Paleolithic Vs Neolithic Art Essays - Art Of The Upper Paleolithic

Paleolithic Vs Neolithic Art PALEOLITHIC VS. NEOLITIC ART The following is a comparison of art from the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods in history. Paleolithic Art is art that was produced about 32,000 to 11,000 years ago. The art of the Paleolithic period falls into two main categories: portable pieces, such as small figurines or decorated objects, and cave art. Paleolithic art usually is classified as either figurative that is, depicting animals or humans, or nonfigurative, taking the form of signs and symbols. The portable art of the Paleolithic period was carved out of bone, antler, or stone, or modeled in clay. They consist of carefully worked small flint figurines of people, animals and birds, which are schematic and stylized and were probably used as amulets. This art has been found in much of Europe, in Northern Africa, and in Siberia. Paleolithic cave art, discovered in the 1860s by French paleontologist Edouard Lartet, primarily in northern Spain and southern France, takes the form of paintings, drawings, and engravings on cave walls. Artistic objects made during the Paleolithic era occupy an important place in history, since this is the only source from which we can reconstruct and study people of ancient times. The meaning and purpose of such objects from the Paleolithic era are usually identified with ancient cults. Neolithic Art is the art and architecture of the prehistoric period stretching roughly from 7000 to 3000 BC. Neolithic art was primarily composed of pottery and architecture. By the Neolithic age the advances in technology such as farming, weaving, the advent of pottery and the construction of monumental structures such as Stonehenge, indicate that humankind begin to settle and develop their land. Neolithic people created wooden figurines of people and animals along with pottery decorated with triangles, spirals, wavy lines, and other geometric forms on its rough or polished surfaces. There are a number of articles intended for tribal cults; these are polished stone axe-hammers, one end terminating with a bear's or elk's head executed with a considerable degree of realism. Neolithic pottery has been found throughout the Neolithic regions, from the Middle East through North Africa and the Mediterranean to Europe and the British Isles. Depending on the particular culture of its origin, such pottery may be cast in forms that mimic baskets, gourds, bells, or leather sacks. In conclusion, the arts in the Paleolithic and the Neolithic time period were different in many ways and alike also. As man's mind increased, it led into the new age, and the improved quality of art through these two periods. Arts and Painting

Free Essays on Burger King Vs Mcdonalds

Burger King vs. McDonald’s. Everybody loves fast food, but not everyone agrees on which fast food restaurant is the best. Burger King and McDonald’s are two of the most successful chains on the East Coast. Of these two, Burger Kings quality and value far exceeds that of McDonald’s. I have felt this way for as long as I have been able to think for myself, and I can use several points to argue my opinion. First I’d like to point out the quality differences between Burger King's food and McDonald’s food. McDonald’s fries their burgers so they are pretty much cooked in their own fat, then after cooking they become dry rendering them almost flavorless. If that’s not bad enough, the burgers miniscule size makes you wonder why you even wasted your money on it. Burger King burgers on the other hand, I have often found myself drooling over. Being flame broiled, they are often very juicy, filling your mouth with that awesome fire grilled taste. Also, when it comes to size, Burger King burgers are huge. Even their regular hamburgers are almost as big as McDonald’s largest sandwich, the â€Å"Quarter Pounder†. Another example is the delicious flame broiled â€Å"Whopper†, the biggest and tastiest burgers on the Burger king menu. Being the sandwich that made them famous, McDonald’s tried to copy the â€Å"Whopper† by creating the â€Å"Big Extra†, a big disappointment. Although the burger was about the same size as the â€Å"Whopperâ€Å", it lacked that flame broiled taste, which they tried to cover up by adding steak seasoning to the patty, making it taste nauseatingly awful. Eventually the â€Å"Big Extra† was renamed â€Å"Big and Tasty†, the burger shrunk, they dropped the seasoni ng, and it then found it’s way to the dollar menu (they could barely even give them away). The next thing I want to compare are fries. McDonalds claims there fries are crispy and golden brown, now I don’t know about you, but every time I got McDona... Free Essays on Burger King Vs Mcdonalds Free Essays on Burger King Vs Mcdonalds Burger King vs. McDonald’s. Everybody loves fast food, but not everyone agrees on which fast food restaurant is the best. Burger King and McDonald’s are two of the most successful chains on the East Coast. Of these two, Burger Kings quality and value far exceeds that of McDonald’s. I have felt this way for as long as I have been able to think for myself, and I can use several points to argue my opinion. First I’d like to point out the quality differences between Burger King's food and McDonald’s food. McDonald’s fries their burgers so they are pretty much cooked in their own fat, then after cooking they become dry rendering them almost flavorless. If that’s not bad enough, the burgers miniscule size makes you wonder why you even wasted your money on it. Burger King burgers on the other hand, I have often found myself drooling over. Being flame broiled, they are often very juicy, filling your mouth with that awesome fire grilled taste. Also, when it comes to size, Burger King burgers are huge. Even their regular hamburgers are almost as big as McDonald’s largest sandwich, the â€Å"Quarter Pounder†. Another example is the delicious flame broiled â€Å"Whopper†, the biggest and tastiest burgers on the Burger king menu. Being the sandwich that made them famous, McDonald’s tried to copy the â€Å"Whopper† by creating the â€Å"Big Extra†, a big disappointment. Although the burger was about the same size as the â€Å"Whopperâ€Å", it lacked that flame broiled taste, which they tried to cover up by adding steak seasoning to the patty, making it taste nauseatingly awful. Eventually the â€Å"Big Extra† was renamed â€Å"Big and Tasty†, the burger shrunk, they dropped the seasoni ng, and it then found it’s way to the dollar menu (they could barely even give them away). The next thing I want to compare are fries. McDonalds claims there fries are crispy and golden brown, now I don’t know about you, but every time I got McDona...

