Should Museums Charge For Admissions Advantages Disadvantages Economics Essay

Should Museums Charge For Admissions Advantages Disadvantages Economics Essay Museums are expensive to run, with the costs of acquisitions, conservation, maintenance, staff salaries and special exhibitions all weighing heavily upon their budgets. In many cases much of their funding comes from the government, whether at national or local level, with the remainder made up through endowments, income from museum shops and other commercial ventures, private donations and sponsorship, and, very often, through entry fees. By for-profit standards, museums are illogical. Museums have a business model with costs much greater than their revenues. In a non-profit organization, an admission fee wont even begin to cover the costs of delivering its service. Museums have found various ways to increase their income opportunities, for example through gift shops and restaurants. Logically, lowering the admission price, would increase the amount of visitors, these visitors would spend more money in gift shops and restaurants and could possibly result in a higher income. On the other hand, a museum misses out on extra income through admission fees. Is there an equilibrium price? And what are the alternative pricing options? The research question in this paper is: Should museums charge an admission fee? Literature on this issue provides this paper with a theoretical framework, next I will explore the effects of digitalization for museums. A Dutch case study, done by Aarts de Jong Wilms Goudriaan Public Economics (APE) will complete the answer to this question. Museum economics: Museums have high fixed costs. This results in a high average cost curve for museums. The demand curve often lies below this average cost curve. This makes it impossible to set an entrance price at which the total amount of income received through admission fees covers the costs of the museum. (Frey, 2006; Caves,2000) However, admission prices are of the main determinants that influence the economic outcome of a museum. The economic value of a museum is often very high as a result of its collection and location. To increase revenue however, museums do not only depend on admission fees but also on the income that comes from museum gift shops, restaurants, and renting possibilities. Additionally, museums receive a great deal of support, sponsoring and donations. For example, for Boijmans van Beuningen Museum Rotterdam only 20% of its total revenue is derived from direct revenues, while 80% is derived from subsidies. For some Dutch museums however, revenue derived from entrance fees can be up to 50% (Munster et al. 2008). Most museums receive governmental or public support, for the government, their economic performance is of high interest for policy makers. In all cases, entrance fees prove to be a very important determinant that influence the economic outcome of a museum. Questions about what role museums are playing, should play and will play in society, are today subjects very much under discussion. Is the museum a storehouse for things and memories, a showground, a centre for education, a playground for academics, a castle for people with a suitable habitus the way Pierre Bourdieu describes it, or an institution with an important role to fulfil in peoples life and a far-reaching part to maintain in the development of a society? In his article, National Museums: To charge or not to charge? OHagan explains that the most important function of a museum is educational. This function involves people educating and informing people concerning their past and origins, and if finance permits those of other peoples, through the artefacts of the museum, thereby contributing to the formation of a sense of the countrys identity and position in the world. For education only however, physical presence is not entirely necessary and especially in the digital world a museum is able to perform its educational role partly through the use of Internet. With this educational function in mind, charging an entrance fee would limit certain groups of people in accessing the museum, and therefore learning about its content. For museums admission fees maintain to be an important determinant of its revenues therefore museums use pricing options, such as price discrimination. Price differentiation occurs when a firm charges a different price to different groups of consumers for its service, for reasons not associated with costs. Students, children and elderly are often charged less than normal adult visitors. Only a minority of visitors pays the full entrance price. There is however one issue when looking at cultural organizations. The price elasticity for cultural demand is rather low which means differentiating in price does not result in a significant change in demand. As a result of this by raising its entrance price, a museum can generate a significant increase in revenue. Given the income of a consumer (i.e. the spending limit), prices and individual preferences result in a package of goods and services that best satisfy their individual utility. This economic optimization process leads to certain fe atures in which demand for different goods and services such as visits to museums depends on income and prices. Not only the price of the museum itself, but also the price of competing leisure activities and additional costs, such as travelling expenses play an important role in consumer behaviour. However tourists are less likely to feel limited by the admission fee. (Frey et al. 2006) The influence of competing leisure alternatives depends on the character of a museum; For a museum that is highly competing with other leisure alternatives, the price sensitivity of the visit turns out to be higher. In contrast, highbrow and unique museums show that their visitors are less sensitive to price changes. Blockbusters have also shown to be very price-inelastic. (Goudriaan et al, 2007) People with higher incomes tend to be higher educated and more developed preferences for cultural activities (Frey, 2006; Throsby 2001) People who are accustomed to visiting a museum to visit, are not inclined to change this behaviour when their income decreases or admission fees increase. On the other hand, people who are not accustomed to a visiting a museum are insensitive to the incentive free of reduced admission are ought to give. (Goudriaan et al, 2007) Digitalization allows museums to exhibit their collection online, this allows the museum