legislative procedures; understanding the marketing expertise necessary to ensure appropriate funding levels. 4. Overseeing procurement and contracting procedures and processes. 5. Integrating and coordinating logistical operations. 6. Ensuring the efficient and cost-effective development and utilization of management information systems and other technological resources that meet the organization’s needs; understanding the impact of technological changes on the organization. Leadership Competencies Financial Management – Demonstrates broad understanding of principles of financial management and marketing expertise necessary to ensure appropriate funding levels. Prepares, justifies, and/or administers the budget for the program area; uses cost-benefit thinking to set priorities; monitors expenditures in support of programs and policies, Identifies cost-effective approaches. Manages procurement and contracting. Technological Management – Uses efficient and cost-effective approaches to integrate technology into the workplace and improve program effectiveness. Develops strategies using new technology to enhance decision making. Understands the impact of technological changes on the organization. Human Resource Management – Assesses current and future staffing needs based on organizational goals and budget realities. Using merit principles, ensure staff are appropriately selected, developed, utilized, appraised, and rewarded; takes corrective action. ECC #5 Building Coalitions/Communication This core competency involves the ability to explain, advocate and express facts and ideas in a convincing manner, and negotiate wit5h individuals and groups internally and externally. It also involves the ability to develop an expansive professional network with other organizations, and to identify the internal and external politics that impact the work of the organization. Key Characteristics 1. Representing and speaking for the organizational unit and its work [e.g., presenting, explaining, selling, defining, and negotiating] to those within and outside the office [e.g., agency heads and other government executives; corporate executives; Department of Administrative Services budget officials; legislative members and staff; the media; governor’s office; clientele and professional groups]; making clear and convincing oral presentations to individuals and groups; listening effectively and clarifying information; facilitating an open exchange of ideas. 2. Establishing and maintaining working relationships with internal organizational units [e.g., other program areas and staff support functions]; approaching each problem situation with a clear perception of organizational and political reality; using contacts to build and strengthen internal support bases; getting understanding and support from higher level management. 3. Developing and enhancing alliances with external groups [e.g., other agencies or firms, state and local governments, legislature, and clientele groups]; engaging in cross-functional activities; finding common ground with a widening range of stakeholders. 4. Working in groups and teams; conducting briefings and othe45r meetings; gaining cooperation from others to obtain information and accomplish goals; facilitating â€Å"win-win† situations. 5. Considering and responding appropriately to the needs, feelings, and capabilities of different people in different situations is tactful and treats others with respect. 6. Seeing that reports, memoranda, and other documents reflect the position and work of the organization in a clear, convincing, and organized manner. Leadership Competencies Influencing/Negotiating – Persuades others; builds consensus through give and take; gains cooperation from others to obtain information and accomplish goals; facilitates â€Å"win-win† situations. Partnering – Develops networks and builds alliances, engages in cross-functional activities; collaborates across boundaries, and finds common ground with a widening range of stakeholders. Utilizes contacts to build and strengthen internal support bases. Interpersonal Skills – Considers and responds appropriately to the needs, feelings, and capabilities of different people in different situations; is tactful, compassionate and sensitive, and treats others with respect. Political Savvy – Identifies the internal and external politics that impact the work of the organization. Approaches each problem situation with a clear perception of organizational and political reality; recognizes the impact of alternative courses of action. Oral Communication – Makes clear and convincing oral presentations to individuals or groups; listens effectively and clarifies information as needed; facilitates an open exchange of ideas and fosters an atmosphere of open communication. Written Communication – Expresses facts and ideas in writing in a clear, convincing and organized manner.

