Marketing Planning Consultancy Report for Fairview International

During the late nineteen nineties, a thorough strategic review of the British Junior Chamber of Commerce was conducted. It is a kind of parties and charity events Junior Rotary   that has a distinctly retro feel to it, one of the reasons why it had lost 80% of its members (or customers and market share) over the previous twenty years. Its members were usually in their 30’s, so it was no longer junior at all! Radical approach was taken by the officers of the said group while others simply rearranged the chairs on the deck of the Titanic as the ship continued to go down. One of the features of this organization was international twinning where the members visit friends in a foreign chamber bi-annually and vice-versa. It was proposed that the organization become a travel company primarily to see bands like Robbie Williams, Coldplay and James Blunt play in other countries. Low cost flights were becoming popular and if you could stay at your twin organization members home (and they yours) you then had a very low cost international travel model with a purpose ‘the big gig’. This delivered to a young person’s sense of ‘having a good time’ having traveled far to rock festivals in my youth. But this was revolution for this retro organization whereas the more conservative members of the organization proposed an evolutionary model that was accepted. Perhaps predictably it continues to decline and I and others remain convinced that my prescription was an effective one! The aims of the organization have been defined in the widest possible terms in effect ‘offer a service to young people containing real features and benefits that they would instantly perceive to have value and relevance in return for a fee’. It is surely obvious that any service offer has to change with the times. Welfare state spending may reduce the need for charity or terrorism the appeal of travel, never mind that, new young adult generations will always look to find new ways to irritate older people. Digital Technology has revolutionized this landscape (Generation X, 2000). In this short piece of work, I, as the consultant, challenge Fairview to look at their product offering in the broadest possible terms too. When they use the term gaming, it should simply mean fee generating play. For instance, I think many young men (and women) in the United Kingdom would like to play for the English soccer team. It should be perfectly possible to design and offer a paid for interactive Information Technology game where you join a team, play well and are transferred while you play against other teams with team members located all over the country on your mobile phone, timing runs, tackling, and making passes and shots in real time on the screen. It is this soccer offering where the United Kingdom has the best product in the world I have focused on, as United Kingdom consumers pay to receive live soccer currently. It is both then the dominant market segment for gaming potential as well as the easiest to charge a fee for. This then should be the aim for Fairview. To understand what young people want and harness the technology to deliver a new concept that will sweep the market. This is all some distance from the traditional ‘bookie’s’.   Fairview uses the name ‘chain’ to describe this market entry. Chain is the right term, but not as in the old ‘a chain of bookie’s ‘but by building customer databases linked by profitable repeat fee based gaming interests for rapid team game building. This is as near to a mission statement as my proposal needs. Proposal While on the one side the United Kingdom seems a perfect place to offer gaming services as a wealthy secular modern society with no overt proscriptions, the reality is that this protestant country has some of the same forces at play as the puritan founders of the United States of America that influences proscriptions against gaming there. Millions of British used to admit to only gambling once a year on ‘The National’ the Grand National Steeplechase. Bookie’s were scruffy smoke filled pits of dysfunctional people all too often Catholic immigrants from Ireland. Relatively well educated, if you asked the British why they didn’t gamble they’d say ‘it’s a mugs game’ and ‘get rich quick schemes’ only work for the amoral founders of the idea. They would prefer to ‘gamble’ if that is the appropriate term on the stock market where legitimate gains could be made by using the thirds party services of good corporate management to ensure a comfortable retirement. If you look for further evidence of this, it is well known that no Casino will open in the United Kingdom, unless there are large numbers of potential ethnic Chinese gamers living nearby. They will not get rich on United Kingdom consumers, indeed may not even break even (The Independents Britain’s new cultural entrepreneurs, 1999). .But times change, and just as the stock market now offers a diverse range of derivative instruments, so does gaming. The popularity of the English Premier League has lead to the spread betting phenomenon. If the top teams usually win, the margin of victory is far less certain and this also has lead to greater volatility and margins of gains and losses or in other word exciting risky behavior. The United States legislation against on line gaming was an initial set back as the United Kingdom based organizations were generating   lot of business in for instance interactive Poker games (People before structures, 2000). B.   But clearly there now offers the same kind of opportunity for Fairview that stem cell researchers enjoy in the United Kingdom’s less judgmental society in other ways, so familiar to the Americans, but what exactly is it?. Technology has changed consumer markets especially for young people fundamentally. Living in a poor third world town in a poor third world country there are dozens of internet shops catering for young males who want to play on line. The cell phone here predominates and conversations have to be broken mid sentence to give the phone its precedence. These are new networks just waiting to be more completely, competently and commercially exploited. In the United Kingdom, most homes have internet cable bundled with telephony too and children dominate their use. For those who think that the internet is a marvelous utility for expanding the mind with information, the reality is that it is pornography that dominates commercial transactions on the web. People are quite happy to sign up to a site that suits their sexual taste and this has hastened the demise of the printed word if pornographic magazines were more likely to venerate the picture rather than the accompanying narrative. This all simply demonstrates that people will pay a fee to use IT if you give them what they really want, in this instance, sex! To refer back to my opening, I realized that the Junior Chamber had other problems too in gaining new young members. People often didn’t want to move around to get together any more, given the twin threats of urbanization traffic clog and personal security threats. At their office was the ideal tool to ‘blog’ instead. Tools like Microsoft Messenger meant that you could now have an interactive real time conversation. Add a web cam and this is the modern equivalent of the ‘whist drive’ or poker games my parent’s generation but enjoyed without the need for a meeting place. Property in the rich and crowded island that is the United Kingdom is notoriously expensive to buy or rent. How very convenient! The question then to ask is, given this new digital societies’ range of extensive interactive tools, what will the young people move onto once they tire of their mostly violent and speedy games? Gaming defined as a competition where you place a stake and back your skill has to be the obvious move once these kids are working and have more money in their pocket. The opportunity is obvious. But will Fairview be sufficiently visionary to spend marketing resources on creating this market? To do this, their initial key goals will include setting up the soft infrastructure. They will have to work with key influencers (for instance game designers) and agents (like MySpace) and the Premier Football League as well as build a formidable technical offering, but they will be pushing against an open door in terms of consumer desires. They must design a proprietary brand and a tightly drawn patent to protect themselves at least at the outset for competition, unless they are not prepared to spend enough marketing funds on this to ‘go it alone’ and would rather share the burden with competitors in the hope that there is enough business to keep everyone happy. Observe the English soccer on Star Sports in Asia. It will be noticed that they urge customer to use their cell phones to make score predictions and so of course can build up a data base of cell phone numbers that send the predictions in. Many of these Asian English soccer fans have never been to a real English game. They are a perfect target to form virtual soccer team similarly with the virtual manager games. In a sense Star Sports and its competitors are ‘ahead of the game’ but they don’t recognize what they’ve got yet nor how best they can leverage it. When the term ‘clicks and mortar’ was first coined in the nineteen nineties it seemed pretentious, but in fact it was ‘right on the money’. It seemed that consumers wouldn’t buy some things unless they’d seen them first. The feel of something is important. It transpired that Amazon were very good at selling Information Technology, books and records all not particularly visual or tactile and we would buy holidays and flights on the net for the same reasons, but when for instance it came to clothes, a regional superstore may be needed to view the goods closer at hand. Since that time memory has got cheaper and virtual reality less virtual, and this has become a little less of an obstacle. What about the social environment though?. People will be free to play these games in public arenas with adjacent fellow players. It just need not be that way. Of course, younger people have sometimes never even thought about this although malls around the world seem to still be full of them. There is evidence too that many people gravitate towards social situations such as ‘the bookie’s’ provides. Where then in the product offering should we place these components? It seems to me that an internet gaming company should product test a real life regular forum for their customers. An organization was set up by Tony Blair, the former United Kingdom Prime minister’s advisor on future policy trends called DEMOS. It was a centre left policy think tank. Most of the action was in far away London but once a year they would hold an event in the north in Liverpool. It is this kind of customer sensitivity that internet offerings have to master, designed as they all too often are by tech ‘geeks’ who are rarely ‘people persons’. An annual conference of soccer gamers could be highly viable and entertaining for them off season. In one article by Demos, they put the spotlight on Generation X the first internet generation to reach adulthood. This was in some ways a fundamentally different generation. They were found to be the first generation that had synthesized their social needs inside their heads and home, whereas previous young adults would head off down ‘the pub.’ The bedroom of the average young person in the United Kingdom is now an entertainment and communication zone, a little like the bridge of Star Trek! The recent purchases of social networks like that of MySpace by Google tells us something about their utility for attractive targeting both by advertisers and the future tech offerings that Google is rumored to be announcing soon in the cellular communication area. So far I have mostly referred to the internet, but clearly relatively few people can receive this via 3G right now and these services are expensive (but there is an opportunity there for Fairview too). It is clear that in the technical mix a formidable proactive customer services 2G offering should be launched as well, as we all know that these 2 and 3 G phones are no longer just phones but in some way an extension of the identity of the individual. Where this would all lead in terms of software development I don’t have the expertise to predict, but Fairview would surely need their own in house team of software developers. Opportunities for as ubiquitous a product as interactive soccer would clearly show themselves rapidly in both mainland Europe and South America where soccer is king, and later, globally! The beauty of technology of course is that this can be all run from just one location. Adjacent opportunities will be available too for the skill and experience built by the Information Technology department to be applied elsewhere. There are many customer services functions in the United Kingdom where good staff could be poached for a more interesting job This leads to the subject of Brand. Clearly few can tell the Americans anything about brand building. In consumer markets, brand is king and so internet and 2G advertising with product offers would be essential. I repeat that endorsements by top soccer players of the interactive paid for soccer gaming would too be essential if that were part of the offer. It should too watch how Google addresses the market in its next move as that organization seems to have a good feel for the youth/it/ commercial landscape The action and execution plan would be carried out most effectively by well trained and motivated new young people to Fairview that have bought into this concept as they will sell/merchandise it with real enthusiasm at retail software purchase points. This will be a sales force with all the traditional activity goals, daily targeting etc. A key account manager will set up the contacts with the key partners MySpace, YouTube, etc. and Star Sports and the Premier League to set up the delivery networks, but it will be the marketers that will likely make the most impact by leaflets in the appropriate magazines, advertising boards at soccer grounds, cell phone text message advertising etc. A pre offer tease roadside board adverting campaign could be useful but as this will be a tech offering a key initial task would be to build a potential fee gamers data base by garnering cell phone responses to advertising. The mining of this cell phone response consumer data base should be a key task of an in house customer services team with specific goals to be achieved. Conclusion It can be concluded from the evidence above is that there is a real opportunity to move things on commercially in the tech gaming space and thereby move away from the traditional bricks and mortar gaming concept. This is of course already well under way, but the surface is only being scratched in terms of potential as large sections of the community don’t game (gamble) at all as the offer has yet to be put in the right way. This is the right way and indeed many of the tools look already to be in place, if greater use of 3G would be a slight advantage. Much of the above proposal is already out there like United States interactive basketball and I’m sure that Fairview know this, but they could crucially deepen the level of interactivity with a virtual FA Cup played by thousands around the world with a trophy handed to the winners before the real FA Cup Semi Final and real players ‘guesting’ on line in teams. This ‘hype’ or real celebrity based excitement, a mix of reality TV and virtual reality could gain many millions of subscribers paying per game regularly ‘on line,’ or even women (or men) aspiring to dinner with David Beckham, indeed make such a sea change in the commercializing of ITC that this becomes a legendary ‘breaking of the mould’ enterprise, the ‘final straw’ that opened the door for a fee based gaming enterprise to ‘clean up’. It simply remains then to be seen whether they will have both the vision and resources to turn this into such a lucrative reality that one day soon it will be as playing a pivotal role in redesigning post modern civil society as well!. References Generation X   – Demos   UK 2000 Handbook. 2007. http://www.rjca.org.uk/docs/Handbook_A.pdf People before structures – Demos UK 2000 The Independents Britain’s new cultural entrepreneurs – Demos UK 1999                     