to educate people online. Physical presence is no longer necessary to receive education about the museums artefacts. This could potentially lower the amount of visitors entering the museum. However, most museums gain great benefits from using the digitalization to their advantage, they educate and communicate with their visitors through the Internet. To charge or not to charge? Much has been written about the advantages and disadvantages of setting the admission price of a museum to zero (OHagan 1995; Anderson 1998; Baily and Falconer 1998). In for example the United Kingdom, national museums grant free entry to their visitors. More and more services have free access, such as the Internet, newspapers, unauthorized downloading, public transport etc. As a result, free access has gained popularity. Free access to museum has advantages, it enables all people to be able to visit the museum without getting charged. This might attract a new and bigger audience to experience the museum. In his article, Kirchberg (1998) found that income is the dominating characteristic influencing the subjective significance of entrance fees as a barrier to visiting museums. People in lower social classes experience admission charges as a barrier almost five times as much as higher sociological classed people. Increasing entrance fees increases revenues but according to Kirchberg, not only decreases the number of visitors but also change the socio-economic composition of the attendance. Distributing welfare is mainly the reason for subsidies, in the case of museums the distribution argument does not really hold up: studies have shown that visitors to a museum usually come from higher social classes. People from higher social classes can afford to pay an entrance fee, in practice this means that subs idizing admission prices, does not transfer welfare to lower social classes. Another benefit of free entry to a museum is that is increases the amount of visitors. For a museum, a high number of visitors often reflects cultural prestige (OHagan 1995). In his article OHagan also points out that donors prefer non-profit firms. With higher entrance fees, donors are less wiling to donate money or artefacts. The marginal costs of an additional visitor is zero, therefore another argument for free entry to a museum is the efficiency argument: entrance fees should then also be zero to satisfy efficiency (Frey, 2010). On the other hand, literature suggests that there are problems in determining the costs of museum services (Baily and Falconer 1998). There are still costs in allowing visitors into a building, they require security, heating, light and physical space). Free access also has disadvantages. According to Frey, efficiency is not attained if the respective museums get overcrowded and the quality of a visit decreases. This results in museums limiting visitors by enhancing admission restrictions, such as requiring visitors to place a reservation in advance. This raises the danger than tickets can be sold on the black market, a visit then cab still become a costly experience. Visitors can also think that something that has no price, has no value resulting in a decrease in a museums total revenue. In his article Steiner (1997) calculates the impact of free entry for one day to the total revenue of a museum. His study shows that the amount of additional visitors does not overcome the loss of the admission charges it would receive on a normal day. Additionally, the crowd of people the museum attracted contributed to the loss of value of the exhibition. Most of the museums that offer free access, charges for access to special or blockbuster exhibitions. Another strategy for free museums to make visitors pay is asking for a donation at the end of the visit. By doing so, they museum captures the wiliness to pay form visitors (OHagan 1995). A visitor is not obliged to pay, but often willing to do so as they enjoyed the visit. The more satisfying the visit, the more a visitor is willing to pay. This is also a better distribution of welfare, as the social higher classes have to ability to pay more, and the lower social classes have the ability to pay less. With free entrance leading to a higher amount of visitors, exit donation can bring in significant extra financial resources for a museum. Prices can be differentiated to allocate the resources as efficiently as possible. According to Frey, when demand is low, prices should be kept close to zero. When demand is high, prices can be higher to avoid overcrowding, This enables visitors with the highest willingness to pay to enter the museum. People with a low price elasticity should be charged higher prices than visitors with a high price elasticity of demand. Finally, price can be differentiated when visitors target a special exhibition, normal collection should be priced lower. Another option is to charge local visitors less than foreign visitors or tourists as tourists have a significantly lower price elasticity of demand than locals. Often, when visiting a city, visiting the museum is a must, and the additional costs of entrance fee are often easily paid for. Another argument for entrance fees is that the extra benefits a visitors receives from going to a museum, added to for example the existence value (Frey, 2006) should be paid for. As pointed out before, price elasticity of demand for cultural services is low, therefore ticket prices may not be the best explanation for demand. OHagan finds that, when The Long Room of Trinity College Dublin stated on entry that admission prices are required to improve the quality of the visit, the amount of visitors raised. Another variant of entry fees is creating a museum club. A fixed contribution is required to become a member and receive free entry to the museum. For culturally active people, this is a good solution and often cheaper than paying full entrance fees. For a museum, it has the same advantages and disadvantages of free entrance but it raises revenues (Frey, 2010) Problems with pricing is that it is often considered unfair. Considering the main role of a museum is education, it should be free for everyone to visit and become educated. In his article, Frey proposes a whole new pricing mechanism for museum: the application of exit prices. Instead of charging visitors when they enter a museum, they are charged on exit. The amount of time spent in the museum sets the exit price. A disadvantage of this proposal is that the length of visit becomes a great part of an