Climate Change And Economic Policy

Climate change is defined as â€Å"Change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods†(Bruno and Mehmet 2010). Modern methods of production create greenhouse gasses as a negative externality via the market failure and government intervention is needed to rectify the situation. Climate change is an issue for the Australian government as it needs to intervene to correct the market failure caused by the free markets inability to provide property rights to mitigate damages caused by the negative externality. (Calhoun 2010) The greenhouse gas externality is a by-product of the production of goods and services via the over-production of emissions. Dr Peter John Wood argues that† climate change is an indisputable threat† and on that basis, as well as the world stage Australia has taken the reins in acting upon climate change. An externality is defined as† are the unintended consequence of one economic agent’s economic activity that affect another agent’s economic activity, but which are not adequately priced through the market (Sonia and Jeff 2011)†. This is also known as market failure and requires government intervention to be able to rectify the problem due to a lack of property rights and correct mitigation for parties involved with the transaction. In this case, one form of the market failure is because the cost of CO2 is not factored into the transaction price. The Gillard government continued a legacy that was started with the Howard government back in 2007 that saw a Carbon Emissions Trading scheme take part in the Australian government to tackle Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions (Chris 2011). The Carbon tax was implemented on June 1st 2012 and has been controversial amongst politicians and economists alike according to Clive’s article â€Å"Australia's Carbon Tax: A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing†. The steps taken to implement a policy should be understood first before critiquing from different viewpoints. The four major points of policymaking are: 1. Specify the goals of policy 2. Identify the targets 3. Specify the policy instruments 4. Model the economy linking the instruments to the targets Using this framework, the goal’s of the policy are to mitigate damages caused by the production of greenhouse gasses on the (global) environment on a national scale and decrease the amount of pollution via increasing the price of polluting. The targets of the policy are the agents involved (Firms producing pollution, environment and households) with the transactions. Firms are the largest creators of the pollution and the households are directly affected by price increases, therefore their welfare post-tax needs to be considered in a socially acceptable policy. The policy instruments include subsidies to the households most affected by the increases in prices of amenities as well as the Pigovian Tax on polluting (Energy 2012). Lastly, the model that directly links the economy to the instruments proposed can be shown below. Tax brings the externality into equilibrium with the social cost. The amount of gain to the social benefit is the darker area and is also the taxation revenue collected on behalf of the government. This also decreases output by the difference in Original output-New output. This can also be shown on a Supply and Demand graph. The graph to the right illustrates the effectiveness of the tax on the existing market price and therefore reducing the quantity of pollution emitted. This tax is directly placed on the top 500 polluting firms in Australia which account for the majority of the pollution via production. The Department for Climate Change and Efficient Energy published their â€Å"Forth Assessment Report† outlining that â€Å"There is clear evidence that our climate is changing, largely due to human activities†. One can infer that the government is acting morally and taking partial responsibility for these human activities, hence action for change and mitigation. Market failure is defined as the inability of the market being able to deliver an efficient level of goods and or services (Calhoun 2010). This is an important aspect when determining what aspects of a policy are vital in addressing the issue at hand, because the situation of pollution is a non-Pareto optimal situation due to the negative externalities created in the transaction between agents. The government’s intervention due to the market failing is justified by its role in the G8, Kyoto Protocol and its response to the public on the matter (â€Å"Australia to have leading role in carbon mitigation† 2007). Another reason is that property rights are not defined clearly with the environment, therefore the government intervention to make the Marginal Social Cost equal the Marginal Social Cost via a Pigovian tax, decreasing the amount of negative externality produced (greenhouse gasses).(Bruno and Mehmet 2010) Macro-economically speaking, this issue impacts both Australia’s macroeconomic goal of efficient resource allocation and sustainable economic growth. Due to high public opinion on green alternatives and clean production, changes in consumer preferences will mean that some goods and services provided using traditional fossil fuels or unsustainable methods may be boy-cotted or fall second preference to ‘green goods’(Kathleen 2012) The Efficient resource allocation goal of Australia addresses â€Å"†¦where resources are allocated in the most efficient manner†(Weng 2008). The environment is a common resource and traditionally has not been defined to any specific owner. Firms may utilise the environment (clean air, sunshine and or clean water) as a factor of production, examples may include Personal Trainers or tour guides. With a market failure existing, it renders the goal incomplete as there is an excess of pollution and undersupply of environment as it is a rival good. Either the polluters must reduce their output of pollution or they must mitigate the affected agents. This causes a problem in the regard, whom is affected by the pollution and by how much does the affected agents need to be mitigated for. Sustainable economic growth in the long term is impacted by climate change. Not only will Australia be affected by the hypothesised changes to temperature for standards of living, but the changes may affect agricultural output and goods demanded by countries importing (supporting) clean production methods. Australia, by implementing policy change enables the economy to be in a better position to respond to act with funds allocated via the policy impact (â€Å"Australia: Australia Prepares for Carbon Tax† 2012). Comparing the current Carbon Tax (Clean Energy Bill) to alternatives that have been proposed such as Carbon Trading Schemes and Subsidies for Clean Investment have both advantages and disadvantages (Calhoun 2010). Australia’s Carbon Tax initially is a fixed price of $23 per Metric Tonne of Carbon Dioxide emitted from the top 500 polluting companies in Australia(Harris 2012). This in its simplicity is a Pigovian Tax, which is used to deter consumption/production of a good or service that causes the negative externality. Simultaneously the Indirect tax signals the taxed firms that they should spend investment capital on ways to lower their output of CO2 emissions (Carrie 2011). Pigovian taxes are designed to increase the price of the good that causes the negative externality by the amount that best reflects the cost to society in the production of the good which will internalise the effects of the externality (Carrie 2011). Examples of these in Australian society include the Alco-Pop tax and tobacco tax. In the case of the Carbon Tax, the good being taxed is pollution and the parties being mitigated are the Australian government on behalf of the environment in which it is representing, in effect the environment is gaining property rights in this explanation. The Pigovian tax, when applied will cause a reduction in the level of pollution due to the cost added. This will vary from firm to firm due to the elasticity of the cost to pollute. It is safe to assume that all firms are elastic with pollution expenses; therefore the economics of the tax are sound. Pigovian taxes have been praised for their simplistic approach to combating both losses of competitiveness due to inefficient methods of production and on goods themselves which are non-essential for consumption when viable substitutes are available according to Harris’s economic survey in 2012. Examples include using solar power on mine sites instead of Gas or Coal power. Pigovian Taxes however are not ideal in the case of Carbon Leakage, whereby firms choose to produce their goods offshore in countries that are not yet or not participating in Carbon Reduction. It reduces Australia’s carbon footprint, however the loss of production in Australia mean relative to before the tax, there is a reduction in output. (Dellaware 2011). By contrasting these to alternative methods to combat climate change such as an Emissions Trading Scheme (Cap and Trade) or the Carbon Offset system. All theoretically are able to reduce the level of the negative externality, however they all have different dynamics to each other and need to be applied using the framework aforementioned in the essay. The Cap and Trade system allows for the Coasian Bargaining of the right to emit greenhouse gasses as part of production of a firm. These permits would be of a set supply, and would limit firms to a ‘cap’ of pollution. These would be traded in the open market meaning that the market subject to demand and elasticity by a firm, determines the price of the permit. This would encourage firms to innovate and reduce the number of permits needed to produce, or be more efficient with the given quota of pollution per year.(Kathleen 2012) Advantages of the Cap and Trade system mean that the total level of greenhouse gases are controlled, IE a set amount per year meaning that it is easier to attain goals from the Kyoto Protocol. International trading markets are also proposed and feasible meaning that there is greater competition for permits which leads to more efficiency domestically. Firms that are unable to compete or innovate into cleaner greener methods are either absorbed by larger more efficient and environmentally viable companies or liquidate, meaning less pollution output. Another advantage is that there is little regulation and or further government attention required to maintain the Cap and Trade system. Because the market forces determine prices between firms, the need for a middle man is removed. Comparing this to a Carbon Tax, where constant auditing, monitoring and enforcement is both time consuming and expensive from a tax payers perspective. Comparing the two graphically below show the changes in price and quantity in the strict control of either supply of increase of price. The Carbon tax is indirect, it controls the price movements, which affect the quantity, and the Cap and Trade system controls the supply, which then determines the price. The biggest disadvantage to not controlling the price of pollution as oppose to the quantity is that it does not promote efficient investment on clean alternatives to production and instead causes prices to rise of the permits, allowing larger companies to purchase the right to continue polluting and drive out smaller less profitable companies, provided they can’t sustain operation by selling excess permits to excessive polluters. Graphically, they yield the same result however; Clive argues that the amount of red tape needed to maintain the Cap and Trade System is not viable. Introducing the Carbon Offset scheme, means that carbon offsets are purchased which in turn mitigates the marginal private cost of the firm to equilibrium level. Firms can only pollute according to their offset amount and has been successful in Europe with 5.5 Billion dollars of offsets traded according to Bruno and Mehmet’s paper on Governance and the Carbon impact. Advantages exist in the offset scheme whereby it guarantee’s firms to take positive action/investment due to money spent on offsets directly in the form of buying credits from firms specific for reducing pollution and or investment on re-forestation and cleaner methods of production. Other arguments exist stating that having a Cap of pollution will force in-efficient firms to find the lowest cost method to reduce their pollution. Again, like any alternative to the Carbon Tax, much more bureaucratic procedures, monitoring costs and governing bodies are required to manage such a proposal (Oh 2007). 1. Similarities exist between the two policy options in that both require a base measured level of pollution to which caps and prices can be compared 1. Both systems will generate revenue via the increase of the Marginal Private cost which can be distributed via the governing body. 1. Both systems will require a governing body to standardise and monitor activities to be equitable (International-Emissions-Trading-Association 2011) Using this information, the policies will affect different groups of individuals differently. The Carbon Tax will have some impact on households, but greater on the top 500 firms. Understanding how it will affect each party will enable a better understanding of the Pareto Efficiency concept. Households under the Carbon Tax will be charged more for amenities and certain activities such as air travel. Using the graph below it is clear that electricity is the largest producer of greenhouse gases and will have the largest impact via the tax. increase of costs of using electricity, any household that earns less than 80,000 dollars a year will benefit from subsidies and household assistance packages from the Liberal Government (Energy 2012).Households will also gain in subsidies and other cleaner initiatives from the government via the revenue collected from the tax which will increase their standard of living, proposed by the new energy reforms(Energy 2012). Linking back to Figure 1, the gains in Social Benefit are the largest gains that the households have, which economically speaking should be a new Pareto optimum specific to householders. Firms on the other hand, if subjected to the tax will have an increase in costs relative to the $23 per metric tonne of CO2 emitted. There is also the added cost of administration fees and loss of investment due to higher costs. Other costs that may be included are changes in capital. Pigovian taxes are aimed to have a distortion effect, decreasing the amount of CO2 emitted, changing what firms use to produce and furthermore where future capital investment may be directed (Bruno and Mehmet 2010). Firms from the impact of a Cap and Trade system will be partaking in Coasian Bargaining. This system has been used in the European Union and has shown dramatic decreases in the levels of CO2 by firms (International-Emissions-Trading-Association 2011). Due to the nature of the market, firms will bid and enter a price war against each other that will drive firms to have the lowest operating cost to save on purchasing permits. Firms that do not use the entire permit’s quota are able to bid off their remaining excess to firms whom can afford to pollute, or can’t afford to innovate into cleaner methods of production. Production, if the firm is pollutant dependant will be affected due to a rise in fixed and variable costs and may decrease output (Gilbert 2007). If the firm is not heavily reliant on pollution, it will see increases in its profits due to the revenue gained from trading the permits. The Cap and Trade system promotes production efficiency according to Gilbert Metcalfe’s proposal for a US Cap Swap in those methods that reduce CO2 output cost less via the tariffs placed. The Cap and Trade system from a household’s perspective will be similar to that of the carbon tax, however a time lag may be present due to firms having a time period in which they can allocate their pollution as opposed to an indirect tax. Each policy suggestion from an economic perspective has its own merits and weaknesses and need to be considered when creating a policy that affects both households and firms. The policy must be fair, equitable and efficient to all parties involved. By comparing the implemented Carbon Tax with the feasible alternative, the Cap and Trade system, the different viewpoints of firms and households are understood.

