Academic Report and Financial Calculations 04031 Essay

Academic Report and Financial Calculations 04031 - Essay Example A model of the HR function and its implications were critically evaluated in light of the chosen capital investment project and trading with its Co-share. As per the evaluation of the project suitable conclusions and recommendations were provided and in addition the reflective statements were prepared. Capital budgeting is a method through which a firm decides to invest in the long term investment proposals (Baker and English, 2011). Capital budgeting can also be measured as a scheduling process which helps in deciding which investment like new machinery, new products, replacement machinery and new plants can prove to be cost effective (Phaup and Kirschner, 2010). It is used for budgeting of vital capital investments. The different techniques for calculation used in the capital budgeting process are NPV method, IRR method, payback period and profitability index method. In the capital budgeting process, there exist some non financial qualitative aspects in case of project viability (Lan, Chung, Chu and Kuo, 2003). Every organization is recognized for their surroundings and norms. It becomes necessary to gauge in order to shape the behavior of the employees in an organization. There are three stages in capital budgeting analysis including decision analysis for building knowledge, op tion pricing for establishing position and discounted cash flow for making decision regarding investment (Garcia, Contreras, Correia and Muà ±oz, 2010). In context of project valuation, it is necessary for a company to ensure that their potential projects are in order to the employee’s culture because going further than that may crash the financial factors. The study is conducted to analyze the implications of the project and their impact on human resource (HR) (Law, 2004). The implications of the project includes capital budgeting calculations to choose the profitable project, evaluation of the chosen project, ethical considerations and relating a HR function model with the

Teaching Assistant’s Essay Example for Free

Teaching Assistant’s Essay Teaching Assistants work in Primary, Secondary and Special Needs Schools. Individual duties and responsibilities can vary greatly but will be outlined in their job description. A TAs role is to support – this can be in a classroom situation, with groups or individual pupils and can often be all three. Support in the classroom (Classroom Assistant) involves more general duties helping the teacher with tasks in the classroom and pupils learning and development. TAs can be assigned to children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) who will benefit from help on a one to one basis or in smaller groups. Responsibilities can be as a Learning Support Assistant, supporting children with learning difficulties or as a Personal Care Assistant those needing help with day to day personal care. In 2003, the National Workforce agreement was established which acknowledged the need to raise standards in schools and address workloads. From this Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) evolved. This higher level status gave additional responsibilities that previously only teachers could do, for example, developing support materials and assisting in lesson planning. Some schools, especially large or special needs schools, have TAs with additional, more specific roles. This ensures that all pupils and members of the team are supported adequately. Although there are many different roles a TA can have there are fundamental aspects of the job which will be the same. These can be categorised into four areas. 1. Supporting the Pupil. Support for the pupil is support for all pupils the TA comes into contact with in the school. Even if they are assigned to an individual child they will still interact with other pupils whilst in the school environment. It is the responsibility of a TA, as all members of staff, to maintain safe and healthy surroundings for children endorsing equal opportunity for all pupils to learn and grow. TAs must not show prejudice and be alert to, and aware of, discrimination within the school, encouraging non prejudicial attitudes. It is equally important to show appreciation and acceptance of the differences between people and help children understand that everyone has different qualities. Another aspect of a TAs job is to aid the development of pupils life and social skills. They should encourage inclusion and integration of pupils particularly when children have been taken out of class for extra help or after long periods of absence, due to illness for example. Listening to pupils and showing interest in what they do in and out of school, lifting their self esteem and building confidence, therefore encouraging independence. Whatever job description a TA has they should set a good example to pupils and be a good role model. 2. Supporting the Teacher. TAs need to be able to forge good working relations and work within structures that the teacher has outlined. Whatever specific role they have been employed for it is of great importance to be fully aware of the lesson aims and learning targets to enable the pupils to achieve their best. A TA is in a strong position to help the teacher observe, assess and record pupils learning and behavioural progress and offer feedback on these issues. 3. Supporting the School. All members of staff, including Teaching Assistants, are part of a team and when working effectively together can only benefit the school and consequently the pupils. TAs need to be aware of and work within school policies and procedures. These policies will include matters relating to Child Protection, Health Safety, Confidentiality and the Curriculum. It is essential to work within these policies procedures to ensure issues, such as bullying, are reported correctly and dealt with quickly and effectively. It gives a consistent framework to deal with issues fairly and equally. TAs support the school by acknowledging and using their skills and being prepared to learn and develop new ones. 4. Supporting the Curriculum. To support the Curriculum TAs need to have knowledge and understanding of ways in which children think and learn, progression of expected development and factors that inhibit learning. The National Literary and Numeracy Strategies have given TAs more involvement in these aspects of the curriculum, especially in primary schools. They are frequently engaged to work in other areas of the curriculum such as Physical Education (PE) and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). With these increasing responsibilities it is helpful to have knowledge of National Curriculum documents and planning processes. A Teaching Assistant, as the name suggests, is there to help pupils achieve results whilst attending school. This is where the most differences in roles can be seen. In primary schools, a Teaching Assistant assigned to a class is responsible for assisting all pupils in that class. There are many tasks this involves including: †¢ Checking work and encouraging pupils to correct mistakes. †¢ Listening to reading.   †¢ Helping with practical work e.g. Crafts, outdoor activities/outings. †¢ Repeating instructions the teacher has given and ensuring the children understand what they need to do. †¢ Working with smaller groups of children.

Understanding the Modern Consumer Culture :: BTEC Business Marketing GCSE Coursework

Understanding the Modern Consumer Culture In The Rise of Consumer Society in Britain, John Benson identifies consumer societies as those "in which choice and credit are readily available, in which social value is defined in terms of purchasing power and material possessions, and in which there is a desire, above all, for that which is new, modern, exciting and fashionable." For decades research on the history of consumerism had been winding the clock up to the nineteenth century as the starting point of a culture of consumption that fits Benson’s description. For societies like these to exist, there needed to be a fair portion of the population with enough money to purchase goods beyond daily necessities; there needed to be powerful productive forces to make enough goods available and allow for new strategies of marketing and selling; there also needed to be a tendency among people to start investing social meanings and emotions in the acquisition of goods. Industrialization, these histories tell us, prepared the grou nd for a consumer culture to develop thanks to malleable markets, large production lines, rise of shopping, advertising, marketing, etc. In Consumer Culture and Modernity, Don Slater argues against a "productivist bias" which misleads into believing that production is the "engine and essence of modernization" (p. 16). Through a brilliant overview of the literature of revisionist historians, he traces the development of consumer culture from the present day to the early modern period. A consumer revolution, with the characteristics Benson suggested, was emerging as early as the sixteenth century. A new ‘world of goods’ deriving from colonial exploitation led to a wide penetration of consumer goods into the lives and homes of more social classes. Towards the eighteenth century a growing consuming public bred a desire for the new and created new demands and new styles. Contemporary features of consumer culture existed in the early modern mind, but they were recognizable in different forms. Under the disguise of commerce and trade, not production or consumption, the early modern man came to contact with a new ideology of free exchange, not only of goods and services, but of ideas, opinions, and meanings as well. Consumer culture, according to Slater, is not a reference to a recent phenomenon: it is rather part of a new terminology that came to replace the notion of civil society, which itself is born to modernity. The ideal of autonomous individuals rationally pursuing their interests in a free market – a notion so much cherished within consumer culture – stands at the heart of the project of modernity in the eighteenth century.

Art Gallery Essay

In completion of this assignment the art gallery that I chose to visit was Mark Gallery in Englewood New Jersey. When you walk up to the establishment there are floor to ceiling glass windows that allow you to see everything inside. Facing the gallery there were so many colors that enticed you to enter. The arrangements and art work was spaced out nicely not causing clutter. This allowed you to individually take in each piece on by itself. All of the pieces were very nice but the artist that caught my attention was Mr. Mark Oberndorf. Oberndorf was born in New York but is currently residing in Bergren County New Jersey. He is a contemporary realist painter. Since the age of 10 he has been interested in the visual arts. At an early age some of his beginning works were illustrating his school yearbook to painting murals on his elementary school building. From 1995 to present Oberndorf has had art in various group and solo exhibitions and galleries. Currently his work is currently represented by Mark Gallery of Englewood New Jersey and Westwood Gallery in Westwood New Jersey. I found several of his pieces interesting because they were so basic. Not meaning they did not have levels or dimensions but they put me in the mind of simpler times and relatable memories. His pieces display three dimensional effects on a two dimensional surface with natural lighting effects. All painting are created with oil on linen canvass. Such pieces as the â€Å"Wyckoff Train Station†, â€Å"Dairy Queen† and â€Å"Gas† all represent the Bergren County area and parts of New York prior to the gentrification phase. â€Å"Gas† depicts an old two pump station as you would see it in the 1970’s. The piece of the â€Å"Dairy Queen† shows the classic franchise that was shaped somewhat of a barn prior to the new modernized look you may see today. I can remember as a kid having one of these in our neighborhood. We frequently visited it for a Sunday cone after attending church. I could not wait to stand in line for my soft serve on a cone. Lastly the â€Å"Wyckoff Train Station† is truly a classic single standing building not so big on the side of the tracks. Much dated compared to the enormous train stations and subway stations you see in the big cities such as New York. Through viewing these pieces I would think this is his way of holding on to a piece of history, before all common landmarks that held tradition and memories were torn down. Prior to gentrification in many of our communities there were several sites or establishments that were a common thread to our community. Be it the mom and pop store on the corner to the old fashioned ice cream stand. Gentrification has erased these things with more modernized establishments that help to bring economic wealth for some but forces others out of the neighborhoods and communities that they have been a part of for quite some time.