economic calculation. A major advantage is that the experience of the visit, is charged afterwards. If the experience was not satisfying for the visitor, he/she would leave early and pay a lower price. Visitors pay for their use of the facility, this raises efficiency. The price system can considered to be less unfair, because up to a certain point, people can set their own prices. Frey also opts for the first 20 minutes to be free of charge, so that people who normally would not visit a museum, receive an incentive to stay only for a short period, maybe they will return later for a longer visit. The Dutch case study Aarts de Jong Wilms Goudriaan Public Economics (APE) has been commissioned by the ministry to research the possibilities for free entry for Dutch museums. In several extensive research papers, they calculate the effects of free entrances fees. Table 1: The quantitative effects of free entrance on all Dutch museums: Additional visits (x1000) Increase in visits (%) Total costs (x1mln.) Total cost per extra visit in Euros Free entry to the entire collection 5.867 30,0 98,9 17 Free entry every Sunday 416 2,1 23,4 56 Free entry once every month on Sunday 183 0,9 6,0 33 Free entry during one working day per week 267 1,4 11,2 42 Free museum card for students 1.623 8,3 12,3 8 Free entry to general collection 5.207 26,6 81,9 16 Source: APE Table 1 shows that the effects on the number of visits are most significant when free entry is given to the entire museum, including general collection and special exhibitions, followed by free entry to the general collection only. Both options also bring in the highest overall costs for the museums, costs per extra visit are relatively low because there is no real shift in the amount of visits from days on which visitors are charged, to days visitors are not charged an entrance price. A weekly free entry on Sunday raises the most costs for the museum because a shift appears from days on which visitors are charged to days visitors are not charged any admission fee. In all cases, the loss of entrance fees causes the greatest deal of costs for a museum. Their research shows that free entry increases the number of visits, but they state: we do not expect miracles to happen from removing entrance fees. The composition of visitors has proven to be very difficult to change. In another research, done by APE they have calculated the price elasticity of Dutch museums. From 1984- 2005 admission prices raised with 6,2% per year, this does not lead to a significant change in the umber of visits. They show that with a price elasticity of -0,18 the museum sector has the lowest price elasticity of all cultural sectors. With every 1% increase in price, visits reduce by 0,18%. According to the research this is a result of the fact that potential visitors value travelling expenses and consumption costs to be more important than admission prices. The price of substitutes is a major determinant for the number of visits to a museum: when substitutes raise their prices, the number of visits to a museum increases and vice versa. Ape also predicts price sensitivity for 2005- 2015: Figure 1: Predictions for changes in admission prices 2005-2015 Source: APE The index shows that the number of visits to a museum is unlikely to be affected by an increase or a decrease in entrance prices. Conclusion Museums have high fixed costs. This results in a high average cost curve for museums. The demand curve often lies below this average cost curve. This makes it impossible to set an entrance price at which the total amount of income received through admission fees covers the costs of the museum. However, admission prices are of the main determinants that influence the economic outcome of a museum. To increase revenue however, museums do not only depend on admission fees but also on the income that comes from museum gift shops, restaurants, and renting possibilities. Additionally, museums receive a great deal of support, sponsoring and donations. Museums have different roles to fulfil, educating is one of them, as is collection and researching. An important goal for many museums is reaching groups far from consuming culture. Other goals are financial revenue, conservation and gaining prestige. In this essay, various literature has been discussed offering different pricing options. The most important ones are free entry and efficiency admission fees, which both have advantages and disadvantages. Free entry is likely to increase the number of visitors, but museum visitors often come from higher socio-economic classes, which transfers the benefits from no entrance fee mostly to these upper classed visitors instead of the social lower classes as it is intended to. The existence value shows that museums radiate positive external effects for non-visitors, this effect supports free entrance. However, the benefits for visitors are higher than for non-visitors. Low price elasticity for museums helps support the argument for admission fees. There are various pricing options. Standard pricing is considered to be unfair, as it does not consider the willingness and ability to pay for visitors, considering the educating role, different groups of people should all be able to enter the museum. Prices need to be differentiated, allowing elderly, students and other groups to enter for a reduced price to match their ability to pay. Another option is to charge local visitors less than foreign visitors or tourists as tourists have a significantly lower price elasticity of demand than locals or the application of exit prices. The case study by APE, shows that removing entrance fees only results in a significant increase in the number of visitors when all Dutch museums would remove their entrance fees. As a result of a low price elasticity for museum visits, a change in price does not significantly affect the demand for a museum. These findings indicate that free entrance is not the best option for a museum to reach many people. Price changes do not affect the number of visits that much, a museum is better of differentiating its price in a way that lower socio-economic classes are still able to afford a visit if they decide to. Since higher socio-economic classes continue to be the most dominant visitors in a museum, an entrance fee will not likely decrease the number of visits. Entrance fees can contribute to a museums revenues and allow a museum to generate extra income that can be spent on increasing the quality of the experience for visitors.

