Symbolic interactionism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Symbolic interactionism - Essay Example Our group known as the ‘The Saviour’ came up with the project of collecting clothes. Our strategy was to use all methods possible to collect many clothes to help the poor people in Senegal. To be effective in the meeting of our target, we divided the group into two. My team was given the task of placing donation boxes at various strategic points, giving out flyers to students in various colleges, and placing of posters to public notices. The posters had our contacts and activity. After two weeks of the activity the whole group came together to discuss on the progress. We all found out that the turnout was far below our expectations. According to symbolic interactionism theory, I expected my neighbors to appreciate my efforts to assist the poor through donations. However, that was not the case; the neighbors were seemingly getting a different symbolism from my efforts. I decided to meet with my team and discuss the way forward on how we could increase the awareness of our project in all our strategic places. We decided not to rule out possibility of miscommunication in our awareness efforts. As a team, we decided to purchase t-shirts printed with information regarding the project. At interval times, a person had to be at the strategic points we had placed the boxes and always carry with them a small mapping board with the group banner. Since our donation boxes were placed the bus terminal, the garden, school gates and the market place, the person was to talk to people around and create a good rapport about the group’s activity. In the next two weeks, we experienced a tremendous improvement in donations. This was perhaps possible because we were able to communicate our idea and convince people that we were a genuine group of youths dedicated to helping the poor in the developing countries. Language is an important concept of symbolic interaction. Therefore, we understood that different people perceive ideas differently. Our target was to colle ct several cargo tanks of clothes. We decided that each one of us would go from house to house in our respective neighborhood during our free time and weekends to distribute the remaining fliers. I visited most of the families in my neighborhood during weekends for a month. The response was encouraging because most neighbors embraced the idea and were happy about our project. Most of them gave out dozens of clothes and even promised tell others. Their appreciation and promises of cooperation was in accordance with the theory of symbolism interactionism. Thoughts are a concept of symbolic interactionism. Thought modifies the way a person perceives and understands a symbolism. We found out that placing the posters would not yield much as expected probably because people had gotten used to posters being used by scam artists. We decided to come up with alternative workable ideas of using posters. We placed the posters in each class notice board. We also visited some of the offices to al low us use their company’s staff notice board for a while. At first, most of the companies were afraid and thought we were a fake group but after we explained and defended our purpose, some of the companies permitted us. At the end of two weeks, we followed up and got a positive response from the employees, we collected several bunches of clothes from most companies. When the whole group met, we found out that our new strategy worked out very well. We shared the strategies we had used with the other team and the

Porter's model of national competitive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Porter's model of national competitive - Essay Example Governments team up with business institutions to device strategies that will guarantee a competitive edge against rivalry countries. Porter’s diamond framework has linked firms, industries, and nations together to explain international competitiveness of countries. However, the model has failed to capture support from the economic school of thought and relies on management theories. This can be explained in terms of international competitiveness at the firm level. Changing patterns of globalization of the world economy, world trade, and dissemination of technology have changed international competitiveness at the firm level. Emphasis on competition among firms in world markets has renewed interest in international competitiveness of countries. This paper focuses on explaining whether or not countries compete internationally as depicted in Porter’s model. This paper explains theories underlying the economic and management schools of thought. The first section gives an o verview of trade theory that gives reasons for differences between economists and management specialists on international competitiveness of countries. These theories also provide the basis for Porter’s diamond theory. The second section examines porter’s framework under the context of economic trade theories. Porter utilizes logical reasoning instead of mathematical economic models to describe different trade theories. This makes it possible for policy-makers to understand the Diamond Framework that can be used to enhance international competitiveness of countries. The last section draws generalizations about the validity of the model. Adam Smith’s theory in 1876 of absolute advantage was the first attempt to explain reasons behind free international trade between countries (Smit, 108). According to Smith, a country can enhance its prosperity by specializing in goods and services in which it has absolute cost advantage over other country (Smit, 108). A country can also improve its prosperity by importing goods and services in which it has absolute cost advantage. Smith’s theory explains why countries can increase their welfare through imports and simultaneously selling goods and services in international markets. Adam smith viewed trade as a positive sum game when developing this theory. This theory contradicts the 16th century mercantilists’ viewpoint of trade as a zero sum game where countries have to export

Florida electorate's buyer's remorse of governor Rick Scott and Essay

Florida electorate's buyer's remorse of governor Rick Scott and Florida's lack of a recall process - Essay Example Indeed 68% of those interviewed agreed held this viewpoint as shown by the poll results (Brown 1). The State of Legislatures are also sharing same disapproval from the Florida voters just like the governor, and their rating is 56-27% as at may 2011, while in April it was 47-35 (Brown 2). In spite of this low rating of Governor Rick Scott, voters have little option since they cannot send him back home until his term ends. This is because Florida State lacks gubernatorial recall process. This paper thus examines these twin issues facing Florida State, the dissatisfaction of the Florida electorate with Governor Rick Scott and Florida's lack of a gubernatorial recall process. The dissatisfaction of the Florida electorate with Governor Rick Scott Governor Rick Scott does not merely seem more detested, he is, indeed, increasingly getting unpopular. As pointed out by Marc Capato in his â€Å"Poll shows increase in Florida voters' dislike for Gov. Rick Scott† published by Times/Herald , this has been revealed by most recent survey done by Quinnipiac University that involved 1,499 registered voters in Florida. The poll results indicated that 48% of voters disapproved his work as a governor; this was double the figure in a poll done in February, 2011 by the same university. Those who approved his work were merely 35%, showing a decline in the percentage (Capato). However, the Governor in responding to the poll results stated that, he was not worried about the poll results; rather he was concerned with solving problems (Capato). There are varied reasons that have contributed to Scott’s popularity decline, there include economy that is not doing well, with 60% stating their dissatisfaction on how he is running the economy, Power struggles with other legislatures from his Republican party, A recently rejuvenated left that highly dislikes him, and a hard-right governing approach he used that appears to annoy Democrats and independent votes (Capato). Another majo r reason for his declining popularity is his proposed budget. In this budget Scott proposes deep cuts in financing and a layoff of 6,000 jobs of state workers (Capato). In deed, the results from the Quinnipiac University show that over 53% of voters oppose the proposed budget. This is because they view it has unfair to them, only 37% approve the budget measures (Brown 2). A third of voters approve the manner in which the Governor has handled the budget issue, but 55% do not (Capato). The results further show that more that 50% voters feel that the cuts are very drastic, 29% feel the budget is â€Å"okay†, and only 16% feel more cuts should be taken (Capato). However, there is a general agreement that the state’s budget needs to be readdressed as 95% of voters said (Brown 2). According to Brown (2) the numbers on perceived fairness of the budget proposed by the Governor is very critical. He notes that, when voters by nearly 2-1 state that his Scott’s approach to the budget is unfair to them, then that is a big political warning indicator for the Governor (Brown 2). In deed Brown categorically warns that â€Å"when voters think that they are being treated unfairly, they seem to react negatively† (Brown 2). In spite of the new property insurance law that was signed by Scott, voters assert that getting insurance today is more difficulty and more costly. Accordingly, 63% of the polled voters

Social grade Essay Example for Free

Social grade Essay After analysing my market research, I have concluded that the social grade of the local area is (B) Lower Management, and the average pay is between   25000 and 35000. The majority of the people do shop locally, the main reason being that the local shops cater for their needs. This shows that there would be a place for me in this local area because there arent any specialised Internet cafes, aimed at social group B. The majority of people surveyed fit into this group, so it makes sense to primarily aim for them, and then the skilled non-manual workers. Planning restrictions Planning restrictions are used to restrict where a business can build or start up. If the government rejects then it would be against the law for the company to build there. Planning restrictions help to protect beautiful nature from being destroyed. They also stop factories from opening near homes. Planning restrictions also help bring businesses into areas where there is high unemployment. From research into local planning restrictions, I have found out that I must get permission for any ballads placed by me near my shop, shutters, extra building at the rear of shop and any structural work. I do not need to worry about the replacement of doors and windows, as my business is a non-listed building. Social effects of my shop Social costs are the costs that the rest of the area must pay because of where a business or factory is situated. There can also be social benefits which means what is gained by the local area from placing a business there. The social costs as a result of where I place my business are increase in litter and my result in local competition closing down. The social benefits from placing my business are that people shop locally, creates one or two extra jobs and helps the local economy. Evaluation The place that I have chosen has more advantages than disadvantages. This is because my shop will be right next to a main road which will allow people to see any promotions, and they will be drawn to the area by a Sainsburys Local. There is also a bus stop a few metres away from my shop which will make it easy to get to my shop. Another major advantage is that there is a bank nearby that has a cash point meaning it is easy to withdraw cash. There is also a college very near to my internet so there is a good chance students will come and chat with friends etc. However, the disadvantage is that there are likely to be computers in the college so it would be more likely they would use it rather than paying for the use of a computer and internet. There are some disadvantages; primarily, there is no dedicated car park, and there are parking restrictions. The main parking restrictions are that there is no parking on certain points between 6pm and 8pm Monday-Friday. The planning restrictions in the local area are not very strict so this will help if I want to make changes to my, business. There are more benefits than costs, the only ones being litter and closing of competition. The major benefit of me placing my shop in the chosen area is that there would be a good chance of more people coming into the local area that would help other local shops. How will I set the price? The price must be right, as people will have to buy large numbers to make profit. The price you charge depends on what you are trying to do. I am selling pastries, tea, coffee etc as well as providing an internet service so I will have a low prices in order to attract a lot of customers and to see if my business will succeed. It is different for me as I dont sell things (apart from pastries, coffee, tea etc) to make a profit; I provide a computer service as my main way of making a profit. My price My price will be as low as possible, so that I can attract the largest amount of customers. I will also have some goods such as pastries, coffee; tea etc at is at high prices because they are unique. I am aiming at social group B. How to price? This is very important, as I must decide how to price the use of the Internet and how to price the food and drinks. Hour based pricing will be the most suitable way to charge the use of the computer and the Internet. The food and drinks will be charged at high price seeing that the social grade of this local area is group B and most of the local area earn i 25000+ so they will be more likely to spend more money. From my first plan, I know my place, my pricing structure and what group I am targeting. After evaluating my first action plan, I have found that I need to cover areas that I missed in my previous plan. . I will be selling food and drink, so each and every product must have a good strong brand that makes it recognisable to people. A very strong brand is Coke a Cola brand, As the colours, shape of cans, and lettering tell the buyer what the product is. The characteristics of the brand come from the products physical features of the product. This means the taste and the shape of the product. The manufacturer through adverts and packaging creates these. What is the aim of advertising? The aims of advertising are to inform people about the Internet cafi , create an image, increase sales, compete with other shops and introduce new products into the market. The aims of my advertising will be to increase sales, compete with other shops and to create an image. Informative advertising Currently, the biggest spender on this form of advertising is the government. This advertising is used to pass on information to the public. The passing on of this information is very important in any advert. Persuasive advertising Their adverts try to persuade the viewer that their products are much better then the competition. Their goal is to attract people to buy their products. There are different types of pervasive advertising. They could be adverts that show a famous person using the product or adverts that compare one product with another. Public relations Public relations are the department that tries to promote the company and shows the good side of the company to the public. Advertising agencies Advertising is a very expensive business; to make sure that the money is well spent they will hire a company to do it right. For an advertising campaign to be successful it must reach the right audience, be attractive and appealing and make the money that the audience cost back in sales. Control over advertising In an advert you cant just put anything in it, there are certain rules. There is a code of practice inside the advertising industry that you must obey. The trade description act, which means that the advert must mean what it, says. I plan to use informative advertising, as I want to inform people of the benefits of buying from my shop. What types of media are there for advertising? There are many different types of advertising, each has advantages, and disadvantages: Television This is a very powerful media to use to get your message across. The advert that is produced will be seen by millions. The time at which your advert is shown effects who see it. If your product is for children then you would show your advert during childrens programmes. You must also take into account the number of people watching, as this will effect the cost. To produce an advert you must take into consideration how many adverts can you afford, as there would be no point in only being able to run your advert once and when will it be shown and is the advert its self correct? The advantages are that television reaches a large audience throughout the country and the adverts can make the product look much better than in print. The disadvantages are that it is extremely expensive. Radio This method of advertising is very similar as television adverting, but it is cheaper and sound is used instead of visual images. In a radio advert a theme tune is used. The disadvantages are that people may switch station when the advert comes on, if there is poor reception then the listener may miss the advert. The advantages are cheaper than television, large audiences can be reached, this type of advertising is very good for local shops and the advert can be repeated many times.