Geneogram

THE COMMON PATTERNS THAT I SAW ON MY GENEOGRAM AND HOW IT AFFECT WHO I AM TODAY Upon making and completing my Geneogram, the first thing that I got to realize is that I am really lucky with my family. We might not have a lot of professionals just like other families but no one in our family, whether mother or father side has any mental issues or any addictions to anything. Also, there are no bitter misunderstanding within our family that might have resulted to any conflicts.Another common pattern that I saw is the common profession in our family. It is either engineering or nursing. This might explain as to why I chose engineering as a profession. It is visible that It is the common profession being practiced in our family. Another significant pattern that is visible is the number of children each of my Tito/Tita have. No one from any of my Tito/Tita has a number of children greater than three. This might explain why my mother and father only had two children of their own.Also, anoth er pattern that is visible is the age in which my cousins had children. My geneogram results shows that no one from my cousins became a parent before the reach 25. This might also in a way explain as to why I still don’t have children of my own today. THINGS TO HEAL / CHANGE IN MY GENEOGRAM PATTERNS Even though my geneogram is quite a normal, good geneogram of a normal family, there is one area of improvement that I saw. There might be little areas to heal or I wanted to change.That area is that we do not have a pattern our family that has a leadership or entrepreneurial background. Most of my family’s pattern shows that most of us became professionals. That might not be a bad thing for others, but it might be for me because I wanted to have my own business someday and if I were to look at my family’s geneogram there is no significant pattern that shows me that there is a leadership or entrepreneurial pattern. So I cannot get the said skill anywhere within my fa mily.But to clear things up, I love my family, I don’t want to change anything and I don’t want to give it up for anything in the world but just of academics sake, if I were to choose an area for improvement, I think that will be it. HOW CAN MY ANSWERS ABOVE HELP ME BECOME A LEADER IN MY WORKPLACE? Now that I have seen that what are the patterns and areas of improvement from my geneogram, more specifically the family members that does not have leadership skills. This might explain why I also lack leadership qualities in my office.I was offered on many occasions, from my previous and present work, to have an opportunity to be promoted and handle people. But I turn down those opportunities because deep in my heart I think that I am afraid to take the lead because I don’t have the said background from my family and does not feel comfortable leading people. And upon doing this geneogram, I got to realize that yeah, I am afraid to lead people because no one in my fam ily taught me that skill. And I think for me is the greatest area of improvement for myself and my career.

Disability Example

Disability Example Disability – Coursework Example Disabilities Disabilities A disability is a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, sensitivity or activities. There are different categories of disabilities which include sensory, physical, physiological, mental and medical disabilities (Marianne, 2000). For more than ten years I have been a deaf, in this case, classified as a sensory disability. Being deaf is lacking the power of hearing or having impaired hearing. This kind of disability is characterized by difficulties in communicating, for instance, speech delays, difficulty in pronouncing words, and in, some cases. turning on televisions or radios very high volumes. Since I discovered that I could no longer hear any more, my life changed and what I could do and how I did it changed drastically. I lost some of my friends but what I miss most is doing things like anyone else. Some of the challenges I went through due my disability was to watch my friends get irritated when talking to me because they had to repeat the same words every time so that I can read their lips. The worst of all was the fact that I could only watch movies that were verbally described (Davis, 2013). This was hard for me since it meant I could not join my friends to watch a new movie, I had to wait for it to be reviewed and verbal description included. Living as a person with hearing impairment you have to be a keen observer so as to master what a person is trying to say to you (Lane, 2002). It is quite difficult to master someone’s words, especially if they speak fast. I also needed an instructor to help me understand what people are saying and how to respond to them using sign language. This was not only a challenge to me but also to my parents who had to part with some extra cash to pay the instructor. In conclusion, disability, regardless the age of an individual it changes almost everything in his or her life. Everyone, including your own parent will treat you different and sometimes push you away to avoid embracement. Being different from others is very traumatizing, especially, among teenagers and young people. ReferenceMarianne Adams. (2000). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. United Kingdom, UK: Psychology Press.Davis J. Lennard. (2013). The Disability Studies Reader. United Kingdom UK: RoutledgeLane L. Harlan. (2002). Do Deaf People Have a Disability? Sign Language Studies. vol. 2. (4) 356-379

A rasin in the sun essays

A rasin in the sun essays Being black in the 1960's was hard no matter where you lived. The Younger family is a typical black family living in the 1960's. There is great historical significance in this play about the North and the South's differences in segregation. The North is not as segregated as the South. The North was still segregated in the 1960's. People in white neighborhoods had things called blacklists. Blacklists are a list of persons who are under suspicion, disfavor of censure, or who are not to be hired, served or otherwise, accepted. When the Younger's try to buy a house, the neighborhood at first won't let them. Redlining was another form of segregation in the North. Banks use redlining. It means the withholding of home loan funding and insurance from low-income families. Steering is also another form of segregation and is often used in the 1960's. Steering is used by real estate agencies. Black families, such as the Youngers, are often steered away from white areas and shown black or mixed neighborhoods. Even though steering was illegal it is hard to prove. The North deals more with whites not living with blacks. The South is greatly segregated. White people really hated black people in the South. Jim Crow Laws? or segregation laws were a name given to former laws of the Southern United States. They provided for separation of blacks and whites. Blacks were not allowed to drink from the same water fountains, or even use the same bathrooms. Segregation separated them in streetcars, trains, schools and even theaters. The Ku Klux Klan played a big part in the segregation between blacks and whites. They were a terrorist organization who threatened violence against blacks that challenged the established order. One of the main forms of violence was lynching. Lynching was when mobs executed blacks or others whom they believed to be criminals or who challenged segregation. ...

Definition and Examples of Sententiae in Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Sententiae in Rhetoric In classical rhetoric, a  sententia  is a maxim, proverb, aphorism, or popular quotation: a brief expression of conventional wisdom. Plural: sententiae. A  sententia, said the Dutch  Renaissance humanist  Erasmus, is an adage  that bears particularly on â€Å"instruction in living (Adagia, 1536). See Examples and Observations below. Also see: 2,000 Pure Fools: An Anthology of AphorismsCommonplaceEnthymemeLogosWhat Is a Maxim? EtymologyFrom the Latin, feeling, judgment, opinion Examples and Observations It is best to insert sententiae discreetly, that we may be viewed as judicial advocates, not moral instructors.(Rhetorica ad Herennium, c. 90 BC)A mans as miserable as he thinks he is.(Seneca the Younger)No man is laughable who laughs at himself.(Seneca the Younger)Things forbidden have a secret charm.(Tacitus)Greater things are believed of those who are absent.(Tacitus)A bad peace is worse than war.(Tacitus)Post-Ciceronian Latin gave vigor and point to style by the frequent use of sententiaeclever, sometimes epigrammatic, apothegmatic turns of phrase: what oft was thought but ner so well expressd, as Alexander Pope was to put it. Quintilian devotes a chapter to sententiae (8.5), acknowledging that they had become a necessary part of the orators art.(George A. Kennedy, Classical Rhetoric. Encyclopedia of Rhetoric. Oxford University  Press, 2001)Sententiae in the Renaissance- A sententia, which had overtones of its classical Latin sense of judgement, was a pithy and memorable phrase : a recitall of some grave matter which both beautified and graced a style. Several writers were clear that testimony could take the form of a Notable sentence or was a sententia of a witness. Richard Sherry, in his Treatise of Schemes and Tropes (1550), closely associated the sententia with the argument from testimony or authority when he defined it as one of the seven kinds of figure called Indicacio, or authoritie.(R.W. Serjeantson, Testimony. Renaissance Figures of Speech, ed. by Sylvia Adamson, Gavin Alexander, and Katrin Ettenhuber. Cambridge University  Press, 2008)- Scholasticism developed around the medieval tendency to treat ancient sourcesboth the Bible and certain texts of classical antiquityas authoritative. So strong was this tendency that individual sentences from a respected source, even when taken out of context, could be employed to secure a point in debate. These isolated statements from ancient sources were called sententiae. Some authors collected large number s of sententiae into anthologies for educational and disputational purposes. Disputes centered on debatable points suggested by one or more sententiae, these debatable notions being called quaestiones. Education by debating general topics drawn from authoritative statements reveals one way in which rhetorical and dialectical practices made their way into the Middle Ages. . . .Writers now known as the Italian Humanists were responsible for a resurgence of interest in the languages and texts of classical antiquity during the Renaissance period, an orientation referred to as classicism. . . .[T]he Humanists sought to place the text in its historical context, in order to establish the correct value of words and phrases. . . . As noted [above], the scholastic practice of splintering classical sources into individual statements or sententiae led to the loss of original meaning and even of authorial identity. Charles Nauert writes, from Petrarch onward, humanists insisted on reading each o pinion in its context, abandoning the anthologies . . . and subsequent interpretations and going back to the full original text in search of the authors real meaning.(James A. Herrick, The History and Theory of Rhetoric, 3rd ed. Pearson, 2005) Pronunciation: sen-TEN-she-ah

Strengths and Weaknesses of YouTube in India Essay

Strengths and Weaknesses of YouTube in India - Essay Example It also contains different kinds of localized contents, from videos to all genres of music from all over the world to suit the growing musical and entertainment needs. The user interface is easy to understand and use. It enjoys copyright privileges and hence, the rights of the artists are protected. One is able to learn a lot from Google from the do it yourself tutorials. On the other hand, there are some competitions that people make money from sharing the content with friends; hence this may be a source of income for those who spend loads of their time on the site (J.M, 2007). On Opportunities, YouTube has some experts that have provided the people with a platform to showcase their creativity through the tutorials, movies, and music. They are therefore able to get potential clientele from the same. YouTube allows one to be the shareholder; this is done by uploading some videos with no copyright issues. They may then give you a share of the revenue collected depending on the views and the interest spurred among the audience. The weaknesses of YouTube are that: it has week parental advisory features; hence, minors often view explicit content. This encourages addictions to pornography, drug abuse and violent contents that lead to vices in the communities. Through video tutorials, minors may also learn bad behavior if they are not monitored. It may also be the entry of cheap counterfeit videos in the market as everyone may upload mediocre content (Botscher, 2011). The Threats that YouTube normally faces is that, with no copyright licenses, musicians and actors/actresses often face losses as their videos are often downloaded and hence, a slump in their sales. There are arguments that some YouTube posts can tarnish a good image or reputations of people or organizations. Institutions like universities have banned their students from accessing the site in the School Computer centers.

Reaction paper combining two related internet stories Essay

Reaction paper combining two related internet stories - Essay Example Apparently, some truths just come out after mankind has suffered from so much pain. While the crimes of the Holocaust did create emotional scars on the survivors and taught the world an important lesson about racism, it is also important to investigate what triggered such horrible event. The Jewish Declaration of War on Germany in 1933 is a crucial event in history because we all know that wars don’t just happen overnight. Before war happens, certain circumstances happen on the background that creates much tension. First, the move of Jews on the United States that called for a boycott of German goods was politically motivated, a propaganda to make Jews return to their land by creating fear. Second, even the Jewish Central Association located in Germany disproved the propaganda that they were maltreated by the Germans. Lastly, Germany was financially weak at the time due to a hyperinflation; hence, war would be the last thing they would eventually call for. Sometimes, a nation takes actions with grave consequences when they are pushed to the wall. Indeed, there was not much choice given to the Germans whose acts of defense escalated into a full-blown genocide. However, who can really attest to the truth when both sides have their own interests? The other reading that really struck me was Benjamin Freedman’s speech about the role of Jews in WWI and WWII.