Contract Law – Intention to Oontract

Contract Law 1 Intention to Create Legal Relations In order for a contract to be valid there must be intention to create legal relations. Enright notes ‘the requirement of intention to create legal relations is a final doorkeeper in contract. It determines which agreements supported by consideration shall be covered by contract law and which shall merely be morally binding. ’ This requirement was expressly stated for the first time in Heilbut, Symons & Co V Buckleton.Friel notes that important as there are a great many agreements and arrangements that, though possessing many of the characteristics of contract, probably are not intended to attract legal consequences. Intention to be legally bound operates on the basis of presumptions. The test for intention is objective. The court will impute intention to create legal relations to the parties on the basis on external factors rather than on the workings of the parties’ minds. Intention and Presumptions There are two presumptions in this area: 1.There is a presumption that agreements between family members or friends are not intended to be legally binding. 2. There is a presumption that agreements which are made in a commercial context are intended to be legally binding. Social and Domestic Arrangements A close family of social relationship raises a presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations. The seminal case, Balfour V Balfour involved maintenance payments to be sent home to his wife while he was working abroad. The court held that agreements between husband and wife are not intended to be legally binding.The closer the blood relationship the more readily the presumption will be raised and the more distant the degree of blood relationship, the more likely the courts will infer an intention to be legally binding. This can be seen in Simpkins V Pays where an informal agreement between a landlord and his lodger, to enter into a weekly competition, held lodger entitled to share of winnings, despite landlord’s evidence that there was no intention to be legally bound. Rogers V Smith shows the same principal in Balfour V Balfour applied to other family relationships. It was held in this case that the agreement between a mother nd her son did not attract legal relations. Likewise in Mckay V Jones where a nephew had worked on his uncle’s farm for some years without payment, claimed that the uncle had promised to the farm when he died. Deale J. Ruled that it was nothing more than a statement of intention or wish by the deceased†¦.. no promise was made as the agreement was between family members. In contrast to this case is McCarron V McCarron where a child worked without reward for 16 years. The child was said to have lost out more in McCarron and therefore had a greater detriment or reliance on the compensation promised.The dates between this cases may explain the different points of view. In Leahy V Rawson found that an agreement between her no n-marital partner’s brother, did not attract the presumption as it only applies to the closest family kinships, such as parent and child and spouses. The courts also held the same principal in social arrangements as was shown in Hadley V Kemp. In this case the court raised the presumption that an agreement as to the sharing of songwriter’s loyalties with other members of his band (Spandau Ballet) was not intended to create legal relations.Enright notes that a degree of intimacy is required between the parties in order to raise the presumption. The issue is not of status but closeness. We can contrast Balfour with Merritt V Merritt. As in Balfour, the parties were husband and wife and the agreement concerned an allowance, yet, in Merritt, the court chose to enforce the agreement. Merritt is distinguished however, on the grounds that the husband and wife were separated, so they were not in a close relationship any longer and so the presumption of lack of intention to cre ate legal relations could not be raise.For the same reason, and as it appears in Courtney V Courtney, a separation agreement will not attract the presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations. It is the parties’ relationship at the time of contracting which matters. That is clear from the mother-daughter case of Jones V Padavatton. In this case, the mother agreed to maintain her daughter if she came home and studied for the Bar. Over time their relationship broke down but the presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations stood because of their close relationship at the time. Rebutting the PresumptionThere is some authority to the effect that the courts are more likely to find that the presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations has been rebutted where one party has relied on the agreement. This is seen in Parker V Clarke, involved two couples who were close friends. The Clarks told the Parkers if they sold their cottage they could move in with them, that the Clarks would leave some of their considerable estate to the Parkers on his death. Sometime after the couple moved in they fell out and the Parkers were forced to move out. They sued the Clarks for breach of contract.Because of the parties close relationship at the time of contracting, the presumption was that it was not intended to be legally binding. However, the court found that the Parkers’ detrimental reliance on the agreement in leaving their home was a factor strong enough to rebut the presumption, and intention to create legal relations was thereby found. The party alleging that a family agreement was intended to be legally binding bears the onus of rebutting the presumption that it was not so intended. It is significant that in a family agreement was made in a business context.So, for example, an agreement made in connection with a family business, such as that between brothers, directors of the company in Snelling V John G Snelling Ltd, is unl ikely to fall foul of the presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations. The words used by the parties in setting out their agreement and, in particular, the level of certainty attaching to the agreement were also important. The fact that the parties have taken time to set out their agreement with formality and precision suggests that they intended it to be legally bound.On the other hand, where an agreement is expressed in vague terms, it tends to suggest that the parties did not intend to create a legally binding agreement. This is clear from Vaughan V Vaughan. This case concerned a couple who were no longer living in amity. They had agreed that the wife could stay in the matrimonial home. However, they had not decided how long she could stay for, or on what terms. Accordingly, their agreement was so vague in its essentials that the Court could not confer intention to create legal intentions in it.Commercial Agreements Commercial agreements raise the presumption that intention to create legal relations is present. It is difficult to rebut this assumption. The burden of proof is on the party seeking to deny it and that burden, according to Edwards V Skyways, is a heavy one. Vagueness on the essential terms of the contract tends to suggest an absence of intention to create legal relations. For example, the courts will rarely be able to find intention to create legal relations in so-called sales puffs.Thus, in Lambert V Lewis, no contract arose from a manufacturer’s statement that his product was ‘foolproof’ and ‘required no maintenance’ because his statements were ‘not intended to be, nor were they, acted on as being express warranties’. A lot depends on the facts of the case at hand. In Esso Petroleum V Commissioner of Customs and Excise, a binding contract was deemed to arise from a transaction in which football tokens were offered to anyone who purchased four gallons of the plaintiff’s petrol .According to Lord Simon ‘†¦. the whole transaction took place in a setting of business relations†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, the purpose of the offer being commercial: Esso wanted the public to buy its petrol. Rebutting the Presumption Cadbury Ireland Ltd V Kerry Co-Op shows how a number of factors can operate to rebut the presumption of intention to create legal relations. In this case, a clause held not intended to be legally binding despite its solemnity: it was an argument to draw up a detailed agreement, but could not be relied upon itself.Even in a commercial context, the presumption in favour of the intention to create legal relations can be dispatched by a very clear expression of lack of intention. A classic example of this is in Rose and Frank Co V Crompton Bros. In this case, the parties had agreed that the plaintiff would be permitted to distribute the defendants’ goods in the US. The agreement however contained an ‘honourable pledge clause’. The cour t held that the agreement could not be enforced because of this clause. The court also found the wording precise enough to rebut the presumption in Jones V Vernon’s Pools Ltd.Collective Agreements Where a trade union negotiates an agreement with an employer on behalf of its members, does this agreement attract the presumption of intention to create legal relations? In the English case of Ford Motor Co Ltd V Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers, it is said that the presumption in relation to collective agreements is that they are not made with the intention to create legal relations. However, Irish Law takes a contrary view, tending to favour the enforcement of collective agreements via contract.So in Ardmore Studios V Lynch, it was suggested that a collective agreement which is set out in a clear specific manner will take legal effect. The Supreme Court took up this thread in Goulding Chemicals V Bolger. For the purposes of Irish Law, it seems safe to say that collective agreements can be enforced in the same manner as any other commercial agreement and attract the presumption that the intention of legal relations is present. In O’Rourke V Talbot Ireland, Barrington J treated a collective agreement as a commercial agreement.Similarly, in King V Aer Lingus the Supreme Court took the view that some of the commitments given by Aer Lingus to its employees as part of a collective agreement were binding. A problem that continues to afflict collective agreements, however, is their characteristically vague language – the majority of collective agreements will be void for uncertainty. Letters of Intent V Letters of Comfort Enright notes that a letter of comfort is a document designed to reassure the person to whom it is provided about certain matters while stopping short of making any binding promise.A good example of the effects of a letter of comfort arose in Kleinwort Benson V Malaysia Mining Corp. Bhd. In this case, the plaintif f bank had agreed to lend money to the subsidiary of the Malaysia Mining Corporation. In the course of negotiations for the loan, the bank received a letter of comfort stating that: ‘it is policy to ensure that the business of our subsidiary is at all times in a position to meet its liabilities to you under the above arrangements. ’ Despite this reassurance, the Court of Appeal concluded that this statement did not bind the defendant.The letter was not, in fact, purporting a binding promise. It was simply stating that company’s policy, a policy that might be changed or adjusted in response to novel circumstances. It is important to note, however, that there is no concrete rule precluding a letter of comfort from giving rise to legal relations. Whether or not such letters creates a legally binding promise is a matter to to be discerned primarily from the language used. The simple fact that the words ‘letter of comfort’ have been used, while evidently relevant, may not conclusively prevent the agreement rom having legal implications. There is a lot of uncertainty in this area as in seen in the case of Wilson Smithett & Cape (Sugar) Ltd V Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation. A letter of intent, in contrast to a comfort letter, is one in which a person or company seeks to induce another entity to undertake work to incur expenditure, while denying or limiting liability to that other entity, often by insisting that liability turned on concluding a formal contract at a later date.In AC Controls Ltd V BBC, the court summarised the principals in relation to letters on intent. The general principal on letters of intent that seek to authorise work, materials or services pending the conclusion of a later contract is that such letters will be viewed as contracts in themselves as long as objective is present. In ERDC Group Ltd V Brunel University, the Court held that the work done prior to September had all been on the authority as set out in the series of Letters of Intent.The judge thought that the usual requirements for a contract were all there (intention to create a legal relationship, certainty, etc) and had all been there until 1 September. He therefore found that there had been a contract until then. Accordingly, ERDC was to be paid on the basis specified in the letters – the JCT rules. Conclusion It is contended that the requirement of intention to create legal intentions largely makes sense.Social and domestic agreements have the presumption as not having intention to create legal relations as there is a belief that such formalities are not required in this type of relationship. Enright notes that there are two reasons why this is employed. Firstly, if the rule were that social and domestic agreements were always legally binding, the courts might be flooded with petty disputes and the second is because it is felt that people should have the freedom to make certain types of private, persona l agreements without drawing the interference of the law into their lives.It is also understood that Commercial Agreements are correct as they do have the intention to create legal relations as there is the acceptance that such formalities should be required in this type of relationship. The ways to rebut this assumption also makes sense as it can be rebutted if the essential terms of the contract are vague or if the party seeking to deny it can prove that there was no intention. Enright notes the burden of proof is on the party seeking to deny it and that burden according to Edwards V Skyways, is a heavy one.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World Coursework

