English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 60

English - Essay Example One of the topics that I will be involved in research about it is microfinance. It involves providing of banking services to the low-income earners. It is evident that microfinance enables the low-income earners to be self-sufficient by providing a means of insurance, saving money and borrowing. My research on the topic will boost my marketing skills in the bank sector and I will be able to add more value. The other topic that I will be involved in research about is psychology. It entails the scientific study of human mind and its functions. It is apparent that the research on psychology will help to improve my marketing skills and I will be able to handle different people. Also, I will be able to know the reasons behind the people’s preferences in the business world. For my essay to be factual, I will refer information from the books of Sarkar and Sundaresan about microfinance. I will refer my research on the topic of psychology from McKenna book of business psychology and organizational

Career Management and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Career Management and Development - Essay Example This paper attempts to understand and discuss various facets of career management and development in close focus with graduate careers. The discussion also aims to create an awareness of the present workplace scenario, its issues, challenges and methods to overcome it. Career theories and its relevance and the implications of the broader social forces on career are also looked at. For our purpose of understanding let us view the discussion using the banking segment in the UK as an illustration. Job description: a) Establishing and nurturing healthy customer relationships. b) Planning and implementing effective sales strategies. c) Evaluating the effectiveness of new and existing financial products. d) Offer operational support as part of daily routine. e) Being a part of the team achieve targets. f)Processing data to produce accurate facts, figures and reports. Work Conditions And Benefits: 'Range of typical salaries for entrants on graduate management trainee programmes: 23,000 - 32,000 (usually part of a package including a 'signing on' bonus of 3,000 - 5,000). Working hours are generally nine to five but extra hours are required from time to time. Part-time, flexible working and career break opportunities do exist. The demands of fulfilling annual targets, meeting corporate objectives, and continued professional development training may sometimes give rise to stress,' says a website called prospect. Requirements For New Entrants: Although the banking sector is open to all, some functions may requires specialisation in disciplines such as mathematics; finance; business studies; economics; law; accounting. A good honours degree, usually a 2.1 or above, is required. However, entry at other levels is possible for graduates with less than a 2.1 or with an HND, especially if applicants have relevant work experience. Pre-entry work experience in the form vacation work, sandwich placements (paid or unpaid), internships and temporary or permanent work experience in a financial, customer-led environment, such as sales is desirable. In addition to an excellent academic record, graduates also need to have excellent interpersonal skills; leadership qualities; exemplary written and oral communication skills; analytical skills; willingness to relocate; flexibility and adaptability in responding to change; creative thinking and an enquiring mind; enthusiasm and a commitment to further training. With banks going global and expanding their product and service portfolio, IT skills have become advantageous, in depth knowledge of the national and international industry along with sound business acumen are essential. Training Programs and Methods: There are a variety of training options provided for new entrants joining graduate training programmes. On-the-job training, Specialised technical training, or entry to a specific functional area such as human resources, accountancy or computing, or to comply with regulatory requirements are just a few to name. Internal and external training provided in various forms like work-shadowing experienced colleagues, evening classes, a limited number of day-release courses, distance learning packages and workshops. In-house training is becoming increasingly popular. Some banks also provide training

Ethical Conflicts in International Business

Ethical Conflicts in International Business 2. Background: Some of authors have been said about Cross Cultural intelligence and Ethical Conflicts. E.g. David C. Thomas and Kerr Inkson defined cultural intelligence: People work for the Global Work place is a representative sample of publications concerning Cultural Intelligence. Scholl hammer (1977) discussed the need for international codes of conduct to govern cross-cultural activities. When expatriate managers return before the official completion of there overseas assignments the stress and low job satisfaction resulting from culture shock is often blamed (Newman et al., 1978). Due to drastic growth of globalisation expatriates managers commonly are seen in many of the multinational organisations. The vital aspect in the segment should be focused on cultural adjustments between different nationality managers. This can be supported by saying that different nations have different cultural aspects. The diverse cultural aspects are the main causes for the confronting situations. The business organisations are in action across different borders of the world. The international organisations consider whether a particular issue is right or wrong due to the bridging gap between the different countries. Cultural relativity is a very waste theory in different countries perceptions. What may be considered right in one culture turned out to be unethical in another. Some argue that the country in which the business is that culture is the one to be followed. All the countries vary in many different aspects like economical, environmental, cultural, ethical values, linguistical and so on. Thus all these barriers which are mentioned make the cultural conflicts. The right business manager is the one who balances between the barriers and the flawless business operations. This entirely depends upon the managerial capabilities. These can be successed by different alternative strategies though one cannot particularly describe a single strategy which is suitable for everyone. One of the valid and required method is to make greater in the cross cultural solutions to international business is communication and interaction with in company and between companies, between organisations and clients and between co-workers. Now days cross cultural consultancies have been participating to solve the conflicts and risks in the cultural organisations. Cross cultural consultancies therefore concentrate their efforts on interpersonal communication. Diversity of cultures and cultural backgrounds between a highly various staff base leads with it difficulties and risks. Cross cultural differences reveal general areas such as in behaviour, etiquette, norms, values, expressions, group mechanics and non-verbal communication. These cross cultural differences then follow on through to high level areas such as management styles, corporate culture, marketing, HR and PR. (http://ezinearticles.com/?Cross-Cultural-Solutions-for-International-Businessid=482) In order to overcome these conflicts, every company need to have specialist concentration is required in the form of a cross cultural professional. One example like an accountant to examine finances, in that way a cross cultural expert know-how to reduce cultural conflicts and provide better solutions to interpersonal cultural differences. Within organisations there are many angles in which cultural differences manifest. Some of organisation areas which cross cultural specialists deal with include, but are not exclusive to, the following: Human Resource Department: HR will take care of employees recruitment process, employees transfers, overseas projects, employees salary decisions and training sessions. These are all covers a wide range of business critical areas that need cross cultural analysis. Group-Building: Every company would like to perform very well. So for that if the cross cultural specialist provide advices and procedures to improve staff integration, minimize cross cultural conflicts and create team spirit. Knowledge or awareness Training: When we are working with different cultural background customers or clients, every company will face problems. So for that company should conduct the awareness training programmes on values, customs, country and religion. As a result we can minimize the cultural misunderstandings and mistakes. Training for Expat: Sometimes company staff required to travel abroad to gain the knowledge about host country history, culture, customs, beliefs, business methods social formalities. Which are promote to reduce the impact of culture conflicts. Public Relation Department: Public relation cover the company brand name, image and advertising campaigns and all areas of organisations should be alert. Because the brand name, image and advertising campaigns which are acceptable to target country cultures. Language and communication skills programme: One of the main cause is to lead the cross cultural conflicts in the business is language and communication skills problem in the staff. By providing the linguistic and communication skills knowledge to staff, we can bridge cultural gaps. Above all the key solutions are currently have been following by business organisations to decrease the cultural conflicts. 3. Research Objectives: The aim of the proposed research is to: * Develop an attractive environment in the multi cultural organisations. * Develop the solutions to bridge the cultural conflicts gaps in the international business. * The actual response of satisfaction from the employees in the multi cultural organisation. 4. Research Method: The main aim of the research method is how you express about accomplish your research goals. Mainly the research method divided into two parts. Those are Research design and Data collection. Here in my proposal I am going to take a part of research design. 4.1. Research design: It contains where you would like to implement the research. And the research is a single organisation or else a part of a division of organisation. In this part we need to explain what kind of way you intend to bring out the research. E.g. On a questionnaire, interviews, case studies etc. And we need to explain which divisions, why you select these divisions as well as we need to explain the identity of our research people e.g. managers, workers and officials. And why we choose this people. The study undertaken to access the problems of conflict management in a cross cultural settings and get the feedback regarding their experiences from the existing employees in the multi cultural organisations and as a result of them we need to minimize their conflicts from their existing employees. Conduct a review of the literatures on employee involvement and the diversity of cultures in order to improve research hypothesis. Carry out primary research in three American owned IT companies in India to judge the opinions of Indian employees and their managers towards values underpinning employee involvement. An IT companies are chosen because the occupations carried out in these organisations are likely to be similar. Thus ensuring that any cultural differences are a function of Indian culture rather than of occupational culture. Research procedure: The questionnaire is uniquely designed to aid the research method in order to come to a conclusion. It contains various types of questions having different characteristics from cognitive nature, so as to obtain a multiple opinion in the given study. So below mentioned are few of those question samples: 1. What were the key issues which are observed during each overseas project? 2. Which are the cultural differences you faced most challenging? 3. What kind of training did was given from your organisations? 4. Which personal strengths did you find most helpful during your overseas assignments? The questions in the questionnaire will seek to test these hypothesis. The questionnaire will be distributed to a sample of employees and of managers across all three Companies. Sources of Data: A classification of data is very important procedure in this concept. The collected data can be classified into two types. 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data Primary Data: The primary data is very important source for to make suggestions to the title obtained. This data can be collected in various methods like survey, interviewing, feedback, i.e. Group Discussion etc., for collection of primary data the survey method is used, which involved predetermined questions. The structured questionnaire contained a form list of question framed so as to get the facts. But it involves high risk and huge expensive method to get the facts. Secondary Data: Collection of secondary data is very easy compared with primary data. But this data is also very important for the growth of an organization; Secondary data is collected from the company journals, magazines, broachers websites. Sample universe: The survey will give the complete picture of the area of the research. Sample frame/unit: professionals, business people, employees etc, who are working in the multi cultural organisations. Sample size: the total sample size is 100 only. Sample method: The information is planned to be collected by sample method, the sample method followed is random sampling method. The probability random sampling method is stratified random sampling. The reasons for selecting simple random method are accurate and easily accessible, if we have sufficient time better to go for face to face interview, if the sample size is large its cost is high. 5. Time scale: 6. Conclusion: It is clear that in any multinational companies ethics are more important which plays a vital role in any organization. By understanding these aspects we have come across many issues where every company is facing different type of cross-cultural ethics. In my literature review of cross-cultural conflicts in international business I have found how managers have to face ethical issues in cross-culture business environment. So however all these issues in cross-cultural business environment are being pointed out by every managers when they are doing host country projects, and many issues were researched by many authors and scholars and they try to make them better by bringing them into the real world. 7. Resources: I have been used the resources from saunders book, journals and articles.