Clear Liquid Thought: The Photographs of Jim Dine Essay -- Photography

Clear Liquid Thought: The Photographs of Jim Dine The camera sees even beyond the visual consciousness. --Ralph Eugene Meatyard Argument: The Photographic Unconscious In his article "Photographie avant analyse"1 photography critic Franà §ois Soulages discusses the reciprocal influence between photography (as an emerging technology in the nineteenth century) and the study of the unconscious (prior to the invention of psychoanalysis). To what extent, he asks, did a new technology such as photography enlighten, modify, or enrich the understanding of the unconscious? And, conversely, how did what he calls "the hypothesis of the unconscious" allow for a better understanding of a new technology? These questions, inherent in the beginnings of photography and essentially linked to its role in the comprehension of the visible and the invisible body, have gained considerable importance today. The photographic works I will discuss here participate in our understanding of the unconscious in a paradoxical way, since they do not imply disclosing images of the artist's unconscious specifically encoded into symbolic meaning. On the contrary, my concern is with these works' potential to generate visual equivalents of inner life perceptions in a variety of puzzling formal patterns whose disclosure of meaning is cunningly deferred. The photographic compositions of Jim Dine are not narratives of inner life, but forms of visual experience that inform our ways of thinking the unconscious. ------------------------------------ 1 Franà §ois Soulages, "Photographie avant analyse", Photographie et inconscient (31-35). In this study, Soulage primarily deals with the beginnings of photography and with its paradoxical uses in psychiatry .. ...rundberg, Andy. "Now, the Camera's Eye Turns Inward", in The New York Times, May 28. 1989. Hamon, Philippe. Imageries.Littà ©rature et image au XIXe sià ¨cle. Paris: Josà © Corti, 2001. ------------------------------------ 19 The phrase used in the title of this article is coined after the title of one of Dine's black-and-white photogravure prints, "Clear Liquid Talking", 1996. Krauss, Rosalind.The Optical Unconscious. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 1993. Meatyard, Ralph Eugene. Caught Moments -- New Viewpoints. Exhibition catalogue. London: Olympus Gallery, 1983. Powers, Richard. Three Framers on Their Way to a Dance. New York : W. Morrow, 1985. Sibony, Daniel. "Une technique de l'instant ou la machine à   clicher", La Recherche photographique 7 (1990) Soulages, Franà §ois. "Photographie avant analyse", Photographie et inconscient, Soulages ed. Paris: Osiris, 1986.

Hardness of Water

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS HARDNESS OF WATER:It is when water passes through or over deposit such as limestone; the level of Ca ²Ã¢  »and Mg ²Ã¢  ºand HCOâ‚Æ' ions present in the water can greatly increase and cause the water to be classified as hard water. This term results from the fact that cation and magnesium ions in water combine with soap molecules, making it hard to get suds. High level of water ion such as Ca ²Ã¢  » and Mg ²Ã¢  ºÃ‚  can cause scaly deposits in plumbing appliances & boilers.These two ions also combine chemically with soap molecules resulting in decreased cleansing. The American water works Association indicates that the ideal quality water should not contain more than 80mg/l of total hardness as CaCOâ‚Æ'. High levels of total hardness are not considered a health concern. There are two types of Hardness:Temporary hardness: this is due to the presence of bicorbonates of calcium and magnesium. It can be easily removed by boiling. Permanent hardness: this is due to the presence of chlorides & sulphate of calcium & magnesium. This type of hardness cannot be removed by boiling.MOTIVATIONI was bothered that the water in Ilara community doesn’t combine easily with soap leading to excessive consumption of WATER.ENVIRONMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE:Scales are formed as inner coating of the pipelines prevents corrosion Absolute soft waters are corrosive and dissolve metalsMore causes of cardio vascular diseases are reported in soft water areas Hard water is useful to growth of children due to the presence of calcium Hard water cause excessive consumption of soap used for cleaning purpose, sodium soaps react with multivalent metallic cations to form a precipitate, thereby lose their surfactant properties. Lathering doesn’t take place until all hardness ions precipitate out.APPARATUS Conical Flask {250ml} Burette with retort stand Beaker Wash bottles Standard flask PipettesMETHOD Simple titration methodREAGENTS Ammonium chloride Amm onium hydroxide Ilara-Mokin water {Hâ‚‚O} Magnesium sulphate Erichrome black T EDTA (Disodium salt).PREPARATION OF REAGENTS 1. Standard solution of EDTAThe usual reagent is the disodium salt, which is a dehydrate, Mr=372.24; it is available in sufficiently pure form to be used as a primary standard for most purposes. If necessary, it may be dried at 80 ° for four days to remove a small percentage of water that may have been absorbed. The solution should be stored in plastic containers rather than glass bottles. The solution is stable but if stored in glass bottles (particularly if the glass is new), the concentration of a dilute solution will decrease appreciably with time as metal ions are extracted out of the glass. To prepare 2 1 of the reagent, dissolve 7.44g of the salt in enough deionized water to make exactly 2 1 of solution. 2. Buffer solution(pH 10)Add 17.5g of ammonium chloride to 142cm ³ of ammonium chloride to 142cm ³ of 0.88 ammonia solution and make up to 25 0cm ³ with deionized water. 3. Eriochrome Black T indicatorThis indicator can be purchased as a powder. The solid is hygroscopic, and so must be stored in a tightly stoppered container.EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE (testing of the Ilara-mokin water) We Pipetted 200ml of the water sample and transfer it to a clean 250ml conical flask. We Added 2ml of Ammonia buffer solution to the water sample so that the pH will be maintained between 9 & 10. We added few drops of EBT indicator to the conical flask and the sample turns to wine red in color. Before we started the titration; we rinsed the burette with few ml of EDTA  then Filled the burette with 0.02m EDTA solution & adjusted to zero then fixed it in retort stand. We titrated the sample against the EDTA solution in the burette till all calcium and magnesium ions present in the sample reacted with the EDTA.The appearance of blue color indicated that all Ca and Mg ions were complex with EDTA and forms a metal EDTA complex. i.e. the end poin t of the titration We Noted down the burette reading and repeated titration two more times.RESULT OF THE EXPERIMENTSAMPLE A FINAL READINNGS 1.50 1.40 1.40 INITIAL READINGS 0.00 0.00 0.00 TITRE VALUES 1.50 1.40 1.40Average titre value= 1.50 +1.40+1.40 =4.3 3 3  =1.43cm ³Ã‚  =1.43 x 20= 28.6 cm ³SAMPLE B FINAL READINGS 2.90 3.10 2.90 INITIAL READINGS 0.00 0.00 0.00 TITRE VALUES 2.90 3.10 2.90Average titre value=2.90+3.10+2.90 = 8.90 3 3  =2.97cm ³Ã‚  =2.97 x 20= 59.4cm ³