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World - Coursework Example book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World He gains confidence and skill through his journey. That said, he never shows leadership for the organisation, as he meets these women, and pretty much sends them on their way to do their thing in these other countries, with very little guidance or management from Wood himself. Because of this, this book should not be looked upon as a book for leaders, and to provide guidance on how to lead people, because this is not where Wood’s skills lie. In fact, his lack of leadership arguably hurts the project, as he is never able to gather a team for himself or for the other branches of the project in other countries. This paper will describe how the project came together, how he got his fundraising teams together, how the project branched out to other countries and also analyses the governance of the project. The personality traits of Wood is pertinent to the discussion of Wood’s leadership, because these traits have a bearing on how he leads. One of the personality traits that Wood shows throughout the book is a sense of independence. This is shown in the fact that he left the high-powered job at Microsoft in the first place to go to Nepal. Moreover, the overall personality trait that he exhibits is one of empathy and compassion. An ordinary man would not be moved as much as he was by his initial visit to Nepal. At least, an ordinary man would not be moved to give up his entire life to help the people of that country.

Informed Decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Informed Decisions - Essay Example They use the philosophical base of Karl Marx, the tactics of Adolph Hitler and the rhetoric of the Sierra Club. The American people have been assaulted from all directions by rabid environmentalists. School children have been told that recycling is a matter of life and death. There is nothing happening that is not the result of natural occurrences and that is that. 2. The earth does go through natural cycles of cold and warm. These can just be repeating patterns, or they can be triggered by catastrophic events like a meteor strike or major volcanic eruptions. What we see now, which has never been seen before, is the fact that a species on earth now has enough power to trigger one of these catastrophic events. That means us...So, while some of what we see happening to the climate is part of natural cycles, we are now adding to the problem at a remarkable rate - the natural rate of change would be much slower and less dramatic. My viewpoint is that global warming does exist. It is a matter of urgency because we have the ability to slow down a natural process by modifying our own behavior. Maybe one would argue that it's not a problem. Try that on the inhabitants of Tuvalu - it's the first island in the Pacific which is actually beginning to go under water as the sea level rises. Others are going to go under too, but it's happening to the Tuvalans right now. Many of the younger people are leaving, but older people feel they have nowhere else to go and are just appealing to the world to pay attention and change their carbon emissions now. D. Justification Through Evidence. The atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, have increased since pre-industrial times from 280 part per million (ppm) to 377.5 ppm (2004 Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center), a 34% increase. Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are the highest in 650,000 years. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of the burning of fossil fuels, such as gasoline in an automobile or coal in a power plant generating electricity. Levels of atmospheric methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, have risen 145% in the last 100 years. Methane is derived from sources such as rice paddies, bovine flatulence, bacteria in bogs and fossil fuel production. The year 1999 was the fifth-warmest year on record since the mid-1800's; 1998 being the warmest year. According to Thomas Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center (NOAA), the current pace of temperature rise is "consistent with a rate of 5.4 to 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit per century." By comparison, the world has warmed by 5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit since the depths of the last ice age, 18,000 to 20,000 years ago. F. Three Specific Examples. Disappearing Glaciers: Ice is melting all over the planet. Glaciers are melting on six continents. If present warming trends continue, all glaciers in Glacier National Park could be gone by 2030. The park's Grinnell Glacier is already 90% gone. Pictured here is the glacier prior to its meltdown. Because of global warming, the glaciers of the Ruwenzori range in Uganda are in massive retreat. The Bering Glacier, North America's largest glacier, has lost 7 miles of its length, while losing 20-25%