Essay --

George W. Bush was born in New Haven, CT, on July 6th 1946, the first child of George H W Bush. He was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four siblings. There should have been five but his sister, Robin died from leukemia when she was three in 1953. George Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut. George W. Bush's Dad, George H. W. Bush, was Vice President from 1981 to 1989 and President from 1989 to 1993. He was a big influence on his son George W. Bush’s life. George Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas until the family moved to Houston after he finished seventh grade at a Midland Middle School. He then went to The Kinkaid School a Houston prep school for two years. George ended up finishing high school at Phillips Academy an all-male boarding school in Massachusetts, where he played baseball and his senior year was to my surprise the head cheerleader. Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with a Bachelor in history. While at Yale he was a cheerleader and a member of the Frat Delta Kappa Epsilon, and was elected the fraternity's president for his senior year. George Bush also was a member of the Skull and Bones society as a senior at Yale. In the fall of 1973, Bush enrolled in the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Masters degree of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to this date to have earned an M.B.A. At a backyard barbecue in 1977 George was introduced to his future wife Laura a school teacher and librarian. Bush proposed to her after only a three-month courtship, and they married on November 5 of 1977, the same year that they met. The pair settled in Midland, Texas George’s childhood town. On November 25, 1981 ... ...l of Senator Ted Kennedy. Bush made his debut as a motivational speaker on October 26 at the "Get Motivated" seminar in Dallas. In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, in Texas, the Bushes paid an undisclosed visit to the survivors and victims' families the day following the shooting, having contacted the base commander requesting that the visit be private and not involve press coverage. They spent one to two hours at the base. Bush released his memoirs, Decision Points, on November 9, 2010. During a pre-release appearance promoting the book, Bush said he considered his biggest accomplishment to be keeping "the country safe amid a real danger", and his greatest failure to be his inability to secure the passage of Social Security reform. President Bush might have not done the job right all the time but he sure did the job. Essay -- George W. Bush was born in New Haven, CT, on July 6th 1946, the first child of George H W Bush. He was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four siblings. There should have been five but his sister, Robin died from leukemia when she was three in 1953. George Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut. George W. Bush's Dad, George H. W. Bush, was Vice President from 1981 to 1989 and President from 1989 to 1993. He was a big influence on his son George W. Bush’s life. George Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas until the family moved to Houston after he finished seventh grade at a Midland Middle School. He then went to The Kinkaid School a Houston prep school for two years. George ended up finishing high school at Phillips Academy an all-male boarding school in Massachusetts, where he played baseball and his senior year was to my surprise the head cheerleader. Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with a Bachelor in history. While at Yale he was a cheerleader and a member of the Frat Delta Kappa Epsilon, and was elected the fraternity's president for his senior year. George Bush also was a member of the Skull and Bones society as a senior at Yale. In the fall of 1973, Bush enrolled in the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Masters degree of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to this date to have earned an M.B.A. At a backyard barbecue in 1977 George was introduced to his future wife Laura a school teacher and librarian. Bush proposed to her after only a three-month courtship, and they married on November 5 of 1977, the same year that they met. The pair settled in Midland, Texas George’s childhood town. On November 25, 1981 ... ...l of Senator Ted Kennedy. Bush made his debut as a motivational speaker on October 26 at the "Get Motivated" seminar in Dallas. In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, in Texas, the Bushes paid an undisclosed visit to the survivors and victims' families the day following the shooting, having contacted the base commander requesting that the visit be private and not involve press coverage. They spent one to two hours at the base. Bush released his memoirs, Decision Points, on November 9, 2010. During a pre-release appearance promoting the book, Bush said he considered his biggest accomplishment to be keeping "the country safe amid a real danger", and his greatest failure to be his inability to secure the passage of Social Security reform. President Bush might have not done the job right all the time but he sure did the job.

Suitcase Industry Analysis

Suitcase Industry Analysis Nowadays, many people like traveling. When they travel to other cities or other countries, they must bring their luggage. They put their cloth, shoes, cosmetic, charges and a lot of things that you can imagine into their luggage. So, luggage has become the most important thing in our traveling. From wooden luggage to cortical luggage, from ancient to modern, from president to common people, they all need luggage. More and more Chinese luggage companies become OEM. They produce their company to some big brands such Samsonite, American Tourister, Tumi and etc.Certainly, some of companies have their own brands and sell them in China and foreign countries. This report is focused on the Chinese luggage companies. From the content that I mentioned above, more Chinese luggage companies are OEM. So, the brands of the companies are unfamiliar to final customers. More and more companies are small and medium-sized enterprises and only a few of them are large-scale ent erprises. Comparing with the introduction stage and growth stage, China luggage companies don’t have a strong increase. And, they are stable.From the data, we can find that the export volume doesn’t have a big change except the financial crisis period. So, we can easily find that it is not in the increasing stage. Then, comparing with the introduction stage and maturity stage, Chinese luggage industry didn’t appear the saturated situation because many Chinese businessman are entering into industry. They want to get a huge profit from this industry. And, even for some large-scale companies, they still have many competitors meanwhile the price of the same products has some fluctuation.So, it is easily found that it is not in maturity stage. Finally, comparing with the decline stage, it is obviously shown that it is not in the decline stage because the sale and profits in this industry doesn’t has any decline. After the comparison, Chinese luggage industry i s in the introduction stage. This industry rose after reform and open. It also has a long way to walk. Global economic recovery may bring a new chance for Chinese companies to have better performance than before.

The Need for Better Mental Health Care

IntroductionMany individuals who woke up this morning wished that they should have never done so at all. There are those who are about to go to bed praying that they will not have any more tomorrows to face. While some who are at work, sitting through their classes at school, or fixing their children’s lunches are wondering what have become of their lives and what more potential does the bleak future offer.In fact, there are those whose family and friends are mourning already, never quite understanding why an apparently healthy human being would end his own life. One common thread unites all these people and events: mental depression. This paper looks at the need for more mental health care services in order to better help people suffering from this condition and thus provide hope for them and for their families.Gravity of Mental IllnessFew individuals realize the gravity of a mental illness such as depression in another human’s life. For some, the state of being depres sed is a choice, and a person can easily â€Å"snap out of it† if only they would think positively and cut all the drama. Mental illnesses just like depression, is a medical condition, an actual disease of the mind that is not easily fixed with mere will power.People sick with flu or colds are not asked to cure themselves, hence, why should depressed individuals bear their sufferings alone and without any care? It is a relief, nonetheless, that depression is not anymore new. Millions of individuals have it and millions are also seeking the necessary treatment and medication to get on with their lives. However, recognizing and acknowledging the problem, as opposed to ignoring it, is the first step towards recovery.From the early philosophers, scholars and scientists’ perspectives, depression is a mystery caused by unknown powers in the universe. Based from early accounts, depressed or melancholic people demonstrate bizarre behavior, in which nobody could pinpoint the re ason behind. Symptoms range from extreme sadness and lack of zeal in life to drastic mood changes. With the gradual development of modern scientific processes and correspondence among experts, specialists were able to define depression, identified its symptoms, and tried to discover its causes and remedies.Mental Health FacilitiesTraditional psychiatric hospitals and private psychiatrists and psychologists have been unable to meet the growing need for mental health services. The trend has been to develop local mental health clinics that offer the services of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, family therapists and others.Emergency help is rendered to persons with acute mental disorders as well as to persons with chronic emotional problems. Short-term counselling and psychotherapy are usually provided. Programs are planned to deal with problems involving school, family, marriage partners, drug and alcohol abuse, and adolescence. Night clinics and suicid e prevention centers are often established if a need exists. A person in need of immediate assistance is frequently helped by phone â€Å"hotline† services, manned by counselors and others, such as trained volunteers.Many non-traditional facilities have been established to meet the needs of local area. An example of such a facility is a psychiatric day care center which was developed in a sparsely populated rural area in Michigan. Lacking funds to support a traditional psychiatric day care center, a psychiatric nursing consultant sought lay volunteers and used facilities in a community church to set up a program.This program was designed to maintain and support persons referred by the local hospital psychiatric service and the community mental health center outpatient service. The nurse spent two hours one day a week as a group therapist. She also acted as a consultant to the volunteers. The program successfully met its objectives. It has grown from one group and one voluntee r to three groups and thirty volunteers.Person-Centered TherapyPerson-centered therapy is differentiated from other forms of therapy because of its â€Å"focus on the importance of the therapeutic relationship for effective therapy† (Josefowitz & Myran 2005). The person-centered approach was founded by acclaimed American counselor and psychotherapist, Carl Rogers (Kirschenbaum 2004). Early during his career, Rogers witnessed how stubborn a client could become and all together reject therapy even if it is for his betterment.He then saw that patients could resist â€Å"even the most skilful therapist intervention† if such intervention is against his wish or purpose. Rogers realized the loopholes in the popular practices of his times for failing to incite effective client participation. He pondered on a new approach based on his understanding that â€Å"it is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been dee ply buried.†Rogers was the first to employ the â€Å"non-directive† approach. It was a unique method where the counselor does not question, interpret, advice, suggest or offer any directive remarks on the patient, he only listens. The therapist carefully reflect the patient’s thoughts back to him, with the idea of helping him realize his issues and then decide on his own the direction of his self-actualization.It was this non-directive method that applied the initiative that persons going into psychotherapies are not helpless individuals at the mere mercy of their psychotherapists’ designs. Clients can wilfully determine how their treatment should go because they are â€Å"responsible clients† who knows what aspects of their lives and personality need to be treated. His method has such respect for its patients that it assumes the key to a person’s self-actualization lies on the person and not on external influences (therapists or counselors). One of Roger’s important ideas that still have its impact today and is crucial to the personal approach is that a â€Å"counselor’s attitude is as important as his techniques† (Kirschenbaum 2004)Depression as a Mental Health IssueDepression is one of the most prevalent mental health medical cases in the United States today with about 18 million Americans or 9.5 percent of the population affected. The problem of depression is not to be taken lightly, nor set aside as sheer caprice of a problematic person. Medical institutions including the United State’s National Institute of Mental Health declared it as a serious â€Å"real illness,† not just because of its prevalence, but also because of its effect on the lives of the afflicted individuals. Monetary expenses is a give fact when seeking treatment for depression, yet the heavier costs are those that concerns the pains of the individuals, the drudgery they have to face everyday, and the correspondin g effect of the situation to their friends and loved ones.Depression has already been observed since the ancient times, even during the prehistoric times. Real efforts to comprehend depression were only apparently undertaken during the time of the Hellenistic Greeks. Later part of history revealed that the growth of psychiatric or psychological science was hampered due to society’s closed mindedness and lack of concern for the mentally ill. Nevertheless, with the sporadic studies now and then, it was discovered that depression was once called â€Å"melancholia† and scientists made quite commendable documentation of the symptoms they observed among melancholic persons (Hollon, 2002).The causes of depression are often summarized into the three classifications of neurobiology, genetics and environment. Neurobiological factors pertain to the abnormalities in neurotransmitters and hormones that affect mood, manner of handling stress, and perspective of traumatic situations. Genetics, as the name implies, refers to the inheritance of potential depression-causing gene traits within the family.There is no solid proof of the existence of this gene so far, although there are relevant studies made to suggest that genetics may indeed play a role. Besides the number of cases of within-family depression speaks for itself. The last factor, triggers environmental depression brought about by emotionally taxing events that are not easily forgotten or set aside, so that it comes to haunt the person and affect his normal life. Depression may also be learned when the thought of powerlessness is so internalised. The person feels depressed with that thought that whatever actions will not merit any change or improvement.ConclusionHealth Plans generally fall into three categories based on how they are organized to deliver/pay for care. HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) deliver services through provider networks and may use a member’s primary care provider as a ‘gatekeeper’ to more specialized services. PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations) generally allow access to any provider, with some cost savings to a member for using providers in the network. Indemnity plans are traditional insurance products with defined cash payments, and no network limitations.At present, prevalent types of Health Plans are HMOs and PPOs   (Health Plan). Effective policy and decision-making cannot be made in a vacuum, and is committed to providing the most comprehensive data possible. Taking that into consideration, public Health Plan performance must be well studied and its data analyzed. The HMO as well as other health care delivery systems must unite in order to address this issue since they are all important and adequate means of health care for many consumers with mental health problems.REFERENCESBeck. A. (1967). Depression. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Grnblatt, E. (2006, November 3). Depression; New depression research has b een reported   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   by scientists at Ludwig Boltzmann Institute. Genomics & Genetics Weekly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved Feb. 8, 2007   http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1151092561&Fmt=3&clientId=11123&RQT=309&VName=PQDHollon, D.S., Thase, M.E. & Markowitz, J.C. (2002, November). Treatment and Prevention of Depression. Psychological Science, 3,   39. Retrieved Feb. 8, 2007   Ã‚  Ã‚  at: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=233500451&sid=5&Fmt=2&cli entId=11123&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Thoreau, Franklin, and Byrd †Differences in skin color English Literature Essay

