ASSESSMENT 2. sustainability index and DATA REPORT Description: Collection and evaluation of

Ashley Jones – Digital and Media Customer Service Discussion When thinking of

Ashley Jones – Digital and Media Customer Service Discussion

When thinking of technology and the digital marketing issues and the impact on the delivery of exceptional customer service I think about how I would want to represent a business. Excellent customer service is how you maintain customers who will then share their experience with their peers, which will in turn gain more customers and growth for your company. In this weeks reading it stated, “Since 2010, American Express has conducted a customer service survey in global markets. The most recent in 2014 found that over two-thirds of U.S. consumers say they are willing to spend 14 percent more with brands that deliver excellent service.” (Zahay & Roberts, 2018). Customers want a good experience, and they are willing to pay for it.

I personally had a horrible online experience with Under Armour. I ordered a pair of shoes and realized their shoes run a bit small, so I needed to make an exchange for a size larger. I spoke to multiple different people who all gave me different answers and told me different things to do to have the exchange happen. It was an incredibly frustrating experience. I do not know why they all told me something different. My only thought on the matter is quite possibly new staff that did not know what to do. They best solution I can think of that would have solved my problem would be to have a contact to the original person I spoke to and then have them utilize their superiors for help when they did not know what they were doing. I feel like God has his hand in all things. So, when I think of my experience with Under Armour I think of the last person I spoke to that made it right and gave great customer service, which make me think of Ephesians 4:32, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

References:

Zahay, D. L., & Roberts, M. L. (2018). Internet marketing: integrating online & offline strategies (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Hengeveld, N. (1993). Access Your Bible from Anywhere. BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages. https://www.biblegateway.com/.[supanova_question]

ASANTE EMPIRE Asante empire, Asante also spelled Ashanti, West African state that

ASANTE EMPIRE

Asante empire, Asante also spelled Ashanti, West African state that occupied what is now southern Ghana in the 18th and 19th centuries. Extending from the Comoé River in the west to the Togo Mountains in the east, the Asante empire was active in the slave trade in the 18th century and unsuccessfully resisted British penetration in the 19th.

In their struggle against the suzerain state of Denkyera and lesser neighbouring states, the Asante people made little headway until the accession, probably in the 1670s, of Osei Tutu. After a series of campaigns that crushed all opposition, he was installed as Asantehene, or king of the new Asante state, whose capital was named Kumasi. His authority was symbolized by the Golden Stool, on which all subsequent kings were enthroned.

The Ashanti (or Asante), part of the Akan-speaking peoples, settled in today’s Ghana in the 12th and 13th centuries. Here they established a highly successful kingdom around the trading centre of Kumasi and, in 1689 their leader Osei Tutu, founded the Ashanti Empire. Ten years later he led a series of wars against the neighbouring Denkyira people and eventually reached the coast. Here trade was opened with the Dutch, mainly in gold, slaves and European imports. By Tutu’s death in 1712 the Empire had trebled in size. Then, under leaders like Osei Kwado – who came to power in 1764 (G3a) – it developed northwards to become one of the most powerful of the West African states. Its people posed a threat to the British when they arrived, and it took four wars before they were subdued. As we shall see, the first of these wars, which began in 1824 (G4), followed the establishment of colonial territories by the British in Sierra Leone, the Gambia and the Gold Coast in 1821 (G4).

THE FOUNDING OF THE ASHANTI EMPIRE c1689  (W3)

It was in the 12th and 13th centuries that the Akan-speaking peoples, which included the Ashanti (or Asante), migrated from the savannah areas of the north and settled in what is now central Ghana in West Africa. Here they established a number of small states, and by the 15th century they were benefiting from the north-south trade which was developing between the coast and the Saharan caravan routes. The Ashanti people established a small but highly successful kingdom around the trading centre of Kumasi, and in 1689 their leader, Osei Tutu, founded the Ashanti Empire (see map below). And it was from here in about 1698 that, having formed an alliance with other Akan states, he launched a combined attack upon their powerful neighbour, the Denkyira.

In a series of campaigns over the next three years, all opposition was crushed and, the coast having been reached, a lucrative trade was opened up with the Dutch at the fort of Elmina. Based on gold, slaves and European imports, it was the making of the Ashanti Empire. By the death of Osei Tutu, its founder and first king, in 1712, it had trebled in size, and its capital Kumasi, ideally situated on the north-south trade route, was a major commercial centre. But this was only the beginning. Renowned as warriors and artisans, the Ashanti people now advanced inland, subjugating the northern peoples, such as the Bono, Banda and Dagomba, and making their state one of the most powerful in West Africa, alongside the kingdoms of Benin, Kongo, Ojo and Dahomey.