Increasing tuition in university of arizona Essay

Increasing tuition in university of arizona - Essay Example In fact, universities across the U.S. were forced to preclude some programs and departments from their educational curriculum (Hendley, â€Å"Arizona Ballot Initiative†). However, the economy is recovering and it is expected that the government should gradually revert its expenditure on education since the taxpayers revenue is pouring back in. It has not been the case since the Arizona State is undertaking further cuts on expenditure on higher education, something which has led to an increase in tuition. In the future, a lot of jobs will require college education; however, with the current inadequate support from the government in regards to higher education, many students, including myself, will not be able to foot the pricey tuition at UA. As a consequence, a crisis of deficiency of qualified and skilled workers is anticipated thence the urgent need to conduct an in-depth research on the issue. There has been a heated debate about whether it is justified to increase tuition for universities or to seek alternative ways of meeting the costs of school administration without compromising the quality of university students. Therefore, the issue at hand is only to be addressed by answering the question: is it warranted to increase tuition fees at the UA? In an article authored by Andrea Smiley in the UA News, the perspective of the student leadership at UA on the issue of increasing tuition is highlighted. Smiley presents the sentiments of Ann Weaver Hart, UA President, in relation to the increase of tuition whereby she suggests that the increase in tuition, with the exception of law school, is justifiable and for a good cause provided that a Guaranteed Tuition Plan follows the increase. Hart says, â€Å"I understand how critical it is to keep education affordable† (par.3). However, she points out that in order to achieve the goals of

Youth Work & Poverty (REACTION PAPER) Research Paper

Youth Work & Poverty (REACTION ) - Research Paper Example I agree with this contention because education empowers individuals with knowledge and skills that help them to exploit new opportunities of personal and professional growth. It also ensures that they are better equipped to make decisions based on informed choices which enhance their scope of employment. The increasing poverty forces the youth to abandon their studies in favor of work that is necessary for human survival. Moreover, while 16% youth is unemployed, by the age of 23 years, 41% of them end up being arrested at least once for something other than minor traffic violation (dol). This is hugely pertinent fact because it reveals the subtle trend in the current generation towards criminal acts and unlawful activities. The problems of the youth and the deteriorating level of education have emerged as crucial social factors that adversely impact the socio-economic development of the nation (Doob, 38; Conger & Donnellan, 179). It not only deprives the future of the nation with their dreams but also considerably adds to the burden of public welfare plans. One of the interesting questions that it raises is why one of the richest and the most developed nation of the world has not been able to motivate its youth for higher education as two out of every three unemployed youths have high school certificate or less (dol). Their lack of education either makes them jobless or earn much less than their peer group who are better qualified. It often results in low esteem and tendency towards unlawful activities for enjoying the lifestyle that they believe they are entitled for! (Abramsky, 29). Thus education becomes vital tool for the young people to ensure that they are better equipped with skills and qualifications to avail new opportunities of work and contribute to the development of the nation. The educational level has emerged as key element that significantly widens the scope of getting good jobs. It cuts across the divide of

Public Policy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Public Policy - Assignment Example The social acceptability of a policy proposal is the most important criteria for evaluating public policy proposal or programs. All the policies developed in a society should have the ultimate welfare of the society as the motivating factor. For example, the government of a country that is 70% Muslim realizes that prostitution, being an illegal business, is being conducted in secret. Some of the legislators propose legalization of prostitution so that the government can benefit by getting revenue from the business through taxes (Julnes 124). Some of the legislators argue against it on the grounds that the Muslim culture does not accept prostitution. In an effort to analyze the public policy proposal, the individuals involved are faced with two options; to choose the need for the government to increase revenue or to choose the social acceptability of the policy to the society. In the end, the social acceptability aspect of the policy is the most important; since the welfare of the people should take center stage in such an analysis (Vedung 15). In conclusion, the issue of evaluating and passing judgment on public policies is a complex process that requires taking into consideration all the criteria for the evaluation process. Even so, public policies should be developed such that it benefits the

Principles of Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Principles of Economics - Essay Example Other significant feature of this market model is the presence of a great deal of non-price competition as control over price is limited by their mutual interdependence. This is one of the significant behaviors of oligopolies when it comes to their pricing strategy. To have a better understanding of this oligopolistic pricing behavior, we will adopt a game theory model and use the matrix illustrated below. FIGURE 1. GAME THEORY AND PRICING STRATEGY Applying game theories in pricing strategies work like what is shown in Figure 1. Supposed we have the two oligopolists, Firm 1 and Firm 2 and each can choose either a high or low price. Their payoff matrix shows that if both firms will choose a high price, each will make $6 million but if both decided to sell at a low price, each will make $4 million. However, if one of them chooses a high price and the other one chooses a low price, the low- priced firm will make $8 million but the high-priced firm will only make $2 million. So, they wil l end up charging the low price because it is the dominant strategy. Oligopolists who are independent compete with respect to price and this will result to lower prices and lower profits. Consumers will end up benefitting from this. On the other hand, the oligopolists are at disadvantage because they will experience lower profits than if they both had charged high price. To avoid the outcome lower profit, they would rather choose to collude than to establish price competitively or independently. But the positive effect of collusion on variety and quality more than compensates consumers for the negative effect of collusive prices, so that consumer surplus is larger with collusion (Pakes 2000, p.1). Collusion is a situation in which firms act together and in agreement to set price of the product and the output each firm will produce or determine the geographic area in which each firm will sell (McConnell and Brue 1993 p.224). It may be in an overt or covert form. The most comprehensiv e form of an overt collusion is the cartel which typically involves a written agreement with respect to both price and production. Cartels can control output by making sure that the market is shared among members and the agreed price is maintained in the market (Lande and Marvel 2008, par. 2). The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is one of the most successful oil cartel in the world. There are countries like United States where cartels are illegal and there is a strict enforcement of anti-trust laws (Danieljensenlaw.com par.2). So, in cases like this, oligopolists tend to collude implicitly This can be done through tacit collusion. â€Å"Tacit collusion† need not involve any â€Å"collusion† in the legal sense, and in particular need involve no communication between the parties. It is referred to as tacit collusion only because the outcome (in terms of prices set or quantities produced, for example) may well resemble that of explicit collusion or ev en of an official cartel. A better term from a legal perspective might be â€Å"tacit coordination† (Marc, Julliene and Rey 2003, p.4). This may be seen in form of a price leadership. In the theory of price leadership, the basic assumption is that the dominant firm- usually the largest or the most efficient firm in the industry- sets the price and allows the other firms to sell all they can at that price

Finance assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Finance - Assignment Example The expected return figures obtained for these four companies are justified as they reflect in part the general trend observed in the various sectors. Watson and Head (2007) suggests that Biotech companies are expected to incur high cost of initial investment in research but with time they record high returns owing to the sale of their innovative products. The findings concur with those of Brown et al, (2012) who further proposes that the high returns for pharmaceutical companies increase exponentially as the new product’s market reach increases. On the other hand, Construction companies can be termed as safe investments as they have less risk, since most of the capital for such companies is held up in assets (Boritz, 2006) and (Megginson, 1996). This sector has high returns on investment owing to the booming real estate industry in Australia. The banking sector is dependent on the country’s economy and income levels of the people as discussed by Mishkin and Eakins (200 6). They state that since Australia is a developed country, over 90% of the people above 18 years of age operate bank accounts. With more people saving money with the banks, there is enough money to offer loans to businesses and individual thus making it a profitable sector. In contrast to this, the travel and leisure industry is highly affected with seasonal tourism experienced in Australia as reported in â€Å"An Introduction to Technical Analysis† (1999). Although most people may have disposable income to use in leisure, they prefer international destinations during seasons such as winter when the temperatures are very low. In addition, the competition in the sector, makes it a less profitable sector especially for small and medium companies. There are three major methodological setbacks associated with the Gordon’s growth model. Firstly, it is assumed that the growth rate is constant which might not necessarily be the case. Secondly, for stocks of growing

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 20

Report - Essay Example on and agenda (reference, appendices) remember to look at the recommendations so that you take the necessary steps as we agreed during our last focus group discussion. Internews’ Free and Fair Media program focuses on election related issues. The program aims to monitor a number of radio stations in the state to asses their coverage of the electioneering period that is; Pre-election period, Election Campaign period, Polling Day and the day the Results were announced. This monitoring project involves monitoring dangerous speech in the media and the role of the media in promoting peace and conflict mitigation. There are different media topics being covered including, including gender, dangerous speech, issue based coverage, fairness and balance. The report looks into the challenges that the radio station faced and recommendations that when implemented could improve the situation. The report also documents the findings by the media monitors in the period 1st January – 9th March 2013. All cases of reported speech were independently verified. The geographical scope of the content covered was primarily national. This survey indicates that in most of the programs monitored, it is male voices that were dominant as both journalists and sources of information. In terms of political party coverage, Cord Coalition received much airtime compared to other political parties with campaigns and rallies emerging as the popular source of coverage. This report aims to finding out if KBC Swahili Radio station management and journalist’s adherence to the professional code of conduct, that is the journalism code of conduct and the electoral body’s guidelines pertaining coverage of its activities as stipulated in the constitution. The free and fair media program supports a group of media institutions and mainstream media outlets to report fairly and responsibly in matters relating to electoral process. By doing so, these institutions will be playing a positive role of