Confessions of the Worlds Worst Parent

The essay written by Jerri Cook titled Confessions of the World’s Worst Parent, is based on the book Free Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry written by author Lenore Skenazy (Cook). Cook provides similarities about raising her son and uses Skenazy’s experiences as they both point out the feeling of being judged by â€Å"good† parents because they gave their children the freedom to explore life without constant supervision. Cook shows the struggles between raising children the way she was raised and the way society wants them to be raised today.Cook explains to the audience in a humorous fashion the questions that all parents deal with, children and their freedom to explore and the paranoia that they will be hurt or taken. Presently the planet is dealing with the age of too much information, along with this comes misinformation and overinflated imaginations. Cook mentions that life for children was different when she w as a child; children were left to their own devices and the parents trusted them to do the right thing and it did not do any harm (Cook). Cook explains throughout her that society may be producing a planet filled with paranoid parents and children  that cannot fend for themselves.Should parents give their children more responsibility and trust to explore and acquire life skills on their own? The method that Cook uses to make her point to the audience throughout her essay is an anecdotal technique. She uses examples from her own life raising her son and quotes from Skenazy’s book to find a personal common ground with parents raising children. Cook points out the criticisms that Skenazy faced when opening her personal life to the media and sharing her child rearing skills.The use of Cook’s anecdotal technique allows the readers to find a common ground with the author that is familiar and comforting. The humorous way that Cook invites the reader into her life can appeal to parents that might think they are alone with their child rearing fears about not being a good enough parent; this style of writing could comfort a parent to make them feel they are not alone. Cook uses her research to find valid reasons to why parents today are too overprotective and paranoid and shares this interesting information with the audience.To begin with, Cook gives the audience an example of how her son â€Å"Josh told a classmate about throwing rocks at some beavers, and a teacher overheard† the school was â€Å"concerned that the children were 1) being made to work too hard in the garden and 2) that they weren’t being properly supervised† (Cook). Cook mentions that she was confused by the concern, and wondered if she was expected to â€Å"get in the car and go get them? † (Cook). Unfortunately for Cook and her children, the experience left a lasting impression of guilt and that Cook never wanted to be seen as â€Å"the â€Å"bad† p arent† again (Cook).From that point on Cook was â€Å"constantly at their side† (Cook) even though it caused some distress to her and her family. Similarly, Cook mentions that Skenazy â€Å"was nearly devoured by the media and other parents† because â€Å"she let her nine year old son ride the New York subway alone† (Cook). Skenazy wrote a column about her son’s adventure for the â€Å"New York Sun† (Cook) and it had caused her to be â€Å"criticized by every child safety â€Å"expert† (Cook) which in turn initiated an investigation of neglect for her son.Cook uses this example to show the different methods of parenting that exist and that some parents still feel that their children are fully capable and intelligent enough to make good choices. On the other hand Cook explains the paranoid state of affairs that the â€Å"good parents† (Cook) are inflicting on their children. As a result, Cook mentions that Skenazy started her ow n investigation into the actual facts and statistics about children and safety. Through Cook’s description of Skenazy’s investigations she learned that â€Å"Not only is the fear irrational, according to the statisticians Skenazy interviewed, it’s based solely on perception.† (Cook).This â€Å"perception† (Cook) can also be altered by the â€Å"issue of parent peer pressure† (Cook). Cook quotes Skenazy by writing, â€Å"Hell hath no fury like a self-righteous parent† (Cook). Furthermore, Cook explains Skenazy’s idea of the â€Å"helicopter parent† (Cook) that hover over their children â€Å"wasting their time, responding to threats that don’t exist† (Cook). Cook illustrates the idea about the old question of â€Å"how many cases have there been of children being injured or killed by tainted Halloween candy? † (Cook).After doing some research and asking questions the answer to the question turned out to be â€Å"none† (Cook). An â€Å"urban legend† (Cook) that unfortunately began with a horrible incident involving â€Å"relatives, in attempt to save their sorry selves, sprinkled some of the drug on the dead child’s Halloween candy after a child got into a relative’s stash of heroin and died† (Cook). This unfortunate incident has caused panic and concern for parents during Halloween for decades and to the dismay of children when a large portion of their candy was put in the garbage because it looked tampered with.In conclusion, Cook wrote this essay to humorously explain with anecdotes the trivial nonsense guilt that the â€Å"good parents† inflict on other parents that do not have the same views on the supervision of children. Cook tries to ease some of the guilt and inadequacy of being a â€Å"bad parent†. Cook makes light about not following parental peer pressure and raising their children as they feel comfortable and in the be st interest of their children.

Accounting assigment (Depreciation Memo) Assignment

Accounting assigment (Depreciation Memo) - Assignment Example To get the depreciation amount, subtract the scrap value from the cost of the machine and then divide it by the useful life of the machine (Weil, Schipper, and Francis, 2012). This method is simple to use. Its calculations are easy as the same amount of depreciation applies for each year. There is, therefore, no need for recalculating the value again unless there is a revaluation of the asset. It is also easy to forecast future income since you already know what your depreciation will be (Weil, Schipper, and Francis, 2012). The method tends to ignore the fact that assets lose value faster during the first years of use. Since the method applies uniform depreciation on the asset throughout its life, it may give a higher book value than the actual value. In later years, the asset may seem to offer more value than it gives. That is if depreciation is to form the basis of the assessment. Under this method, depreciation of an asset depends on the level of activity during that period. A period where the output level is high would record higher depreciation values comparative to years with low production. To get the amount of depreciation, divide the depreciable amount by the total expected units the machine would produce in its lifetime and then multiply the answer by the period’s production (Weil, Schipper, and Francis, 2012). The units-of-production method produces the closest estimate of depreciation to actual depreciation. Since it uses activity level as a basis for determination of depreciation, it fairly allocates depreciation to the periods as per the usage of the asset. In so doing, it matches the depreciation expense to revenue generated by the asset. In periods where there is no activity, there would be no depreciation. That is despite the fact that the asset would still lose value. The method may also not be applicable to assets whose relationship to production is not direct and hence will not depend on activity level. Assets such as

Invertebrate Zoology, Research Box Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Invertebrate Zoology, Box - Research Paper Example The fluid was centrifuged to separate liquid portion from the cellular constituents, which include the coelomocytes. The foreign bodies introduced to it were the red blood cells of a rabbit. The effect of some heavy metals, which are a part of industrial waste, was to be studied by Canicatti and Grasso. The three heavy metals used were zinc, mercury and cadmium. It was noted that among these metals, only zinc had an effect on immune response system and it varied considerably with the concentration of zinc. Zinc concentration of 1 mm or higher greatly reduced the breakdown activity. This was true both for the liquid part and the cellular part of the coelomic fluid. In contrast to this, lower zinc concentration led to increased lytic activity. At a concentration of 4 mm of zinc, the agglutination of red blood cells was not affected at all by zinc. Only the lytic activity was being affected at this concentration. The cellular portion always dominates in terms of contributing in the immu ne system when compared to the liquid portion. The contribution of liquid portion increased at a concentration of 0.25 mm zinc, but still remains below that of the cellular portion. The immune system is most responsive at 0.5 mm concentration of zinc. The immune response drastically decreases above 0.5 mm of zinc concentration. Table of Contents Summary of Findings 2 Abstract 4 INTRODUCTION 5 BASIS OF HYPOTHESIS 5 RESEARCH 5 METHODOLOGY 5 DATA COLLECTION 6 ORGANISMS COLLECTION 6 DESIGN 7 FUNDING 7 SIGNIFICANCE & CONCLUSION 8 REFERENCES 9 Abstract This paper formulates a hypothesis on how further research regarding the above experiment. Using the same scientific method the paper gives a short brief on how to formulate the project, collect data and organisms along with the design and funding of the project. Furthermore significance of the project along with the initially conclusion has been outlined. Keywords: Hypothesis, design, significance INTRODUCTION The findings of the Canicatti and Grasso (1988) were not conclusive. They left many questions unanswered. It left a big space for further research in this topic. Some of the questions which arise after the findings are: Would the same effects be observed if these tests were conducted on intact animals? Do organic pollutants have a similar effect on immune response system? Among the metals tested, why was zinc the only one which had an effect on the immune response system? Does zinc also have effects on the immune system of other animals? BASIS OF HYPOTHESIS I hypothesize that zinc would have a similar effect on the immune response system of other animals too. My basis of this hypothesis is that the immune system of all animals works in almost similar ways. Foreign bodies entering the territory of the body are attached by cells within the body and broken down, or are encapsulated and destroyed (Shankar & Prasad, 1998). This way their harmful effects are nullified. RESEARCH Before getting involved in the experime ntal procedure, it is important to further research the topic. To get background knowledge of the topic, numerous research articles have to be read related to this topic. From the work already done, it is established that zinc does have an effect on the immune response system of animals (Prasad 2008). Is the effect same for every animal is the question that needs to be answered. METHODOLOGY A research project has to be formulated for this study. The tests can be