Thoreau, Franklin, and Byrd – Differences in skin color English Literature Essay Free Online Research Papers Thoreau, Franklin, and Byrd Differences in skin color English Literature Essay From the strong words of Thoreau in â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government† in which he claims he is unable to recognize a government that allows slavery, to the understanding words of Franklin concerning Native Americans. It is clear that many transcendentalist and early American authors called for the abolishment of slavery and the end of unfair treatment of Native Americans. However, the reading does give examples of those who have not progressed enough to view those with different color skin as being anymore then a farm hand or a savage. Benjamin Franklin’s statements in â€Å"Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America† leave no room for interpretation or negative judgment when looking at the lives or social structure of Native Americans. Even his opening line calls into question the prejudgments that correspond with most any reader who would find this work for the first time. His precise statement does not give room for someone to question the manners of Native Americans as he himself does not want to be questioned. This strong sense of understanding was probably cultured during Franklin’s many years over seas where he was the one looked down on for having a different idea of civility. William Apess, whom wrote â€Å"An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man† pleads to Americans to look past skin color and look at principles. At the same time Apess tells the reader of those cruelties done to Native Americans and not to trust the judgment of others. He calls into question those who have claimed them to be unholy, or merely savages. Apess urges he readers not to hold a double standard for cruel behavior and for them wander out into these lands to decide for themselves who is causing problems. Apess also makes claim that it is the same God who created the white man and the Indian. He sees their abilities to be the same and should only be judged by God. This calls to a higher sense of morality in those people who are torturing and killing in the name of God. It calls to question their real motivation. For if they were attempting to show them the way of God they would not spread disease, famine, and death but rather they would teach those in need of help. Apess shows the reader that earthly wants and desire is the only real motivator for the destruction that white men have caused. In contrast to this strong sense of right there is William Byrd. From reading â€Å"The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover† you see that he is not a man seeking to uncover justice for his slaves. He is aware of their presence and shows concern if they are sick or unable to work. But not from the perspective of someone who has empathy but rather as a manager must keep his employees working in order to have production at its highest point. He does show the reader empathy for his wife and a solid understanding of her desires. So without a doubt his heart feels, but only through the strong filters that racism has created. The reading has shown many progressive thinkers who are not afraid to risk putting their name to works that threaten the very fabric of westward expansion and southern economy. Their strong convictions about right and wrong are still worth reading today. How great a place this country would truly be if America was able to see its people for their accomplishments and not their manners, skin color, origin, or sex. Research Papers on Thoreau, Franklin, and Byrd - Differences in skin color English Literature EssayMind TravelBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm X19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsWhere Wild and West MeetCapital PunishmentTrailblazing by Eric AndersonResearch Process Part One

Life and Work of Roy Lichtenstein, Pop Art Pioneer

Life and Work of Roy Lichtenstein, Pop Art Pioneer Roy Lichtenstein  (born Roy Fox Lichtenstein; October 27, 1923  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  September 29, 1997) was one of the most prominent figures in the Pop Art movement in the United States. His use  of  comic book art as source material to create large-scale works in the Ben-Day dot method became a trademark of his work. Throughout his career, he explored art in a wide range of media, from painting to sculpture and even film. Fast Facts: Roy Lichtenstein Occupation:  ArtistBorn:  October 27, 1923 in New York City, New YorkDied:  September 29, 1997 in New York City, New YorkEducation:  Ohio State University, M.F.A.Notable Works:  Masterpiece  (1962),  Whaam!  (1963),  Drowning Girl (1963),  Brushstrokes  (1967)Key Accomplishments:  American Academy of Arts and Letters (1979), National Medal of the Arts (1995)Spouse(s):  Isabel Wilson (1949-1965), Dorothy Herzka (1968-1997)Children:  David Lichtenstein, Mitchell LichtensteinFamous Quote:  I like to pretend that my art has nothing to do with me. Early Life and Career Born and raised in New York City, Roy Lichtenstein was the oldest child of an upper-middle-class Jewish family. His father, Milton Lichtenstein, was a successful real estate broker, and his mother Beatrice was a homemaker. Roy attended public school until he was 12  years old. He then attended a private college preparatory high school until he graduated in 1940.   Lichtenstein discovered his love of art in school. He played piano and clarinet, and was a  fan of jazz music. He  often drew images of jazz musicians and their instruments. While in high school, Lichtenstein enrolled in summer classes of the Art Students League of New York City, where his primary mentor was the painter Reginald Marsh. In September 1940, Roy entered Ohio State University, where he studied art and other subjects. His primary influences were Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt, and he  often stated that Picassos Guernica was his favorite painting. In 1943, World War II interrupted Roy Lichtensteins education. He served for three years in the U.S. Army and continued as a student at Ohio State University in 1946 with assistance from the G.I. bill. Hoyt L. Sherman, one of his professors, had a significant influence on the young artists future development. Lichtenstein earned his Master of Fine Arts from Ohio State in 1949. Early Success Lichtenstein had his first solo show in New York City in 1951,  years after he graduated from Ohio State. His work at the time fluctuated between Cubism and Expressionism. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio, for six years, then in 1957 returned to New York, where he briefly dabbled in abstract expressionism. Lichtenstein took a position teaching at Rutgers University in 1960. One of his colleagues, Alan Kaprow, a pioneer of performance art, became a new significant influence. In 1961, Roy Lichtenstein produced his first pop paintings. He incorporated the comic style of printing with Ben-Day dots to create the painting Look Mickey, featuring the characters Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Reportedly, he was responding to a challenge by one of his sons, who pointed at Mickey Mouse in a comic book and said, I bet you cant paint as good as that, eh, Dad? In 1962, Lichtenstein had a solo show at the Castelli Gallery in New York City. All of his pieces were purchased  by influential collectors before the show even opened. In 1964, amid his growing fame, Lichtenstein resigned from his faculty position at Rutgers to concentrate on his painting. Emergence as a Pop Artist   In 1963, Roy Lichtenstein created two of the best-known works of his entire career: Drowning Girl and Whaam!, both of which  were adapted from DC comic books. Drowning Girl, in particular, exemplifies his  approach to creating pop art pieces out of existing comic art. He cropped the original image to make a new dramatic statement, and  used a shorter, and more direct, version of the text from the original comic. The massive increase in size gives the piece a very different impact from the original comic  book panel. Much like Andy Warhol, Lichtensteins work generated questions about the nature and interpretation of art. While some celebrated the audacity of his work, Lichtenstein was heavily criticized by those who argued that his pieces were empty copies of something that already existed. Life magazine ran an article in 1964 titled, Is He the Worst Artist in the U.S.? The relative lack of emotional engagement in his work was seen as a slap in the face to the soul-baring approach of abstract expressionism.   In 1965, Lichtenstein  abandoned the use of  comic book images as primary source material.  Some critics are still bothered by the fact that royalties were never paid to the artists who created the original images used in Lichtensteins large-scale works.   In the 1960s, Roy Lichtenstein also created cartoon-style works with Ben-Day dots that reinterpreted classic paintings by art masters, including  Cezanne, Mondrian, and Picasso. In the latter part of the decade, he created series of paintings that depicted comic-style versions of brushstrokes.  The works took the most elemental form of traditional painting and turned it into a pop art object, and were intended to be a send-up of abstract expressionisms emphasis on gestural painting. Later Life In 1970, Roy Lichtenstein bought a former carriage house in Southampton, Long Island, New York. There, Lichtenstein  built a studio and spent most of the rest of the decade out of the public spotlight. He included representations of his older works in some of his new paintings. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, he also worked on still lifes, sculptures, and drawings.   Late in his career, Lichtenstein received  commissions for large-scale public works. These works include the 26-foot  Mural with Blue Brushstrokes at New Yorks Equitable Center, created in 1984, and the 53-foot Times Square Mural for the New Yorks Times Square Bus Station, created in 1994. The corporate logo for Dreamworks Records, commissioned by David Geffen and Mo Ostin, was Lichtensteins last completed commission before his death. Lichtenstein died of pneumonia on  September 29, 1997  after several weeks of hospitalization. Legacy Roy Lichtenstein was one of the leading figures in the Pop Art movement. His method of turning ordinary comic strip panels into monumental pieces was his way of elevating what he felt were dumb cultural artifacts. He referred to pop art as industrial painting, a term that reveals the movements roots in mass production of common images.   The monetary value of Roy Lichtensteins work continues to increase. The  1962 painting Masterpiece  which sold for $165 million in 2017, features a cartoon bubble whose text is seen as a wry prediction of Lichtensteins fame: My, soon you will have all of New York clamoring for your work. Sources Wagstaff, Sheena.  Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective.  Yale University Press, 2012.Waldman, Diane.  Roy Lichtenstein. Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1994.

