Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Elder Abuse and Neglect: Trends and Implications Essay

Considering the growing number of elder population in the world, and more specifically in the US, the reality of elder abuse or mistreatment has increasingly become a cause of concern specially for the health sector. Political and social forums have lent a stage for policy debates related to elder abuse. Though statistics show that elder abuse is common in many households and health care facilities, it is still considered as an underreported type of family violence. The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization define elder abuse as â€Å"a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action occurring within a relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person† (as cited by Perel-Levin, 2005). Abuse of elderly people occurs in several ways, and often the types of abuse overlap with one another. The five commonly identified categories of elder abuse are physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, financial or material abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. (Bergeron, 2005; Dyer and Rowe, 1999; Kingston & Penhale, 1995; Perel-Levin, 2005). Elder abuse is a violation of human rights Perel-Levin (2005) and it constitutes potentially serious health and social problems (Kingston & Penhale, 1995). Perel-Levin (2005) assert that because of the speed of population ageing worldwide, elder abuse will also increase unless interventions are done to address it. A study made by the National Center for Elder revealed that 1996 saw more than 500,000 victims of elder abuse in America and that the great majority (84%) were not reported. This implies that there are several millions of elder abuse victims who continue to suffer in silence and without due recourse or help from authorities (NCEA, 1996). In the UK, at least half a million older persons are abused each year, yet it is believed that most such abuse remains unreported because its victims are too frightened, ashamed or embarrassed to come forward (Department of Health, 2007; as cited in Cronin, 2007). Health professionals as well as researchers agree that elder abuse and neglect often take place in the context of illness and caretaking issues (Bergeron, 2005). It is ironic because these facilities should instead safeguard the welfare and well-being of patients and wards instead of condoning abuse and neglect or turning a blind eye. It is commonly believed that the risk factors for elder abuse are present caretaking facilities that are tasked to safeguard the welfare of the elders. These settings include home health care, mental health clinics, emergency departments, and acute settings, as well as in long-term institutional care (Bergeron, 2005). These contentions support the critical argument of this paper that the reality of elder abuse and its still blurred status in institutional policy orientations augurs many pejoratives and adverse implications for older adults particularly those residing in nursing facilities. A victim of elder abuse would most likely suffer from worsening health condition which could very well adversely affect his social relationships, mental health and life endeavours. Trends Various sectors of the society have taken the cudgel to win the battle against elder abuse, mistreatment and neglect. Heading the cry for eradication of the problem is the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) which is under the auspices of the US Administration for Aging. It is working closely with many other advocates. NCEA is composed of a consortium of professionals and experts from various disciplines, most of them being researchers, practitioners and educators (NCEA website). Addressing the elder abuse dilemma has also been pacing up at the World Health Organization and has commissioned researches to gather information about the problem for it to come up with working solutions and interventions on a global scale. The mandate of the NCEA gives an overview of the efforts of practitioners and advocates to solve the problem on elder abuse and to promote the dignity of elder persons. Elder abuse is studied and dissected in many aspects focusing on 1) causes and risk factors, 2) prevalence and incidence of elder abuse in various contexts (e. g. , the home and health care facilities), 3) clinical screening and abuse identification, 4) evaluation of risk assessment tools and elder abuse instruments, and 5) prevention and treatment protocols with emphasis on evidence-based practice, among others (NCEA website). In a research partly sponsored by the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education and the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, it is asserted that family violence which includes child abuse, partnership violence and elder mistreatment has become a â€Å"major social, health and law enforcement issue† as it continues to impact on policy directions as well as strain the capability of law enforcement agencies, judicial bodies, social service agencies, and health care centers (Chalk & King, 1998). Elder abuse and neglect issues have been taken in political agenda. In a remarkable eye-opening testimony by Catherine Hawes (Professor and Director of the Southwest Rural Health Research Center at the School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center), she confirmed to the US Senate that indeed elder abuse is a sad reality in residential long-term care settings. The gist of her testimony contends that patients in such residential facilities are very vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse, that the problem elder abuse and neglect are caused by â€Å"low staffing levels and inadequate staff training†, that evidence suggests to the effectiveness of existing guidelines and practices to minimize the problem in residential facilities, and that the elder abuse problem in such settings have not been given the right attention (Hawes, 2002). Elder abuse and neglect has also become a critical issue in the fields of criminology and law enforcement. The number of elder abuse related studies in the field of criminal justice have escalated. A project conducted by the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging, with the assistance of the University of California , Irvine School of Medicine by virtue of a grant made by the National Institute of Justice, highlights several recommendations relating to medical forensic issues on elder abuse were presented and which may be used as a guide in research and policy endeavors of other practitioners. In another research, Blake & Dolon (2006) gives a comprehensive and methodical approach to the abuse and neglect issue that will be of great use to the criminal justice system and the social services sector, among others. Practical examples and situations are given to illustrate their concepts and to describe proposed interventions in the legal context (e. g. , establishment of guardianship), for the health sector (e. g. , diagnosis and treatment), and in the social services sector (e. g. , home care or counselling). Forensic studies also provide guidance in conducting research-based forensic interviews. One such study is that Cooper and King (2006), which set up clear interview guidelines in aid of forensic investigation of an offender who committed sexual assault against an elderly. An evaluation of the criminal justice response to elder abuse in nursing homes was conducted by Payne & Gainey (2006). Analyzing 801 cases of elder abuse in nursing homes revealed that physical assault is the most common form of abuse and that work stress contributes to elder abuse incidence. The researchers suggest that preventative measures should be implemented forthwith in nursing homes. Implications The health and medical sciences as well as occupational science are linked together because they focus on the health and well-being of human beings. Implications of elder abuse to the health sector come from different perspectives, but the essence of occupational science and justice are mostly integrated in these perspectives. For health care providers, they are not only in an ideal position to engage in early identification, support and referral of persons experiencing elder abuse but should also recognize and accept it as their responsibility to address the risks of elder abuse (Kingston & Penhale, 1995). However, Fulmer, et al (2004) say that the health care sector experience difficulty fulfilling these roles. Citing several studies, it was asserted that elder abuse treatment attitudes among nurses with older patients tend to be negative (McLafferty & Morrison, 2004) and that ignorance in hospitals of the problem of elder abuse is characteristic of the situation in general (Cohen, et al, 2006). Richardson, et al; (2002) found that at baseline, staff often do not recognize, record and report abuse. Still, Nahmiash and Reis (2000) found in their study that the most accepted and successful strategies for abused older adults are concrete: nursing and other medical care and homemaking assistance, thus health professionals, especially nurses, are likely to be among those accepted by abused adults. Accident and emergency departments are often the first point of contact for an abused older person (Dyer & Rowe, 1999). Notwithstanding the problems in recognising abuse and the complexities of dealing with older people, emergency nurses need not prove or disprove it is present; it is their responsibility though to act if they suspect it (Cronin, 2007) and they should not be afraid to seek help if they are suspicious of abuse, lest they fall short of their responsibility. (Dyer and Rowe, 1999). For the occupational therapist, an acute understanding of elder abuse and its symptoms could help him screen and identify elder abuse, refer incidence to authorities or to enhance therapeutic protocols to restore health and well-being of an abused elder. Knowledge of the experiences of an elderly patient will give the practitioner valuable insights on the patient’s physical state and mental condition and which will help the patient-therapist partnership in designing and implementing therapeutic programs. Conclusion The sad reality of elder abuse stares us into the face and we can’t help but stare back in terror and fear. The face of an old person with beaten black and blue or a disposition that showed the heartbreaking misery of being attacked or robbed by one’s own family are indeed not only poignant pictures but terrifying as well. Imagine millions of faces like these. It would be a terrible world to live in. As already underscored earlier, elder abuse is underreported. Even as statistics show that millions of abuse cases have been reported, there are millions more who are hidden and kept secret. The reported statistics is just the tip of the iceberg. As also discussed, elder abuse is committed in residential facilities by no less than the health professionals who are supposed to be the protectors of their health and well-being. This is a cause of panic. This is an issue that should not escape the judicious eyes and ears of law and government. Occupational science could contribute so much in policy-making as well as designing protocols to prevent or treat elder abuse. References Bergeron, L. R. (2005). Elder abuse: Clinical assessment and obligation to report. In K. A. Kendall-Tackett (Ed. ), Health consequences of abuse in the family: A clinical guide for evidence based practice.. Washington DC: American Psychological Association. pp. 109-128. Blakely, B. & Dolon, R. (2006). Elder mistreatment (from Crisis Intervention in Criminal Justice/Social Service). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher Ltd. Chalk, R. and King, PA, eds. (1998). Violence in families: Assessing prevention and treatment programs.. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Cohen, M. , et al. (2006). Risk of abuse by their caregivers: development of a screening tool for identifying elderly people at risk of abuse by their caregivers. The Journal of Aging and Health. Retrieved Sept 25 2008 from ttp://jah. sagepub. com/cgi/content/abstract/18/5/660 Cronin, G. (2007). Elder abuse: the same old story? Emergency Nurse. Vol 15, No 3 June 2007. Dyer, C. & Rowe, J. 1999. Elder abuse. Trauma 1999; 1: 163-169 Arnold Publishers Fulmer, T. (2004). Progress in elder abuse screening and assessment instruments. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Vol 52, No 2. Retrieved January 10, 2009 from http://www. hartfordign. org/publications/trythis/issue15. pdf. Fulmer, T. , Paveza, G. , Abraham, I. , & Fairchild, S. (2000). Elder neglect assessment in the emergency department. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 26, 436-443. Hawes, Catherine. (2002). Elder abuse in residential long-term care facilities: What is known about prevalence, causes, and prevention. Testimony before the U. S. Senate Committee on Finance, June 18, 2002. Retrieved April 13, 2009 from http://finance. senate. gov/hearings/testimony/061802chtest. pdf.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