The Supply Chain of Cocaine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Supply Chain of Cocaine - Essay Example In due course of time, the use of Cocaine evolved as a stimulant drug being used by various un-prescribed and unauthorized purposes resulting in many social and medical problems. The supply chain through which Cocaine is delivered all around the global as well as national markets comprises of manufacturers, distributors, retailers and customers. But due to the inclusion of traffickers that consequently increased legal barriers, the supply chain of the industry emerged to be complex and too challenging to be managed effectively (Karch, S. B., â€Å"A Brief History of Cocaine: From Inca Monarchs to Cali Cartels: 500 Years of Cocaine Dealing â€Å"). This paper will focus on providing with a comprehensive and elaborated description of the Cocaine industry in relation to its supply chain system. With this concern, the discussion of the paper will focus on the participants engaged in the supply chain of the industry along with the factors that tend to have a significant impact on the entire system. In addition, the current trends in the supply and demand for Cocaine will also be discussed in this paper. The cocaine industry operates fundamentally in export-oriented markets, i.e. cocaine is principally produced for the purpose of export in other countries. The industry came into being after the invention of cocaine in the 1980s which was followed by huge demands in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry as well as in the stimulant drug market apart from heroine. The supply chain executed in the industry from the traditional period has been quite complex, cost consuming as well as time consuming majorly due to the lengthy process o f travelling engaged with the distribution of the product. For instance, the coca leaves are cultivated in one location, i.e. the remote regions of a nation and are processed into coca base in other locations which are basically the urban and rural areas. These processing areas are also used for its storage. Similarly, until and unless the cocaine is received by the end customer, it travels through many places for storage and also for transportation (Castells, M., â€Å"End of Millennium†). One of the major differences between the structure of supply chain in the cocaine industry and that of the other industries can be observed as the inclusion of the financial experts in the trade dealings of this industry. These financial experts are engaged for handling the generated money from wholesale transactions of cocaine and are responsible for banking, handling drug profits and its laundering. Financers engaged with this industry, generally assure that a profit earned, is reinvested in the cocaine industry (Iron Crown Enterprises Staff, â⠂¬Å"An Eye for an Eye†). Although the major activities of the industry are handled by traffickers but the finances, the profits and the investments are tackled by the agents (Castells, M., â€Å"End of Millennium†). Cocaine industry involves high risk in its supply chain management. These can be illustrated as the market risks, business risks and operational risks. Market risks are caused due to the fluctuations in the ‘supply and demand’ flow of the industry. Due to the enforcement of strict legal measures in the manufacturing nations, the supply of cocaine has often been witnessed to fall without any prior information. Moreover, as an

Performance Measurement for Public School Teachers Case Study

Performance Measurement for Public School Teachers - Case Study Example According to the paper the purposes may be categorized into three categories as discussed below. The strategic purpose which is concerned with aligning employees performance with the organizational core values, goals and strategies, administrative purpose which clarifies employees roles and expectations, providing basis for human resource decisions and improving communication and developmental purpose which is concerned with developing full employee capabilities and enhancing individual employees development. The case also outlines the strategic purpose of performance management system. The main objective of school’s performance management is to enable schools achieve their core mandate; prepare pupils to become better citizens and employees and rational consumers. From these expectations, it is imperative to have talented and motivated teachers with the required behavior and resources. There is an understanding that there are numerous factors at play that may influence perfor mance management. For this reason, objective performance measurement techniques such as the students’ performance on standardized test in all subject areas, evaluation by supervisors and studying the teachers practical skills have been developed. These techniques are driven by the desired result of the learning process. Administrative purpose of performance management system has been shown in the case by going further to understand into detail the factors that may influence the teachers performance outcome such as; students behavioral problems, learning disabilities, poor preparation. This understanding led to the development of better ways of teaching and measuring performance such as the use of comprehensive testing to enhance administration of teachers duty. Lastly, the developmental purpose of performance management system seeks to understand and facilitate how teachers render their services.

Intellectual Property Law Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Intellectual Property Law Master - Essay Example For the purpose of identification of the source of goods or services, marks enable consumers to ensure expected quality. Further, marks help consumers to identify goods and services that meet their individual expectations. Additionally, trademarks ensure accountability and responsibility for in the absence of these, a seller's mistakes or low quality products would be untraceable to their source. Therefore, trademarks not only provide an incentive to maintain a good reputation for a predictable quality of goods but also make it essential to be responsible for the quality and price of the goods manufactured or sold. One of the main underlying purposes of trade mark law is to protect the owner's investment in the quality of the goods or services sold from dilution due to unfair competition and deceptive advertising by unscrupulous competitors. With the purpose of defining which goods or services a company has rights over, all goods and services in the world are categorised into 45 (formerly 42) internationally recognised categories. A trade mark registration will only be for some of these categories. Further, within each category the trade mark application must specify exactly which goods/services are claimed. For instance, most trade mark registries will not accept applications which try to claim all goods in Class 1. Trademarks must be Trademarks must be actively used and defended in contrast to other forms of intellectual property such as copyrights and patents. A copyright or patent holder may "sit on" his creation and prevent its use, but a company claiming (even registering) a trademark that fails to make active use of it, or fails to defend it against infringement, may lose the exclusive right to it. Further, if a court rules that a formerly trademarked term has become "generic" through common use or in other words the average consumer doesn't realize it is a trademark, it may also be ruled invalid. (Trademark, 2006). In the sequel the registrability of certain types of marks under the 1994 Trade Marks Act, including the grounds for their acceptance or refusal will be contemplated. One, the trademark smell of roses as applied to Rambling Rose Dolls. Amendment to the U.K. Trademark Act in 1994 has resulted in a number of scent registrations being issued in the U.K. These include the registration of the smell of roses as applied to car tyres (Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., Registration No. 2,001,416). In addition, applications for scent marks in other European countries have also originated and the OHIM has permitted the registration of a trade mark comprising "The Smell of Fresh Cut Grass (Application No. 428,870) for tennis balls. This mark is also registered in Benelux (Registration No. 591,693). (Sarginson, Lloyd C. & Sversky, Lillian, March 29, 2000). Many a time the purpose of scents is to increase the attractiveness of products. However, it is highly unlikely that potential consumers will associate these fragrances with the product and hence it makes the task of establishing adequate distinctiveness on this basis difficult. In order to be registrable a s mell mark: 1. It must be established that the smell is either used or will be used as a trademark. 2. The smell is an additional component created by the manufacturer and does not arise from the goods or services. 3. The public either associates or will associate the smell exclusively with that

Decision analysis task 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Decision analysis task 1 - Research Paper Example Based on a quantitative analysis of the above results of assembly line balancing tool, the overall efficiency of the workflow at the Shuzworld production facility for Rugged Wear boots assembly line can significantly be improved by reducing the number of workstations from the current 8 to five and combining certain tasks at some of the workstations in order to minimize idle time. Generally, it is evident that a number of the current tasks in the production facility can effectively be performed in one cycle without the need to exceed the cycle time. For example, task A takes full cycle time (10min) and therefore should be left on its one station alone. On the other hand, task B and C require 9 minutes and 10 minutes cycle while task D is an 8 minute task. However, the three tasks EF and G can easily be performed by a single workstation. This decision can be explained in the calculations below: Finally, the choice of assembly line balancing as a decisions tool in the workflow analysis is particularly based on the fact that it enables the organization to effectively determine the layout and organize its assembly line in the most efficient way by using the correct number of workstations (Heizer and Render, 2010). The initial and ongoing costs required for the new sandal line that is currently being introduced including the number of hours and the cost of labor every month can effectively be determined using an appropriate decision analysis tool. In this task, the selected decision making tool is the learning curves. Learning curves decision making tool has particularly been chosen because it provides the most appropriate way of analyzing both the initial and ongoing costs needed (Goemans and Williamson,1997). In addition, the tool also establishes the important relationship between the times required for the production. Based on this analysis, it has been determined that a 4 month