Genius Quotes of Galileo Galilei

Genius Quotes of Galileo Galilei Italian inventor and astronomer, Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564, and died on January 8, 1642. Galileo has been called the Father of the Scientific Revolution. The scientific revolution refers to a period of time (roughly from 1500 to 1700) of great advancement in the sciences that challenged the traditional beliefs about mankinds place and relationship with the universe held by religious orders. On God Scriptures To understand the quotes of Galileo Galilei concerning God and religion we have to understand the times Galileo lived in, an age of transition between religious belief and scientific reason. Galileo received his higher education at a Jesuit monastery beginning at the age of eleven, religious orders provided one of the few sources of advanced education at that time. The Jesuits priests made a great impression on the young Galileo, so much so that at the age of seventeen he announced to his father that he wanted to become a Jesuit. His father immediately removed Galileo from the monastery, not wanting his son to pursue the unprofitable career of becoming a monk. Religion and science were both intertwined and at odds during Galileos lifetime, the late 16th century and early 17th century. For example, a serious discussion among academics at that time, was about the size and shape of hell as depicted in the poem Dantes Inferno. Galileo gave a well-received lecture on the topic, including his scientific opinion about how tall Lucifer was. As a result, Galileo was given a position at the University of Pisa based on favorable reviews of his talk. Galileo Galilei remained a profoundly religious man through his lifetime, he found no conflict with his spiritual beliefs and his studies of science. However, the church did find conflict and Galileo had to answer to charges of heresy in church court more than once. At the age of sixty-eight, Galileo Galilei was tried for heresy for supporting the science that the earth rotated around the sun, the Copernican model of the solar system. The Catholic church supported the geocentric model of the solar system, where the sun and the rest of the planets all rotate around a central non-moving earth. Fearing torture at the hands of the church inquisitors, Galileo made a public confession that he had been wrong to have said that the Earth moves around the Sun. After making his false confession, Galileo quietly mumbled the truth: And yet, it moves. With the battle between science and church that occurred during Galileos lifetime in mind, consider the following quotes from Galileo Galilei about God and the scriptures The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go.I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved.It vexes me when they would constrain science by the authority of the Scriptures, and yet do not consider themselves bound to answer reason and experiment.I think that in the discussion of natural problems we ought to begin not with the Scriptures, but with experiments, and demonstrations.By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox.Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.What ever the course of our lives, we should receive them as the highest gift from the hand of God, in which equally reposed the power to do nothing whatever for us. Indeed, we should accept misfortune not only in thanks but in infinite gratitude to Providence, which by such means detaches us from an excessive love for Earthly things and elevates our minds to the celestial and divine. On Astronomy Galileo Galileis contributions to the science of astronomy included; supporting Copernicuss view that the Sun was the center of the solar system, not the Earth, and advancing the use of the newly-invented telescope by observing sun spots, proving that the Moon had mountains and craters, discovering the four moons of Jupiter, and proving that Venus goes through phases. The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.The Milky Way is nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters. The Study of Science Galileos scientific achievements include inventing: an improved telescope, a horse-powered pump to raise water, and a water thermometer. Facts which at first seem improbable will, even on scant explanation, drop the cloak which has hidden them and stand  forth in naked and simple beauty.In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.Where the senses fail us, reason must step in.Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not. With Regards to Philosophy I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldnt learn something from him.We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.Passion is the genesis of genius.There are those who reason well, but they are greatly outnumbered by those who reason badly.

Domestic versus Transnational Terrorism Assignment

Domestic versus Transnational Terrorism - Assignment Example Russian radicals in the 1870s explained that in modern times terrorism defines massive killings of humans through a statement issued politically by nongovernmental political actors. Pacific Tibetan Buddhists among the Chinese are vicious terrorists. Terrorism is the increasing conditions of war, murder, and torture of human beings. This paper will cover the causes of terrorism, terrorist groups, a comparison of the domestic terrorist group ISIS, their origins, goals, methodologies, tactics, and ideologies. Since the taking over of Mosul by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a state of confusion has increased in the whole world regarding its origin, goals, tactics, objectives, and their nature of attacks. These extreme terrorist attacks have posed a serious threat to peace and security in the whole world. Ongoing recruitments of the young people to these terror groups have threatened the growth and development of many nations (Idachaba, 2015). Terror groups are common in their attacks since they are involved in high jacking of airlines, bombing government buildings, taking over some communities, abducting and kidnapping school children, beheading people among other terror attacks. Terrorism occurs because of religious differences, oppression, grievances that are historical, disobeying international laws, and extreme deprivations of country’s resources resulting in poverty. Expressions of hate in the economic hegemony, profits, frightening, discrimination against the race of people, guilt from certain associations, high and increasing levels of mortality, and extreme anger also cause terrorism in a country (Imre, 2008). The above actions when practised by terror groups cause fear, trembling, panic, and mass deaths among victims. Nongovernmental political actors affect these terrorist practices on human beings.   Terrorist groups are divided into foreign terrorist organizations and domestic terrorist organizations. Examples of foreign terrorist groups include Abe Nidal Organisations, Al-Shabaab, Army of Islam, and Palestine Liberation Front among others. Domestic terrorist organizations include Alpha 66, Army of God, Greenpeace, Jamaal ul-Fuqra among others.     

Is watchmen a good book for education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Is watchmen a good book for education - Essay Example Its setting is in the alternate United States history where these superheroes strongly emerge to assist the US win the Vietnam War during the 1940s and 1960s (Harvey, 1996, p. 66). The nuclear war is looming close by between the United States and the Soviet Union, with most of the costumed freelance vigilantes outlawed and the costumed superheroes are either serving the government or have retired. The story therefore mainly focuses on the protagonists’ struggles and personal development. The sudden murder of a superhero under the government’s sponsorship begins investigations which eventually pulls the protagonist from their retirement leading them into war to confront a discovered plot intended to start a nuclear war meant to destroy millions of innocent people. As we shall soon find out, the ‘watchmen’ is no doubt a book that should be used as an educational material because it covers many facets of the literally requirements. Although it was initially designed and written as a mere comic book to provide aesthetical satisfaction of its time, it doesn’t have many rivals of its nature to match. The entire plot, setting, characters, the theme, figurative language, and science-art fiction interrelations are just but a few features of this book that eminently presents themselves even to a layman reader as masterfully structured pieces. In addition, the more perceptions of different categories of personalities are well integrated in the book to give the reader a high degree of determining and comprehending the ones which are more comprehensible than others. This book therefore acts as an individual ethic meter. The ‘watchmen’ is very appropriate to use as a literally educational books it cuts across many boundaries of human life in general. For example, its composition and art aspect can, to some extent be equated to the classical or even oriental literally works. Not only does it enumerate the comic

Leadership Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership Management - Assignment Example One time I managed to collect the most medical bills for the company that was, in fact, a record. No one had exceeded receiving over $10,000 in a month for the company. I broke the barrier and collected over $12,000 of medical bills (bad debts). It was my supervisor who recognized and rewarded me for my effort. I used to report directly to this person. Any discrepancy or a problem in the workflow was reported directly to him. I did not receive any extra monetary recognition for my efforts. My direct supervisor was usually a reticent person. He never verbally praised anyone before. When he praised me, it made it unique to me and for my peers. On the day when we got our reports he walked into the room. All the employees were sitting at their workstations busy with work. Suddenly he announced my name and asked me to stand up. Then he read the report of my performance. With a smile, he announced my collections for the month. All the other employees started cheering and clapping. I have chosen to cite this experience here because it was unique and therefore memorable. In our medical bill collection company, such recognition or reward system was unknown before. Employees would just work get their paychecks and go back to their homes. But this was the first time when they realized that they were adding value to the company. We felt like we were an essential part of the organization. My efforts also made my supe rvisor happy because our department received additional funds for better performance than the other departments. When I received the recognition, it made me feel proud of myself. Ironically, the things that do not cost money are usually the most effective (Nelson, page I). I started believing in myself. Before this occurrence, I never considered myself worthy of such a competition. There were more experienced professionals and peers working in the same department. I was of the mind that I could never beat them at their game. But I did not only beat them

Executive Diploma in Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Executive Diploma in Management - Essay Example In the following case the seven part model is applied to Southwest Airlines Strategy: Southwest Airlines has been in a business of low cost carriers operating .Their mission is to â€Å"To operate in a cost-effective and environmentally beneficial way while conserving environmental resources.†The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit. The competition included United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Although, railway and buses can be a substitute too. The strategy of Southwest thus revolves around this mission. It follows a low cost niche strategy with frequent flights in underutilized places and close in to a metropolitan. Southwest has simpler and cheap travel plans. The low cost strategy is followed by flying just one type of plane, the Boeing 737 series. That saves Southwest millions in maintenance costs, which includes spare-parts inventories, mechanic training and other nuts-and-bolts airline issues. SWA follows point-to-point flying. Most of the time it flies nonstop between two points. Costs are cut by less time that planes sits on the ground and also allows the average Southwest aircraft to be in the air for more than an hour longer each day. Southwests avoid-the-hubs strategy also pays dividends in the case of on-time operations. SWA has simple on-flight service. There is just one class of service on flight with no assigned seats. There are no meals just beverages and snacks SWA also follows a no frills, no fees. The airline only sells one-way fares and only in a few ranges of price. It keeps costs down and saves cost as complex fare structures are expensive to manage. Structure: The HR dept forms the bridge between all department ensuring cooperation and coordination between them. The department does an amazing job in continually feeding back information to employees

The Concepts of Moral Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Concepts of Moral Development - Assignment Example The concept of Kohlberg’s moral development is explained in 3 levels and each level is classified into two stages. STAGE 1: â€Å"Wrong or immoral actions are determined by punishments†.   Example: Punctuality is considered an important aspect of the performance evaluation of an employee. The employee that comes late to the office is considered as wrong action and employee gets punishment on such actions. Generally, salary deduction is the punishment for late timings. Here the salary deduction is indicating that coming late is considered as an immoral action in the company.      STAGE 2: â€Å"Right actions are determined by rewards†. Example: According to Kohlberg’s view, rewards are the justification of the employee’s good performance in the company. Sales employee in the company is rewarded with extra benefits when he or she makes more than a sales target. In this case, extra benefits are rewards for efficient performance.      STAGE 3: â€Å"Good behavior is the reflection of good intentions† Example: Employee realizes that drinking alcohol in the office during the lunch timings is an immoral action because it decreases the efficiency and productivity at the workplace. Employee’s positive concerned behavior towards work efficiency is the justification of his/her good intentions for the company.      STAGE 4: Compliance to authority, Significance of â€Å"doing one’s duty†. Example: Human resource employee is against the firing of production labor but he/she decided not to protest in the company without the permission of management. The sense of obedience to the authority of HR employee is justifying that he/she is maintaining social order. STAGE 5: â€Å"Recognizing that rules can be changed in order to adapt differences in moral and legal rights†. Example: Sometimes it can be seen that organizations perform activities like tax evasion, so the employee realizes that this should be change and organization should pay taxes to the government to encourage the application of equal distribution of wealth in the country.      STAGE 6: â€Å"Considering every Individual’s view based on conscience regarding any moral decision†. Example: A person refuses to obey the law of the society which treats a major portion of the population as second-class citizens.