The Harmful Effects of Video Games Vs. The Benefits Essay Example for Free

The Harmful Effects of Video Games Vs. The Benefits Essay There are many questions about video games and how they affect children. I believe that video games are harmful to children in many ways. Many studies have tried to prove that they are harmful, as well that they are also beneficial to children. It is difficult to understand which argument is the truth behind the research. I believe that the harmful effects are greater than the benefits. The benefits that the children can learn through video games can also be taught to them other ways besides just video games. Video games are not the only way to teach the children values and how to live properly. Video games are damaging the way that our children think and act, as well as harming their bodies by teaching them wrong morals about themselves and others. The first way that video games are harming our youth is psychologically. There was a study published in the Journal of personality and Social Psychology that children that were playing video games were reported to be more aggressive than those of children that do not play video games. Previous research has documented that playing violent video games has various negative effects on social behavior in that it causes an increase in aggressive behavior and a decrease in prosocial behavior. In contrast, there has been much less evidence on the effects of prosocial video games. In the present research, 4 experiments examined the hypothesis that playing a prosocial (relative to a neutral) video game increases helping behavior. In fact, participants who had played a prosocial video game were more likely to help after a mishap, were more willing (and devoted more time) to assist in further experiments, and intervened more often in a harassment situation. Results further showed that exposure to prosocial video games activated the accessibility of prosocial thoughts, which in turn promoted prosocial behavior.( Greitemeyer, Tobias; Osswald, Silvia, 2012) The research also found that children that were exposed to the video games were also did have  the ability to control the aggression. The children see the horror and the violence on the games and believe that it is proper to act the same way when they get angry. The children cause fights and can harm other people. Another effect that video games have on children is their ability to pay attention. The children that play the video games are only focused on the games. It can become an addiction to them. They do not feel that anything else is important in life besides the games. The children lose track of everything that is important and feel that the games are the only thing that is important. The children also lose the idea of socializing. They spend some much time playing games and isolating themselves away from other children or people, they do not learn how to socialize and learn to deal with other people. The video games are also harming children physically as well. Children that play video games do not get the exercise than a normal child should. Children sit and play games for many hours a day. A regular child should have 60 minutes or more a day to be healthy. When a child is playing video games, they are not receiving that exercise. When a child does not get the exercise they need, weight gain is a problem. Obesity is already a major problem with children these days, but video games just add to the problem even more. The weight gain can cause many health problems in children. These problems with children can contribute to future health problems. Weight gain also teaches the children unhealthy habits that they will continue as they get older. The children do not see that being healthy is important. They grow up and continue to not worry about their bodies or being healthy. Research has documented negative effects of video games on childrens physical health, including obesity, video-induced seizures, and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendonitis, nerve compression, and carpal tunnel syndrome. However, these effects are not likely to occur for most children. The research to date suggests that parents should be most concerned about two things: the amount of time that children play, and the content of the games that they play. (Gentile, PhD, 2000) Eye problems are also a result from video games. A child sits and watches just the game for many hours. The games cause the children to strain their eyes. The eye strain can cause headaches, discomfort, fatigue, and blurry eyes. If a child plays games for a long time, the games can cause eye focusing problems. Playing video games for extended amounts of time can  cause children to experience many of the same symptoms seen in computer vision syndrome in adults. Extensive viewing of the game screen can lead to eye discomfort, fatigue, blurry vision and headaches. Kids seem to become so engrossed in video games that they forget to take breaks. Prolonged game play without significant breaks can cause eye focusing problems, as well as eye irritation. (Bedinghaus, 2008) The children’s eyes are delicate and when playing games for a long time, the eyes tend to not want to focus well on other items. There are ways that people have argued that video games can be beneficial. The first argument that they have is that the video games teach the children about strategic thinking and planning. The games teach the children quests, which the children have to learn to get through by planning out the routine for the game. There are reports that stated that children that played video games, the children’s math, reading, and spelling improved. The games have many side shots that they have to read. The children learn better reading from reading all the shots in the game. The children also learn better spelling by all the reading that they have to do in the game. The math skills are better because the games have many different goals to earn and to count how to get there in the game. Video games also teach a child simulation, adventure, and role-playing. They learn the role-playing from pretending to be other people in the games. They learn adventure from all the different kinds of games and their themes. There are also many career opportunities for when they get older. The children can be game designers and game programmers. So there are some benefits for video games. Even though there are a few reasons to believe that video games can be educational to the children, there are more reasons to believe that the games are harmful to the children. The video games cause psychological and physical problems with children. So as some of the results might say that gaming is beneficial to children. They should be controlled on what they play and how much they are in contact with. Children are learning bad behaviors and harming themselves without even understanding the thought that they are doing anything wrong. Children are children because they need to be taught how to live and do things right. When they have other factors telling and showing them violence, horror, and harmful ways to live, they are going to start using these factors and living them. Video games are harmful to children and  should be considered very closely when letting the children play them by monitoring the types of games that the children are playing, as well as the amount of time that they spend playing the games. References Bedinghaus (2008). Video Games and Vision Video Games May Cause Vision Problems in Kids. About Vision Eyes and Vision Problems Eye Health Vision and Eye Care. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://vision.about.com/od/childrensvision/qt/Video_Games.htm Computer games health issues | Better Health Channel. (2012, September 11). Home | Better Health Channel. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Computer_games_health_issues Dr. Phil.com Advice Children and Violent Video Games. (2012). Dr. Phil.com. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/297 Gentile, PhD, D. A. (2000). Pediatrics for Parents. Pediatrics for Parents. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.pedsforparents.com/articles/2791.shtml Greitemeyer, Tobias, Osswald, Silvia (2012). Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behavior. American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecordid=993617CC-95FF-E099-47CA-8791DAA7640BresultID=1page=1dbTab=pa Iowa State University (2011, May 22). Video game effects on kids: Not all black and white, expert argues. Science Daily. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2011/05/110510101504.htm Why Video Games Are Good for Your Kids. (2012). ReadWriteWeb Web Apps, Web Technology Trends, Social Networking and Social Media. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from

11 Facts About Elder Abuse Essay Example for Free

11 Facts About Elder Abuse Essay 1. Elder abuse most often takes place in the home where the senior lives. It can also happen in institutional settings, especially long-term care facilities. 2. Approximately 1.6 to 2 million seniors become victims of abuse or neglect in domestic and institutional settings in the U.S. every year. 3. The four most common forms of elder abuse are physical abuse (including sexual abuse), psychological and emotional abuse, financial/material abuse, and neglect. 4. Most elder abuse victims are dependent on their abuser for basic needs. 5. At least 1 in 9 Americans over the age of 60 has experienced some form of elder abuse. 6. Seniors who have been abused have a 300 percent higher risk of death when compared to those who weren’t. 7. In almost 90 percent of elder abuse and neglect incidents, the perpetrator is a family member. Two-thirds of perpetrators are adult children or spouses. 8. For every reported incident of elder abuse, five others go unreported. 9. Almost 50 percent of seniors with dementia (a decline in mental ability. Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia) experience some form of abuse. 10. While 91 percent of federal abuse prevention dollars are spent on child abuse, 7 percent is spent on domestic abuse, and only 2 percent goes towards protecting the elderly. 11. Legislatures in all 50 states have passed some type of elder abuse law. Types Although there are common themes of elder abuse across nations, there are also unique manifestations based upon history, culture, economic strength, and societal perceptions of older people within nations themselves. The fundamental common denominator is the use of power and control by one individual to affect the well-being and status of another, older, individual. There are several types of abuse of older people that are generally recognized as being elder abuse, including: Physical: e.g. hitting, punching, slapping, burning, pushing, kicking, restraining, false  imprisonment/confinement, or giving excessive or improper medication Psychological/Emotional: e.g. humiliating a person. A common theme is a perpetrator who identifies something that matters to an older person and then uses it to coerce an older person into a particular action. It may take verbal forms such as name-calling, ridiculing, constantly criticizing, accusations, blaming, or non verbal forms such as ignoring, si lence or shunning. Financial abuse: also known as financial exploitation. e.g. illegal or unauthorized use of a person’s property, money, pension book or other valuables (including changing the persons will to name the abuser as heir). It may be obtained by deception, coercion, misrepresentation, undue influence, or theft. This includes fraudulently obtaining or use of a power of attorney. Other forms include deprivation of money or other property, or by eviction from own home Scam by strangers: e.g. worthless sweepstakes that elderly persons must pay in order to collect winnings, fraudulent investment schemes, predatory lending, and lottery scams. Sexual: e.g. forcing a person to take part in any sexual activity without his or her consent, including forcing them to participate in conversations of a sexual nature against their will; may also include situations where person is no longer able to give consent (dementia) Neglect: e.g. depriving a person of food, heat, clothing or comfort or essential medication and depriving a person of needed services to force certain kinds of actions, financial and otherwise. The deprivation may be intentional (active neglect) or happen out of lack of knowledge or resources (passive neglect). Hybrid financial exploitation (HFE): e.g. financial exploitation that co-occurs with physical abuse and/or neglect. HFE victims are more likely to be co-habiting with abusive individual, to have fair/poor health, to fear the abusive individual, to perceive abusive individual as caretaker, and to have a longer duration abuse. In addition, some U.S. state laws also recognize the following as elder abuse: Abandonment: deserting a dependent person with the intent to abandon them or leave them unattended at a place for such a time period as may be likely to endanger their health or welfare. Rights abuse: denying the civil and constitutional rights of a person who is old, but not declared by court to be mentally incapacitated. This is an aspect of elder abuse that is increasingly being recognized and adopted by nations Self-neglect: elderly persons neglecting themselves by not caring about  their own health or safety. Self-neglect (harm by self) is treated as conceptually different as abuse (harm by others). Institutional abuse refers to physical or psychological harms, as well as rights violations in settings where care and assistance is provided to dependant older adults or others. What causes physical abuse of an elder? The exact cause of physical abuse is not known. Poor or crowded living conditions may be one of the reasons it occurs. The following may increase your risk of physical abuse: You have learning or memory problems. You have a long-term condition, such as dementia, diabetes, paralysis, or stroke. You have no relatives or friends who can take care of you. You have difficulty getting along with others. The carer depends heavily on you for things such as money or housing. The carer drinks alcohol or uses illegal drugs. The carer has a personality disorder, depression, or another mental illness. The carer has a history of family violence, such as physical or sexual abuse. The carer has stress due to work, taking care of you, or financial problems. What are the signs and symptoms of physical abuse of an elder? Repeated falls or injuries, or old injuries that were not treated when they happened Scratches, bite marks, or marks from objects used for restraining, such as belts, ropes, or electrical cords Broken or dislocated bones Cuts or bruises, especially on both upper arms (grab marks) Scars or burns from cigarettes, irons, or hot water Blood or discharge coming from your nose, mouth, or genitals