Inclusionary Practices in Science Classrooms Research Paper

Inclusionary Practices in Science Classrooms - Research Paper Example There they are given additional help and special instruction in the classroom. Full inclusion is one where there is no segregation between general and special students, and they work together (Hub Pages). Richard Lange, is a gifted expert, and he talks about his experience and about the international gifted programs. He talks about his visit to Taipei, Taiwan, where he saw that these students had to take extensive rigorous placement tests in order to get them admitted in these schools. These schools have large focus on science and laboratory experiments at an early age. When inclusive practices are cultivated in schools, the school academics must make sure that the teachers they hire have a focus on disabled students beyond that they have on normal students. The way instructions are given is an important factor, as it can serve as solid foundation for inclusive classroom (Dukes & Dukes) However, there are a lot of challenges that comes across in inclusive classrooms. The teacher has to be more inclusive and identify challenges by providing practical activities, ideas and approaches (Inclusive Science). One obstacle which everyone comes across is the common attitude of teachers. It has been observed that the attitude of general student teachers is different towards the disabled students. Their idea of inclusion and acceptability differs in respect to the two types. This eventually leads to a creation of ‘yours not mine’ sort of an hostile environment between both the students and the staff. A second obstacle is that most of the time the leaders are unable to recognize the needs of the inclusive classrooms, and therefore, due to this lack of support from the staff and administrators, success is unlikely (Green). Science has been considered as the most valuable subject to be taught to the disabled students. Mostly general student teachers have training pertaining to teaching students with disabilities. Special student teachers

Classical Music Concert Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Classical Music Concert Report - Essay Example Each of the pieces from the performance was composed in March 1941 by Benjamin Britten. Different pieces of the performance included symphony and orchestral pieces. Each of the pieces from the performance was written to provide entertainment to the audiences. In addition, the compositions also meant to portray the meaning of opera in the lives of the people (Boosey & Hawkes, â€Å"Benjamin Britten†). In terms of the composer’s background, it is observed that Benjamin Britten was one of the most broadly performed British 20th century composers who studied at Royal College of Music. He founded a new English-language opera convention. His major works comprise invaluable offerings related to opera and the various components that are associated with the creation of symphonic music. Benjamin Britten was born on 22nd November 1913. He passed away at the age of 63 on 4th December 1976. Benjamin Britten belonged to an era in which the concept of classical music was quite widespr ead and consequently he received much admiration. In the era, audiences were able obtain a number of classic pieces of compositions in numerous musical concerts (Boosey & Hawkes, â€Å"Benjamin Britten†). The composer i.e. Benjamin Britten represented a great source of influence on many contemporaries. He had been and still is regarded as one of the great sources of inspiration to many classical music artists namely Percy Grainger among others. His music also inspired the young audiences (Boosey & Hawkes, â€Å"Benjamin

Problems of students Essay Example for Free

Problems of students Essay Top 10 Problems of Students While time spent at college is a fond memory and a happy experience for most, college life is not without its rough patches and problems. While each person problems are unique to their current circumstances, I know that there are a few problems that almost all college students deal with at least once during their time at school. College is not high school so please do not think its a walk in the park. Depending on what type of school you are going to, depends on what kind of problems you are going to face. Certain problems, you going to face regardless of what type of school you are going too. Most common problems of college student are the following. 1. First Day of School ? University students also face problems with making new friends. University is a new chapter in life, and with every new chapter, we have to try to meet new people and make new friends. It is normal for people to feel shy in the beginning, especially when they don’t know anyone around them. Students should learn to step out of their comfort zones and put themselves out there when trying to make new friends. It always seems that people are always just waiting for someone to approach them because they are too shy to make the first move. So, why not try taking the first step, and maybe you’ll find yourself heading towards a really wonderful friendship. 2. Relationship Thingy! Another problem we often hear students talk about are relationship problems. University students are usually at the age where they are looking for someone to share their lives with. We hear many stories about students getting into a relationship too quickly, and things going sour because both parties didn’t know each other well enough as friends. Maybe we should accept some advice from the older generation when they always say that we should always strive to get to know a person of the  opposite sex as a friend, before deciding if there is anything more to pursue with the person. There seems to be very little success rate when rushing into a relationship with someone we do not know well enough. 3. I’m so stress. . When a person faces any type of problems in their daily life, we will definitely find that the person is under high amounts of stress. This applies very aptly to the life a university student. Students are very susceptible to stress when they have any of the above mentioned problems. One good way to deal with stress is to exercise. Exercising helps release endorphins which is a hormone that helps our body relax and feel good. Students who exercise seem to be able to handle stress a lot better than those who do not exercise. 4. Problem everywhere -. The unavoidable problem that students will have to face is problems with their studies. Whether it is a topic that is very hard to grasp, a misunderstanding with a group mate, or just not knowing how to do the work given to them, students will definitely face these sort of problems. It appears that when a student faces these sort of problems, they like to just keep it to themselves, or complain about it to their peer. The solution to these sort of problems is to address it and bring it up to the lecturer, or ask a friend if they can help you with it. Rather than just complaining that they do not understand what is going on, they should seek assistance to help solve their problem. 5. Still Sleepy \^o^/ Many students also suffer from irregular sleeping patterns. Students have assignments, projects and deadlines that appear almost daily after each class. A lot of them spend their time doing all those assigned work during the hours that they are supposed to be asleep. Some of them claim that they work better at night, but it is a  very unhealthy habit. It would be good if students could learn to finish up their work in the day time and leave the night-time to sleeping as that is the time where your body is regenerating, mending, and creating new cells. There is a discipline that should be built into a student when it comes to assignments. They should try their very hardest not to leave their work to the last possible minute. 6. My Hectic Schedule -. Another problem that university students face is poor time management. Due to their busy lifestyles, students often find it hard to find a good balance between their  studies, social lives and working lives. Students should strive to have a planned schedule for their day so that they can try to maximize their productivity and not fall behind in any aspects of their lives. Students often have to learn to be independent and responsible with managing their time, when in university, away from the direct guidance of their parents. 7. Why you’re so Slow Internet? _ With most universities and colleges making use of technology, it’s always an instant heart attack for you when it’s time to enroll in classes and check grades. To  make matters worse, everyone else is trying to access the website of your school hence the slower loading of the page and also in doing assignments and projects. You end up holding your breath while your heart attempts to break free from your body. The struggle is real! 8. Suspension Abangers *. * You stay up late at night and refresh your Twitter account every minute to see if there are suspension announcements. You wake up early in the morning with high hopes of class suspensions because the rain is too strong. You wait, and wait, and wait. You struggle with the thoughts of facing the storm or continue hoping for a class  suspension. You end up going to school anyway; but just as you’re finally at the end of your storm challenge, the suspension you’ve longed for comes and then you just stare at an empty space and mentally flip all the tables in your school. 9. Lack of Confidence There are students who do not believe in their ability to do well in college. Rather than focusing on their abilities and what they are capable of achieving, they place more emphasis on what they feel they can’t achieve. If you tell yourself, â€Å"I’ve always been lousy at math, I am going to fail this course,† then chances are, you probably will. 10. Commute line Don’t you hate it when you wake up early and leave early, but still end up being late for class because of those horrible commute lines? It’s definitely extremely frustrating when you arrive at the terminal or station only to find out that the end of the line is nowhere in sight These are just ten of the many problems that college students face. In the end, is college worth facing these problems and struggles? While students get stressed to the max, the good times outweigh the problem times and the college experience becomes one which shapes the minds and futures of many young people worldwide.

