Housewives and Blue Collars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Housewives and Blue Collars - Essay Example Maduro wherein â€Å"E.S. Maduro tells the story of her mother and the typical "housewife" tale.    Her mother dated the same man her entire life, married right before college graduation, and stopped any working to pursue another career--motherhood.†(2) While the male of the household worked to support the family and did not contribute much to the running of the household. This social organization based on gender roles is vehemently attacked in the essay through the anger felt by the author: "I became angry at both of my parents: at my father that his chores (take apart and reassemble the kitchen sink, work in the garden, snow-blow the driveway) seemed interesting and challenging and were always impressive to friends and relatives, while my mothers endless chores seemed layered in routine and monotony."(3) The title of the essay itself is proof to this claim. The author wants to break away from the age-old concept that the woman should keep house, bear children and make ever yone happy. This is the reason why she continued to work and did not stay home when she settled in with her boyfriend. She chose a man who knew how to do chores at home with the view of sharing the household tasks between them. She had it all planned but the irony of it all that brings her great anger is that she eventually took on the role of her mother: â€Å"So there it is. In trying to avoid a life of an overworked housewife that I see my mother as having occupied for more than thirty years now.

Proposal for Obesity Management Programme

Proposal for Obesity Management Programme OBESITY PROGRAMEE: â€Å"FITNESS FOR FULFILMENT† Kathiravan Pillay Kumar Abstract The world has seen a rise in the issue of obesity and its effects on the biological, psychological and social wellbeing of individuals. This proposal reviews literature in relation to the causes as well as effects on obesity specifically targeted at children between the ages of 6 – 18 years old and evaluates current programs in place to curb the rise in obesity. Programs from both the United States as well as Singapore are used to analyse the western and Asian perspectives on tackling the issue of obesity. The proposed program would be aimed at reducing social stigma and increasing self-esteem that past or current programs do not address. The program will be made up of three phases which include implementation, motivation and feedback as well as evaluation of the entire program’s effectiveness. Feasibility and efficacy of instilling the program are also discussed. Introduction and Review on Obesity Obesity has been an issue present through various generations and is one faced by many nations worldwide. Recent years has seen a rise in the levels of obesity especially in western nations but is currently seen to be a growing issue even in Asian nations (Ramachandran Snehalatha, 2010). Based on recent findings by Ogden, Carroll, Kit and Flegal (2014) an estimated two third of the adult population in the United States are overweight or obese with about one third of school going children also falling under this category. A growing trend is also seen in Asia where findings in Singapore indicate that approximately one in nine Singaporean adults between the age ranges of 18 to 69 were considered to be obese in 2010 with obesity rates said to be increasing at an estimated 1 percent per year (â€Å"One in nine Singaporean†, 2014). Multiple factors have been suggested as causes to obesity, often focusing on mainly physical and psychological factors. General physical causes of obesity are often due to genetic factors that cause abnormalities in fat cell metabolism and metabolic defects or simply having a sedentary lifestyle (Bray, York DeLany, 1992). There are also various psychological conditions or disorders that have been suggested to lead to obesity however depression is considered to be the main cause of it as evidenced in Blaine’s (2008) study which indicated that individuals who were depressed were proven to be at significantly higher risk of becoming obese. Obesity is also often comorbid with depression and other eating disorders Blaine’s (2008). The key area of concern especially in recent times would be the effects of obesity on the individual as well as society as a whole. Numerous studies have been done to show the physical and psychological effects that obesity has on an individual. Physical aspects often include the risk of contracting illnesses such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes (Sturm, 2002). Psychological effects tend to focus on an individual’s body dissatisfaction and self-image (Wardle Cooke, 2005) as well as well as psychosocial effects such as negative experiences through weight bias at home, in school, at work, through the media and even health and fitness areas (Amianto, Lavagnino, Abbate-Daga Fassino, 2011). Evaluation on Obesity Related Programmes Over the years there have been many programs put into place by governments and private agencies around the world that have been aimed to curb obesity. One key program introduced in the United States was the HEROES Initiative which targets tackling issues on childhood obesity (King et. al, 2014). The HEROES Initiative is a grant-funded intervention that targets schools to play a vital role in educating youth in obesity related behaviours (King et. al, 2014). The key aims of this this initiative would be to take a comprehensive school health approach that decreases childhood obesity that in turn promotes healthy lifestyle habits among students as well as their families and also the school staff (King et. al, 2014). Key features that make the intervention unique would be that it offers a supportive means for participating schools by providing regular oversight, significant funding and various implementation strategies that are catered to a particular needs for certain schools depending on the district and neighbourhood that they are located in (King et. al, 2014). This initiative also enables schools to have a sense of ownership over assessing the needs of their students and in turn coming out with a plan to implement certain strategies for changes in the school’s health programs (King et. al, 2014). The key feature in maintaining the effectiveness of this program would be the strong emphasis on an annual cycle of evaluation and assessment on opportunities in enhancing the program to cater to the needs of the students which turn increases the intervention’s efficacy (King et. al, 2014). The evaluation process was broken down into 3 main areas. The process evaluation stage, school level outcome evaluation and student level outcome evaluation (King et. al, 2014). The process evaluation stage is carried out by site visits to schools to view their administrative processes in carrying out health promotion as well as inspection of the school’s general environment and conducting interviews with the staff to determine challenging areas (King et. al, 2014). Feedback on information obtained is given to the staff as a means to address these issues (King et. al, 2014). In the school level outcome evaluation, assessments are made to the systemic changes in promoting healthy behaviour and reducing obesity rates in the students. The school level outcome evaluation is based on domains relating to physical education/activity, nutrition education, food service, staff wellness, as well as family and community involvement (King et. al, 2014). The student level outcome evaluation , focuses on understanding the changes in behaviour and knowledge in relation to obesity and its effects (King et. al, 2014). This done through weight measurements as well as surveys and quizzes to identify student’s knowledge about obesity (King et. al, 2014). With regard to the effectiveness of this initiative, evaluation between the periods of 2011-2012 showed a significant amount of variability between schools. Based on results obtained from the process and school level evaluation outcomes, it was found that the school’s processes were well implemented however some schools found difficulties in coming up with new or improved health and wellness related policies (King et. al, 2014). Based on the student level outcome evaluation it was found that small but significant changes were made in terms of behaviour and mindset of the students (King et. al, 2014). Students were also more engaged in rigorous physical activities in comparison to the baseline from first 18 months of the intervention (King et. al, 2014). However a set back to the intervention was that changes to behaviour were mostly found in overweight students rather than students who were already obese. In relation to the Asian context, there have been various health related programs and promotions carried out in Singapore. The Singapore health promotion board has come up with various programs and initiatives to promote healthy lifestyle practices to prevent conditions such as obesity. Programs such as the 1 million kg challenge, aims to encourage individuals to lose weight by allowing them to set a weight loss target then setting a period for them to lose this weight. If individuals are able to lose the amount of weight within the given time frame they are rewarded with certain incentives and prizes (â€Å"1 million kg challenge†, 2014). In relation to health promotion in schools, a key program that was introduced in the early 90s was the National Physical Fitness Award Test (NAPFA) and the TAF (Trim and Fit) scheme which aimed to increase physical activity and reduce the weight of overweight and obese students in both the primary and secondary levels of education (Gupta et. al, 2010). The TAF program basically tasked students with physical activities before and after the school day (Gupta et. al, 2010). The initiative was a success in the 90s with obesity levels dropping between 10-17% in students (Gupta et. al, 2010). Success of the TAF scheme would later bring about a collaboration between the Singapore Health Promotion Board and the World Health Organisation to introduce a HPB-MOE bi-annual award aimed at targeting the healthy development of students and awarding schools for good health practices (Gupta et. al, 2010). Challenges faced in the TAF program as well as similar programs introduced in Korea as mentioned by Shin and Shin (2008) was that such programs bring about a sort of negative stigma to students involved. Student then tend to become highly self-conscious and develop body dissatisfaction which in turn effects their self-esteem (Shin Shin, 2008). This is often the result of segregation from their peers due to their weight and appearance and this segregation is further contributed by schools who single out overweight or obese individuals to be part of such programs (Shin Shin, 2008). This effect could in turn lead to depression which has been established as a cause for obesity and would hence defeat the whole purpose of having such health promotion programs. Proposed Health Program Having identified the causes and effects of obesity as well as certain health programs available both on the western and Asian context along with their strengths and weaknesses, an alternative health program could be developed. Through analysing the health programs available in both the United States and Singapore, a program catering specifically to the needs of students between the ages of 6 – 18 year olds could be proposed. The program will be entitled the â€Å"Fitness for Fulfilment Programme† (FFFP) catered specifically in the Singaporean context. The program is also given a name that does not infer or refer to obesity so as to prevent any form of social stigma relating to obesity. The main goals of the program would be to reduce the weight of overweight and obese students but to do so in a manner that will not cause stigmatization or embarrassment. The program would also further aim to instil a healthy mindset in these students and encourage them to maintain healt hy behaviour well into adulthood. The FFFP will mainly be broken down into three key phases. The first phase will be the implementation phase which will introduce rigorous exercise specifically catered to losing weight for obese children. These exercises will be done during school hours as part of an enhanced physical education program and these obese students will carry out their activities together with other students so as to limit any sense of being ostracised. The enhanced physical education program will target the specific needs of each student be it normal weight students or overweight or obese students by focusing on their weak physical areas that are limiting them from passing or getting a good grade on their NAPFA test. The fitness program will be one that gradually increases in rigorousness so as to allow the students time to condition themselves to its requirements. Another key feature of the implementation phase would be the enforcement of strict diet practices during the school day. Since schools are al ready given guidelines by the Health Promotion Board on the type of food to be served, there must be a form of enforcement that ensures that students are getting the appropriate meals. Therefore there should be two to three staff on canteen duty to ensure that proper meals are being served to the students and that obese children are getting sufficient food but maintained at healthy levels. The second phase of the FFFP would the feedback and motivation phase. This would be a key feature of the program as it caters to the psychological well-being of the students involved. This phase will be implemented during the first and last session of the enhanced physical education program. During these sessions, time will be set aside for instructors to carry out one on one interviews or feedback sessions with the students which will aim to understand the challenges that they face with physical exercise as well as issues they have with motivating themselves to indulge in physical exercise. With knowledge of the challenges that individual students face, instructors can cater their physical education session to better accommodate to both the strengths and the weaknesses of the students. This will facilitate a more positive outlook in carrying out physical exercise and encourage students to put in a greater effort and hence may lead better physical results and lower obesity levels. An other aspect of this phase would be educating other students in the challenges that overweight and obese students. Students will be taught to encourage and motivate rather than stigmatize or humiliate their overweight or obese peers. The final phase of this program will be the evaluation phase. Ideally a review council should be formed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program at national level. This phase will be similar to the HEROES initiative evaluation process used in the United States, but will comprise of two instead of three key parts of the evaluation process of the effectiveness of the program. The process and school level evaluation will be combined into one. This part of the evaluation process will seek to understand the challenges that the staff have with the FFFP through means of interviews as well as on site assessments of the program in action. Availability of proper equipment and exercise facilities in the school will be key points at this level of evaluation. The next part of the evaluation will be at the student level, the review council will assess data relating to changes in weight as well as NAPFA standards and also find out the level of knowledge that students have with regard to healthy behaviour through surveys and quizzes which can be done through the internet. The evaluation process should be done annually and aim to identify problem areas so that newer and improved implementation could be introduced in the following years. The feasibility and efficacy of the FFFP would depend on the amount support through funding from private agencies or the government as well as having instructors who are trained in not only physical aspects of exercise and healthy lifestyle but also with the psychological capability to deal and understand the needs and challenges for individual students to overcome obesity. References Amianto, F., Lavagnino, L., Abbate-Daga, G., Fassino, S. (2011). The forgotten psychosocial dimension of the obesity epidemic.The Lancet, 378(9805), e8 Blaine, B. (2008). Does depression cause obesity? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies of depression and weight control.Journal of health psychology,13(8), 1190-1197. Bray, G. A., York, B., DeLany, J. (1992). A survey of the opinions of obesity experts on the causes and treatment of obesity.The American journal of clinical nutrition,55(1 Suppl), 151S-154S. Gupta, N., Chin, M. K., Yang, J., Balasekaran, G., Chia, M., Girandola, R. N., Mok, M. M. C. (2010). Obesity prevention in Singapore: Collaborative efforts among government, health professionals and the community. King, M. H., Lederer, A. M., Sovinski, D., Knoblock, H. M., Meade, R. K., Seo, D. C., Kim, N. (2014). Implementation and Evaluation of the HEROES Initiative A Tri-State Coordinated School Health Program to Reduce Childhood Obesity.Health promotion practice,15(3), 395-405. Ogden C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B.K., Flegal K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012.Journal of the American Medical Association,311(8), 806-814. One in nine Singaporean adults were obese in 2010: Survey (2014, January 17).Today.Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/daily-focus/health/one-nine- singaporean-adults-were-obese-2010-survey One million kg challenge. (2014). Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://www.hpb.gov.sg/ References Ramachandran, A., Snehalatha, C. (2010). Rising burden of obesity in Asia.Journal of obesity,2010. Shin, N. Y., Shin, M. S. (2008). Body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, and depression in obese Korean children.The Journal of pediatrics,152(4), 502-506 Sturm, R. (2002). The effects of obesity, smoking, and drinking on medical problems and costs.Health Affairs,21(2), 245-253. Wardle, J., Cooke, L. (2005). The impact of obesity on psychological well-being.Best Practice Research Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism,19(3), 421-440.