Advantages of organizational behaviour in an organization

Advantages of organizational behaviour in an organization Introduction Management deals with people, their ideas and things related to them. In a simple form management can be defined as the art of things getting done through people in groups organized formally [8]. Management is the process where groups of people are involved in performance of organized activities. In an organization with a large number of employees the process of management directs the managers to perform some functions such as planning, staffing, controlling, organizing and directing to get things done by others. Organizational behavior can be used to improve the management practices for influencing the employees effectively and working with them. Management is the key to obtaining organizational effectiveness. Organizational effectiveness depends on meeting the rapid changing requirements of the organization such as having the right people for the right job and at the right time. It helps understand the production and behavioral control in an organization. The study of organizational behavior in an organization has the following advantages: It helps to expand the horizon of management. It helps improve the organizational performance in line with the individual performance which include reward systems, leadership, motivation etc., It helps develop commitment among the employees to achieve their personal goals thereby achieving the goals of the company. It helps to understand, predict and control the behavior in the organization. There are numerous factors that determine the successful performance in an organization, but for our discussion we will consider few important factors which are as follows: Recruitment and Selection Training and development Reward through proper Performance Appraisal System Effective Communication Skills Developing Dedication by Motivating employees Also, there are many factors that contribute to the changing nature of work at organization, but the two main factors are: Current market scenario requires organizations to be more competitive and customer focused, hence there is an increased pressure on the organization The breakthrough in IT and communication is another factor. For example mobile and internet have made work to be separated from time and space. Organizations have changed their focus and their main principles are: Defining vision and values from the consumers perspective Creating a value chain i.e., defining activities and process that add value to customers and link them Remove activities that add no value to the organization. Reducing inefficiencies in the tasks in an organization. These principles have added value to the organization enabling them to respond rapidly to customers needs and supporting change and encouraging innovation. I would also be discussing the various changes in the nature of modern work environment relevant to the factors Ive stated above. Recruitment and Selection[5] Recruitment is process in which a qualified and suitable person is selected for a job in a company. The recruitment process is the responsibility of the HR department and various methods are available for this process such as interviews, aptitude test, questionnaires etc., It is a forming phase and is the most difficult phase for the managers. Let us consider the recruitment and selection process at Tesco. There are different ways through which Tesco advertises its vacancies. It first advertises its vacancy internally through intranet for two weeks. This provides an opportunity for the current employees looking for a change at the same level or for a promotion. Tesco advertises its vacancies on the web at www.tesco-careers.com for external recruitment. It also displays vacancy boards on its stores. For managerial positions the applications are made online. The applicants chosen will have to first undergo an interview and for the final stage they will have attendance at the assessment centre. A waiting list of applicants is prepared by the stores and as the jobs become available candidates are finalized. Specialist jobs as bakers and pharmacists are advertised externally through the following means: Through the web and offline media Through television and radio Through advertisements in newspapers and magazines. As many other companies Tesco also looks forward for cost- effective way of attracting applicants. Though advertising on media and magazines is expensive but sometimes this becomes essential to attract suitable people for the vacancy. Selection can be defines as selecting the most suitable person from the list of candidates who have applied for the vacancy taking into consideration the laws and regulations of employment. Screening is an important part of the selection process and ensures that the selected candidates for the interview will be best suited for the job. There are different stages in the screening process. In the first stage, the selectors at Tesco look through the CVs of the applicants as this briefs the candidates education and job history. A CV helps to assess whether the candidate meets the specification for the job. Screening is followed by the candidate who attends the assessment centre. This process takes place either in store and are run by managers. The candidates are assessed through various exercises such as team work and problem solving. This also provides consistency in the selection process. In the modern work environment, the selection and recruitment process has become more sophisticated and detailed to opt for the best knowledge and skills in the market. The number of screening processes that organizations hold to select the right candidates has increased and also the type of tests have become more radical in their approach. Tests such as psychological evaluation and stress interviews are a common practice in todays work environment. Training and Development Training is very essential for the newly recruited employees. It is also very essential for the employees already employed so that their skills are up to date and in line with the latest trends and technologies. Training is becoming an essential part of every organization these days. Employees are made to undergo training programs in order to maximize their potential to meet organization goals. Lets us consider Barclays for our case study here. Training is a very crucial task for the Human Resource department at Barclays. The main reason for this being the induction program helps employees understand the various policies and the structure of their jobs. This will also give employees enough time to adjust themselves to the environment in the organization together with inducing new ideas and skills in the employees. Training is the most difficult and challenging part in the organization as it is a continuous process where the trainer acting as a change agent makes trainees get familiar with the new organization. The following are the main training aims at Barclay: It helps to increase the level of confidence and motivation in employees It creates a feeling of achievement and personal satisfaction Improves the quality of staff and improves their skills. The above are the contributing factors that the help the HR achieve their goal of making the employees feel a part of the organization. Selecting a suitable a trainer is a very challenging issue as he a middleman between the employees and the organization. The trainer has the following responsibilities. The trainer must assess the need for training the individual and set up a training program for the employee in order to reach the ultimate goal of the organization. He must design the training program. The most important task at Barclays Plc is group participation. Hence the main aim of the trainer would be to encourage this task. The trainer acts as a messenger between the employees and the management. The trainer must make sure that the newly learned skills are being practically applied. He will decide the need for further training on the basis of the current performance appraisal. In the modern work environment employees are keener on keeping themselves in touch with the latest technological development. They always pick up skills and enhance their knowledge quotient so as to face the growing competition in the current work environment. Therefore employing training and development schemes would be easier and would improve the overall quality of the workforce. Performance Appraisal and Reward System Performance appraisal is a process where performance of an employee is assessed in terms of expected goals set for them. On the basis of performance appraisal the company decides promotions, terminations, the level of supervision and the duties and responsibilities to be assigned to the employees. During the phase of performance appraisal the actual performance of the employees is assessed and evaluated. The HRM is responsible for the performance appraisal and it is its duty to pass the information accurately and impartially to the management so that necessary and future corrective measures can be taken. The HRM faces the following issues during performance appraisal: Recognition and identification of an employees strengths and weaknesses. This will help to utilize the strengths more effectively and the necessary steps to be taken to overcome the individuals weakness. In certain cases employees should be given full effort, hence the HRM should identify the problems which are causing this. This also provides information needed for HR planning and act as an input to the HR department. This acts as a basis to make decisions such as strategies and future long term objectives. It is the duty of the human resource management to create a method of performance appraisal and system of reward. The method created should be in line with the objectives of training and development program. Defined standards should be set to measure performance. The HRM should decide who will be using the appraisal method and appraised by the method created. The HRM should gather feedback from the employees about the appraisal method created, this will act as source of boosting the employees morale. This will help the employees assess their strengths and weakness. This will further encourage the employees to do better to get a reward from the organization. Employees in the organization try to do tasks that will not alone get them rewards in the form of bonuses and incentives but recognition in form of certificates and medals and also appraisal for doing something new and innovative. This will help motivate the employees. In the case of Barclays the reward system is very important as this will help influence the employees to do something better and innovative. The reward system ultimately acts as a motivational factor for growth in future and is not an easy task. As this depends on the responsibility and the type of job being done.[7] If the performance management system is handled carefully and properly, leads to outstanding performance by employees and increases the level of motivation decreasing the absenteeism lack of morale of employees. Performance appraisal and reward schemes are vital in todays work environment because employees today are more influenced by the corporate lifestyle and are always in the lookout for better job opportunities and hiked salaries. Therefore it is essential for organizations to keep their employees loyal towards them, and the easiest and most effective way of doing it is performance appraisal and reward schemes. Effective Communication Skills Effective communication is nothing but an art of conveying our message clearly to other people. It involves a lot of effort for effective communication as any error or distortion will result in misinterpretation of message. Lack of effective communication may result in lack of information, misunderstandings, employee performance may decrease which may ultimately affect the companys turnover. Ineffective communication may become a source of conflict and frustrate the employees. The managers inability to communicate effectively may lead to the inability of employee not performing well as per the company demands. This happens when the employee is not aware of what is requested of him and ultimately leads employee dissatisfaction. Effective communication has its own benefits in the workplace. Effective communication from managers to employees will result in the employees doing their job well. A good management style together with a positive communication approach will be quite effective in the workplace and will lead to better understanding between the employee and manager. For an organization to be successful communication should happen both internally and externally. Internal communication: between management and employees. External communication: this takes place between