In what ways did 20th century conflicts, however broadly defined, Essay - 1

In what ways did 20th century conflicts, however broadly defined, change the nature of Western introspection - Essay Example Many writers, philosophers and thinkers in general were disillusioned and this was reflected in their art and writings. In this paper, I would be discussing how conflicts in the 20th century affected Western introspection with the main idea being conflicts made people focused more on the darker side of the human soul particularly in the inherent desire for violence. As a result of this investigation, there was a profound desire to expose it and make people realize that these events occurred but should never be repeated. An increasing sense of national awareness and nationalism led to many events that eventually culminated into two world wars having the intensity and scale never seen before and claimed millions of lives. The Germans, proud of their race and superior technology and eager to replace the United Kingdom as the dominant global power, precipitated the two world wars. France, Britain, United States, Italy, Russia and other nations were to become involved in the wars that would eventually change the notion of violence and inhumanity. (p. 61) The intensity of the fighting and the efficiency of armaments exposed many people to scenarios replete with violence and inhuman tendencies. ... Auschwitz and many other concentration camps provided many macabre scenes of death. Jews and other non-Aryan races were made to undergo experiments, forced to do labor and eventually exterminated by different methods in the hope of determining which is the most efficient (p. 63). The darker side of humanity made its presence fully known. Nevertheless, the prisoners of concentrations were not the only one severely traumatized. Soldiers and civilians alike saw their comrades and loved ones lose their life and limbs by efficient bombs, bullets and knives all directed to them by living and breathing humans also. Randall Jarrell painted a picture of how dehumanizing the war was with the death of a gunner by flak and the washing of his remains out of the turret like nothing happened (p. 62). Through the writings of survivors, we come to know of a world where violence prevailed and where humans plunged themselves into the darkness of their soul. What the world wars were able to do was to destroy any preconceived and romanticized notion of prosperity, justice, humanity and equality. Nevertheless, it became a catalyst for individuals like Jean Paul Sartre (p. 71-73) and Erich Maria Remarque (53) to take a more proactive role in exposing the evil capacities of human beings and to make them remember the atrocities of war. The crucial experience of war and captivity enabled Sartre, Remarque and other writers of this period to build a positive moral system and express it thru literature. The stage in human history where the two wars occurred changed Western thoughts about armed conflicts and made them appreciate on diplomacy. Many nations became more conscious of the need for peace and strived to achieve some semblance of it. More importantly, it made thinkers ponder

Project management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Project management - Assignment Example Project Management Office (PMO) A Project Management Office (PMO) can be termed as a centralised organisational unit or body which is likely involve in different phases of a project. The body is the core entity that ensures to provide basic administrative along with advisory and consulting support to the overall operations of the project. Moreover, a PMO also involves in strategic and grievance services that are required to successfully achieve the desired goals and objectives of the project (Canfield University, 2004). With regard to the case scenario, Volkswagen (VW) Mexico had founded an effective PMO which was principally established in order to monitor and control operations performed in the Jetta component assembly line. The PMO of the company played a major role for the project in terms of coordinating an effective financial plan along with appropriate schedule for each project function. Moreover, the unit also contributed by playing a crucial role in terms of procuring and ma naging adequate resources to ensure effective performance within the Mexico project assembly line (Project Management Institute, 2012). Project Control System Project control system generally incorporates various steps performed by different operational and management groups which facilitate to successfully accomplish the ultimate objectives of a project (Public procurement Guide, 2008). With regard to the project control system of Jetta assembly line, VW Mexico had highly focused on six major steps including programming or estimation, identification, budgeting, cost control, scheduling of project activities and performance measurement. In relation to scheduling of project activities, VW Mexico component’s design strategy for installing Jetta assembly line would be completed within 21 months in a budget of around USD3.3 million. The work breakdown structure of the project is segregated into separate elements such as defining project which entails stage gate review and stakeho lder development. Subsequently, the planning stage would entail design and new suppliers along with preparing the blueprint of the entire work activities. In addition, the phase of training, implementation and risk assessment would be comprehensively followed to ensure complete success of the project. Moreover, risk assessment phase would facilitate to ensure optimisation of the undertaken project along with ascertaining proper commencement of the production of Axel, Motor and Corner module (Project Management Institute, 2012). In this regard, it can be said that one of the critical components of project control system is to mitigate situations when delay occurs in the project schedule. In relation to Jetta assembly line project as well, the project manager needs to remain cautious to avoid any kind of delays. The project manager in such scenarios can take control by preparing a work breakdown structure for each and every activity of the project. Moreover, the project manager needs to carefully and continuously monitor any delay creating activity and if by

Corporate communication plans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate communication plans - Essay Example In the analysis using the various model such as power- interest matrix and stakeholder salience model, it shows the areas in which the Ryanair airline need to improve and change to be able their customer satisfaction. The report has put an effort to help the Ryanair Company to address the challenge by outline several proposals that can improve its reputation, quality of customer services and promotion of the company in the market by using its corporate communication effectively. Corporate communication is the strategy that organizations manage and plan both internal and external communications aiming at creating favorable and reputable view among its stakeholders. It is an integrative communication structure linking stakeholders to the organization, through it, stakeholders perception of the organizations identity and image and reputation are formed (John& Balmer, 1999). Corporate communication is considered key management function. It all about managing the relationship with a company with stakeholder to maximize the corporate reputation capital. Corporate communications have the significant role in creating and maintaining businesses images of corporate entities. It is an efficient strategy organization uses to communicate the brand value and reputation to its customers, stakeholders and the target audience. Corporate reputation is the major pillar that builds the image and distinguishes an organization from its competitors. Organizations with the good reputation have developed a picture of their customers mind that help in identifying the brand, logo, product and services an organization offers. The perception of financiers, customers, and stakeholders of any organization is based on the elements of corporate communication, where the corporate reputation is the core and enormous impact on both internal and external environment of the organization. However, when

Beats by Dre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Beats by Dre - Essay Example Furthermore, marketing 4 Ps are also critically illustrated after which the Asnoff Growth Matrix is used to illustrate the trends in business growth. Beats Electronics is a division of Apple Inc. that majorly specializes in the production of headphones and speakers (Monica, 2011, p. 01). These main products are branded ‘Beats by Dre.’ The operational headquarters of the organization are set in Culver City, California in the United States. Within the short time that the company has been in operation since 2008, the sales volumes have mainly been boosted by its vigorous marketing operations, especially in the United States (Wheeldon, 2014, p. 53). The marketing transactions are handled from a multi-angular approach which includes considerations of marketing mix elements, and the Asnoff Growth Matrix. Porter (1998) invented a model that is used to track marketing operations in all markets, irrespective of the items of trade that are involved (The National Agency for Innovation and Research in Luxembourg, 2008, p. 01). There are five major determinants which interact in a bid to control the level of operations within the business market. These in include competitive rivalry within the industry, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, suppliers’ bargaining power and bargaining power of the customers. The level of competition among firms within an industry directly determines the effectiveness of the sector. Each company strives as much as possible to retain or improve its positioning within the market. As a result, several competitive strategies may be used such as pricing strategies, customer care services, value addition and diversity among other approaches. An organization has to come up with appropriate strategies so as to manage the competitive forces within an industry. By all means, a company will devote all the available resources to create a barrier to any organization

Corporate communication plans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate communication plans - Essay Example In the analysis using the various model such as power- interest matrix and stakeholder salience model, it shows the areas in which the Ryanair airline need to improve and change to be able their customer satisfaction. The report has put an effort to help the Ryanair Company to address the challenge by outline several proposals that can improve its reputation, quality of customer services and promotion of the company in the market by using its corporate communication effectively. Corporate communication is the strategy that organizations manage and plan both internal and external communications aiming at creating favorable and reputable view among its stakeholders. It is an integrative communication structure linking stakeholders to the organization, through it, stakeholders perception of the organizations identity and image and reputation are formed (John& Balmer, 1999). Corporate communication is considered key management function. It all about managing the relationship with a company with stakeholder to maximize the corporate reputation capital. Corporate communications have the significant role in creating and maintaining businesses images of corporate entities. It is an efficient strategy organization uses to communicate the brand value and reputation to its customers, stakeholders and the target audience. Corporate reputation is the major pillar that builds the image and distinguishes an organization from its competitors. Organizations with the good reputation have developed a picture of their customers mind that help in identifying the brand, logo, product and services an organization offers. The perception of financiers, customers, and stakeholders of any organization is based on the elements of corporate communication, where the corporate reputation is the core and enormous impact on both internal and external environment of the organization. However, when

Strategic human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Strategic human resource management - Essay Example Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is a field of HR that highlights how the human resource of the organization contributes to the attainment of the desired goals by means of various HR strategies, policies and practices. This approach considers human resource as the primary factor contributing to the success of the organization It is as Leif Edvinsson (2002) puts it: â€Å"The only vital value an enterprise has is the experience, skills, innovativeness and insights of its people† (12 Manage). In addition to that, it is of the view that the success of any organization is actually dependent on the factor of best fit between the business strategies and its human resource strategies (Armstrong, p. 33). SHRM constitutes a mindset based on certain concepts rather than a set of techniques. It revolves around three primary propositions, which are as follows: The human capital of all the organizations is a primary asset, which when put to effective use, plays a strategic role i n its success and can be a major source of competitive advantage for the organization. The human resource strategies should be in perfect alignment to the business level strategies of the organization and its mission and vision. The human resource strategies at individual level should be coherent and should be designed in a manner that they provide a mutual support (Armstrong, p. 34). This paper aims to shed light on the factor of Strategic human resource management in view of the airlines industry, which have been subject to a deluge of turmoil over the past few years. In the light of the various economical crises, the situation has not only changed on the customer side of the picture, but it has had a huge impact on the industrial level as well. The organizations all over the world are in a state of struggle to keep with the needs and wants of the customer. This in turn, pushes the organizations to make their internal functions all the more effective and efficient and requires the m to not only be vigilant in their resource deployments and other such major strategies, but also in effectively managing their workforce. This whole study would be done with reference to the Canadian Airline established in 1987, which later ceased its operation in 2000 and was merged with Air Canada. Issues in the Airline Industry: An airline is an industry that is highly sensitive to economical changes. Such changes not only impact the productivity side of the industry, but also influence the side of the consumer, in turn affecting the profitability of organizations working in this industry. The industry can be observed on a continuous cycle of gigantic profits and mammoth losses. A few of the factors having a direct influence on the airlines industry are given as follows: Recession: The airline industry gets highly affected by the downturns in the economical circle owing to the fact that in such a scenario, the business travel that can also be constituted as the bread and butter of the airline industry gets cut down when the economy is facing a slump. The lengthy global recession of the past few years has now turned into the single biggest challenge being faced by the airlines industry. This has resulted in weak revenues and air travel (Reals, 2008). Soaring Fuel Prices: The industry that is getting most affected by the hike in the oil prices is the airline industry. It has now turned into a tedious task for the airlines to cope up with such colossal fuel prices that are so intense that they are even pushing several airlines to bankruptcy. Those that do continue to operate in such unsteady conditions are having to face immense financial burden along with thinning profit margins in these pricey fuel times (Fleming, 2011). Terrorist Attacks: The 9/11 attack on the world trade centre and the global conditions that followed served as a serious blow to the airline industry, which was having to through a tough time due to the factor of recession even before the a ttack. This