Lean Management :: Business, Manufacturing

Lean management is a thought process and a philosophy, not a tool, used to look at a business weather it is manufacturing, service or any other activity with a supplier and a customer relation with the goal of eliminating non-value added tasks (Womack, Jones, Ross, 1990). The principles of lean production include teamwork, communication, efficient use of resources and continuous improvement (Kaizen). It can be said that they pioneered the idea of applying the concepts outside of manufacturing environments. The objective of lean production is a system for organising and managing product development, operations, suppliers, and customer relation that requires less human effort, less space, less capital, less material and less time to make products with fewer defects to precise customer desires, compared with the previous system of mass production (Marchwinski & Shook, 2004). The concepts of both Ohno (1988) and Womack and Jones (2003) search for ways to reduce lead time by eliminating w aste it can be said that the terms â€Å"Lean† and â€Å"Toyota Production System† are synonymous. Lean management is not restricted to the actions that take place in the manufacturing function of a company, rather it relates to activities range from product development, procurement and manufacturing over to distribution. Together these areas create the lean enterprise. The ultimate goal of implementing lean production in an organization is to have the customer in focus when improving productivity, enhancing quality, shortening lead times, reducing costs etc. These are factors representing the performance of a lean production system. The determinants of a lean production system are the actions taken, the principles implemented and the changes made to the organization to achieve the desired performance (Karlsson & Ahlstrom, 1996) There are multiple ways to combine the individual practices to represent the multi-dimensional nature of lean manufacturing. In combining these practices, the researcher has to compete with the technique used to combine and the actual content of the combinations. The dominant method in operations management literature has been to use exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis to combine individual practices in a multiplicative function to form orthogonal and unidimensional factors (Flynn et al., 1995; Cua et al., 2001; Shah & Goldstein, 2006). A review of research from organization theory, and labour and human resource management shows less reliance on factor analysis and offers multiple ways for combining individual practices and creating an index. One such method is the additive index used by Osterman (1994) and MacDuffie (1995) in developing â€Å"bundles† of interrelated human-resource management practices.