Classical Music

Classical Music Classical music seems definitely more comprehensive and soul searching. Classical music seems to be much less accessible than rock since it has become very elitist. Elitism always strips the emotion necessary to inspire any passion. Because rock is not valued as high art there remains room for real emotion. People always like what is natural and real. Classical music has been and still is a major part of American and European cultures. This type of music was my aunts and still is her favorite type of music. She listened to classical music all of her life ever since she was first introduced to it by her parents back in the mid 1900s. Her parents tried to encourage her to only listen to classical music because they said that it brought peace to the mind and helped people concentrate on their work better. Classical music is just so hard to relate to since there are very few or no words and it has been in existence for a very long period of time without much change. This, is one reason younger people, like me, do not quite know what to make of classical music, but on the other hand, the seriousness of classical music could also be an attraction. To me it is as if classical music and rock inhabit different worlds, where people think in entirely different ways. Listening to classical music was seen as a sign of someone who was very well educated and well mannered. Classical music was just so wonderful to her because it brought together so many different kinds of instruments in a beautiful harmony. Classical music almost never talks about such things. Classical music just seems so repetitive and gets tiring to me very fast. She very much appreciated the musical works of composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Haydn, and many others. Some of these benefits include optimizing brain d evelopment, building social and emotional skills, and stimulating creativity and enhancing joy. According to my aunt, classical music has many benefits. Classical music because she was so engrossed in it that she wanted to learn everything about it and more. This music is just so inspirational. The most obvious example is when rock first appeared in 1954, it was an eruption of black music into the white pop mainstream. When I listen to music, I like to hear words in the song. However, in a classical song, one cannot really try to improvise because it might disrupt some of the harmonies of other instruments, and just overall mess up the whole song. Classical music certainly is more complex. HoweverI always wonder why the rock musicians are millionares. Most of them dont even know how to read music. They dont spend years taking lessons and seem to master their instruments. A guitarist in my favorite rock band, only took a couple of guitar lessonsyet now he is considered one of the best guitarists in rock and is a millionaire. I guess the real art in rock, is the creativity of coming up with something that the public likes. I would say that rock music is the dominant music in the western world today. I wonder why that is. Is it because of the strong beat in rock? Or because it is easier for people to listen to? Or maybe because the rock compositions (overall) are shorter? Is the electric guitar easier to master than symphony instruments? Perhaps the real clue is, there are so many different kinds of classical music, that exploring the genre will eventually involve an attempt to understand some sort of music. And this is what, to me, rock music doesnt need: all you have to do is listen to the music, and listen to the words; if it moves you, you like it. Rock music tends to lack the mental effort of comprehension. This does not mean that people who listen to rock music are stupid :). They are people who simply want to enjoy their music. I see them as wanting to relax to it, not wanting to be discerning and analytical. This is why I like to listen to some rock. As the why rock musicians make more money: They play in huge stadiums, where classical music is very hard to perform. Rock music is generally fairly catchy, has singable lyrics, that really hit home to some people, or just something about the ease in listening to it that makes everyone like it.

