Thursday, October 31, 2019

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Strategic Management - Essay Example 2014). Management with consideration of communication will provide feedback in surveys, giving ideas in the organization. Sharing of information in an organization also ensures that the objectives of the organization are met, as communication will lead to coordination of activities. Strategic management involves innovation in activities that an organization carries out. Management strategies may involve development of a new product or rendering a new service. Innovation will involve putting groups together to work in development of major initiatives and giving out resources to ensure that the innovative objectives are met. Strategic management should involve trying out something that is new even with the risks that are involved. Management of projects is also a critical element through which management should be able to identify projects that ensures success in achieving all strategies. The other aspect of project management is development of priorities of all the elements to ensure that there is success in achieving objectives of management (Gerry et al. 2014). Project management will also ensure that employees understand strategies of the organization. Organization structure is an essential factor in strategic management. Organization cultures are the attitudes that are held by an organization and behavior that employees in the organization portray. Organization cultures are always unique and diverse due to personality. Managers are to understand the culture to ensure that planning that is put in place is in line with culture of the organization (Gerry et al. 2014). Cultures that are considered are those on belief in change by employees and values that employees hold. Strategic management in an organization requires consideration of these aspects. Engagement of employees at all levels, communication to employees, innovation in an organization, creation of

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The Way of Ford Motor Company Essay Example for Free

The Way of Ford Motor Company Essay * Introduction * Although to be the only one remaining member which have escaped bankruptcy of the Big Three among the automobile industry by June 2009, Ford suffers $14.7 million loss of revenue and elimination of stockholders’ equity due to the record-breaking fall in demand for 2008,US. However, to understand Ford’s position today requires understanding the American automotive industry. * General Industry analysis * From 1900-2008, US motor vehicle production has a rapid increase to9, 000,000 from 1900 to 1967, after not, there is a graduate decrease to 3,000,000 until 2008. At the mean time, the median age of passenger car in US was Spiral upwards. Combine the two phenomenon, we can get that the automobile industry market is quite saturated and the demand fell down. Regard to the automobile manufacturing technology, despite less differentiation between manufacturers due to the converge of technologies and design, the technological progress was incremental and lead to the various segmentations in each country. Follow the two situations, there are 3 big issues were emerged. One was the deep demand of auto cars result in excess capacity. Another one issues was the high cost among the technological development. Last one issue was the lacking differentiation. However, it also offers automakers new product segmentations and market. For an insightful analysis, we need to look at more information in details. * Porter’s Five Forces First of all, we can get a comprehensive industry environment analysis through the Porter’s Five Forces. In terms of the threat of new entrants of the automobile industry, it requires high capital costs for potential entrants, as the manufacturers are all carry out the mass-production-scale. However, when a new entrant face with the current competitors’ scale economies, smaller manufacturers could not survive since they cannot afford the massive product development cost, which was in excess of $6 billion. And it is easy to own the cost disadvantages independent of scale. Then, the product differentiation of automobile industry is not high as other industry. The automobile industry was a global network of collaborative arrangements. As the team-based approach became models for all major  manufacturers, there is no big difference in the function, model and design. They can only gain their differentiation by the firm’s service and effective advertising. Also, There is no switching cost in the automobile industry because no cost would be incurred when customer switch to a new supplier. However, the large capital requirement is demanding, as the automobile industry needs huge amount of capital to invest in its mass-production line. Furthermore, automakers have benefited from prodigious amounts of direct funds or indirect aids from the government around the world to keep car plants open and assembly line running after the global sales collapsed, and the industry has never operated on the pure free-market principles. It proved that the government always intervened in the automobile industry that suggests the government control entry into this industry. Then, the supplier group of the industry is powerful. In order to achieve lower costs and increased flexibility, the automobile manufacturing trend has been towards outsourcing. All of the manufacturers now have long-term relationships with their suppliers. Especially for the leading component suppliers that have the increasing responsibility for technological development, it gains a strong bargaining power. Because their goods as transmissions, braking systems, etc. are critical to buyers’ market success. Besides, it poses a credible threat to integrate forward into the automobile industry due to some suppliers like Bosch and Denso are as big as some larger automobile companies. What’s more, since a few large companies dominated the suppliers and is more concentrated than automobile industry, it is easy to get the conclusion that these suppliers are fatal and important threat to the automobile industry. Next, the bargaining power of the buyer is increasing. Although the auto buyers won’t purchase a large portion of cars in a given time since the auto is not cheap, the sales of the purchased product do not account for a significant portion of the seller’s annual revenue as well. Nevertheless, the customer cou ld switch to another automaker at litter or even no cost since automobiles are little differentiated, then the buyers pose a credible threat if they were to integrate backward into the sellers’ industry. In addition, the threat of the substitutes also is a vital factor of the industry analysis. As the passenger car substitutes, the public transportation like airplane, train and bus perform the same function. The technological change would offer opportunities for new entrants into the  industry. For the environmental concerns, it may also result in a decline in private transportation in favor of public transportation, or short-term rental car rather than car ownership. In general, these substitutes present a strong threat to the industry especially when the customers face few switching cost as I mentioned before. Moreover, the competitive rivalry is intense in the automobile industry. Firstly, there are equally balanced competitors within the industry. It can be found from company sales of these automakers, the annual average sales are nearly the same among several major big automakers as Ford, GM, Honda and Daimler. Industry with only a few firms of equivalent size and power tend to have strong rivalries. In another hand, as the high fixed cost and high storage cost of automobiles account for a large part of the total costs, the automakers will spread the costs across a large volume of output. However, excess capacity is created when firms try to maximize their productive capacity. And the excess capacity has become the greatest structural problem of the industry. To cut down the price is the most effective way to reduce inventories. At the mean time, this method often intensifies competition. Besides, lacking differentiation and low switching cost of the automobile industry are easy for competitors to attract buyers through pricing and service offerings. Finally, the high exit barriers intensify the automobile industry competition as well. With the recession and unprecedented fall in demand, automakers remain in the industry because they face the high exit barriers. Specialized assets, fixed cost of exit, strategic interrelationships, emotional barriers, government and social restrictions are make up the high exit barriers. To sum, the competitive rivalry is highly intense in the automobile industry. After the discussion about the Porter’s five forces, we have a comprehensive understanding that how is the American automobile industry environment. However, for a more accurate strategic competitiveness, we need to have a further analysis through the international markets and rivalries. * Industry analysis -Internationalization With the increasing competition in the industry, the intensified quest for cost reduction and the excess capacity among automobile manufacturers had make contributions to the internationalization. In another side, accessing growing market, exploiting scale economies in purchasing, technology, and new product development also mainly brought up the internationalization. In the market share part, the table shows that there is an apparent decrease in the automobile market share of local firms from 1988 to 2006.As the Big Three which held close to 85% of the US market in 1970, all of their US market share declined by an average of 6% in 2006. On the contrary, the reductive market share contributed to the increasing market share of Toyota and Honda in US. Not only the US market had an internationalization outcome as the above condition, but also many developed countries did. It illustrates that all the leading automobile manufacturers were competing in most of the countries of the world instead of dominated in focused national market as before, and the market dominance of local automobile firms was undermined. In addition, the global distribution of production shifts a lot due to the rise of new market and the needs of low production cost. As shown in the table4.7 and 4.8, the used biggest three automobile production countries and regions (US, Western Europe, and Japan) in 1980 have been taken place by Japan, China, and Germany in 2008. The world leading motor-vehicle producers-Korea, Brazil and India, also result in a rapidly growing domestic markets and low production cost that benefit a lot from the low compensation for workers. Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that there is a big cost advantages and huge potential market for the big automobile manufacturers due to the internationalization. Since there are a lot of leading producers with cheap labor cost and high productivity outside US, then it provide resources and factors of production in the world outside US, and it provide automobile industry a way to worldwide outsourcing, which is beneficial to the reasonable allocation of capital and products in the global flow. Besides, internationalization in the automobile industry is helpful for design and technology in the global expansion, promote the economic development of the underdeveloped areas, in turn, it stimulate the sales of automobile. Nonetheless, the fierce competition is a concern in the international market. On account of the collaborations with the industry’s development and no barriers to enter other countries, fewer differentiation and free-limit expansion lead to intensive rivalry. * Industry attractiveness Through the industry analysis among five forces in American market and  international market, it is obvious to find the automobile industry is attractive in international market instead of in American market. Although there is a little threat of new entrants, strong bargaining power of supplier, increasing bargaining power of buyers, big threats of substitute products and intense competitive rivalry still make the domestic industry not attractive. In the international market, it is attractive as the potential market expansion and worldwide outsourcing. But with the intensive rivalry and low differentiation in the internationalization, it is necessary to be well prepared on the risk and responses. * Fit between core competencies and opportunities Ford was the first one to combine mass consumption with mass production, and Ford use this concept to guide the enterprise entrepreneur. What is the Ford’s core competency then? To start, it’s brand recognition in global scale. Ford does have a model in most categories. It provides a large global scale to Ford. A more strategic core competency of Ford is its global supply chain network. Its strategic alliances and supplier base is possibly one of the most favorable in the world. In addition, Ford has many opportunities. Firstly, Restructuring plan that to downsizing was launched long before GM and Chrysler, moving the manufacturing to low-cost location, worldwide outsourcing as well. These actions improve the performance, meet the location economy and cut down the cost of Ford. Secondly, Ford has a long history in production innovation. Thus, new products are very likely to be continued in the future. Thirdly, Ford’s business is locked up in the European and North American markets, however it possess a significant share in emerging markets such as South American, which should provide enormous growth of the future as the middle class to grow and earn the money to spend on automobiles. Finally, One major sector that is full with opportunity is the electric automobile market, as the world looks for an eco-friendly alternative that operates like the original car. When we compared Ford’s opportunities with core competencies, they fit with each other. The constant production innovation that leads to continued new product and the significant share in emerging markets provide the opportunities for Ford’s brand recognition in global scale. Furthermore, the location economy and worldwide outsourcing give Ford the chance to strengthen its global supply  chain network. In sum, Ford gains a very strong competitive advantage in automobile industry. * Business-level strategy In terms of the business-level strategy, Ford had an ambiguous business-level strategy that neither successful differentiation nor cost-leadership based on the case. On one hand, because of the high technological development cost, large excess capacity and huge capital cost, it cannot and did not maintain a cost leadership strategy. On the other hand, with the internationalization, resources and technologies sharing, collaborations among competitors, Ford do not have a strong differentiation strategy. Type of cooperation The cost of new product development has been the major driver if mergers and acquisition in the industry. And sharing cost also encouraged increased collaboration and joint venture. For Ford, its corporation includes joint venture, joint research, licensing, partnership, and acquisition. With these different corporation methods that to share costs, resources and risks, Ford shows a strong alliance to its supplier and partner. And Ford also obtains a significant reduction in product development time and cost. To some extent, the strong connection with other automakers and suppliers also accelerate the speed to reach the market and the potential consumer. * How to approach market * At present, the biggest change of automobile society is the transition from emerging market to mature market. And the most significant feature is the industry has entered the era of micro growth. Micro growth poses a big pressure to the whole industry, but it also promotes favorable industry healthy and sustainable growth. Thus, with such advantaged external opportunity and internal strength, Ford needs to approach new market to earn the market share and worldwide competitiveness. Exporting, licensing, strategic alliances, acquisition and WOS are the entry modes alternatives, but how to choose one from these? * Since Ford already has a strong partnership with other automakers, Ford has a foundation to gain other alliances. Besides, as Ford does not have much profit margin and the initial investment of automobile industry is huge, the Exporting, WOS and  Acquisition are not acceptable due to the high cost. In terms of the licensing, although it has a low cost and risk, the low return and little control are not appealing. Thus, Ford should go on with the strategic alliances to cut the entry cost and risk, and to achieve the industry integration. * 5-year plan To conclude all the analysis above, Ford’s strategies for the later 5 years’ development need to be changed. Firstly, a real business-level strategy is imperative. Adopting a clear differentiation strategy and supporting value-chain activities should improve Ford’s position. Besides, to Continue cost cutting beyond those already specified in the plan and focus on reduction of manufacturing costs to achieve Ford’s cost parity. Additionally, cut in cost to achieve parity with foreign rivals. Invest in unique advertising and create uniquely designed vehicles with shared platforms and technologies to promote differentiation strategy. * The second part of Ford’s plan is to refocus on the consumer through repositioning of its brand and product mix to be more consistent with customer preferences. Currently, Ford lacks product differentiation between these brands sold by the North American division. Ford should emphasize development and production of several car models that presently enjoy strong reputations. Thus, their continued success will enhance the company image as a whole, again supporting a strong differentiation strategy. The final key piece of Ford’s restructuring plan is the constant introduction of innovative products and new development methods. It can bring up new customers. Based on the improved differentiation and efficiencies of scale, the market sales and market share will go up. Together with all these recommendations, Ford should be able to return to a competitive position in the marketplace and stabilize with improve its market share and financial position. *