Emirates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Emirates - Essay Example From this research it is clear that presently, Emirates caters to a world-wide market. The primary aim of this study is to examine the current management [practices of Emirates Airlines. To address the aim, the researcher explores the nature of Emirates Airlines business practices and the continuous changes that in give the avion industry in UAE and worldwide. In order to maintain a good performance in the global market and increase the opportunities for expanding its business activities in other country, Emirates Airlines has been successfully analyzing and overcoming its shortcoming or other weaknesses by executing effective strategies. Additionally, to accept the changes in the regional as well as international business environment, it creates an effective and/or flexible management structure which helps the company to maintain sustainable growth. This paper examines the relentless growth of Emirates, and investigates the various strategies that underpin its core competencies, which are responsible for its 20 years of consecutive profitability. The paper establishes that the underlying formula for Emirates’ success is largely attributed to its hub and spoke operation, competitive cost structure and the strong leverage of its brand. Overall these factors are contributing towards the Emirates Airlines' phenomenal growth.

Business questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business questions - Essay Example Leadership basically refers to people who have the capacity to bring about changes in other people. Organizations are characterized by the unique culture that is inherent in the overall working of the organization. Discussion of leadership with reference to large organization is as important as that of small one for the simple reasons that the leaders within the organizations, not only provide an intangible stability among the employees and facilitate integration with the system, but they have been known to promote collective vision of the organization and provide the necessary impetus to the employees to strive towards it. Leaders create visions and goals whereas the managers and administrators work towards achieving them. Organizations’ culture is a complex process of evolution and adjustment of the employees within a system over a period of time. The various aspects of the interactive elements of the organization, which may comprise of diverse ideologies and personal conflicts of the individuals, work together to produce a cohesive output representing the organizations unique objectives and goals. Organization’s culture is developed over a period of time with shared learning and becomes an intrinsic part of the work methodology characterized by the stability provided by the system and the integrated approach of the workers. It is therefore, difficult to dissect an organization’s culture in a short time. Though it is difficult to change an organization’s culture but good leadership is known to make visible changes in it. Leadership encourages innovation of ideas and adaptability to changes. Hence, leaders, who are visionary and are endowed with effective communication skill and cultural understanding, have the capability to influence the cultural identity of the group within the organization thus facilitating changes in the organization’s culture to adapt to the

Employee and Student Involvement in Classroom Decisions

Employee and Student Involvement in Classroom Decisions Introduction Employee involvement plays an important role in an organization especially to achieve an organization goals and objectivities. Due to manager limited ability to make the best decision alone, so employee participation in decision making process is very important. Through this process it can generate more diversity and better solutions. So the same concept can be applies on many other activities, not just for the organization or office decision making only. For example, employee involvement also can be apply to many daily activities such as classrooms activities that involve students during the decision making process. When there is student involvement in the decision making process, it is known as participative decision making. Student involvement defined as the degree to which student influence how the decision is organized and carried out. This provides opportunities to students for sharing their knowledge and information between each other when they take part in decision making. However, non-participative decision making process still often occurs. It happen when students did not take part in the decision making process during classrooms activities. It means that these students might not even know the existence of the problem or they are not motivated to provide any information, recommendations, commitment in the classroom or maybe the instructor did not want to discuss with the student when making the decision. On the other side, student involvement can be divided into three levels. At the lowest level of student involvement, students will just provide the information when their instructors ask them. They do not make any recommendation and might not even know what the problem is about. At the medium level, students know the source of problem and they will make recommendations to instructor. At the highest level of student involvement, entire decision making process is handed over to students for them to solve it. These all can be summarized by the figure below. Those are the examples in the level of student involvement in both participative and non-participative decision making process. The higher the rung on the ladder indicates that the higher level of student involvement in the decision making process. Although student involvement in decision making process has many advantages but it also leads to some potential problems that might occur during the process. Problem Identification In this assignment, the main problem is focus to the explanation on how student involvement in classroom decisions typically made by the instructor alone might improve decision quality and the potential problems that may occur in this process. Source of Problems Based on the problem that has been identified, we will elaborate the source of problem according to the problems that may occur during the participative decision making process and also the problems that may occur during the non-participative decision making process. The explanation is made like that, in order to make a comparison between participative decision making and non-participative decision making. The purpose is to give a clear view on how student involvement in classroom decision typically made by the instructor alone might improve decision quality. Besides, this elaboration also can answer the second problem what potential problems that may occur in the participative decision making process. These are the potential problems that might occur during the participative decision making process : Risk of conflict There are two types of conflict undermine the benefits of the student involvement. First, the conflict of ideas. In participative decision making process, many students are involved. Different people come out with different ideas and opinion. So automatically it will