The Introduction of Goal-Line Technology as a Strategic Change in Football Essays

The Introduction of Goal-Line Technology as a Strategic Change in Football Essays The Introduction of Goal-Line Technology as a Strategic Change in Football Essay The Introduction of Goal-Line Technology as a Strategic Change in Football Essay This report discusses the introduction of goal-line technology as a strategic change to the game of football and the likely impacts on the organisations associated. Football has become a global business and is one of the few industries which has grown during the current financial crisis, with larger television deals and transfer fees than ever before. This report summarises two leading goal-line systems available before discussing the potential benefits and challenges of implementing the technology. The focus then turns to the impact such a change will have on the game’s stakeholders before finally drawing conclusions on how the implementation could be managed and whether the systems should be adopted. Introduction Goal-line technology is a proposed technology which is able to determine when the ball has crossed the goal-line, therefore indicating when a goal has been scored or not. Over the past ten years there has been great debate about whether this type of technology should be introduced to the game, however so far the concept has been rejected by FIFA, football’s world governing body. There are currently two leading systems which could be implemented and these will be explained in depth further on in the report. In 2010 the International Football Association Board (IFAB) agreed to re-examine goal line technology. It stipulated that any goal-line system must be accurate and the indication of whether a goal has been scored must be immediate and confirmed to the match officials only, within 1 second of the incident (FIFA, 2010). In recent years calls to introduce goal-line technology have intensified as a result of a number of high profile refereeing errors. A recent survey of 48 captains in the Europa League by international players union, FIFpro, found that 90% of respondents said they wanted goal-line technology introduced (CNN, 2010). In the modern game, where there are huge amounts of money at stake, and given the current economic climate, every decision is vital. There are plenty of arguments against the introduction of goal line technology and these will be discussed along with any potential advantages. Goal-Line Systems Available * Hawk-Eye System This system uses six cameras in the stands at either end of the field to track the position of the ball. The images are processed by a bank of computers in real time and the data is sent to a central computer, which combines all the information to determine whether or not the ball has crossed the line. If the ball has crossed the line then the central computer will transmit an automatic signal directly to the referee, such information could be communicated to a watch or an ear piece (Hawk-Eye, 2010). The Hawk-Eye system utilises cameras that can operate at up to 500 frames per second compared to standard broadcast cameras that operate at around 25 frames per second, which means that Hawk-Eye is able to detect if the ball crossed the goal-line for only a fraction of a second. The system compensates for the eventuality that players will obstruct the view of the ball (D’Orazio, Guaragnella, Leo and Distante, 2010) by using six cameras from different angles and Hawk-Eye is able to locate the ball accurately when only 25% of the ball is visible. The cost of implementing the system at one stadium would be around ? 250,000. * Cairos GLT System The Cairos system has been jointly proposed by football manufacturer and leading sportswear designer Adidas and Cairos Technologies AG. The system consists of thin cables installed underneath the penalty area and behind the goal-line. Electrical currents passed through the cables generate magnetic fields which are picked up by sensors in the ball when in the goal area. A transmitter inside the ball sends the data about the ball’s location to a ouple of receiver antennas which then transmit the data to a central computer. When the computer determines when the ball has crossed the goal-line it sends a radio signal to the referee instantly informing that a goal should be awarded. (Cairos, 2010). It is not currently known how much this system would cost to install although it is likely to be similar to that of the Hawk-eye system. SWOT analysis for goal-line technology. Impacts of Goa l-Line Technology Fig [ 1 ] (Dailymail, 2010) The introduction of goal-line technology has many benefits to the game of football and its stakeholders. The worldwide football industry generates billions of pounds in revenue through sponsorship and marketing deals with the largest clubs in the world raking in over ? 300m in revenue (Deloitte, 2010). With huge amounts of prize money on offer it is more important than ever to minimise the number of refereeing errors in the game. The most recent argument for introducing a goal-line system came at the 2010 FIFA World Cup where Frank Lampard’s shot against Germany had clearly crossed the line (Fig 1) but no goal was given. Had the goal been correctly awarded then the outcome of the game could have been totally different. As it was England exited the World Cup in the second round winning around ? 6m in prize money and missing out on potential prize money in excess of ? 