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Cost Benefit Analysis Economics Essay

Cost Benefit Analysis Economics Essay Introduction Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is a technique which seeks to bring greater objectivity into the decision making. It is a well known evaluation technique that is extensively engaged by both public and private organisations to support the decision making process. It can be useful to almost any kind of decision in any kind of field. It is helpful to identify all the relevant benefits and costs of a particular scheme and to quantify them in monetary terms. The practice arrived in the United Kingdom in 1960s for use in the transportation sector. CBA techniques were extended to cover a wide range of applications, such as water resource management, motorways, nationalized industries, airport locations, forestry, recreational facilities and a wide range of urban investment projects (Paul, 2000). Private sector, direct monetary costs and benefits determines the profitability and increases the output and investment. All costs and benefits in public sector, affected by an investment must be evaluated in some other way. Welfare economics helps to resolve such issues as how to assess costs and benefits of a non-monetary environment how to assess the community benefits when no charge made for public facility and how to fiddle with the market failure. Cost Benefit Analysis CBA rests on the recognition of a potential Pareto development. The basis for this is the proposition that, a decision is justified if those who benefit from it could compensate by those who lose by it. Compensation needs not really occur. What is essential is that the expenses of a policy to those who suffer the costs are exceeded by the value that beneficiaries place on it. This may still remain on an adequate basis for judgment because CBA attempts to ascertain whether the resources are being used efficiently. It will often be the case that the occurrence of costs and benefits, i.e. who bears them, will moreover be very important. CBA may provide a framework designed to identify accurately where the costs and benefits fall, so that a political judgement may be completed as to their satisfactoriness. CBA is a widely used technique which evaluates public spending and aims to avoid inappropriate distribution of public resources. In theory, it helps public decision-makers to invest only in the projects that create more profitability from the viewpoint of the community. To function perfectly, the CBA procedure needs to be engaged prior to the decision is made, so that the potential of the range of project proposals can be compared and evaluated. It aims to evaluate the set of direct and indirect effects of a project, its financial and non- financial effects on the set of economic agents concerned with the investment. These effects are then synthesized, after monetary evaluation, to assure a socio-economic balance which establishes the return on the investment, with this return being estimated on the basis of specific indicators (Auzannet, 1997). According to Boardman et al. (2006) the major steps in CBA are as follows; Specify the set of alternative projects Decide whose benefits and cost count Catalogue the impacts and select measurement indicators Predict the impacts quantitatively over the life of the project Monetize (attach dollar values to) all impacts Discount benefits and costs to obtain present values Perform sensitivity analysis Make a recommendation History and Uses of CBA At present, CBA is being used in both government and international organization. While certain concepts of the technique oriented from Europe in 1840s, the use of CBA in environmental economics is relatively a new incidence which is becoming recognized after regulations were set by the US government. And this made the use of CBA compulsory in the 1930s (E.J. Mishan and Euston, 2007). It was used to generate a solution toward the problems of water provision. After World War II, there was pressure towards the efficiency in government and the search was on for ways to make sure that the public funds were efficiently utilised in major public investments. This resulted in the beginnings of the fusion of the new welfare economics, which was essentially a Cost-Benefit Analysis and practical decision-making. This particular process arrived in the United Kingdom in 1960s in support of the transportation sector. It was applied to the construction of M1 motorway and the Victoria line on the und erground (Economic Labour Market Review, December 2008). In recent years, it is recognised as the major appraisal technique for public investments and public policy. Principles of CBA There are eight basic principles under this CBA ((S.L. Kirama, 2010). These are; There must be a common unit of measurement CBA valuations should represent consumers or producers valuations as revealed by their actual behaviour. Benefits are usually measured by market choices Some measurements of benefits require the valuation of human life The analysis of project should involve a with or without comparison CBA involves particular study area Double counting of benefits or costs must be avoided Decision criteria projects Emergence of CBA CBA allows different projects to be ranked according to highest expected net gains in social wellbeing. This gives important limitations of government spending. The main stages in CBA approaches are (Geoff Riley, 2006), Calculation of social costs and benefits. This includes direct costs, indirect costs and the benefits Sensitivity analysis of event occurring Discounting the future value of benefits Comparing the costs and benefits Comparing the net rate of benefits The Application of CBA In the private sector, financial CBA is used to justify equipment and technology investment, measure life cycle costs, meet regulations cost-effectively and quantify hidden costs and intangible benefits. It is also useful to demonstrate how outsourcing and leasing can result in cost savings and how quality improvements can affect returns. Social CBA is being used to evaluate the social merit of projects or policies. In practice CBA vary between countries and sectors within countries. The main differences include the types of impacts that are being included as costs and benefits within the assessment procedure. This is an extent to which the impacts are expressed in monetary terms and difference in discount rate between countries. The public CBA may also vary from private CBA (S.L. Kirama, 2010). CBA is likely to have its main usage within the public sector where (J. Harve and E. Jowsey, 2004); Price signals are insufficient to guide investment decisions Spill-over benefits and costs are important owing to the magnitude of the schemes The wellbeing of unborn generations has to be allowed Key Concepts in CBA There are some key concepts in CBA. There are; present value, discount rates, opportunity costs, cost and benefits, discounting, net present value, shadow prices, etc. (J. Harve and E. Jowsey, 2004). Government Decision- making Government may take the form of regulation such as building regulation to reduce fire hazards, taxes or subsides or providing goods and services. The main difficulty in many public-sectors is that the goods are provided free of charge or below the market price. So they are forced to focus on short-term special effects of the financial system and the long-standing sustainability of the public finances. Government decisions depend on subjective political considerations. For example, obtaining a social mix council housing may be providing an expensive residential area. However, public investments have serious defects. The one-man, one-vote principle does not weight votes according to the intensity of welfare gain or lost. Therefore, majority of the decision allow two voters marginally in favour of a scheme to outvote one who strongly opposes it in spite of the fact that the sum of their benefits is less than the costs impose on the single opponent. Political decisions are important one-sided. Economic efficiency in resource allocation requires that objective criteria should be used as far as it is feasible. The extension of government involvement in the economy has increased the weight and complexity of decisions which needs to be made at government level. Many argument says that decentralisation of decision-making is desirable. Application to Construction Industry Government is basically responsible for roads, bridges, airports, parks, amenity land, new urban areas and housing. CBA is normally being favoured by many transportation economists. It assesses the entire benefits and costs associated with highway project, including both capital and user costs. In this case, project requires less cost but provides more benefits right through the analysis period which are chosen first. CBA estimates the costs in monetary terms. Traditionally, a benefit-cost ratio, net present value or internal rate of return is being used. Recent research suggests that the net present value (NPV) may provide the best project selection measure if the transportation program is under financial constraints (Reed and Rutherford, 1997). The Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Transportation Sector Transportation policy and scheduling decisions often engage tradeoffs between conflicting objectives. Most highway cost allocation and investment evaluation studies are primarily concerned with direct market costs, such as road construction and maintenance, travel time, vehicle operating costs and crash damages. These vary depending on vehicle type and roadway conditions. They assume that the total amount of vehicle travel does not change, so were unconcerned with vehicle ownership and parking costs. Other types of studies incorporate environmental impacts, primarily air pollution, but sometimes it also includes noise and water pollution, and various other categories of land usage impact. Some studies have only considered external costs avoiding the internal ones. CBA is extensively used within the transportation segment. CBA of transportation investment projects tend to neglect long-term environmental consequences and needs among the community group with a low ability to pay. It has been emerged as one of the most used tools in deciding the viability of proposed infrastructure projects. The predictions regarding the impact of such projects are often problematic uncertain. The transport modelling tools are used in order to estimate positive as well as the negative impacts. Case Study Heathrow Terminal 5 In this case, the British Airport Authority (BAA) planning to build terminal 5 the cost is approximately around  £4 billion. Planning application was submitted in February 1993 (Heathrow T5, October 2005). They were considering the following benefits, such as Economic growth: Demand for air travel in south-east England is forecasted to be doubled in the next 20 years, making the expansion seems to be essential within the Air travel industry. This in turn might create thousands of jobs and businesses depending on the Heathrow airport expansion in order to provide sufficient supply capacity to meet the growing demand. An increase in the capacity of Heathrow will make maximum usage of airports existing infrastructure and land. The economy and trade: if it does not meet demand, UK will lose its airlines and foreign investments within the other European regions. The benefits of a world-beating industry would be reduced. Therefore, many sectors of our aviation industry will have a comparative advantage and might add huge sums to our balance of payments. Jobs: This project will create job opportunities which are estimated to be around 16,500. And it may also create 6,000 construction jobs during the building phase. This will have multiplier effects on the local / regional and national economy. Transport: The terminal will be the centre of a world-class transport exchange, with new Tube and rail links. Car traffic would rise only slightly. The social costs of increased traffic congestion have been exaggerated by the environmentalists. Environment: The site which has been allocated for terminal 5 is currently a disused sludge works. And any displace wildlife and plant life will be carefully relocated. The noise climate around Heathrow Airport has been improving for many years, even despite the fact that the number of aircraft movements has increased considerably partly due to the phasing out of older, nosier aircraft. Noise and night flight: BAA promises no increase in overall noise levels or in night flights. The number of flights will be increased by 8%. (Source: http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-micro-cost-benefit-analysis.html) Objections are being raised against this project but those were not enough to refuse the planning permission. Conclusion CBA provides a rational technique for the evaluation of projects where market information is either non-existent or deficient. But it should not make false claims for objectivity by dealing in precise sums. However it is helpful for decision-making purposes, it is not an alternative for it. Further, CBA is potentially a useful aid towards planning decisions and it does not avoid the need to make value judgements in the evaluation of intangible arising from different projects. The overall conclusions are to be drawn from the assessment of costs and benefits. However, such value judgements are made clear in the evaluation decision making process.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Delegation Essay -- essays research papers