generate a lot of ideas, opinions and solutions. This will easily leads to the conflict of ideas. Normally it is hard to reach an agreement on the preferred solution. Second, the conflict between the student individual goal and the overall goal. Sometimes the student goals and the classroom goals will be different, then it will happen conflict within that individual. This will prevent that student to give full contribution in the decision making process. Decision Structure Decision structure is the decision that made based on the past experiences. Usually the problem that happens in this situation is the problem that is routine. It means that the problem had happened before and the solution has been identified in the past. Normally when this kind of problem occurs again, the standard procedure developed with a ready-made solution. So there is no need for the student involvement when making the decision since the instructor already know how to solve it based on the past experience. Lack of Sufficient Knowledge Sometimes students do not have the knowledge that is needed to solve the problem. So even if they participate in the decision making process, they also cannot provide much help since they lack of sufficient knowledge. Decision Commitment Students are made up by variety of people. Some are very active, motivated and give a lot of commitment in the decision making process. However, some students are very inactive, not motivated and will not contribute in the decision making process. Fishbone (Source of Problem) Decision commitment Risk of Conflict Participative Decision Making Lack of sufficient knowledge Decision structure On the other side, these are the potential problems that might occur in the non-participative decision making process : Power Sharing The will of the decision maker or the instructor to share the power with the students. Lack of Alternatives People collectively tend to be better than individuals at generating and picking the best alternative because they have diverse perspectives and a broad representation of values. Decision Commitment Some students are unlikely to accept a decision made without their involvement, especially when the problem is related to them. Problem Identification Sometime instructor alone fails to identify the problem accurately because students are usually the first to know when the problem occurs. Mind-Map (Source of Problem) Learning Outcomes Nowadays, western countries already practice classroom decision making rather than only listen to the lecturers and follow whatever the lecturers have decided. Different people have different thought and one issue or questions may come out with various solutions. This will not happen if students ideas and creativity in decision making process are being ignored or restricted. Therefore, throughout this classroom decision making, we can found out some learning outcomes which can benefit many parties. Of course, the most beneficial party will be students. By participating in classroom decision making process, students are becoming more independent, responsible, aggressive, and more confidence. These outcomes are helping them in their future workplace. In terms of independent, the students can become more independent in making their own decision rather than relying on lecturer to make decision. This also built up students confidence level as they need to be confidence with the decision they made and be responsible of the effect or result from the decision made. Furthermore, students may gain diverse useful information and experience from others through the sharing of different decision making process especially in group assignments. This process is not only beneficial for the students themselves but also other students. Throughout the process, others may absorb different way to make the correct decision or it might be efficient way to make a better decision. Therefore, the students involve less cost occur and yet student may develop their problem solving skills. By realizing the importance of the classroom decision making participation, students may also improve their communication skills. Among all the assignments or coursework, students may be required or encouraged to have it in a group or team for better decision making. By doing this, students are able to share their various decision among all the group members and decision can be made accurately throughout all the discussion that made by group members. This may come out with better results. Indirectly, students can realize that the importance of communication which playing an important role in every decision making process. Generate alternatives to solve the problem The main problem can be solved by two alternatives. It is either to implement participative decision making process in the classroom or non-participative decision making process. Choose alternative to solve the problem We has chosen the participative decision making process instead of the non-participative decision making process. This is chosen based on the analysis that we have done on the potentials problems from both methods. In our opinion, participative decision making that involve student in it is better and more suitable compare to the non-participative decision making that made based on the instructor alone. When there are more people involved in the decision making process, there are a high number of outcomes. So the probability to leads to a better solution is getting higher. Furthermore, recently student in Colorado remarked, We can give you respect. We are able to understand the issues. We can think for ourselves. Its our education. If we have a say, it will make a difference. Based on that remarked phrase, we can see that nowadays students are prefers participative decision making more compare to non-participative. Besides that, we also can affects on the student behavior and values through participative decision making. If we want student to take responsibility for their own behavior and decision, we must first give them responsibility. Moreover student involvement in the decision making process will positively increase their commitment towards the decision that are make in the class either directly or indirectly. Involving student in the decision making process offers a number of advantages. First, it can identify and define the problems better. It is because students are the first one to know when something goes wrong. Other than that, it usually generates more and better solutions than the instructor working alone. Lastly, through student involvement, it is more likely to select the best option. People collectively tend to be better than individual alone when picking the best alternatives. This is because they have diverse perspectives and a broad representation of values. That is why we choose participative decision making instead of non-participative decision making. There are several ways to solve the potential problems that might occur during the participative decision making process. That is through : Motivating student by rewards Usually, the students always motivate by the reward given by lecturer. The reward can be consists of beneficiary reward and non-beneficiary reward. Beneficiary reward is given something to the students such as pen drive or other stationery. Meanwhile, the non-beneficiary