Charitty Royal :: essays research papers

Charity Royall displays both self indulgence and self control. Judge Royall represented law and structure in her life. He was the one sure thing that she had. He was her only monetary means of survival and without him she would not be were she is or would not have a place to stay, food to eat, or clothes to wear. Then on the other hand there was Lucius Harney, who represented everything else in her life. Excitement, adventure, fun, and finally the ability to fulfill and longtime dream of being with a sophisticated person some one that was not from North Dormer the town that she despised so much.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Judge Royall was the only father figure she ever had. He made a promise to her jail bound father to give Charity a better life. He drove all night to find Charity up in the mountain; she knows that and because of that she feels some what compelled to stay with him so that he is not lonely. â€Å"Charity ‘felt softness in her heart’ in knowing that he drove all night to fetch her from the mountain (266)†. She knows that she runs his household and that he cannot be with out her because all in all she is the only person that he has.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In spite of everything†¦Lawyer Royall ruled in North Dormer; and Charity ruled in Lawyer Royall’s house. She had never put it to herself in those terms; but she had known her power, knew what it was made of and hated it. (p. 146) The same though goes for her. He is the only one that she has. When he was going to send her to boarding school he decides not to send her. After he decides not to send her away at all, Charity, who is always â€Å"sick of North Dormer† (22) is disappointed but finally understand his decision: â€Å"He and she, face to face in that sad house, had sounded the depths of isolation; and though she felt no particular affection for him, and not the slightest gratitude, she pitted him because she was conscious that he was superior to the people about him and that she was the only being between him and solitude. (P.5) This tells the reader that although he â€Å"rescued† her from the mountain that is not why she feels compelled to stay with him. She knows that because she is there physically (she really is not there emotionally) he does not fell alone in the world.

The Woman Suffrage Movement

The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage In the early twentieth century, Britain was experiencing a potentially revolutionary social and cultural change. The Woman Suffrage Movement was fighting to procure the vote for women. In the same period, in response to the concept of women voting, Almroth Edward Wright, an English physician, wrote â€Å" The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage†.In Wright’s book, he refutes the Woman Suffrage Movement’s right-to-vote claim by arguing that woman suffrage would be pernicious to the state due to a woman’s inability to represent the physical force and prestige of the nation, a woman’s intellectual defects, and defective moral equipment. Furthermore, he illustrates that women’s rights activists may actually be hindering women with their demands that would ultimately result in women being placed in a far more disadvantageous position than they were before getting the vote.Wright begins by saying â⠂¬Å" The primordial argument against giving woman the vote is that that vote would not represent physical force†. Wright argues that the vote is a symbol of civility, law and order, and imbued with the spirit of a nation to ward off enemies both foreign and domestic. The introduction of a political co-partnership would likely lead to a degeneration of the British Empire into a weak and sickly shadow of its former self. The British Empire would likely exhibit the same symptoms of the latter stages of the Western Roman Empire that competitors would piecemeal steadily over time.The result would be that leadership to uphold law and control over British subjects and colonies would crumple leaving the door wide open for any other Imperial power to snatch the defenseless British holdings. As such, entrance of women voters would bring an end to the old and familiar Victorian England and usher forth a culturally different England that Wright considers a â€Å"social disaster. † It seems Wright believes that Britain would sustain a detrimental blow to its prestige in the eyes of their colonies and dominions as well as the world, if English women could vote.This means that women would inhibit the spirits and morale of the British armed forces and would introduce effeminate elements into the masculine dominated British Empire, turning it from â€Å"Old Jack† into a â€Å"Mary Ann. † In addition to these concerns, Wright illustrates that a woman’s intellectual defects are because of her minds inability to derive solutions with evidence, which results in an unreal picture of the external world. He also argues that a woman is constrained by her thought process. This is because a woman’s mind is linked to emotional reflex response center.Wright further explains that because of this link, women cannot give sound judgment and give a critical intellectual analysis without being under severe distress. As a result a woman’s mind give s in to congenial emotional responses that gives them gratification to which Wright points out, women’s minds can serve them only as a tool to comfort and gratify her with mental thoughts that are not too strenuous. Wright continues by illustrating that women and even intelligent women have all sorts of misconceptions about their abilities.Wright argues that women are delusional in believing that they are physically equal to men to any task. It is quite a grievous mistake that one would believe that women could perform physically strenuous jobs such as coal mining or heavy lifting on a day-to-day basis. Being mentally strain coupled with physical stress, Wright would say that emergencies of the job would be faced continually. It seems that Wright is saying that women overestimate themselves in comparison to men at physically demanding task that they wouldn’t be able to handle it long term.This would explain why emergencies would happen frequently because accidents woul d happen weekly if not a daily basis. For that reason, it is improbable to allow women to vote should they also demand to work in jobs that they are realistically incapable of performing over a long duration. This information would serve as ammunition for the industry heads and naysayers to argue that the economy is suffering due to low levels of efficiency and increase expenditure from the government to the DOLE to cover all these accidents; consequently the whole nation suffers.A third argument that Wright brings up is that women are equipped with defective morals. He explains that women are incapable of putting aside their own interest in favor of the good of the nation and only an uncommonly number of women are able to put aside their personal bias by voting in favor of something that benefits the nation. It seems he is alluding to the fact that women, when put to the vote would most likely vote for positions that would be favorable to anything that has to do her family and woul d consider anything else frivolous.The picture painted of women voters’ canvases an extremely selfish and self-absorbed group of people that would not only cause Britain’s foundation to splinter from blatant corruption but summarily result in execution of egregious acts that might as well kill king and country themselves. Wright continues his critique by saying , â€Å" There are no good women, but only women who have lived under the influence of good men. † Meaning that since women can only use morally defective equipment, women would be congenial creatures that would be easily swayed by their father, husband, or an influential man.And vote for whatever she has been persuaded to vote for which would consequently inflate propositions perhaps even passing legislation that would have otherwise fallen flat. Because of this he goes on to blatantly say that women, because of their domestic almost animal morality cannot be trusted with the vote for they would not be a ble to exercise diligently with the exception of a select few. Wright takes the Women’s Suffrage Movement’s claim of a right to the vote and presents it in an exaggerated way.He first explains that because there are more than three million women in England, these women experience sexual restrictions causing an inbred sense of hostility towards the opposite sex, which Wrights explains that the Suffrage Movement takes advantage these women so that they could achieve their ultimate goal of economic independence of women. However, to attain this goal, they want to have everything from the universities and jobs to every governmental positions open to them.He claims that they want a radical feminist revolution that throws the very nostalgic English traditions that have been set in stone for centuries out like yesterdays garbage. And replace it with an English egalitarian society that just might as well be a Communist or Fascist state. It’s interesting that Wright take s just the idea of women wanting to vote and morphs the idea in to women wanting to outright dismantle all the mores of society and remove all the distinctions between a man and a woman.But women later rebuke this argument by saying that they only want the vote, not a revolution and they are good mothers and wives who are raising the British citizens of tomorrow. Wright subtly carts in again the notion of equality for women. He explains that if the government gives in to the demands of women activist, the government would actually be doing a disservice to women in general. Women would have to compete with men for these highly skilled jobs and would most likely not be able to compete with men, which would increase the wealth gap between men and women.Consequently, this would leave women in a very disadvantageous position of being chronically poor and forced to take odds jobs to survive. Furthermore, women would likely lose their financial support from their husbands and/or fathers be cause women would now be economic equals to men therefore they must go and find jobs to support themselves. Another problem that Wright points out is that men and women have rarely worked in the same workspace before and with the introduction of equality of work in to mainstream society, the implications of whether or not men and women can work in intimate association raises serious questions.He continues to explain that before that even occurs, the intellectual immoralities and limitations of women including their sexual character would interrupt intellectual intercourse between men. Interestingly enough, he introduces various examples that synergies his argument. For example, when two men are having a stimulating intellectual conversation, an appearance of a woman in their proximity would put an end to their discussion. So the hypothesis here is that women being admitted in to male dominated intellectual societies and universities would undoubtedly suppress if not bring an end to a pipeline of intellectual growth.As a result, the proposal of bringing man and woman to work together not only is radical, it maybe detrimental to nation. Wright’s The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage† uses a lot of cynical language and seemingly logical explanations to refute women’s right to vote. At the beginning, Wright stabs the issue right in lungs and expounds why it is the way it is and that the vote of women can and will cause unnecessary burdens on the state and the very people trying to protect them.However, near the end of his piece, he begins to give a very consoling but backhanded compliment of women. It’s painted as if these changes are going to occur, it will undoubtedly cause more hardship for women and that’s why Wright and these naysayers are fighting so hard to protect these ignorant women from themselves. However, Wright’s arguments logical explanations would later succumb to the growing clamor for reform that wo uld eventually culminate in women getting the vote in 1918.