What is Delegation? Delegation is, the assignment of authority and responsibility to a subordinate at a lower level. (https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp) Basically what this definition means is if you are a Manager in your company, Delegation is the process in which you assign important task to other employees. In doing this process as a manager you must 1) Identify the task that is to be accomplished, 2) Choose the right employee to complete the assignment, 3) give complete and concise directions, 4) The next step is to monitor the progress of the assignment, check back with your employees to see how things are going and to make sure deadlines are being kept. 5) Provide feedback in order for your employees to complete the task. Effective Delegation Managing people effectively is one of the major challenges facing organizations today. Effective managers should be able to clearly define his/her role within an organization. Managers need to make appropriate decisions, delegate tasks, empower people, manage conflict well and LISTEN. Managers need to identify specific skills for being effective within the organization. In this paper I will cover what skills are necessary for effective delegation as a manager and how a manger can effectively delegate tasks. Delegation will always be one of the most important management skills - and one of the easiest to get wrong. Good delegation saves you time, develops you people, grooms a successor, and motivates. Too ...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

1776 Reading Review

Katie Cohen Ms. Kenny AP US History, Period 5 15 August 2012 Summer Reading Assignment David McCullough’s 1776 is an insightful and honest account of America’s first war; the Revolutionary war. In the book, David McCullough describes events and skirmishes that led up to the independence of the United States of America and the events that followed it. The book primarily focuses on the military aspects of the revolutionary war. The variety of firsthand account, quotes, and perspectives of both the Americans and the British make 1776 an extremely well crafted story made up of firsthand facts.To some 1776 may not be enjoyable or engaging, however, it is very precise and descriptive. David McCullough does an exceptional job of explaining the Independence of America in a way that does not bore the audience like most historical biographies do. Although it is clear from the beginning that David McCullough intentionally portrays America as the hero of the book, he allows the rea der to identify with the British and even the king of Britain at the time as well. Honest and unbiased accounts are given towards both the Americans as well as the British.Many candid and liberal accounts of the British and the Americans as put forward throughout the book. With much detail, David McCullough illustrates King George’s reaction to the rebellious American colonists as they begin to organize for freedom in the first chapter. He does not shed light on George Washington as a superior and more competent general than Howe. Both American and British forces are described in times of brilliance, luck, disappointment and shame. Not only is David McCullough unbiased, but he gives many in depth descriptions of his characters.The reader is able to become familiar with the characteristics, physical appearances, and biases of a majority of the characters. Joseph Reed is described as â€Å"a young man with a long jaw and a somewhat quizzical look in his eyes (44),† and J ames Grant, â€Å"a grossly fat, highly opinionated scot (71). † The descriptions of characters range from the British generals, to the American traitors. They make the book understandable and complex. Overall, 1776 is an enjoyable read, however, it could have focused more on he Declaration of Independence and the effects the war had on Great Britain. McCullough delivers the history as a story, while maintaining the attention of his audience. The usage of imagery is tremendous with few exceptions; all of the events were illustrated vividly. Quotes of the people who participated in the war are probably the most intriguing aspects of this book. I, personally, would recommend this book because it is intriguing and an easy way to learn essential information about the country in which we live in effectively.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