The Wife of Martin Guerre Essay Example for Free

The Wife of Martin Guerre Essay The wife of Martine Guerre by Janet Lewis is a 16thcentury love store set in the bleak and harsh society of medieval France. The main protagonist in the novel, Betrande De Roles is faced with an unusual and appalling situation when an imposter poses as her husband Martin, who has been absent for 8 years. Despite the belief of her husband, Bertrand is not to blame for the awful situation, but instead it is the family and those surrounding Betrande who are to blame for her acceptance of the imposter, ArnaueDeTil. Her husband’s sisters, Martins Uncle, the priest , her son Sanxi, Martin and even the imposter, ArnauDeTil, himself are all equally, if not more to blame for the situation that confronts the Guerre family. Bertrand lives the life that many women with well-off families lead in medieval France; she is married at the age of 11 and goes to live with the family of her betrothed husband at the age of 14. Although Bertrande and Martin initially do not care for one another (on their wedding night Martin hits Betrande, and when they are forced to share a bed, she is fearful of him), after a period of living together, Betrande and Martin find themselves attached to one another, and they share a special bond within the household â€Å"they were a camp within a camp†. Shortly after Betrande gives birth to a son, Sanxi and the household flourishes and prospers. When Martin decides to leave, due to fear of punishment from his father after stealing grain to plant his field, the peace and happiness within the household that Betrande and the family have so become accustom to, is disrupted. The untimely death of Martins Mother is an indication of how unstable the household becomes â€Å"she was not an old woman and it may have been possible, as her daughters believed that the illness which she suffered was greatly aggravated by the prolonged absence of her after the death of Martins father, Martins uncle Pierre takes over as head of the house, The households fragile and insecure state leaves them vulnerable, and thus when ArneauDeTil poses as Martin they are eager to accept him as the true Martin even though there are signs that suggest he is not the true Martin Guerre. Martin leaving was the triggering factor to the entire series of events, and thus Martin is just as much to blame in the situation that unfolds, as anyone. When Arnau DeTil comes into the household pretending to be Martin, both Pierre, Martins uncle and Martins sisters are thrilled. For Pierre, this means he is no longer head of the house, leaving these responsibilities to â€Å"Martin†. When Betrande begins having suspicions that this man who has entered into the household is not the real Martin, he suspicions are dismissed by both Pierre and Martins sisters. Pierre simply says that being in the world has â€Å"matured him†, and the sisters urge Bertrande not to say anything to anyone of her uncertainties. It is not until later in the novel, after an old friend of the real Martin arrives in Artigues and proves that Arneau is not the real Martin (he says that the real Martin has a wooden leg after losing it in battle) that Pierre begins to believe Bertrand’s suspicions. In comparison Martins sisters are trying to convince Bertrande to drop the allegation even during the Trials. Both Martin’s sisters and his uncle Pierres are to blame for the situation, as if they had initially listened to Bertrande when she insisted that something was wrong, the situation may not have unfolded as it did. In the novel, the priest plays a key role in convincing Bertrande that Arnau is the real Martin. When she goes to confess her concerns to him, she is dismissed and simply told to â€Å"be at rest and go in peace. The priest and Arnau form a friendship, and because of this the priest is eager not to let Bertande follow up these accusations. The priest also prefers the new Martin, he is religious, polite and caring towards the priest and the priest becomes a good friend of the Guerre household, being regularly invited over for dinner. Arnau DeTil is obviously the key component of the deception, posing as Martin and deceiving Bertrande and the household. DeTil is incredibly cunning, and seems to have an answer to all of Bertrandes problems. Whenever Betrande begins asking questions, DeTil seems to have an explanation, telling her not to worry, and acting concerned for her. He is able to do this for some time until eventually Betrande is completely convinced he is not her husband, but even then DeTil seems to have a solution, and he threatens Betrande, basically telling her that if he neeed to, he could convince the household she was mad. Bertrandes son, Sanxi warms to DeTil quickly, he loves his newfound father and the two build a very strong bond. Bertrandes love for her son could also be to blame for the deception, as seeing how happy Sanxi is with his â€Å"father†, she convinces herself it must be him. In conclusion, Betrande is not responsible for situation, as it is the many different people in her life and particularly within the household that are responsible for un-intentionally covering for the imposter, and convincing Bertrande that he is the real Martin.

Examining The Sharia Law Religion Essay

Examining The Sharia Law Religion Essay For each, we have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had God willed, He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He has given you. So vie one with another in good works. Unto God you will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein you differ. Quran, 5:48 Introduction After the tragic events of 9/11, Islam has predominantly been under increased enquiry and scrutiny. The status of women has been targeted greatly, often labelling Islam as oppressive towards women. History In Arabic, Sharia literally means the way to the watering hole, symbolically meaning that in the harsh and difficult environment of the Arabian desert, following the path to the watering hole would ensure survival. Hence, in a religious context, if the Sharia was followed devotedly then it would lead the faithful into a pleasurable afterlife. Sharia Law (or Islamic Law) is based up two foundations: The Quran which Muslims believe to be the direct word of God sent down from Angel Gabriel to the Prophet Mohammed. The second foundation is the Sunnah and Haddith. The Sharia is un-codified yet systematic legal system. Un-codified because it has not been written down or collected to create one or more authoritative legal manuals, but nevertheless it is systematic because it is a comprehensible system of doctrines based on religious beliefs. It is essential to understand that although the Sharia is systematic legal system, it does not have clear and well defined sets of rules and regulations that can be easily applied to real life situations. This is where the role of the Ulama (religious scholars) is vital, because they are ones who dedicate their lives to studying the Sharia and therefore gain the authority to interpret the Sharia to resolve legal problems and apply it to real life situations. As the scholar Knut S. Vikor describes: The Sharia is best understood as a shared opinion of the [Islamic] community, based on a literature that is extensive, but not necessarily coherent or authorized by any single body. Believers of Islam believe that the Prophet Mohammed (c. 570 632) was the last and greatest of the Prophets that God has sent to reveal the Holy Quran. They believe that his teachings complement and clarify the messages of earlier prophets whose message were held to be distorted or lost over the years. The Prophet Mohammed is regard as the ultimate role model and his life is an example to Muslims on how the ideal Islamic life should be lead but they do not worship him. On the contrary, they believe from the Holy Quran, that Angel Gabriel revealed verbally to the Prophet Mohammed, that God is omnipotent, unique, ascribing no partners and no equal, thus Muslims never treat the Prophet as a Divinity. Prophet Mohammed was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia around c. 570. As he became older, he became a trader and by the age of 25 he married Khadija bint Khuwaylid, a rich businesswoman who was 15 years his senior. In around 610, Mohammed was meditating alone in a cave and according to Haddith complied by al-Bukhari, Angel Gabriel in the form of a man appeared before the Prophet. Gabriel ordered Mohammed: Recite! Mohammed replied: I am not able to read. The angel then gave him a bone-crushing embrace that it reached the limit of his endurance and then released him. Again the angel ordered him: Recite! Mohammed again replied: I am not able to read. After a third embrace and release, the angel ordered Mohammed: Recite! Mohammed then recited the following: Recite in the name of thy Lord who created- created man from clots of blood. Recite! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One, who by the pen taught man what he did not know. This then was the first revelation of the Holy Quran which later formed the first opening verses of Surah (chapter) 96 of the Quran. It took a period of 23 years for the entire revelation of the Holy Quran to form as we know it today. According to Muslims, they believe that the Prophet himself was illiterate and therefore his literate followers would write the revelations with whatever they could place their hands on, pieces of paper, stones, palm-leaves, shoulder-blades, ribs, and bits of leather. An authoritative version of the Quran was produced after the Prophets death in 632. The Quran The Quran consists of 144 Surahs which, instead of being placed in chronological order, they are grouped in order of their length where the longer chapters at the beginning and shorter chapters towards the end (with the exception of the opening chapter Al-Fathia). And although the basis of Sharia comes partly from the Holy Quran, in actuality it does not contain many exact rules of law. According to the scholar Mohammed Hashim Kamali, he concluded that less than 3 percent of the Holy Quran actually dealt with legal matters. These findings were also corroborated with another scholar by the name of N.J. Coulson who also concluded that: The Quran is in no sense a comprehensive legal code. No more than 80 verses deal strictly with legal matters; while these verses cover a wide range of topics and introduce many novel rules, their general effect is simply to modify the existing Arabian customary law in certain important particulars. Despite the low numbers of legal rulings from the Quran itself, it is the legal principles in which the Holy Quran brings forward that creates the fundamental nature of Sharia Law and that Muslims jurists draw from the moral and ethical values, which forms the Islamic message that comes from the Holy Quran, to make judgements and informed opinions on many legal matters that the Quran does not cover. For example, the main theme that is seen throughout the Holy Quran is Justice (Adl) and this plays a central part in the Sharia. Adl literally means placing things in the right place where they belong. The Sharia tries to establish Adl by adjudicating grievances and arbitrating disputes to the individuals involved, but also seeks to institute Adl as a whole throughout the community by establishing equilibrium of benefits and advantages in society. We sent our Messengers with evidences and revealed the Book and the balance through them so as to establish justice among people 57:25 Holy Quran. The Quranic standards of Justice are objective and irrespective of tribal, racial, national, national or religious backgrounds and differences. There at least fifty- three illustrations in the Holy Quran where people are addressed to be just to others at all levels, in personal or public affairs, in words and conducts, with friends or foes, Muslim or non-Muslim, all must be treated in fairness and with justice. O believers! Stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to God, even if it be against yourself, your parents and relatives and whether it be against rich or poor. 4:135 Holy Quran. And when you speak (make sure that you) speak with justice. 6:152 Holy Quran. The Sharia does not only controls legal rights and responsibilities of the Muslim people, but it also provides moral guidance of life and human activity in general. Thus the Sharia is split into two main classifications Ibadat (devotional matters) and muamalat (civil transactions). Ibadat is the rules concerning matters and the relationship between man and God. It is important to note that these religious obligations are directed towards the individual and fall outside the scope of the courts jurisdiction. Whereas muamalat is concerned with the separation of the Right of God (haqq Allah: which refers to the rights of the community or public rights) and the Right of Man (haqq al-abd: which refers to private rights). Under the umbrella of Ibadat, there are the 5 legal pillars of Sharia: [a] The testimony that there is no god but God and that Mohammed is the Messenger of God (Shahadatayn); [b] The performance of prayer (Salat); [c] The payment of alms-tax (Zakhat): [d] The performance of pilgrimage (Hajj); and finally [e] fasting during the month of Ramadan (Sawm). Here Islam focuses in instilling qualities of justice, trustworthiness, and righteousness through these acts of devotion (Ibadat). Ibadat are part of educating the believer to refrain from causing harm to others and purifying the mind and heart from corruption, selfishness and over indulgence in material purists. Surely prayer keeps one away from indecency and evil, and certainly the remembrance of God s the greatest (form of devotion) 29:45 Holy Quran. Furthermore, performing Salat in congregation enforces the doctrine of unity, equality and solidarity among worshipers. These doctrines are continually present in the rest of the legal pillars; fasting, alms-tax, and the performance of the pilgrimage all teach self disciple, sacrifice, and sensitivity towards others. More importantly, there is a greater emphasis on teaching avoidance of lying, degrading conduct, hypocrisy, oppression and so on. The Sunnah Haddith After the Holy Quran, the next authority of the Sharia is the Sunnah and Haddith. The Sunnah in Arabic is translated to the trodden path and is the teachings of Prophet Mohammed which contains the legal, religious and social duties of Islam. The Haddith is the traditions and sayings of the Prophet which was preserved by his closest Companions. The Haddith and Sunnah are both very much intertwined and therefore extremely difficult to separate. The difference between the two is that the Haddith are based on the life of the Prophet Mohammed and therefore makes a biographical basis of Sharia Law. The Sunnah is then the formation of the religious, social and legal obligations initially deriving from the Haddith. There are several thousand Haddith collections, with al-Bukhari (d. 870) and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (d. 875) are considered to be the most reliable Haddith collectors in Sunni Islam who listed around 16,475 Haddith combined (which in their entirety exceeded half a million) . Shia Islam has four official collections of its own. The main criticism of these collections of Haddiths is that because it has been passed from generation to generation, it could have been transmitted via a defective and interrupted chain of transmitters or it could be well known that the Haddith comes from an unreliable and untrustworthy transmitter and therefore the Haddith can be deemed undependable as a source of law. Fiqh Fiqh is defined as a system created in accordance to the principles laid out by revelations and the Prophets example. It is a term often used together as equal to Sharia and but not necessarily the same. Where the Sharia comes from mainly divine revelations in the Quran, Sunnah and the Haddith, Fiqh comes from human understanding and knowledge that is developed by legal schools, individual jurists and judges through legal reasoning and issuing a legal verdict (fatwa). Thus Fiqh is described as mere superstructure and a practical manifestation of commitment to the values of morality and faith and as a result created a basic scheme and scale of values in which human conduct could be evaluated: Obligatory (Wajib), Recommended (Mandub), Permissible (Mubah), Reprehensible (Makruh) and Forbidden (Haram). Only the Obligatory and Forbidden categories of the scale are legal and actually derive from the Quran and Sunnah, whereas the other three are non-legal and supplementary to aid believers and promote moral virtues. Legal Reasoning by Analogy (Qiyas) Qiyas is the way in which Sunni legal scholars can apply traditional laws that derives from the Quran, Sunnah and Haddith by defining laws from a known ruling to a new ruling. (Shiite scholars on the other hand reject Qiyas as a source of law.) The best example that shows legal reasoning can be shown from the Quranic ruling on the prohibition of wine. Wine and games of chance, idols and divining arrows, are abominations devised by Satan. Avoid them, so that you may prosper. 5:90 Holy Quran. From this Quranic verse, we see the legal ruling on the consumption of wine and by analogy, if wine made from grapes are forbidden, then wine made from dates are forbidden as well, as it too can cause intoxication. We can deduct from this analogy by using the same Quranic verse that the use of narcotics are also illegal as it too can cause intoxication and so on.