Worthy of note amongst their leaders at this time was Osei Kwadwo. Coming to power in 1764 (G3a), he consolidated the power of the monarchy and extended further his domains further north. By the early 19th century the empire stretched from the Togo Mountains in the east to the Komoe River in the west. Indeed, such was the strength of the Ashanti that they posed a threat to the British on their arrival, and it took four “wars” to bring about their final defeat. As we shall see, the first of these wars, beginning in 1824 (G4), followed the establishment of colonial territories by the British in Sierra Leone, the Gambia and the Gold Coast in 1821 (G4).

Incidentally, before becoming Ashantehene, or king, of the new Ashanti state, Osei Tutu lived for a time amongst the Akwamu people. On returning to Kumasi he was accompanied by a priest called Okomfo Anokye and he brought with him the legendary “Golden Stool” which, he claimed, had descended from heaven. This stool became the symbol of the spirit and unity of the Ashanti people and, according to Ashanti tradition, played a vital role in the kingdom’s success. As we shall see, it was the cause of a war – the so-called War of the Golden Stool – in 1900, following the end of the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War in 1896 (Vc). The Ashanti Empire was eventually taken over by the British and made part of their Gold Coast colony.

From the beginning of the 18th century, the Asante supplied slaves to British and Dutch traders on the coast; in return they received firearms with which to enforce their territorial expansion. After the death of Osei Tutu in either 1712 or 1717, a period of internal chaos and factional strife was ended with the accession of Opoku Ware (ruled c. 1720–50), under whom Asante reached its fullest extent in the interior of the country. Kings Osei Kwadwo (ruled c. 1764–77), Osei Kwame (1777–1801), and Osei Bonsu (c. 1801–24) established a strong centralized state, with an efficient, merit-based bureaucracy and a fine system of communications.

In 1807 Osei Bonsu occupied southern Fante territory—an enclave around British headquarters at Cape Coast; in the same year, Great Britain outlawed the slave trade. Declining trade relations and disputes over the Fante region caused friction over the following decade and led to warfare in the 1820s. The Asante defeated a British force in 1824 but made peace in 1831 and avoided conflict for the next 30 years.

In 1863, under Kwaku Dua (ruled 1834–67), the Asante again challenged the British by sending forces to occupy the coastal provinces. In 1869 the British took possession of Elmina (over which Asante claimed jurisdiction), and in 1874 an expeditionary force under Sir Garnet Wolseley marched on Kumasi. Though Wolseley managed to occupy the Asante capital for only one day, the Asante were shocked to realize the inferiority of their military and communications systems. The invasion, moreover, sparked numerous secessionary revolts in the northern provinces. The old southern provinces were formally constituted the Gold Coast colony by the British later in 1874. Asante’s king Kofi Karikari was then deposed, and Mensa Bonsu (ruled 1874–83) assumed power. He attempted to adapt the agencies of Asante government to the changed situation. Although he reorganized the army, appointed some Europeans to senior posts, and increased Asante resources, he was prevented from restoring Asante imperial power by the British political agents, who supported the northern secessionist chiefs and the opponents of central government in Kumasi. The empire continued to decline under his successor, Prempeh I (acceded 1888), during whose reign, on January 1, 1902, Asante was formally declared a British crown colony, the former northern provinces being on the same day separately constituted the Protectorate of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast.

An Asante Confederacy Council was established under British rule in the 1930s, and the Asantehene was restored as a figurehead sovereign.

Oral histories all agree that the Ashanti were originally part of a unified Akan clan that included the Fante, Wassaw and other Twi-speaking people. But it is in the specifics of its subsequent division that stories begin to diverge.

“Grand Chefs”, Ashanti chiefs.
Source: Jules Gros, Voyages, aventures et captivité de J. Bonnat chez les Ashantis, 1884.

In one legend, it is Fulani invaders, destroying the Akan’s crops and forcing them to forage for edible plants, that spurs this division. One group collected fan while the other gathered shan in order to survive. They drifted apart and came to be called the Fan-dti and Shan-dti (dti meaning “to eat”).

Another story points to a dispute with a local king. A group of loyal subjects gifted fan to the king out of tribute, while the rebellious subjects attempted to poison him with the deadly herb asun. The groups were then described as the Fan-ti and Asun-ti.

Yet another history describes a different dispute between two factions of the Akan clan. One group left the kingdom and became known as the Fa-tsiw-fu (people who cut themselves from the main body). The Akan who stayed behind rejected a request by the king to restore peace among the two groups. As a result, the remaining people were called the Asua-tsiw-fu (people who refused to listen).