In the World of My Own Editing the Snatches of Peoples Lives

In the World of My Own Editing the Snatches of Peoples Lives The place where life is brighter than anywhere else, cinema proves that sometimes life without drama becomes incomplete. Like no other art, it can convey the most important ideas in the most unobtrusive way, helping the screenwriter to communicate the most essential ideas in a two-hour movie.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on In the World of My Own: Editing the Snatches of People’s Lives specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Rain Man by Barry Levinson is one of such pictures. Despite the difficulties concerning the fusion of a complicated plot with no less complicated process of shooting the film, the crew managed to create a film that incorporates the intriguing plot and the impeccable editing. Taking a closer look at the picture, one can see clearly that the movie creates a continuity that is interrupted only at specific moments to make the scene ever more intense and gripping. Split in several parts, the movi e still represents a whole that cannot be broken. Another aspect to consider is the rythmics of the movie. A long shot, then a shorter one, to be interrupted by a continuous episode through which the narrator conveys the peculiarities of each character. If considering each piece a cadence of sounds, the entire movie could be compared to a musical piece by Teleman or Vivaldi. Surprisingly, the film does not offer a variety of transitional effects. The one that the editors resorted most often to is the jump cut. However, such maneuver does not seem a drawback of the movie – on the contrary, it adds a certain tint of incompleteness and abruptness of the film. As a life switches its tunes from mellow ones into harsher and rougher melodies, the movie marks the end of each phase of the characters’ growth with these abrupt endings. Moreover, these transitions seem completely unnoticeable despite their sharpness. Perhaps, the flow of the plot does remind of the way life goes, which helps the spectator get ready for another turn of the plot. With help of these tiny transitions, each spectator can feel the enchanting rhythm of the movie – the rhythm of Rain Man. There is one more thing that deserves being discussed here. Considering the masterful match cuts in Rain Man, one can realize that without this trick, the movie would have lost half of its charm. Although there are only a few that create the specific atmosphere in the movie and switch the spectator’s attention to the necessary details, these several cuts produce intense effect.Advertising Looking for assessment on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More One of these is the episode when Raymond watches the matches falling on the floor. Since he is autistic, his eyes are rarely fixed on certain object, and this specific eye-line match cut emphasizes the importance of the moment, showing separately Raymond casting his sight right on the floor, and then the floor with the matches scattered on it. Filled with intense strain, this episode reveals certain peculiarities of Rain Man’s character. Another piece of the movie in which match cuts play the crucial part is the episode when Ray copies the pattern on the floor into a sheet of paper. Revealing the incredible abilities of Rain Man, the editor utilizes the method of graphic match cut. At the very beginning of the scene, the spectator can see Ray scribbling something on a snatch of paper. In several seconds, the paper fallen on the floor is the size of a painting, with the precise copy of the carpet pattern. The last, but not the least comes the match-on-action cut that also conveys peculiar ideas concerning the movie characters and their adventures. The shot in which Ray and his brother walk down the hall is interchanged with the picture of a highway, cars moving up and down it. This is one of those subtle hints on what a life actually is – a journey to the future, where the driver and the passenger hardly know each other. With help of each of these amazing shots, the editor provided spectators with a spectrum of unforgettable feelings. Watching the movie, one can notice that the laws of editing – at least, the Hollywood variant of this art – are somehow violated. Since it only adds the specific fleur of authenticity and genuineness to the film, there is no doubt that these rules have been neglected on purpose to create even greater impression. One of such is the scene of Charlie Babbit and his girlfriend, Susanna, quarreling. Although logically, the entire scene was supposed to be a master shot, it was often split, the camera swaying from one person to another, often capturing certain objects and leaving the characters out of its focus. Unlike the rest of the shots, this one does not create the impression of the movie integrity, which is extremely important. With help of this approach, the e ditor has managed to depict the scene when the worlds of the lead characters collapse – Susanne loses her faith in Charlie, whereas Charlie realizes that he is losing the last person he can rely on. Without this support, he will feel deprived of his own self, which is evident from the scene. With help of the numerous editing tricks and approaches, the creators of the movie managed to convey the very essence of the picture without exposing it to the whole wide world. Only watching the movie from the very beginning to the very end, one can feel the specific air of loneliness that the film is shot through.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on In the World of My Own: Editing the Snatches of People’s Lives specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There is no doubt that without these elements, the key issue of the film would have remained a mystery to the public. The sparkle of understanding and even sadness in Rain Man’s eyes is the perfect touch to a perfectly touching story of friendship and devotion.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Learning About Obesity Professor Ramos Blog

Learning About Obesity I vividly remember roaming the aisles of Costco with my mom when I was about eight or nine years old. I grabbed pizza rolls from the freezer and asked my mom if we could get them and she said sternly, â€Å"Honey I am not getting you those, they are so unhealthy. Do you see that overweight lady over there? Do you want to look like her when you’re older? I didn’t think so. Put them back†. I threw a fit because I didn’t seem to care at all that pizza rolls were unhealthy, they just tasted good. Realizing now, my mom was just trying to start healthy habits for me at a young age and I am happy that she did. I no longer have to worry about obesity and the diseases and struggles that may come along with it. Obesity is growing into more of a problem today than people realize. Unhealthy lifestyles are becoming so prevalent, and they are growing harder and harder to break. Obesity is a disease that is caused by unhealthy lifestyles or genetics and can be prevented and treated in various ways. According to Stanford Health Care, there are many ways that obesity can be prevented, and the primary way is by starting with the prevention in infants. For example, breastfeeding infants for a longer period of time can make them less likely to become obese when they grow old (Obesity Prevention par. 4). As the time of breastfeeding increases, the percentage of likeliness to become overweight as an adult marginally decreases. This is interesting because as a society, breastfeeding seems to be something that parents would like to stop sooner rather than later. Obesity seen in adolescents occurs primarily due to thoughtless eating habits and lack of exercise. These habits could have been passed down from their parents, who could also be providing them with unhealthy food. Genetics can also be a factor of obesity within the youth. More thought and effort would be needed by adolescents who are born with these genes to become a healthier weight than someone without the genetics that can g enerate obesity. The prevention of obesity within adults can be aided by putting more attention to improving eating habits and expanding physical ability in their everyday lives. There are many different factors that play a part in helping prevent obesity throughout a lifetime. â€Å"Obesity is a treatable disease that is a worldwide health concern associated with having an excess amount of body fat. It is caused by genetic and environmental factors and can be difficult to control through dieting alone. Obesity is diagnosed by a healthcare provider and is classified as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater† (What is Obesity? par. 8). Obesity is an epidemic and rates have gone up quite a lot in adults, even the extremes of obesity rates have gone up a little over 7 percent. According to â€Å"What is Obesity?†, having a BMI in the range of 25-29.9 is the beginning of a health concern (What is Obesity? par. 3). At this point, this is deemed as being overweight and changes should be made in one’s lifestyle such as dieting, physical activity, and producing better eating habits. Obesity is reached when a person’s BMI reaches an amount of 30.0-39.9. When one is considered obese, it is then classified as a disease and may als o lead to other problems in a person’s health. After the general obesity level when a certain BMI is reached, a more critical level can be reached, termed severe obesity. Severe obesity is someone who passes 100 pounds or over within their respective healthy body weight. A person with a BMI over 40 has an even higher chance of health difficulties in their lives and should seek help from a professional healthcare provider. There are many simple and complex causes of obesity in this day and age, but one of these factors include psychological stress. This stress could come from everyday life, along with different problems and concerns that people may encounter. Dealing with these issues can make a person successful on dealing with obesity in other ways (What is Obesity? par. 9). In some studies, sleep deprivation has shown correlation between the amount of sleep people get and how the lack of sleep has affected a person and their weight. Moreover, there is a higher chance of being overweight if one sleeps less than people who sleep a lot (Why People Become Overweight.) The media could be seen as a potential effect on a person’s thoughts and inner conscience. Ads by companies can persuade someone to partake in eating more unhealthy. These ads are being shown everywhere causing unhealthy food to be perceived as the best option by the most famous food chains on the planet, on advertisements, such as television and billboards. A more complex factor on obesity influence is the metabolic factor which is when â€Å"levels of ghrelin, a peptide hormone known to regulate appetite, and other peptides in the stomach, play a role in triggering hunger and giving you a feeling of fullness after eating.†(Obesity Causes.) There are ways that a person’s metabolism can be regulated and fixed to fit the specific person and their lifestyle but people need to just push to take that extra step. After remembering the story about my childhood and how the simplest things like wanting to eat some pizza rolls could affect me, it made it easier to be self aware about the things that should go into my stomach. Also making the physical activities that occur easier to take part in because of the knowledge that has been gained throughout a majority of my life, including being aware of what BMI is and what and how it affects the human body across everyone’s lives and the step on how to change at least one of the things that could help in bettering life and creating a body that is ideal to work towards. Annotated Bibliography Harvard Health Publishing. â€Å"Why People Become Overweight.† Harvard Health, Harvard Medical School, June 2009, health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/why-people-become-overweight. This article talks about why people become overweight and what the factors are. There are also mentionings about the environmental causes of obesity within people. I am approaching it because I want to explain why people become obese and what factors are involved in the process of being obese. This article has a disclaimer on their reliability and comes from an â€Å".edu† Harvard Medical School source. â€Å"Obesity Causes.† Stanford Health Care (SHC) Stanford Medical Center, stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/healthy-living/obesity/prevention.html. This article will explain how to prevent obesity in many different ways. Along with explaining how obesity will be prevented, it will discuss in detail how to prevent it within certain age groups. I am talking about this article because it goes along with my theme of informing the reader on helpful actions that could be taken if needed. This information comes from Stanford’s Health Care program. â€Å"Obesity Prevention.† Stanford Health Care (SHC) Stanford Medical Center, stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/healthy-living/obesity/prevention.html. This article will explain how to prevent obesity in many different ways. Along with explaining how obesity will be prevented, it will discuss in detail how to prevent it within certain age groups. I am talking about this article because it goes along with my theme of informing the reader on helpful actions that could be taken if needed. This information comes from Stanford’s Health Care program. â€Å"What Is Obesity?† Obesity Action Coalition, obesityaction.org/get-educated/understanding-your-weight-and-health/what-is-obesity/. This article covers what obesity is, and what it means in society. Covers what the causes of obesity can be and what obesity is not. I’m approaching this article because I want to inform what obesity is and how obesity is affecting people’s lives every day. There are many different links that are affiliated with this website with other reliable sources that could have a connection to this article. Birch, L L, and A K Ventura. â€Å"Preventing Childhood Obesity: What Works?† Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 13 Apr. 2009, nature.com/articles/ijo200922. This article is going to cover the specifics of childhood obesity. Starting with talking about when the rates of being overweight starts to go up a noticeable amount in North America regarding children. I am approaching this article to be able to inform the reader about where obesity starts and could be prevented easier, as children. This source is on Google Scholar so this is a scholarly source making it reliable.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