reward is an intangible reward, and this type reward usually come from internal forces or nonverbal. The examples of non-beneficiary are give encouragement (e.g. well done, good job, etc.) Through reward, the students are more motivated to involve themselves in discussion and these can strengthen their commitment to the decision. Complexity of the problem Student involvement is unnecessary when the problem is routine. Instead, the benefits of the student involvement increase with the novelty and complexity of the problem or opportunity. Provide sufficient information If the student is lack of sufficient information, then the instructor should provide them some necessary information first for them before involving them into the participative decision making process. Level of involvement If the student goals and norms conflict with the overall goals, then only a low level of student involvement is advisable. If the conflict of idea is likely, then high involvement would be difficult to achieve, so a low level of involvement is advisable. Team Reflection After completing this assignment, our group felt that it was a great learning experience for every member of the team. Throughout this assignment, we face many problems. Before we start the assignment, we made a discussion to understand the question and also give the opinion about the answer individually. Therefore, communication is very important in this discussion. All of us have to learn how to cooperate in a team and respect different opinions. If there is a member of the team not willing to give their thought to the team members, it will not lead to a complete assignment. Every members opinion is very important in doing this assignment, so we make sure that everyone contributes ideas in running a team before we make the final decision. After that, we have to decide how to present creatively and effectively, who will go to present in front of the class. We had to create a way of present that can attract the attention of the class to listen in a limited time which is only 10 minutes for each group. Therefore, time management is very important in this assignment. We have to estimate the time for presentation and also make sure the slide show is interesting and informative that can caught attention of students to listen. Also, we have to make sure that the presenter is very well in presentation which has the best English communication skills. Because our group consists of four members, therefore we have to separate the task to each of the member. The summarizing which is the most crucial part that needs to transmit clearly as this we will give the strongest presenter who had the best English communication skills to present. While the introduction and the definition will present by the other member. As a conclusion, thi s presentation gives a very good experience to every member and this can help members not to nervous when speaking in front of people. It can also improve member speaking skills in order to become more comfortable when speaking in front of people. Overall, we enjoyed doing this assignment. This is a great challenge for all of us where all members have to overcome those conflicts. Thus, it is a great team building experience for all the members as this can help everyone in future team oriented projects. Conclusion Nowadays, many countries already practice classroom decision making rather than only listen to the lecturers and follow whatever the lecturers have decided. This kind of motivation can make us become more efficient when doing something. From this, we realize that it is importance for us to involve in the classroom decision making process. This is a sharing and learning process. Through participating in classroom decision making process, students are becoming more independent, responsible, aggressive, and more confidence. These outcomes are helping them in their future workplace. From participative decision making, we have the chance to absorb new idea from others. It provides us the sufficient knowledge for making the decision in future. Moreover, the students communication skill can be improved, which serve as a vital skill in our life. As a conclusion, the learning outcomes for this assignment have been achieved and all solutions for the potential problems had been identified. Although the participative decision making process have some sort of potential problems, however, at overall it is still better than non-participative decision making.

Cats and the Cradle Analysis

‘Cats in the Cradle’ was originally recorded by Harry Chapin, in 1974, featuring in the album, Verities & Balderdash. Although originally intended to be poem, its lyrical and rhythmic nature has led to it becoming regarded as one of the most successful folk rock songs. Its success was evident with the single topping the Billboard Hot 100 in December the same year of its release. ‘Cats in the Cradle’ starts out with a natural harmony that depicts the tale of a father with his newborn son. The first verse introduces the subject matter indicating the troublesome relationship shared between father and son, â€Å"He came to the world in the usual way, but there were planes to catch and bills to pay. He learned to walk while I was away†. It is clear that although the father provides the necessities for the child, his career driven lifestyle restrains him from spending quality time with his son. The lyrics continue to follow the growth of the child in rapid stages, subtly indicating the lack of connection with the father. â€Å"My child arrived just the other day† which then moves to the second verse, â€Å"My son turned ten just the other day†. Following this path of progression, the father has now retired and can allocate time for his son. Unfortunately, a similar process is repeated as the son grows into a similar life role as his father, ringing true the recurring verse, â€Å"I'm gonna be like you Dad, you know I'm gonna be like you†¦ † The direct impact of a bad role model is made evident as the song reaches the fourth and final verse, featuring the powerful lyrics â€Å"As I hung up the phone it occurred to me he'd grown up just like me, my boy was just like me. † This line conveys the father's realizations that his behaviours have been mimicked by his son. The message is interpreted as a criticism to society identifying a common challenge each generation is facing. The songs intention is to make the listener think about the balance of time spent with the family and earning the adequate money to support their family and lifestyle for there are no second chances. Understanding, a target audience is an essential tool for many artists as all factors need to be based around that specific audience. Harry Chapin has clearly recognized his target audience and has crafted the song to appeal to those listeners. Although it is difficult to accurately define who actively listens too and enjoys ‘Cats in the Cradle’ it can be assumed based on statistics and information gathered that adults within the age bracket of 25-50 appreciate this lyrical piece. This demographic suggest that children during late 1970’s (based on the 1974 song release date) would have grown up actively hearing through various means of media specifically, Radio. Another factor is during this era folk/classic rock