Migration and First Akan States

.

The ancestors of most coastal peoples, the Ashanti and Fante included, migrated west from lands possibly as far as Lake Chad and the Benue river. After crossing the lower Niger river, they made their way through the forests of modern-day Benin and Togo before reaching the Ghanaian coast.

In these lands, rich in gold and kola nuts, mainstays of trade, the Ashanti, as well as their other Akan cousins, prospered.

By the 16th century, with the affluent trade economy of the region, a number of highly developed Akan states had emerged: The Bono in the north, the Denkyira, Akwamu, Fante and Ashanti to the south. Over the 16th and 17th centuries, the Denkyira quickly grew to dominate and exercise control over the smaller southern states.

Map of the Akan and other states circa 1700.

Ashanti Empire

The Oyoko clan of the Ashanti had settled around lake Bosomtwe near Kumasi, a rich, inland area at the junction of trade routes that would become the future empire’s capital. Under Denkyiran dominance, this clan nevertheless rose to prominence.

Unification of the Ashanti Kingdoms

Obiri Yeboa (r. c. 1660 – 1680) of the Oyokos never saw his ambitions for the future of the Ashanti, united and free from Denkyira come to fruition. But during his reign, he planted the seeds for unification that his nephew and successor Osei Tutu (r. c. 1680 – 1717) would use.

Sharing his uncle’s dreams, Osei Tutu had a carefully thought-out plan to overthrow the Denkyira. The first step was uniting the other Ashanti clans, and for that, he would need an air of authority. He took the title of asantehene, or “king of the Ashanti” — a lofty title, for people who had had, until this point, only clan kings —, and started the tradition of the Sika ‘dwa, “golden stool”.

According to the legend, Okomfo Anokye, Tutu’s chief priest and advisor, called a meeting of all the heads of each Ashanti clan. In this meeting, the priest conjured a golden stool down from the heavens and into Osei Tutu’s lap. Such seats were traditionally symbolic of a chief’s leadership, but this one embodied the spirit of the Ashanti people as a whole. The Ashanti chiefs immediately swore allegiance to the stool and Osei Tutu as the Asantehene, forming the Ashanti Union around 1700.

he city Kumasi — so named because Osei Tutu sat under the Kum tree during territorial negotiations —, a crossroads of trade routes on land rich in gold and kola nuts, became the empire’s capital. The first asantehene designed a new constitution and formed a council of the heads of the states. The annual Odwira festival cemented the union.

With those alliances firmly secured, Osei Tutu led his new army to defeat the Denkyira. Their victory allowed the Ashanti access to the European trade spilling in from the coast. Due to that, the empire tripled in size, becoming a strong, war-focused nation. Osei Tutu died in battle during a campain against Akyem, another Akan state.

Growth of the Empire

Osei Tutu’s chosen successor, Opoku Ware (r. c. 1717 – 1750) created the Great Oath of the Ashanti as a means to further unify his people. The words “Koromante ne memeneda” — referring to the day (Saturday) and place (Koromante) of Osei Tutu’s death — made binding and unrecantable any pledge with which it was uttered. The oath played an important role in pledges of allegiance because it bound the chiefs and their asantehene together forever.

During his rule, Opoku Ware expanded and consolidated the Empire’s reach and power. He quickly subjugated Sehwi, Gyaman, and even Akwamu. Incorporating these large areas into the Ashanti empire made the domain stretch to encompass most of modern-day Ghana. A notable challenge was a decade-long war with Akyem, whose defeat in 1742 spread the Ashanti’s political and economic domination to the coast. The empire became the Gold Coast’s largest trader of captives, gold and ivory.

Opoku Ware’s later years focused on the centralization of the administration. He weakened the power of provincial chiefs by increasing the number of subordinates who reported directly to the asantehene. This led to revolts by the provincial chiefs, as well as subjugated people like the Akyem and Wassaw, who siezed the chance to revolt for independence. By the time of his death, in 1750, Opoku Ware had ultimately forced the chiefs to accept his reorganization of the empire, preventing the nation from falling apart, for now.

Map of the Ashanti Empire in the 1800s.
Source: Encyclopedia of African History and Culture – Vol III, 2001.

Rebellions and Rivalries

When Kusi Obodum (r. c. 1750-1764) was deposed, Osei Kwadwo (r. 1764 – 1777) took the golden stool. Most of his reign was spent putting down rebellions — from the Twifo, Wassaw and Akyem — initially with the help of the Fante until their alliance broke down. Eventually, he managed to stabilize the realm. He even expanded it by conquering Dagomba to the north, where he acquired a large number of captives who were brought to the coast and sold to the Europeans.