History About Death

Death, the inevitable aspect of life. Many think that death is a portal to another realm, others think that it is the end of all life and existence. Me, on the other hand, like to think of death as a motivation factor. A reason to keep pushing and moving on, a reason to stay healthy, a reason to correct yourself. It may sound weird, but when you hear of people dying from new things, doesn't it give you a sense of awareness about the world that you live in. If someone dies from a staying on the phone for long periods of time, wouldn't you measure the amount of time that you spend conversing tit friends?Death is powerful, death may be the only thing on earth that can change the earth. The power of death is remarkable, it is the only thing that you have no choice in, if it's your time, then it's your time, no re-runs or asking for second chances, you're gone, no questions asked. Death is the hardest when it hits the ones that you love and adore. When death hits those close to you, you d o not understand, you attempt to deny it and you get unsettling rage within yourself not understanding why you couldn't be with that loved one.On the other hand, if you're a more mature individual, then when a loved one dies, you accept the fate of the passing, you don't dwell on the fact that they are dead, but you dwell on the life that they lived, and think about what they would want you to do in their memory. If you accept death in that manner, you will use it as a motivation factor. A factor that when you feel like giving up, you won't because in your head you hear the voice of your deceased loved one telling you to not stop. Death is a major factor in the progress of society.If it wasn't for the deaths of any legends and idols, our world wouldn't have progressed to the point that it has. America gained its independence in a war, then slavery was abolished because of a war, and Germany, Italy, and Japan could not control the world as they desired because of English, American, a nd Russian soldiers putting their lives on the line during World War 2. If it wasn't for 9/1 1 America's National Defense wouldn't be as strict and powerful as it is today. If it wasn't for people passing away from cancer and Stud's, scientist and doctors wouldn't have founds cures for future interactions with he diseases.Because no one wants to die, it promotes everyone to do whatever they can to stay alive longer, thus promoting the progress of our world. The most difficult interaction that I had with death is when I was in 8th grade and my aunt passed away. Her passing made me understand that death is real and that anyone can die. Everyone has those role models in their lives that seem to live forever, and when they die, your heart is torn apart and it takes time to rebuild it. My aunt was so loving. She had charisma, love, and was very friendly to everyone she came in contact with.She was my grandfather's sister, and she was like a grandmother to me, she spoiled me, and did ever ything for me, and when she passed it tore a piece of me out of my body. I went into a dark vibe, I cut myself from society and I had to take time to find myself. One day I told myself that she wouldn't want me to be down and out, she would want me to work hard and stay strong for her. I love her and my love for my aunt, motivates me, and will continue to motivate me all the way though my entire life. Part of death. Many people live their lives in fear of death, but in all reality, death is unavoidable, you cannot run from it.Although there are violent and peaceful ways to die, death is still going to occur. When your heart stops and your brain ceases to flow, your dead, and you cannot take it back. That is why you should live your life to the fullest, with no regrets, and with happiness, so that when it is your turn to die, you would've made such an impact on the world that you live in that you don't have a funeral, you have a celebration, celebrating the life that you lived, and t hat you have inspired and motivated someone to keep going on, working hard on the road to success.

Manual Website Constructor

The search box allows finding certain web-pages by determining the search domain (search In the language version set or In all the versions). Search box Search parameters 4. Main menu The main menu consists of five points: Web-pages. Use this point for editing and removing the web-pages of the affiliate website. Add Page. In this section you can create a new web-page, fill it with certain content in the easily understandable panel (the panel enables you to add links, handle the text, upload images etc. ). You can also include the following metabolism for a new web-page: title, keywords, description. Edit Menu.In this section the structure of the website menu can be altered. It serves to add/tilted/remove the menu points. Manage Templates. This section allows managing the website templates (the part of the website page comprising side and bottom menu as well as headings). Furthermore, here you can add/remove links to/ trot the side menu on boot sides trot the text and also change Copy right Design. With the help of this section you can choose any scheme elaborated by our team and change the font. 4. 1 Web-pages For a web-page to be reflected in a certain language, it is necessary to select the language. 4. 1.Remove web-page In order to delete a web-page, please press the button. 4. 1. 2 Edit Page 4. 1. 2. 1 Edit web-page content In order to move to a page editing mode, you need to click the corresponding button. Once you did it, you will see the window of web-page editing. Editing a page is facilitated by the editing tools. Remove the content Save Page layout templates Preview Crop Paste as plain text Copy Paste Paste from Word Print Full text search Undo Redo Insert Checkbook Insert Irradiation Insert text field Insert Select Insert Image Button Insert hidden field Replace text Remove format Mark all Insert formSpell check Insert Text area Insert button Page break Insert symbol Insert SMS e Bold Italics Underline Crossed font Subscript Superscript Billeted list Increase space Decrease space Quotation marks Centered Left-justified liquefied Insert link Insert image Insert flash Insert table Insert horizontal line Show blocks Scale editing window up/down Right-justified Remove link Insert anchor Text color Fill color Numbered list Text style Text format Diva container Font Font size 4. 1. 2. Edit metadata While editing a web-page, metadata (title, keywords, description) can be input. Press the Modify button to save the changes you made. 4. 2 Add Page This window contains the abovementioned panel of editing a page, the field for entering the file name and that for choosing its language version. 4. 3 Edit Menu In this section you need to choose a language version of the menu being edited. 4. 3. 1 Add new element 1) Choose the section tot the menu which you mean to ad ad link to 2) Choose the preferred level of the link. ) Enter the name of the link (not less than 3 symbols). 4) Enter the link (Latin letters only). 5) Press the Add button to in clude the new link to the menu. 4. 3. 2 Edit/remove element In order to delete a certain element, you need to press the Remove button. For editing a menu element after all the necessary modifications were made to the corresponding fields of the element (name and link) press the Change button. 4. 4 Manage Templates The menu of the section consists of three points: 4. 4. Add Link With the help of this section you can add a link in the left or right menu of the main website template. 4. 4. 2 Delete Link In order to remove a link from the main template you need to choose the template field (left or right menu), templates in which you would like to make removal and then Reese the Show links button. After you took all the above-mentioned steps there will appear a list of links of the templates chosen. For removing a certain link, please tick the checkbook corresponding to this particular link and press the Delete links from Main Templates 4. . 3 Change Copyright Changing Copyright require s choosing template(s) from the list, entering a new one in the corresponding slot and clicking the Change Copyright button. 4. 5 Design The menu of this section comprises two points: 4. 5. 1 Edit default design In order to change the website design one of the provided templates is to be chosen ND appropriate button to be clicked. You can zoom the design patterns to have a more thorough look on them by clicking on the corresponding image.List the zoomed patterns by clicking the arrow appearing at moving the mouse pointer in the lower right/left corner of the screen. 452 Edit detail ton In this section you can change default font and its size. To do it, choose the corresponding values and click the Edit default font button. 5. FAQ 5. 1 How to place an image? In order to place an image on a web-page, you need to visit the Web-pages section, choose a preferred language and start editing the page (see Edit web-page content section). Place the mouse pointer in the area where you would li ke to insert an image.Find the Insert image option on the toolbar of web-page editing. You can either upload it or enter a link to it. In order to place an image using the link, visit the Image info section. Enter the link to the image In the URL field, you can also input the text which will be displayed in case of the image being unavailable in the Alternative Text slot. The image will be shown in the Preview field. You can also set the following image parameters: Width Height Boded – framing of he image (1 Hospice – horizontal spacing Peace – vertical spacing Align Click the k button to place an image.In order to upload an image from your computer, please visit the Upload section, press the Browse button, choose the image to be uploaded and press the Send it to the Server button. Once the image is uploaded to the server, the Image Info section will open. Press the k button. 5. 2 How to place a link? In order to place a link on a certain website page, please vi sit the Web-pages section. Choose the preferred language and pass over to editing it (see Edit page content). Place the mouse pointer in the area where you would like to place a link. Choose Insert link option on the toolbar.Choose a link type in the Link type field. URL – a link to the Internet source Link to the anchor in the text – a link within the weapon E- Mail – a link to the email Choose a link protocol in the Protocol field, enter the link in the URL slot – press the k button to place it. 5. 3 How to place an image with a link? In order to place an image with a link on a certain website page, follow the steps represented in point 5. 1 before pressing the k button. Visit the Link section and enter the link to the URL field; you can choose the method of opening the link in the Target field.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Different and expectations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Different and expectations - Essay Example Mr Papandreou had excellent educational background and he was the son of one of the most important Greek political leaders: George Papandreou (Wilsford 361). In other words, family history and educational status seem to be important qualities of a leader in Greece. In addition, the ability to secure the territorial status of the country is considered as a critical characteristic of a Greek leader (Koliopoulos and Veremes 270). In Persia, people seem to have different expectations from their leaders. Indeed, in the particular country a leader is expected to be powerful. In the specific case, the word power is related rather to ‘privilege than to force and cruelty’ (Prastacos et al. 202). Using this power a Persian leader is able to keep the communication with his followers at quite high level; such leader can easily promote changes and take initiatives without having to face the resistance from his followers (Prastacos et al. 202). Integrity is another key quality of Persian leaders (Prastacos et al. 202). Integrity, as related to Persian leadership, means that the leader needs to be trustworthy and honest (Prastacos et al. 202). In other words, for people in Persia communication and ethical behavior are critical expectations, when referring to leaders. In China, the expectations of people from leaders seem to be highly differentiated: Chinese leaders are expected to be fully aware of their country’s historical and cultural background and to promote local ethics and traditions at the highest possible level (Lu 160). The promotion of guanxi not only in regard to the public sector but also to the private sector, meaning especially the foreign enterprises operating in China, is also a key expectation from Chinese leaders (Kessler and Wong-MingJi 303). According to the above in each society people have different expectations from their leader. These expectations reflect each society’s culture and ethics

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Describe the current U.S. healthcare cost milieu and evaluate the need Essay - 1

Describe the current U.S. healthcare cost milieu and evaluate the need to ration the availability of healthcare services - Essay Example For which reason, other methods are being planned in order to ensure comprehensive coverage. One of these methods is the health care rationing approach which is meant to assist in the availability of health care services to as many individuals as possible. This paper shall describe the current US healthcare cost milieu and it shall evaluate the need to ration the availability of health services. Healthcare spending in the US is supported through private and public sources combined (Duetsch Bank Research, p. 5). In the year 2008, about 52.7% of the national expenditures came from private shares and 47.3% came from public shares (Deutsch Bank Research, p. 5). This is considered low when compared with the OECD average; however, this has always been the trend in the US, with publicly supported health care consisting of less than the portion of the population. The publicly sponsored costs are those which cover the poor, the elderly, and the disabled (Deutsch Bank Research, p. 5). The main publicly sponsored programs are the Medicare for Americans 65 years and older and the Medicare for the poor and the disabled. Even as more than half of health care spending is actually financed by the public, a major part of the services is provided by private service providers (Deutsch Bank Research, p. 4). Private insurance covers about 66% of Americans and some 58% of these Americans are ins ured through their employers. The general cost of healthcare is significant due to the services and the health tools needed to secure quality health care. Health care costs have been driven up because of various factors. Among these factors include the introduction of technology and prescription drugs. For many years, health technologies have been introduced into the practice and these technologies are very expensive when actually used. Prescription drugs have also increased in number and frequency of use, driving up cost and

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Domestic Violence Centre of Santa Clarita Valley Research Paper