How Gazda Cars and Bomino Printing approach the management of their activities Essay

Advantages * It’s Organised * Their pay is related to their performance, which will motivate them perform better. * Work is carried out in controlled environment. * It’s seen as ‘social’ which motivates workers. * Managers convey ‘moral elite’, trustworthy, broadly motivated to organise & influence others. * Employees have more control of their work (live to work). * Take interesting staff giving feeling of involvement, security & job satisfaction, related to high achievement Disadvantages * Scientific approach used (work to live). * Communication between workers is bad. Not approachable, no influence. * Managers defined as ‘rational economic’, primarily motivated by just money. * Being too nice to staff makes managers look weak. Managers need that power so everything is in control. * Staff can abuse their manager if their needs are not fulfilled, e.g., they can strike. People can respond to many different types of management strategies, but there is no single strategy that will work for all everyone all the time. Therefore, Gazda Cars should refer to Fielder’s Contingency Approach to management. This theory supports the view of the ‘complex man’- i.e. the motives that man has which changes over time and in different situations, can be seen as personal hierarchy. It defines situational favourability, or the ease of influencing followers as the combination of situational factors: leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. Fielder argued that leadership style was innate and that the above three situational factors determined whether task or relations oriented leadership was more appropriate. The main ideas about Contingency Theory are: 1. There is no universal or one best way to manage 2. The design of an organisations and its subsystems must ‘fit’ with the environment 3. Effective organisations not only have a proper ‘fit’ with the environment but also between its subsystems and 4. The needs of an organisation are better satisfied when it is properly designed and the management style is appropriate both to the tasks undertaken and the nature of the work group. The contingency approach opens the door for the possibility that leadership could be different in every situation (Saal and Knight, 1988). It provides a more realistic view of leadership by allowing for complexity and situational specificity of overall effectiveness. As organisations today are faced with continuing changes in technology, environment conditions, and internal processes, this approach can offer a more sophisticated understanding of the leadership process and emphasise the idea of flexible, adaptive leadership that may contribute to the success of a company. However, the various models in contingency theory have been criticised largely for the difficulty in testing the contingency variables selected since variables may affect each other or be influenced by a leader. The complexity of situational factors and various combinations of task and subordinate characteristics makes a single comprehensive test of the model impossible (Wagner and Hollenbeck, 1992). As it is entirely possible that different leaders in the same situation may reach different conclusions about the situation, which may in turn cause them to take very different actions, the practical use of this theory in business is quite limited. Gazda’s Mechanistic Structure Bomino’s Organic Structure – Operates in a competitive & fast changing environment but is not seen as exiting or fun. – They are separate departments for production, sales, marketing, research and development, data processing, accounts and human resource management. – Each member has their own specific role. – Obedience to superiors and loyalty to the organisation are assisted upon. – This structure is old fashioned. The communication usually comes in the form of instructions & decisions issued by superiors and the performance feed back & requests for decisions sent from subordinates. – Work is carried in a controlled environment. Control & authority relationships are structured in a vertical hierarchy. – Operates in a highly complex environment. Tasks are highly specialised. Employees are not clear on how their tasks contribute to accomplishing organisational objectives. – Distributes inkjet & laser printing systems, which is a fast moving product, economically productive. – Department are separated for all the main business functions. – General roles are defined for each member. – Authority relationships & control are structured in a network rather than a hierarchy. – This approach is to do with being nice to staff. Commitment to organisational goals is recommended more then loyalty or obedience. – Teams are set up to work on new product development. Tasks are modified often & redefined by means & mutual adjustment among task holders. – Workers have a variety of tasks which are broad and independent. Relation of task performance to attainment of organisational objectives is emphasised. Gazda’s Role culture Bomino’s Task culture – There are usually job descriptions, rules & procedures to govern behaviour as well as procedures for all activities. – Pay is related to performance. A role culture is one which emphasises conformity to expectations. As Harrison’s theory states, such organizations can be said to be ‘rational instruments for the achievements of specific goals’. – People work most effectively & efficiently when they have relatively, simple clearly defined, circumscribed & measurable tasks. However the company operates in a highly complex fast changing environment. – Here management is seen as completing a succession of projects or solving problems, often as a part of a team. It is ‘project oriented, bringing together the right people’. – The staff get a feeling of involvement; security & general job satisfaction are closely related to high achievement. – Performance is judged by results. – Job satisfaction tends to be high, to the degree of individual participating & group identity. Though the current tall structure and Role culture at Gazda internally complement each other, one can question whether those are the most efficient with regards to the dynamic and highly competitive external environment. Role culture and tall structure is perfectly suited in a stable external environment but cannot maintain maximum productivity in an unpredictable and rapidly changing external environment. Such structures and cultures lack the flexibility to quickly adapt to external influences; it is commonly known that if one cannot adapt to ones external environment then one is in great danger of becoming extinct. It is important to identify the need for reorganisation culture, process and structure. If reorganisation can be justified than the most feasible and effective approach should be implemented to replace its predecessor. The structure at Gazda is a much closed system where information processing and co-operation are slow. It can be said communication is the way to success, hence in order to achieve maximum efficiency champion manufactures need to increase levels of cooperation and information processing to improve the internal environment. Maybe a more organic approach, being an open system which emphasis is placed in group actions; co-operation and team work should be integrated into the present structure and culture along with lateral relationships. The pre dominant advantages of integrating these two new elements are firstly, allowing direct contact between employees and those higher up the hierarchy, hence problems are addressed quicker and time is used efficiently both the current structure and culture will successfully take the business further. In contrast to a tall organisation, a flat organisation will have relatively few layers or just one layer of management. This means that the â€Å"Chain of Command† from top to bottom is short and the â€Å"span of control is wide†. Due to the small number of management layers, flat organisations are often small organisations similar to Bomino Printing. A task culture refers to a team based approach to complete a particular task. They are popular in today’s modern business society where the organisation will establish particular ‘project teams’ to complete a task to date. A task culture clearly offers some benefits. Employees feel motivated because they are empowered to make decisions within their team, they will also feel valued because they may have been selected within that team and given the responsibility to bring the task to a successful end. I say they are both related because the informal structure relates to a particular task carried out by particular groups of individuals working together this is of a similar nature to a task culture. Decision making at managerial levels is more efficient as fewer people need to be informed/included in this process. Thirdly, staff motivation is increased at higher levels of co-operation means employees are not constantly being given simple direct orders by managers. This has a boosting affect on morale and motivation. Last but not least with a free flow of information present, all departments can be encouraged to succumb to change, therefore enabling the organisation to respond to influential external factors. Bomino Printing should remain loyal to the present culture and structure because this will help them build and progress further in the future.    Bibliography Human resource management – Ian Beardwell and Len Holden Management – James A.F Stoner (Fifth edition) Organisations and behaviour – Patrick Corner Principles of scientific management – Fredrick W. Taylor Web sites – http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/ryn/projects/inventors/taylor/taylor.html http://www.business.com/directory/management/management_theory/contingency_and_system_theory/ http://www.uniqindex.co.za/maslows.htm

Free Essays on Same Sex Marriages From Moral And Spiritual Views

Same sex marriages from moral and spiritual views Although homosexual relationships have been going on since the beginning of time, the issue of same sex marriages is a relatively new topic of popular culture. The reasoning behind the push of this issue, one may conclude, is the evermore â€Å"liberal† stance of modern society. Currently, only one man and one woman can be joined in matrimony and have their marriage recognized by the state, except for residents of Massachusetts who successfully won a court battle for the right to get married. Same-sex couples were able to obtain marriage licenses in San Francisco, CA, and in several towns in New Mexico and New York for a short period in 2004. However, none of these people were able to register their marriages legally. There are places around the world that the idea of same sex marriages has been made legal. Most providences of Canada, for example, now allow same sex marriages and are seen as legally binding relationships. Other countries are close behind and will probably end up accepting the issue within a couple of years. The idea of same sex marriages is morally, ethically, and spiritually wrong. The definition of marriage is the union between one man and one woman, and changing this in any way totally demoralizes the very basis of the act itself. Some may disagree with this way of thinking, arguing that same sex marriage is a personal issue that does not, and will not affect anyone except the persons involved in the relationship. They may believe that it is a basic human right and choice of marriage partners should in no way be regulated by government. These same people may believe that every â€Å"sexual orientation† is essentially like every other, and relationships involving any and all â€Å"sexual orientations† shoul... Free Essays on Same Sex Marriages From Moral And Spiritual Views Free Essays on Same Sex Marriages From Moral And Spiritual Views Same sex marriages from moral and spiritual views Although homosexual relationships have been going on since the beginning of time, the issue of same sex marriages is a relatively new topic of popular culture. The reasoning behind the push of this issue, one may conclude, is the evermore â€Å"liberal† stance of modern society. Currently, only one man and one woman can be joined in matrimony and have their marriage recognized by the state, except for residents of Massachusetts who successfully won a court battle for the right to get married. Same-sex couples were able to obtain marriage licenses in San Francisco, CA, and in several towns in New Mexico and New York for a short period in 2004. However, none of these people were able to register their marriages legally. There are places around the world that the idea of same sex marriages has been made legal. Most providences of Canada, for example, now allow same sex marriages and are seen as legally binding relationships. Other countries are close behind and will probably end up accepting the issue within a couple of years. The idea of same sex marriages is morally, ethically, and spiritually wrong. The definition of marriage is the union between one man and one woman, and changing this in any way totally demoralizes the very basis of the act itself. Some may disagree with this way of thinking, arguing that same sex marriage is a personal issue that does not, and will not affect anyone except the persons involved in the relationship. They may believe that it is a basic human right and choice of marriage partners should in no way be regulated by government. These same people may believe that every â€Å"sexual orientation† is essentially like every other, and relationships involving any and all â€Å"sexual orientations† shoul...