Importance of Motivation in Rention Essay

Employees are the most important factor in the success and failure of any organization. In service industry, employees are in direct contact with the customer, hence they should be motivated. Firstly, this paper focuses on importance of employee motivation on Staff retention, by studying the concepts of staff retention, employee turnover and employee motivation. Further discussing about the major motivational theories, followed by the factors which help to increase motivation and backed up with some latest examples. Secondly, it takes a case study of Heathrow Windsor Marriott, a leading 4 star Airport Hotel, it reflects my observations about the good and bad practises followed by the management of hotel. And at the end, this paper tries to give some recommendations for future practice. 1. Introduction Managing Human Resource has become an inescapable and prominent approach to the management in service industries (Watson 2003).In simple terms, Human means labour/employee, Resource points out employees are valued assets and Management refers to managing personnel of an organization. The objective of Human resources is short term and it mainly focuses on employee relations. However, due to globalization, this approach was fruitless, hence its focus adopted the aspect of strategy. Strategic Human Resource Management means combing Human resources with strategic goals and objectives to improve and develop organization (Regis 2008). According to Banfield and Kay (2012), Human resource management is the ‘glue’ which ensures business success through consistent practises and adapting local conditions. In an organization, employees are the primal force, whose never ending efforts converts the organization’s decision into action with the aim of achieving common goal. Hence, employees should be motivated (Hossain and Hossain 2012). The fast changing competitive business environment has presented challenges for Human Resource professionals for adopting new methods of production and organizing of work. This situation has accelerated the rate of employee turnover. Employee resourcing, employee development, employee relations, productivity are the emerging issues faced by management (Banfield and Kay 2012).The problem of Employee Motivation has become inseparable from Human Resource Management because, employees acts as a major source of organization. This paper is divided into two major parts, literature and reflection. The aim of this paper is on how employee motivation contributes to staff retention. The first part on literature covers topics like Staff retention, turnover & motivation and demonstrate a relationship between employee motivation and staff retention. The second part reflects the practises carried out Heathrow Windsor Marriott Hotel, followed by recommendations for future. 2. Staff Retention Staff retention refers to the techniques employed by the management to help the employees stay with the organization for a longer period of time (Management Study Guide 2013). Every organization puts efforts to transform a raw material to corporate ready material by giving necessary trainings at regular interval to achieve the common goal. Job satisfaction is a vital component of staff retention which can be achieved by making the employee feel comfortable physically and psychologically. Staff retention is crucial for many reasons such as, longer time spent by the employees have an opportunity to perform better, it increases their loyalty towards organization, on the other hand, recruiting the right candidate for the right position is not easy, when an employee leaves an organization, he may join competitors and may share some confidential information. When a trained employee leaves their job, the organization is at a complete loss, as a loyal, efficient and stable staff is one of the keys to competitive success (Taylor and Walsh 2005). This loss of staff has to be replaced which is termed as Employee turnover. This is one of the greatest challenges faced by management. Retention is not only important to reduce the turnover costs but to retain talented employees. According to Ramlall (2004), when every 10 managerial level employee leaves an organization, a company experiences approximately loss of $ 1 million. 2.1. Employee Turnover Rotation of workers around the labour market between the status of employment and unemployment is called as Employee turnover (Abassi and Hollman 2000). Labour turnover has become a critical problem for service industries as it depends on human factor. Employees do not leave the organization without any significant reason. Taris et al. (2004), divided two motives for turnover i.e. the push and pull factors. The pull factors include inequity in compensation, availability of opportunities for future development over the external market and the employees who would resign to go into private business. The push factors have relationship with the dissatisfaction of work situation, lack of democratic managerial pattern and job stress. On the other hand, Griffieth (2000), viewed remuneration and remuneration related variables have intense effect on turnover. Griffieth demonstrated a relationship between remuneration, employee’s performance and turnover and concluded that when an employee performs extremely well expects a high pay and when they are paid low they quit. There are various costs associated with turnover, according to Society for Human Resource Management, it costs 30-50% of the annual salary of entry level employees, 150% of middle level employees and up to 400% costs of the high level employees (Blake 2004). The various costs includes, exist costs, recruiting, interviewing, hiring, orientation, benefits while training, lost productivity, administrative costs, customer dissatisfaction etc (Susan 2011). Considering the case of Oberoi Hotels. The Oberoi group is one of Asia’s leading multinational companies, the Oberoi hotel named Windsor Hotel in Melbourne, had witnessed an average annual employee turnover rate of approximately 40 percent. The Human resource professionals were under pressure due to increasing costs, hence they decided to an employee attitude survey for three consecutive years and analysed the issues faced by the staff. The most common reasons for attrition were job profile and personal profile does not match, least growth opportunities, lack of appreciation, lack of trust, lack of co-ordination between the colleagues, stress from work, imbalance between personal and professional life. The Hotel executive group and the managers improved the retention programmes and motivated their employees by engagement which helped them to reduce their turnover rate to 20 per cent (Watson et al. 2002). Hence it can be said that, employee turnover can be controlled by proper employee motivation which would help the companies to reduce costs associated with turnover. 3. Employee Motivation According to Butkus and Green, ‘motivation is derived from the word ‘motivate’ which means to move, push or influence to proceed for fulfilling a want’ (Kamalian et al. 2010). One of the important functions of management is to create willingness among the employees to perform. Motivation can be termed as a process in which a person stimulates an individual to full fill some want or expectation (Mullins 2007). Motivation is complex because of human behaviour as it changes from an individual to individual, resulting different motives for motivation (Kressler 2003). Employee motivation influences productivity, because company’s performance depends on employee performance. Hence it is very important for managers to realize what propels employees to reach the peak performance. Through employee motivation, the employer can encourage the employees by enhancing their skills and by improving their morale. Motivation is important for both individual and business. In case of individual, motivation helps to achieve personal goals, job satisfaction, self development and in case of business, motivation helps to achieve the organizational goals, to build a friendly relationship and the most important it bring stability in workforce. Overall, it cans help to achieve competitive advantage in competition by retaining talented employees (Hiltrop 1996). 3.1. Motivation Theories Motivation theories are based upon the understanding of employees and work. There are two main approaches to motivation theories, i.e. Content Theory and Process Theory. Content Theories of motivation explains what causes individuals to act in a definite way based on the general agreement that all human beings have needs, which engage them to satisfy these needs lead to motivation. Process Theories of motivation explains on how employee’s needs influence their own behaviour (Hossain and Hossain 2012). 3.1.1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs In 1943, Abraham Maslow presented need based theory. His theory was based upon the assumption of hierarchy of needs. He categoriesed needs into five types, i.e. Physiological needs ( basic needs of life, example, air water, food etc.), Safety needs (physical and environmental safety), Social needs (need for love, affection), Esteem needs (needs for self-respect or recognition and Self-actualization (based on grwoth and self-contentment). Maslow assumed that motivation decreases as one level of need is met and motivation increases as another need comes in. He potraid that lower level of needs should met before the higher level needs. Maslow felt that if these needs were not met then a person would fail to develop into a heathly individual (Hellreigel 2004). Implications by Britannic Assurance Britannic Assurance is a financial services company, facing issues of employee motivation and retention. Hence, their management adopted the Maslow’s theory to overcome their issue. The management motivated their employees by considering each level of needs: Physiological Needs – Management gave their employees suitable salary, in odrer to meet the basic needs of life and at workplace they gave proper meal breaks, so that phsciological needs are meet. Safety Needs – Management provided clean and hygienic workplace, safety, job security and beniftis program with a purpose of retention. Social Needs – Management supported their employees by encouraing team work, and developing a friendly relationship. Esteem Needs – In order to acheive esteem needs, management put extra efforts by rewarding and recognizing employees at every level. Self-Actualization Needs – Management gave their employees challenging jobs so that they can use and develo their knowledge and skills, and grow big, by benefiting the company (The Time 100 Business Case Studies, 2013). Criticisms According to Lazarus (1971), the hieraracy suggested by Maslow not valid if cross-cultural differences are taken into consideration. McLeod (2012) said, it is difficult to predcit when a need will arise, as ther is no relationship between needs and behaviour and different individual may be pushed by differnet needs at same time. He also states that maslow’s theory lacks empirical support. While Rilley (2012) came with a view that this model aviod the usual behaviour of employees who tolerate low wages for future benefits and mentioned that maslow research was based on middle class workers in UK and USA. Inspite of having some critics, Maslow’s thinking remains inflential to management deliberations in respect of job design, pay and reward structres and helps to motivate employees and retain them (Huczynski and Buchanan 2001). 3.1.2. Expectancy Theory Victor Vroom in 1964, came up with expectancy theory which was based upon Valence, Instrumentality and Expectancy. The Individual perfrence for a precise end result is termed as Valence (V), Instrumentality (I), is the anticipation of good performance will lead to valued benfit and Expectancy (E), is the anticipation of effort will lead to good performance. The Force (F) or want of your motivation to take action will result the product of three variables through multiplication. If any one of the variable is zero the final product will be zero, as it is co-related (Fudge and Schlacter 1999). F = Vx I x E In orther words, Efforts, Performance and Rewards have a direct relationship. Vroom said that employee’s deliberately decide whether to perform or not, their decision is entirely depended on level of motivation. This theory expalins individual differences in motivation and behaviour, it measures the force of the motivation to behave, it assumes that behaviour is rational and emphasis on rewards and pay offs (Sanders and Pritchard 1973). Implications by Management The management should try to link effort, performance and rewards through their support. Suport in terms of adequate trainings, availability of resources and clear rewards to have desired motivational effect (Fudge and Schlacter 1999). Clear rewards should have value in the eyes of emloyees so that they can be influenced. Performance standards should be clearly instructed. Finally, the motivation level should be continousuly assessed which results can inidicate problems and changes required. This will help to retain employees (Virgil et al. 2008) Criticisms The application of this theory is limited as reward is not direclty related to performance, it has ignored the parameters such as education, position etc. It concentrated majorly on financial rewards and ignore other intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. According to Latham (2007), it also lacked the principle of equality with relation to rewards. This theory predicts the choice of efffort, it does not give specific meaning of efforts, it also lacks to specify the outcomes relevent to a particular individual (Management Study Guide 2013). 3.2. Types of Motivation There are two types of Motivation, developed by Herzberg, i.e. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. The factors which are intrinsic to the job such as recognition, work itself, growth is called as Intrinsic Motivation and the factors which are extrinsic to the job such as pay, company policy, security etc. are called as Extrinsic Motivation (Armstrong 2007). Intrinsic factors create satisfaction and extrinsic factors do not create satisfaction but if preventive action is not taken then it may lead to dissatisfaction(Ryan and Deci 2000). Intrinsic factors are likely to have deeper and long term effect while extrinsic factors are likely to have immediate and powerful effect but it won’t last long. Both Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors concentrate more on satisfaction and not on productivity (ibid). 3.3. Motivation Factors All employees are motivated when their needs or desire are satisfied, these needs vary from person to person, situation, experiences, etc. These factors affects the motivation level in employees. Let us understand the practical implications of various factors: 3.3.1. Motivation through Rewards Employees who work hard to achieve the business goals, expect to receive rewards for their contribution. According to Perry (2009), rewards play a crucial role in motivating employees to work harder. He categorised rewards into two types: Extrinsic and Intrinsic. Extrinsic rewards are provided by the organisation group such as money, benefits, promotions etc. while Intrinsic rewards come from individual such as self-esteem, personal development and feeling of competency. The most critical thing for this approach that rewards must be equal, it should be partial (ibid). Let us take a case study of Royal Bank of Scotland, The employees at RBS are not only motivated through money but also through Total reward benefits. Total reward benefits includes not just money, but it includes motivational motives such as personal choice in working hours, security, health and benefits package, shopping vouchers personal loans at special price etc., This kind of extra benefits will help a company to retain an employee (The Time 100 Business Case Studies 2013). 3.3.2. Motivation through Job Deign When a potential employee looks for job, he has basic two attractions, i.e. money and feeling of pursuing a challenging and interesting job. Job Design is an internal approach of motivating employees. There are two ways in which a manager motivates its employees i.e. fitting people to jobs and fitting jobs to people (Hackman and Oldham 1975). Considering the first aspect of fitting people to jobs, managers can strengthen motivation by Job Rotation, Job Rotation helps to bring a change in daily routine, it helps to increase the area of expertise at work by moving from one specialization to another, this would not only lead to personal development but also will develop a team with wide range of skills (Perry 2009). Considering the second aspect of fitting jobs to people, managers can energise motivation by Job Enlargement and Job Enrichment. Job Enlargement is a process in which an employees are indulged with more challenging task, this will reduce the humdrum of work and increase the skills of employees. However, Job Enlargement has one criticism, if an employee is working on two or more challenging tasks and paid for only one task, then there will be a barrier of not being paid well (Saleem et al. 2012). Job Enrichment is a process in which an employees is given more control over the work by giving more authority and responsibility, which would increase the productivity. However, this was also criticised with a point of that an employee should possess certain skill in order to perform at high level, if the employee lacks necessary skill, then it would decrease productivity (Janson et al. 1975) 3.3.3. Motivation through Work Environment Work environment nearly cause 27% of job satisfaction (Tyilana 2005), Management should create a type of work environment in which the employees are respected and treated equally. Management should provide job security and proper logistic support and create a friendly environment. If any one of them is lacking, then the motivation level would not stand still. However, Lin (2007) said that good working conditions can determine employees performance and productivity but cannot motivate them directly. Considering case of An Enterprise Rent-A- Car, management accented on creating an affirmative work environment. In which they concentrated on six points, i.e. good relationship between all the employees, follow clear communication so that each individual can understand and act as per their role, provision of adequate resources to perform the necessary tasks, encourage employees to get things right, if any frustration is experienced then acknowledged and try to keep their focus on achieving goals and last but not the least, try to recognise the effort of individual and reward the good performance. Along with the points discussed above Enterprise Rent-A-Car used Herzberg theory of motivation to motivate and retain their employees (The Time 100 Business Case Studies 2013). 3.3.4. Motivation through Training and Development Training and Development is one of the most effectual factor of motivation (Lai 2009). Training can be termed as a process in which an individual get a chance to develop their knowledge, qualities, skills and personality (Khan 2012). Training and development helps to increase morale of employees, better interpersonal relationships, better position to adapt changes and finally improved productivity and efficiency (Seward 2011). As rightly said by Marcus Tait, the Director of Human Resources of IHG Australia, training and nurturing talent shares an equal weight age along operational performance, guest experience and corporate responsibility. He trained his employees to be multi-focused, empathetic and preventive of guest needs (Eime). Whenever, an employee is recruited, he should empowered with all kinds of basic training, his performance has to be measured and accordingly he should be trained by considering his skills and ability. Concentrating Training at McDonald’s Restaurant Limited, The success of McDonald’s business is high standards of quality and service delivered to customers, Well-trained staff and line managers are the first step towards achieving these standards. Welcome Meeting, was the first step taken by the company to inform the standards and expectations, followed by structured development programme which provides training in all areas of business. McDonald’s concentrated on floor based training and expected that their employee would perform any task with relation to operations. After the practical training, McDonald’s used to do classroom-based training where they can concentrate on quality, service and cleanliness. After this training, employees are marked as per the check list and if they qualify then they can get promotion by clearing an entrance exam. In this way McDonald’s used to train their staff (The Time 100 Business Case Studies 2013).