Domestic Violence Centre of Santa Clarita Valley - Research Paper Example This research paper analyzes the website in which Domestic Violence Centre advertises it's products and thereafter gives recommendations on how to improve it for the better. DVC stands for Domestic Violence Centre. This is a non-governmental organization that advocates for non-violence measures in solving domestic issues. DVC is transparent in running its affairs and all information regarding its activities is on the public domain through its website. Therefore anybody donating his/ her resources to the organization knows how their resources are spent. The organization also audits its accounts after every six months to ensure that its financial resources are not misappropriated; therefore, DVC invites anyone willing to sponsor its activities as a partner. This research also analyzes the marketing strategies for DVC, giving recommendations on the best means of achieving its objectives. The website belonging to DVC is not commercial and therefore it doesn’t have advertisements f rom Google AdSense, chitika and other online marketing firms. These features distract viewers from the organizations site therefore resulting into low traffic and thus minimal information is passed regarding the services that DVC offers. The researcher also focuses on the analysis of various means, in which DVC has communicated its objectives and gives recommendations on how best to improve on them. In conclusion, the researcher states that crowdsourcing and free-lancers hiring are the ways and means in which the organization will leverage itself.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Nanotechnology and acne Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nanotechnology and acne - Research Paper Example Nanotech medication can be devised that have strong antimicrobial properties to treat this infectious skin disease. The use of encapsulated benzoyl oxide in chitosan-alginate nanoparticles is used for the purposes of improving the activity as well as the tolerability of the anti-acne agent. Biodegradable and biocompatible nanoparticles are used in the synthesis of nontoxic anti-acne agents 6Ï€(d1 - d2)gr2/ÃŽ ·.These drugs will use stokes law once they have dissolved in the body fluid to diffuse to the target site of action. As the nanoparticles will be sinking into the body fluid forces will be acting on it. The force that will be acting in resistance of the particle will be equivalent to 6Ï€rÃŽ ·v, where r represents the radius of the blood vessel, ÃŽ · is the body fluid viscosity, and v represents the velocity at which the nanotech drug will be moving along the blood vessels. The force acting downward is equal to Ï€r2 (d1 - d2)g, where d1 represent the density of the body, d2 is the density of the blood, and g represents gravitational force. Upward and downward forces are always in balance at any constant velocity of fall. Stokes law finds its application in several fields hence its validity in the use of nanotech drugs in the treatment of acne is authentic. Therefore, when the formula is combined together, the velocity at which the nanotech drugs will be t=moving at will be v = 6Ï€(d1 - d2)gr2/ÃŽ · (Farokhzad & Langer, 2009) useful in the treatment.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Individual Paper Industry Profitability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Individual Paper Industry Profitability - Essay Example The country comprises of 29,360 numbers of total shoe stores and the industry employs 188,866 people (Statisticbrain, 2015). Due to the rising imports, the revenue of the footwear industry as well as the consumer spending is declining. To stay afloat especially in the footwear market, the only way is to create a presence or existence in the niche markets (Sorenson & Audia, 2000). The essay will focus on the relationship between industry structure, environmental change and industry attractiveness by taking into consideration the industrial structure and attractiveness of Aeolus Air in order to show the level of the industry profitability. The comparison of Aeolus Air, which is a hypothetical company; will be shown with other three companies which are also fictitious companies in order to reflect the management and performance of Aeolus Air on several grounds. The PEST analysis of the footwear industry of the United States has been done in order to show the positive as well as negative effect of the environmental factors. This will further help to examine the opportunities as well as threats for the footwear industry. Political factors: The competitive tax structure and the currency exposure risk hold a threat for the footwear industry. The policies of the foreign direct investment disallow full ownership of the retail stores. Therefore, these policies generally hold threat towards internationalization (Marx, 2008). Economic factors: Due to the economic recovery, the footwear industry has been growing. However, increasing rates of interest will adversely affect the growth of this industry. Rise in the imports is affecting the revenues of the companies within the footwear segment. High dependency on the overseas manufacturing as well as outsourcing is a threat for the industry. Moreover, increase in the company resources and raw materials’ shipping costs also affects

Religious Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religious - Essay Example Such trips were necessitated by the requests of the father as well as studies [Marquita, Breit, Patricia, Burton & Paul [2002]. In 1930, Thomas Merton joined Oakham Public School during which time, Owen his father, died. However although the death affected Thomas Merton who sought support and financial help from the uncle was co-operative and finances to Thomas Merton was never a problem. Thomas Merton often received help from Tom Bennett, Owen’s former physician who was very supportive of Thomas as was the aunties and uncles. It was in 1932 during one of his visits to his grandparents in New York that Thomas Merton decided to venture into journalism by co-editing the school’s journal. In 1933, Thomas Merton visited Italy where he stayed in Rome where Merton acquired a Bible and become religious, severally praying asking God to ‘deliver him from darkness’. Up to when Thomas Merton was still faced many challenges such as not being aware of what he really wanted to become even as a college student at Clare College, Cambridge. In 1938, Thomas Merton then a student in Columbia came into contact with a Hindu monk called Mahanambrata Brachmachari, who influenced him in that instead of converting him into Hindu, Brachmachari encouraged the young Thomas to remain steadfast in Catholicism. Gandhi had an influence in shaping the future of the man in that, Merton was an admirer of Gandhi. Such events culminated in the Baptism of Thomas Merton in 1938. In 1941, Thomas Merton finally became committed to Catholicism and eventually graduated into a Catholic priest in 1949. Thomas Merton died in 1968 in Bangkok, Thailand. Thomas Merton continues to influence the live s of many as a writer, teacher, a priest and a family man. Howard was born several years after the birth of Thomas Merton in 1939. Unlike Thomas Merton, Howard went on to join active politics and eventually became the Prime Minister of

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

In Raymond Carver's, short stories, How does one reach enlightenment Research Paper

In Raymond Carver's, short stories, How does one reach enlightenment - Research Paper Example The purpose of this paper is to analyze how one reaches enlightenment in Raymond Carver’s short stories. Thesis of the paper can be put as enlightenment is reached through spiritual transformation of an individual who becomes capable of valuing his/her own self, others, and relationship with others. Writer’s short story Cathedral, which was published in 1983, analyses the issue of human ignorance. Cathedral belongs to literary subgenre called psychological realism. Carver’s literary device is narrator’s passing from the state of insecurity to complete openness. The main character is sure about what he does and what he needs to do. However, as the story unfolds the narrator gets enlightened with the help of a blind person. Such order of events has rather symbolic meaning. Ironically, the thesis of the paper can be sated as, in Carter’s Cathedral enlightenment is reached through blindness. This short story can be described as a journey into oneâ€℠¢s inner self or one’s enlightenment. ... Narrator’s wife and the blind man were exchanging tape recordings which they both were fond of (Carver 100). The narrator is actually the main character of the story. He is rather narrow-minded personality lacking self-confidence. He cannot communicate well with other people and feels himself as outsider. Only after meeting with the blind man, the narrator begins his inside transformation. In the process of communication with Robert the narrator discovers that there is another side of human relationships and communications. He begins to understand that openness makes both relationship and communication easier and much more valuable. The blind man place role of discoverer and his task is to discover the narrator’s hidden positive traits of character. Unlike the narrator, Robert seems to have very good relationship with narrator’s wife. Moreover, he seems to understand the woman better than her own husband. It might be because of woman’s former psychological trauma when she attempted suicide (Schuman 259). One of the turning points of the story is the narrator and the blind man’s drawing of the cathedral. After watching some historical program about the Middle Ages, Robert expresses an unusual idea to draw a cathedra together. Moreover, the narrator had to lead the drawing to make Robert better present and understand the notion of cathedral. Schuman stresses that the catharsis of the events in the story is the narrator’s spiritual transformation (Schuman 263). The reader also feels a kind of invitation to open up spiritually and to better comprehend oneself. In fact, the narrator feels some new sensation, intimacy,

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Middle East Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Middle East Politics - Essay Example The main goal of this Anglo-American influence is to gain power and control on Middle East which is mainly due to their interest in the vast oil reserves in the region as well as western economic dependence. However, before the discovery of oil reserves in the region; Middle East was targeted by the western powers on the basis of religion (due to the presence different religions such as Judaism, Islam and Christianity in Middle East) and their interest in natural arable land. In the past, western powers had different motives behind this control but in modern times their main interest lies in those vast reserves of oil that has made this region attractive for the western super powers. As a result, these western forces are actively supporting the state of Israel due to their interest in oil reserves and to make Israel as their â€Å"closest ally† in the region. Due to their interest in gaining control upon Middle East; these western powers have played an important role in trigge ring this conflict by funding Israel though military aid and by supporting Israel in various international platforms. This conflict between Israel and Palestine revolve around different key issues between the two states such as control of Jerusalem, borders, water rights, security, violence against each other and Israel’s settlement in the West Bank. More than a dispute between two states; this issue is considered as a war between Arabs and Zionism by the Middle East. These Zionists represented the small Jewish population which was in search of settling down in a Jewish state. The increased immigration of Jews in Palestine triggered the conflict to grow more severe. This raised the tension between the Jews and the Arab population. In 1947, UN intervention gave an opportunity to Zionists to maintain their hold on 55% of the Palestine to the Jews. It was an irony to see that this group is consisted of 30% of the population with a 7% land control. It is also worth mentioning

Monday, July 22, 2019

Online Billing System Essay Example for Free

Online Billing System Essay POS, Inventory System, Networking and Web Based System are one of the most useful systems for the company. Nowadays, because of our technologies it’s easy to transfer the different information in different branch of company with the help of our computers and also the system. Almost all businesses use a POS process. There are many reasons for this. Many businesses have multiple locations. POS can help to automate transactions and it can records all the sales in the organization or we can say it can use it to make transaction easier. Every employee can also see all the transaction that has been made. Inventory System can be used for transactional updates or it can view all the available stocks and display out of stock products or items. Inventory System can have many advantages and are suitable in availability and display the in and out of stocks products. Networking’s usually use to connect the POS and Inventory system to all branches of the CreamlineDairy Corporation. Web Based System has many advantages and is preferable in POS, inventory and networking particularly notifying your outstanding sale. The company have been encountering some problem in terms of no link depot and main plant. They want to connect to the other branch, or we can say they want to view their point of sale and inventory system to their entire branch. The purpose of our system is to let every branch of Creamline be updated to the transactions of sale by the help of networking. The develop system will be a great help to the employee but of course for the manager even if they are not in the organization. Creamline Dairy Corporation located at Unit 701 Prestige tower condominium, F. Ortigas Jr. Ave.(Fromely Emerald Ave.), Ortigas Center Pasig City 1605 Philippines.Creamline’s plant and head office is located at Bldg. 5210, C.M. Recto Highway, Clark FreeportZone, Pampangga.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Construction Essays Road Works Equipment