How to Get a Student Visa to the United States

How to Get a Student Visa to the United States Students who want to travel to the United States in order to study need to meet specific visa requirements. Other countries (UK, Canada, etc.) have different requirements that play an important role when deciding where to study English abroad. These student visa requirements may change from year to year. Types of Visas F-1 (student visa). The F-1 visa is for full-time students enrolled in an academic or language program. F-1 students may stay in the U.S. for the full length of their academic program, plus 60 days. F-1 students must maintain a full-time course load and complete their studies by the expiration date listed on the I-20 form. M-1 (student visa). The M-1 visa is for students who participate in vocational or other recognized nonacademic institutions, rather than language training programs. B (visitor visa). For short periods of study, such as a month at a language institute, a visitor visa (B) may be used. These courses do not count as credit toward a degree or academic certificate. Acceptance at a SEVP Approved School If you would like to study for a longer period of time, you must first apply and be accepted by a SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Progam) approved school. You can find out more about these schools at the Department of State Education USA website. After Acceptance Once you are accepted at  a SEVP-approved school, you will be enrolled in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) - which also requires the payment of  a  SEVIS  I-901 fee of $200  at least three days before submitting your application for a U.S. visa. The school to which you have been accepted will provide you with a form I-20 to present to the consular officer at your visa interview. Who Should Apply If your course of study is more than 18 hours a week, you will need a student visa. If you are going to the U.S. primarily for tourism, but want to take a short course of study of less than 18 hours per week, you may be able to do so on a visitor visa. Waiting Time   There are several steps when applying. These steps may differ, depending on which U.S. embassy or consulate you choose for your application. Generally speaking, there is a three-stage process for obtaining a U.S. student visa: 1) Obtain an interview appointment 2) Take the interview 3) Get processed Allow six months for the entire process. Financial Considerations Students are also expected to show financial means to support themselves during their stay. Students are sometimes allowed to work part-time at the school they are attending. Student Visa Requirements Acceptance by university or learning institutionKnowledge of English language (usually established through TOEFL scores)Proof of financial resourcesProof of non-immigrant intent For more detailed information visit the US State Departments F-1 information page Tips Double check requirements at the consulate or embassy near you before beginning the process.Find out which school you would like to attend and make sure that it is SEVP-approved.Apply to the school you would like to attend before applying for a visa.Pay the SEVIS I-901 fee well before your visa Interview. Source Your 5 Steps to U.S. Study. EducationUSA.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Marketing Planning and Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing Planning and Promotion - Essay Example Focus provides businesses with the main and unique selling proposition that enables marketing planning to target the prospective audience. According to Barney Jopson, recession affects mostly the middle tier businesses. Therefore, this paper will seek to examine critically the current value of middle market brand and provide carefully argued recommendations about how to improve their prospects (Jopson, 2011). During the financial crisis people in the west made changes in their shopping system. Some of them believed it was an emergency response to the prevailing hard economic times whereas others reacted due to anticipated fear of it. Financial institutions have been able to bounce back from difficult economic times however; people’s habits of shopping have not yet shown signs of complete reverse to the previous ways. As such, Jopson, in his article believes that this trend is causing the middle market fashion a big deal of difficulty to handle. Following the financial hard tim es, most of the American and European shoppers started directing most of their expenditure at the opposite side of the retail scale. This happened because, shoppers wanted to scavenge for the lowest-prices which were available on the other end of retailers. This meant that they were able to save adequately in order to go on with splashing out on the odd lavishness (Jopson, 2011). With this respect, Barney analyzed the current value of the middle market brand as undergoing hard financial times since, as elaborated in this paragraph; shoppers are spending much on lower retail spectrum thus depriving the middle brands of their market share. Having lost market to the lower retail spectrum, middle market brands continue to record figures of wilting sales due to the crude version of financial difficulties. Nevertheless, middle market brands have depicted one fine distinction in the past three years that this category has become curiously compelling zone for ultra-hip designers. They have been able to launch what they particularly call diffusion lines by shedding prejudices as well as inhibitions. As a result, they have made middle market brands more affordable, off the rack and wear products through their so-called diffusion. With reference to Barney’s literature, the president of Loeb Associates and a veteran retail consultant Walter Loeb puts across that middle market brands are doing bridging lines because of the fact that their prospective clientele is in a saving frame of mind and hiking prices is unreasonable. The analytical sense derived from this middle market practice is that these companies want to improve the underlying system of communicating with their customers. By so doing they stand to risk big time because they might end up diluting their core brand and shoppers may end up perceiving them as dumping down. Nonetheless, for the middle industry intellectuals, this move is comprehensively tacit since it is an alternative way of extracting new rev enue torrent out of the already established investment brand. By engaging in bridging lines, middle market brands are reaping benefits form the investments made while establishing and broadcasting the distinctiveness and fascination of this core brand. As a theoretical and practical method of improving customer relations, middle market brands are using influential broadcasting channels that are premiering attraction and appeal for this new core brand (Jopson, 2011).

Friday, October 18, 2019

Is biomedical model out of date Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Is biomedical model out of date - Essay Example It is based on 'the notion of the body as a machine, of disease as the consequence of breakdown of the machine, and of the doctor's task as repair of the machine.' (George Engel 1977). This approach has a serious shortcoming because by focusing on smaller parts of the body we lose the sight of patient as a human being. Also by considering health as proper functioning of organs, we are unable to deal with the phenomenon of healing as it is not only based on physical factors but on psychological factors of the human body. The concept of health and the concept of life are closely related. Around the globe, people follow different cultures and lifestyles. They are adapted to the different environment and slight change in the environment may lead to change in their health. Patterns of mortality and morbidity have changed shifting from a predominance of acute infectious diseases to a predominance of chronic and lifestyle-induced illness (US. Department of Health, Education and Welfare 1979 ). So here the ecological dimension is also considered while considering the concept of health. This contradicts the biomedical model.In the biomedical model, health is defined as the absence of disease. The World Health Organization defines health as ‘a dynamic state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. This clearly shows that the biomedical model fails to address the social and psychological issues and thus can be considered to be outdated.

Business Ethics, Invisble Hand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Ethics, Invisble Hand - Essay Example A business's biggest interest is profit maximization. All businesses, be it a small-scale or a large corporation or enterprise, seek to maximize their profitability as much as they can. After and in accordance to this, a firm aims to minimize costs. It is not hidden that when businesses attempt to achieve these aims, they crush many ethical values such as responsibility to the society in the form of, perhaps, pollution control guidelines. They leave, to the society, negative externalities only so that they can earn profits. Under such circumstances, you cannot expect a business to care for the environment or the people around them. True, that firms satisfy our material needs and this does lead to the general good. But in providing us with these services and goods, they will do whatever it takes to get to that level of profit maximization and cost minimization. I do not think that the 'invisible hand' furthers us to greater public welfare because firms forget all about ethics when it comes to power and profits. To support this, let's take the example of California's power market. The electricity industry was freed of regulations so that competition could be promoted and that the invisible hand could work. However, the opposite happened. They failed to provide the service; there were blackouts and prices were also very high. The sellers kept developing new ways of abusing the system until the State intervened (Shaw, W.H., 2004). My second argument is that with globalization taking its toll increasingly and hence, with competition growing immensely, it has become extremely important for firms to maintain and raise their positions in the global market. One would think that competition increases efficiency, along with which, prices are decreased. In any case, the customer, or the society as a whole, benefits. However, this is not usually the case. Globalization emphasizes on competition, true. But as a result it creates awareness in the society, gives customer choices, makes them powerful and hence, demanding. All this put together, puts great pressure on a firm operating in the free global market. Mostly, an average customer is not going to think of buying from a firm who is socially responsible and who has value for ethical guidelines and how it treats its employees or competitors. A customer would want to buy from a firm who provides the good or service, they don't care how, they just want the service. This leads to many businesses sacrificing their ethical values and moving towards the bigger motive of profit earning. Many businesses today in third world countries, especially, adhere to such unethical practices. An example of the water industry in Pakistan can be taken. Such filthy water is provided in the homes of people than many suffer from diseases such as hepatitis, yellow fever etc due to this. Conclusion In the end, it is important to note that not all firms yield to such unethical practices and not all situations demand such practices. Today, 'going green' is also a way of earning profits. However, the arguments presented above do take place and the society is exploited as a result. There are both sides to the pictures. It is only up to the business