Osei Kwadwo made some administrative changes to the empire, installing Ashanti nobles as administrators to oversee the provinces. He also sent representatives to the coast to ensure the European traders paid rent for their forts and castles, giving the Ashanti greater control over the coast.

Decline with the Anglo-Ashanti Wars

While the Ashanti were expanding their trade networks towards the interior, British merchants and expeditionary forces kept flooding the coast in ever increasing numbers, in hopes of monopolizing coastal trade. This would be the beginning of the empire’s decline in the 19th century. The ever-rising tensions would lead to a century of wars between the Ashanti and the British.

Some of the smaller African states, like the Fante and Denkyira, welcomed the British as potential allies against the powerful Ashanti. The root of their rivalry was their Ashanti masters’ habit of raiding their neighbors for captives which were sold for European goods or forced to work in the gold fields.

First Anglo-Ashanti War

Tensions rose until the Ashanti sent an estimated 10,000 warriors to expel a smaller force of British, Fante and Denkyira soldiers from their territory in 1824. They displayed the head of the defeated British governor Charles MacCarthy (1769 – 1824) in the capital of Kumasi as a warning to any who would have designs on their territory.

Second Anglo-Ashanti War

Two years later, the British avenged their loss, defeating the Ashanti at Kantamanto. The Ashanti were forced to relinquish their claims on many coastal people, including the Fante and Akyem.

Third Anglo-Ashanti War

The next few decades were relatively peaceful, until the British bought the remaining Dutch forts along the Gold Coast, making them the only European force in the region. Although the Ashanti were skilled bowmen, musketeers and spearsmen, they could not defeat the British artillery that marched on Kumasi. Once again the Ashanti had to renounce their claims to all territories south of the Pra river. Britain formally declared the Gold Coast Colony over the entire coast by 1874. Although the Ashanti’s influence declined over the next 15 years, they were not ready to give up just yet.

The Ashanti rebuilt their strength, but the British, threatened by the French colonial claims, decided to secure their claim to the interior regions of their colony. In 1895-96, they assailed Kumasi with cannon fire, forcing the asantehene Agyeman Prempeh (1870 – 1931) to accept exile in order to avoid full-scale war and the destruction of the capital.

Final Anglo-Ashanti War

Yaa Asantewa, queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire.
Unknown photographer, unkown date.)

By 1901, the Ashanti were no longer willing to tolerate the foreign occupation. Yaa Asantewa (1850 – 1912), the mother of a prominent chief, and a fierce military leader took leadership. She launched offensives to reclaim their capital. Despite early victories, the arrival of British reinforcements from Nigeria and Sierra Leone, combined with superior fire-power, was overwhelming. Witnesses claimed that Yaa Asantewa was the last Ashanti to lay down arms. The defeat cemented the British claim on the Gold Coast, marking the end of the Anglo-Ashanti wars, and the beginning of the colonial era in British West Africa.

The Asante were one of the Akan-speaking peoples who settled in the forest region of modern Ghana between the 11thand 13th centuries. The separate Asante chiefdoms were united by Osei Tutu in the 1670s and in 1696 he took the title of Asantehene (king) and founded the Asante empire.

His nation rapidly became more powerful by forming alliances with neighboring peoples, leading to the formation of the Ashanti Union around 1700. He built a capital, Kumasi, and created the legend of the Golden Stool to legitimize his rule. The throne became the symbol of Ashanti authority. By 1750 the Asante Empire was the largest and most powerful state in the region. The empire’s wealth and prosperity was based on mining and trading in gold and trading in slaves. The Asante also became famous for woodcarvings, furniture, and their brightly coloured woven cloth, called ‘kente’. The kingdom continued to expand until, under King Osei Bonsu (1801-1824), Asante territory covered nearly all of present-day Ghana

During the nineteenth century, the Asante fought several wars against British colonial power but a series of defeats gradually weakened and reduced the territory. After the arrest and exile of Nana Prempeh I in 1896 and a final uprising in 1900, led by the Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa, the Asante were defeated. The British annexed their lands in 1902 and the empire was declared a Crown Colony. The exiled king, Nana Prempeh I, was allowed to return to Kumasi in 1924and was reinstated as the occupant of the Golden Stool in 1926. When he died in 1931 the Golden Stool passed to his nephew Nana Osei Agyeman Prempeh II. In 1970 the latter was succeeded by his nephew, Nana Opoku Ware II. The present king, Osei Tutu II, is the nineteenth Asantehene.