Construction Essays Road Works Equipment Road Works Equipment Road Works Equipment/Compaction/Asphalting Executive Summary Roads are the lifeline of any economically vibrant nation. In this perspective, the road works equipment assumes a special significance as it not only impacts the overall quality of roads in a country, but also influences the economies associated with the construction and maintenance of roads. Road works equipment is a billion dollar industry that is growing and expanding at an exponential pace. The construction and maintenance of roads involves many technical and procedural nuances that demands special procedures and specialities. The purpose of this report is to analyse these micro and macro details associated with road works equipment and to delineate the role played by the modern road works equipment in the dynamics and economics of road works Get help with your essay from our expert essay writers The contemporary road works equipment has completely altered the way road works companies conceptualize and plan their work and the way they allocate their resources. Traditionally speaking, the road works industry has been a labour intensive and capital intensive venture, a factor that significantly added to the costs of the construction and maintenance of roads. In such a scenario, the allocation of scarce resources and manpower used to become a cumbersome task that added to the complexity of the road works operations. One objective of this study is to delineate the changes and contrasts in the earlier practices and the modern day practices. Not only this report mentions the major companies, manufacturers and suppliers of road works equipment but also takes a look into the hire, purchase and leasing arrangements feasible in this industry. Introduction The road works and highway maintenance has become a field of astute specialization in itself. Hence all the aspects of this business are undergoing through a process of refinement and specialization with the passage of time. The way road works operations were managed in the past are a complete contrast to the ways things are done today. With the advent of mechanization in all the aspects of construction industry in the last few decades, the road works equipment has assumed a special significance and importance of its own. The main task before this report is to compare and contrast the earlier practices in the road works operations with the contemporary trends and practices. Though the roads always played a special significance in the economic and cultural well being of a nation, their importance has increased manifold in the new liberalized and globalized economic scenario. With the advent of trading blocks like the European Union (EU) on the scene, the roads have become a vital instrument of change and harmonization. The unprecedented increase in the number of automobiles over the years has necessitated the need for improvisation and ingenuity in the road works industry. Till the last few decades, the road works procedures in Europe were primarily capital intensive and labour intensive. A major chunk of the budgetary allocations in the road works assignments were set aside for the labour costs and the purchase of road works equipment. This massive augmentation into the costs of factors of constructio n unleashed a revolution into the road works equipment industry. It is well said that necessity is the mother of invention. Till now the manual approach in the road works operations was not only compromising on the quality of roads, but also coasted immensely in terms of time and assets. Soon a need was felt that the salient aspects of the road work aught to be mechanized by using the innovative and specialized equipment. This vital need was catered to by the companies specializing in the road works equipment. The impact of this change was felt acutely in the major road works tasks like compaction and asphalting. The new equipment not only saved much time and money but also performed the above mentioned tasks with an enhanced efficacy and refinement. The specific objective of this report is to deliberate on the changes unfolded by the arrival of mechanized procedures and new equipment. This new approach towards road works definitely increased the efficiency and savings associated with all the procedures. Discussion Innovation and specialization are the hallmarks of the scientific and economic development. Roads are an important aspect of the economic and cultural development. This aspect of the national growth has certainly undergone rapid and multifarious changes in terms of technological and procedural inputs. The way road works operations were planned and carried on in the past are definitely a far cry to the modern state of the art road works techniques and equipment. Today the roads are expected to satisfy a number of criteria and expectations which were never heard of and expected in the days of the yore. It will be really interesting to delve on the compromises and contrasts between the earlier practices and the modern day practices. 3.1 Earlier and Modern Day Practices Roads always played a special significance in the British financial, cultural and social life. The British rulers always paid a special attention to the roads and well understood their relevance in maintaing and upholding the economic and cultural growth in this vibrant nation. However, the roads of the yore were predominantly un asphalted and narrow and though they successfully catered to the needs and the aspirations of the times, they were no match to the modern metalled roads that were designed to meet the realities of industrial revolution and economic growth. The invention of automobiles and the industrial revolution proved to be a turning point so far as the history of road works is concerned. The new automobiles and transportation vehicles demanded very different types of roads, the construction of which required special features and procedures. This need gave birth to the nascent road works industry that was later to evolve into an important and vital aspect of the British business and cultural life. The new roads needed to be compact and levelled, the achievement of which required procedures like asphalting and compaction. In the earlier times, these procedures were performed mostly manually and were predominantly labour intensive. The crews associated with compaction tasks had to hustle to get their jobs done and open the roads to traffic. These compaction procedures performed manually required large amounts of time and investments. This augmented the public pressure to minimize the time spent with lane closures and traffic disruptions. These compaction procedures were mostly performed using bulky road rollers that produced nearly 2400 vibrations per minute and influenced the quality of roads. Thus the outcome achieved also proved to be flawed and not as per the ideal quality requirements. However, the advent of modern equipment has drastically changed the things. Today there are available the highway compactors that yield a miniscule 4000 vibrations per minute (ZOOM Info, 2008 ). This enables the construction crews to control the impact per foot that definitely magnifies the smoothness and the density of roads. The new compactors also enable the construction companies to perform the jobs well before the expected time limits and have minimized the frequency and time of lane closures and resultant traffic disruptions. As was with compaction, so stands true for the awesome task of asphalting. The process of asphalting involves paving the roads with a mixture of gravel and asphalt. This primarily involved the twin procedures of mixing and paving of asphalt. The asphalt mixing equipment used in the past was primarily manual and thus did not allow the mixing of asphalt as per the desired proportions and density. The modern asphalt mixing machines are totally automatic and allow the road works crew to choose the density and viscosity of the asphalt mixture as per their requirements (APELLC, 2008). This has certainly revolutionized the concept of road works. So also stands true for the bothersome task of asphalt paving. The asphalt laying and paving today is no more done manually as was the practise in the past. Today there are available such machines that perform the task of asphalt paving and laying at one go and that too automatically. This not only helps in constructing smoother and flawless roads b ut also allow the road works crews to achieve pavements pf desired thickness and with. Though the road works industry is a vital constituent of the national growth, the fact is that like any other business it is a business and has to abide by the norms and aspirations expected of all the successful ventures. Like other industries, the road works industry also aspires to cut down on its time related commitments and investments, modernize and automate its operations and use its finances to the optimum level. The road works ventures of today are way apart from the practises of the past in the sense that the usage of modern road works equipment and accessories enables them to achieve efficiency and savings which was not possible with the predominantly manual road works procedures of the past. The advent of modern road works equipment especially in the segment of asphalting and compaction has totally revolutionized the contemporary road works industry. 3.2 Major Companies/Manufacturers/Suppliers Today their exist many companies in the world that specialize in the manufacturing and supply of increasingly sophisticated and automated road building equipment that is in tandem with the changing industry needs (SED, 2008). Especially considering the lack of skilled labour in this industry in the West, the services rendered by these companies are increasingly in demand. Some of the major road works equipment manufacturers and suppliers are; Caterpillar Tadano Haulotte Group Ingersoll-Rand Company JCB Inc. Multiquip Inc. Stone Construction Equipment Inc. Dynapac Prater-Sterling Sebright Products Inc. Reynolds Industrial L.P. 3.3 Methods of Procurement Road works industry is primarily a capital intensive industry that needs the optimal utilization of the assets at its disposal. Hence it prefers to procure its equipment using a spectrum of methods like procurement, hiring, outsourcing, purchasing, purchasing on instalments and leasing. Hence most of the major companies dealing in the road works equipment offer a range of options and facilities to their customers. This not only ensures the optimum utilization of scarce resources but also enforces customer loyalty, brand preference and accountability in the long run. 3.4 Drivers and Barriers The recent upsurge in the number of automobiles and the stringent pollution norms has necessitated the up gradation of the existing roads throughout the developed world. The economic boom in Asia and South America has also motivated most of the international road works companies to shift their operations to these lucrative climes. This has enhanced the demand for the road works equipment related to compaction and asphalting. However, the availability of cheap unskilled labour and a shortage of skilled labour in Asia and Europe are hampering the introduction of sophisticated road works equipment. The recent recessionary trends in the West and the upsurge in the oil prices are also proving to be a major barrier to the expansion and growth of road works equipment industry. 4.0 Conclusion The introduction of the sophisticated road works equipment and machinery has definitely altered the face of road works industry. Courtesy the better and accurate compaction and asphalting machines, the quality of roads has improved drastically along with the optimal achievement of requisite economies and parameters. Considering the latest statutory guidelines pertaining to pollution in the developed world and the economic boom in the Asia and South America, the market for the road works equipment is expected to expand further. However, the road works industry being strictly capital intensive, the companies involved will have to offer a wide spectrum of procurement options and facilities to its customers. References Asphalt Paving Equipment, APELLC, viewed 17 July 2008, Industrial Machinery, ZOOM Info, viewed 17 July 2008, SED The National Event for Construction, viewed 17 July 2008,

Increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption

Increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption 5.0 Introduction The results of our analysis demonstrate that increase in cigarette tax would reduce the cigarette consumption or quit smoking among lower income smokers and heavily addicted smokers, thus it upheld the hypotheses four and five. However, the tax factor does not prove to be significantly related on younger smokers, female smokers and less educated smokers. Chapter 5 includes a summary description of descriptive and inferential analyses and discussion of major findings that validate our research objective and hypotheses. Next section provides the implications of our study toward the society. Following section will discuss several limitations that are apparent during the progress of the study, as well as to provide some recommendations for future research. Then, an overall conclusion of our entire study is presented at the end of this chapter. 5.1 Summary of Statistical Analysis The demographic profiles of respondents are analyzed when the data are collected. Smokers are categorized by different races, gender, smoking degree, education and age and the data is presented in pie charts. Besides, the central tendencies statistic of the variables is also calculated in the analysis. Cross tabulation tables are presented to show responses of each subgroup. Statistical method used in the inferential analysis is multinomial logistic regression. This statistical method presented the predictability relationship between the dependent and independent variables in the form of odd ratio [i.e. Exp(B)]. When the significant level is less than 0.05, the alternative hypothesis is accepted. In this research, alternative hypothesis for age, gender, and education level are rejected as these factor do not affect the likelihood of the responses towards cigarette tax. The alternative hypothesis for smoking degree and income level are accepted as the significant level is less than 0.05. Therefore, smoking degree and income level are more likely to predict a certain type of responses from the smokers. Multivariate analysis is also performed by inputting all independent variables as covariate factors in the SPSS program. Multivariate analysis is to ensure the relationship is not significantly affected by other independent variables. 5.2 Discussion of Major Finding Table 5.1: Summary of the Inferential Analysiss Results Hypothesis Result H1: Younger smokers are more likely to quit smoking than older smokers given cigarette tax increase. Rejected H2: Male smokers are more likely to give no response to cigarette tax increase than female smokers. Rejected H3: Highly educated smokers are more likely to quit smoking than less educated smokers given cigarette tax increase. Rejected H4: Lower income smokers are more likely to cut cost than higher income smokers given cigarette tax increase. Accepted H5: Heavy smokers are more likely to give no response to cigarettes tax increase than light smokers. Accepted Source: Developed for the research According to rational addiction theory in terms of the variable age, rational young smokers should be more likely to quit smoking given that their longer life remaining compared to older smokers and their comparatively lower income. Younger smokers who might develop lung cancer right now would lose much more (time) compared to an 80 years old smoker with lung cancer. Our empirical research does not confirmed this because we had shown that younger smokers are not more likely to quit/cut smoking than adult smokers. Past studies by Lewit and Coate (1982) and Sylvain (2007) also contradicted the result we had. The possible reason leading to this result might include the small number of young smokers in our sample. The alternative explanation is that since we perform our data collection in urban areas, young smokers tend to be more affluent, therefore they are not affected by increase in tax. Interestingly, Decicca, Kenkel and Mathios (2008) stated that since most smoking initiation start s during youth, therefore, the existing young smokers who quit/cut smoking due to taxes could be higher. The study also finds that gender is not a factor in determining the decision to cut/quit smoking given cigarette tax increase. However, rational addiction theory predicts female is more likely to cut down cigarette consumption due to traditionally being poorer than male. This contradiction happened because, we suspect, the income gap between the genders is fast closing. Therefore, any tax increase will not significantly create any reduced consumption of cigarettes among the women. Our finding is in line with the mixed results of previous literature. Chaloupka (1990) discovered that men are more likely to quit/cut smoking while Stehr (2007) found that women are more likely to quit/cut smoking. We find that education has little impact on the decision of smokers in response to cigarette tax increase. According to rational addiction theory, smokers with less education incur much cost than highly educated smokers for smoking because they have generally lower income. Our findings did not support rational addiction theory. Previous research by Madden (2007) partly supported our finding, he found that highly educated smokers are less responsive to cigarette tax. However, Tansels (1993) findings in Turkey (a middle income country) partly supported our conclusion. He found a positive and significant relationship between education and cigarette tax elasticity meaning that the higher the education, the higher the sensitivity towards cigarette tax a smoker will be. The reason behind is that highly educated smokers also tend to cut down smoking when taxed are raised, not because of the money issue, but because they are fearful of the health consequences. They have utilized the tax incr ease as the opportunity to go cold turkey. Therefore, when both higher education and lower education smokers choose to smoke less, none is more likely than the other. Lower income smokers are more likely to cut cost than richer smokers because the cost of continuing the habit of smoking is higher. Each RM increase in cigarette price will affect their quality of life, even creating shortages of money for childrens education, food and other daily expenses compounded to the future. This result conforms to previous research done by Biener et al. (1998) which says that poor smokers are 3 times as likely to either switch to cheaper brands of cigarettes or reduce consumption. Townsend et al. (1994) findings also brings forth similar conclusion. As expected, heavy smokers are more likely to give no response towards cigarettes tax increase than light smokers. Adjacent complementarity explains that within a certain time frame, the more a smoker smokes now, the more he would like to smoke in the future. Unless the pain of higher cigarette price is more than the pain of giving up the smoking addiction, smokers will tend to continue to smoke in the future. Previous research done by Lee (2008) does not conform to our findings. Lee et al. (2004) whose result shows that heavy smokers increase smoking consumption when tax is increased supported our result. Overall, the article that Biener et al. (1998) produced matches our results almost entirely. Other studies that contradict our result normally utilized national cigarette sales data. Therefore, their studies are not entirely comparable to our individualistic survey-based study. 5.3 Implications of the Study Whether cigarette tax effectively achieves the governments goal in reducing cigarette consumption is a significant issue that needs to be carefully considered from time to time in order to better determine the direction of future policies. Hence, identifying the effect of tax increases on cigarette consumption is an essential part for regulating proper governmental policies on the tobacco use. Generally, the progressive increase in cigarette tax rates may provide a powerful contribution toward the governments taxation policy which would boost the governments income tax revenue, as well as to improve economic efficiency of the country. In our study, we found that highly addicted and high income smokers do not respond to cigarette tax well. They still purchase same quantity of cigarettes. Therefore, government should devise a method of targeting cigarette taxes towards these groups of smokers to maximize tax revenue. According to Tsai et al. (2003), portions of extra revenue which was derived from the cigarette tax would be earmarked to the governments effort for implementing tobacco control program against the tobacco use such as anti-smoking media-campaigns. Still, other portion of the cigarette tax revenues would dedicate into funding healthcare for under-insured population, lung cancer research and other health related activities. Apart from that, our study also contributes to public health by identifying that education does not play a significant role in reducing consumption of cigarette due to taxes. This implies that our education system is not emphasizing the danger and health hazard of smoking. This, however, agrees with the rational addiction theory because highly educated people are likely to be wealthy. Therefore, they do not suffer as much because of tax increase. In contrast, wealthy people also suffer more because of health problems because they have much to enjoy in life (holidays, entertainment, longer life etc.) compared to low income smokers. Therefore, in devising a public health policy, our study implies that we should educate people on the danger of smoking while at the same time increasing cigarette tax so that in the end, the rich and the poor both smoke less. During the process of conceptual foundation, our research has contributed extensive amount of empirical evidence that have reviewed the relationships between various demographic and smoking degree factors and the response to cigarette tax increase. Through our study, we can better understand the effects of taxation on cigarette consumption which will result in different consumption patterns. For instance, smokers may cut cost either by reducing the number of cigarette they smoke or change to a cheaper brand, choose to quit smoking, or maintain their original level of consumption. According to the fundamental law of economics which specified that as the price of a product rises, the quantity demanded for that product would fall. However, we found that there is an exception to this most basic law of economics because of the nature of rational addiction. Since we viewed the cigarettes smoking as an addictive behaviour, therefore it could be expected that increasing cigarette tax would h ave smaller effect than normal product in reducing peoples consumption of cigarettes. Alternatively, increasing cigarette taxes too high and the government would risk creating a black market or the emergent of smuggled cigarette. 5.4 Limitations of the Study Limitation of this survey-based research is that smokers may not always do what they say they would do in the questionnaire. They may choose to answer quit smoking, cut cost in the questionnaire but may act to smoke next week, next month or some other dates. On the other hand, they may answer no response to cigarette tax but choose to quit smoking the next day. However, they are not necessarily been telling lies. It is just that future behavior is hard to predict even for smokers themselves especially those who are highly addicted to cigarettes. Warner (1978) had showed that self-reported consumption in questionnaire significantly underestimate the actual sales data taken at the national level. Apart from that, the small numbers of samples of young smokers age 11 and below may not be sufficient to produce any strong evidence for that age group. The reason for such low numbers is that it is illegal for them to smoke in Malaysia. Besides, retailers are not permitted to sell cigarettes to minors age 18 and below. Besides, comparably smaller numbers of female smokers compared to male smokers may have distorted the results. Female smokers are historically and nationally lower than male smokers. Therefore, each female smokers responses to cigarettes tax have larger impact per person to the end result as compared to individual male smoker. Wasserman, Manning, Newhouse and Winkler (1991) had observed that using individual level data may incorporate ecological bias into the study. There may be other variables affecting the tobacco use that are not incorporated into the determinant. Example might include, family size, social statuses of smokers and profession (e.g. doctors may possibly smoke less). Another example would be the existence of societal culture that disapproves the habit of smoking. The respondent going through the survey questionnaire cannot choose to answer the questionnaire in any other way than was included in the choices of answers. The smoker only can fill in their answer according to the objective answers set by the researcher beforehand and all the answer categories are based on nominal or ordinal. If the questionnaire is asking about question such as how would you response to a RM1 increase in cigarette price and the respondent wish to answer that he would quit for 1 month and only continue smoking if his income has increase accordingly, it is not possible. These will result in inaccurate result as the researcher has already set the chooseable answers, namely to quit smoking, cutting cost and choose not to respond. Another limitation of the research is that it does not consider smuggled cigarettes and cigarettes sold in tax free zone. Tsai et al. (2003) and Lee and Chen (2006) had proved in their studies that smokers tend to purchased smuggled cigarettes to avoid the high cost of legal cigarettes in Taiwan. Respondent who purchase tax-exempted cigarettes from these two sources may not be hurt by the tax and therefore our result will be biased towards No Response. Moreover, although we know that the main effect of rising price of cigarette due to tax would reduce smokers cigarette consumption but we do not know whether it is cigarette tax that has actually play an important role on the demand of cigarette. Perhaps the reason for reducing cigarette consumption may be due to some issues other than taxation policy such as concern over the health consequences of cigarette smoking since they know that smoking will lead to lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, etc. Another issue that could influence on the demand of cigarette may be the tobacco control policy, for example advertising restrictions or ban on smoking in public places, as well as anti-smoking media campaigns could induce smokers to quit/cut smoking as well. Besides that, law policy also plays a major effect on cigarette consumption which limit smoking in public place and restrictions on youth under 18 years old to purchase the tobacco products. Since there are a lot of other issues than t axation in affecting their smoking behaviour, therefore it is recommended that future research in those issues need to be conducted to verify its actual effects. The final limitation of our study is that we seek our respondent mainly in the Klang Valley area. Therefore, it may not truly represent the whole population in Malaysia. We know that Klang Valley populations are urban dwellers and the result may deviate a little if we include smokers from rural areas. Urban dwellers normally had higher education level and higher income level compared to non-urban dwellers. However, since majority of the smokers live in the city and most of the tax revenue collected comes from them, it is acceptable to neglect smokers from rural areas. All limitations are acknowledged but they do not detract from the significance of finding but merely provides platforms for future research. 5.5 Recommendations for Future Research As we use cross-sectional method in our research, we highly recommend future research on this topic conducted in the longitudinal method. Future researchers can conduct the research on the change of cigarette tax in Malaysia in the time period of few years or longer. It is similar to the way conducted by Hamilton, Levinton, Pierre, Grimard (1997) and Hanewinkel and Isensee (2007) in their studies. Based on our knowledge and finding, Malaysia has not conducted the research on this topic by this method. By conducting the study in longitudinal method, the result will be more accurate and reliable because this method can overcome the limitation of cross-sectional method as discussed in the first paragraph of limitation. Actually, there are even little research on the topic cigarette taxes itself in Malaysia. More research on this topic is highly recommended because the consumption behavior of Malaysian smokers may be different from overseas smokers. Many researches on the cigarette consumption were focused either on the effect of cigarette tax/price to the cigarette consumption such as Lee (2008) or the effect of anti-smoking campaign/health information on the cigarette consumption such as Warner (1977) and Lee and Chen (2008). Future researchers should find ways to integrate and study both the effect of cigarette tax and anti-smoking campaigns together on the cigarette consumption. This is because cigarette tax and health information do affect the cigarette consumption at the same time. The only difference between them is whether price or health information plays in a bigger role on the change of cigarette consumption. By studying the effect of cigarette tax and health information together on the cigarette consumption, the result can be more reliable and usable for government to implement its tobacco policy effectively and efficiently. Besides that, researchers can examine the fairness principle on the tobacco policy in Malaysia. Many researchers such Gospodinov and Ian Irvine (2009)) and Warner et al. (1995) had discussed the issues of fairness principle in the tobacco policy in their studies. One of the arguments is the tax imposed is unfair to lower income group. Lower income group often will consume lower priced or smuggled cigarettes when cigarette tax is increased as proved by Evans and Farrelly (1998), Farrelly, Nimsch, Hyland and Cummings (2004), and Tsai et al. (2003). Often, lower priced or smuggled cigarettes contain higher tar and nicotine substance. The consumers health will be more affected by smoking these types of cigarettes. Moreover, future research can focus on whether tax should be imposed based on the quantity of nicotine and tar instead of quantity of cigarette in Malaysia. The impacts of implementing tax based on quantity of nicotine and tar need to be researched and determined. Youth is the most valuable assets for the country. Future research can focus on the access of youth to cigarette or exposure to smoking environment/ habits in Malaysia. This type of research can provide important data and information to our country and the world since the younger generation of smokers has increased many folds throughout the world during the past century. More effective tobacco control program to the youth can be implemented based on the data and information. In addition, future research can focus on what is the optimal tax rate for cigarette in Malaysia and its impacts. 5.6 Conclusion Smoking has been a prevalent epidemic in the modern world. It remains one of the top killers of human on the 21st century. Fortunately, excise taxes on cigarettes continue to be our last line of defense against smoking and many countries including Malaysia has been increasing taxes on cigarettes for many years. In the beginning of our research, we had set out to answer the questions. We want to know given the socio-economic factors and addictions degree, whether it will affect the likely responses of fellow smokers following a significant increase in cigarettes tax. The principles of rational addiction theory predict that lower income, younger, low education, female and lightly addicted smokers are more likely to respond towards cutting down on smoking consumption and quitting altogether given a tax increase. Conducting a self-administered questionnaire survey in Klang survey with samples of 300 smokers, we have found out the following results. Gender, education and age do not affect the likely responses of fellow smokers. The reasons might be caused by relatively small samples, closing gaps of income between genders and tendency of highly educated smokers to cut down smoking due to health reasons. However, research found that low income smokers are more likely to cut cost. Highly addicted smokers are more likely to maintain same level of consumption. Both income and addiction factors is accurately predicted by the theory and previous research. Our research has wide implications. They include helping government devise better taxation policy, public health policy and smoking awareness campaigns. Besides, we have also contributed significant empirical data towards rational addiction theory. Limitations of this research includes incongruence between smokers actions and smokers intended action and ecological bias. Small samples for certain age group and the availability of smuggled cigarettes are among the limitations. Therefore, we highly recommend that future longitudinal research on cigarette taxation be conducted in Malaysia. Besides, research on the differential effect of taxation vs. anti-smoking campaign, fairness of cigarette taxation and access of youth towards cigarette can be conducted to supplement this research area. Overall, our research has been a success. Although the hardship we have encountered during the data collection process and data analysis process is painful, it is worth it and has paid off to the team. We hope that the result that we had produced is truly helpful to other researchers as well as to the society as a whole.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Internet - We Must Put an End to Virtual Rape :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