popularity was at its peak with numerous bands such as the The Rolling Stones, Beatles and The Who. These bands all feature a similar age demographic to Harry Chapin which aids the theory that the music children grow up with tend to be preferred during their adult years. The content of the lyrics have also been altered to identify with the target audience, many listeners feel an attachment to this song as they can relate to the characters. Harry Chapin has utilized numerous musical elements to enhance the storytelling and themes. It is catchy and interesting yet accompanied simply by an acoustic guitar that follows a steady beat. The classical nature of the song is evident through the melodic rhythm and lyrics. This steady lyrical flow leads to a staccato nature which contributes to its overall interest. The dynamics and tone are simple and follow a more solemn and steady style, with its softness conveying regret and sadness. In order to appeal to the target audience, Harry Chapin has recognized many important techniques and utilized them; The length of ‘Cats in Cradle is based around 3:20-40 which tends to be the appropriate time frame as the whole song can be played on the radio and reach a point where it becomes dull for the listener. The lyrics have been crafted for easy understanding and comprehension; therefor allowing for a broader audience to appreciate his music. Likewise, Harry has cleverly chosen simple clothing during the video clip that specifically relate to the song message to reinforce the stereotypical idea of a solemn father. There are various symbols and imagery in the lyrics. The repetitions of â€Å"the cats in the cradle† – indicate the child is at home alone – â€Å"and the silver spoon† which is a symbol of wealth the father has to earn. The â€Å"little boy blue† is the child that is sad because his father is away, while the father is represented by â€Å"the man on the moon† – the one far away who is unreachable, idealized by the child who sees the father as his male role model. These lyrical metaphors describe the pairs of opposition the song is talking about. Fortunately, the repetition does not lead to a dull or tedious song as it follows the growth of child creating an interesting story that maintains the attention of the viewer. The quick leaps of time from each verse continue to reinforce the idea that little time is spent with the child. This lack of time for the father is demonstrated in a number of lines. â€Å"He learned to walk while I was away† and â€Å"I said not today, I've got a lot to do†¦ † Harry Chapin has used classic ways of thinking and performing to enhance the listening experience including the manipulation of the subject matter and musical elements to successfully appeal to a range of audiences. The main success behind this song is a combination of numerous elements that all lead to successful and unique lyrical piece that is backed by a strong moral message.

Selection of Sustainable Construction Materials

The faculty of human cognition often finds it difficult in making decisions concerning systems that are extensive and complex such as in the management of organizational operations, investment portfolios, military command and control situations and control of nuclear facilities. Even though one may fully comprehend the individual interactions amongst a system’s variables, it is usually very difficult to predict how a system will react to new stimuli as a result of a decision taken.Under such circumstances, the results of many researches have indicated that the judgment and decision making capabilities of human beings could well fall short of the optimal. Stress and complexities acts negatively on the human cognition system, making it even harder to make what could be termed as the most optimal decision. The decision to be taken can nevertheless be very crucial, and a wrong decision could lead to catastrophe.It therefore becomes essential to find some way to aid and help a huma n being in taking crucial decisions on complex systems not only in atmospheres of stress and pressure but also in normal situations. Science has strived to device such decision-making aids through out history. Operations research, statistics and economics have developed various methods for making rational choices. The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its dramatic developments in the last two-and-a-half decades has made it possible apply ICT in integrating various disciplines in aiding decision making in complex situations.As a result, information science, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology and the neurosciences have come together to develop a variety of decision making aids. These decision-making aids are practically implemented as computer applications deployed either as stand-alone tools in individual systems or are installed to cover entire working networks. Such decision-making tools and integrated computing environments are together known as Decision Support Systems (DSSs), which is a very broad term incorporating a multitude of methodologies, tools, techniques, approaches and technologies.Druzdzel & Flynn (2002) takes all existing DSSs into consideration when they attempt to define them empirically as computer-based interactive systems that help users in making decisions. DSSs are sometimes also referred to as knowledge-based systems because they basically try to structure domain knowledge into a form on which mechanical decision making is possible. Decision Support Systems integrate information from various sources, allow intelligent access to the information sources that are relevant, and help in the process of organizing decisions to help human beings overcome their cognitive deficiencies.Decision Support Systems strengthen the conventional tasks of accessing and retrieving information with reasoning support based on a model and model building approach. Framing, modeling and problem solving are supported by DSSs. They are usually used for strategic and tactical decisions to be made by planners and senior levels in the management. Such decisions have a reasonably low frequency but their consequences have very high potential. Therefore the time and investment taken in using DSSs to aid in taking such decisions are paid off in the long run.Decision Support Systems not only define the alternative decision choices, but can help in picking out the most logical and optical choice amongst the alternatives adhering to and adopting elements from disciplines such as engineering economics, operations research, statistics and decision theory. Artificial Intelligence is used by Decision Support Systems to tackle problems in a heuristic manner in situations in which the problems are not amenable to formal conventional techniques.Decision Support Systems have grown in popularity because it has been found that when decision-making systems are used appropriately they tend to increase efficiency and output pr oviding appreciable competitive edge over rival businesses. This happens because organizations and businesses employing DSSs make sound choices in the deployment of technology, and in planning business operations, logistics and operations. Components of DSSs There are three fundamental components f Decision Support Systems are essentially made up of three basic