Using Shelve to Save Objects in Python

Using Shelve to Save Objects in Python Shelve is a  powerful Python module for object persistence. When you shelve an object, you must assign a key by which the object value is known. In this way, the shelve file becomes a database of stored values, any of which can be accessed at any time. Sample Code for Shelve in Python To shelve an object,  first import the module and then assign the object value as follows: import shelve database shelve.open(filename.suffix) object Object() database[key] object If you  want to keep a database of stocks, for example, you could adapt the following code: import shelve stockvalues_db shelve.open(stockvalues.db) object_ibm Values.ibm() stockvalues_db[ibm] object_ibm object_vmw Values.vmw() stockvalues_db[vmw] object_vmw object_db Values.db() stockvalues_db[db] object_db A stock values.db is already opened, you dont  need to open it again. Rather, you can open multiple databases at a time, write to each at will, and leave Python to close them when the program terminates. You could, for example, keep a separate database of names for each symbol, appending the following to the preceding code: ## assuming shelve is already imported stocknames_db shelve.open(stocknames.db) objectname_ibm Names.ibm() stocknames_db[ibm] objectname_ibm objectname_vmw Names.vmw() stocknames_db[vmw] objectname_vmw objectname_db Names.db() stocknames_db[db] objectname_db Note that any change in the name or suffix of the database file constitutes a different file and, therefore, a different database. The result is a second database file containing the given values. Unlike most files written in self-styled formats, shelved databases are saved in binary form. After the data is written to the file, it can be recalled at any time. If you want to restore the data in a later session, you re-open the file. If it is the same session, simply recall the value; shelve database files are opened in read-write mode. The following is the basic syntax for achieving this: import shelve database shelve.open(filename.suffix) object database[key] So a sample from the  preceding example would read: import shelve stockname_file shelve.open(stocknames.db) stockname_ibm stockname_file[ibm] stockname_db stockname_file[db] Considerations With Shelve It is  important to note that the database remains open until you close it (or until the program terminates). Therefore, if you are writing a program of any size, you want to close the database after working with it. Otherwise, the entire database (not just the value you want) sits in memory and consumes computing resources. To close a shelve file, use the following syntax: database.close() If all of the code examples above were incorporated into one program, we would have two database files open and consuming memory  at this point. So, after having read the stock names in the previous example, you could then close each database in turn as follows: stockvalues_db.close() stocknames_db.close() stockname_file.close()

An Explanation of Buffering in C++

An Explanation of Buffering in C++ Buffer is a generic term  that refers to a block of computer memory that serves as a temporary placeholder. You might encounter the term in your computer, which uses RAM as a buffer, or in video streaming where a section of the movie you are streaming downloads to your device to stay ahead of your viewing. Computer programmers use buffers as well. Data Buffers in Programming In computer programming, data can be placed  in a software buffer before it is processed. Because writing data to a buffer is much faster than a direct operation, using a buffer while programming in C and C makes a lot of sense and speeds up the calculation process. Buffers come in handy when a difference exists between the rate data is received and the rate it is processed.   Buffer vs. Cache A buffer is temporary storage of data that is on its way to other media or storage of data that can be modified non-sequentially before it is read sequentially. It attempts to reduce the difference between input speed and output speed. A cache also acts as a buffer, but it stores  data that  is expected to be read several times to reduce the need to access slower storage.   How to Create a Buffer in C++ Usually, when you open a file, a buffer is created. When you close the file, the buffer is flushed. When working in C, you can create a buffer by allocating  memory in this manner: char* buffer new char[length]; When you want to free up the memory allocated to a buffer, you do so like this: delete[ ] buffer; Note: If your system is low on memory, the benefits of buffering suffer. At this point, you have to find a balance between the size of a buffer and the available memory of your computer.

The importance of derived demand in B2B marketing Essay

The importance of derived demand in B2B marketing - Essay Example In terms of technology, the company has established the need of aligning the company with emerging technologies. Additionally, the company considers Loyalty of each client paramount and in doing this, looks for ways how to be loyal to customers. The report explores much on marketing strategies that helps organization to concentrate on the greatest opportunities to increase their earnings and attain a sustainable competitive advantage. Many companies adopt the need of having marketing strategies in running their businesses centered on shopper, consumer and retailer need. Due to stiff competition, the company has taken a lot of time to evaluate opportunities that would enhance success. The purpose of this has been to evaluate companies of the same nature and assemble them to offset the marketing program. The company has established that it is from consumer’s needs that their productivity is informed and achieves a notable growth. Introduction Business to Business popularly known as B2B is a commercial transaction that occurs between two businesses as in the example of a manufacturer and a wholesaler (Block & Block, 2005) . The term was coined with the main purpose being to differentiate between electronic communication that was taking place between businesses and consumers. The term has been used mostly to describe the business transactions that take place between two businesses in an online scenario. Therefore, B2B marketing mostly involves sending and receiving mails plus other activities that take place in the online environment. This report seeks to explore the concept of derived demand and B2B marketing. Objectives The main objectives of this paper are to find out how a company (SolidWorks in this case) that is involved in B2B marketing: 1. Estimates derived demands 2. Evaluates business segmentation opportunities 3. Develops a new channel strategy that is aligned to one business segment About SolidWorks SolidWorks is a software engineering (CAD softw ares) which mostly sold to mechanical engineers (Brennan, 2011). The company engages so much in marketing activities by use of links that lead people to their site where they have advertised their products. Derived Demand and B2B marketing Derived demand in marketing term can be defined as the requirement that comes up as a result of purchasing another product. This mostly occurs in cases where the consumer has bought the product with the main purpose being to use it for purposes of production (Bruhn, 2003). The main reason for this is that the purchase of these products is normally due to desire to have their final products. In the case of the software manufacturing company Solidworks, there are a number of ways in which it determines the derived demand in which it decides to respond. All the demand in B2B chain are as result demands that are made somewhere by the consumer. SolidWorks being a software development company relies on engineers who want to design either bridges, houses or other building designs that the consumer has demanded for (Christopher & Ballantyne, 2002). However, the value chain is still incomplete because the consumer sought the services of the mechanical engineer and the engineer sought the service of a software developer who in turn sought the service of the person who developed the programming language. The position that the company is in the chain of value addition determines the contact that it has with the consumer (Bernadson & Toole, 2007). The

Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Auditing - Essay Example These occurrences are known as subsequent events.1 There are two types of subsequent events which an external auditor must evaluate: Firstly, the auditors must consider those evidences which involved conditions with respect to those that existed at the date of the balance sheet and it would affect the financial statements. All the information that is achieved prior to the issuance of the financial statements should be taken into consideration. The second types of event are those events that did not existed even at the time of balance sheet. Some of these types of events are such that disclosing this information would save the financial statements form being misleading. The effects of the subsequent events can be seen in the assets such as receivables and inventories or in the estimation of liabilities because these kinds of events represent the functionalities which exist over a long period of time.2 After the balance sheet date is over, there is a time period when the auditors are c oncerned about completing their different phase of audits. This time period is known as subsequent period and this period extends till the date of the auditor's report. This period may vary from time to time depending on the situations. In addition to the main duties, it is also the task of the external auditor to conduct other auditing procedures and require adjusting and disclosing the essential financial events and occurrences so as to present a completely transparent report, according to the stated accounting principles.3 Solutions Further Audit Evidences This study is on the Platinum Pokie Club in Western Australia. The evidences in the subsequent period are giving for the external audit firm to analyze their outcomes. Audit evidences are basically the information that auditors use for arriving at a conclusion. Auditors do not examine all the information given because generally many of the information are cumulative in nature that is they occur over a long period of time and ma y sometimes be analyzed after the date of balance sheet during the subsequent period. Audit evidences are more reliable when they are receiving from external sources that are unbiased. The evidences acquired directly by the auditor are more authentic that information received indirectly. Moreover, information available in a documented form is trusted more than verbally transmitted information.4 The financial controller of the club reported on 5th august, before the auditor’s report, that Mr. Tan, the general manager has made fraudulent expenses claims of $ 40000 over 5 years. The profit and loss account for the five years during which Mr. Tan was working in the club should be properly analyzed. All the evidences supporting all the expenditures should be received and then estimate the actual amount of fraud expenditures. Moreover, the account details of Mr. Tan can be collected with the help of police authorities to see his bank balances. In the second evidence we see Ms. Pete rs taking legal action against the company and claiming medication and damage charge from the club. For this kind of even, solicitor's advice can be taken, so as to see the likelihood of the customer winning the case and estimate the costs that they would be incurring. The financial controller informed on 18th of August about some serious fire that occurred during a football celebration. For this the insurance money has already been received. But the problem is that the bistro and bar would remain close