Are Group Rights Justified? :: essays research papers fc

Are differentiating measures justified in the name of a group right or interest or should they be condemned as violating the rights of individuals to equal treatment? It has been argued that differentiating measures that grant rights exclusively to groups are unjust as they trespass on the individual’s fundamental right to equal treatment. This essay seeks to prove that when applied in a fair manner group rights can enhance the equality of treatment received by the individual. The notion that equal treatment is of vital importance and that discrimination is immoral is widespread. The interpretation of â€Å"equal treatment† and â€Å"discrimination† however, is not . For some, equal treatment implies that each individual will be treated in the exact manner all other individuals are treated. There should be no distinction made between race, sex, religion or language in order to allow individuals receive preferential treatment because of their membership of a certain group. Others argue that if each person is given exactly the same rights regardless of race, sex, religion or language then members of minorities are put at a disadvantage and equal treatment is impossible. In order to justify the entitlement of certain groups to exclusive rights it is important to define what the exclusive rights are. According to Baker these rights can be divided into two groups, those pertaining to intra-groups relations and those pertaining to inter group rights. The first type of rights involves relationships between group members and may lead to individual oppression. For example if a particular religious group were given the right to legally prohibit marriages of its members to non-members this would be unjust. Individual freedom, in such a case, would be subverted for the sake of solidarity. Intra groups rights can be very treacherous to individual rights especially in theocratic and patriarchal cultures where there is a huge danger that women will be oppressed . Having established that intra-groups are potentially subversive and therefore undesirables the remainder of this essay will deal with inter group rights. Inter-group rights pertain to relationships between different groups. Inter-groups rights can, therefore, only exist in a pluralist state. Such preferential treatment seeks to protect a minority group against the larger society. The belief is that these rights will rule out the unfair advantage members of the majority group may have over members of the minority and will prevent marginilisation and segregation of the minority . These special rights can take various forms.

Price Adjustment

Question 3 Compute a sales dollar base index for Midwest Sales, Inc. , to analyze the following quality cost information, and prepare a memo to management. Answer {draw:frame} Question 4 Analyze the following cost data for product B. What are the implications of these data for management? Chart these data. Calculate the quality indices as a relationship to the cost sales. Product B Quality categories as a percentage of Quality Cost Answer {draw:frame} CoQ graph {draw:frame} From the data above, the management team will know how much they have spending in order to get a high quality product. From here, the company must rearrange their production planning in order to produce a high quality product without putting an extra budget. Analyze the cost data from ABC Corp. What are the implications of these data for management? How do these data differ from those in problem 4? Answer {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Based on the three pie charts above, it can be clearly seen that the total quality cost of non conformance (internal and external failure) can be reduced by increasing the conformance cost (appraisal and prevention) until it reached the optimum cost per good unit of product. It means that the company can only increase the conformance cost until certain limit in order to reduce the non conformance cost. When the conformance cost increase so much, it will result the increasing of non conformance cost as shown in Product C. Hence, the management needs to consider the cost by analyzing the profits based on the data that they got. Question 7 Prepare a graph or chart showing the different quality cost categories and percentage for the Great Plates Printing Company. Answer {draw:frame}