2011 National Patient Safety Goals

2011 National Patient Safety Goals Core Competency Pre-Test Reading Material Identify patient/residents correctly Use at least two ways to identify patient/residents. For example, use the patient/resident’s name and date of birth. This is done to make sure that each patient/resident gets the medicine and treatment meant for them. Make sure that the correct patient/resident gets the correct blood type when they get a blood transfusion. Improve staff communication Quickly get important test results to the right staff person.When taking orders from a physician you must read back and verify orders received and document as such. Shift report must be given to oncoming care givers and after procedures. Standardize abbreviations, acronyms and symbols that are not to be used throughout the organization. Use medicines safely Label all medicines that are not already labeled. For example, medicines in syringes, cups and basins. Take extra care with patient/residents who take medicines to thin their blood. Blood thinners such as Coumadin, Lovenox and Heparin have many drug and food interactions.Prevent infection Hand washing is the most important step in preventing infection. Indications for hand washing o o o o o When hands are visibly dirty or visibly soiled with blood or other body fluids, wash hands with either a soap and water If hands are not visibly soiled, use an alcohol-based hand rub for routinely decontaminating hands Wash hands before having direct contact with patients Wash hands before donning gloves for all procedures Wash hands after contact with a patient Page 1 of 3 Â ©2008- 2010 API Healthcare Corporation.All rights reserved. o o o o Wash hands after contact with inanimate objects (including medical equipment) in the immediate vicinity of the patient Wash hands after removing gloves Before eating and after using a restroom, wash hands soap and water Wash hands with soap and warm water if exposed to C-Diff Use proven guidelines to prevent infection s that are difficult to treat. Treatment of Multi Drug Resistant Organisms (MDROs) may require one or more antibiotics. VRE and MRSA are two of most prevalent MDROs.Ensure cultures and sensitivities are done and patient treated accordingly. Use proven guidelines to prevent infection of the blood from central lines. Ensure cultures and sensitivities are done and patient treated accordingly. Use safe practices to treat the part of the body where surgery was done. Properly clean and disinfect all equipment between patient use to reduce chance of spreading infection. Check patient/resident medicines Find out what medicines each patient/resident is taking at home.Make sure that it is OK for the patient/resident to take any new medicines with their current medicines. Give a list of the patient/resident’s medicines to their next caregiver or to their regular doctor before the patient/resident goes home. Give a list of the patient/resident’s medicines to the patient/resident a nd their family before they go home. Explain the list. Some patient/residents may get medicine in small amounts or for a short time. Make sure that it is OK for those patient/residents to take those medicines with their current medicines.Identify patient/resident safety risks Find out which patient/residents are most likely to try to kill themselves. Find out if there are any risks for patient/residents who are getting oxygen. For example, fires in the patient/resident’s home. (Home Care) Page 2 of 3 Â ©2008- 2010 API Healthcare Corporation. All rights reserved. Prevent patient/residents from falling Find out which patient/residents are most likely to fall. For example, is the patient/resident making any medicines that might make them weak, dizzy or sleepy?Take action to prevent for these patient/residents. Hourly rounds by the staff have shown to reduce the number of falls. Prevent bed sores (Long Term Care) Find out which residents are most likely to have bed sores. Take a ction to prevent bed sores in these patient/residents. From time to time, re-check residents for bed sores. * Obtained from Joint Commission. Com 2010 Easy to Read Patient Safety Goals Page 3 of 3 Â ©2008- 2010 API Healthcare Corporation. All rights reserved.

Sodium Thosulphate essays

Sodium Thosulphate essays Plan an investigation into the rate of reaction between Sodium thiosulphate and hydrochloric acid. The equation for the rate of reaction is 1/time. The rate of reaction measures the speed of reaction. It is a measure of the loss of reactants and gain of products. The faster a reaction takes place, the shorter the time needed for the reaction to finish. An example of a slow reaction is rusting An example of a fast reaction is sodium and water. This predicts what will happen to the speed of a reaction if a variable like surface area, concentration and temperature. This theory says that when particles collide a reaction occurs. With a greater surface area a solid, particles collide far more frequently and as a result the reaction rate is greater. If there is a higher concentration the particles are closer and they have a greater chance of colliding. The more collisions, the faster the reaction. The higher the temperature the faster the particles are going to move. This means that there are many energetic collisions that will speed up the reaction. The word and chemical equation, for this reaction, which takes place in a solution: The variables you can change in this experiment are: The variables that we will be keeping constant are: I predict that the rate of reaction would get faster, if the volume of sodium thiosulphate was increased. This is because a higher concentration of sodium thiosulphate would mean that the particles would be closer together and as a result there would be more collisions, which would make the reaction faster. This can be scientifically proven using the collision theory. For my investigation I will use 1/time for the rate of reaction. I decided to do a preliminary experiment to investi ...

The Basis of Commerce in Al-Andalus essays

The Basis of Commerce in Al-Andalus essays Al-Andalus served as a shining star of Muslim commerce. Strict moral codes governed the operation of the marketplace. These codes were overseen and administered by a qadi (judge), also referred to as a muhtasib. Ibn Abduns Hisba Manual examines market regulations in Muslim Seville . The selected document is from a larger work by Ibn Abdun, Islam from the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople. The reader learns from the introduction that the author of the document was most likely a qadi (judge) or what is also referred to as a muhtasib. The document briefly defines the role of a muhtasib as a market inspector. This definition fails in many details that would aid the reader in placing the document in a clear context. Contrary to the authors description of the hisba (text spelling) as a genre, within an Islamic text the meaning has a larger definition. Within the Islamic sphere the Hisbah is a religious institution under the authority of the state that appoints people to c arry out the responsibility of enjoining what is right, whenever people start to neglect it, and forbidding what is wrong, whenever people start to engage in it . Within the institution of the Hisbah the position of muhtasib exists, his position is not only one based on commerce (market inspector) but also one of a moral and religious nature. Al-Muhtasib is a judge (Qadi) who makes decisions on the spot, at any place and at any time, as long a he protects the interests of the public. His responsibilities are almost limitless in order to implement the following principle: commanding the good and forbidding the evil of wrongdoing. Al-Muhtasib as full judge must possess high qualifications of being wise, mature, pious, well-poised, sane, free, just, empathic, and learned scholar. He has the ability to ascertain right from wrong, and the capability to distinguish the permissible from the non- permissible . Placing the docume...

How to Fake a French Accent

How to Fake a French Accent We love the beautiful accent that the French have when they speak English, and it can be fun or even useful to imitate it. If youre an actor, comedian, grand sà ©ducteur,  or even if you just have a French-themed Halloween costume, you can learn how to fake a French accent with this in-depth look at how the French speak English.* Please note that the pronunciation explanations are based on American English; some of them wont sound right to British and Australian ears. *Si vous à ªtes franà §ais, ne men voulez pas  ! Jai à ©crit cet article parce quil sagit dun sujet intà ©ressant et potentiellement utile. Franchement, jadore votre langue et jadore à ©galement votre accent quand vous parlez la mienne. Si vous voulez, vous pouvez utiliser ces tuyaux pour rà ©duire les traces de franà §ais dans votre anglais. Mais, mon avis, ce serait dommage. French-infused Vowels Nearly every English vowel is affected by the French accent. French has no diphthongs, so vowels are always shorter than their English counterparts. The long A, O, and U sounds in English, as in say, so, and Sue, are pronounced by French speakers like their similar but un-diphthonged French equivalents, as in the French words sais, seau, and sou. For example, English speakers pronounce say as [seI], with a diphthong made up of a long a sound followed by a sort of y sound. But French speakers will say [se] - no diphthong, no y sound. (Note that [xxx] indicates IPA spelling.) English vowel sounds which do not have close French equivalents are systematically replaced by other sounds: short A [à ¦], as in fat, is pronounced ah as in fatherlong A [eI] followed by a consonant, as in gate, is usually pronounced like the short e in getER at the end of a word, as in water, is always pronounced airshort I [I], as in sip, is always pronounced ee as in seeplong I [aI], as in kite, tends to be elongated and almost turned into two syllables: [ka it]short O [É‘], as in cot, is pronounced either uh as in cut, or oh as in coatU [ÊŠ] in words like full is usually pronounced oo as in fool Dropped Vowels, Syllabification, and Word Stress When faking a French accent, you need to pronounce all schwas (unstressed vowels). For reminder, native English speakers tend toward rmindr, but French speakers say ree-ma-een-dair. They will pronounce amazes ah-may-zez, with the final e fully stressed, unlike native speakers who will gloss over it: amazs. And the French often emphasize the -ed at the end of a verb, even if that means adding a syllable: amazed becomes ah-may-zed. Short words that native English speakers tend  to skim over or swallow will always be carefully pronounced by French speakers. The latter will say peanoot boo-tair and jelly, whereas native English speakers opt for peant buttr n jelly. Likewise, French speakers will usually not make contractions, instead pronouncing every word: I would go instead of Id go and She eez reh-dee rather than Shes ready. Because French has no word stress (all syllables are pronounced with the same emphasis), French speakers have a hard time with stressed syllables in English, and will usually pronounce everything at the same stress, like actually, which becomes ahk chew ah lee. Or they might stress the last syllable - particularly in words with more than two: computer is often said com-pu-TAIR. French-accented Consonants H is always silent in French, so the French will pronounce happy as appy. Once in a while, they might make a particular effort, usually resulting in an overly forceful H sound - even with words like hour and honest, in which the H is silent in English.J is likely to be pronounced zh like the G in massage.R will be pronounced either as in French  or as a tricky sound somewhere between W and L. Interestingly, if a word starting with a vowel has an R in the middle, some French speakers will mistakenly add an (overly forceful) English H in front of it. For example, arm might be pronounced hahrm. THs pronunciation will vary, depending on how its supposed to be pronounced in English: voiced TH [à °] is pronounced Z or DZ: this becomes zees or dzeesunvoiced TH [ÃŽ ¸] is pronounced S or T: thin turns into seen or teen Letters that should be silent at the beginning and end of words (psychology, lamb) are often pronounced. French-Tinted Grammar Just as English speakers often have trouble with  French possessive adjectives, mistakenly saying things like  son femme  for his wife, French speakers are likely to mix up  his  and  her, often favoring  his  even for female owners. They also tend to use  his  rather than  its  when talking about inanimate owners, e.g., This car has his own GPS. Similarly, since all  nouns have a gender  in French, native speakers will often refer to inanimate objects as  he  or  she  rather than  it. French speakers often use the pronoun  that  for a subject when they mean  it, as in thats just a thought rather than its just a thought. And theyll often say  this  instead of  that  in expressions like I love skiing and boating, things like this rather than ... things like that. Certain  singulars and plurals  are problematic, due to differences in French and English. For example, the French are likely to pluralize  furniture  and  spinach  because the French equivalents are plural:  les  meubles,  les  Ãƒ ©pinards. In the present tense, the French rarely remember to conjugate for the third person singular: he go, she want, it live. As for the past tense, because spoken French favors the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  to the  passà © simple, the French tend to overuse the formers literal equivalent, the English present perfect: I have gone to the movies yesterday. In questions, French speakers tend not to invert the subject and verb,  instead  asking where you are going? and what your name is? And they leave out the helping verb  do: what mean this word? or what this word mean? French-flavored Vocabulary Faux amis  are just as tricky for French speakers as they are for English speakers; try saying, as the French often do, actually instead of now, and nervous when you mean  Ãƒ ©nervà ©. You should also throw in occasional French words and phrases, such as: au contraire  - on the  contraryau revoir  - good-byebien  sà »r !  - of course!bon appà ©tit  - bon appetit, enjoy your mealbonjour  - hellocestdire  - that iscomment dit-on ___  ?  - how do you say ___?euh  - uh, umje  veux  dire  - I meanmerci  - thank younon  - nooh l  l  !  - oh dear!oui  - yespas  possible !  - no way!sil  vous  plaà ®t  - pleasevoil  - there you go French Faces And, of course, theres nothing like  gestures  to make you look more French. We particularly recommend  les  bises,  la  moue, the  Gallic shrug and  dà ©licieux.