elements: i. Data Base Management System (DBMS): The DBMS is the databank for the DSS.The DBMS is a storehouse for the huge volumes of data that the DSS has to deal with in providing solution for the type of problem for which it has been designed. Unlike in other databases which provide physical data structure, the DMBS works on logical data structures which the users can interact with. In a good DBMS, the physical database structure and the way the data is actually process remains hidden from the user. The user only knows the different types of data that are available and how best to access this data to aid in decision makin g. ii. Model-Based Management System (MBMS): The MBMS plays a similar role to that of the DBMS.The main task of an MBMS is to provide a mechanism whereby the applications that use a particular DSS are independent of the particular models that are used in the DSS. By doing so, the MBMS actually converts data available in the DBMS into information that helps in decision making. Users of a DSS usually have to handle unstructured problems. The MBMS is therefore required to help the users with building models. iii. Dialog Generation and Management system (DGMS): People use a DSS to comprehend a system in its entirety. The primary task of the DSS is therefore to provide insight.The interfaces that a DSS uses needs to be highly user friendly as many people who use them specialize in planning and managerial decision making and may not be very well acquainted or oriented towards computing systems. The interfaces not only need to assist in building the models bit also need to provide adequate interactions with the models so that the users are able to gain insight and extract recommendations from the DSS. The DGMS is therefore primarily tasked with providing easy access and meaningful access to the DSS. DSS for Selection of Construction Materials, its relevanceThis paper attempts to describe a Decision Support System to assist in making decisions to select construction materials based on a sustainability criterion. For every given construction job, there is a huge variety of construction materials to choose from. Economic factors and technology criteria have been traditionally the primary basis of selection of construction materials. Construction materials were selected against the requirements a desired life span, and a program of requirements and codes based on the characteristics of the material concerned such strength, viscosity, elasticity, bending moment, etc.Rapid depletion of natural resources required for construction materials has however forced a change in per spectives. The focus has now shifted to ecological, health and ethical considerations. Making a selection decision based only on human judgment and past experience, taking all added aspects into consideration, becomes almost an impossible task. According to (Pearce, et. al. , 2001) it was essential that some new mechanism of assessing the available construction materials for the highest utility of the specific project was required.The mechanism would have to evaluate the alternatives on the basis of their technical properties and cost parameters but also on the basis of the status of their availability in the ecosystem in the long-term context and from the perspective of natural resources. Such a holistic method could be implemented only through a Decision Support System. The DSS will have to provide all necessary information to enable the decision maker to take the most optimal decision keeping not only the technical and economical parameters under consideration, but also balancing the right degree of emphasis on the environment and sustainability aspect.To achieve such an objective in the design of a Decision Support System the following development steps will have to be undertaken: 1. Sustainability will have to be defined for the selection of construction material. 2. Based on the definition of sustainability developed, a methodology has to be developed for selection and comparison of the alternative construction materials that are available. 3. The methodology for selection will have to be automated by development of a Develop a conceptual framework for a Sustainability Decision Support System (SDSS). Defining SustainabilityThe United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainable development as development keeping the concerns of the future in sight. Sustainable development is that development that meets the requirements of the present generation without in any way endangering or compromising the scope for development of futu re generations. (WCED, 1987). Sustainability is therefore the concept of meeting present requirements in such a manner that the resources that go to fulfill the present requirement can also be utilized to meet similar requirements in the long run.In other words, it is handling the present with an eye on the future. This concept of sustainability works on the inherent principle that human development is a going process that has to sustained at a pace at which the finite resources available in the world can easily cope with. A fine but much simplified example could be that of utilization of timber in the making of any civil construction. The decision maker will not only have to select the timber the quality of which is suitable for the construction in terms of strength, expected durability, etc.but will also have to ensure that the made is a type of timber that is not endangered or on the verge of being extinct, a type that is easily available in the area of the construction with no t hreat to its future. The next question that could face the decision maker is whether timber, considering the depletion rate of natural resources, should be used at all. And if timber is not used then what are the other available alternatives that could be used in the place of timber?The Decision Support System will have to be able to assist the decision maker in making these crucial decisions by providing structured and easy access to all relevant information. Sustainability is therefore a system with stability at its core. Changes to the system are not unrestrained but constrained so that a stable continuance of the system is maintained in the long run. Sustainability is very important for the construction industry because constructions have a very high impact on the ecology and the environment.The people who make decisions in the construction industry literally hold fate in their hands in the sense that considered and logical decisions based on sustainability go a long way in prot ecting and preserving the environment that in turn sustains human kind. Decision makers at different levels in the construction industry therefore have to make judicious selection of construction material in order fulfill the present requirements without negatively affecting the requirements of others or putting at stake the very existence of the human race on this earth.The main goals that a DSS has to meet in selecting of construction materials based on sustainability are to improve the selection process of the construction material during the conceptual stage itself and to promote the use of innovative materials which could have more sustainable properties than the traditional materials that are currently in use. Sustainability factor