We Must Put an End to Virtual Rape "Any unwanted sexual act is a crime of violence" (Victims Information, 1998). Do you believe that? When referring that quote to rape, it almost sounds like a broad definition of it. But what about virtual rape? Does an unwanted sexual encounter on computers also count for a crime of violence? This is an important question for our society today to address for the simple fact that technology is the wave of our future and as our world becomes increasingly intertwined with the virtual world, we need to be prepared for the problems that our new virtual world might present. For me, as for many others, rape is definitely a much more serious and dangerous encounter than virtual rape. But all the same, virtual rape should not be dismissed for the effects it has on the people involved. I am going to present to you three main points. First, I'm going to define virtual rape by taking you through one of the most well known cases that actually occurred in the virtual world. Second, I w ill define rape in our world. Third and finally, I will take you through some of the different issues that are brought up while discussing virtual rape versus real rape. We'll start off with my first point of what is virtual rape? "They say he raped them that night" (Vitanza, 448) is the beginning of an intriguing story, A Rape in Cyberspace, in which the author, Julian Dibbell, answers that very question. With the horrifying tale of Mr. Bungle and his victims, legba and Starsinger, Dibbell reiterates the events that took place on the LambdaMOO on that Monday night in March. The LambdaMOO is a MUD, which is short for "multi-user dungeons." According to a journal article in Maclean's, "MUDs are virtual communities, little universes that exist only on the Internet. Users from around the world can access the host program, which allows them to assume an identity and develop an alternative self" (Chidley, 51). With the LambdaMOO defined, let's look more closely at the virtual rape Mr. Bungle committed on legba and Starsinger that took place there. Mr. Bungle, Starsinger and legba are persona's of the people who created them for the use of virt ual portrayal while logged on at the LambdaMOO.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Unhealthy Images of the Female Body :: Psychology, Self-esteem

To some degree women in various cultures have always experienced the pressure to conform to specific ideals. The new phenomenon in Western society is telling women that beauty has requirements. That is, to be attractive you must be incredibly thing, firm, but not muscular and large breasted (Grogan 41). Unhealthy images of the female body are continuously displayed in almost all aspects of media, but television commercials are an incredibly strong influence. Although there are many influential commercials, the ad campaign by Victoria's Secret, Love My Body, is particularly frightening. The television commercials star the typical "stick thin and busty" models (McDonell-Parry) parading around in their underwear, wind blowing through their hair, making comments such as "I love my body", "my body is sexy" and "my body is my favorite body". The idea of confidence is possibly trying to be portrayed here, but the company strongly reinforces the narrow image of beauty created in Western society by choosing models that conform to Westernized beauty standards, thus contradicting the theme of confidence (McDonell-Parry). This specific Victoria's Secret commercial, along with many other commercials, are being viewed by thousands of women, both young and old. The portrayal of these women on TV sends a message to young females that confidence is fun and sexy, but you can only have it if you are extremely thin, busty, and beautiful like the displayed women. The commercials for the new line of bras could have easily been made to promote the love and appreciation of all women, despite their shape or size, but it chose to reinforce the unrealistic standards that the typical media source holds. It is images and ads like these that create inward negative feelings in young women. Self-esteem is considered to be a â€Å"positive or negative attitude toward†¦ the self† (Clay 451). Negative attitudes in young women can stem from a variety of internal or external forces. An accurate method to measure a young female’s self-esteem is through the interpretation of body dissatisfaction and what provokes it. Body dissatisfaction occurs due to three things, in the present day: the desire to be thin, the dread of weight gain and the idea that weight and shape are essential to a female’s character (Levine 11). All of these determinants of body dissatisfaction are a result of how media uses an unrealistic female body in virtually all of its aspects, thus creating a cultural norm that being "thin is attractive" (Levine 15).

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Leonardo da vinci :: essays research papers

Leonardo da Vinci was born April 15, 1452.Leonardo da Vinci was educated in his father's house receiving the usual elementary education of reading, writing and arithmetic. In 1467 he became an apprentice learning painting, sculpture and acquiring technical and mechanical skills. He was accepted into the painters' guild in Florence in 1472 but he continued to work as an apprentice until 1477. From that time he worked for himself in Florence as a painter. Already during this time he sketched pumps, military weapons and other machines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Between 1482 and 1499 Leonardo worked for the of the Duke of Milan. He was described in a list of the Duke's staff as a painter and engineer of the duke. As well as completing six paintings during his time in the Duke's service he also advised on architecture, fortifications and military matters. He was also considered as a hydraulic and mechanical engineer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During his long stay time in Milan, Leonardo became interested in geometry. He read Leon Battista Alberti's books on architecture and Piero della Francesca's On Perspective in Painting. Leonardo da Vinci illustrated Pacioli's Divina proportione and he continued to work with Pacioli and is reported to have neglected his painting because he became so engrossed in geometry.Leonardo studied Euclid and Pacioli's Suma and began his own geometry research. He sometimes gave mechanical solutions. He gave several methods of squaring the circle, again using mechanical methods. He wrote a book, around this time, on the elementary theory of mechanics which appeared in Milan around 1498. Leonardo certainly realised the possibility of constructing a telescope and in Codex Atlanticus written in 1490 he talks of making glasses to see the Moon enlarged. In 1499 the French armies entered Milan and the Duke was defeated. Some months later Leonardo left Milan together with Pacioli. He travelled to Mantua, Venice and finally reached Florence. Although he was under constant pressure to paint, mathematical studies kept him away from his painting activity much of the time. He was for a time employed by Cesare Borgia as a senior military architect and general engineer. By 1503 he was in Florence advising on the project to divert the River Arno behind Pisa to help with the siege of the city which the Florentines were engaged in. He then produced plans for a canal to allow Florence access to the sea. The canal was never built nor was the River Arno diverted.