Is Leadership Culturally Bound Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Is Leadership Culturally Bound - Essay Example Consequently, the association between cultural factors and leadership is of such a complex nature that not only does it extend to the understandings of organizational culture but it is also vividly observable in a country’s national culture. As MNEs continue to dominate international markets and the world continues to evolve into a global village the question which arises as a consequence of these changes asks whether leadership is culturally bound? As indicated by the wealth of literature that is available on the subject, it can be stated that the phenomenon of leadership in indeed bounded by culture. Not only is this observation evidenced in prior research but it can also be noted by an assessment of real world examples. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to advocate the presence of cultural implications with regards to the phenomenon of leadership, in doing so the research employs the findings of prior researches and cases from the world of organizational management. Furthe rmore, the research paper also explores counterarguments in relation to the topic under consideration in order to present a thorough, comprehensive and well-informed argument. According to House et al. (2002) the objectives behind the initiation of the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) program comprised of several aspects that are related to leadership and its cultural implications. The outcome of the program suggested that national culture can be examined on the basis of nine dimensions which essentially describe the characteristics of a country and its people. After conducting extensive large-scale surveys over a range of industries, the second stage of the GLOBE research program revealed that it is possible to compare and contrast the dimensions of culture with the attributes of leadership that can be deemed appropriate in the context of a particular culture. For example, in his analysis of the GLOBE framework Robbins (2001) notes that there exis ts a stark difference between the leadership preferences and expectations of individuals which is largely in accordance with and attributable to their culture. Robbins (2001) asserts that a humane approach and collectivism are defining features of Indian culture which are greatly respected and appreciated amongst the masses despite of the recent emergence of urbanites that prefer individualism. Therefore, an Indian employee’s notion of an effective leader is best reflected in heroic and charismatic leadership which also shows concern for the well-being of subordinates while, taking initiatives for employee development. On the other hand, employees belonging to France tend to associate the notion of leadership with that of a bureaucratic setup due to which their perception of a leader is of an individual who does not abide by a humane approach when managing the affairs of the organization’s employees and leading them towards the achievement of organizational objectives (Robbins 2001). The practical application of this understanding is that within the context of Indian culture, a leader would be able to achieve desired and ideal results by the adoption of consideration as

Media sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Media sociology - Essay Example Distinguishing fans from ordinary audiences, Jenkins offered an ethnographic illustrations how fans used the media material as basis of their own stories, songs, videos and social exchanges within a rich and cultural network. Jenkins underscored that this type of reading as â€Å"poaching† is some form of a â€Å"raid on literary preserve that takes away only those things that seem useful or pleasurable to the reader.† (p. 471) Citing artifacts such as Star Trek and Star Wars, Jenkins points to how its followers became identified with a scandalous category in contemporary American culture, which provokes an excessive response from those committed to the interests of textual producers and the institutionalization of interpreters and the emergence of questions regarding the logic of by which others order their aesthetic experiences. (Jenkins, p. 471) Jenkins’ argument is that instead of people branding the fans as cultural dupes, social misfits, mindless consumers and other negative stereotypes, he suggested that they be called as â€Å"textual poachers.† â€Å"Interactivity† is one of the most important features of the new media. For instance, Manuel Castells (1999) illustrated how conventional mass media is characterized by one-way, undifferentiated messages through a limited number of channels. The new media system, however, rides on the wonders of technology in order to accommodate the audience’s participation in effect, creating what Castells call the â€Å"culture of real virtuality† phenomenon. According to him, â€Å"while, there is oligopolistic concentration of multimedia groups around the world, there is at the same time, market segmentation, and increasing interaction by and among the individuals that break up the uniformity of a mass audience.† (p. 403) The above issue also brings us to the globalization of the new

BOOK REPORT HUMAN SEXUALITY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

BOOK REPORT HUMAN SEXUALITY - Essay Example The author offers practical advices to enable women have a joyful sex life. (1) â€Å"Twenty five percent of women have orgasmic dysfunction where they encounter difficulty to reach orgasm.† (p. 23). Recently, new developments in sexual medicine make headlines with a promise to increase orgasmic potential. Two procedures that include O-Shot and the new patent implant promise pleasurable results. Hopefully, this will enable a woman enjoy sex and reach orgasm more naturally. (2) â€Å"The inability to orgasm stem from weakened pelvic floor muscles that occur with childbirth or after menopause.† (p. 31). Fixing the root cause will naturally solve orgasmic dysfunction without using needles or medication. Exercises and tones of the pelvic muscles can improve a woman’s sexual experience while providing targeted stimulation that will increase orgasm. (3) â€Å"The O-Shot makes many claims concerning orgasm and sensation since it is an expensive procedure, invasive to run the risk of scar tissue or uncomfortable sensation.†(p. 43). The doctor proposes natural solutions such as Intensity and Replens to ensure comfort before sex. (4) â€Å"There is a misconception that there is no alternative to loss of libido or sexual dysfunction since many doctors are not professionals in sexual health to offer latest solutions.†(p. 73) Assisted reproductive techniques can help people with fertility issues. Medical doctors can provide guidelines to improving libido since it is a psychological process. (5) â€Å"Sixty-one percent of American adults turn to the internet for most of their intimate health information.† (p.97). A higher percentage of people resort to the internet for probable solutions as posted by others with similar problems. It is advisable to such people, especially Women with that problem, to consult their medical profession to provide them with the best solution. (6) â€Å"Misinformation

Different perspectives of the American Political System Essay

Different perspectives of the American Political System - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to critically assess the viewpoints regarding the political system of America. In order to assess the perspectives, two films have been selected namely â€Å"Wag the Dog† (1997) and â€Å"Mr. Smith goes to Washington† (1939). The 1997, Black comedy film by Barry Levinson rotates around the story of American politics and the sex scandals of the U.S. President. The President had luring relationships with a ‘firefly’ girl just before the Presidential re-election campaign. The film has reflected the idea that how the American Presidents, in order to hide their scandalous affairs, hire spin-doctors. The purpose of the spin-doctor was to ensure that he might divert the attention of the public, using media propaganda. He easily convinced the audience that America is at war with Albania. In short, it has been showed in the film that how media and other trusted agencies / institutions are in the hand of those, who control it as per their will (Levinson, 1997). Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is the story of good vs. evil in the American political system of the early 90’s. The story revolves around the United States Senate and how corruption leads its way in the American politics. Jimmy Stewart, who in the film is offered with a Senate vacancy, plays the character of Mr. Jefferson Smith. Since, Mr. Smith is an ideal, honest, innocent leader therefore he is easily personified by other evil senators and members of the American political system. The director of the film, Frank Capra, has shown Smith as an underdog who has to face severe challenges in order to survive in the intense competitive and corrupt American political system in order to attain some good (Capra, 1939). The message communicated to the audience through the film ‘Wag the Dog’ is that, that how easy it is to wipe out evidences or fact or to divert the attention of the

SOC 331 week 5 discussions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SOC 331 week 5 discussions - Essay Example Application of an umbrella cover of distributive justice is seen to be in violation of certain clauses of the constitution like the eighth amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment (Dreisbach, 2013). Drawing inference from the case of Miller v. Alabama, the application of retributive justice demanded the Miller, a fourteen year old boy be tried with the charges of arson and capital crime in the same capacity as an adult. The application of retributive justice does not consider an individuals mental status when committing a crime, thus proposes a blanket cover with which justice is administered equally for equal crime. Application of a mandatory life without parole that is applicable in distributive justice can thus be said to be unjust, as it does not give opportunity for the offender to be cross-examined to ascertain the real intentions of committing a crime (Dreisbach, 2013). According to the constitution, application of retributive justice is significant as it is based on ensuring that commitment of crimes of the same nature like the one that attracted a capital punishment will prevent commitment of future crimes by the potential offenders. Severe punishment acts as psychological negative stimulant to avoidance of the crime. Nevertheless, application of retributive justice will infringe the rights of the citizens especially the juvenile who are life sentenced without parole. These persons will be denied an opportunity for proper development. Application of retributive justice can be just or unjust depending on the situation when the justice is administered. Taking the situation of Karla Faye Tucker, corrective justice as an alternative theory to retributive justice demands that there should be fair compensation to the offender and the victim of a crime without gain for either side. Nevertheless, the victim of Karla had died and could not be compensated. In this regard, corrective justice requires correctional measures to be taken

Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Education - Essay Example Another importance of nursing education is to enlighten the nurses on what is require of them as well as the most effective way of resolving issues pertaining to their duties as professional (Keating, 2010,p. 3-5; Bradshaw& Lowenstein, 2011, p.1). Nursing Learning Styles These are hypothetical models, which suggest the existing manners of acquiring knowledge and help teacher or lecturer plan and meet the needs of their students. Nursing is a profession characterised by great diversity in terms of culture as well as economic status  of the individuals practicing it as well as the patients the nurses attend to or interact. Nursing professionals are required to learn how to theorize, visualize, analyse, and then come up with the solution to resolve problems. The profession involves carrying several activities ranging from calculating dosages to complex interventions on matters pertaining to patients. To understand how different learning styles apply in nursing education, it is importa nt to have some understanding on the modes of learning applied by different nursing students. Individual learning skill required include visual, Auditory and kinaesthetic (Bradshaw& Lowenstein, 2011, p.279-282; Brockbank, 2002, p. 25). Visual is a critical learning technique for nurses and require that lecturers use material such as charts and illustrative diagrams in lecturing. Organizing notes into diagrams is also an important strategy used in nursing education. Auditory learning involves ability to listen and understand information, which is improved through recording information. Kinaesthetic is a mode of learning that suits individuals who prefer when information is presented in different forms other than having to listen to lectures (Ewan & White, 1991, p. 28; Ewan & White, 1991, p. 44-50). There are several learning styles but nursing profession aims at combining the different individual learning modes to come up with comprehensive styles to take care of the entire individua l profession. Nursing educations combines four learning behaviours found among nurses and include activist, reflectors, theorist, and pragmatist. The learning styles should aim at getting the learner to come out of their comfort zone and be able to experience, reflect on incidents, conceptualize the ideas and then make plans (Keating, 2010, p. 47; Ewan & White, 1991, p. 28). Activism entails involving the learners into several activities to enable them gain experience. This increases enthusiasm and the urge to lean more. This enables nurses to handle emergencies. Activists frequently involve themselves with other people and act fast. Demonstrations work well for this group of learners (Jarvis, 2006, p. 10-12; Brockbank, 2002, p. 33-35). Theorists are those learners capable of integrating vast quantity of information and adapt it into logical hypotheses. They prefer leaning through use of models, theories, as well as case analysis. Reflectors have the capability of viewing informatio n from different perspectives. They prefer learning by collecting information or case studies and analysing them. They are therefore reasonably accurate in making conclusions. They are also good auditory learners and tend to be cautious. Most nurses fall in this category. Use of discussions helps learners in this category Oermann & Heinrich, 2008, p. 50-55). Pragmatists are learners who desire to try out new ideas, which may include theories and novel techniques. They are innovative

SOC 331 week 5 discussions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SOC 331 week 5 discussions - Essay Example Application of an umbrella cover of distributive justice is seen to be in violation of certain clauses of the constitution like the eighth amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment (Dreisbach, 2013). Drawing inference from the case of Miller v. Alabama, the application of retributive justice demanded the Miller, a fourteen year old boy be tried with the charges of arson and capital crime in the same capacity as an adult. The application of retributive justice does not consider an individuals mental status when committing a crime, thus proposes a blanket cover with which justice is administered equally for equal crime. Application of a mandatory life without parole that is applicable in distributive justice can thus be said to be unjust, as it does not give opportunity for the offender to be cross-examined to ascertain the real intentions of committing a crime (Dreisbach, 2013). According to the constitution, application of retributive justice is significant as it is based on ensuring that commitment of crimes of the same nature like the one that attracted a capital punishment will prevent commitment of future crimes by the potential offenders. Severe punishment acts as psychological negative stimulant to avoidance of the crime. Nevertheless, application of retributive justice will infringe the rights of the citizens especially the juvenile who are life sentenced without parole. These persons will be denied an opportunity for proper development. Application of retributive justice can be just or unjust depending on the situation when the justice is administered. Taking the situation of Karla Faye Tucker, corrective justice as an alternative theory to retributive justice demands that there should be fair compensation to the offender and the victim of a crime without gain for either side. Nevertheless, the victim of Karla had died and could not be compensated. In this regard, corrective justice requires correctional measures to be taken

Profile of Honda Motor Company Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Profile of Honda Motor Company Ltd - Essay Example Japan was a fuel and transport starved nation after the Second World War. Soichiro Honda seized this opportunity to provide cheap transport from small two-stroke motorcycle engines developed in the Honda Technical Research Institute in Japan. (History). This resulted in the launch of Dream D 98cc motorcycle in 1949 (Honda). From then on there has been no looking back for this multi-national company leading to a wide range of products, and a presence in nearly every part of the world. It is the leading manufacturer of motorcycles in the world, and an automobile manufacturer of repute. The name Honda in the modern era has been equated with value for money. The business activities of Honda Motor Company Ltd. include the development, production and manufacture of motor products in many places around the world. The motorcycle business activity consists of the manufacture of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, and personal watercraft. The engine capacities of the motorcycles manufactured by Honda have a range from as low as 50cc to as high as 1800cc cylinder displacement. The models of Honda motorcycles consist of sports, business, and commuter models. Passenger cars in the automobile range of Honda consist of the Legend, Accord, Civic, City, and Acura brands. Honda also offers multi-wagons, sports utility vehicles, sports coupes, and mini-vehicles under different brand names. Financial services to customers and dealers also form a part of the business activities of Honda. This activity facilitates the purchase of vehicles by the dealers and the customers. Honda also manufactures a range of other power products, which include power tillers, portable generators, general-purpose engines, grass cutters, outboard engines, water pumps, snow throwers, power carriers, power sprayers, lawn mowers, and lawn tractors. The products of Honda are made available to its customers through various outlets, wholesalers, and independent retail dealers (Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (HMC)).