Pupils Welfare And Academic Attainment Education Essay

Pastoral attention, or as it is known in an educational scene as Personal, Social, Health and Economic instruction or PSHE, has been under much argument and examination in the last decennary or so. The discourse environing this country of instruction is about how of import it is and if it has a topographic point within or alongside the National Curriculum. There are inquiries about the relevancy PSHE plays within schools and whether it is 2nd to the more academic based topics, and if it is in fact an country that needs to be included who is tasked with the occupation of presenting it? The chief publications I will be utilizing to discourse the inquiry are, Positions on Pastoral Care ; Pastoral Care and Personal Social Education: Entitlement and Provision ; Problems and Practice of Pastoral Care ; How to be a Successful Form Tutor ; The Pastoral and the Academic. Additionally to these I will be doing usage of articles, electronic stuff and an review study by Ofsted into PSHE. Pastoral attention and personal-social instruction can be found to arise before the Education Act was formed in 1944 and some grounds day of the months as far back as the last century. Although it was non until the 1970s, and shortly after critics, that publications about pastoral attention began to emerge in print, so it can safely be said that PSHE and pastoral attention has existed alongside instruction for a piece, ( Best et al, 1995 ) . A diffused construct from the general consensus for a sensible definition of PSHE is ; â€Å" Personal, societal, wellness and economic ( PSHE ) instruction is a planned programme of larning chances and experiences that help kids and immature people grow and develop as persons and as members of households and of societal and economic communities † .[ 1 ] ( PSHE Education, ND ) When it comes to pastoral attention a phrase which is going progressively used is ‘the concealed course of study ‘ , a phrase that defines a side consequence of larning which is non intentionally intended. The expostulation to this is that no portion of the course of study should be ‘hidden ‘ , for merely if it is openly defined can at that place be a plausible and incorporate structured programme of PSHE within schools, ( Marland & A ; Rogers, 2004, p.20 ) . An interesting point raised by Keith Blackburn that can associate to the ‘hidden course of study ‘ is that each member of the teaching staff, non merely the signifier coach, contributes in assorted ways to countries focused on the PSHE lessons, something I will turn to subsequently in this reappraisal ( Blackburn cited in Best et Al, 1980 p.58 ) . Overall, it is clear in some countries that there are values based on PSHE within schools and it is seen as an indispensable facet of ‘whole s chool ‘ ethos, furthering a safe and unafraid environment where kids are able to larn. So, from my initial readings it seems that the function of the signifier coach is to better the overall well-being of the student with the purpose of it holding a positive impact on the remainder of their instruction. With this general background in head we can get down to discourse how the place held by the pastoral carer/form coach is important to pupils ‘ public assistance and academic attainment. The signifier coach can hold many functions within a school, he/she are the first grownup students will run into in the forenoon and he/she have more contact clip with each student in comparing to their capable instructors. As a instructor he/she is at that place to supply support and counsel, every bit good as being a function theoretical account to whom their students can look up to. Dillon and Maguire acknowledge this in their book Becoming a Teacher, and so travel on to state â€Å" merely being there is an of import factor, supplying students with what might be the lone point of security in the instance of those with helter-skelter lives † , ( Dillon & A ; Maguire, 2011, p.371 ) . In turn toing the point made by Blackburn brought up earlier in this treatment, subjects teacher can lend to countries focused on by the chief pastoral carer. Then once more their chief aim is to learn their course of study topic, unlike the signifier coach, they would non follow with a structur ed programme that students will profit from within PSHE lessons. Furthermore, while it is the responsibility of the signifier coach to advance ‘personal development ‘ , Blackburn besides insists the signifier coach has to understand the manner each student sees himself in order to lend to his farther apprehension and penetration † , ( Blackburn, cited in Best et Al, 1980, p.58 ) . This support of a signifier coach can be a great aid during the adolescent phase of a student ‘s life as Watkins ( 1981 ) explains that one of the chief country of the signifier coach ‘s function will be to see is merely that ‘adolescence ‘ . A slippery clip for a student as they are trying to develop their ain individuality and where they fit within the larger community. Watkins puts it as â€Å" striplings are continuously involved in experimenting with their self-presentation and judging the reactions thereto † , ( Watkins, ND, cited in Hamblin, 1981, p.22 ) . During his calling Douglas Hamblin ( 1981 ) had become progressively cognizant of schools where the pastoral system was under-functioning and doing small direct part to the attainment of the ‘whole schools ‘ ethos. He seems to admit that instructors were non the 1s to fault, the job stemmed from uneffective pastoral attention caused by a hapless deficiency of structured programmes from which carers could present utile lessons, ( Hamblin, 1981, p.3 ) . Fortunately, varied lineations of learning standards in these PSHE lessons can be found in many publications, in add-on necessary qualities in being a successful signifier coach can be besides be found. One peculiar publication which discusses both would be How to be a successful Form Tutor, by Marland & A ; Rogers, ( 2004 ) in which they describe that â€Å" a signifier coach is a instructor whose topic is the student herself † , ( Marland & A ; Rogers, 2004, p.19 ) . The suggestion here is that each student ‘s ‘personal development ‘ , addressed by Blackburn before, is different and they should hold their ain single acquisition program to assist them come on. Marland and Rogers so travel on to compose about a theoretical account that focuses on seven countries of personal-social growing drawn upon by Richard Pring ; these include rational and moral virtuousnesss, character traits, societal competences, practical and theoretical cognition and personal values, ( Pring, 1984, cited in Marland & A ; Rogers, 2004 p.22-4 ) .These countries described here can help in the betterment of both the public assistance of students and their overall academic accomplishment ; or as Calvert expresses it, â€Å" issues of emotional intelligence were cardinal to larning and non merely concerned with go toing to the public assistance of the kid † , ( Calvert, 2009, p. 274 ) . In 1980 there was a ‘Great Debate ‘ of instruction looking into the constitution of a more purposeful course of study ; the topic of pastoral attention was mistily addressed but non much was done about the â€Å" luxuriant and frequently complicated systems † that were in topographic point, â€Å" in which academic personal businesss were separated from public assistance and counsel † , ( Best et al, 1980, p. ( xi ) ) . In the publication The Pastoral and the Academic, Powers ( 1996 ) writes that in its early phases pastoral attention had been used as a manner to depict any undertaking that would non suit into the academic side of instruction, ( Power, 1996, p.30 ) . As it was defined chiefly in negative footings, it lacked internal coherency and organizing rules, ( Power, 1996, p.30 ) . So at that place seems to be this great oversight between both pastoral and academic, but some authors feel there is a demand to unite the two in an interlacing relationship so they can feed off each other to better public presentation of students ‘ well-being and faculty members. Hamblin feels that â€Å" the relationship of pastoral attention to achievement can non be stressed excessively strongly ( Hamblin, 1981, p4 ) . There is a big sum of grounds that suggests PSHE has had a strong influence on students in both positive and negative ways. Such an illustration is the Ofsted review study into personal, societal, wellness and economic instruction in schools, which took topographic point between September 2006 and July 2009 in 165 kept up schools in England. In one school visited students responded positively towards PSHE instruction, â€Å" exhibiting first-class behavior within lessons and had developed lively and joint debating accomplishments and were besides willing to listen to the positions of others † , ( Ofsted, 2010 ) . The students besides showed their societal and personal accomplishments in practical ways by moving as function theoretical accounts and wise mans for younger students. The findings suggest that many of the schools with consistent and good quality learning were really much dependent on whether PSHE was taught by non-specialist instructors ( who were frequently coachs ) or by instructors who had had some preparation in PSHE instruction † , ( Ofsted, 2010 ) . This analysis suggests the benefits from holding a strongly structured programme for PSHE lessons can help any type of coach deliver a lesson. There is grounds of negative positions towards pastoral attention picked up by Powers ( 1996 ) , Calvert ( 2009 ) and Hamblin ( 1981 ) . As discussed earlier, Hamblin acknowledges the under operation of pastoral attention, while Calvert explains there are seven ages of pastoral attention which have developed over the last 50 old ages. These are pastoral attention as ‘control ‘ ; as ‘individual demand ‘ ; as ‘group demand ‘ ; the ‘pastoral course of study ‘ ; for ‘implementation of the National Curriculum ‘ ; for ‘learning ‘ and for ‘the wider work force and the Every Child Matters docket ‘ , something Power besides picks up on in less item, ( Calvert, 1996, p 270-274 ) . It seems apparent that the function of the signifier coach, no affair how many significant alterations it goes through, one portion which remains critical and is agreed upon is the development of the students ‘ wellbeing, ( Rees, 2010, cited in Dillon & A ; Maguire, 2011 ) . This sentiment of â€Å" personal development † dealt with by Marland and Rogers ( 2004 ) is something that is besides picked up on by Keith Blackburn in Perspectives on Pastoral Care, depicting â€Å" a new function created for instructors in secondary schools whose main accent was cognizing single students † , ( Blackburn, cited in Best et Al, p.56 ) . Associating many of the Hagiographas is this impression of the academic and the pastoral working together alternatively of against each other. Best and fellow authors indicate in Perspective on Pastoral Care, that as far back as 1980 there is clear deliberation over the thought of segregating the pastoral course of study from academic as a questionable act and something that the ‘great argument in instruction ‘ should hold picked up on but failed to so, ( Best et al, 1980, P ( xi ) ) . Chris Watkins suggests that â€Å" schoolmasters and instructors should guarantee that pastoral attention in schools embodies a healthy balance between challenge and support for students † , ( Best et al, 1995, p.304 ) The division of PSHE course of study devoted to either public assistance of students or their academic accomplishment is nonsensical, as the focal point on supplying for personal growing and accomplishment together is a better model for success, ( Standish et Al. 2006, cited in Dillon and Maguire 2011 ) something for which Watkins ( 1981 ) and Powers ( 1996 ) agree on. Mentioning back to the original inquiry posed, I feel it can be concluded that the signifier coach is genuinely cardinal to helping in the ‘personal development ‘ of students in both well-being and academic attainment, ( Blackburn, cited in Best et Al, 1980, p.58 ) . It seems a common understanding that the responsibility of the signifier coach is to cognize the students as persons and help them in their ‘personal development ‘ of these countries. It is besides apparent that the academic side of instruction is improved by such subjects taught in PSHE as discovered by Ofsted during their reviews, ( Ofsted, 2010 ) . However, it is good and works better if there is a structured programme in topographic point to work to. Unfortunately there is no easy reply to what constitutes an in agreement pastoral course of study. Everyone seems to hold similar thoughts about what should and should non be included ; nevertheless there are excessively many inconsistent thoughts to do a refined construction as yet, ( Calvert, 1996, p.268 ) .

Capital Budgeting Essay

Introduction The purpose of this paper is to analyze and interpret the answers of the Capital Budgeting Case. I will discuss my recommendation about which Corporation and investor should acquire based on the quantitative reasoning. I also will describe the relationship between the net present value and the internal rate of return for the two corporations that are analyzed. Capital Budgeting Case A company is planning in acquiring a new corporation and there are two options with the same cost of $250,000 but both with different 5-year projections of cash flows. The evaluation done to the two corporations (A and B) is based on the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR). The net present value represents the value the project or investment adds to the investor wealth. The NPV method of capital budgeting suggests that all projects that have positive NPV should be accepted because they would add value to the investment. On the other hand, the internal rate of return is defined as the discount rate that equates the present value of a project’s cash inflows to its outflows. According to the internal rate of return method of capital budgeting, the investment should be accepted if their IRR is greater than the cost of capital. The results for Corporation â€Å"A† shows a NPV of $20,979.20 based on discount rate of 10%. And, we got an IRR of 13.05% which means that is the discount rate that makes the NPV equal or close to $0.00. On the other hand, the Corporation â€Å"B† with a discount rate of 11% got a NPV of $40,251.47 and an IRR of 16.94%. A positive NPV is considered a good project, and we want to choose the one with the highest NPV. Therefore, I would recommend acquiring the Company â€Å"B† because it has a higher NPV than the other company. Corporation B will be giving us a current value cash return of $40,251.47 above our 11% required rate of return during the next 5 years. And, if we recalculate the NPV using the IRR of 16.94% it will result on an NPV close to $0.00. The relationship between NPV and IRR is based on the discount rate used to bring up the cash flows to the present. For the case of Company â€Å"B†, with the discount rate of 11%, if we have a NPV of $0.00, our IRR will also be 11%. But, if our NPV is higher than $0.00, our IRR will be also higher than 11%. And, if we have a negative NPV, then our IRR will be less than 11%. In other words, the NPV and the IRR most of the time yield the same result of acceptance or rejection. Conclusion In conclusion, the best recommendation is to acquire Company B because it will give us higher current values during the first 5 years and higher returns of the investment.