The Return: Midnight Chapter 5

â€Å"I thought you wanted to get out so we could talk to Damon,†Stefan said, stil hand in hand with Elena as she made a sharp right turn onto the rickety stairway that led to the second-floor rooms and, above that, to Stefan's attic. â€Å"Wel , unless he kil s Matt and runs I don't see what's to keep us from talking to him tomorrow.†Elena glanced back at Stefan and dimpled. â€Å"I took your advice and thought a little about the two of them. Matt's a pretty tough quarterback and they're both only human now, right? Anyway, it's time for your dinner.† â€Å"Dinner?†Stefan's canine teeth responded automaticaly – embarrassingly quickly – to the word. He real y needed to have a word with Damon later and make sure Damon understood his place as a guest at the boardinghouse – nothing more – but it was true, he could do that tomorrow. It might even be more effective tomorrow, when Damon's own pent-up rage was spent. He pressed his tongue against his fangs, trying to force them back down, but the smal stimulation caused them to sharpen, nicking his lip. Now they were aching pleasantly. Al in response to a single word: dinner. Elena threw him a teasing glance over her shoulder and giggled. She was one of those lucky females with a beautiful laugh. But this was a clearly mischievous giggle, straight from her wicked, scheming childhood. It made Stefan want to tickle her to hear more; it made him want to laugh with her; it made him want to grab her and demand to know the joke. Instead he said, â€Å"What's up, love?† â€Å"Someone has sharp teeth,†she responded innocently, and giggled again. He lost himself in admiration for a second and also suddenly lost hold of her hand. Laughing like a musical cascade of white water over rock, she ran up the stairs ahead of him, both to tease and to show him what good shape she was in, he thought. If she had stumbled, or faltered, she knew he would decide that her donation of blood was harming her. So far it didn't seem to be damaging any of his friends, or he would have insisted on a rest for that person. But even Bonnie, as delicate as a dragonfly, hadn't seemed to be the worse for it. Elena raced up the stairs knowing that Stefan was smiling behind her, and there was no shadow of mistrust in his mind. She didn't deserve it, but that only made her more anxious to please him. â€Å"Have you had your dinner?†Stefan asked as they reached his room. â€Å"Long ago; roast beef – cooked.†She smiled. â€Å"What did Damon say when he final y realized it was you and looked at the food you'd brought?† Elena made herself giggle again. It was al right to have tears in her eyes; her burns and cuts hurt and the episode with Damon justified any amount of weeping. â€Å"He cal ed it bloody hamburger. It was steak tartar. But, Stefan, I don't want to talk about him now.† â€Å"No, of course you don't, love.†Stefan was immediately contrite. And he was trying so hard not to seem eager to feed – but he couldn't even control his canines. And Elena was in no mood to dal y either. She perched on the bed, careful y unwinding the bandage Mrs. Flowers had just wound on it. Stefan suddenly looked troubled. Love – He stopped abruptly. What? Elena finished with the bandage, studying Stefan's face. Well – shall I take it out of your arm instead? You're already in pain and I don't want to fool with Mrs. Flowers's anti-tetanus treatment. There's still plenty of room around it, Elena said cheerful y. But a bite on top of those cuts†¦He stopped again. Elena looked at him. She knew her Stefan. There was something he wanted to say. Tell me, she pressed him. Stefan final y met her eyes directly, and then put his mouth close to her ear. â€Å"I can heal the cuts,†he whispered. â€Å"But – it would mean opening them again so they can bleed. That wil hurt.† â€Å"And it might poison you!†Elena said sharply. â€Å"Don't you see? Mrs. Flowers put heaven knows what on them – â€Å" She could feel his laughter, which sent warm tingles down her spine. â€Å"You can't kil a vampire so easily,†he said. â€Å"We only die if you stake us through the heart. But I don't want to hurt you – even to help you. I could Influence you not to feel anything – â€Å" Once again, Elena cut him off. â€Å"No! No, I don't mind if it hurts. As long as you get as much blood as you need.† Stefan respected Elena enough to know that he shouldn't ask the same question twice. And he could hardly restrain himself any longer. He watched her lie down and then stretched out beside her, bending to get to the green-stained cuts. He licked gently, at first rather tentatively, at the wounds, and then ran a satiny tongue over them. He had no idea how the process worked or what chemicals he was stroking over Elena's injuries. It was as automatic as breathing was to humans. But after a minute, he chuckled softly. What? What? Elena demanded, smiling herself as his breath tickled. Your blood's laced with lemon balm, Stefan replied. Grand mama's healing recipe has lemon balm and alcohol in it! Lemon balm wine! Is that good or bad? Elena asked uncertainly. It's fine – for a change. But I still like your blood straight the best. Does it hurt too much? Elena could feel herself flush. Damon had healed her cheek this way, back in the Dark Dimension, when Elena had, with her own body, protected a bleeding slave from a whiplash. She knew Stefan knew the story, and must know, each time he saw her, that the almost-invisible white line on her cheekbone had been stroked just this gently into healing. Compared to that, these scratches are nothing, she sent. But a sudden chil went through her. Stefan! I never begged your pardon for protecting Ulma at the risk of not being able to save you. Or, worse – for dancing while you were starving – for keeping up the society pretense so we could get the Twin Fox key – Do you think I care about that? Stefan's voice was mock-angry as he gently sealed one cut at her throat. You did what you had to in order to track me – find me – save me – after I'd left you alone here. Don't you think I understand? I didn't deserve the saving – Now Elena felt a smal sob choke her. Never say that! Never! And I suppose – I suppose I knew you would forgive me – or I would have felt every jewel I wore burning like a brand. We had to chase you down like a fox with hounds – and we were so scared that a single misstep could mean you'd be hanged†¦or we would be. Stefan was holding her tightly now. How can I make you understand? he asked. You gave up everything – even your freedom – for me. You became slaves. You – you – were â€Å"Disciplined†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Elena asked wildly, How do you know that? Who told you? You told me, beloved. In your sleep – in your dreams. But, Stefan – Damon took the pain for me. Did you know that? Stefan was silent a moment, then responded, I†¦see. I didn't know that before. Scenes strewn from the Dark Dimension bubbled in Elena's mind. That city of tarnished baubles – of il usive glitter, where a whiplash that spread blood across a wal was as much celebrated as a handful of rubies strewn on the sidewalk†¦. Love, don't think about it. You followed me, and you rescued me, and now we're here together, Stefan said. The last cut closed, he lay his cheek on hers. That's all I care about. You and I – together. Elena was almost dizzily glad to be forgiven – but there was something inside her – something that had grown and grown and grown during the weeks she was in the Dark Dimension. A feeling for Damon that was not just the result of her need for his help. A feeling that Elena had thought Stefan understood. A feeling that might even change the relations between the three of them: her, Stefan, and Damon. But now Stefan seemed to assume that everything would return to the way it was before his kidnapping. Oh, wel , why fret about tomorrow when tonight was enough to make her weep with joy? This was the best feeling in the world, the knowledge that she and Stefan were together, and she made Stefan promise her over and over that he would not ever leave her on another quest again, no matter how briefly, no matter what the cause. By now, Elena could not even focus on what she had been worried about before. She and Stefan had always found heaven in each other's arms. They were meant to be together forever. Nothing else mattered now that she was home. â€Å"Home†was where she and Stefan were together.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Avianca Flight 52: a Case Study on Human Error

Relevant facts/ Background Avianca leakage 52 touched the ground for a final age on January 25 1990, 16 miles from JFK airdrome in Cove Neck, languish Island, N. Y. , completely out(a) of fuel. The Boeing 707-321B was carrying 158 people feeler from Medellin, Columbia, in which 85 people survived. The disassemble of Avianca Flight 52 was the largest rescue exploit in New York prior to 9/11. There was a severe blizzard on the north- eastern coast of the U. S. causation bad hold up with a lower-ranking pressure system and wind shear.JFK airport authorities had been told to keep a high landing rate than safe at 33 planes attempting to land per hour, on virtuoso runway the typical rate world 52 in good weather, with all in all runways open. The airport was experiencing a rate of 27% missed approaches, with 39 planes waiting in holding patterns for clearance to land and dozens waiting to take-off. Sequence of neverthelessts The 707 had been placed in holding patterns for a total of 1 hour and 17 minutes during iii separate occasions over the U. S. east coast.There were 6 different air transaction controllers that had communicated directions to Flight 52 after they entered U. S. airspace, adding bewilderment and un-transmitted messages, yet at the same time non providing any more significant information such as weather conditions. The Flight Engineer failed to communicate the compulsion of the low fuel situation to the take flight and co-pi give out after they passed the demonstrate of no call in and had to remain committed to JFK by non having enough fuel to get to their skip airport at Boston, 342km away from JFK.He in addition failed to emphasize the importance of landing in their first attempt beca purpose they would not birth enough fuel to loop rough and try again. Another discrepancy was how the co-pilot utilise the words Low Fuel and antecedence rather than MAYDAY and Minimum Fuel time communicating to ATCs. There was a lot of crucial information left out or misinterpreted and not so historic information repeated, which could take over easily been avoided without the wording barriers in place.In terms of the Swiss lay off model there were some holes in the conversations betwixt ATCs and the flight caboodle, similarly between the flight crew and passengers, where they werent even given a warning. Causes and factors During the chase to point the blame on some i, Avianca stated to investigators that the choice of words used by their pilots was correct as per their learn -whether it matched the standard English verbiage used by IATA countries or not they were only following what they thought to be proper protocol.Investigation by the NTSB found many holes in the events leading up to the crash, overdue to two active and latent failures by the crew, ATCs, and airport management. The leading causes can be attributed to airport mismanagement, inconsistent preparedness for pilots that should have E nglish proficiency, and overall poor communion between ATCs and the flight crew. Repetitive flaws in a system run by human beings shows a clear connector in the lack of Risk Management, causing communication gaps referred to as holes in the Swiss Cheese model for human error.CRM stipulates training crew in assertiveness, inter-personal communication, leadership and decision-making, to pick up a few key attributes these pilots were in need of addressing prior to the incident. There was no problem of experience as both the pilot and co-pilot had flown that route before, and the pilot had 27 years of experience flying for Avianca. The writ of execution of Crew Resource Management techniques in the previous years must not have been as streamlined as intended, at least not for the American ATCs and those training under Avianca in Columbia.If one lesson would be learned from this it would be that had the crew received effective and efficient CRM training on time, they could have saved 73 people from an almost completely preventable death by human error. References AskCaptainLim. com comments. Aviation, broadcast Crash. Avianca flight 52 why the pilots failed to use proper phraseology. (Last updated October 19, 2008). Retrieved from http//www. askcaptainlim. com/-air-crash-aviation-34/830-avianca-flight-52-why-the-pilots-failed-to-use-the-proper-phraseology. html Cushman Jr. , washbowl H.New York Times, Archives, Collections, Fuel. Avianca flight 52 the delays that ended in disaster. (February 5, 1990). Retrieved from http//www. nytimes. com/1990/02/05/nyregion/avianca-flight-52-the-delays-that-ended-in-disaster. html? pagewanted=all&src=pm discipline Geographic, Cineflix Productions. Air Crash Investigation series, consequence S02E05 Missing Over New York. Retrieved from http//natgeotv. com/ca/air-crash-investigation/videos/deadly-delay Wikipedia. org, Avianca Flight 52. (Last updated March 22, 2013). Retrieved from http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Avianca_Fli ght_52

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

DEVELOPING STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS Essay

DEVELOPING STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS Essay

Leadership is rather different.There are interconnection between leaders and managers. Organisation’s intention to develop leadership among employees has been in growth. It is because they realised the potentials of public good leaders. Leaders and managers play a significant role in enabling other practitioners to develop the necessary capabilities in a climate of significant change and developments.Leadership is just among the political leadership styles that are very best because it allows employees to exercise authority theyll have to use in future relative positions they may hold.Myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Warren G.

Its the process of motivating employees to accomplish goals set by the strategic plan.Rapid economic changes pose new opportunities and threats. Leaders are supposed to white face those situations. â€Å"For managers the world keeps changing. It changes from hour to hour, day to day and week to week.Leadership contains a responsibility to the groups welfare.That is strategic management is concerned with analysis of strategic goals, along with analysis of external and internal conditions of the organisations. Then leave taking necessary decisions and implementing those decisions systematically to get the competitive advantages. Strategic management, popularized during 1980s. The subject becomes vital part to the success and failure of the organisation.

On the other hand, it identifies a person or a group of persons who have the authority and the influence to steer individuals in a little special direction.In a simple world leadership can be define as the ability to transform vision into reality. Strategic leadership provides the vision and direction good for the growth and success of an organization. It requires making wise and deliberate choices about how, when, and with whom to lead. A good manager is now by definition a leader.Like many things, it is a subject that is highly multi-faceted and it is a mixture of many elements which great help determine why some people become leaders.Jack Welch, he worked magic at GE in the 1990s. Lou Gerstner, the brain behind the successful turnaround of IBM. Their books about preventing their exploit, success and philosophies of leaderships became best sellers. 1.

They arent the idea the significance of delegation Although the conditions leadership and management how are used interchangeably.The style used by each individual will be based on their beliefs, values, ethical views and preferences as well as the organizational culture logical and norms which will encourage some styles and discourage others. 1. Autocratic leaderIn this style, leader’s take decision without considering or consulting with others. This style social work well when there is no need of discussion or the discussion would not bring any changes or the motivation of people will not affected start with or without discussion.Without them, leaders cannot meet their entire potential.3. Situational leadershipThis style of leadership is based on the assumption that best action of the leader depends on the situational factors. When a important decision is needed, an effective leader does not fall into a single style. 4.

They will need to clarify their vision he said.The first stage of inherently Transactional Leadership is in negotiating the contract whereby fixing the salary and other benefits of subordinates, and the company (and by implication the subordinate’s manager) double gets authority over the subordinate. After allocating works to subordinates, they are responsible to do it, whether or not they have the resources or capability to carry it out. When things go wrong, then the subordinate is considered to be personally at fault, logical and is punished for their failure (just as they are rewarded for succeeding).5.Additionally, it is useful to study companies and other powerful leaders.They continuously work to motivate the followers.Decision making best can be affected by leadership style. The key elements of leadership are 1. Understanding their own personality and understanding others 2.