Unit 23 Human Resources Development - Level 5 Human Resources Essay

Unit 23 Human Resources Development - Level 5 Human Resources Development - Essay Example 5). Activist includes learners who will try everything once - these learners are flexible as well as keen regarding latest things, and get involved with others with no trouble. Reflectors are those learners who examine and analyze all accessible information prior to taking any action - they think before arriving to any conclusion. According to Theorist style, a few individuals are learning by principles and models - they adopt methodical and rational approach towards problems. Pragmatist style includes individuals who make sensible decisions. Similarly, in Kolb’s learning model there are four key stages - â€Å"concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation† (Edwards et al, 2013, p. 8). According to Kolb, individuals are capable of thinking in a different manner and have different point of view, they utilize information as well as imagination to tackle problems. On the other hand, the Myers-Briggs model categorizes learners in accordance with their inclinations towards scales developed from â€Å"Carl Jungs theory of psychological forms† (Lloyd, 2012, p. 29). This model has four different sets of contradictory inclinations and it says that in every pair, learners are likely to favour one side over the other, and they are likely to utilize that side for the most part, because it comes very easily to them. The learning curve is an investigative tool that can be employed to assess the pace on which cumulative knowledge let employees to carry out tasks quicker as well as with a reduced amount of cost. Learning curve models are a key technique to get an estimate about the required time for starting future tasks. Transfer of learning to workplace is important because there is recognition that transfer is a central notion in learning and connects with both process as well as the end result. Whenever learning takes place, earlier learning is utilized as a foundation stone (Laprà © & Nembhard, 2011,

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Accounting Course Assignment ACCT205 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Accounting Course Assignment ACCT205 - Essay Example Users of financial information can look at a balance sheet at the end of each accounting period and know if the business has more or less value if the debts are higher or lower, and if the working capital is higher or lower. This can be easy if the balance sheet is properly prepared. By analyzing the balance sheet, users such as investors, creditors, taxation departments and shareholders can assess the ability of the organization to meet short-term obligations and solvency, as well as the ability of the organization to pay all current and long-term debts as they fall due. L. Jensen, (1997) indicates that the balance sheet also shows the relative proportions of debt and equity financing, the composition of assets and liabilities, and the amount of earnings that the company has had to retain as retained earnings. This information will be used by external parties such as investors, the government, creditors, debtors and others to help assess the company’s financial status in a specific financial year, which is required by both lending institutions and investors before they will allot any money toward business whether for lending or for investing.   A corporation is a business entity that is wholly owned by its  shareholders.  It often raises  equity capital  by selling shares of stock to investors. Equity is the main source of funds of a corporation. Equity capital is an ownership interest in the corporation and each share of stock represents a fractional interest in the issuing firm. Shareholders in a corporation make vital decisions such as electing directors, investment decisions and other major decisions. The management acts as stewards of the shareholders’ funds. It is of importance to note that equity capital is not a liability to be repaid at a future date but is usually added to the liabilities in the balance sheet. Business accounting guides.com

Comparing and contrasting the information presented by Glaze and Essay

Comparing and contrasting the information presented by Glaze and Forster - Essay Example They move from one grove section in the village to another and camp at groves, which become recognised as initiation posts. The forest can also be considered a grove. The Senufo people have a secret society of men called the Poro with the members called Colobele and one member called a Colo. This society has different age grades which have differing responsibilities. According to Forster, the minor age group consists of men aged 20 years (Forster, 1993). A more senior Poro tests the younger age grade by asking them â€Å"passwords† using the secret language of the society. The age group above the junior Poro also teaches the junior Poro the work they should do. In the farmer’s category, the junior Poro carry out tasks in the field where they are not allowed to speak to other members in the village. When comparing the two, Glaze (1986) mainly focuses on the ceremonial activities. She explains activities such as the initiation ceremony. As per her explanation, the junior Poro use their masks to story tell. This activity by Poro happens to be the only similarity in the activities between Glaze’s and Forster’s explanation. The Poro practice different activities in their daily routine. Some of these practises have a spiritual inclination, whereas others have a practical inclination. The activities described by Glaze have the spiritual inclination (Glaze, 1986). These revolve around rituals such as initiation, funerals and use of masquerades. Those described by Forster seek practical solutions such as food, making equipment and ornaments. Forster also goes on to describe spiritual activities such as dancing in the masks (Forster, 1993). The spiritual activities have ceremonies such as initiation whereby procedures with a symbolic meaning occur. For the practical procedures, goals such as obtaining food, making equipment and ornaments happen to be the main objective. The Senufo people have various forms

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Unit 23 Human Resources Development - Level 5 Human Resources Essay

Unit 23 Human Resources Development - Level 5 Human Resources Development - Essay Example 5). Activist includes learners who will try everything once - these learners are flexible as well as keen regarding latest things, and get involved with others with no trouble. Reflectors are those learners who examine and analyze all accessible information prior to taking any action - they think before arriving to any conclusion. According to Theorist style, a few individuals are learning by principles and models - they adopt methodical and rational approach towards problems. Pragmatist style includes individuals who make sensible decisions. Similarly, in Kolb’s learning model there are four key stages - â€Å"concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation† (Edwards et al, 2013, p. 8). According to Kolb, individuals are capable of thinking in a different manner and have different point of view, they utilize information as well as imagination to tackle problems. On the other hand, the Myers-Briggs model categorizes learners in accordance with their inclinations towards scales developed from â€Å"Carl Jungs theory of psychological forms† (Lloyd, 2012, p. 29). This model has four different sets of contradictory inclinations and it says that in every pair, learners are likely to favour one side over the other, and they are likely to utilize that side for the most part, because it comes very easily to them. The learning curve is an investigative tool that can be employed to assess the pace on which cumulative knowledge let employees to carry out tasks quicker as well as with a reduced amount of cost. Learning curve models are a key technique to get an estimate about the required time for starting future tasks. Transfer of learning to workplace is important because there is recognition that transfer is a central notion in learning and connects with both process as well as the end result. Whenever learning takes place, earlier learning is utilized as a foundation stone (Laprà © & Nembhard, 2011,

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Comparing and contrasting the information presented by Glaze and Essay

Comparing and contrasting the information presented by Glaze and Forster - Essay Example They move from one grove section in the village to another and camp at groves, which become recognised as initiation posts. The forest can also be considered a grove. The Senufo people have a secret society of men called the Poro with the members called Colobele and one member called a Colo. This society has different age grades which have differing responsibilities. According to Forster, the minor age group consists of men aged 20 years (Forster, 1993). A more senior Poro tests the younger age grade by asking them â€Å"passwords† using the secret language of the society. The age group above the junior Poro also teaches the junior Poro the work they should do. In the farmer’s category, the junior Poro carry out tasks in the field where they are not allowed to speak to other members in the village. When comparing the two, Glaze (1986) mainly focuses on the ceremonial activities. She explains activities such as the initiation ceremony. As per her explanation, the junior Poro use their masks to story tell. This activity by Poro happens to be the only similarity in the activities between Glaze’s and Forster’s explanation. The Poro practice different activities in their daily routine. Some of these practises have a spiritual inclination, whereas others have a practical inclination. The activities described by Glaze have the spiritual inclination (Glaze, 1986). These revolve around rituals such as initiation, funerals and use of masquerades. Those described by Forster seek practical solutions such as food, making equipment and ornaments. Forster also goes on to describe spiritual activities such as dancing in the masks (Forster, 1993). The spiritual activities have ceremonies such as initiation whereby procedures with a symbolic meaning occur. For the practical procedures, goals such as obtaining food, making equipment and ornaments happen to be the main objective. The Senufo people have various forms

My professional and academic goals related to wardens school of nursing Essay Example for Free

My professional and academic goals related to wardens school of nursing Essay My Professional and Academic Goals related to Waldens School of Nursing Perspectives I have been a nurse for 14 years, mostly in the Emergency Department, and have become aware of the growing population and the need for Family Nurse Practitioners (FNP’s). According to Walden’s University Catalog (DEC. 2013a), FNP’s are defined as â€Å"advanced practice registered nurses with the knowledge and skills to assess and manage health issues in patients of all age groups, from birth through senior years. † My goal as a FNP is to provide advanced health care with a holistic approach including: disease prevention, health maintenance, health promotion, restorative care, and a positive social change. I have chosen Walden University through high recommendations from my colleagues. They have enlightened me on the positive impact Walden School of Nursing has made in their personal and professional careers. Walden’s vision and mission statement reinforced my decision to become a part of the Walden Family Nurse Practitioner School of Nursing. According to Walden University Catalog (DEC. 2013b) their vision is focused on a distinctive different 21st –century learning community that provides immediate solutions of critical societal challenges and advancing global good. My vision agrees that healthcare professionals need to focus on advanced 21st century technology and the societal challenges that arise and promote a positive social change. Walden University Catalog (DEC.2013b) defines positive social change â€Å"as a deliberate process of creating and applying ideas, strategies, and actions to promote the worth, dignity, and development of individuals, communities, organizations, institutions, cultures, and societies. Positive social change results in the improvement of human and social conditions. † I plan to implement social change with the knowledge and education that the Walden School of Nursing provides while supporting and recognizing the many cultures in the community.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Time Value Analysis And The Attractiveness Of Alternative Investments Finance Essay