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 69

Journal - Essay Example I forgot how to properly communicate with my friends, and in the sense, forgot to properly live in the community. Facebook and other forms of social media has influenced me to become less participative in the community. I have forgotten that laughing with friends is very different than just typing "LOL" or putting a smiley on the board. I did not realize this, until I read Kingsolvers speech. And as much as I hate to admit it, she was right. At this point, my reflection is beyond just the meaning of the speech. I believe I have to adjust my way of life and prevent myself from becoming one of those people who have forgotten to associate in the community. Now, Facebook or Skype I think, were designed to help us communicate with people who are thousand miles away from us, not those near us physically. I intend to keep that thinking in me. Maybe I should start trying to minimize chatting with my friends through SMS or over the phone, and be with them physically, to laugh with them and talk with them than working my fingers out typing in my laptops keyboard. Kingsolver spoke of hope, of building dreams with it, of putting it in ones life. I could not agree with her more, and I will try to live in that community that she portrayed. One that does not hesitate when asked at gunpoint, and I intent to be one who will always choose

Engreeing desing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Engreeing desing - Essay Example Safe escape route are provided in all points of a building and directs people to a safe place without any assistance from the fire fighting team or from the people outside. The most important reason for performing fire test is to determine whether or not the fire suppression system meets the minimum requirement as set by different building codes and legislation. Tests are done by companies holding international accreditation and certification It is important to perform more than one experiment to actually proof that the installed product will not fail in times of fire. Conducting of one experiment may give conflicting results that may indicate that the product is ok but another test may reveal the fire fighting product will not work. This is the process by which the fire rapidly spreads or climbs up an inclined surface. The trench effects are caused by the flash over concept and the Coanda effect. The flash over effects is a condition that occurs when a fire spreads on a surface rapidly due to the surface emitting flammable gases hot enough to ignite themselves. The Coanda effect is the tendency of fast moving stream of air to deflect towards the surface nearby it. This is because the fast moving streams of air tend to experience a decrease in static pressure that creates a pressure difference between the areas far from the wall as well as the wall itself The flammability limit gives the proportion of combustible gases in a mixture between which the mixture is flammable. The flammability limit is also referred to as the explosive limit. There are two extremes defined by the lower flammable limit and the upper flammable limit. The highest flammable limit: this limit describes the richest flammable mixture. Adjustment is done to the flammable gases mixture to either increase the lowest flammable mixture or reduce the highest flammable mixture. Inert gas are used for flammability

Film Editing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Film Editing - Essay Example Editors are important professionals in the movies and film making industry. The camera operators are obligated to operate the cameras manually but work with the directors, of photography, in the film making process. The editor is supposed to take shots from various scenes in the scenes from different angles as well as different perspectives and arrange them to tell the story.The operators’ obligation of manually create a sequence of shots which involves a number of factors. The editor is supposed to integrate what the eye is supposed to capture within a given screening, choreography of the shots and integrating the knowledge of framing shots behind the scenes to enable the editing department come up with a clean and concise storyboard that focuses on the richness of the story or script. The editor covers a transitional gap that is between the actors and the directors (Weston, 1999, p. 17). The necessity of the professional lies in the ability to choose the right composition of the shootings such as the angles, lighting, and viewpoint, access to detail and appearance to the audience to integrate with a particular set.The editors integrate various principles of telling a dramatic story while including the fundamentals of film editing. The purpose of the editing in making the film is ensuring that every detail intended in the filmmaking is caught on camera and communicated to the audience as it was intended by the director. The editors represent a window through which the audience benefits from the film industry.

General science Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

General science - Research Paper Example Any stakeholder must meet environmental requirements. These include having competent personnel who are informed about quality work and health and safety regulations. This way, the construction and general engineering work environment will be safe during and after the work. Among the work regulations, there must be a provision that deals with defective work treatment during different times. These include defects during building season, at time of completion, at defects liability season and at rectification time. In a standard construction contract, there are instructions that provide for regular inspection of the building works; the testing of materials used general supervision of the construction work. Inspection of work and building material examination is catered for by contractor. This however excludes any inspection of work and testing materials that is not within the contract (Lepatner et al., 2008). Construction hazards and their causes In construction works, there are various dangers at different stages of the work. These dangers include accidents, collapse of the structures, outbreak of fires, and inhalation of dangerous gases among others. In a bid to ensure that the construction team is less prone to accidents, it is necessary to recruit qualified personnel to ensure knowledgeable persons are enrolled. Incompetent employees are more prone to accidents while working in construction sites, as there are high chances of being indulged in insecure practices. Basically, all employees should have knowledge on the basic safety procedures. Poor quality construction is a factor that may cause falling of buildings (Lepatner et al., 2008). Buildings collapse because of defects that arise in the building during the time of construction due to factors such as, the construction work being carried out in a bad practice as per that particular construction project. The contractor and his team may not be careful in ensuring good quality materials are delivered to the si te. Contractor’s inability to deal with minor defects in advance may result to the collapse of a building. Construction work of a faulty design, will definitely lead to construction of a defective building. When the strength members fail to bear load, the building collapses. In many cases the contractor is always liable for any damages that occur due to defective structures. Factors affecting compensation procedure formulation In occurrence of an accident, there is a need to compensate the victims. This has made people to come up with procedures to be followed during the compensation of the victims. Addition the cause of the accidents has to investigate to establish whether it is was out of negligence. Project management team should formulate procedures to be followed in the case of an unexpected occurrence during or after the completion the work. Depending on the stage at which a defect occurs, different procedures should be laid down already to guide on the making of the cl aims (Construction Research Congress, Ariaratnam, Rojas, Construction Institute & University of Washington, 2009). After making the claim and notifications to the relevant people, there should be a guideline on the dispute resolution procedures to be followed. It is crucial for project manager or contractor to think of consequences of defects at project beginning. At the design stage, the design team should have in mind that there is a need to

Film Editing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Film Editing - Essay Example Editors are important professionals in the movies and film making industry. The camera operators are obligated to operate the cameras manually but work with the directors, of photography, in the film making process. The editor is supposed to take shots from various scenes in the scenes from different angles as well as different perspectives and arrange them to tell the story.The operators’ obligation of manually create a sequence of shots which involves a number of factors. The editor is supposed to integrate what the eye is supposed to capture within a given screening, choreography of the shots and integrating the knowledge of framing shots behind the scenes to enable the editing department come up with a clean and concise storyboard that focuses on the richness of the story or script. The editor covers a transitional gap that is between the actors and the directors (Weston, 1999, p. 17). The necessity of the professional lies in the ability to choose the right composition of the shootings such as the angles, lighting, and viewpoint, access to detail and appearance to the audience to integrate with a particular set.The editors integrate various principles of telling a dramatic story while including the fundamentals of film editing. The purpose of the editing in making the film is ensuring that every detail intended in the filmmaking is caught on camera and communicated to the audience as it was intended by the director. The editors represent a window through which the audience benefits from the film industry.

Should Children Be Educated at Home or School Essay Example for Free

Should Children Be Educated at Home or School Essay I strongly believe that children should be educated at school because socialising is a very important part of life as well as childhoods. In schools there are better facilities and professionally trained teachers for all different subjects for example a science lab and a drama studio. In the following paragraphs I’ll explain the advantages and disadvantages of both school-schooling and home schooling. Going to school is now already a general way of direction for the community but even though it is, some parents still wants their children to be home schooled because there are many advantages in it, such as they get more individual attention from the teacher, have more personal time for hobbies and much more. School is a better way of education for children because it lets you socialise with others and keeps you open minded with lots of friends. At school people are taught responsibility and discipline by professionally trained teachers who are specialised in a particular subject. On the other hand, some people may say that you don’t need friends to help you as you are growing and to achieve a high grade but friends are important and it will be one of the greatest memories from your childhood. There are also many advantages in homeschooling for example, the student will get more individual attention from the teacher, they can learn in their own pace, leave more time for personal things like hobbies and many more. Therefore they can learn in a quiet and peaceful environment with no distractions. According to the graph below, it shows that people who are homeschooled achieve higher grades then people who are public schooled, therefore this graph tells you that people who are home-schooled more often in getting higher grades and can achieve ,ore without the help of friends. Secondly, we can prove that school is better because it has better facilities such as science labs and drama studios. This is important because as you are learning you will be able to use realistic equipments to practise and learn. These are parts of the benefits of public schooling because at home you won’t be able to afford such expensive equipments like stage lights, science labs and much more as a result, school schooling is much better than homeschooling. However, at home you might not have such expensive and big equipments but since you are alone you will have no peer pressure. This is an advantage because if you don’t have peer pressure you will always have confidence in yourself and won’t have to worry about the grades and places that you got in your class or year group. But sometimes competing with others is good because you can see your grades and results compared to others. Overall competing with others isn’t always a bad thing.