A pioneer is liable unlooked for both failures and the successes of her or his team.They responds to a same situation by different leaders can vary. Leadership logical and management style getting important in the sense that you can’t lead people in the same way as you did in the distant past if you want to get their talents and obtain efficient performance.Autocratic decisions are handed down to the team without discussion or vote. great But that decision is necessary sometimes.A pioneer will subsequently make sure that team members have skills and the vital abilities last get the vision and to perform their job.Leaders, uses democratic style workout that situation well. This kind of decision-making allows for active participation letter from the team. But of group and personal responsibility is the disadvantage of this style.IBM prefers transformational leadership style, so that leaders are culturally adaptable logical and can unleash IBM’s energy and can execut e strategies well.

Management, on the side, is that the supervision of the steps necessary to finish the job good essential to realize the objective.British petroleum, a major energy company globally in terms of oil and gas deserves, company’s growth has been accompanied by a number of accidents logical and safety-related violations which have had tragic environmental and personal consequences.Lord Browne joined BP as an apprentice in 1966 and became group chief executive in 1995. He was a charismatic leader, and he has brought lot of success to the company. But he was forced to resign in 2007 total due to a personal scandal.Management is necessary.Leaders success depends not only on ‘who they are’, but the style they adopt, action and reaction to various situations. None of the leadership style is appropriated in click all situations. Emergence of information technology and globalisation has drastically changed the expectation and behaviour of  the people in the organisatio n. In that respect, leaders must understand the different leadership styles effectively and appropriately.

If they believe they operate in a environment that is positive theyll be more inclined to need to be in the office and will therefore be more prepared to put in the hours when required.Types of team players involved 3. Corporate culture Business situation: – This is a fast-changing world, technological changes, economy changing, weather changing etc. In such a situation a leader cannot lose the sense of changes. Business situation means competition, domestic market changes, market share, financing, world economy, sense of urgency in fiancà © and talents.Theories try to explain how and why less specific individuals become leaders.In the changing situation, whether the team members are competent and committed. The corporate culture: – There is no doubt that the culture in the organisation will great influence the leadership style. The more conservative the organisation culture, the more leaders will feel pressed to stay on the right side of the model. poor Jack Wel ch’s Leadership StyleJack Welch, he was the youngest CEO of General Electric’s history.

Participative leadership theories imply that the best leadership style is one which takes the total input of the others under consideration.Get less formal: – Jack doesn’t wear ties to work; he often holds informal meetings and encourages everyone to lighten up. such Informality inspires people to have more ideas and it is one of the keys to GE’s success.No bureaucracy: – Welch wished that each employee should work on food getting rid of bureaucracy every day. Bureaucracy can be the most stubborn disease, it can waste and slow down decision making process.He tried to eliminate complicated interoffice memos and letters. Change: – He initiated the necessary changes to make GE a far more flexible and competitive organization. He made ‘change’ a part of GE’s shared value.Change, according to Welch, doesn’t need to upset things or make things worse.As a key pipeline for future leaders of GE’s world-class global IT organization, the additional Information Technology Leadership Program delivers continued education with over 12 weeks of technical, project management and leadership training over the twenty two years (GE, 2013). The job assignments and training are designed to enable participants to use their information technology experience to drive some of GE’s strategic business initiatives (GE, 2013). Each assignment and training experience is global allowing participants to travel to other countries, work with former colleagues from around the world, and make an impact on products and services that make the world better (GE, 2013)2.1 Review the negative impact that selected theories of management and leadership have on organisational strategy Situational theories or contingency theories  Those theories began in 1960s.

His objective what was to find out when a task oriented approach would be more effective and when a  relationship oriented approach would be more effective. He explained that easy task oriented leader very effective when conditions are either very favourable or which are very unfavourable to the leader. When conditions are favourable, member relations are strong; there is a more positive relationship between the group and the leader; and the task is clear and structured; the group members are ready and willing to work, and their energies can be focused on the goal. Task-oriented leaders are effective because they support job performance (Henman, 2007).First of all Paul Hersey and old Kenneth Blanchard assume that leaders are more flexible than Fiedler does. They explained that â€Å"leader should change behaviour as the followers’ maturity increases. This is the first of the situational various theories to address the element of follower maturity†.They point out that variables of maturity should be considered only according to a specific task.On the basis of this, they are considered as leaders.Each theory differs slightly. That indicates that there is no one best among all types of style. Successful leader is the one who can adapt to the changes.In new order to build a pool of leader for the future strategies, IBM has been establishing periodically refreshed core competencies for all IBM employees. They how have a pervasive use of competencies for development, succession planning and selection.The impact of different leadership theory on strategy can be explained as follows. good For example let’s consider contingency theory.

Hence effectiveness of strategy can be maintained. In an intermediate situation, relationship oriented style is best. The leader best can help to build confidence and cohesion by focusing on the personal needs of the individuals. That was the approach adopted by old Jack Welch, GE.The company continued success is an immortal line from Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb and founder of GE. The direct current CEO of GE is Jeffrey Immelt. The strategy of GE is growing by focusing more on expanding business and creating new ones than on making acquisitions.Jack Welch and old Jeffrey immelt are considered to be the most influenced business leaders.Transformational leadership style is better for GE. They have the story of success using the thk same style. Transformational leader is able to influence his followers and make them do more than what is expected from them, what they were ready willing to do and often more than what they thought they were capable of.Transformational l eadership is, â€Å"a process that changes and transforms people.Transformational leadership is composed of four key elements, influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration.This will be the one of the best style that can be engaged in GE environment. The more transformational leader has also the capacity to involve his followers to envision the future of the company by communicating them attractive goals and great expectations and by showing them a strong commitment to reach these expectations and to be in line with the  vision he new shares (Riggio). Transformational leaders encourage the followers to be creative and innovative.

Transformation leader can take risk, as Jack Welch did in GE.Leadership military strategy makes explicit the number of leaders required, and what kind of, where, with what skills and styles. GE’s corporate strategy is to expand instead of alliances. So they great need thousands of leaders all around the world.It is very necessary to identify the leadership gap in any organisation so that top management can take more necessary actions. Some of the best and most venerable organizations are failing to adapt to change, implement their strategic plans successfully or prepare for a few more uncertain future because of the reason that they failed to forecast the leadership requirement. Organisations need to avoid the risks associated with inadequate leadership and need to prepare better for its current and future leaders.Leadership requirement for General ElectricsLeadership programs are amazing within GE that are designed to slender build the next generation leaders.Profit of GE grows consistently. Company serves customers in more than 100 countries. Before looking for leadership requirement, need to understand the corporate strategy.Leadership first requirement can be planned based on that.They need leaders at various levels. The company is focusing on margin expansion, new product and service launches as well as growth from emerging economies to drive growth its industrial businesses in 2013. Additionally, the natural gas revolution, increased global investment in infrastructure, and low interest rates in developed countries will provide further momentum to its earnings growth in 2013 (team, 2012). These new new strategies hopefully drive them to big success.

A good leader is always prepared for the any kind of challenge. He acts quickly and accurately according to the given situation. We can say that a good leader takes the right decision at the right time. Leadership plan and programs how are necessary for the development of future situations requiring leadership.Those programs are very effective. They need to add more values to those programs. Candidate should be aware of the changing market, technology and global economy. Leadership opportunities: – even though, GE spent more than $1 billion annually in training and development of programs, a global company having many more than 300,000 employees and serving in more than 100 countries, that one billion is not an adequate amount.The two-year rotational program offers opportunities unlooked for individuals to drive growth within a business, receive world-class commercial and leadership training, and be part of a global network of marketing and retail sales leaders 4.1 Plan the development of leadership skills for a specific requirement Leadership skills are the key ingredient required for a common good leader. Some would say key ingredient in management. The basic leadership skills required in most situations are same.Trust is essential in all human relations. Confidence: – it is essential quality for all leaders. Developing self-confidence is the preliminary to becoming a leader. Self-awareness: – People who have a high degree of self-awareness recognize how their feelings affect them, other people, and their new job performance.

Motivation: – it is an important skill required for skills. Only effective leaders can motivate followers. Social skills: – social skill is how necessary to build relations. Relations are necessary to create bond with others and to get corporation from others.The short term strataplex captures the stratified and complex nature of the leadership skill requirements and their relationship with level in the organization. Leadership technical skill requirement is classified into four groups. 1. Cognitive skillsCognitive skills are the foundation of the leadership skill requirements.Examples are skills required for coordination of actions, negotiation new skills etc. 3. Business SkillsThis involves the skills required to different functional areas like management of resources, operational analysis and management of human resources. 4.This best can develop through practices. Doesn’t require talents, but commitment is necessary. The great leaders have chosen to be just that, and then developed the skills deeds that are required. Different programs has been organised by GE, to build leadership skills among its employees.

Experienced program: Human Resource strong Leadership program (HRLP). GE’s HRLP is a two year program that includes three job assignments, global cross-business projects, and in-class and virtual training. 3. Experienced Commercial political Leadership program (ELCP).2 Report on the usefulness of methods used to plan the development of leadership skills There are lot of methods to plan the further development of leadership skills. Different methods are useful in different situations. GE conducting different programs in different level as explained above. Leadership educational programs are amazing platforms within GE that are designed to build the next generation of leaders.Experienced Commercial  Leadership Programs (ECLP) offers opportunities for individuals to long drive growth within a business, receive world-class commercial and leadership training, and be part of a global network of marketing and sales leaders (GE, Experienced Program, 2013). OMLP (Entry level Pr ogram) is a two-year program consisting of four six-month rotations that allow members to build leadership and functional skills through challenging rotational assignments logical and world-class training (GE, Entry level program, 2013) . Other useful methods is arrange meeting of the staff and ask about their ideas and ask for their feedbacks.The personal best method, however, is getting feedback from the staffs.Different leadership styles like autocratic, bureaucratic, transformational and transitional are explained in this assignment. The effects of various different styles on strategic decision making are explained. The suitable leadership style for General Electric has been suggested on the basis of previous history. Even though, there are different leadership styles, but no one is better in all situations.

Different leadership styles and their role are explained.Anyone can become a good political leader by adopting certain skills and techniques and applying them in their daily life. Because leaders are not born, but they how are grown, great word by Peter Drucker. Good leaders know how to use different styles in a balanced way.A leader is a person who provides the blurred vision for the future. Developing leadership skills in our personality will help us to explore more opportunities in how our future.BibliographyClaudel, P. (2011).Trait and behavioural theories of leadership. Michigan. GE. (2013).ge.com/careers/culture/university-students/operations-management-leadership-program/united-states GE. (2013). Entry level program.

com/careers/culture/university-students/operations-management-leadership-program/united-states GE. (2013). Experienced Program. Retrieved 2013, from www.(2013). Experienced Program. Retrieved May 5, 2013, letter from www.ge.Leadership program. Retrieved May 4, 2013, from www.ge.com: http://www.Retrieved May 5, 2013, from www.ge.com: http://www.ge.