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Final - Essay Example The company is a house hold name in beverage production and has since got many acquisitions of juices from several countries. The company also has a wide range of industries that use its trademark or is licensed by coca cola. The Company was set up to oppose the initiatives of the citizens about production of beverages Discussion Coca cola and its Mission The company has its mission, vision and values that form a strategy network for them to deliver quality products to its consumers. Its vision is to become the best and undisputed leader in every market in which the company competes. Its mission is to refresh, partner with its customers, enrich and uplift the lives of the local communities and reward its various stakeholders. The company holds values that propel it towards its future success which include; winning its customers, power of working together, caring, investing and empowering its people, learning, excellence and authenticity. The company is headed by Muhtar Kent who is th e chairman and chief executive officer. There are several other directors who head the company branches in several countries. The company has its own challenges that it has to rectify so that it can be successful. This includes health effects that could be caused by its products since it has a lot of calories and causes acidity and tooth decay. Use of contaminated waters in making of the coke and amount of water needed makes the aquifers dry hence posing serious environmental problems. The company has also been accused of bribery cases to dentists. The company also has opportunities of opening up new franchises in different countries as a trusted global leader in beverage production. Its strengths lies in its ability to integrate small juice companies and make them part of their acquisitions. The company boasts of 146,200 employees who are spread out across the world. The company has many directors across the world that is headed by an overall chairman. The company also has a board of governors that coordinate all the functions that take place within and outside the company. They also pass information and decisions from the board to the directors across the world (Ulrich, 34). Recruiting and staffing Staffing needs in the coca cola company are established by having a personal relations officer in each branch to whom complaints are given. An individual or group of persons with any complaint forwards their problems to this officer, who then forwards it to the managers and director or head of the branch. These problems are then forwarded to the board that discusses and comes up with solutions. The company also has an employee website where employees log in with their work numbers. This site provides an opportunity for all the staffs and executives to interact and air their views openly, which will be discussed in the board and solutions made (Mayo, 74). The company does a job analysis of its workers and new employees once every two years. New employees are recrui ted through rigorous interviews that are done to eligible applicants. The interviews contain important elements such as group exercises, psychometric tests, situational exercises and presentations that take various forms. Interviews are posted on the company’s website which can be accessed by all members of the public so that the affair may not be deemed biased. Interviews are done by the board of governing members or directors in the specific countries. The

Best practices in Critical Thinking and Decision Making Essay

Best practices in Critical Thinking and Decision Making - Essay Example It involves gathering of information, analysis, evaluation and application of the information obtained in the process of critical thinking, and finally arriving at a final decision. According to Carter (1973), â€Å"Critical thinking is thinking that proceeds on the basis of careful evaluation of premises and evidence and comes to conclusions as objectively as possible through the consideration of all pertinent factors and the use of valid procedures from logic.† Decision-making is a process where the individual arrives at a solution to a given problem by evaluating information. A decision can be arrived at through analysis, discussions and debates. A review of the process of critical thinking and decision making makes it clear that a quality decision cannot be arrived at without critical thinking. In the absence of critical thinking, entire details of a situation may not be available and the best solution may be hard to find. Decision making involves balancing of quantitative and qualitative data and using our judgment to make the right choice. It is here that critical thinking helps. Critical thinking puts our knowledge of a particular situation or problem into a proper perspective. It helps us to understand the subject by filling the gaps in information and revealing the significance of the assumptions we have made about the subject. When there are many options available to us it is difficult to choose. A final and informed decision can be arrived at when we have a full understanding of the subject. Critical thinking helps you to do just that by providing us with the consequences and implications of various options. Critical thinkers use the power of reasoning to dissect complex problems and make things simple. Critical thinking contributes towards avoiding mistakes and making one aware of opportunities available. Critical thinking requires practice. It is not mere thinking. To be a

History of Search Engines Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

History of Search Engines - Dissertation Example nt of time, the files used to remain spread on unidentified public FTP servers which were only able to be found when someone declared a particular file’s availability through email and discussion forum or such similar sources. After a time-span of a year a dispersed search as well as recovery system procedure for documents known by the name of Gopher, was made available in the Internet. This was developed by a team of researchers belonging to the University of Minnesota. This release of Gopher was trailed by the emergence of few programs of searching known as Jughead as well as Veronica. These programs were stated to explore those files which were grouped in the directory systems of Gopher and made available a search related to the records and names with the help of a keyword on the numerous servers of Gopher (Gasser, 2006). Accessing the Internet speedily stretched outside its earlier area of research which was of industrial organizations and academic world. This reformation and alteration took place after the World Wide Web (WWW), which was made available publicly from August 1991, achieved vital mass in the year 1993. This was achieved with the help of the emergence of ‘Mosaic’ which was a web browser. ‘Mosaic’ was stated to be the initial program that offered a user a graphical user interface. Corresponding to the emergence of ‘Mosaic’, the earliest search engine of Web came forward. Wandex which was a directory of confined Universal Resource Locator (URL) and was founded on the earliest web crawler known as the World Wide Web Wanderer was developed. This was initially developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the reason of tracking the progress of the web. At the similar time, a range of search engines surfaced, entailing Aliweb.... This essay discusses that the information or data will be collected from secondary sources such as library materials. The sources will include journals, books, reports, articles, and magazines. This will be observed to be quite suitable for the research study owing to the easy accessibility and the broad mixture of sources which will assist in making the research more precise and correct. It is important that the information is gathered from the right sources. The legitimacy of the sources considered in this study will also be considered as a reason for selecting this process.The way of evaluating the information in this research study will be with the help of qualitative method. The qualitative method will be selected for the study as the data collected will consist of a wide range of information which will be to a certain extent impossible to be quantified. From the above discussion, the history of the search engines can be evidently traced. It can be inferred from the history that various search engines were released owing to their importance. Constant innovations were made so as to enhance the functions of the search engines. The amount of people browsing the web has been increasing with every passing day and so is the requirement of search engines. These not only aid in narrowing down one’s search but is also being used a source of promotion by the companies. The research will help to provide a pertinent reflection on this valuable factor in the global Internet platform.

Milly's Moped Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Milly's Moped Report - Essay Example If there are any documents as printed or physical output, they are outputs of this process too. Distribution or Logistics is another process found in the case. The distribution plans are used as inputs and the delivery schedule is used to plan deliveries to the whole sellers. As a result, the scheduled deliveries are matched with the completed orders and discrepancies are reported as an internal report. Information given as input and received as output serves the information needs of management at various levels. The three types of information needs being met by the information are (i) Strategic level, (ii) Tactical level and (iii) Operational level. Strategic level information is the information needed for strategic decisions. These decisions are made by top management and senior personnel of any organization. In the above processes, various types of information are to be used by the top management of Milly's Mopeds. The capacity shortfalls, bottlenecks in assembly, expansion decisions and changes in core competencies are the major information areas which are strategic in nature for Milly's top management. Tactical level information is meant for middle level management for managing and allocating resources for the organization. In this case, the information and inputs and outputs like selection of distributors, selecting channels, making delivery schedules and making budgets are all tactical level information. At the operational level, the very basics of operations are carried out. It involves the routine day-to-day activities that are carried out in the normal course of business. The information gathered from the inputs, outputs and reports of the business processes in this area are the feedback from operations, inventory and stock updates, operations reports and problem reports. The information systems and information technology has taken a new role over the past few years. The concept of Strategic Information systems is present today which was never existent before. This has huge application of Information Technology. (O'Brien, James A., (2002). Trends In Information Systems. McGraw-Hill) With the introduction to information technology, the information handling, storage and processing has become very efficient. Huge data repositories are now in place by almost all companies. Milly and Graham were also suggested and advised to use a database to solve their problems. Databases will provide them the data storage solutions. The interface and designing can be easily done to take data out from the database and use it for their needs. 2. Marketing in specialist literature The business process of marketing in specialist literature is focused on carrying out the task of marketing the mopeds by the use of specialist literature. Special literature may include the literature targeted to various levels of customers. The reason for selecting this process for detailed analysis was because it is a core process for Milly.

Probation and Parole- More Than a Way of Getting Criminals out of Research Paper

Probation and Parole- More Than a Way of Getting Criminals out of Prison - Research Paper Example In recent years there has been a problem in the United States of the prison population rapidly growing, which has been causing financial problems as well as issues with finding the space to incarcerate the criminals . As a consequence, there has been a trend towards probation and parole as methods of getting criminals out of prison earlier and back in society. In addition to reducing prison population, it is thought that this may also help the individuals to successfully rehabilitate into society, reducing their rate of recidivism. Although studies indicate that the success of probation and parole may be limited, the process nevertheless appears to be effective for some individuals, and there are processes that can be undertaken to increase this effectiveness. Prevalence of Probation/Parole Parole and probation are widely used as means of justice, and these are often considered to be community corrections. Probation is part of the sentence that is initially handed from the judge when following a trial. It can occur in addition to or instead of time in prison. Parole occurs when an inmate is conditionally released from prison after serving all or a part of his sentence. In both cases the individual is under a set of conditions, such as they are not allowed t associate with certain individuals, cannot commit crimes or visit certain locations. If the individual breaks these conditions, then they are subject to imprisonment. In many cases the offender’s attendance to these conditions is determined by their supervision by a parole or probation officer. The number of individuals under community correction at any given time is high, much higher than that of the prison population. For example, in 2003, there were around 2.1 million adults incarcerated, but approximately 4.8 million undergoing either parole or probation . These numbers were not unique to that year, but instead represent the general trend . There is no unified system for probation and parole acros s states. Instead each state has their own guidelines and laws surrounding the circumstances in which criminals are eligible, the length, restrictions that are placed on the individual and other factors . Because of this, the manner in which individual supervisors treat those they are in charge of differs significantly between different people, cities and states . The recent changes in sentencing laws have resulted in an increase in the number of people who are receiving community corrections . It is likely that any solution to the problem of high numbers of incarcerated inmates will result in increases to the number of people under probation and parole . This will result in an increased workload for those involved in supervision of offenders. The power of officers has increased significantly in recent times. Currently many parole and probation officers are able to carry weapons, as well as administer drug tests to determine whether the offender is remaining drug free . Effectivenes s One of the key roles of probation and parole is to reduce the rate of criminals reoffending. This is an important issue, as more than two thirds of released prisoners have been found to reoffend within three years of their release . Studies have shown that while probation and parole can be effective as a method of sentencing for many individuals, the rate of recidivism remains very high . One factor that limits the effectiveness of probation is the fact that a large number of people on probation and par