In Asante, the family line is matrilineal – inheritance passes from the mother to her children. The Golden Stool is also passed down matrilineally, to one of the king’s maternal nephews. The Ashanti king’s influence exists alongside the modern democracy and his position and that of the traditional chiefs are entrenched in the 1957 Constitution. In return, the king and all the paramount chiefs have had to cede political power to the central government. The king’s position is still widely revered. His main function lies in fostering Asante culture. Since his ascension in 1999, the present king has attempted to revitalize his nation and to use its resources to promote education, health services, industry, and international partnerships and cooperation.[supanova_question]

1 Discussion Assignment: Entering Global Markets and Managing Global Operations Ashley Waldo

Writing Assignment Help 1

Discussion Assignment: Entering Global Markets and Managing Global Operations

Ashley Waldo

School of Business, Liberty University

Author Note

Ashley Waldo

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to

Ashley Waldo

Email: [email protected]

Discussion Assignment: Entering Global Markets and Managing Global Operations

Managerial Commitment and Why I Am Interested in It

         For this discussion assignment, I chose to research the key term of “managerial commitment”. After all I have learned throughout this semester about the international environment of business that I may dip my toes into in my future career, I believe that analyzing managerial commitment is very fitting for my final discussion post. As a manager in human resources who focuses on recruitment and retention, I understand how important commitment is to retain an employee and ensure their success at their job. On the international level which is far more complex, this commitment is even more vital, and I have a better grasp on this concept after studying about international business and all of its facets in this course. I believe that researching this key term beyond the textbook adds to my appreciation of this course and enriches my perspective as an employee in human resources.

Explanation of Managerial Commitment

Managerial commitment is demonstrated when an employee at the management level is dedicated to their role and motivated to fulfill it to the best of their ability while contributing to the organization’s goals. In an international setting through global market entry, this is a key requirement as cultures continue to adapt and intertwine through globalization. Whether through FDI, licensing, or joint ventures, global entry is a significant and complicated task that requires intense managerial commitment to be successful (Satterlee, 2018). Below the executive level, managers must be just as committed and ready for the demands with their hours, stress, and travel since their perspective can set the tone and attitude for everyone they lead at the company. Although the appropriate experience and knowledge are important too, managerial commitment is the foundation of a candidate and must be present for global entry to meet the potential goals of increasing profits, sustaining competitive advantage, or pursuing a new opportunity (Satterlee, 2018).

Major Article Summary

         In Vesa Suutari’s article, “Global managers: career orientation, career tracks, life-style implications and career commitment”, he explains the results and implications of an international study he conducted on human resources systems and their global managers (Suutari, 2003). Through surveys and interviews, Suutari measured the commitment of global managers in relation to their initial career goals and their corresponding career tracks, efforts, and outcomes to show how to find and sustain managerial commitment for organizational success. In his deep research, Suutari found that managers with higher managerial commitment had always wanted an international career in comparison to those who were neutral at the start of their career. When comparing managers who rotate from their home country to a foreign country with the managers who always stay abroad, he also found that those who rotated home were more committed because of the benefits it allowed for their families (Suutari, 2003).

         In his article, Suutari also noted that the most committed managers were motivated because of their belief in internationalism. They know how important their jobs are to the company and could never be happy with a purely domestic job, so they find the sacrifice enriching and satisfying with their sense of self-efficacy. As influential people in an international business, effective global managers are a top priority and must be chosen very carefully to ensure their commitment. Since international business can demand extensive patience, time, setbacks, relocation, and trust, global managers must have long-term commitment (Suutari, 2003). Throughout the article, Suutari works to prove how important managerial commitment is and how to find it in selecting global managers, and he effectively convinces his readers of this and guides them to decipher who is the most equipped to be hired or promoted as a global manager.

Discussion

a. Vesa Suutari’s article directly relates to the explanation of managerial commitment in the way that he articulates how to anticipate, measure, and keep this dedication in hiring and retaining the best global business managers. While my explanation from the textbook focuses on what managerial commitment is and why it is so important, Suutari’s article offers a practical explanation of how to sustain this in managers throughout their entire careers (Suutari, 2003). The textbook emphasizes the significance of managerial commitment since global entry is such a heavy decision with many factors, conditions, risks, and goals, and Suutari complements this by mentioning the necessity and going into detail about how to detect the managerial commitment of employees through his applicable study.