Social Class and Education Essay

Social Class and Education Essay Education is a significant institution in our society as it serves to fulfil many functions and provide opportunities for children. One important role that education plays is carrying out the process of secondary socialization where the education system teaches children the norms and values of society in a way that the family cannot. Education performs certain functions such as providing children with skills needed for work, learning about religious and moral beliefs, national languages and also about the history of the nation. Therefore it can be seen that education performs an important role in childrens lives by socializing them into the future members of society and teaching them about the values of success and achievement which enables them to be open to many opportunities in society (Fulcher Scott, 2007). However education combined with social class can create inequalities for children in their lives and this study of inequality within education remains a key area of study in the sociology of education and is also of great importance in shaping educational policies in Britain. Research has shown that inequalities in the education system do still exist in Britain where it has been shown that the higher a persons social class the higher the levels of achievement an individual is more likely to achieve. It is these types of findings which have led to a large array of study about educational inequalities and why they still persist in Britains education system. These inequalities can affect children from lower classes and their life chances through a variety of ways such as through micro and macro causes in society which will be analysed in turn (Haralambos Holborn, 2007) Macro Causes We will first look at the various macro causes in the wider structures of society which causes educational inequalities for children. These include material deprivation. 1. Material Deprivation This theory highlights the importance of material goods and resources needed for educational achievement. Material deprivation has been defined as including ‘poverty, overcrowding, ill health in parents,child neglect and lack of basic amenities in the home and neighbourhood (Silver,1980,p40). It is these factors which seem to affect children from working class backgrounds due to low incomes in the family which prevents them from achieving at school as they lack the basic resources such as books, correct diet and study space in the home needed to succeed in their studies. Also as many of these lower working class families are seen to be in poverty as evidence shows that a high percentage of children participate in part time employment after school hours to improve their situation at home and to relieve some of the financial pressure off their parents . This leads to children aiming to cope with earning money through paid work but also finding the time to study for their school w ork and gain qualifications (Heaton Lawson,1996). Furthermore Halsey Heath and Ridge (1980)examined reasons for inequalities existing in education for the working class and found that middle class children were more likely to go to school and continue on to higher education than the working class and this was partly due to lack of money and income in these households causing differential educational achievement compared to children from affluent backgrounds. However they did argue that material factors was not the only primary factor causing underachievement as children from materially deprived backgrounds have succeeded, they believed that cultural factors such as parental attitudes and encouragement played a key role in childrens educational attainment at school ( Abercombie, Warde Deem,2001). We will now look at how cultural factors can have an impact in creating inequalities for children. 2. Cultural Deprivation Cultural deprivation has been defined ‘as a situation in which parents provide a child with little in the way of linguistic stimulation and take minimal interest in their education and when they have limited opportunity for play or other experiences which are helpful to their intellectual development- in short when their environment is barren and unstimulating ( Silver,1980,p40). This theory recognises that instead of material factors causing inequalities it is the cultural factors in fact that causes working class children to perform differently in schools compared to their middle class peers. It is argued that working class children are disadvantaged because working class subculture fails to transmit the correct norms, values and skills needed for high achievement in education (Fulcher Scott,2007,p323). Also low value is placed is placed on educational achievement and working class subculture focuses on immediate gratification where they are encouraged to leave school early and earn money rather than opting for deferred gratification which middle class adopt where education is seen as a path for success later on in life where they can enjoy the benefits of having a high paid job and high statuses (Henslin, 1996,p 190). J W B Douglas study of ‘ The home and the school (1962) supports the cultural deprivation theory. Douglas conducted a longitudinal study in 1962 of 5,362 British children and followed their educational careers up to the age of 16. He divided the students into different social class groupings and found that there was different variations in educational achievement between students who had similar academic ability but came from different social classes. He found that within the ‘high ability group the majority of the lower working class children left school in the fifth year compared to only 10 percent from the upper middle class. Douglas argued that the single most important factor causing these differences in achievement between middle and working class children is the level of parental interest and encouragement for their childrens education. He argues that working class parents showed little interest in childrens progress at school whereas middleclass parents encouraged children to do well at school, continue in further education and also paid more attention to their childrens progress through frequent meeting s with teachers. However overall although we can see that parental interest can effect childrens attainment it cannot be viewed as the only factor in explaining class differences in educational achievement. Blackstone Mortimore (1994) argued that working class parents were unable to attend parents meetings due to demands of their manual jobs and also working class parents try to encourage their children in education but they lack the certain social skills that middle class parents occupy in order for their children to gain advantages from the school system. So therefore it is important to note that many other factors play a role in creating inequalities for working class children and also that many culturally deprived behaviours could also be due to a lack of money (Haralambos Holborn, 2006, p737-739).

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Case Study Essay -- Case Study

Case Study: A thirty six year old male has developed severe muscle weakness throughout the body. The condition began fifteen months ago with a left foot drop and within a year, he described difficulty with speech and swallowing, muscle twitching and cramping, and muscular atrophy throughout the upper and lower limbs. Within the last two months, his breathing has become more difficult, and there has been a noticeable difference in his voice. Prior to the fifteen months, he presented little to no symptoms. The patient, a medical doctor, has a wife and two young children. What began as seemingly innocent muscle weakness and cramping has lead to this patient’s fatal diagnosis. He is one of 2.5 per 100,000 people worldwide who have been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and will mostly likely die of respiratory failure within 2 to 3 years. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS is a is a highly degenerative disease involving the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary movement. The disease is sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s after the New York Yankees baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS in 1939. The disease causes degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons. These neurons connect the brainstem and spinal cord to muscle fibers and send electric impulses to the muscles. Without proper communication, the muscles begin to weaken and atrophy. Individuals with ALS will lose their ability for voluntary muscular control. Usually, bladder and bowel control are spared, though this is not always the case. Cognitive functions and sensory nerves are also typically spared, but the affected individuals may present symptoms of dementia. Initial symptoms generally include muscular weak... ...ological degeneration could happen in such a swift manner. I only hope that a better understanding of the causes of ALS can help find a cure. Works Cited ALSInfo: Lou Gherig’s Disease (ALS) [Internet]. 2011. Sanofi aventis US LLC; [last updated 2011 November 8; cited 2012 March 22]. Available from http://www.alsinfo.com/ Hayes SM. 2001. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Update on Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, and Management. In: Riolo L, editor. Topics in Physical Therapy: Neurology. American Physical Therapy Association. Lesson 9. McKinley MP, O'Loughlin VD. 2006. Nervous System Disorders. In: Wheatley CH, editor. Human anatomy. 2nd ed. Boston (MA): McGraw-Hill Higher Education. p 431. Umphred DA. 2001. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In: Allen A, Zipperlen R, editors. Neurological rehabilitation. 4th ed. St. Louis (MO): Mosby. p 363-385.

Alcohol Advertising: The Cause of Underage Drinking? Essay -- essays

Alcohol Advertising: The Cause of Underage Drinking?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The question, â€Å"Is alcohol advertising the cause of underage drinking?† seems to flow through the minds of many American families. The answer to the question largely depends upon the families view on drinking in general. Some homes encourage drinking every once in a while, for social purposes; while others condemn it all together. The topic is very controversial with several factors weighing in such as religion, family background, and health. Despite the differing views, statistics have shown that underage drinking has reached a new height this past year. What is the cause of this rise in adolescent drinking? I will be reviewing the work of four different authors in an attempt to answer this question.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dina Berta grew up with alcohol in her home and believes that alcohol is a part of American life, and is a normal accompaniment to most social events. She said, â€Å"Most Americans enjoy drinking on a regular basis.† She feels that Americans are too â€Å"uptight† and that drinking socially, even underage, is not a problem. George Hacker and Robyn Suriano disagree with her and they feel that underage drinking has become a serious problem and that children are drinking more heavily at a younger age. Suriano states, â€Å"alcohol is the most abused drug in the country, and the number of children trying alcoholic beverages before they reach 18 has doubled in the past decade.† Hacker agrees with this point by giving the statistic that 4.1 million kids younger than 18 tried alcohol in the year 2000. Hacker also states his belief that when the youth drink, they drink heavily and excessively. Suriano and Hacker both agree that the cause of excessive underage drinking is advertisements.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject of alcohol advertisements negative effects on the behaviors of young people is very diverse. Most liquor and beer companies agree with Berta that the purpose of alcohol advertisings is to encourage drinkers to try new brands, not to promote excessive drinking. Hacker states, â€Å"despite the intent of the industry, research shows that alcohol advertising does influence young people.† He strongly disagrees with Berta, stating that the advertisements have a negative effect. â€Å"It preprograms them to drink and drink excessively for a â€Å"good time.† ... ...ge drinking and she gives a list of recommendations that all parents should go by in order to alleviate the problem. The opinions of these four authors prove that alcohol advertising is an extremely controversial topic. When questioning American’s youth, you will get varied responses, similar to the conflicting opinions of the authors. Some homes side with Dina Berta and Jon Kate, while others agree more with Robyn Suriano and George Hacker. Alcohol industries see eye to eye with Berta and Kate. Berta feels advertising is fine and that drinking is a normal part of American culture. Kate feels that there is a problem with underage drinking but that advertisements are not the cause. Robyn Suriano and George Hacker feel underage drinking is a big problem and action needs to take place in order to reduce underage drinking. Hacker blames advertisements while Suriano feels the problem stems from both advertisements and the family. As shown, the topic is very debatable, depending largely on personal upbringing and experiences. Hence, the question still remains, â€Å"Are alcohol advertisements the cause of underage drinking?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Credentialing System Implementation Essay