Culture, Ethnicity, and Health Care Practices Essay Example for Free

Culture, Ethnicity, and Health Care Practices Essay 1. Identify two religious or spiritual practices in which members of the Evans Family may engage for treating hypertension, diabetes, and mental illness. In the text, the Evan’s family is introduced as an African-American family, and members of the Baptist church. Members of this family have been diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, and mental illness, diseases that the family may attempt to treat through religious of spiritual practices. Daily prayer may be a spiritual/religious practice used by the Evans family to treat the mentioned health conditions. â€Å"African-Americans consider themselves spiritual beings, and sickness is viewed as a separation between God and man† (Purnell, 2003, p. 49). In an attempt to get closer to God, daily prayer would be viewed as a positive aspect to accomplish this, lessen the separation between themselves and God, to improve or abolish the sicknesses. God is viewed as the â€Å"supreme healer†, and the Evans family may also be asking God through prayer for healing to improve the illnesses, and restore their health. Another spiritual practice which may be employed by the Evans family to treat the hypertension, diabetes, and mental illness which they are experiencing involves the laying on of hands. African Americans may hold the belief that diseases can be cured when a person of faith gifted with special healing powers touches the afflicted person. This touch is usually accompanied by prayer. Sometimes, it is believed that â€Å"†¦the laying on of hands is thought to free the person from all suffering and pain, and people who still experience pain are considered to have little faith† (Purnell, 2003, p. 50). It is important that the health care provider be aware of these spiritual practices, their potential effect on the health care plan, to provide culturally competent care. 2. Name two dietary health risks for African Americans. Typical diets for African Americans can reflect the regional cuisine, but there are some foods and types of foods that are considered central to the diet. Salt pork, or â€Å"fat back† is a staple ingredient in many African American’s diet, and reflect the tendency of the diet to be very high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium. This type of diet is associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes; these conditions do occur at a higher prevalence in the African American population. Another diet related health risk involves the tendency to view people of healthy body weight as being underweight and needing more â€Å"meat on their bones† (Purnell, 2003, p. 47). Even in infancy, it is a common practice to avoid underfeeding by feeding newborn infants liquefied cereal mixed with formula and given through a bottle. â€Å"African Americans believe that giving only formula is starving the baby and that the infant needs ‘real food’ to sleep through the night† (Purnell, 2003, p. 47). These views may lead to a tendency to overeat, and be overweight, which is associated with the increased risks for the health conditions listed above. Health care providers can be in a position to give nutritional information, and recommend resources to assist patients to reduce dietary health risks, while maintaining the spirit of traditional cuisine. A magazine published by a health network directed at African Americans encourages healthier, culturally sensitive changes: Dr. Jones stresses that eating healthy doesn’t mean having to give up favorite foods. It just means preparing these dishes in a healthier fashion. That includes traditional favorites, like soul food—one of the oldest and richest cuisines in America. While it’s always been good for the soul, soul food is usually not so good for the heart†¦But soul food doesn’t have to be bad for you. You can continue to enjoy your ages-old family recipes in a new, health-conscious style by changing your cooking methods (Advocate Health Systems, 2007, p. 2). 3. What historical precedence is there for distrust of â€Å"outsiders† in Appalachia? People in Appalachia are characterized as having a distrust of â€Å"outsiders†, and are often unwilling to share their true thoughts and feelings with them. Part of the historical precedence that contributes to this distrust centers on their prior dealings with authority in the form of the large mining and timber companies. The Appalachian people were exploited by having their land taken by these outside business interests, who then subsequently attempted to control the behaviors of the workers for their own profits. There is a strong reliance on family and community; individualism and self-reliant behavior, and reverences for family lineage are highly valued within this culture. Appalachia has been characterized by poverty and isolation, which can result in cultural lag. There has historically been a limited access to education, as well as less of a valuing of higher education, with an emphasis placed upon learning skills necessary to enter the traditional employment fields and earn a living. These factors encourage the continuing distrust of outsiders. Communication styles reflect a general distrust and unease with â€Å"outsiders†. Materials or oral communication presented at a level that is beyond the understanding of the client may lead one to believe that the provider is â€Å"stuck up† or â€Å"putting on airs† and may add to a general feeling of distrust. Traditional Appalachians may value a large amount of personal distance, direct eye contact, and may value silence. They are often unwilling to communicate true needs in an attempt to be polite. Because of historical inequities with interactions with authority figures, including outsider health care providers, traditional Appalachians may not respond well to teach or instruction that is perceived to be an order; they may be much more receptive to hints and suggestions which solicit the client’s opinions (Purnell, 2003, pp. 73, 74). Because of improved technology, transportation, educational and employment opportunities, and more exposure to outside culture, traditional Appalachia may be changing, and the barriers and distrust of â€Å"outsiders† will be lessened. However, an Appalachian educator notes: The mountains have figured into all of it. The mountains kept us so isolated from the rest of the country and from other peoples involvement in our lives that we developed these characteristics: We are very independent, we are very contented with the places that we live, we are very close to nature, we have a deep sense of a belief in God, and we have a deep sense of being friendly and kind to one another and helping one another, and taking care of everyone else in their needs. And we also have a strong sense of whats right and what ought to be and a deep mistrust of anyone whos new, anyone whos a stranger. We dont trust change very well and we dont like change very well (Morgan, 2005, p. 1). 4. What evidence do you see of the â€Å"ethic of neutrality† in this case study? The case study presents a view of the client by using her preferred terms, language, and presents her views in an objective manner. The case study seems to reflect the point of view of Miss Leona, and it respects her unique perspective. The author uses the words of the speaker to explain her reasons for doing things in a way that reflects aspects of the culture. For example, rather than state that Miss Leona may have difficulty reading medication instructions, the author includes the information that she was only educated through the third grade, and states â€Å"She admits not using the salve given to her by Dr. Adi because he told her to apply the salve according to the instructions on the jar† (Purnell, 2003, p. 89). The author does not make any judgments relating to the health related behaviors of the people in the case study. Several elements that illustrate cultural domain concepts are objectively presented. The use of folk medicine is demonstrated, with no evaluation of the home remedies, including the application of a bacon grease poultice to the leg wound. Similarly, the author presents Miss Leona’s own explanations of her illnesses, including her statement that she has â€Å"low blood†, in a subjective manner. The â€Å"ethic of neutrality† is maintained through an objective account of her situation, as experience by the patient alone, within her unique perspective. 5. How might you help Miss Leona eat a more nutritious diet? In the case study, the elderly Miss Leona reveals that she has been diagnosed with a heart disease, which her physician attributes to a high fat diet. She believes that her heart problem is instead related to the recent death of her husband, based in part on the timing of the diagnosis. She has expressed her dissatisfaction with the physician who has diagnosed this condition, because he did not communicate adequately during the visit. Miss Leona reveals that her diet is mainly high fat meat, dairy, and simple starches; she doesn’t mention fruits or vegetables at all. These foods are easy for her to prepare, and readily available. She demonstrates the difficulty in bringing food to her home, because she has to walk up a steep grade and a footbridge to get to her home. She does rely on others to bring her groceries at times, but makes it clear that she values self reliance. In accordance with traditional Appalachian cultural values, Miss Leona would most likely not respond well to being told directly which foods that she needs to eat to stay healthy. Rather, a practitioner would have to engage her in more of an indirect chat that would show knowledge of Miss Leona’s unique situation, and respect her likes and dislikes, and her need for ease of food preparation. The practitioner would also have to address the issue of being able to accept assistance needed to even bring healthy foods into her home, since there are physical barriers present that make carrying heavy groceries up a steep incline, especially with an infected leg wound, and a heart condition, impossible. The practitioner would need to provide the appropriate support needed to help make food choices that Miss Leona would be able to prepare, and enjoy. 6. Describe two taboo views that African Americans may have about pregnancy. Taboos are practices that if done, are likely to result in harm coming to the mother, unborn child, or both in the case of pregnancy-related taboos. There are a few pregnancy taboos regarding photographs that African Americans might have, according to the text. There is the belief that pregnant women should not take photographs, or they may cause the baby to be stillborn. Another cultural belief that may be shared is that a pregnant woman should not have their picture taken, because it captures their soul. There is also a taboo that involves the dangers of purchasing clothing or other items for an unborn baby. This is said to be â€Å"bad luck† for the baby and mother. Baby items are purchased after the child is born to avoid causing harm to or misfortune to the mother or her child. Pregnancy taboos views may be held by African Americans, in addition to other prescriptive and restrictive practices regarding childbearing. The realities of pregnancy are related to many factors. â€Å"African American women usually respond to pregnancy in the same manner as other ethnic groups, based on their satisfaction with self, economic status, and career goals† (Purnell, 2003, p. 48). 7. Identify and discuss views that Dorothy and her parents may have about mental illness and medication. In the case study, Dorothy is a 42 year old African American woman living with her parents who takes medication for a diagnosed of bipolar disorder. African Americans have variations in drug metabolism, particularly of psychotropic medications. They show higher blood levels, experience a faster therapeutic response, and are at more risk for drug side effects. â€Å"Health care professional’ personal beliefs may about a specific ethnic group may account of how the drug is prescribed, and African Americans are at a higher risk of misdiagnosis for psychiatric disorders and ,therefore, may be treated inappropriately with drugs† (Purnell, 2003, p. 48). The Evans family may have seen these medications misused in family members or friends, and may have some negative view regarding the treatment of mental illness. In African American culture, there is a tendency to use medication on an â€Å"as needed† basis; when an illness improves, and the person feels better, she may stop taking the medication. This practice could be very detrimental to medication therapy for bipolar disorder. If Dorothy and her family engage in this practice, she would most likely not have had good responses to medication. Dorothy and her family may therefore have a negative view of the medication’s effectiveness. African Americans often attach a stigma to mental illness, especially since there tends to be a high frequency of misdiagnosis of psychiatric disorders, leading to a distrust of mental health professionals (Purnell, 2003, p. 50). The Evans are a religious family, and they may have prayed and attempted to achieve spiritual healing for Dorothy. When the illness persisted, they may have judged Dorothy as not being faithful enough to receiving healing. With these cultural factors coming in to play, there is a high probability that Dorothy’s illness presents a great challenge within the Evans family. References Advocate Health Systems (2007). How to make your family recipes heart healthy. Advocate Magazine 3(24). Retrieved 6/12/07, from http://www. advocatehealth. com/trin/info/library/ham/win00/trin1. html? fitness Morgan, K. (2005). West Virginias Appalachian culture. West Virginias Appalachian Music and Literature Resources. Retrieved 6/12/07, from http://www. ferrum. edu/applit/studyg/West/htm/wvcultur. htm . Purnell, L. (2003). Transcultural healthcare: a culturally competent approach. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company.