Time Value Analysis And The Attractiveness Of Alternative Investments Finance Essay Time value analysis The time value analysis can provide the healthcare manager with the necessary information to make important decisions concerning financial strategies. The calculations of future cash flows at specific times are used to determine the attractiveness of alternative investments. The major limitation of the time value analysis is that a small change in cash flow may result in a distorted assessment of a potential investment. Incremental cash flows should be estimated with great care to consider only those that could change if a project or investment is accepted. The time value analysis of the Pensacola Surgery Centers will explore the companys investment opportunities. The company has $50,000 in cash to invest in marketable securities. The option to invest in a bank certificate of deposit (CD) that return interest after 6 months to five years. The earned interest would be reinvested at its maturity date. The future value of a one year CD that pays 10 percent annual interest will total $55,000 at maturity (Table 1). The future value of a one year CD that pays 5 percent or 15 percent will total $52,500 and 57,500 respectively. The other considerations are the banks procedure of compounding the interest. The BankSouth offers a one year CD at 10 percent interest that is compounded semi-annually. This effective annual rate of 10.25 percent will yield a higher total of $55,125 that the annual CD. The Bank of America offers a 10 percent Certificate of Deposit (CD) $50,0000 Investment 10% Annual Interest 10% Semi-Annual Interest (10.25% effective) 10% Daily Interest (10.52% effective) 1-Year CD $55,000.00 $55,125.00 $55,257.79 5-Year CD $80,525.50 $81,444.73 $82,430.42 Table 1: Certificate of Deposit Summary. CD that compounds daily. This results in a higher yield of $55,258 with an effective annual rate of 10.52 percent. The BankSouth will likely offer a competitive rate on its semi-annual compounding CD of 10.3 percent to yield a total of $55,283. The effective annual rate becomes 10.57 percent. The Pensacola Surgery Centers can place $50,000 cash in a five year CD, and have the potential to significantly increase the earned interest. This will not allow other investments to utilize these funds during this five year period. The five year CD with interest compounded annually yields $80,525. The semi-annual interest CD totals $81,144.73, and the daily interest CD yields $82.430. The surgery clinic has the financial goal of having $200,000 available for the purchase of a patient billing system in five years. If the clinic invested a lump sum in a one year CD with 10 percent annual interest, it would need to deposit $124,184.26 today. Another choice would require the deposit of $100,000 in a five year CD with an annual 15 percent interest to result in the necessary $200,000 in funds. The Pensacola Surgery Center may consider the option of an ordinary annuity to build the funds necessary for the computer application. The ability to make yearly payments to the account rather than an initial lump sum will decrease the amount of cash flow deterred from other investment opportunities. If five annual payments of $32,000 are paid at the end of each year, the present value result is $121,305 with an annual opportunity cost of 10 percent. The increase to $138,543 will result if the interest is compounded semi-annually. The future value of the annuity that pays 10 percent interest annually is $195,363, and decreased to $176,820 if compounded semi-annually. The annual interest necessary to accumulate the necessary $200,000, by making the $32,000 yearly payments, is 11 percent. Alternatively, the annual payment of $32,759.50 with 10 percent interest is needed to reach the $200,000 in funds. If the payments are changed to $16,000 every six months, starting six months from tod ay, the future value would total $254,999 with 10 percent annual interest (Table 2). The future value of the payments with 10 percent interest compounded semi-annually yields $201,246. The $16,000 semi-annual payment schedule will accumulate the necessary funds for the capital expenditure. Annuities $16,000 Semi-Annual Payments Future Value 10 % Annual Interest Future Value 10% Semi-Annual Interest Ordinary Annuity $254,998.79 $201,246.28 Annuity Due $280,498.67 $211,308.59 Table 2: Future Value of Annuities Summary. The annuity due type is when the payments are made at the beginning of the period. This type of annuity will result in the maturity one period past the final payment. The present value of the same five annual $32,000 payments will yield $133,436 with an opportunity cost of 10 percent annually. The utilization of a 10 percent semi-annual interest rate will result in $145,470. The future value of the annuity if 10 percent annual interest is paid yields $214,899, and with 10 percent semi-annually the result is decreased to $185,661. The annual interest rate of 8 percent is needed to accumulate the required $200,000 funds with the yearly $32,000 payments. The reduced yearly payment of $29,781 is needed for an annuity with a 10 percent annual rate. The change of the payments to $16,000 every six months results in $280,499 in an annuity that compounds at 10 percent annually. This is decreased to $211,309 if the 10 percent interest is semi-annual. The annuity due with semi-annual payments r esults in a greater accumulation of funds necessary for the computer billing upgrade. The Pensacola Surgery Centers would like to lease out extra space at one location for the term of five years. This venture will cost an estimated $40,000 in initial renovations. The net present value (NPV) of the estimated lease cash flow totals $58,618 (Table 3). The future value of the five year lease cash flow is expected to total $76,223 when invested at 10 percent annually. The present value of this total yields only $47,329 (difference of $11,289) when compared to the NPV calculated initially. The inconsistency of the time value analysis is due to the incremental changes that may become magnified with end results. The manager must use reasonable judgment when interpreting these calculated results. End of Year Net Cash Flow 1 $12,000 2 $14,000 3 $ 2,000 4 $16,000 5 $20,000 Table 3: Estimated Lease Cash Flow The further analysis of the lease will determine the dollar return on the investment and include the cost of the renovations. The return on investment (ROI) of the lease cash flow and the renovations total $39,390. The percentage rate of return utilizes the internal rate of return (IRR) calculation. The expected rate of return is 16 percent which exceeds the 10 percent opportunity cost by 6 percent. The ROI calculations support the clinics financial investment in the lease agreement. The contingency plan if the clinic is unable to accumulate the $200,000 necessary for the computer improvements will require them to borrow the funds. The loan will require yearly payments of $63,094.16 for four years at 10 percent interest (Table 4). The total interest plus principal paid at the end of the loan is $252,376.64. The business will be able to deduct the yearly interest payments on their income taxes for a total of $52,376.64. $200,000 Loan Year Payment Interest Repayment of Principle 1 $ 63,094.16 $20,000.00 $ 43,094.16 2 $ 63,094.16 $15,690.58 $ 47,403.58 3 $ 63,094.16 $10,950.23 $ 52,143.93 4 $ 63,094.16 $ 5,735.83 $ 57,358.33 Total $252,376.64 $52,376.64 $200,000.00 Table 4: Loan Amortization Schedule The utilization of time value analysis aids in the financial decision making processes of the businesss investment management. The calculations attempt to represent the opportunity cost of these potential investments. The discount rate used to conduct the analysis should reflect the risk associated with the investment and the risk of the organization. Good decisions are based on the understanding of the businesss financial strategies, and the appropriateness of the analysis to these objectives. The post completion review of investment decisions should be conduct to assess the processes and results.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Rise in Political Power of 17th Century England and France :: European Europe History

The Rise in Political Power of 17th Century England and France In the seventeenth century, the political power of the Parliament in England, and the Monarchy in France increased greatly. These conditions were inspired by three major changes: the aftermath of the reformation, the need for an increased governmental financing, and the reorganizing of central governments. These three points were each resolved in a different way in both England and in France. The first major point which eventually increased political power was the aftermath of the Protestant reformation. In England, after the establishment of the separate Anglican church of England there were many protestant groups left in England still in conflict. These groups all tried to push and pull parliament in their favor -- which ultimately made it so that nothing could be done. These conflicts even came to the point of bloody civil wars and suffering on both sides of the fighting. Parliament ultimately decided to stop these wars by creating religious Act of Toleration (1689) for the non-conformist protestants. For many people, this caused more unity in England and increased power. In France, the decision was made to unify the country through the establishment of a single religious authority, the Catholic Church. The king of France became the heart of this policy, which gave him control of religion when this went into effect. The next major point was the increase in need for governmental financing. In England, taxing had become under the control of Parliament. In addition to this, the cost of running a government in general had gone up and the country needed more money. Because the king didn't have as much power to tax as he pleases, the government could make a firm and accurate taxation of the people. In France, the price of government had also gone up. However, here the was a monarchy and a king with great control over the government. Using his control of the economy, a strong "Mercantilism" system was used aimed at maximizing foreign exports and reserves. The king became the center of this new power. The last major point which increased political power was the reorganizing of the central governments in both England and in France. The economic changes in this century required new relationships between the King and his subjects. In England, the parliament because of this need, grew to have power over the king and cause great toleration of people's

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Image Is Everything Essay -- Character Analysis,The Buchanan, Gatsby

Have we come to a point in time where image is everything? Where it depends on what one wears to show that they belong to a certain class or to prove how much money they have. People are wearing name brand clothing, driving expensive cars and living in mansions just so they can show off their money. Could they do the same for less? Sure they could, but then no one would see them as high class people if they dressed like commoners, drove cheaper vehicles and lived in regular houses. This has been the case for centuries. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's work â€Å"The Great Gatsby†, characters are suffering from this very thing. The Buchanan's and Gatsby are the higher class people who flaunt their money, while the Wilson's are of a lower class and function the same way for less. Dress is an important feature of all human societies. In addition to providing protection and warmth, dress serves many other purposes. Most of them having to do with communicating our identity to others. According to fashion expert Kadence Buchanan, â€Å"But human clothes have over the years evolved into a symbol itself.† (1). What we wear shows who we are. In chapter 7 of Fitzgerald's novel, Daisy tells Gatsby, â€Å"You always look so cool... You resemble the advertisement of the man,' she went on innocently, 'You know the advertisement of the man-† (94-95). Back in the 1920's there was a man on posters who was clean cut, good looking and sharply dressed. Known as the Arrow Collar Man. This is who Daisy was referring Gatsby to. Resemblance between the Arrow Collar Man and Gatsby is strengthened by Nick Carraway's descriptions of Gatsby: â€Å"His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed everyd... ...suit for his wedding (30), and he sees a bright new future out West in the form of Tom's coupe. Both Wilson and Gatsby are indifferent to commodities per se, but they make the mistake of seeking material possessions rather than themselves as the best means for attracting and keeping their women. Having money and wealth is not all its cracked up to be. One shouldn't have to buy fancy cars and name brand clothing and seek other things to make them happy when they are bored with what they have. You can take the regular person wearing regular clothes and driving a used car and he can do the same thing as the rich person driving the Jaguar and wearing Armani suits. Its not the luxury items that make a person, but the person that makes themselves. A person who knows what they want and how to get it and who works for it is far more valuable than any Armani suit.