staff and clients. Let us consider Vodafone as a case study to illustrate the effective communication skills[3] Internal Communication[2]: this takes place inside the organization between the employees and management. Here the employees act as stakeholders. This communication may take place in any of the forms listed below: Vertically: this the top down approach which happens from the senior employees to juniors associates. The ultimate goal here is to improve the performance of tasks and make the junior employees understand the companys priorities and requirements. Horizontally: this takes places between various teams and across departments. The goal here is to make sure roles are effectively carried out and tasks completed. Intranet with restricted access to people within the business is a great tool for promoting better communication. External communication[1] :this takes place with customers. Vodafone has laid a principle for communication as We will communicate openly and transparently with all of our stakeholders within the bounds of commercial confidentiality. Vodafone believes that this will reduce the barriers to communication. It makes sure that its messages are conveyed both verbally and non verbally. For verbal communication the company has set contact centers so that the staff can be in direct contact with the customers and further giving an opportunity for its staff to talk to the customers about the issues. Non verbal communication can take place through various methods such as advertisements in television, newspapers and other media, the Vodafone logo. This also acts as a method of determining the position of the brand. Further methods of non verbal communication include SMS to contact certain customers. Sales information can be reached out to customers through literature in the Vodafone shops. The many forms of communication through which Vodafone reaches out to its customers are as below: Promotion and sales material- Vodafone makes sure that the advertising material is correct and follows its Business principles. This also helps the information reaches out responsibly to its stakeholders together with promoting its products and services. Awareness and Information: Vodafone promoted the use of mobile phones responsibly in the cars. It took the complex material and translated the information in easy to understand form and made the public aware of the new law and appropriate use of phones in the car. Explanation and guidance: mobile phones have health effects on human beings. But the latest scientific research has something new and Vodafone needs to convey these findings clearly to the customers. Communication in todays work environment is not only important as a means of better process flow but also as a means to bring all the employees together as a single unit. This is really beneficial when the employees have to work in a team environment. In todays work environment, employees have access to social network websites which are capable to increase the bond between employees and improve their effort as a team. Motivation to dedicate Employees A well motivated staff is a key to a productive and pleasant environment in a workplace. Motivating the employees must be one of the key responsibilities of a manager. An effective management and leadership reflect through effective motivation of employees in the workplace. Understanding the human nature is a key to effective employee motivation. The key to performance improvement in an organization is motivation. Motivation is very essential for any business to survive and excel. Motivation is a skill and must be learnt. Performance can be defined as a function of ability and motivation as below Job performance= function (ability)(motivation) Ability depends on education and training. Motivation has the following seven strategies through which it can be initiated: Fair treatment of people Positive and high expectations Discipline Satisfying the needs of the employees Setting goals at work To restructure the jobs Set rewards and recognition for performance Every organization has its own ways to motivate the employees to ensure that goals and targets are reached [4]. Motivation plays a vital role in todays work environment. Due to the cut-throat competition between organizations, it can be seen as a common practice for organizations to hire their rivals best workforce. So as to avoid that, employees need to be motivated not only in terms of their incentives and salary packages for their physical needs, but also with praise and recognition and better work environment to ease their psychological needs. Obstacles to Effective Performance The main obstacles to effective performance in an organization are as follows: Culture Change Conflict Culture Culture is related to beliefs, values and customary ways of doing things. The main reason for employees leaving the company is cultural mismatch. According to the present culture employees are required to have a clear understanding of short term and long term goals. The employees are required to have a shared vision and values as well as being productive and motivated. The organizational culture is determined by the leadership style and practices in an organization and hence plays an important role especially during acquisitions and mergers. Every organization has a set of values and beliefs. When an employee is exposed to a new culture, the individual goes through a state known as culture shock. When the companies merge the employees from the non dominant company need to adapt themselves to the new culture of the dominant company. Let us consider Barclay Plc for instance. Barclay acquired Lehman Brothers and one of the major issues for Barclay after this acquisition is to take into consideration the two different cultures in these two companies. Most of the employees of Lehman Brothers have left Barclay and a few did not join Barclay. This makes it clear that the employees are not ready to adapt to the new values, leadership styles, beliefs and practices of the Barclay culture. One of the biggest challenges to the management at Barclay is to make employees accept the new culture. The change in culture ultimately has an effect on the motivation level of the employees, their commitment to the organization and their engagement in work. Another consequence of an acquisition is that the individuals from the non dominant organization will feel like loss of identity and the others will have a superior feeling. This will ultimately affect the company achieve its goals and objectives. Another major issue of culture when the two organizations were merged is it will divert the attention of the employees and make the less productive. The attention of employees will be diverted to issues such as job security , feeling of discomfort working with new employees. Job security is the main issue as there will be duplication of departments and to manage the staff, the organization can reduce the manpower. The job profiles may be redesigned which may have an impact on the performance of the employees. The employees motivation, attitude and performance are determined by the culture. Motivation and culture go hand in hand. More an employee is motivated; the culture will be healthier. The key factor to be dealt in any organization is motivation. If an employee is not motivated properly then the employee will have problem accepting the new culture which will impact the individuals ability to do the job effectively and efficiently. The company should have flexible culture if a decision of acquisition is taken. This will allow the new employees to adjust to the new culture. Culture reflects the style of management and leadership. A slight change in the values, leadership style and ideas will help the new employees adjust to the new environment. This is not easy task, but since Barclays has taken a decision of merger it should be ready to consider changes in its culture and leadership style. Change Except for change nothing is constant in this world. Every activity in an organization results in some change. It can have a positive or negative effect depending on the communication made through change. The acquisition of Barclay and Lehman Brothers bought together a huge change in both organizations. New strategies and policies, procedures and work environment were created for work in both organizations. Change should involve people and not be imposed on people. Preparing the employees of an organization for change is a very vital task and it is the responsibility of the management to do this. This can be done through various methods such as through oral communication, via training programs or through counseling. The major reason for the Lehman employees leaving Barclays when the two organizations were merged is that the change was not managed properly. The key principles needed when planning to manage change are as follows: Every person reacts to change differently. Each person is different and has its own perceptions and preferences. A few people always look forward to change and new things and it easy to handle them. But it is a very difficult to handle people who always like things the way they were. These kind of people will experience stress and dissatisfaction and negative attitude towards their counterparts preferences. Every person has his own needs and priorities A few people work just for money but a few for the self and social identification. Change can be managed effectively by designing jobs in a better way through job redesign, job rotation management etc. Managing expectations realistically The organization should make clear to its employees that it cannot make everyone happy at the same time and this should be communicated effectively and realistically. The relation between expectations and reality is very important. The management should do the tasks listed below in order to manage change effectively: The management should inspire people and set certain objectives, goals and values for the organization It should set up a communication network such as face to face interaction so that new ideas and policies can be easily communicated. If there are any obstacles in the way of communication then those should be removed as this will help people accept change. Change can be made inevitable by promotions, recruitments and rewards. Conflicts When Barclays merges with Lehman conflicts were natural to arise as people from two different cultures and two different companies were merging. Starting with small disputes, conflicts may reach to higher levels which will ultimately affect the organization. Since the culture of both organizations is different each will have its own ideas, strategies, perspectives and goals. The different types of conflict that may arise when people of two different cultures merge are as follows: Conflict with boss Since the manager has a more experience and bigger perspective it will not be good to encounter conflict with the boss. In order to avoid such a conflict it is better not to question his authority and any ideas and views should be presented in the form of suggestions. Conflict with colleagues Different point of view will lead to conflict between employees. This can be done resolved through proper communication. Conflicts with the subordinates Conflicts can be handles effectively by one of the following ways: Each person should be given freedom to express their views. Conflicts can be sorted to a greater level by identifying positive minded people. Not everyone may have a broad vision as ours. So communicating and discussing our vision will help keep conflicts away. Conclusion The base of any organization depends on the policy, the values, the vision, the philosophy and goals set by the management. These act as the driving force for the organizational culture. Culture in a workplace determines the leadership style, the type of communication and group dynamics within the organization. The employees in the organization perceive the culture as a quality essential at work which has an impact on the degree of the employees motivation. This ultimately affects the performance, personal growth and self development which ultimately affect the organization from achieving its goals. The above discussed concepts such as communication, motivation, culture etc, make up only a small part of the theories of organizational behavior and theory. The success of any organization is determined by the application of the concepts of organizational behavior in the organization. The best way to handle conflicts in a workplace is to address them through discussions and debates. Conflict can have a positive effect within the organization if it is addressed effectively. A successful manager is one who takes time to address and deal with the conflict. This in turn will lead to a healthy and diverse work environment.