Intrusion Detection System Using Node-Predictive Attack

Intrusion Detection System Using Node-Predictive Attack Intrusion Detection System Using Node-Predictive Attack Graph Model for Cloud Ambikavathi C Dr.S.K.Srivatsa Abstract- The role of Intrusion Detection System (IDS) in security world is considered as a key requirement for any computing model. This traditional methodology can add its own contribution of security to the distributed Cloud environment. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the steps that are needed to be taken in order to efficiently implement the IDS in cloud environment. The proposed system uses node predictive attack graph to correlate the newly occurred attacks with known attacks. The prediction steps are used to later monitor the environment and control the attacks. Keywords-Attack Graph; Cloud Computing; IDS ,; I. INTRODUCTION A. What is Cloud computing? Cloud computing is â€Å"a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction†[1]. This cloud model is co mposed of three service models, four deploy ment models and five essential characteristics . The three service models are So ftware as a Service (SaaS), Platfo rm as a Se rvice (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The four deployment models are private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud and community cloud. The five essential characteristics of cloud are on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service. B. What is IDS? Intrusion detection systems are software or hardware systems that automate the process of monitoring the events occurring in a computer system or network, analyzing them for malicious activities or policy violations and produces reports to a management station. IDSs a rehost-based, network-based and distributed IDSs. Hos t based IDS (HIDS) monitors specific host machines, network-based IDS (NIDS) identifies intrusions on key network points and distributed IDS (DIDS) operates both on host as well as network [7]. IDS can be a valuable addition to the security arsenal. IDS performs the following functionalities : Monitoring and analyzing both user and system activities .Analyzing system configurations and vulnerabilities .Assessing system and file integrity.Ability to recognize patterns typical of attacks.Analysis of abnormal activity patterns.Tracking user policy violations.The extensive use of virtualization in implementing cloud infrastructure brings unique security concerns for customers or tenants of a public cloud service. Virtualization alters the relationship between the OS and underlying hardware. This introduces an additional layer virtualization that itself must be properly configured, managed and secured. Specific concerns include the potential to compromise the virtualization software, or hypervisor. So virtual machine security is essential in cloud environment. C. Attack Graph Attack graphs are used to determine how vulnerable their systems are and to determine what security measures to deploy to defend their systems. In the predictive attack graph, a node represents a host and an edge represents vulnerability. The predictive attack graph representation accurately forecasts the effect of removing vulnerabilities by removing edges from the attack graph. The predictive attack graph is the full attack graph with redundant paths removed. A path is considered redundant if the path contains the same vulnerability-host pair in two or mo replaces along the same attack path. In node predictive attack graph, a node can be host or a group of hosts, and an edge can be vulnerability or a group of vulnerabilities. The node predictive attack graph is a simplified version of the predictive attack graph. The node predictive attack graph’s purpose is to mitigate the effects of â€Å"firewall explosion.† Firewall explosion causes redundancy in the predictive gr aph. Thus, the node predictive attack graph mitigates this issue by merging nodes of the attack graph. Two nodes are merged if the attacker can compromise the two hosts from all hosts the attacker has already compromised. [16] Rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II discusses about the related work done. Proposed system is described briefly in section III. Section IV, presents the implementation part of EIDS and section V concludes with references at the end. II. RELATED WORK In this section, we present related research to our proposed work: Intrusion detection in cloud and attack graph models. A. Anomaly based IDS Anomaly or behavior based detection [7] refers to techniques that define and characterize normal or acceptable behaviors of the system (e.g., CPU usage, job execution time , system ca lls). Behaviors that deviate fro m the expected normal behavior are considered intrusions. Generation of high false alarms is the major drawback of this type which leads to low detection efficiency. But it is able to detect new attack patterns. Here, Input parameter selection and analysis of ciphered data are tedious processes . It attains low throughput but high cost. Metrics and frame work to evaluate this IDS and compare with alternate IDS techniques is in need. Also it is poor in defending themselves from attacks. To avoid false alarms in anomaly based systems the system must be trained to create the appropriate user profiles. It requires extensive training to characterize normal behavior patterns. B. Signature based I DS Signature or Misuse based detection refers to techniques that characterize known methods to penetrate a system. These penetrations are characterized as a ‘pattern’ or a ‘signature’ that the IDS looks for. The pattern/signature might be a static string or a set sequence of actions[9]. It can only detect known attacks. Frequent updation is needed in the database for signatures of new attacks. The advantages of this IDS are, it generates less number of false alarms. A single signature can detect a group of attacks. It does not require extensive training. C. Fuzzy based IDS Fuzzy logic can be used to deal with inexact description of intrusions. It provides some flexibility to the uncertain problem of intrusion detection. Fuzzy logic techniques[5] are used for classification techniques. The classification algorithm is applied to audit data collected which learns to classify new audit data as normal or abnormal data. It allows greater complexity for IDS while it provides some flexibility to the uncertain problem of IDS. Most fuzzy IDS require human intervention to determine fuzzy sets and set of fuzzy rules . D. Artificial Neural Network based The goal of using ANNs for intrusion detection[5] is to be able to generalize data from incomplete data and to be able to classify data as being normal or intrusive. It is best because of it’s self learning capabilities , quick processing and can find small behaviour deviations. But it’s downside is it requires more tra ining sa mples and time consuming. E. Data Mining based IDS Some intrusion attacks are formed based on known attacks or variant of known attacks. To detect such signatures or attacks, signature apriori algorithm can be used, which finds frequent subset (containing some features of original attack) of given attack set. In Cloud, association rules can be used to generate new signatures. Using newly generated signatures, variations of known attacks can be detected in real time[5]. F. Profile based IDS In VM profile based IDS[12], a profile is created for each virtual machine in cloud that describes network behavior of each clouduser. The behavior gathered is then used for detection of network attacks on cloud. It detects the attacks early with robustness and minimum complexity. G. Entropy based IDS Entropy is, in general, used for measuring the data’s degree of impurity using a Threshold value. Entropy based anomaly detection system[14] is mainly proposed to prevent DDoS attacks. This is done in two steps. First users are allowed to pass through a router in network site. It detects for legitimate user using detection algorithm. Second again it passes through a router in cloud site. In this methodology confirmation algorithm is incorporated to detect the intruder by checking a threshold value. H. Multithreaded IDS Multithreading technique improves IDS performance within Cloud computing environment to handle large number of data packet flows. The proposed multi-threaded NIDS[8][4] is based on three modules named: capture module, analysis module and reporting module. The first one is responsible of capturing data packets and sending them to analysis part which analyzes them efficiently through matching against pre-defined set of rules and distinguishes the bad packets to generate alerts. Finally, the reporting module can read alerts and immediately prepare alert report. The authors conducted simulation experiments to show the effectiveness of their proposed method and compared it with single thread which presented high performance in terms of processing and execution time. However, the problem of detecting new types of attacks still needs many works to be done. I. Integrated model IDS It uses the combination two or more o f above techniques. It is advantageous since each technique has some advantages and drawbacks. Grid and Cloud Computing Intrusion Detection System (GCCIDS)[10] proposed the integration of knowledge and behavior analysis to detect specific intrusions. However, the proposed prototype cannot discover new types of attacks or create an attack database which must be considered during implementing IDS. A new integrated intrusion detection approach, called FCA NN[13] is proposed based on ANN and fuzzy clustering. Through fuzzy clustering technique, the heterogeneous training set is divided to several homogenous subsets. Thus complexity of each sub training set is reduced and consequently the detection performance is increased. J. Graph based IDS A graph is constructed in which nodes represent state of attack and edges represent the correlations between attacks. Queue graph, Dependency graph and Attack graph are the existing works done on IDS. To prevent vulnerable virtual machines from be ing compromised in the cloud, a multiphase distributed vulnerability detection, measurement, and countermeasure selection mechanism called NICE[2] is proposed, which is built on attack graph-based analytical models and reconfigurable virtual network-based countermeasures. III. PROP OSED WORK In this section, we describe how to construct and utilize node predictive attack graph model to handle vulnerabilities in cloud environ ment. Any attack has some set of predefined steps to incorporate it. An attack can only be accomplished when all its pre-conditions are met [11]. So that by keen monitoring the attack can be prevented. An attack graph is an abstraction that represents the ways an attacker can violate a security policy by leveraging interdependencies among discovered vulnerabilities. An attack graph can be generated from network configuration details and known vulnerabilities within the network. An attack path is a sequence of steps that starts from an attacker’s initial state to the attacker’s goal state (security policy violation) in an attack graph. Every virtual machine has it’s own logfile for recording the actions of that virtual machine. Th is logfile along with the knowledge base provides information for constructing attack graph. Fig. 1. Proposed Architecture IV. IMPLEMENTATION EIDS is implemented using Openebula[15] and OSSIM (Open Source – Security Information Management)[3] which comprises of traffic analyzers, vulnerability scanners. OS-SIM is embedded as a virtual mach ine in the c loud environment. The ro le of this virtual machine is to monitor all other virtual machines running in the environment. OSSIM provides a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution. It is a one-stop solution and integrated the open source software’s NTOP, Mrtg, Snort, Open VAS, and Nmap. OSSIM is a cost effective solution in the area of monitoring network health and security of network/hosts compared to other propriety products[6]. A. Attack Analyzer Attack Analyzer is built on the top the traffic Analyzer of OS-SIM. It uses each virtual machine’s logfile to analyze and extract attack trace steps. Whenever an attack occurs it is added to the attack graph as a node along with its state and correlation function is invoked. Attack Graph Attack Graph Generator Alert System Knowledge Base Attack Analyzer B. Correlation function Correlation function correlates this new attack with known attacks and gives the prediction steps for this attack. These prediction steps for each attack are used to monitor the further attacks in future. C. Attack Graph Generator Each node in the graph defines an attack and the edge between nodes represent the correlation between that two attacks. V. CONCLUSION Defending distributed environment is difficult. Always prevention is better than cure. Prediction of Intrusions in prior enhances the security of cloud environment. So that predictive attack graph model is chosen for providing security to the distributed cloud environment. At any point the known attacks are correlated with each other to predict new attacks. REFERENCES: [1] NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology ) http://csrc.nist.gov/p ublications/nistp ubs/800-145/SP800-145.p df [2] Chun-Jen Chung, Pankaj Khatkar, Tiany i Xing Jeongkeun Lee, Dijian g Huan g, â€Å"NICE: Network Intrusion Detection and Countermeasure Selection in Virtual Network Systems†, IEEE Transactions On Dependable And Secure Computing, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 198 – 211, July /August 2013. [3] â€Å"OSSIM †, https://www.alienvault.com/ [4] Ms. Parag K. Shelke, M s. Sneha Sontakke, Dr. A. D. Gawande, â€Å"Intrusion Detection Sy stem for Cloud Comp uting†, International Journal of Scientific Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, M ay 2012. [5] M odi, C., Patel, D., Patel, H., Borisaniy a, B., Patel, A. Rajarajan, M ., â€Å"A survey of intrusion detection techniques in Cloud†, Journal of Network and Computer App lications. [6] â€Å"OSSIM †, http ://www.op ensourceforu.com/2014/02 /top -10-op en-source-security -tools/ [7] Amirreza Zarrabi, Alireza Zarrabi, â€Å"Internet Intrusion Detection Sy stem Service in a Cloud† IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 5, No 2, Sep tember 2012. [8] I. Gul and M . Hussain, â€Å"Distributed Cloud Intrusion Detection M odel†, International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, vol. 34, pp. 71-82, 2011. [9] R. Bhadauria, R. Chaki, N. Chak i, and S. Sany al â€Å"A Survey on Secur ity Issues in Cloud Comp uting†, Available at: http ://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5388 [10] K. Vieira, A. Schulter, C.B. Westp hall, and C.M . Westphall, â€Å"Intrusion Detection for Grid and Cloud comp uting†, IT Professional, Volume: 12 Issue: 4, p p. 38-43, 2010. [11] X. Ou and A. Singhal, â€Å"Quantitative Secur ity Risk Assessment of Enterp rise Networks†, Sp ringerBriefs in Comp uter Scien ce, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-1860-3_2,  © The Author(s) 2012 [12] Sanchik a Gupta, Padam Kumar and Ajith Abraham, â€Å"A Profile Based Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention System for Secur in g Cloud Env ironment†, International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, Feb 2013 [13] Swati Ramteke, Rajesh Dongare, Ko mal Ramteke, â€Å"Intrusion Detection System for Cloud Network Using FC-ANN Algorithm†, Int. Journal of Advanced R esearch in Comp uter and Communication En gineeringVo l. 2, Issue 4, April 2013. [14] A.S.Sy ed Navaz, V.San geetha, C.Prabhadevi, â€Å"Entropy based Anomaly Detection System to Prevent DDoS Attacks in Cloud†, Int. Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887) Volume 62– No.15, January 2013 [15] â€Å"Op ennebula†, http ://opennebula.org [16] Nwokedi C. Idika, â€Å"Characterizin g and A ggregating Attack Grap h-based Security M etrics†, CERIAS Tech Rep ort 2010