Friday, October 11, 2019

How does Jane Austen portray pride in the novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’?

For my English coursework I have decided to consider the question: How has Jane Austen portray pride in the novel Pride and Prejudice? This question asks about mostly characters and their self-respect, dignity and pride there are many different meanings of pride here are a few: 1. Inordinate self-esteem, unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority. 2. Insolence, arrogance. 3. Sense of dignity, self-respect and proper self-esteem. 4. Generous elation or satisfaction arising out of some accomplishment, possession or relationship. 5. A source of such elation. 6. The acme, the highest point, the best condition. I will approach this question by going through, firstly the characters with types of positive and negative pride and then the characters with comic and changing pride. Pride can be classed as a positive concept. A positive form of pride in Jane Austen's novel would, I think be Lizzy. Lizzy is very proud of her family despite how sometimes they might embarrass her. For example, the way Lydia and Catherine act when there out at dinner. â€Å"Catherine and Lydia had been fortunate enough to never be without partners, which was all they had yet learned to care for at a ball†. This would suggest how flirtatious Lydia and Catherine are. Another quotation to suggest this would be: â€Å"I am astonished that you should be so ready to think your own children are silly†. This is written in Caroline Bingley's letter to Mr Bennet. A second example of this is the way Mrs Bennet talks to Mr Darcy, because of holding a grudge against him when he first arrived at Longbourn (Darcy would dance with no-one but the Bingley sisters, either because the weren't pretty enough or of a lower class). â€Å"You know how I detested it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner† My last example would be when Lydia ran off with Wickham. This is the stage in the story where the Bennets have realised what Wickham's really like and about his sinister character. Lizzy also never looks down on anyone and I think she may believe in equality. Being headstrong and sometimes quite arrogant may let Lizzy down a little, but Lizzy speaks her mind and the way she feels when confronted or confronting showing her pride in her family and friends. For example when Collins proposed to Lizzy, she would none of it and turned him down three times. When telling her that no one else would take pleasure in engaging with her she stood strong and said she had never been treated in such an abominable, rude and UN-gentlemen-like manor. An example of Lizzy speaking her mind, When she turned Collins proposal down the first time, as it was fashionable to turn the first proposal down, but the second or third should've been accepted. This displayed how much Lizzy detests Collins. I think Liz zy was quite prejudice though. At the beginning of the novel she judges Darcy on his pride because Wickham tells her of how sinister Darcy is to try and win Lizzy's love. ‘ If late Mr Darcy had liked me less, His son might have borne me with better; but his fathers uncommon attachment to me irritated him early in life†. This is one of Wickhams lies that Lizzy sadly fell for. Wickham is trying to say that Darcys' father paid more attention to him than Darcy. Darcy then got jealous and started disliking Wickham. Lizzy's empathetic reply to this was: â€Å"I had not thought Mr Darcy so bad as this†. As Lizzy falls gullibly she expresses her feelings for Wickham. While Wickham smugly smiles at his attempt to poison Lizzy. When Lizzy realises she has judged wrong, she fiercely chastises herself for misjudging Darcy. â€Å"Infact my feelings are quite the opposite† This is what Lizzy says on Darcy's second proposal. Jane Bennet portrays positive pride in the way she looks e.g. the posture and the structure in the way she sits, stands and walks. She also shows great pride in her mother and some in the rest of her family. Jane's pride in the way she looks is strongly criticised when Mr Bingley disengages from her. This would make Jane feel very degraded. Jane is very sad about Mr Bingley leaving her, when she hears news of his return her face lights up and her pride is given back to her. This is because she knows he is coming back to see her. Mr Bennet has a lot of pride in Lizzy as he thinks she is the brightest one of his daughters. He stands by Lizzy in all she does. â€Å"We all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man, but this would be nothing if you really liked him†. This is what Mr Bennet has learned that Lizzy has accepted Darcys' second proposal. Mr Darcy was determined to not make himself look daft/pathetic again he makes sure that Lizzy is not leading him on before he properly proposes: â€Å"I could not have addressed you in any possible way that Would induce you to accept me. So tell me if your feelings Are as they were before†. Georgina on the other hand is very proud of her brother and the way she has been brought up. She obviously shows pride in her family and in all she does. I think Georgina looks up to her brother (Darcy) and respects him greatly in all he does. The negative version of pride appears in this novel quite often. A lot of it appears in conversations between the Bingley sisters. The Bingley sisters are some of the most prejudice people throughout this book. They think they are a step above the rest and only have friends with ‘money'. They think that all women should be elegant females and learn to play at least one instrument, sew and act lady like (basically to be accomplished). â€Å"Women are inclined to learn to play at least one instrument fluently† It shows us this when Lizzy dashes half way across the countryside by foot to visit her sick sister. The greeting she gets is an unimpressed one and they are dicusted in her unladylike exertion. â€Å"Yes and her petticoat; I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud, and the gown which had been let down to hide it, not doing its office†. The Bingley sisters are proud in every thing they do and given chance to talk about themselves would claim to be the best (or ‘one of'). Their clothes they wear in the video portray their class in society and they are very arrogant, self-worrying people. Lady Catherine de Burgh is also another example of being very prejudiced or if not, the most prejudiced in the book. There isn't a lot of Lady Catherine in the story until the end, but all the way throughout there are refers to her and her strong influences she has on people i.e. Mr Collins. â€Å"Lady Catherine said I should marry as I am a clergyman† Lady Catherine has a lot of pride, mostly in herself but some in her daughter. Lady Catherine is also extremely arrogant and does not like things when they don't go her way. E.g. when Lady Catherine heard news of Darcy wanting to propose to Lizzy again, she storms up to Longbourn by horse and carriage to declare that Lizzy refuses his offer as Darcy is engaged to be with Lady Catherine's daughter. Lizzy standing up for her rights bites back at Lady Catherine and makes no such promise to say no to Darcy. She ends up doing quite the opposite and accepting his offer. In the beginning of the novel Darcy is a very proud, arrogant and upper, top class person (so he seems to think). An early start became a bad start when he went to the first dinner and saw Lizzy. Darcy portray his arrogance by dancing with Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley. Only Mr Bingley saw Darcy and tried to make him dance with Lizzy, but he said: â€Å"She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me†. Comic Pride is a rare pride in this novel and can be seen in at least two of the characters. The first Character it occurs in is Mr Collins he has so much self-love he could make Lady Catherine vomit! Mr Collins shows his smugness in almost everything he does. When asking for Lizzy's hand in marriage, thinking that she couldn't turn him down financially or because its not something an 18th century woman would do. This refers to meaning 5 on the first page. Mr Collins also had the audacity to say that Lizzy would be daft to say no, as no one else would want to marry her because of her finances. â€Å"You should take it to farther consideration that inspite of your manifold attractions, it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may never be made of you†. Collins is funny in the way he moves and acts I would describe him as behind the time (old fashioned). He shows huge respect for Lady Catherine by doing everything she tells him to do. E.g. She said he should get a wife and settle down. So he obeyed her and went to ask for Lizzys hand in marriage. The other example of comic pride would be Mrs Bennet. She always claims she's right and I think she's two faced. One minute she will say that Mr Bingley is an arrogant, self-centred person for dumping Jane, and when news travels he's coming to visit shes really nice to him. E.g. She creeps round him asking how his journey was and how was he. She claims she's always right by, for example when Lydia ran off she said she would never come back she's been kidnapped. When she heard Lydia was coming back married she said she always knew she'd come back. Both these characters are humorous in the novel and the video, but do get quite annoying. Changing Pride also happened only once or twice in this novel. The first person it happens to is Lizzy as her pride changed when she realised she'd thought wrong of Darcy. At first she saw him as rude and arrogant but by the end she saw that she really loved him. She learned to see through all his arrogance and self-centredness and saw the polite and pleasant Darcy. This changed her views on Darcy and gave her reason to accept his proposal second time round. Darcy the mostly changed character. He has fallen for Lizzy and realises he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. At the start or the book Darcy could've been described as arrogant, self-centred/confident man I think Lizzy's influences changed Darcy's pride and he started looking at people for what they were and not what they looked like. She did this by making him realise what's she was like deep down and not what she looked like on the outside or of her family name. The Pride in this novel is what I think keeps the story going, it makes it a lot more exciting to read. All four of these prides mixed in to one and written in the most interesting ways stops you from wanting to put this book down.