Merry King Essay -- Globalization, Competition, Software Development

In today's commercial market environment, competition and globalization has increased dramatically. The excessive cost arising from inefficient processes and operation have been considered to be the major causes of losses to the organizations over the past several years. Several organizations, particularly larger companies, recognize the need to hedge and manage against undesired risks. Software development is presently one of the most common risk issues. Adler et.al., (1998) reveal that the software development project includes risk events that can cause damage to improving processes. Moreover, it would be an error of judgment to overlook the significant risk areas of the project as this will impair decision quality and impact massive product changes. Raz et.al., (2002) describe project risks as adverse events that can cause delays, surplus expenditure and dissatisfaction with the project outcome. Apart from this, each project varies in size, duration, uncertainty, complexity, objectives, limitations and others. In an effort to enhance the quality of procedure and minimize the risk profile, better execution and implementation will also reduce undesired performance. Adler et.al., (1998) note that there is a tendency to claim that Cleanroom approach would be more appropriate to improve the overall trustworthiness and quality assurance issues. This essay will first describe how the effects of software risks have a direct impact on day-to-day business activities. It will then define how software risk management plays an important role in coping with the project risks. In the second section, it will introduce two software risk management models namely the Software Risk Evaluation model (SRE) and Cleanroom Softw... ...able for software engineers to monitor quality control that can be scientifically verified in a formal statistical diagram. In a study, Raz et.al., (2002) point out that there is a continuing requirement for an adaptation from the different risk management techniques to the different kind of projects and the improvement of the specific devices to mitigate risk from several different type of projects. In essence, it could be said that many organizations increasingly recognize the importance of software risk management to ensure accessibility of the overall information of the project risks. What is more, Ward (2005) concludes that a company which constantly develops risk management tends to gain a competitive advantage, and it appears probable that a well-defined software risk management practice can assist to increase the company's competitive advantages as well.

The Down to Earth Challenges of Space Exploration :: Space Exploration Essays

The Down to Earth Challenges of Space Exploration Humans have dreamed of leaving the earth and traveling space for many years, and up to this day they have taken many steps in the right direction. Yet, with every new frontier they approach, new problems loom over the horizon. All problems involved with space exploration may not directly involve space itself. Many of those problems surface right here on Earth. Some of the easier issues have been resolved, such as escaping the forces of gravity to reach outer space. More of these problems are far more arduous and the solutions need more time to be worked out properly. In â€Å"The Coming Schism† by James E. and Alcestis R. Oberg, humans have already begun colonizing space, yet there are still new problems arising. Major problems such as financing, communication and culture conflicts are important in the journey to space, because they all have the potential to disrupt progress. When people think of troubles that are related to space, they tend to overlook one of the most obvious and most important problems, financing. Money may prevent humans from leaving the very earth we stand on in the first place. Money can easily be the solution to a problem or the cause of one. In the supporting film, Stationed in the Stars, it was mentioned that in 1992, NASA spent 8 billion dollars without building a single piece of material. The money was spent on other things such as payroll and international conferences. The film also brought up the fact that every pound of water needed would cost up to 10 thousand dollars; therefore, 100 lbs. of water would cost 1 million dollars. This problem was later solved with the help of Russia in the creation of the closed loop system. But Russia has not always been so helpful. While Russia was working with NASA to help build a service module, they purposely delayed their efforts in order to receive more money from NASA, until NASA had enough and gave them a deadline to comply with. There are times when financing may prevent a project from being ventured into completely without even spending the money. For example, further servicing of the International Space Station would have cost upwards of 100 billion dollars. That is why that project is still uncompleted.

No Such Thing As Normal :: Real Indians Eat Jello Native Americans Essays

No Such Thing As Normal What is "normal?" It can be defined as average or regular. Many people see normal as how the media portrays it in television shows. Generally, the "normal" family is made up of two parents, two point five children (preferably at least one girl and one boy) and a beloved pet. They also usually have a minivan or an SUV, a white picket fence and live in a nice, neatly organized home. My family has some of those traits, but not all. There is no such thing as a "normal family" because "normal families" are usually viewed as perfect and they rarely have problems. In the reading "Real Indians Eat Jell-O" by Laurie Carlson, the narrator is a Native American who lives in a trailer park. She reads books that explain what "normal" Indians are like and what they do. She notices that the people she reads about live in deserts, have out-of-the-ordinary pets, have "wise" grandparents and are have supernatural powers. Meanwhile, she lives in a mobile home, watches TV and has a gossipy grandmother who makes Jell-O salad. When she asks her grandmother why they don't act like the people she's read about, her grandmother tells her "Honey, be yourself (Carlson par. 7)." The grandmother doesn't want the narrator to feel she has to act in a certain way just because media demands it. This is similar to my family because we don't feel we have to be "perfect." We see the way media portrays the "normal" family but we don't change ourselves to be the same way. There are many reasons why my family is normal and not so normal in the media's eyes. We have a three-bed room, two-bath ranch home. We have a beautiful yard (without a fence) and three vehicles, one of which is a Ford Explorer. I have two heterosexual parents, two siblings (one sister and one brother) and a pet dog. That, however, is where the similarities end. My father had been divorced when he met my mother at their workplace. He is 20 years older than my mother, which is a rare occurrence in families today. He also had two adopted children, though they lived with their mother. After they got married my parents had our three-bedroom, one-bathroom (later two-bath) ranch home built. In 1982 they decided to adopt a baby and in 1984 they got me.

Mcdonald’s vs. Wendy’s Essay

In today’s era the low carb diets and obsessive exercise routines, people are more careful with food choices, but also there comes the era where fast food restaurants accommodate the need for cheap food quickly. The fast, quick, and easy foods though are unfortunately aren’t always the healthiest choices for the person. There are two fast food restaurants that are now offering healthy menu choices low in fats and carbs without taking away the taste. McDonald’s and Wendy’s both fall under the same category for fast foods but both provide different characteristics in healthier choice menu items. The two fast food restaurants differ considerably but both Wendy’s and McDonald’s offer numerous salad choices. The most incredible breakthrough for these two fast food restaurants was the introduction of the healthier burger alternatives to their menus. Wendy’s one healthier sandwich to offer which is the Ultimate Chicken Grill which only has 6.5 grams of fat when loaded with toppings. Wendy’s is also the leader in various healthier meals. Wendy’s baked potatoes, minus all the large fatty toppings, are a great choice to a healthy meal. While Wendy’s had a selective healthier menu choices for a while, McDonald’s however has begun to offer healthier meal choices. In today’s era, McDonald’s provides a wide variety of healthy alternatives including fruit yogurt parfaits and green apple slices for the children’s menu. McDonald’s healthier sandwich choices include McVeggie Burger, Chicken Fajitas, and Whole Wheat Chicken McGrill. Wendy’s presentation of healthier menu choices is superior. Wendy’s salads are large and fresh with topping sizes appropriate. McDonald’s fails at establishing a superior presentation of healthier food choices. The McDonald’s salads lack in appearance and freshness; the salads appear just to be thrown together and often look like wilted lettuce. Without a knife, eating salads can be overwhelming. The chicken pieces in the salads are sliced but not separated, and need to be broken down. Generally, the McDonald’s salads lack freshness, and presentation. Wendy’s combination of salads has become a popular menu choice. Wendy’s was the first major fast food chain to offer fast food salad as a meal’s main course. Wendy’s offers four salad choices ranging from possessing 3 grams of fat to 30 grams depending on the salad toppings. The variety and quality of these salads has established an outstanding reputation for this restaurant. Reaction to the popularity of salads, McDonald’s is now offering salads as a main course menu choice. As well, in attempt to boast a healthier image. The fat content of McDonald’s salads is also comparable to that of Wendy’s. It is obvious that McDonald’s effectively boasts a variety of decent tasty salads. Finally, several salad choices, meal variety, and good presentation are all considered when evaluating a fast food restaurant. People now days constantly seek easy ways to gain nourishment, with fast food restaurants such as Wendy’s and McDonald’s, making healthier food choices easier. The need to diet has finally become a key selling point for many restaurants.