19m. There are numerous other examples which show that wrong decisions have massive financial implications on football teams. The last few years have seen an increase in the abuse of referees as a result of poor decisions, in extreme cases referees have received death threats and chosen to retire. The introduction of goal-line technology could help to eradicate the problem as the technology rules out human error in relation to goal-line decisions. We have seen in tennis that since the introduction of hawk-eye there have been far less confrontations between players and officials. Players accept the outcome and this would be the same in football. As a result, referees would get 99% of goal-line decisions correct and players, managers and fans would be able to accept those decisions. Incidents of crowd trouble would also be likely to fall as everyone would be able to see the exact position of the ball and there would be no reason for fans to feel hard done by. The sport betting market is becoming an increasingly large industry, with Sport England estimating the value of spending on sport-related gambling in England grew from ? 1. 7bn in 1985 to ? 2. 8bn in 2008 (Sport England, 2010). It is also estimated that ? 1bn in the UK alone was staked on the 2010 FIFA World Cup (BBC, 2010). After the England v Germany match at the 2010 World Cup, bookmaker William Hill decided it would pay out to their customers who bet on Frank Lampard scoring in the match. The bookmaker estimated that this gesture would cost them a â€Å"six figure sum†. (William Hill, 2010). There are many other cases where goal-line incidents have cost the public and bookmakers, and these examples provide another argument for using goal-line technology and show the potential economic impact outside the football world. It should also be recognised that video technology is currently used in football and has been successful. National governing bodies use video technology to cite players after a game for dangerous or foul play that may have been missed by the referee, the necessary punishments are then handed out a similar system is also used in rugby union. The introduction of this process has helped to stamp out serious foul play in the game and in some countries has been further developed to punish players for simulation, or diving. This shows an example where technology has been introduced to the game and is helping to improve and maintain the games ethics. Goal-line technology would simply be another method of adding value to football through the use of technology. Potential Challenges of Implementation. There are various challenges and arguments to overcome before goal-line technology could be implemented, for example: 1. With installation costs in excess of ? 200,000, questions are being asked if it is appropriate to spend such a large amount of money on a goal-line system in the current economic climate. Although in relation to the current wages in modern football, ? 250,000 is a relatively insignificant amount for the top clubs. The technology is also an attractive sponsorship opportunity which would contribute to the installations. Tennis has proven that there is money to be made from selling the sponsorship of the Hawk-Eye system, Rolex sponsor the system at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships (Fernandez, 2010). This would also be true in football and it is likely that football would attract greater amounts of sponsorship money because of the popularity of the game, the greater numbers of spectators and the global television audience (Levine, 2000). On the other hand, the majority of clubs outside the top divisions would struggle to gain sponsorship and would therefore have to face the installation costs themselves. 2. FIFA believe that the rules for officiating football should be the same across all leagues and nations. If smaller teams could not attract sponsorship deals and could therefore not afford to install the technology, FIFA’s belief would not be realised and the already evident gap between the top flight teams and the lower divisions could be further widened. However, in Rugby League, video technology is only used in the elite tournaments and has proven a successful introduction. A similar approach could be taken in football, where either every team in a league agrees to install goal-line systems or no teams install them. This approach would allow the implementation of goal-line technology in a consistent and fair way and would solve the problem of which level of the sport to stop at. E. g. International, Professional, Semi-Professional. 3. Where do you draw the line with technology in football? Controversy can happen all over the pitch, in the form of off-side or penalty decisions for example, and technology could be introduced to analyse every decision. FIFA believe the human element of the game should remain the critical element of it and if we start using technology all over the pitch then it will change the way the game has been played for hundreds of years, therefore technology should be used to assist and not replace referees. Goal-line incidents are the only decision which is totally definitive and if a decision can be provided to the referee instantly then the flow of game will hardly be affected. FIFA has therefore indicated that if technology is ever introduced, it would only be used for goal-line incidents (FIFA, 2010). 4. Not every ground has suitable facilities to install the technology. If the Hawk-Eye system was adopted then clubs would need to have suitable stadia in which the cameras could be installed. Smaller clubs with small stadia may struggle to install the cameras in the optimum positions which could affect the accuracy of the system. If the Cairos GLT system was adopted there may be similar installation problems because the system has to be installed underneath the pitch. Many clubs now have undersoil heating already installed which could make it difficult to implement the Cairos system depending on whether these two technologies could be installed in tandem. The effects of Goal-Line Technology outside the game. The debate about goal-line technology has had an impact on industries linked to football, as well as other sports. FIFA have agreed to look into goal-line technology again which has stimulated competition and technological advance between the 17 companies who have proposed their systems which could be used, although the two systems discussed earlier appear to be the