Ssis Is An In Memory Pipeline Computer Science Essay

Ssis Is An In Memory Pipeline Computer Science Essay Since SSIS is an in-memory pipeline, one has to ensure that transactions occur in the memory for performance benefits. To check if your package is staying within memory limits, one should review the SSIS performance counter Buffers spooled. This has an initial value of 0. Any value above 0 is an indication that the engine has started disk-swapping activities. Capacity planning to understand resource utilization In order to understand resource utilization it is very important to monitor CPU, Memory, I/O and Network utilization of the SSIS package. CPU It is important to understand how much CPU is being utilized by SSIS and how much of CPU is being utilized by overall SQL Server while Integration Services is running. This latter point is very important, especially if you have SSIS and SQL Server on the same box, because if there is resource contention, SQL Server will surely win that will result into disk spilling from Integration Services resulting in slower transformation speed. The performance counter that should be monitored is Process / % Processor Time (Total). One should measure this counter for both sqlservr.exe and dtexec.exe. If SSIS is not close to 100% CPU load, then this indicates: Application contention For e.g. SQL Server takes more processor resources, makes it unavailable for SSIS Hardware contention Probably a suboptimal disk I/O or not enough memory to handled the amount of data to be processed Design limitation The SSIS design is not making use of parallelism, and/or the package has too many single-threaded tasks Network SSIS moves data as fast as your network is able to handle it. Hence, it is important to understand your network topology and ensure that the path between the source and destination have both low latency and high throughput. Following performance counters can help you tune the topology: Network Interface / Current Bandwidth Provides estimate of current bandwidth Network Interface / Bytes Total/Sec The rates at which bytes are sent and received on each network adapter Network Interface / Transfers/Sec How many network transfers per second are occurring. If the number is close to 40,000 IOPs, then get another NIC card and use teaming between the NIC cards Input / Output (I/O) A good SSIS package should hit the disk only when it reads from the sources and writes back to the target. But if the I/O is slow, reading and especially writing can create a bottleneck. So it is very important to understand that the I/O system is not only specified in size (like 1 TB, 2 TB) but also its sustainable speed (like 20,000 IOPs). Memory The key counters to monitor memory for SSIS and SQL Server are as follows: Process / Private Bytes (DTEXEC.EXE) amount of memory currently used by Integration Services that cannot be shared with other processes Process / Working Set (DTEXEC.EXE) amount of allocated memory by Integration Services SQL Server: Memory Manager / Total Server Memory amount of allocated memory for SQL Server. This counter is the best indicator of total memory used by SQL, because SQL Server has another way to allocate memory using the AWE API Memory / Page Reads/sec total memory pressure on the system. If this consistently goes above 500, it is an indication that the system is under memory pressure Baseline Source System Extract Speed It is important to understand the source system and the speed at which data can be extracted from it. Measure the speed of the source system by creating a simple package that reads data from some source with the destination that says Row Count Execute this package from the command line and measure the time it took for it to complete the task. Using Integration Services log output, you can measure the time taken. Formula to be used: Rows/Sec = RowCount / Time Based on the above value, you can judge the maximum number of rows per second that can be read from the source. To increase the Rows/Sec calculation, you can perform one of the following operations: Improve drivers and driver configurations: Ensure you are using the up-to-date driver configurations for the network, data source and disk I/O. Start multiple connections: To overcome limitations of drivers, you can start multiple connections to your data source. If the source is able to handle many concurrent connections, the throughput will increase if you start several extracts at once. If concurrency causes locking or blocking issues, consider partitioning the source having your packages read from different partitions to more evenly distribute the load Use multiple NIC cards: If network is the bottleneck and you have ensured you are using gigabit network cards and routers, then a potential solution is to use multiple NIC cards per server. Optimize SQL data source, Lookup transformations and Destination Here are some optimization tips that you can implement in your SSIS packages: Use NOLOCK or TABLOCK hints to remove locking overhead Refrain from using SELECT * in SQL queries. Mention each column name in the SELECT clause for which data needs to be retrieved If possible, perform datetime conversions at source or target databases In SQL Server 2008 Integration Services, there is a new feature of shared lookup cache. During the use of parallel pipelines, it provides high-speed, shared cache If Integration Services and SQL Server run on the same box, use SQL Server destination instead of OLE DB Commit size 0 is fastest on heap bulk targets. If you cannot use 0, use the highest possible value of commit size to reduce overhead of multiple-batch writing. Commit size = 0 is bad while inserting into BTree because all incoming rows must be sorted at once into the target BTree, and if the memory is limited, there is a likelihood of spill. Batchsize=0 is ideal for inserting into a heap. Please note that a commit size value of 0 might cause the running package to stop responding if the OLE DB destination and another data flow component are updating the same source table. To ensure that the package does not stop, set the maximum insert commit size option to 2147483647 Use a commit size of Heap inserts are typically faster than using a clustered index. This means it is recommended to drop and rebuild all the indexes if there is a large part of the destination table getting changed. Use partitions and partition SWITCH command. In other words load a work table that contains single partition and SWITCH it into the main table after the indexes are build and then put the constraints on Network tuning Packet size is the main property of the network that needs to be monitored / looked at in order to take decisions for Network tuning. By default this value is set to 4,096 bytes. As noted in SqlConnection.PacketSize property in .Net Framework Class Library, when the packet size is increased, it will improve performance because fewer network read and write operations are required to transfer a large data set. If your system is transactional in nature, lowering the value will improve the performance. Another network tuning technique is to use network affinity at the operating system level to increase the performance at high throughputs. Use Data Type wisely Following are some best practices related to usage of data types: Define data types as narrow as possible Do not perform excessing casting of data types. Match your data types to the source or destination and explicitly specify data type casting Take care of precision when using money, float and decimal data types. Money data type is always faster than decimal and has fewer precision considerations than float. Change the design Following are some best practices related to SSIS design: Do not SORT within Integration Services unless absolutely necessary. In order to sort the data Integration Services allocates memory space for the entire data set that needs to be transformed. Preferably, presort the data before hand. Another way to sort the data is by using ORDER BY clause to sort large data in the database. There are times where using Transact-SQL will be faster than processing the data in SSIS. Generally all set-based operations will perform faster in Transact-SQL because the problem can be transformed into a relational algebra formulation that SQL Server is optimized to resolve. Set-based UPDATE statements these are more efficient than row-by-row OLE DB calls Aggregation statements like GROUP BY and SUM are also calculated faster using T-SQL instead of in-memory calculations by a pipeline Delta detection is a technique where you change existing rows in the target table instead of reloading the table. To perform delta detection, one can change detection mechanism such as the new SQL Server 2008 Change Data Capture (CDC) functionality. As a rule of thumb, if the target table has changed > 10 %, it is often faster to simply reload than to perform the delta detection Partition the problem For ETL design, partition source data into smaller chunks of equal size. Here are some more partitioning tips: Use partitioning on your target table. Multiple versions of the same package can be executed in parallel to insert data into different partitions of the same table. The SWITCH statement should be used during partitioning. It not only increases parallel load speed, but also allows efficient transfer of data. As implied above, the package should have a parameter defined that specifies which partition should it work on. Minimize logged operations If possible, used minimal logged operations while inserting data into your target SQL Server database. When data is inserted into a database in fully logged mode, the size of the log grows quickly, because each row that is written in the database is also written to the log. Therefore, consider the following while designing SSIS packages: Try to perform data flows in bulk mode instead of row by row. This will help minimize the number of entries to the log file. This eventually results into less disk I/O hence improving the performance If for any reason you need to delete data, organize the data in such a way that you can use TRUNCATE instead of DELETE. The later places an entry of each row that is deleted into the log file. The former will delete all the data and just put one entry into the log file If for any reason partition need to be move around, use the SWITCH statement. This is a minimally logged operation If you use DML statements along with your INSERT statements, minimum logging is suppressed. Schedule and distribute it correctly Good way to handle execution is to create a priority queue for your package and then execute multiple instances of the same package (with different partition parameter values). This queue can be a simple SQL Server table. A simple loop in the control flow should be a part of each package to: Pick a relevant chunk from the queue Relevant means that is not already been processed and that all chunks it depends on have already executed Exit the package if no item is returned from the queue Perform work required on the chunk Mark the chunk as done in the queue Return to the start of the loop Picking an item from the queue and marking it as done can be implemented as a stored procedure. Once you have the queue in place, you can simple start multiple copies of DTEXEC to increase parallelism. Keep it simple Unnecessary use of components should be avoided. Here is one of the way to avoid it: Step 1: Declare the variable varServerDate Step 2: Use ExecuteSQLTask in the control flow to execute a SQL query to get the server datatime and store it in the variable Step 3: Use the dataflow task and insert/update database with the server datatime from the variable varServerDate This sequence is advisable only in cases where the time difference from Step 2 to Step 3 really matters. If that does not matter, then just use the getdate() command at Step 3 as shown below: Create table #Table1(t_ID int, t_date datetime) Insert into #Table1(t_ID, t_date) values(1, getdate()) Executing a child package multiple times from a parent with different parameter values While executing a child package from a master package, parameters that are passed from the master package should be configured in the child package. Use the Parent Package Configuration option in the child package to implement this feature. But for using this option, you need to specify the name of the Parent Package Variable that is passed to the child package. If there is a need to call the same child package multiple times (each time with a different parameter value), declare the parent package variables (with the same name as given in the child package) with a scope limited to Execute Package Tasks. SSIS allows declaring variables with the same name but the scope limited to different tasks all inside the same package. SQL Job with many atomic steps For the SQL job that calls the SSIS packages, create multiple steps, each performing small tasks rather than one step that performs all the tasks. Creating one big step, the transaction log grows too big and if a rollback takes place, it make take the full processing space of the server. Avoid unnecessary typecasts Avoid unnecessary typecasts. For e.g., flat file connection manager, be default, uses the string [DT-STR] data type for all columns. You will have to manually change it, if there is a need to use the actual data type. It is always a good option to change it at the source-level itself to avoid unnecessary type casting. Transactions Usually, ETL processes handle large volume of data. In such scenarios, do not attempt a transaction on the whole package logic. SSIS does support transactions, and it is advisable to use transactions. Distributed transaction that span across multiple tasks The control flow of an SSIS package threads together various control tasks. In SSIS it is possible to set a transaction that can span into multiple tasks using the same connection. To enable this, set value of the retainsameconnection property of the Connection Manager to true Limit the package name to maximum of 100 characters When a SSIS package with a package name exceeding 100 characters is deployed in SQL Server, it trims the package name to 100 characters, which may cause an execution failure. SELECT * FROM Do not pass any unnecessary columns from the source to the destination. With the OLEDB connection manager source, using the Table or View data access mode is equivalent to SELECT * FROM tablename, which will fetch all the columns. Use SQL Command to fetch only required columns and pass that to the destination. Excel source and 64-bit runtime Excel Source or Excel Connection manager works only with the 32-bit runtime. Whenever a package that uses Excel Source is enabled for 64-bit runtime (by default, this is enabled), it will fail on the production server using the 64-bit runtime. Go to solution property pages debugging and set Run64BitRuntime to FALSE. On failure