in Construction Materials With regards to construction materials, adoption of sustainable selection criteria would imply the following: i. Matter and energy consumption should be minimized ii.Minimum level of human satisfaction should be maintained. iii. There should be minimum negative environmental effects. Any effort to minimize the consumption of matter and energy has to target minimizing entropy gain and intergenerational of equity objectives. It has to be kept in mind that the process of consumption increases the entropy of materials and energy making them unsuaitable for use in the future (Roberts, 1994; Rees, 1990). The basic tenet of sustainability and sustainable material selection would therefore be maximizing utilization and minimizing consumption of matter and energy.In laymen’s language this translates into ‘doing more with less’. Doing more with less however has to be balanced with maximizing human satisfaction with the less of matter and energy that is being consumed in the process. Unless the satisfaction of people is achieved, sustainability would run into a dead end. People and users will not accept changes necessary to make the world a better place to live in unless they are satisfied by the results of those measures. Ensuring the satisfaction of people therefore becomes an integral part of sustainability.A part that is closely connected with economics as, in our economy-driven society, people are satisfied only when there is assurance that their economic interests will not only be safeguarded but also enhanced appreciably. Minimization of costs, maximization of comfort and safety and edification of the human spirit should be the ideal objectives in the process of selection of construction materials (Day, 1990). It all boils down to the sustainability of the human race which in turn makes it essential to ensure the sustainability and preservation of the ecosystem.The sustainability of the ecosystem is ensured when emphasis is put on maintaining biodiversity, species habitat is left undisturbed and environmental deterioration and pollution are brought under control. The design objective of any DSS for selection of construction materials on the basis of sustainabilit y will thus have to make these three global presumptions – less consumption of energy and matter, high human satisfaction and minimal negative effect on the environment.A set of metrics of sustainability based on the definition of sustainability has to be developed for the construction materials. The metrics would then have to be adapted into an approach for comparing alternative materials to help in the selection process. Classification of Sustainability Attributes The next step in designing a Decision Support System for sustainable selection of construction materials would be take the attributes of sustainability and develop a system or taxonomy for classifying them into the categories of technology, ecology, economics and ethics.Since technology is utilized to build construction facilities, it is imperative that sustainable technologies are applied. Carpenter (1994) defines sustainable technologies as technologies that do not harm the environment in any way and are based o n the concept of renewing, reusing and recycling materials. Materials have to contribute to sustainability by building up suitable technologies. For a specific use, the measure of a material’s adaptability to sustainable technology is obtained by the extent to which the material is able to meet the required technical performance.Span, reliability, ability to recycle and resistance to decay and damage are other technology-related indicators. Ecological sustainability can be achieved through material selection if the objective of material selection is to minimize environmental damage and degradation over the entire lifecycle of the material right from the stage in which the raw material is extracted to the final stage of either disposing the material or adopting it for reuse through the process of recycling.Of particular importance in the consideration of sustainability is the way the material will affect the ecology. The domain of all human activities comprises the natural eco logical systems which provide all the raw materials to meet the varied requirements of human beings (Norton 1994). Thus, integrity of the systems has to be maintained in order to ensure the continues availability of raw materials in the form of ecological resources. The search of feasible alternatives for limited natural resources leads us to the realm of economic sustainability.Alternative resources that can be developed at minimal cost to the society have to be maintained and identified by the Decision Support System. The total life cycle cost of a project depends on the life cycle costs of the constituent construction materials. Selection of construction materials based on the lowest life cycle cost ultimately brings down the life cycle cost of the entire construction project. Manufacturing, transportation, assembly, maintenance and disposal or recycling costs determine the lifecycle cost of a construction material.These lifecycle costs in turn determine the economic sustainabili ty of a construction material. The moot point of sustainability is adopting a futuristic view. The concern is not only with meeting the needs of the present generation but at the same time ensuring that resource utilization is done in such a way that it is possible to retain, invest and convert them in such a way that there is no scarcity to meet the requirements of the future generations (Daly & Cobb 1994). This is the principle behind the ethics of sustainability.The attributes of ethical sustainability are the extent of depletion of natural resources that utilization of the material could represent, extent to use the material can be reused and to which nonrenewable resources the material can be used as a substitute (Norton, 1994). The Decision Support System therefore has to base its classification of sustainability attributes on the taxonomy of technology utilized, maintenance of ecological balance, economic feasibility and ethical concerns for the future of human kind.The vast scope and complexity of such a DSS can be appreciated when we take all these factors into consideration. Determining the Indicators of Sustainability The DSS for construction materials selection has to consider indicators of sustainability of construction materials with respect to the three global objectives of sustainable development – resource consumption, human satisfaction and environmental impact. The more exhaustive the list of indicators, the more the DSS will tend towards perfection.Indicators could be as varied and wide ranging as the scale on which the harvesting is done, whether infrastructure for harvesting is available, how accessible the raw materials are, the extent of processing the material has to be out through, how renewable the materials, maintainability, toxicity, market pricing of comparable resources, etc. Each indicator has to be correlated with the sustainability of the material, and the correlation determined through sensitivity analysis and indexed and rated so that comparison of the materials is possible to the minutest details.Selection of indicators of sustainability of the materials therefore assumes