The previous two parts of this three-part assignment, the systems analysis and application architecture and process design aspect of the credentialing software project at TPI Health Systems (TPI) was explored. This last paper will explore the implementation stage of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) as it related to the credentialing project at TPI. There are six major steps to the implementation phase of the SDLC: (1) coding, (2) testing, (3) installation, (4) documentation, (5) training and (6) support. The text actually details five steps and breaks-out the last step, support, into its own phase (Satzinger, Jackson, & Burd, 2004, p. 626). The first phase, coding, is done in any of three development styles: (1) input, process, output, (2) top-down, (3) bottom up. The input, process, output (IPO) method is defined by first doing the activities that require external input followed by elements that process the input and concluded by programs that produce output (Zachman, 1987, p. 279). The IPO is effective in developing user interface first and simplifies testing. It does have a disadvantage of late output modules (Satzinger et al. p. 629). The top-down and bottom up methods produce the needed top or bottom modules, respectively. Top-down coding has the advantage of having a working version of the program. Poor utilization of programming personnel in the beginning of the project is disadvantage of the top-down development method. The bottom-up method puts programming personnel to work immediate, utilizing resources effectively. Unfortunately, this method also requires additional programming to test the modules, as well as an overall delay of testing by waiting for the top modules to be developed. The credentialing project at TPI used a weak IPO method of coding. The major attention was placed on converting the data in the existing Visual Fox format to Microsoft SQL 2000 compatible data. The company, SyMed, made no provision for any user interface changes. The process of how a credentialing application flowed through the TPI credentialing process was observed in the analysis phase of the project and the project team had wanted some user interface changes to accommodate TPI processes. These changes did not fit into the SyMed project plan, so the TPI process was changed to accommodate the pre-written user interface of the SyMed system. Testing is the next phase of the implementation phase. A comprehensive testing program includes a stepwise process starting with unit testing, followed by testing of group components called integration testing and concluded with entire systems test (Satzinger et al. , 2004, p. 640). Individual units or modules are tested prior to integration with more advanced modules, using driver modules. Once a set of modules are put together, integration testing can take place. These test include checking for interface compatibility, run-time exceptions, parameter values and unexpected state interactions (Satzinger et al. , p. 644-645). Jeff Theobald suggests that an effort should be made to concentrate not on just errors in a single application or module, but also the system as a whole and between systems (Theobald, 2007). After these tests are completed, the project goes on to system testing. System testing often involves daily â€Å"build and smoke† tests, where the system is set to run and is observed for â€Å"smoke† or errors (McConnell, 1996). The TPI credentialing system was tested in this manner. The project made it through the first two testing phases (unit and integration), but never made it out of systems testing. It â€Å"smoked† and never stopped due to a basic inability of the data store to handle the TPI method of placing multiple doctors in multiple entities. The SyMed development team called in the architect of the system and a step back to the analysis phase was made. Their entire development team, along with the architect, made a trip from Nashville to Louisville to redo the initial analysis. The team went back to Nashville with the new data and called back to say they could not do the project. The end of the project consumed uncounted person-hours, 7 months on the calendar and about $25,000 dollars. The next part of the implementation phase is installation. This phase is accomplished by several methods. The first is direct installation. This is where the new system is installed and implemented and the old system is â€Å"turned off. † This is a simple but risky way for a new system to be deployed. The next possible method of installation is parallel. This method is demonstrated by keeping both systems going for an extended amount of time. This is a low risk but high cost implementation scenario. Phased installation is the last method and is characterized by multiple possible pathways to final installation. Phased installation is also low risk, but can become quite complex due to the multiple pathways (Satzinger et al. , 2004). The TPI credentialing system, had it made it to this phase, was to be a parallel installation. Documentation is the next phase of implementation and usually consists of user documentation and systems documentation. User documentation is descriptions to users on how to work together with the system. It is typically how to startup and shutdown the system, the keystrokes necessary to do specific tasks, functions necessary to perform a specific procedure and troubleshooting tips (Satzinger et al. , 2004). System documentation usually consists of information necessary to maintain and re-implement the system in the event of a disaster. System documentation includes maintenance and upgrade procedures, analysis methods and in some cases, the source code and testing data (Satzinger et al. ). The TPI credentialing program had available pre-printed manuals of SyMed’s existing user interface and command sequences. The SyMed systems documentation was never provided. The next phase of implementation is training. Training can consist of formalized classes or presentations; self paced learning or group training. This training should be hands-on and emphasize actual applications that the system was created to perform. Timing of training is important. Training can be performed too early in the implementation progress, leading to unnecessary training that may need to be un-learned. Training is often seen as a luxury by some companies and is sometime omitted. This can be a costly mistake (Satzinger et al. , 2004). The TPI credentialing system was scheduled to have two days of formalized onsite training. The final phase of the implementation phase is support. As mention earlier, this phase s sometimes broken-out as its own stage. It is also often rolled into the training phase. Support is usually considered some form of help desk for most software development, though some companies offer only online documentation and troubleshooting. For this premise to work, the documentation needs to be robust and thorough. The TPI credentialing system never got to this phases and was unable to utilize either system. The failure of the TPI credentialing system software project had many contributors. Poor analysis and implementation of the SDLC was paramount, as well as budgetary issues. To sum it up, the failure was mostly due to TPI not knowing exactly what they wanted and needing more abilities than they had resources for, coupled with SyMed’s inability to recognize their limitations. The failure outlined above could have been mitigated by the knowledge and utilization of the capability maturity module (CMM). The CMM is a matrix that defines an organizations maturity of software processes Anderson, 2001). CMM is a process identification whose goal is to use defined and repeatable processes in software development. TPI would have scored a one and SyMed may have scored a two. Figure 1 illustrates the five modules of the CMM. Figure 1. Capability maturity module. This tool can be utilized by both software clients and vendors to identify potential success in a given software project. Additionally, IBM has developed the Rational Unified Process (RUP) for the object-oriented approach of software development. RUP is designed to make designed and repeatable processes easier. There are individuals who disagree with contention of repeatability for both CMM and RUP, claiming that like movies, software development success is not always repeatable.