of a component, stop / continue the execution with the next component When a component fails, the property failParentonFailure can be effectively used either to stop the package execution or continue with the next component execution in the sequence container. The constraint value connecting the components in the sequence should be set to Completion. Also the failParentonFailure property should be set to FALSE. Protection To avoid most of the package deployment error from one system to other, set the package protection level to DontSaveSensitive Copy pasting script component Once you copy-paste a script component and execute the package, it may fail. As a work-around, open the script editor of the pasted script component, save the script and then execute the package. Configuration filter Use as a filter As a best practice use the package name as the configuration filter for all the configuration items that are specific to a package. This is typically useful when there are so many packages with package specific configuration items. Use a generic name for configuration items that are general to many packages. Optimal use of configuration records Avoid using the same configuration item recorded under different filter / object name. For e.g. there should be only one configuration record created if two packages are using the same connection string. This can be achieved by using the same name for the connection manager in both the packages. This is quite useful at the time of porting from one environment to other (like UAT to Prod). Pulling High Volume data Process of pulling high volume is represented in the following flowchart: The recommendation is to consider dropping all indexes from the target tables if possible before inserting data especially when the volume inserts are high. Effect of OLEDB Destination Settings Certain settings with OLEDB destination will impact the performance of the data transfer. Lets look at some of them: Data Access Mode This setting provides fast load option, which internally uses BULK INSERT statement for uploading data into the destination table. Keep Identity By default this setting is unchecked which means the destination table (if it has an identity column) will create identity values on its own. On checking this setting, the dataflow engine will ensure that the source identity values are preserved and same value is inserted into the destination table. Keep NULLs By default this setting is unchecked which means default value will be inserted (if the default constraint is defined on the target column) during INSERT into the destination table if NULL value is coming from the source for that particular column. On checking this option, the default constraint on the destination tables column will be ignored and preserved NULL of the source column will be inserted into the destination column. Table Lock By default this setting is checked and the recommendation is to let it be checked unless the same table is being used by some other process at the same time. Check Constraints By default this setting is checked and recommendation is to have it unchecked if you are sure the incoming data is not going to violate constraints of the destination table. This setting indicates that the dataflow pipeline engine will validate the incoming data against the constraints of target table. Performance of data load can be improved by unchecking this option. Effects of Rows per Batch and Maximum Insert Commit Size settings Rows per batch The default value for this setting is -1 which means all incoming rows will be treated as a single batch. If required you can change this to a positive integer value to break all incoming rows into multiple batches. The positive integer value will represent the total number of rows in a batch Maximum insert commit size Default value for this setting is 2147483647 which means all incoming rows will be committed once on successful completion. If required, you can change this positive integer to any other positive integer number that would represent that the commit will be done for those specified number of records. This might put an overhead on the dataflow engine to commit several times, but on the other side it will release the pressure on the transaction log and save tempdb from growing tremendously especially during high volume data transfers. The above two settings are mainly focused on improving the performance of tempdb and transaction log. Avoid Synchronous/Asynchronous transformations While executing the package, SSIS runtime engine executes every task other than data flow task in defined sequence. On encountering a data flow task the execution of the data flow task is taken over by the data flow pipeline engine. The dataflow pipeline engine then breaks the execution of the data flow task into one ore more execution tree(s). It may also execute these trees in parallel to achieve high performance. To make things a bit clearly, here is what an Execution Tree means. An Execution tree starts at a source or an asynchronous transformation and ends at a destination or first asynchronous transformation in the hierarchy. Each tree has a set of allocated buffer and scope of these buffers is associated to this tree. Also in addition to this every tree is allocated an OS thread (worker-thread) and unlike buffers other execution tree may share this thread. Synchronous transformation gets a record, processes it and passes it to the other transformation or destination in the sequence. The processing of a record does not dependent on the other incoming rows. Since synchronous transformations output the same number of rows as the input, it does not require new buffers to be created and hence is faster in processing. For e.g., in the Derived column transformation, a new column gets added in each incoming row, without adding any additional records to the output. In case of asynchronous transformation, different number of rows can be created than the input requiring new buffers to be created. Since an output is dependent on one or more records it is called blocking transformation. It might be partial or full blocking. For e.g., the Sort Transformation is a fully blocking transformation as it requires all the incoming rows to arrive before processing. Since the asynchronous transformation requires additional buffers it performs slower than synchronous transformations. Hence asynchronous transformations must be avoided wherever possible. For e.g. instead of using Sort Transformation to get sorted results, use ORDER BY clause in the source itself. Implement Parallel Execution in SSIS Parallel execution in allowed by SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) in two different ways by controlling two properties mentioned below: MaxConcurrentExecutables this property defines how many tasks (executable) can run simultaneously. This property defaults to -1, which is translated to the number of processors plus 2. In case, hyper-threading is turned on in your box, it is the logical processor rather than the physically present processor that is counted.  For e.g. we have a package with 3 Data Flow tasks where every task has 10 flows in the form of OLE DB Source -> SQL Server Destination. To execute all 3 Data Flow Tasks simultaneously, set the value of MaxConcurrentExecutables to 3. The second property named EngineThreads controls whether all 10 flows in each individual Data Flow Task get started concurrently. EngineThreads this property defines how many work threads the schedule will create and run in parallel. The default value for this property is 5. In the above example, if we set the EngineThreads to 10 on all 3 Data Flow Tasks, then all the 30 flows will start at the same time. One thing we want to be clear about EngineThreads is that it governs both source threads (for source components) and work threads (for transformation and destination components). Source and work threads are both engine threads created by the Data Flows scheduler. Looking back at the above example, setting a value of 10 for Engine Threads means up to 10 source and 10 work threads each. In SSIS, we dont affinitize the threads that we create to any of the processors. If the number of threads surpasses the number of available processors, it might hurt the throughput due to an excessive amount of context switches. Package restart without losing pipeline data SSIS has a cool feature called Checkpoint. This feature allows your package to start from the last point of failure on next execution. You can save a lot of time by enabling this feature to start the package execution from the task that failed in the last execution. To enable this feature for your package set values for three properties CheckpointFileName, CheckpointUsage and SaveCheckpoints. Apart from this you should also set FailPackageOnFailure property to TRUE for all tasks that you want to be considered in restarting. By doing this, on failure of that task, the package fails and the information is captured in the checkpoint file and on subsequent execution, the execution starts from that tasks. It is very important to note that you can enable a task to participate in checkpoint including data flow task but it does not apply inside the data flow task. Lets consider a scenario, where you have a data flow task for which you have set FailPackageOnFailure property to TRUE to participate in checkpoint. Lets assume that inside the data flow task there are five transformations in sequence and the execution fails at 5th transformation (assumption is that earlier 4 transformations complete successfully). On the following execution instance, the execution will start from the data flow task and the first 4 transformations will run again before coming to 5th one. It is worth noting below points. For loop and for each loop do not honor Checkpoint. Checkpoint is enabled at only control flow level and not at data level, so regardless of checkpoint the package will execute the control flow/data flow from the start in a case of restart. If package fails, checkpoint file, all server configurations and variables values are stored and also point of failure. So if package restarted, it takes all configuration values from checkpoint file. During failure you cannot change the configuration values. Best practices for logging Integration Services includes logging features that write log entries when run-time events occur and can also write custom messages. Logging, to help you in auditing and troubleshooting a package every time it is run, can capture run-time information about a package. For e.g., name of the operator who ran the package and the time the package began and finished can be captured in the log. Logging (or tracing the execution) is a great way of diagnosing the problem occurring during runtime. This is especially very useful when your code does not work as expected. Not only that, SSIS allows you to choose different events of a package and components of the packages to log as well as the location where the log information is to be written (text files, SQL Server, SQL Server Profiler, Windows Events, or XML files). The logging saves you from several hours of frustration that you might get while finding out the causes of problem if you are not using logging, but the story doesnt end here. Its true, it helps you in identifying the problem and its root cause, but at the same time its an overhead for SSIS that ultimately affects the performance as well, especially if you are excessively using logging. So the recommendation here is to use logging in a case of error (OnError event of package and containers) . Enable logging on other containers only if required, you can dynamically set the value of the LoggingMode property (of a package and its executables) to enable or disable logging without modifying the package. You can create your own custom logging which can be used for troubleshooting, package monitoring, ETL operations performance dashboard creation etc. However the best approach is to use the built-in SSIS logging where appropriate and augment it with your own custom logging. A normal custom logging can provide all the information you need as per requirement. Security audit and data audit is out of scope of this document. To help you understand which bulk load operations will be minimally logged and which will not, the following table lists the possible combinations. Table Indexes Rows in table Hints Without TF 610 With TF 610 Concurrent possible Heap Any TABLOCK Minimal Minimal Yes Heap Any None Full Full Yes Heap + Index Any TABLOCK Full Depends (3) No Cluster Empty TABLOCK, ORDER (1) Minimal Minimal No Cluster Empty None Full Minimal Yes (2) Cluster Any None Full Minimal Yes (2) Cluster Any TABLOCK Full Minimal No Cluster + Index Any None Full Depends (3) Yes (2) Cluster + Index Any TABLOCK Full Depends (3) No (1) It is not necessary to specify the ORDER hint, if you are using the INSERT à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ SELECT method, but the rows need to be in the same order as the clustered index. While using BULK INSERT it is necessary to use the ORDER hint. (2) Concurrent loads are only possible under certain conditions. Only rows those are written to newly allocated pages are minimally logged. (3) Based on the plan chosen by the optimizer, the non-clustered index on the table may either be fully- or minimally logged. Best practices for error handling There are two methods of extending the logging capability, Build a custom log provider Use event handlers We can extent SSISs event handler for error logging. We can capture error on OnError event of package and let package handle it gracefully. We can capture actual error using script task and log it in text file or in a SQL server tables. You can capture error details using system variables System::ErrorCode, System::ErrorDescription, System::SourceDescription etc. If you are using custom logging, log the error in same table. In some cases you may wish to ignore it or handle the error at container level or in some cases at task level. Event handlers can be attached to any container in the package and that event handler will catch all events raised by that container and any child containers of that container. Hence, by attaching an event handler to the package (which is parent container) we can catch all events raised of that event type by every container in the package. This is powerful because it saves us from building event handlers for each task in the package. A container has an option to opt out of having its events captured by an event handler. Lets say, you had a sequence container for which you didnt find it important to capture events, you can then simply switch them off using the sequence containers DisableEventHandlers property. If are looking to capture only certain events of that sequence task by an event handler, you could control this using the System::Propogate variable. We recommend you to use se