b. In my research, I found many great articles that added to my understanding of managerial commitment throughout global market entry. However, Suutari’s offered me the most insight as someone in human resources who wants to understand how to recognize this commitment early in the hiring process. The first article I considered annotating provided a very thorough explanation of why commitment of employees is necessary especially in international transactions, but I felt that it was broad in the way it focused on overall organizational commitment (Wood & Wilberger, 2015). The second article that caught my attention explained how commitment is one of the many conditions for an efficient global supply chain and relationship, but it did not really convey the importance of long-term commitment that I believe is more important than a short-term solution (Locke et al., 2009). The third article I researched detailed a study of Chinese companies to prove the correlation between supervisor commitment and organizational commitment, but I chose not to pursue the article further since I felt that the correlation was clear without a formal study needing to be conducted (Cheng et al., 2003). The final article I was interested in thoroughly covered the importance of commitment with global market entry, but it was more focused on partnerships rather than within one organization which deterred me from using it in my analysis (Soderberg et al., 2013).

References

Cheng, B.-S., Jiang, D.-Y., & Riley, J. H. (2003). Organizational commitment, supervisory commitment, and employee outcomes in the Chinese context: proximal hypothesis or global hypothesis? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(3), 313-334. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.190

Locke, R., Amengual, M., & Mangla, A. (2009). Virtue out of Necessity? Compliance, Commitment, and the Improvement of Labor Conditions in Global Supply Chains. Politics & Society, 37(3), 319-351. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032329209338922

Satterlee, B. C. (2018). International Business with Biblical Worldview. McGraw-Hill.

Soderberg, A.-M., Krishna, S., & Bjorn, P. (2013). Global Software Development: Commitment, Trust and Cultural Sensitivity in Strategic Partnerships. Journal of International Management, 19(4), 347-361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2013.04.004

Suutari, V. (2003). Global managers: Career orientation, career tracks, life-style implications and career commitment. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(3), 185-207. http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02683940310465225

Wood, V. R., & Wilberger, J. S. (2015). Globalization, Cultural Diversity and Organizational Commitment: Theoretical Underpinnings. World Journal of Management, 6(2), 154-171. http://dx.doi.org/10.21102/wjm.2015.09.62.11 [supanova_question]

ASSESSMENT STRUCTURE* Assessment Items Units WeightingLearning Outcomes AS1- An audit/evaluation report including

ASSESSMENT STRUCTURE* Assessment Items Units WeightingLearning Outcomes AS1- An audit/evaluation report including recommendations for practice improvement (6,000 words) (Pass/Fail) 7 70 a,b,c,d,e,f,g AS2- Individual Reflective Blog (Pass/Fail) 3 30 b,c,d,e,f,

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Audit/Evaluation Report (6000 words) Each student is required to independently design, conduct and analyse an evaluation or audit of an area of personal and organisational practice and present a report outlining the key findings. This report should include: a rationale for the work being undertaken with reference to the available literature; a detailed account of the area being investigated; a reflection on the appropriateness of the method of investigation undertaken with particular attention given the distinction between reflection, audit, evaluation and primary research; an account of the methodologies employed including any specific regulatory requirements required to access the data; findings from the process and recommendations for practice. Reflection within the report should not only focus on issues specific to the topic being investigated, but should also consider the wider political and contextual issues which may impact on the application of recommendations made.

Subject : Vendor selection in IT Outsource in higher education[supanova_question]

68 Experiment AS10: Cosmology 67 Cosmology Experiment AS10 Name Lab Section Objective

68 Experiment AS10: Cosmology

67

Cosmology Experiment AS10

Name

Lab Section

Objective

Part A: Cosmic Microwave Background

Part B: Hubble’s Law

Materials

Computer with internet access Spreadsheet Program

Procedure

Part A: The Cosmic Microwave Background

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) arises from an early phase in the history of the universe, just at the point where the universe was cool enough for protons and electrons to combine to form neutral hydrogen atoms. Before that, hot protons and electrons were moving too fast. The loose electrons scattered light, so that light could travel only a short distance before being scattered to a new direction, and the universe appeared opaque. Once the Universe cooled enough, atoms formed, light could travel freely, and the universe became transparent. The light we see now as the CMB radiation comes to us directly from that time in the history of the universe when atoms first formed. This period in the history of the Universe is known as “recombination” and occurred when the Universe was about 379,000 years old.

NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer satellite measured the spectrum of the CMB radiation shown at right (the CMB radiation is in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum). The intensity of the CMB radiation is highest at a wavelength of 1.06 millimeters.

In the box below, draw a wave with a wavelength of 1.06 mm.