Xenophon and Aristophanes

In Greek society women had little control over their lives. A husband wanted to be able to control his wife so she would run his household as he saw fit, so she did not damage his reputation, and so he knew the paternity of his children. A husband wanted the girl to be closely controlled by her father before she married for the same reasons. Aristophanes’ comedies and Xenophon’s Oeconomicus contain very different depictions of a Greek citizen woman’s life before she is married and during the time shortly after she is married. Both the comedies and Oeconomicus examine how girls were educated, how closely guarded they were in their father’s household, and their willingness to deceive their husbands. In Oeconomicus, Xenophon wrote about the ideal girl, but she was exaggerated in the direction of perfection. In the comedies, however, some the female characters were almost the exact opposite of the girl in Oeconomicus. Even though ideas about how girls were raised and how they behaved after they were married are very different in Oeconomicus and in Aristophanes’ comedies, both sets of ideas get at a husband’s desire for his wife to have been closely controlled by her father, and then by him. Aristophanes and Xenophon illustrate this desire by presenting the ideal characteristics of a wife and the characteristics men fear. They also use exaggeration to make the distinction between the good wife and the undesirable wife even clearer. Because husbands wanted their wives to be controlled first by their fathers, and then by them, women spent their entire lives under the control of men. There was also a large difference between how closely guarded by her father Ischomachos’s wife was, compared to the girls in the comedies. Girls were not only guarded to keep them from learning too much, but they were also guarded to keep them away from men so they would not have sex with or be raped by them. Because if a girl was, and after marriage her husband found out, he would be unsure of the paternity of his children. Ischomachos’s wife â€Å"had previously lived under diligent supervision in order that she might see and hear as little as possible† (Oeconomicus, VII, 5). She obviously did not leave her house much if her family was making an attempt to have her see and hear as little as possible. Because she was supervised that closely, even if she did leave her house she wouldn’t have had a chance to get into trouble because there would be someone with her or watching her. In Women at the Thesmophoria, the Kinsman portrayed a female character who was obviously not guarded closely, â€Å"I had a boyfriend, who’d deflowered me when I was only seven† (Women at the Thesmophoria, 503). If a man was able to get to the Kinsman’s character when she was only seven she was not being watch closely. Calling the person who deflowered her, her boyfriend, implies that this was not a single instance of negligence on part of her guardian; it implies that she was not being watched closely enough to prevent her boyfriend from continuing to see her. Ischomachos’s wife reflects the ideal for Greek husbands. Because her father so closely controlled her, she would not have had an opportunity to do anything that would call the paternity of her future husband’s children into question. The Kinsman’s character is a depiction of a girl that shows men’s fears about how their wives might have been raised. She is completely out of the control of her father, so when she marries, her husband will have no idea if she is all ready pregnant. It is likely that how closely or loosely these characters were guarded is an exaggeration. Although Ischomachos’s wife probably was guarded as closely as possible, her incredible ignorance implies that she was guarded more closely then was achievable. The Kinsman’s character is probably also an exaggeration. Although there probably were some girls who were deflowered when they were very young, it seems unlikely that she would have had a boyfriend at the age of seven. The exaggeration only makes the ideal of a father’s control more clear. In Ischomachos’s wife’s extreme case there is almost no chance that she was pregnant with another man’s child when she married, but in the case of the Kinsman it would be surprising if she was not all ready pregnant. In order for a husband to be able to control his wife easily and so he would be able to teach her how he wanted her to run his household, girls were supposed to be kept as ignorant as possible before marriage. Ischomachos’s wife is an example of this ideal. He says that † [she] had previously lived under diligent supervision in order that she might see and hear as little as possible and ask the fewest questions as possible† (Oeconomicus, VII, 5). In Lysistrata an opposite view of the education of girls is presented. A chorus of women spoke about their experience in several different religious ceremonies and festivals. They use what they learned in the festivals to justify giving the polis advice. We want to start by offering the polis some good advice and rightly, for she raised me in splendid luxury. As soon as I turned seven I was an Arrephoros; then a Grinder; when I was then I shed my saffron robe for the Foundress at the Brauronia. And once, when I was a beautiful girl, I carried the Basket wearing a necklace of dried figs† (Lysistrata, 669). Because they use their experience in religious ceremonies as a qualification, they believe they have learned from these experiences. The contrast between Oeconomicus and Lysistrata is striking in that Ischomachos’s wife was kept home and an attempt was made to teach her as little as possible, while the girls in the chorus left home for extended periods of time and apparently learned from their experiences. The experience of both Ischomachos’s wife and the chorus girls is an exaggeration of what is possible in reality. Ischomachos seemed to think his wife did not know anything he did not teach her. When she made a mistake, such as when she cannot find something that Ischomachos asks for, he took full responsibility for it because if he had not taught it to her she could not be expected to know it. â€Å"But you are not at fault in this, rather I am, since I handed over these things to you without giving orders as to where each kind of thing should be put so that you would know where to put them and where to find them again† (Oeconomicus, VIII, 2). The list of religious festivals given by the chorus as evidence of their education contains service in five separate religious rites. This list of religious service is â€Å"the most prestigious any Athenian woman could boast† (Lysistrata 669, note 138). Some of the rites were only open to girls from the â€Å"noblest Athenian families† (Lysistrata 670, note 139). It seems unlikely that many girls, if any, would have had the experience that the girls in the chorus listed. So the experiences of girls in Lysistrata are exaggerated to make the girls appear more knowledgeable than they probably would be, and in Oeconomicus the girl is more ignorant than seems possible. The exaggeration illustrates why men wanted ignorant girls. Ischomachos’s wife is incredibly ignorant and is very easy to control. She does exactly what her husband tells her to do, once instructed. This contrasts with the women in Lysistrata who have an unusual amount of experience outside of their homes. The women’s experience, in part, contributed to their attempt to take over the polis. A wife who attempted to deceive her husband was very frightening for Greek men because men spent a great deal of their time away from home. When a husband was gone, his wife would have the opportunity to do things that would damage his reputation and call the paternity of his children into question. A husband could not really control his wife, if he could not trust that she was doing exactly what she said she was doing. In the Oeconomicus there is an example of a wife deceiving her husband that seems very benign. All Ischomachos’s wife did was put on makeup, but when he sees her with a painted face, he tells her that she should not wear makeup because it is a form of deception. Such deceits may in some way deceive outsiders and go undetected, but when those who are always together try to deceive one another they are necessarily found out† (Oeconomicus X, 8). It seems like he is not just lecturing her about putting on makeup, but also about other kinds of deception. Of course after Ischomachos’s lecture, â€Å"she never did anything of that sort again† (Oeconomicus X, 9). The Kinsman’s ch aracter not only lied to her husband only three days after they were married, but she lied so she could leave the house to have sex with her boyfriend (Women at the Thesmophoria, 504). Her actions could damage her husband’s reputation, and would call the paternity of his children into question. Her actions seem to be as bad as possible from the husband’s perspective. These actions are a demonstration of men’s fears about what their wives might do if they were willing and able to deceive their husbands. The Kinsmans’ actions are a stark contrast with Ischomachos’s wife, who after being corrected, never again deceived her husband. Because she was unwilling to deceive her husband, and therefore easy to control, she was an example of the perfect wife. Although Xenophon and Aristophanes were a part of the same society and wrote about Greek men’s desire for their wives to be closely controlled before and after marriage, they explored this desire in very different ways. Xenophon used it to write a text that gave men advice about what to look for in a perfect wife, and how to treat her after they were married. However, Aristophanes was writing comedies so he exaggerated undesired characteristics to create the worst possible wives for comic effect. When both Aristophanes and Xenophon’s works are examined to see how a father’s control over his daughter and the characteristics that make it easier for a husband to control his wife are portrayed, it becomes apparent that Aristophanes and Xenophon were writing about the same desire Greek men had for their wives to be controlled – first by their fathers and then by their husbands. This control was meant to ensure a properly run household, an intact reputation, and undisputed paternity. Because of this desire for control, when Greek women came of age, they passed from the control of their fathers to their husbands.

Gang Violence

Teen Gang Violence If I could change the world, I would definitely leave out the gang violence. I wonder why teens join gangs. I’ve seen some of my friends join gangs and I wonder why they joined. Did they think they were going to be famous? Did they think everyone was going to know them now and want to invite them to special events? Or did they want to sell drugs on their block and become hood rich? I grew up in the city of Blytheville, Arkansas, where a lot of kids find trouble. Gangs are becoming a growing problem in American society. More young people are turning to gangs to solve problems in their lives.When youth join gangs, they forget about their family, real friends, and even school. In Blytheville, gangs cause teenagers to act violently. When you are in a gang, you also have rival gangs that you constantly have to fight, just because you don’t want another gang in your territory. Some teens think that being in a gang will give them protection. I believe being in a gang increases your chances of being killed or hurt badly. Besides the violence that is involved in being in a gang, teens also get involved in illegal activities such as the use and selling of drugs.Gangs make you carry out illegal activities to make money. One of these activities is selling marijuana mainly. In my city, some members are big time dealers, while others just work the corners. It’s a part in my town that does a lot of killing and selling drugs. That is not good role modeling for the young people. In what shouldn't surprise anyone who has thought even the least bit about these sorts of issues, a lack of positive role models in their lives is  leading to gang membership. (ParentDish) Some children probably grew up where they saw people selling drugs and killing.They said, â€Å"When I get older I want to be just like that†. When you’re young you don’t really know the consequences of being in a gang. I never understood the meaning of ga ngs. You have to have tons of people who might have your back, but the key word was â€Å"might†. I know many people that don’t need to be in a gang. They’re in it just to fit in. That is just horrible in my book. I remember we had to read a book about gangs in high school. This book was called Gangs, Groups, Cults. It’s about a kid name Donte. He was a bright teenager who finished school and didn’t do anything after high school. So he oined a gang because he said, â€Å"Cool, but what do I do once I get out of school? You know? I did my daily deed to keep from getting thrown out of the house, but no I’m walking around the neighborhood and I don’t have anything to do† (Bradley 75). Since Donte had nothing better to do, he figured that it would be okay to join a gang. Boredom causes teenagers to join gangs, as well as wrecking havoc in the streets. Boredom can cause teens to join gangs, and so does bad parents. A lot of times wh en a kid’s family is messed up, they end up spending more time on the streets, and the gang becomes like their second family.Maybe they only have a mom and she has drug problems, or is never around or very strict on him/her. Maybe they have a dad that is never around, or is on drugs. Some kids suffer through home life with parents who are always drunk on alcohol and they don’t really know their parents. So they meet older gang members that give them money and make them feel like a little brother or even a son. According to The National Gang Center and The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, boys are more involved in gangs than girls; however you might be surprised to find out that the number of female gang members is rapidly increasing. Psychology Today) Many parents of teenage girls do not consider gang activity to be something they should worry about very much. Unfortunately, I’ve witness teenage girls getting more and more involved in gangs . Not only in Blytheville, this is occurring in the larger cities, and other smaller cities and towns as well. Gangs rely on their girl for many dangerous activities that can result in teen girls going to prison or worse. Maybe they believe she want get as much time for a crime as a male would. Teens that are in gangs are much more likely to suffer from gun violence, whether it's injury or death.As a gang member, you can look forward to at least one shooting. In some cities, many teens that were killed by guns are gang members. Most likely, they were shooting at other gang members, who will not hesitate to shoot back. According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, youth gangs have about 772,000 members nationwide, with half of them being teens under 18. (eHow) Teenagers love this life because they feel powerful, rich, and respected at a young age. They think they’re going to become rich and gang famous. The older guys that are or were in a gang are known as â€Å"OG’s†, know the opposite.I’m pretty sure they’re regretting everything like the choices they made getting into the gang in the first place back in the day. A lot of OG’s have spent their whole lives in and out of jail, and are out on the street asking for money, all because the gang life took away a lot of opportunities they could have had when they were younger. The world doesn’t need this kind of activity going on. We have bigger problems to deal with, other than killing and harming each other. Parents need to tell their children how much they love them each and every day.