market leaders. Nevertheless the subject of line-calling technology has unearthed a niche market which is becoming increasingly relevant in all sports, thus leading to job creation and healthy competition within the market. The company whose technology is chosen would experience rapid growth because of the sudden demand for their product which would be implemented throughout the world. Because such a system is still in its infancy, there would be plenty of rival companies that would continue to develop their own systems for use in other sports or in other areas of the game. However, this could again raise the debate of where you draw the line with technology in football. It is likely that the implementation of goal-line technology would have little impact on the organisational structure of FIFA and other governing bodies, it is probable that a new department will be created to work in tandem with the chosen manufacturer and to fix any problems with the technology but major structural changes should not be necessary. A change in the laws of the game would be required to accommodate goal-line systems and a process would need to be implemented to state when a goal can be awarded and how this would be done. For example, the tennis model could be followed where the game would be stopped and a replay could be shown on big screens inside the stadium, or a simple signal could be sent to the officials only, indicating a goal should be awarded. It is likely that the latter would be adopted because it would not interrupt the flow of the game. Goal-line technology would have a great effect on the fans, both at the game and watching on television. We have seen in tennis that Hawk-eye creates excitement and tension amongst fans, adding value to the sport. A goal-line system would also have a similar effect in football, although it is likely that only the television audience would get the benefit of seeing the outcome because the game would have to be interrupted in order to show the outcome at the stadium. Fans would be happy that goal-line systems would rule out human error and it would also help to eradicate the blame culture where fans blame bad refereeing decisions for defeat. In the aftermath of the England v Germany match, the English fans and media placed the blame for the defeat on the referee and his assistants when in actual fact England were massively outplayed by Germany. The implementation of goal-line technology would take the emphasis away from questionable decisions and allow teams and fans to address the real issues. Another interesting point involves the legal consequences of implementing goal-line technology. If the technology was to fail during a game and give the wrong decision, would the club involved be able to sue FIFA or the manufacturer for loss of earnings? However, there have been no recorded cases of this occurring in other sports. Conclusions. There are many challenges associated with implementing any new technology in an organisation, and this will be no different if goal-line technology is introduced to football. Inevitably there will be teething problems however the ultimate success of such an implementation depends on how these problems are dealt with. I have drawn up a few recommendations which could help the implementation and transition process to make sure any issues are overcome: * Goal-line technology should be phased in over time It will take years to install goal-line systems in all suitable stadia across the world and therefore I feel that installing systems in the top divisions and tournaments, such as the UEFA Champions League or FIFA World Cup, would be a good starting point. Ultimately, these divisions and tournaments provide the highest financial opportunities to clubs and nations, therefore in today’s economic climate where football is seen as a business, it makes sense to begin with these top tournaments. As time progresses, implementation will move to the lower leagues and tournaments. * Goal-line technology will only be used in a fair manner Such technology should only be used if every team in a division has access to it. It would not be fair if only a select number of teams are able to experience the benefits. Either every team in a division utilises the technology, or none of them do. Bursary or funding schemes for lower league teams The national governing bodies could look to provide financial assistance to clubs who will struggle with the costs of implementing the technology. Or, the manufacturer could install the systems for free in exchange for the rights to sell the sponsorship of the system (Fernandez, 2010). FIFA and other governin g bodies will see plenty of benefits, both tangible and intangible, as a result of the implementation of goal-line technology: * Currently, FIFA has a poor reputation amongst the majority of the public throughout the world. Goal-line technology is wanted by the vast majority involved with football, including referees (BBC, 2010), and if FIFA approve its introduction it would be the first step in re-building its reputation across the world. It would be seen as a positive decision and would move football forward in line with other sports that have embraced available technologies. * Introducing the technology would greatly assist referees and this would help to reduce referee abuse by players and fans. Eventually, the technology could help to encourage more people to take up refereeing. Today, it is estimated that 7000 referees in England are leaving the game each season (Mole, 2009) * There are massive financial benefits to be gained through sponsorship of the systems. FIFA is a not-for profit organisation, yet in 2009 it recorded a positive annual result in excess of ? 100m (FIFA, 2010). The majority of revenue was made up of marketing and TV contracts and the sponsorship opportunities of goal-line technology, at events such as the FIFA World Cup, would increase revenues further. In conclusion I feel that goal-line technology has to be introduced to the game, we are seeing more and more examples of the need for such technology and with increasing amounts at stake for every game that is played it is time to take some of burden off referees and provide some assistance. Football has developed from a recreational game into a multi-billion pound industry and in the modern world the original laws of the game need to move with the times.