Use Wien’s law to determine the temperature of the CMB radiation we observe today. Recall that Wien’s law relates the wavelength of peak brightness to temperature:

Temperature of the observed CMB radiation:

Microwave radiation corresponding to this temperature permeates the universe today. Nothing in the universe today is colder than this temperature (without being man-made and purposefully cooled to lower than this temperature in a lab). Explain why.

Protons and electrons combine to form hydrogen atoms at a temperature of about 4000K (6740°F). At hotter temperatures, they are loose subatomic particles and at lower temperatures, they stick together as atoms. Use Wien’s law to predict the wavelength of greatest intensity at a temperature of 4000K.

(The 10-3 in this version of the equation is because we have converted from millimeters to meters.)

Wavelength of the radiation at T=4000 K:

What color would this radiation appear to our eyes?

The CMB radiation has been stretched by the expansion of space since it originated at the time of recombination. By approximately what factor has the radiation been stretched since recombination?

The “stretch factor” is the same as the redshift z from which the radiation arises.

Part B: Hubble’s Law

This activity is originally from the Introductory Astronomy Clearinghouse,

created and maintained by the Astronomy Department at the University of Washington.

During the 1920’s, Edwin Powell Hubble demonstrated that the small hazy patches of light, which were then known as “spiral nebulae”, are actually entire galaxies containing hundreds of billions of stars.

Utilizing the 100-inch telescope at California’s Mount Wilson Observatory (at the time the world’s largest telescope) Hubble obtained spectra and measurements of the distance to a few dozen galaxies, leading to the discovery that the Universe is expanding. Hubble compared recession velocities of galaxies measured from their spectra to their apparent brightness estimated from photographic plates. In 1929 Hubble published his findings, which revealed that the fainter and smaller a galaxy appeared, the higher was its redshift.

Redshift is a term used to describe situations when an astronomical object is observed to being moving away from the observer, such that emission or absorption features in the object’s spectum are observed to have shifted toward longer (red) wavelengths. The change in wavelength of the spectral features is due to the Doppler effect, the change in wavelength that results when a given object and an observer are in motion either toward or away from each other. The radiation coming from a moving object is shifted in wavelength:

where ?0 is the rest wavelength of the light, and ? is the observed wavelength which has been shifted due to the motion between the object and the observer. It is common to use ?? to represent the observed wavelength minus the rest wavelength. Wavelengths of optical light are usually measured in either Angstroms (1 Å = 10-10 m) or nanometers (1 nm = 10 -9 m).

In the data collected by Hubble, the characteristic absorption and emission line features in the spectrum due to hydrogen, calcium and other elements which appear at longer (redder) wavelengths than in a terrestrial laboratory. One can use the measured wavelengths of known spectral lines to determine the velocity of a galaxy. For example:

Absorption lines of hydrogen, normally measured to be at 4861Å and 6563Å, are measured in the spectrum of a particular galaxy to be at 4923Å and 6647Å.

The speed of light, c, has a constant value of 300,000 km/sec.

Therefore this galaxy has a redshift of

and

  and

and the galaxy is moving away from us with a velocity, 

The Hubble Distance – Redshift Relationship

When Hubble plotted the redshift vs. the distance of the galaxies, he found a surprising relation: more distant galaxies are moving faster away from us. Hubble concluded that the fainter and smaller the galaxy, the more distant it is, and the faster it is moving away from us, or that the recessional velocity of a galaxy is proportional to its distance from us:

where v is the galaxy’s velocity (in km/sec), d is the distance to the galaxy (in megaparsecs; 1 Mpc = 1 million parsecs), and Ho is a proportionality constant, called “The Hubble constant”.

To determine a galaxy’s distance, we must rely on indirect methods. For instance, one assumption used by Hubble, and other early 20th century astronomers, is to assume all galaxies of the same type are the same physical size, no matter where they are. This is known as “the standard ruler” assumption.

Under this assumption, to determine the distance to a galaxy, you would only need to measure a galaxy’s apparent (angular) size, and use the small angle equation: 

where a is the measured angular size (in radians!), s is the galaxy’s true size (diameter), and d is the distance to the galaxy.

In order to precisely determine the value of H0, we must determine the velocities and distances to many galaxies. Hubble’s law has been confirmed by subsequent research and provides the cornerstone of modern relativistic cosmological theories of our expanding universe. In 1963 astronomers discovered cosmic objects known as quasars that exhibit larger redshifts than any of the remotest galaxies previously observed. The extremely large redshifts of various quasars suggest that they are moving away from the Earth at tremendous velocities (i.e., approximately 90 percent the speed of light) and thereby constitute some of the most distant objects in the universe.