Executive Diploma in Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Executive Diploma in Management - Essay Example In the following case the seven part model is applied to Southwest Airlines Strategy: Southwest Airlines has been in a business of low cost carriers operating .Their mission is to â€Å"To operate in a cost-effective and environmentally beneficial way while conserving environmental resources.†The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit. The competition included United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Although, railway and buses can be a substitute too. The strategy of Southwest thus revolves around this mission. It follows a low cost niche strategy with frequent flights in underutilized places and close in to a metropolitan. Southwest has simpler and cheap travel plans. The low cost strategy is followed by flying just one type of plane, the Boeing 737 series. That saves Southwest millions in maintenance costs, which includes spare-parts inventories, mechanic training and other nuts-and-bolts airline issues. SWA follows point-to-point flying. Most of the time it flies nonstop between two points. Costs are cut by less time that planes sits on the ground and also allows the average Southwest aircraft to be in the air for more than an hour longer each day. Southwests avoid-the-hubs strategy also pays dividends in the case of on-time operations. SWA has simple on-flight service. There is just one class of service on flight with no assigned seats. There are no meals just beverages and snacks SWA also follows a no frills, no fees. The airline only sells one-way fares and only in a few ranges of price. It keeps costs down and saves cost as complex fare structures are expensive to manage. Structure: The HR dept forms the bridge between all department ensuring cooperation and coordination between them. The department does an amazing job in continually feeding back information to employees

WE 5 AL &WE Response CRJ 545 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WE 5 AL &WE Response CRJ 545 - Essay Example It is clear that gathering enough evidence is the goal of any investigator. However, this cannot be achieved when an investigator(s) overlook some of the evidence such as impression evidence. Such evidence can help in identification of the perpetrator of any crime. For example, such kind of evidence may help in identifying the number of perpetrators and the place of entry and exit of the perpetrators. However, the impression evidence may exhibit some weaknesses. For example, even after gathering such evidence it will only be useful if the perpetrator is available for comparison purposes. The paper helps in highlighting various types of evidence that can be made available in the trial processes. The different types of evidence play a significant role in conviction or acquittal of the accused. One of special interest is the forensic evidence. I have realized that the forensic evidence requires strict handling before it is admissible in any trial process. Any mishandling of the evidence can lead to a person that is guilty being set free. Therefore, extra caution and attention is required when handling this type of evidence. The interview highlights a number of things in the collection and presentation of evidence. The interview has also highlighted several issues for a person that wants to pursue a career in crime investigation needs to know. First, the interview helps in showing the importance of science in conviction or acquittal of a person. For example, DNA technology has played a significant role in the trial of various cases. I have also realized that experience plays a significant role in relevance and collection of evidence. Moreover, it is clear that the medical examiner plays a crucial role in unraveling of murder cases. The paper plays a role in highlighting the essence of incorporating the traditional and modern ways of gathering and analyzing evidence. The latent print examiner has simplified the

Challenges Faced by Hr Management Essay Example for Free

Challenges Faced by Hr Management Essay Challenges faced by HR management when significant staff cutbacks occur and how they should be addressed Downsizing is never easy on the Human Resource department. In fact, if not handled properly, it could be detrimental to the overall organization. Here are some challenges that come along with downsizing: Addressing the shifting morale and needs of the surviving employees, maintaining the productivity and profitability of the organization, and retaining skilled, and qualified employees. Staff cutbacks can leave the surviving employees feeling demoralized, bitter, angry, and in shock. One role of Human Resource Management is to act as an employee advocate. In a time of workforce reduction, communicating with employees as well as acknowledging their concerns and fears, can work to rebuild the employee’s sense of security in the workplace and help him/her to reengage in the culture of the organization. Through strategic Human Resource Management and planning, the shared values and beliefs of the organization can be reinforced to its employees and the collective value of the capabilities, knowledge, skills, life experiences, and motivation of the organizational workforce can be retained. Once there has been a major reduction in force within an organization, productivity and profitability becomes a main target of Human Resource management. One HR strategy would be to give more hours and responsibility to existing workers. However, eventually employees will become overworked and productivity will suffer. Utilizing alternative tactics such as hiring contingent or temporary workers is a strategic HR plan to maintain productivity and profitability while not having to pay the cost of benefits. Reducing turnover of qualified and skilled employees is an ongoing effort of Human Resource Management. Employees who survive workforce cuts tend to disengage the culture of the organization because they have lost faith in the organization being a lifetime employer. When an organization goes through a massive layoff process, the employee retention efforts of Human Resource Management could intensify. Employee retention efforts may include, constantly communicating with employees, and paying attention to surviving employees. As an example of a strategic Human Resource plan to hold on to skilled employees, an alternative work arrangement such as telecommuting might be offered to a worker. The functionality of Human Resources is always changing to meet the ever evolving needs of an organization. For example, when Xerox decided to downsize, the function of Human Resources became environmental scanning strategic planning. The restructuring goal however, included more than just a reduction in force. It was determined that the Human Resource entity needed to be streamlined and become a more efficient part of the organization. As a result, the use of technology, and maintaining employee retention was the core that developed HR into a more strategic part of the Xerox organization. There are two purposes that HR technology serves in an organization. The first is to improve the efficiency of employee data and HR activities collection. At Xerox, the use of HR technology has been instrumental in making HR services more accessible to their workforce. The second purpose of HR technology is to capture a greater degree of informational data that enables HR planning and managerial decision making. Again, Xerox made use of this aspect by supplying intranet employee surveys and tracking employee views on the company and HR. The information gathered allowed HR and managers to address areas that received lower scores on the survey. These efforts by the company and the HR department have had an effect on employee retention at Xerox. As stated earlier, reducing turnover of qualified and skilled employees is an ongoing effort of Human Resource Management. Xerox has made retaining especially high-potential employees a priority. Organizations have found that keeping good employees can be a challenge. However, in an effort to keep skilled and or high performing employees engaged and embracing the organizational culture and HR values of an organization, some employers will offer incentives. Employers, such as Xerox, will invest in employee training and development. Although this can be a double edge sword by potentially making an employee more marketable for other organizations, employers have found that when they invest in employees through job training and or monetary compensation, employee job satisfaction increases and employees are more likely to stay. In addition, employees who are engaged in an organization are more likely to be top performers and miss fewer work days. In summation, both technology and employee retention are key in HR development because they both lend to the culture of an organization. 1. Technology by improving the administrative efficiency of HR, and the responsiveness of HR to employees and managers. 2. Employee retention by maintaining employees who through their experience and loyalty to the organization, becomes a core competency and perpetuates the values and cultures to newer employees.