As I Lay Dying Essay: The Characters -- As I Lay Dying Essays

The Characters in As I Lay Dying The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail. (excerpt-Faulkner's Nobel Prize acceptance speech)   Ã‚  Ã‚   Analyzing character in a Faulkner novel is like trying to reach the bottom of a bottomless pit because Faulkner's characters often lack ration, speak in telegraphed stream-of-consciousness, and rarely if ever lend themselves to ready analysis.   This is particularly true in As I Lay Dying, a novel of a fragmented and dysfunctional family told through fragmented chapters.   Each character reveals their perspective in different chapters, but the perspectives are true to life in that though they all reveal information about the Bundren family and their struggles to exist they are all limited by the perspective of the character providing the revelations.   The story centers on the death of the mother of the Bundren clan, Addie, whose imminent death creates fragmentation and chaos in the Bundren family because Anse, Addie's husband, has promised to travel to Jefferson to bury her with her family.   Floods, fires, injuries and poor decisions mar the journey, but the fa mily endures and Anse brings home a new Mrs. Bundren.   However, Anse, often read as the most selfish Bundren is the only one prepared to go on with life and accept Addie's death.      Others in the family are not so ready to accept the displacement of their mother so readily.   Among them, Vardaman and Dewey Dell are often portrayed as the least individualized characters in the Bundren family.   Someone once suggests he is a "frightened, perhaps deranged child" and she is a "female vegetable."   These suggestions might be a bit extreme, but defin... ...ner   57).   Vardaman, on the other hand, is even younger than Dewey Dell and seems less able to cope with reality.   However, he does see Darl set fire to the Gillespie's barn and trusts Dewey Dell enough to reveal this to her.   She tells him never to repeat it.   However, Vardaman will be disappointed in the journey as will Dewey Dell.   Only Anse gets what he wants.   Vardaman's train is not in the store window and Dewey Dell is tricked by another man, the pharmacist, into providing sexual favors.   Both are victims of their genetics and their environment, which, at their age, does leave them the least individualized characters in the novel.      WORKS   CITED          Faulkner, W.   As I Lay Dying.   Vintage Books, New York, 1957.       2                                                      

Snow Goose Overpopulation Essay -- essays research papers

The Overpopulation of the Snow Goose in North America Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explore available research on the overpopulation of the Snow Goose on the North American continent. The snow goose has been rising in population since the middle of the century and has been escalating so much it is destroying their natural habitat. Wildlife managers have just recently begun to implement strategies to combat this problem. Mainly through the use of hunters the managers are trying to curb the population growth. Introduction There are three main species of Snow Goose of primary concern. The Lesser Snow Goose (LSGO) is the must abundant and at the same time most troublesome. Ross’ Goose (ROGO) is very similar to the Lesser and can only be distinguished by close observation. Both the Lesser and the Ross nest in salt marshes along Hudson Bay and then migrate down to the gulf coast states such as Texas and Louisiana. Their populations number in the millions. The third sub species is the Greater Snow Goose. They nest in the same marshes as the others except they migrate down the Atlantic Coast into the Carolinas and that vicinity. All three species have exploded in numbers since the 1950’s. Researchers have done a lot of study on the numbers and the degradation but may need to do more studies on the impact to other species and look for other options to control the populations. Population Trends The numbers of all "light" colored geese has been on the rise since data was first collected. The Lesser Snow Goose (LSGO) has drastically increased in number since data was first taken. Numbers range from around 800,000 in 1969 to as many as 6 million in 1996 (CWS 1999). While the Greater Snow Goose (GSGO) has risen in numbers from a few thousand to almost 500,000 (CWS 1999). This brief article did not provide much insight into actual numbers. Abraham and Jeffries in their report dig deeper and provide more significant and detailed population counts. Their numbers add in the Mid-winter index, which is the number of geese counted during mid-winter and referred to as MWI. Their numbers also have a count for Ross’ Goose (ROGO) which primarily flies with the (LSGO) and is very hard to distinguish (Abraham and Jeffries 1998). They too suggest the LSGO population to be aro... ...s will need to kill over 900,000 geese a year for over a decade to make any kind of dent in the population (Hodge 1999). Some are skeptical that hunters can take that many birds to begin with, let alone the fact that to many that seems like a merciless slaughter of innocent animals. Conclusion It appears that one thing is very clear†¦ there is an overpopulation of Snow Geese on the North American Continent. The situation is almost out of hand and something needs to be done fast. Although there has enough research on the fact that there are simply to many geese there really has not been enough on the impacts to other species, and what is the best way to take care of the problem. Both the US and the Canadian government seem to be on the right path to controlling this problem that humans have created. But more needs to be done. There just simply isn’t enough hunters around to take the proper amount of birds in a sporting manner. Wildlife managers are going to have to step in and take more radical measure to control this before its too late and we have lost all the habitat for the geese and all other habitants of the salt marshes of the Hudson Bay area.

Auto Industry Structure and Resources Essay

According to Taylor (2012), profits are going to be derived from a handful of mega-companies in North America, Europe, and Asia. These companies include General Motors (GM), Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Renault/Nissan, Hyundai/Kia, and Fiat/Chrysler. The chart below, taken from Taylor’s article, demonstrates global sales of auto makers in 2011 and what is predicted to be the companies’ global sales in 2020. (Taylor 2012). This chart reflects which auto makers are at the top in terms of sales, so this could also be interpreted as the companies that are the strongest within the industry. An industry is a group of firms that market products which are close substitutes for each other. Some industries are more profitable than others due to the dynamics of competitive structure of an industry. There are basically five forces that determine the long-run profitability of an industry; threat of entry of new competition, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and degree of competition (Porter, 2008). Many companies within the United States and world may look to the automotive industry as a possible â€Å"cash cow. This is due to the large inelastic demand followed with a hefty pay off per sale. As a company interested in entering the automotive industry competition, one may find that it is easier said than done. Since 1860, there have been over 1,800 manufacturing companies that have entered into this competitive market within the United States. Of those 1,800 manufacturers, over 760 have gone out of business, leaving a success rat e of less than 57% (Georgano, 2000). Entry into this manufacturing arena requires a huge down payment. Procuring machinery, personnel, factories, and raw materials can put a multi-million dollar price tag of investment and overhead before one sale is completed. Before these complicated pieces of machinery start rolling off the production line, sales strategies and logistics need to also be considered sinking more overhead and investment into start up costs. For the manufactures that decide to exit this market, there is a large sum of invested money and jobs that are lost. In many situations, losing such a large degree of sunk costs in a plant closure tends to become the precursor to company bankruptcy or selling off of the company. The excess inventory, machinery, and other assets will need to be sold off to try to maintain survival of the existing company. If the company has debt, income from selling off assets or the bankruptcy will be utilized to pay these debts. Either way, exiting this market can cause great financial drain and costly repercussions of the company’s financial livelihood. In recent years, more manufacturers have taken the financial risk on and been able to enter into the market. The automotive market structure began as an oligopolistic structure due to the limited vendors. In this system, several large sellers have some control over the prices. As time progresses and more domestic and foreign manufacturers enter into the competition, a more perfect competition (many buyers and sellers, none being able to influence prices) is emerging (Business Dictionary. om, 2012) reducing elasticity within the market. Education and training, wages, and technology are three major factors which impact the quantity and/or skill level of the labor supply in the auto industry. In reviewing the labor supply, we will divide the industry by business and front-line workers. These two general groups would require great variance in education and skill; therefore, the potential labor supply for each should be reviewed separately. The front-line workers in manufacturing, production, and sales of the auto industry generally require minimal education and receive on-the-job skill training. These workers may have a high school diploma and great variance in skill level for manufacturing and sales. They will receive the training needed on the job and their wages will not greatly vary; therefore, the effect of changes in training and wages for those workers of the industry would be considered minimal in changes to the supply curve. For this group, advances in technology would have a greater impact. In reviewing the labor supply for the business segment of the automobile industry such as business management, engineering, and marketing, this is the population of the industry which must: understand and keep track of changing consumer demands, understand how to maximize opportunity for growth, how to forecast, how to market, and be innovative in design and features of automobiles as technology continues to advance and the market remains competitive. According to the Consumer Population Survey (CPS), in 2011 the U. S. Labor Force, age 25 and older, with only a high school education made up over three and a half million potential laborers; while in the same year, those unemployed with a college degree equated to around two million (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). Therefore, the total labor supply for the industry was nearly six million with varying skill levels. The auto industry was hit hard during the recession and is still coping with large structural changes. Over the past couple of years, the automobile companies have closed plants and discontinued brands and they downsized, restructured and cut budget to bring costs more in line with sales. They also cut jobs, as many as 300,000 or more according to some estimates. Recently, the profits of the auto industry have turned around and they are, again, making profits. There is now a shortage of workers with the right skill-set. The challenge is finding the right workers with the right skills needed by the workers in the industry, especially as more teams work globally. Because of the new technologies and operations, so called â€Å"un-skilled† workers are rarely needed now. The workers also need problem solving skills and decision making skills. Creating a workforce with these abilities requires a different approach by the human resources team. Better workforce planning is essential to creating the right fit. Automakers are turning their attention to building automobiles that either rely less on traditional fuel sources or use cheaper renewable sources of energy. These â€Å"green† solutions will attract consumers. As automakers are turning their attention to new technology, their talent must be able to grow with them. The shift in consumer preferences in the auto market towards hi-tech, fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles is a significant challenge to the industry. Auto manufacturers and suppliers will have to adapt quickly to the new technology and invest in research and development. Globalization has also put pressure on the auto industry and its traditional workforce. The future demand will be that auto companies have a flexible workforce that can constantly learn and refresh its skills. The workforce must be able to be flexible and the industry must leverage rapid learners and be able to re-train employees and re-design jobs. This will be costly for the automobile industry but will be needed to be successful and beat the competition. There may not be a need for the unskilled worker in the auto industry, but there will always be a need for workers. Their roles will change to keep up with the technology and changing markets. Steel, plastic, aluminum, rubber, and glass are the top five materials used in the automobile production process (George P. , 2012). While some of these materials are derived from a natural resource which could potentially pose risk on quantity, such as steel from iron ore and rubber from petroleum, there are forms of either synthetic or renewable resources for each as well as the ability to recycle all of these materials for reuse. None of these materials are of precious minerals and there are no real variances found in quality of such materials. For example, recycled steel, aluminum, and glass can be used in automobiles because they can be recycled indefinitely without losing their properties (RubberAsia, 2009, Hincha-Ownby, 2010, and Blue, 2012). Historically, the automotive and construction markets have remained the largest consumers of steel, with more than half of the steel produced. Over the past few years, China has emerged as the major consumer of steel, with the U. S. ext, followed by Japan. In 2008, the steel industry suffered a decline due to the recession. This was seen by consumers buying existing inventories of vehicles rather than buying new stock. The industry turned around in 2009 and continued to grow. Replacement tires are the second highest operating expense for commercial fleets, next to fuel (Automotive Fleet, 2011). In 2010, the cost for tires in the passenger car segment was up 11%. Almo st 60 percent of the world’s rubber is consumed by the global tire industry. China is the world’s largest rubber consumer