Download and open the AS10 – Hubble’s Law.xlsx spreadsheet.

Visit the following link – Galaxy List. Find the first galaxy from the list in the spreadsheet and click the Image link next to its name.

Find the angular size of the galaxy using its image. To measure the size, click on opposite ends of the galaxy, at either end of the longest diameter. Be sure to measure all the way to the faint outer edges. Otherwise, you may dramatically underestimate the size of the galaxy, and introduce a systematic error. The angular size of the galaxy (in milliradians; 1 mrad = 0.057 degrees = 206 arcseconds) will be displayed; record this number on your worksheet.

The images used in this lab are negatives, so that bright objects — such as stars and galaxies — appear dark. There may be more than one galaxy in the image; the galaxy of interest is always the one closest to the center. 

Repeat step 3 for all the galaxies in the spreadsheet.

As stated in the theory section before, we assume that all of these galaxies are about the same size. (This may not be true, but it’s an assumption we have made for now.) From other methods, we know that galaxies of the type used in this lab are about 22 kpc (1 kpc = 1000 pc) across.

As you type in the size of the galaxy in the image, the distance to the galaxy will be calculated for you. Again, we are assuming the galaxies are all the same size. Therefore, galaxies that appear larger must be closer and ones that appear smaller must be further away.

The full optical spectrum of each galaxy is also available at the top of the Spectrum pages. Below it are zoomed in portions of the same spectrum, in the vicinity of some common spectral features. The small dark bar near the lower left corner of the sub-spectrum indicates the rest wavelength of the spectral line.

Look for absorption lines of ionized calcium, lines designated by “Ca H” and “Ca K” [rest wavelengths of 3968.5 and 3933.7 Angstroms] and the emission of the H-alpha line of hydrogen [rest wavelength of 6562.8 Angstroms]. Remember: these spectra are of galaxies that are moving away from us and so the lines are going to be redshifted (shifted towards longer wavelengths); some, you will find out, by a large amount.

Not all of the dips and peaks come from the light of the galaxy. Each spectrum contains “noise” that is an unavoidable aspect of the data collection process. This noise makes it more difficult to accurately identify some of the spectral features, especially the absorption lines such as the pair due to calcium. Some of the spectra are much “noisier” than other spectra. Spectra with strong hydrogen emission lines will tend to have the “relative intensity” axis rescaled such that the “noise” artificially appears to be minimal.

Measure the wavelength by clicking at the middle of the spectral line in the galaxy’s spectrum. This website is quite impressive in how it does this. When you click on an image, it determines where you clicked and will tell you the wavelength for that location in the image.

For help getting started with the analysis of the spectra, click on this link to see an example using the data for NGC 1357. For this lab, you are to measure the red-shifted wavelength for Ca K, Ca H and H-alpha lines for each galaxy assigned.

Repeat step 7 for all the galaxies on the worksheet.

As you type in the wavelength of the spectral lines for calcium and hydrogen, the spreadsheet will automatically calculate the redshift value, z. It will also calculate the average redshift.

Use this average redshift to find the velocity: , where c represents the speed of light, and enter this in the table under Velocity. (c = 2.997 x105 km/s)

Make a graph of your data, with distance on the x-axis, and velocity on the y-axis. Add a linear trendline line that best fits the data and display the equation on the graph.

Clearly and concisely explain why this this line must pass through the origin (the 0,0 point).

The slope of the line is the Hubble constant, in the units of km/s/Mpc. What is your value for the Hubble Constant?

Hubble Constant

(km/s/Mpc)

And now for the age of the universe!

If the Universe has been expanding at a constant speed since its beginning, the Universe’s age would simply be 1/Ho. Convert Ho to inverse-seconds (1/sec) by cancelling out the distance units: 1 Mpc = 3.09 x 1019 km. Give the “expansion age” of the universe first in units of seconds and then as years.

Age of the Universe

(s)

Age of the Universe

(years)

How does this value compare to the age of the Sun? How does it compare to the ages of the oldest globular clusters?

Gravity will slow the expansion of the universe as the matter (bright matter and dark matter) that makes up the universe create an attractive force and tries to pull itself together. Thus, the Hubble constant has almost certainly not been constant over the lifetime of the universe. In the last decade, astronomers have been surprised to learn that, in addition to gravity slowing down the expansion of the universe, there is another force that works to expand the universe beyond the push it was given by the initial force of the Big Bang. This force has been given the name Dark Energy. (Dark energy is not the same as dark matter.)

Clearly and concisely explain why the age of the universe you calculated above would compare to the actual age for a universe with a substantial contribution from dark energy.[supanova_question]