Analysis of Information Technology Role for Global Retailer

Analysis of Information Technology Role for Global Retailer PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of report: This report has been requested by Mr Frank Hedge, the CEO of Myer Department Stores- Australia. The reports purpose is to investigate and analyse the strategic role of information technology (IT) to Myers business, including an IT infrastructure audit. Cloud computing is evaluated, and recommendations made for its partial adoption. 1.2 Limitations: This report is limited by the lack of IT infrastructure details provided by Myer. Assumptions were made when required, to enable completion of the report. 1.3 Scope of the report: This report focuses on Myer and the potential use of cloud computing within its IT infrastructure. Divided into four main sections, the report covers Myer; IT infrastructure challenges; cloud computing costs/ benefits and recommendations for cloud computing adoption. It has been compiled from research literature and phone/email interviews with two Myer store managers. 1.4) Myer and its industry Homepage URL; http://www.myer.com.au/ Myer is Australias largest department store group with 65 stores and approximately 14,000 employees. It is present in 25 of Australias top 30 retail centres and attracted 185 million customers in 2009 (Myer 2010). Myer generated net profits of $106.8 million for the first half of the 2011 financial year (AAP 2011). Myer operates across major segments of the Australian non-food retail industry as a department store chain. This industry consists of four segments; household goods, clothing soft goods, department stores and other (eg newspapers, books) (Myer 2010). Myer competes with other department stores, discount department stores, and single store operators as well as internet retailers and direct retailers. Within the department store segment, David Jones is Myers main competition though the former targets a slightly higher income group (Myer 2010). Competition exists with other retailers on price, store location, product range and customer service. Additionally, consumer demand hinges on factors such as disposable income which are sensitive to macroeconomic conditions eg interest rate rises (Myer 2010). The industry has struggled recently, due to weak consumer confidence and increased competition from cheaper overseas internet retailers (GST free and strong Australian Dollar) (Brooks 2010). 1.5) Myers products services: Myer offers approximately 600 000 product lines from 800 suppliers globally including categories such as; clothing; beauty and cosmetics; electrical and homewares (Myer 2010). Myer provides additional products and services such as; Myer One customer loyalty program, over 3 million members. Gift cards Myer corporate sales- eg corporate gifts, office fit outs, VIP nights Insurance (home, contents, travel, car) Bridal gift registry Myer Visa Card (Myer 2010). 1.6) Myers corporate mission corporate structure: ‘At Myer we strive to offer customers a wide and relevant choice of brands, rewards and ideas in a way that makes them feel both welcome and inspired, (Myer 2010, p.3). Myers corporate structure is shown in Figure 1.1. Head office operates under a hybrid of divisional (eg apparel, electrical division) and functional groups (Finance, marketing etc). A national retail store manager oversees regional store managers, who oversee individual store managers. Head office functional groups, directly manage their particular function (eg HR) in the individual stores (Myer 2010; S Johnson 2011, pers. comm., 20 April). (Adapted from: Myer 2010, pp. 25-7). 1.7) Myers major business processes: Laudon and Laudon (2010), note business processes are sets of activities to produce a product or service. Due to its variety of offer, Myer has many business processes such as; Sourcing product to offer in store. Automating administrative processes. Reducing stock theft. Creating visual merchandise displays. Analysing potential sites for new stores. Refurbishing existing stores. Making sales (Myer 2010). 1.8) Myers business strategy Myer has invested substantially in its business since 2006 ($500 million) realizing a world class supply chain, improved retail execution and focused customer service (competitive advantages) (Myer 2010). Myer aims for additional margin and sales growth using specific strategies of; Opening 15 new stores in next five years. Revitalizing instore environments for a better customer experience. Expanding the Myer One program. Implementing a new point of sale system (POS) improving productivity customer service. Implementing a CCTV system to reduce losses (Myer 2010). 1.9) Myers relationships with external entities: Myer has significant relationships with a variety of entities which include; Its 800 global suppliers (Myer 2010). Global sourcing offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai (Algar 2011). Partnership with Melbourne Institute of Technology for paid internship for students (RMIT 2011). Myers involved with philanthropic and community programs including children and womens charities and Melbourne Christmas Carols (Myer 2010). PART 2: IT INFRASTRUCTURE: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES(727 words) 2.1) Description of Myers IT infrastructure: Laudon and Laudon (2010 p. 191) describe IT infrastructure as, ‘the shared technology resources that provide the platform for the firms specific information system applications. It includes investment in hardware, software, and services†¦that are shared across the entire firm†¦. Myers IT infrastructure was analysed according to Laudon and Laudons (2010 p. 203) model which comprises of seven components. The required information was obtained from Myers Head Office IT department and interviews with two store managers (Appendix 1). A summary of each component is presented in Table 2.1. The IT infrastructure differs between head office and individual stores, due to centralization (Slotty 2009). TABLE 2.1 Summary of Myers IT infrastructure ecosystem. (Adapted: Myer IT department; Interview with two Myer Store managers 2011). The key findings from the analysis of Myers IT infrastructure presented above, are as follows; Computer hardware platforms: Client machines (desktops) are not standardized across Myer. A small number of servers exist at multiple locations (65 stores) doing replicated tasks (localized data storage, networking etc). Operating system platforms: Client and server machine software is licensed per computer with Windows variability on client machines. Large information asymmetry exists between managers and sales staff due to their limited access to software (Laudon Laudon 2010). Enterprise software applications: While an intranet portal exists to link to Myers applications, only newer applications (eg Mymerch- merchandising, POS) are fully integrated. Many legacy systems remain isolated and not integrated. Networking/Telecommunications: Myer operates both analog (phone system) and digital (data) networks using two providers (Telstra and IBM). While Myer accesses the internet, it also operates private networks (intranet) in the form of LANs and WANs. Networking is not possible between individual stores. Consultants System Integrators: Integration and implementation of new IT infrastructure is outsourced to IBM, including training. Data management storage: While the majority of Myers data is stored with a third party vendor, localized data storage occurs at individual stores (65). Internet platforms: Physical infrastructure and maintenance of Myers website is outsourced to third parties. Information asymmetry exists, with very limited access to internet for individual stores. Myers network infrastructure is further illustrated in Figure 2.1, which outlines information flows. Note information does not flow between stores, only between stores and head office. (Adapted: Myer IT department; Interview with two Myer Store managers 2011). 2.2) The issues and challenges of managing Myers IT infrastructure: Myer faces several challenges and issues in managing its IT infrastructure. Laudon and Laudon (2010) identify challenges arising from platform and technology change, management and governance and investing in infrastructure prudently. These challenges are also influenced by the strategic role of IT to the business and the impact of the industry in which the organization operates. By revisiting section 1.8 it can be seen that IT plays an important strategic role in achieving Myers medium term goals of increased operating margins and sales growth by; Facilitating increased supplier and sales volumes from new store initiatives (eg hardware and software required). Optimizing productivity, cost savings and customer satisfaction via implementation of new applications (POS system and CCTV loss prevention system). Catering for an expanded Myer One loyalty program (increased data storage and analysis needs for targeted marketing) (Myer 2010). As a result of ITs important strategic role, the challenges of managing Myers IT infrastructure are intensified. This is best demonstrated by specific examples; The challenge of platform and infrastructure change: To best accommodate expected future growth, improved productivity, cost efficiencies and increased data needs, infrastructure components need to be easily scalable (Armbrust et al 2010). This will be particularly true with regards to Myers hardware software platforms, its enterprise software applications and its networking, internet and data storage platforms. Currently, significant pressures exist within Myers industry. Consumer spending is down and offshore internet retailers are offering cheaper prices due to the strong Australian dollar and absence of GST (Brooks 2010). This poses further challenges to Myer to adjust components of its IT infrastructure quickly to generate database driven marketing programs or improve its operating efficiencies (Myer 2010). If cloud computing platforms are considered as future components of Myers infrastructure, then appropriate use guidelines and practices will be needed. Service level agreements (SLAs) for example would commit cloud computing vendors to minimum levels of performance and reliability for Myers systems (Hinchcliffe 2009). The challenge of management and governance: The management and governance of Myers IT infrastructure is significant, considering its strategic role, further evidenced by the commitment of $500 million to its IT program since 2006 (Myer 2010). Aspects to be considered include the location of IT control (centralized or decentralized model), the allocation of IT costs to functional groups or stores, the strategies and policies for using IT and measuring effective return on IT investments (Laudon Laudon 2010). The challenge of investing in IT infrastructure prudently: Considering the significance of IT infrastructure for Myer as it seeks its business goals, this is a crucial challenge. Whether Myer should rent or buy its infrastructure components will be further investigated in section 4 of this report. (Laudon Laudon 2010) PART 3: CLOUD COMPUTING ITS BUSINESS BENEFITS COSTS(986 words) 3.1)An overview of Cloud Computing: Zhang et al. (2010) note cloud computing is not a new idea. While many definitions abound, from an organizations perspective, ‘Cloud computing is an architecture in which companies consume technology resources as an internet service rather than as an owned system (Brandel 2009, p. 1). Most people have already experienced cloud computing through the use of Hotmail, Gmail or Facebook (Wyld 2009). Recent improvements in internet bandwidth, virtualization of servers and storage, open source software, adoption of Web 2.0 standards, has pushed cloud computing strongly into the business sphere (Kennedy 2011). Mell and Grance (2011) claim that cloud computing consists of five crucial characteristics, three service models (software, platform and infrastructure as services) and four deployment models (private, community, public and hybrid clouds) which are outlined in Tables 3.1 and 3.2. Potentially cloud computing can deliver to a business most of its IT needs (from computing power to collaboration tools to software) as an on demand service, wherever and whenever required. As long as an internet connection exists, computing becomes location and device independent (Agger 2009). TABLE3.1 The crucial characteristics, and service models of cloud computing. (Adapted from: Mell Grance 2011, pp. 2-3; Department of Finance Deregulation 2011, pp. 12-3) TABLE3.2 The deployment models of cloud computing. (Adapted from: Mell Grance 2011, pp. 2-3; Department of Finance Deregulation 2011, pp. 12-3) 3.2) Current trends in Cloud Computing: Present studies suggest, ‘†¦the number of organizations using cloud computing to rise to 43% within four years as they continue to cut their costs (Cross 2011 p. 1). In addition to greater cloud computing use in general, there are several trends within cloud computing concerning areas such as; User type deployment models- ONeill (2011), notes small to medium enterprises using cloud computing are typically accessing public clouds for cost savings compared with private clouds. Alternatively larger enterprises use private clouds (third party or onsite) for greater control. Governments (federal level) are trialing SaaS and Ouellette (2011) believes state and local governments will soon follow. Purposes for using cloud services- Its principal use remains as a testing/developing environment and/or as a platform for less critical services and applications (Knorr Gruman 2010). Synder (in The Australian 2010) believes moving core applications to the cloud is still to come. ITs changing role- Hakala (2009) believes the need for IT workers performing maintenance tasks will contract as cloud computing is embraced and employees can ‘self serve directly from the cloud. Innovation- Cloud computing will continue to be a conduit for business innovation due to its low costs and rapid scalability of IT resources (Kennedy 2011; Information Age 2011) Pricing- Cloud computing pricing (especially commodity) continues to become cheaper and simpler for users. Thibodeau (2009) suggests models utilizing a set number of hours for a range of cloud services. SLAs improved security- Improving cloud computing reliability via strong service level agreements (SLAs) continues (Hinchcliffe 2009). Colley (2011) Violino (2010) expect most businesses will demand independent certification of cloud providers reliability in next few years. Cloud providers are targeting improved security to allay user concerns. Working groups such as the Cloud Security Alliance are focusing on this issue (Thibodeau 2009). Violino (2010) noted a need for better access control and identity management within and across clouds. Improved performance and service- The performance of cloud services rises, as more managed service providers enter the market (Ouellette 2011) and performance monitoring standardises (Thibodeau 2009). Typically IT staff connect cloud services individually, though cloud aggregators and integrators are emerging to smooth this barrier (Knorr Gruman 2010). 3.3) The business benefits of Cloud Computing: Cloud computing offers many benefits to business. Leighton (2009 p. 5) asserts, cloud computing will ‘transform the way IT is consumed and managed, promising improved cost efficiencies, accelerated innovation, faster time-to-market, and the ability to scale applications on demand. Sagari (c. 2010) notes the level of benefits cloud computing brings to an organization will vary dependant on the types of services utilized, the business processes evident and the degree of integration achieved. Major business benefits can include; Reduced costs (set up ongoing) * Increased flexibility response times Scalability increased efficiencies * Increased business focus. Increased innovation * Improved mobility Armbrust et al (2010) maintains, one of the most impressive benefits of cloud computing is scalability (elasticity of resources). The business pays for its hardware needs (servers, storage) on demand with the cloud providing great elasticity. Business needs can be scaled up or down as required, saving time, money and improving revenue in peak periods (Zhang et al. 2006; Waxer n.d.). Additional business benefits offered by cloud computing include; Smoothed cash flow * Increased strategic role for IT Reduced business risk * Improved sustainability. Greater computation power * Improved business continuity These benefits are further expanded in Appendix 2 with business examples and their references. 3.4) Cloud computing solutions for Myer: Section 4 details specific cloud computing recommendations to be adopted by Myer. In contrast, Table 3.3, outlines cloud computing solutions best suited to Myer for the aspect identified in column one. The reasons for these choices are as follows; Servers for serving applications- Amazon EC2 has been the market leader in this area and for good reason (Huang 2010). It exceeds Microsoft Azures new offering and it has a superior range of operating systems to use (eg Linux, Myer using), compared with Googles App Engine (Amazon 2011). Servers for storage- Amazon S3 was preferred over Microsoft Azure and Nirvanix for the reasons noted in Table 3.3 eg a price leader, very easy to use and highly reliable, SLA exceeding 99.99% (Huang 2010). Client productivity software- Microsofts new Office 365 retains the known office layout of which Myer staff are familiar. Additionally it incorporates email, calendar collaboration tools. Superior in features to Google Docs or Zoho (McAllister 2010). Private cloud- If recommended to Myer, Amazons virtual private cloud is a good solution. It integrates easily with a firms existing IT infrastructure, including firewalls and security systems (Amazon 2011). Applications- As an application development platform, Force.com has been suggested for its long history of business application development. Furthermore, to use this environment, subscription to Salesforce.com CRM applications are required, which may be beneficial to Myer (Force.com c.2011). TABLE 3.3Most suitable cloud computing solutions for Myer. (Adapted from: Amazon 2011;Force.com c. 2011; Microsoft 2011) 3.5) Costs of cloud computing to Myer: Typically the IT industry uses ‘Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to determine the total cost of a technology implementation (Laudon Laudon 2010). Table 3.4 provides an estimate of the costs to Myer in implementing the cloud computing solutions listed in Table 3.3. As can be seen, support, maintenance, space and energy costs pass to the cloud provider and hardware and software acquisition costs are essentially avoided. Some training costs of the IT staff involved in implementing and/or the staff using the cloud services would be incurred (Aggarwal McCabe 2009). A small amount of ongoing support to Office 365 users may also be required. Integration issues and costs are not expected, as the servers and software to be sourced via the cloud will not be critical systems. Additional infrastructure costs (eg bandwidth) resulting from cloud computings greater internet reliance, may occur. Downtime estimates from providers SLAs are less than typical IT departments of large companies ie 44hrs/yr (Mann 2010). Moving data into and out of Amazon S3 storage, will incur costs (Amazon 2011). Finally, Aggarwal and McCabe (2009), reported TCO savings of some 50% over four years, for medium sized businesses implementing CRM software from the cloud, compared with on-premise deployment. TABLE 3.4 Total cost of ownership (TCO) for Myers cloud computing solutions. (Adapted from: Laudon Laudon 2010, p. 224; Amazon 2011; Microsoft 2011; Force.com c.2011 ) PART 4: RECOMMENDATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING ADOPTION/ ADAPTION(785 words) 4.1) Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure Investment: Specific recommendations for the adoption of a cloud computing strategy by Myer will soon be made. These recommendations will be based on the preceding analysis and also take into account the ‘competitive forces model for IT infrastructure as described in Laudon and Laudon (2010 pp. 222-3). Table 4.1 summarises the main points of this model as it relates to Myer. TABLE 4.1: Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure investment of Myer Model components Outcome 1) Market demand for Myers services (eg customer, supplier enterprise): Myers point of sale (POS) system supply chain improvements are based on extensive research of their services. These systems improved efficiency speed, and are satisfying customers, suppliers staff (Tindal 2010) Information asymmetry especially with sales staff is affecting performance.

Phaedo Summary Essay -- essays research papers

Phaedo Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Socrates stands now before his disciples telling them he is not afraid of dying because he says death is what the true philosopher waits for all his life. The philosopher must have lived a good life, and when death is presented upon him, he should take the opportunity. Socrates formed a conclusion that: â€Å"That the real philosopher has reason to be of good cheer when he is about to die, and after death he may hope to obtain the greatest good of the world.† Socrates is saying that when death is presented upon him, he should have no reason but to be happy, and when that death comes; he will have achieved the best gift in the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Socrates states evidence of why he is not afraid of dying through multiple mini-conclusions. Socrates says to Simmias, â€Å"Why when his time comes should he repine at which he has always been pursuing and desiring?† Socrates is saying why should philosophers grieve at death when that should be the goal of their whole lives. He believes only philosophers can understand because he believes philosophers will be truly alive after death, and normal men will just die. Normal men do not know that true philosophers have always been pursuing death and dying, and the desire of death has been with them all their lives.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through out his whole testimony, Socrates states questions to his disciples already knowing the answers, but he...