great importance in any DSS. Database or knowledge base development in this respect has to systematic and incremental throughout the development cycle. Consideration of the context of use also holds equal importance in the determination of sustainability of any construction material. Contextual indicators could be as apparent as the availability and use of ice blocks in the poles and sand in the deserts. But these indicators could also be user specific, condition specific or site characteristic specific.Context modifiers therefore have to be built into any DSS. It is the context modifiers that make the sustainability ratings of construction materials for each project unique. Decision makers set threshold values in heuristics databases which enable them to specify the values that they want to be calculated. Edwards et al. (1994 ) and Greene (1994) give examples of techniques in transportation systems in which the energy required to transport a particular material from one place to another for various modes of transport can be calculated for different modes or types of transport. Materials Selection adopting the Rational Actor ApproachThe Rational Actor Approach is centered on the principal assumption that if human decision makers are provided with complete information on the possible results and options in the choices that they have to make, they would choose the optimal alternative, or the option with the maximum possibility of turning out to be the outcome that is most wanted or desired. This being true, the goal of the DSS is to enable the decision maker to select construction materials as per their sustainability so that the vast majority of the materials selected for construction are sustainable materials.The rational actor model has three phases (Simon, 1983): Phase 1: Determining all choices that ar e possible. Phase 2: Analyzing every choice for the consequences that it they may lead to. Phase 3: Finally choosing an alternative that is rated as the best based on considerations of utility and the most probable consequence or output.. In the DSS, the Rational Actor Model can be further fine tuned by the adoption of a few modifications. First, the material alternatives that are obviously not suitable for the project element could be pruned off the database based on classification of materials according to some given standards.The software will therefore prune materials such as ceramic tiles when considering the construction of a foundation footing column. This eliminates the possibility of users ignoring feasible but unfamiliar materials. A second modification could be the introduction of user weightings for each sustainability attribute. The weightings are a way of personalizing or customizing the system. Input of the weightings accord the methodology adopted in the system highe r acceptability for the user who provides the weightings. The weightings also enable customization of the sustainability of the final design product.(Pearce, et. al. , 2001). The ordered stages of the methodology adopted with modifications can now be defined for the Decision Support System. In its first step, the methodology generates the alternatives that would be available for making the selection. This is a comprehensive set of alternatives that could include all the materials available in the market. In its second stage, the clearly infeasible alternatives are pruned from the list of available alternatives through the application of some technical performance thresholds or other heuristics.This would result in a set of alternations that are all feasible for the application under consideration. The crucial third step consists of the Decision Support System ranking the alternatives based on the sustainability and utility of the material for the use that it is intended for. At this juncture, the decision maker feeds in his weights for each attribute of sustainability as per the priority that particular attribute holds for the decision maker.Manufacturer information and other sources determine the values for the sustainability attributes of each material, and a normalized value is worked out for each value of the attributes. The weights and normalized values for the sustainability attributes of each material are then multiplied and added together to produce the index of subjective utility for that material. A ranking of the alternatives is developed by sorting their utility values. The Decision Support System then outputs the alternative with the highest utility value to the user.The decision maker is at liberty to choose the highest ranked alternative for the particular application or any other alternative as he or she may deem suitable from the point of view of cognitive abilities and professional experience. The DSS then moves on to take up other design ele ments for consideration. From the Decision Maker’s Point of View From the decision maker’s or user’s point of view, the decision maker has to first feed in a list of the design components that have been conceptualized for the construction.Values for relevant parameters that describe the conceptual design and the decision making have to be fed in. The DSS uses these values to generate a list of feasible materials for each design element from the materials database of the DSS utilizing heuristics for material selection from the internal logic or knowledge base of the DSS. After the DSS generates a list of feasible materials for each element, it queries the decision maker for the personalized weightings for the sustainability attributes.The Sustainability Index Calculator calculates the values of the sustainability attributes for each feasible material. An Amalgamator Module of the DSS amalgamates the weightings of the decision maker with the sustainability attribu te values for each material that could be utilized and sorts the materials according to their individual rankings. The DSS recommends the material with the highest rating to the decision maker who is free to either accept the recommendation of the Decision Support System or to opt for an alternative from the list of alternatives provided by the DSS.Conclusions The Decision Support System for the selection of construction materials on the basis of sustainability therefore analyzes the feasible materials for each element of a construction from a wide range of perspectives. The factors that influence the ultimate output of the Decision Support System incorporate the technologies and economies of construction processes, the characteristics of the applicable materials, ecological and environmental concerns, sustainability aspects, and most important of all, the professional and personal preferences of the user or the decision maker.Each of these factors by themselves could constitute ind ividual expert systems. The complexity and sophistication of such decision support systems can thus be appreciated along with their great utility in helping decision makers to make crucial decisions. References -01 Carpenter, S. , 1994, Sustainable Communities. School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Daly, H. , E. , and Cobb, J. , B. , Jr. , 1994, For the Common Good, 2nd ed. Beacon Press, Boston.Day, C. , 1990, Places of the Soul. Aquarian Press, San Francisco, CA. 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