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buy custom Born to Buy essay The increased consumerisms that have beset society have now caught up with the children. They are being viewed as the link through which markers can push upwards consumerism trends in an economy that is getting highly competitive and in due consideration of current financial problems plaguing the globe. Young people are very knowledgeable about new products as compared to the older generation and targeting them makes dissemination of knowledge regarding new products easier and hence effectively boost sales upwards. The kind of brands young people use have come to define their social places and this creates a demand for high end products and helping big brands in garments and technology grow. What this means is that any effort by parents to downsize their spending or at least simplify their lifestyles is met with strong resistance from their children who wants to toe the line or risk stigmatization. Modernity has subjected our children to a culture of increased consumerism and turning them into materialistic individuals who would rather spend their time with their toys and gadgets rather than pursuing traditional leisure activities with their friends. What is worrying is the tendency of young people in Americans to single mindedly pursue wealth and in doing so give up other activities traditionally viewed as vital for balanced growth. Lack of material things is viewed as poverty and a cause for anxiety among children in a manner that affects their lives. One negative impact which has stakeholders worried is the emerging obesity pandemic which is growing by the day. This has been caused by the reduced participation in physical activities and the increased consumption of sugar based products especially the controversial High fructose cough syrup. In addition, increased production spells trouble for our environment through pollution a feat which might aid to global warming. Parenting styles are largely to blame for this shift in marketing from the traditional parental focus advertisement to the current model of appealing directly to children. Most parents have cited the new trend as inescapable and have made no effort to revert or control the situation. In addition, the reduction in leisure times as the need to succeed forces them to spend more time in schools and indoors doing homework has spurred an improved demand for electronics. They then use these gadgets a tool for keeping in touch, entertaining themselves and in fulfilling their increased consumption urges. Buy custom Born to Buy essay

MSc in Civil Engineering and Construction Management Assignment

MSc in Civil Engineering and Construction Management - Assignment Example Our client will have an accurate and appraised value for money (VfM). The second part deals on value engineering approach and processes which involve imaginative and creative efforts, and methods and means to provide substitute materials, tools and processes which can give a valuing ‘map’ for the project. SBE Innovations will have a chance to study and approve the recommendations through their representatives, the project manager, and project committee. The team will determine how the functions of the construction can be simplified without sacrificing quality. Value management is the first step and activity that should be applied at the early stage of the project. This is a step-by-step analysis, employing scientific methods, discussions, brainstorming, and all possible logical means to arrive at a low-cost with high value for the client’s project. Value management utilizes a workshop to study on the different functions of the project, the purpose of which is to maximize usage or functionality of the facilities, and to minimize unnecessary costs; in other words, a maximization and utilization of the different parts of the project at a minimum cost. The functions and the stages, including the brands or materials to be installed, will be examined thoroughly so that unnecessary costs can be minimized. If there are other brands available in the market which are cheaper but can provide the same quality, we will provide the recommendations. Our company provides services to clients through value management and value engineering initiatives such as functional analysis which seeks to provide a valuing process to an existing project. Our study will deal with the possible problems and barriers and the possible reduction of costs on the different functional stages of the project. We will provide a detailed scope study.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 16

Summary - Essay Example The ruling families realized that there should be policy change in economic programs to ensure that the countries developed long-term and sustainable economic plans. The international community was involved in promotion of economic status of the GCC states where they advised that a knowledge-based economic policy would be effective in steering the economies rather than relying on oil that was dwindling. Introduction of the knowledge-based economy would ensure expansion and investment in education to build wealth from the human labour and resources instead of relying on the natural resources. President Obama and Angela Merkel delivered speeches on the benefits of the knowledge-based economy over reliance on natural resources. Obama stated that the Islamic countries should begin to increase their investment in education since even the countries that had more natural resources like America had invested in other policies to steer their economies. Angela Merkel on the other hand emphasized on the importance of promoting freedom and innovation from the power of science and human intelligence. Innovation, technological development and invention were es sential for development challenges in 21st century. These speeches revealed the interest which the western countries had on the development of the GCC countries. The Arab countries have adopted the policy and culture of promoting the education in the region by increasing the number of institutions of higher learning at high rate. Since the end of World War II, the number of universities have increased from 10 to 140 in 2000 and later increased up to 260 in 2010. This reveals the interest of leaders to propel their countries in knowledge-based economies. Obama and Merkel stated that the countries in the region should pay tribute to the developments taking place in education especially the universities that have embraced the visions of the Gulf monarchies. Modernization of education