English Phrasal Verbs Translation Into Russian and Finnish

| Article Summary| AEPS Reading, Writing & Spoken Communication – Language Centre – University of Helsinki| | | 20. 03. 2013| | The article represents a part of a research about English multi-word expressions and their translation equivalents in other languages. The research was important for different tasks such as language learning, translation, automatic multilingual lexicon etc. The article is a short review of English phrasal verbs and their translations to Russian and Finnish. English phrasal verbs are multi-word expressions consisting of a verb and an adverbial particle with a spatial or locative meaning.The meaning of this combination doesn’t depend on the individual meanings of its parts. The most frequent phrasal verb pattern is any form of lexical verb plus prepositional adverb/particle, and usually there can be a noun phrase, any pronoun or any adverb embedded between the verb and the adverb/particle. Neither Russian nor Finnish has phrasal verbs. Eng lish-Russian If there is an English phrasal verb with an adverb or particle, which on its own is a function word like in, on, up etc. , it is usually translated into Russian as verb with prefix, e. g. die down – , find out – .If a part of an English phrasal verb may act as a content word such as forward, behind, apart, together etc. , the Russian translation is often a verb + adverb combination, e. g. bring together – , leave behind – . However, some verbs of this group can be also expressed in Russian by prefixation, e. g. take apart – . In addition, if an English phrasal verb is highly idiomatic, the Russian translation will be either idiomatic expression or a lengthy explanation. English-Finnish Many English phrasal verbs can be translated as single Finnish verbs, e. g. ake up – herata, herattaa; move ahead – edeta. There are also phrases and idiomatic combinations in Finnish, which can be used as translations of English phrasal verbs, e. g. find out – saada selville, switch off  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ kytkea pois paalta. Sometimes we can use both techniques: hide away – piilottaa, panna piiloon, often the single-word expression is more formal. Often Finnish equivalent expressions and English phrasal verbs are morpho-syntactically close to each other, it is a result of influence from Swedish or other languages, e. g. : write down – kirjoittaa ylos. There can be also more native Finnish expression like kirjoittaa muistiin.There are also fixed combinations with object in Finnish to express English phrasal verbs, e. g. : tie  up – sitoa kengannauhat. Conclusion English phrasal verbs usually have a single-word translation equivalents in Russian and Finnish. The balance between single-word and multi-word expressions changes across languages. Reference: Mudraya, O. and Piao, S. and Lofberg, L. and Rayson, P. and Archer, D. (2005) English-Russian-Finnish cross-language comparison of phrasal verb translation equivalents. In: Phraseology 2005, 2005-10-132005-10-15, Lovain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

Logistics costs

Logistics cost form an important part of the overall cost structure in any organization. Focus needs to be on renegotiating freight and shipping rates, reduction in overall freight costs and streamlining operations. The following are the measures (ways) that can be used to reduce cost in logistics New carriers: The use of Constant market rate check is a best practice. Usually, logistics managers get into a comfort zone with the existing carriers. The organization should look on other carriers which offers lowest cost of transportation. Market rate check will bring to light other more economical perations.New carriers may be more flexible in their price. Freight costs: There are several options to optimize freight costs. Renegotiation of minimum billing to a minimum for a zone needs to be explored. Product delivery coordination is another useful tool to streamline freight costs. Arrangements with a number of smaller carriers also provide the best rate/best service combination. Interne t offers excellent tools for comparing and optimizing freight costs. Improve shipping and receiving: Streamlining shipping and receiving practices will offer savings. This can happen hrough reduction of long time for receiving.Starting point should be mandating delivery appointments. A flow chart needs to be made of all the operations to determine wasteful processes and combining existing processes. Technology: Internet tools enable substantial reduction in paperwork. Documents are scanned and emailed to customs, ports etc. In case of cross border trade, documents needs to reach at least twenty four hours in advance to avoid delays at the border. Technology also allows coordination of all shipments to optimize loading. This minimize delays in delivery. Managing returns: Reverse logistics is an important element of freight costs.Most companies offer a liberal returns policy. If the customer is not satisfied with the product, it can be returned in a certain period depending on the sel ler. At times, the seller also arranges to pick it up. There should be streamlined processes so as to minimize costs associated with reverse logistics. Audit of freight costs: Use specialized agencies that provide post payment audit of freight bills. These agencies are usually paid on a profit sharing basis. These audits also provide valuable insight nto patterns and other cost reduction opportunities.Deborah Catalano Ruriani explained other ways (measures) of Cost reduction as: 1 . Eliminate supply chain bottlenecks. By periodically reviewing and analyzing their supply chain networks, companies can be able to pinpoint issues and proactively address them. Strategies to reduce or eliminate bottlenecks include addressing vessel schedule planning, ensuring proper documentation and regulatory compliance for imports and exports, and revamping network design. 2. Reduce inventory at the port, manufacturing sites, and warehouses. Companies often stock excess inventory because they lack supp ly chain visibility.To effectively reduce excess inventory, you have to gain reliable information on future orders. Visibility software can help. 3. Cut demurrage and detention tines. While an occasional tine may not seem like much, these costs can add up. Auditing carrier bills and tracking where issues occur in the supply chain can substantially cut fine payments. 4. Identify opportunities to shift modes. Without adequate visibility into logistics operations, a company may not realize that an air shipment could move by sea at a much lower cost. Companies that use technology to evaluate modal options typically see a five- to eight-percent cost reduction. . Use postponement strategies to divert inventory at an international gateway. A successful postponement strategy can dramatically lower forecasting errors as well as improve customer service by reducing out-of-stocks. Companies also can cut transport costs by reducing inventory misallocations and shipping more items in bulk. 6. Us e preferential trade agreements. Companies that take advantage of preferential status can save millions in duties and taxes. A software system that automates the ualification process can save time and effort, as well as improve compliance and data accuracy. . Rebalance supply and fulfillment networks by determining tax- efficient sourcing and distribution strategies. Companies must periodically review their supply chain networks to assess duties and logistics costs, labor costs, regulatory controls, and global political climates. By comparing geographic options, taking into account the costs and regulations of each option, companies can optimize their supply chain. 8. Become a self-filer. Using technology to connect electronically ith brokers lowers entry filing costs and reduces manual entry errors.It also can enable pre-clearance of goods at borders and reduce the number of staff needed internally to manage logistics operations while boosting productivity hence reduce cost. 9. Con trol your procurement process. By implementing a process-based workflow that includes tracking and managing order acceptance, consolidating invoices, creating shipments and generating documents† and by extending that process to trading partners† companies can reduce cycle times, cut supply chain execution costs, and better support compliance initiatives. 10. Implement performance management metrics and tools.Companies need a system, data, and tools to benchmark actions and make informed decisions. Developing a performance management process allows companies to manage service providers and critical cycle times to lower costs and continually improve performance 1 1 . Understand the true costs of sourcing overseas. Calculate freight, duty, brokerage, and inventory carrying costs to support these lengthened supply chains. Also factor in such items as the costs of engineers flying overseas. Once you understand the true total landed cost and total impact to the business 12. Fo cus on eliminating the variability out of transit times.The more variable the transit times are, the more likely it is that the receiving party is using more premium freight, building buffers of inventory, or ordering more often and more quantity than necessary to compensate for the uncertainty. Understanding these dynamics can lead to the conclusion that paying higher freight costs to insure higher variability actually saves your company in total costs. 13. Control your express shipping costs. Typically when a company runs into a supply chain issue, it will have an entire shipment sent on an express/expedited highest cost) service level basis.Panicking often results in higher costs. If the company would Just do a little bit of calculating it can determine the amount of goods that are needed immediately and have that amount sent using express/expedited service level, while the balance ot the shipment can be sent using a standard (lower cost) service level. 14. Informed decision-maki ng. Provide to the decision-makers/ customers of your logistics network the cost of freight for each service level, the reliability of each lane for each service level, and the true cost of carrying inventory so they can make informed decisions.People generally want to be good corporate citizens and will select the less expensive option that still meets their needs CHARACTERISTICS OF COST REDUCTION (HARD COST SAVINGS) The following are the characteristics of â€Å"Hard† cost savings, which is understood as tangible bottom line reductions are: year-on-year saving over the constant volume of purchased product/service, actions that can be traced directly to the Profit and Loss Account, direct reduction of expense or a change in process/technology/policy that directly reduces expenses, process improvements that result in real and measurable ost or asset reductions, examination of existing products or services, contractual agreements, or processes to determine potential changes th at reduce cost, and net reductions in prices paid for items procured when compared to prices in place for the prior 12 months or a change to lower cost alternatives. COST AVOIDANCE (SOFT COST SAVINGS) â€Å"Soft† cost avoidance is much more difficult to define.The following are Suggested definitions, which includes: Cost avoidance is a cost reduction that does not lower the cost of products/services when compared against historical results, but rather inimizes or avoids entirely the negative impact to the bottom line that a price increase would have caused, when there is an increase in output or capacity without increasing resource expenditure, in general, the cost avoidance savings are the amount that would have been spent to handle the increased volume or output, and Cost avoidances include process improvements that do not immediately reduce cost or assets but provide benefits through improved process efficiency, employee productivity, improved customer satisfaction, improv ed competitiveness, over time to mention the few, cost avoidance often becomes cost savings. N. B: Cost avoidance is a cost reduction that results from a spend that is lower than the spend that would have otherwise been required if the cost avoidance exercise had not been undertaken.This accounts for the situations where spend is higher due to higher demand but overall cost per unit is lower, where up-front investments reduce overall spend in one or more categories over a multi-year initiative, and where a process improvement or product replacement resulted in a lower operating cost or cost per unit compared to what the company would have spent had the company not improved the process or replaced the product. To Sum up, if the organization adopts this open definition of cost avoidance, and maintains a document of common examples and their associated metrics, which is updated each time a new type of project is encountered that could result in a cost avoidance, the organization can fu lly quantify the â€Å"hard† and â€Å"soft† savings delivered by the sourcing team to the management team.Measures of Cost Avoidance: Resisting or delaying a supplier's price increase, this is one of the ways of cost avoidance whereby the organization use techniques to resist or delay supplier price increase in avoiding cost. Use of purchase price that is lower than the original quoted price, The organization purchases its requirements at a lower price than what was initially quoted by the supplier so as to avoid cost. Value of additional services at no cost, the firm makes sure it avoid or prevent cost by making sure after sale services are obtained for free for instance installation, free training. Long-term contracts with price-protection provisions,the firm enters into long term contracts with the aim of cost sharing with the supplier. Introduction of a new product or part number requiring a new material purchases and spend is lower.COST REDUCTION CHALLENGES Some of the challenges faced by a company as they seek to assess cost reduction include: Cancellation of net savings due to an increase in the business unit's cost structure, Supply management's role in the cost savings allocation decision, Chronology of supply management's involvement and the need for budget cuts, Visibility, in terms of systems, people, and metrics, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) concept for purchases items/services, Multi-year issues in cost savings, and Creating a proper incentive structure for supply management personnel. TYPES OF COST REDUCTION AND AVOIDANCE The following are types of cost reduction and avoidance that need to be recognized as valid cost savings. This section presents some types of cost reduction and cost avoidance that can contribute significantly to the organization's bottom line.Negotiated Discounts against Material Cost Increases If the products being sourced are primarily made from a commodity whose average market price or index has increased si gnificantly since the last sourcing cycle, and a buyer manages to negotiate a price that increases less than the increase in underlying material costs since the last sourcing event, this is a valid cost avoidance. Substitution If a buyer manages to find another product that performs the same function, or is able to collaborate with a supplier to produce a functionally equivalent specification that is more economical to produce, then the buyer has obtained a cost reduction on behalf of the organization.. Waived Fees This form of cost avoidance is quite self-explanatory.For example, if a supplier normally charges an installation fee for a new piece of equipment, but the buyer is able to negotiate free installation, than this would be an example of cost avoidance of the waived fee variety. Another example would be free training or services. However, this is one example where the cost avoidance is not equal to what the vendor quotes, but what the market average for the service is.. Inve ntory Reduction This occurs when the buyer comes up with a strategy to reduce the inventory that the organization needs to hold at any given time. Since all inventories is associated with a carrying cost, inventory reduction often represents significant cost savings to an organization over time.Inventory can be reduced when a buyer finds a supplier who can handle a snorter lead time or when inventory is turned over to a vendor who pecializes in inventory management (Vendor Managed Inventory). Process Improvement Processes consume overhead, and overhead costs money. Thus, any significant process improvement could represent a significant cost avoidance to an organization. However, unlike the other types of cost avoidance, process improvement cost reductions can be a bit tricky to evaluate. The key is to look at the average number of units of product or work produced per day, week, or month prior to the improvement and the number of units of product or work produced per day, week, or m onth after the improvement and calculate a percentage improvement N.B: By doing this, the organization will have clearly defined cost reduction efforts, tied them to savings, defined their relative importance, and defined the share of the credit that will go to supply management in a cross-functional initiative. The organization will also have avoided the problem where the team over concentrates on finding â€Å"hard† dollar savings, which is a serious problem if raw material and energy costs keep rising significantly and the largest savings potential is in the â€Å"soft† savings realized by long- term process and product improvements. Transloading to Maximize Cost Savings By Deborah Catalano Ruriani Tags: Transportation Management Transloading offers a cost-effective way to bring ocean containers inland to distribution centers.By transferring cargo without sorting the contents for shipment to a single destination, transloading services can reduce total landed costs, and† when combined with value-added services such as palletizing and shrink-wrapping† reduce handling at the destination. Jeff McCorstin, senior vice president of air and ocean products for UPS Global Freight Forwarding, offers these tips for maximizing savings with transloading services. 1 . Understand general transloading rules. Transloading offers the greatest cost savings when ocean containers can be consolidated into fewer, larger domestic trailers. The cargo in three 40-foot ocean containers typically fits into two 53-foot domestic trailers. . Ensure overall transportation savings outweigh additional handling costs. Sometimes the savings are negated for destinations located farther east from the U. S. West Coast discharge port. 3. Consider palletizing cargo during transloading. To best use space in ocean containers, cargo is rarely palletized at the point of origin. Palletize during the ransloading process to improve distribution center (DC) handling efficiency. 4. Factor transloading into transit time estimates. Unloading, handling, and reloading ocean container cargo near the port of discharge takes time. Allow up to three days to ensure customer delivery commitments are met. 5.Ensure your cargo fits the bill. Transload operators charge additional fees for containers with more than a certain number of cartons. The additional costs for containers with several thousand small cartons could offset any transportation savings. 6. Ensure handling flexibility by making Customs entry at the port. While it is a common practice to clear ocean containers at their tinal inland destinations, it is better to make entry at the port ot discharge. This ensures maximum flexibility in handling cargo, and eliminates the need to move the shipment in-bond, saving additional costs. 7. Increase supply chain efficiency with merge-in-transit offerings.This type of deconsolidation allows importers to combine products arriving in containers from different origins/shipp ers by transloading near the port of arrival into domestic trailers. And if importers source from domestic suppliers†who may also have product arriving via container†this argo can be merged in transit to arrive together at the designated DC. 8. Use transloading to expedite delivery to final destination. Transloading near the port of discharge provides the flexibility to bypass DCs and speed delivery to the end customer. The reduced DC handling charges and improved time in transit can help trim supply chain costs. 9. Avoid costly containers.Instead of shipping less-than- containerload, 20-foot, or light-loaded 40-foot containers from multiple overseas vendors to your inland DC, ship fully loaded/optimized containers to a single container freight station near the port of discharge. From there, they can be transloaded, merged in transit with other inbound cargo, and shipped to the final destination using the transport mode that best fits the importer's needs. 10. Set up tra nsloading programs in advance. Having your service provider involved in coordinating with the origin forwarder translates into better service levels and reliability. Flexible Structure Flexible operations are preplanned contingency strategies to prevent logistical failures.A typical emergency occurs when an assigned shipping facility is out of stock or for some other reason cannot complete a customer's order. For example, a warehouse may be out of an item with no replenishment inventory scheduled to arrive until after the customer's specified order delivery date. To prevent back- ordering or delivery cancellation, a contingency operating policy may assign the total order, or at least those items not available, for shipment from an alternative warehouse. The use of flexible operations is typically based on the importance of meeting the needs of a specific customer or the critical nature of the product being ordered.A flexible logistics capability that has gained popularity as a resul t of mproved communications involves procedures for serving predetermined situations as part of the basic logistical strategy. The flexible logistics rule and decision scenarios specify alternative ways to meet specific service requirements, such as assignment of the order to different shipping facilities or changing methods of delivery. A strategy that utilizes flexible operations is common practice in four different situations. First, the customer designated delivery facility might be near a point of equal logistics cost or equal delivery time from two different logistics facilities. Customers located at such points offer the supplying firm an opportunity to fully utilize available inventory and logistical capacity.Orders can be serviced from the facility having the best inventory position or the available transportation capacity to achieve timely delivery. This form of flexible logistics offers a way to fully utilize system capacity by balancing workloads between facilities while protecting customer service commitments. The benefit is operating efficiency, which is transparent to the customer, who experiences no service deterioration. A second situation Justitying lexible distribution is when the size of a customer's order creates an opportunity to improve logistical efficiency if serviced through an alternative channel arrangement. For example, the lowest-total-cost method to provide small shipment delivery may be through a distributor.In contrast, larger shipments may have the lowest total logistical cost when shipped factory direct to customers. Provided that alternative methods of shipment meet customer delivery expectations, total logistical cost may be reduced by implementing flexible policies. A third type of flexible operation may result from a selective inventory stocking strategy. The cost and risk associated with stocking inventory require careful analysis to determine which items and how much to place in each warehouse. With replacement parts, a common strategy mentioned earlier is to stock selected items in specific warehouses with the total line being stocked only at a central facility.In general-merchandise retailing, a store or distribution center located in a small community may stock only a limited or restricted version of a firm's total line. When customers desire nonstocked items, orders must be satisfied from an alternative facility. The term master facilities is ften used to describe inventory strategies that designate larger facilities for backup support of smaller restricted facilities. Selective inventory stocking by echelon level is a common strategy used to reduce overall inventory risk. The reasons for selective stocking range from low product profit contribution to high per-unit cost of inventory maintenance.One way to operationalize a fine-line inventory classification strategy is to differentiate stocking policy by system echelons. In situations following such classified stocking strategies, it may be ne cessary to obtain advanced customer approval for split-order delivery. However, in some situations firms that use differentiated inventory stocking strategies are able to consolidate customer orders while intransit for same-time delivery, thereby making the arrangement customer transparent. The fourth type of flexible operations results from agreements between firms to move selected shipments outside the established echeloned or direct logistics arrangements.Two special arrangements gaining popularity are flow through cross-docks and service supplier arrangements. A cross-dock operation involves shipments from multiple suppliers arriving at a designated time at the handling facility. Inventory receipts are sorted by destination across the dock and consolidated into outbound trailers for direct delivery. Cross-dock operations are growing in popularity in the retail industry for building store-specific assortments and are common methods of continuous inventory replenishment for mass m erchants. Cross-docking of merchandise direct from manufacture to a customer's retail store eliminates the work and cost associated with utilizing distribution warehouses.Another form of flexible operations is to use integrated service providers to consolidate products for delivery. This is similar to consolidation for ransportation purposes discussed in the previous section of this chapter. However, as a form of flexible logistics, specialists are used to avoid storage and handling of slow-moving products through the mainstream of the echeloned logistics structure. Such service providers can also provide important value-added services. For example, Starbucks Coffee Company has a long standing relationship with OHL, a logistics service provider. Starbucks has approximately 17,000 company-owned and licensed retail outlets.O L provides logistical support to Starbucks by ottering the typical range of 3PL services plus technology support. This operating relationship has existed for over a decade. Figure 2. 5 introduces flexibility to the logistical operating structures previously illustrated. A prerequisite to effective flexible operations is the use of information technology to monitor inventory status throughout the logistical network and provide the capability to rapidly switch methods for servicing customer orders. The use of flexible operations in emergency situations has a well-established track record. The overall improvement in information technology is resulting in flexible operations becoming an increasingly important part of basic logistics trategy.Cutting Costs From Your Logistics Budget Tags: Supply Chain Management If you want to reduce logistics costs, you have to take the time to review your processes. Nathan Pieri, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Rutherford, N. J. -based Management Dynamics, offers these tips for trimming your logistics budget. 10 tips for reducing supply chain logistics costs Aug. 9, 2005 Berme Hart EMAIL Tweet Comments O As companies continue to manufacture and source materials from overseas, controlling costs remains a top priority for those involved in international trade. One ey factor that should be monitored more closely is logistics management, which covers all activities relating to the procurement, transport, transshipment and storage of goods.Depending on the industry sector, supply chain logistics costs account from 5% to 50% of a product's total landed cost. Some issues effecting logistics costs: Fuel prices remain high and ports continue to experience delays, resulting in higher transportation fees. Increasingly complex international trade laws and security measurements threaten to lengthen delivery times and increase warehousing costs. According to a recent report by TechnologyEvaluation. om, a typical air-freight shipment takes eight to twelve days. Of this, the cargo is en route only 5% of the time. The rest is spent sitting in warehouses waiting for the require d documents and compliance checks.Following are 10 Tips on Reducing Supply Chain Logistics Costs: 1 that domestic buy may look a lot better. Sourcing from Ohio to your U. S. plant, distribution center or customer may, in the long run, be more cost effective than sourcing from China. Taritt engineering. Strategically source and manutacture products to take advantage of classification duty rates and eligibility for special trade programs such s NAFTA. 4. Consolidate. If you have multiple suppliers in one country, consolidate their goods into one shipment. In addition, if you always have LCL (less than container load) shipments out of one country, try to find another LCL importer of goods from that country.You may be able to partner and consolidate to a more cost-effective FCL (full container load) shipment. 5.. 6. Sometimes insurance doesn't pay. Often when a company has a shipment of premium goods they tend to use the Carrier's Insurance. Carriers Insurance is very expensive. If the company is self insured, which most companies are, they should heck their insurance policy to see if it covers shipment of goods. If it does, then they do not need to add the extra cost of Carrier's Insurance. 7. Automate compliance processes. Companies that implement software solutions to automate trade compliance are able to speed the cycle times associated with tasks being performed manually, such as document preparation, and eliminate the associated errors.Automated compliance procedures also bring fewer delays at border crossings, resulting in on-time delivery, adequate inventory levels, increased customer satisfaction, and the avoidance of fines. 8.. 9. Planes, trains and automobiles. Which is cheapest? In general, rail is more cost- effective than trucking or air. Water is cheaper than air shipment. No matter the mode of delivery, always try to get three quotes for movements. 10. Be aware of non-tariff trade barriers. Companies need to be more aware of the increasing level of non-tariff trade barriers that are in force to reduce sweat shop labor and support human rights and animal welfare issues. These restrictions can bring importers increased liability and compliance costs.