Improving Service Quality in Hotel and Resort

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The first chapter of report will explain the purpose of the report and why this report is important. In chapter 2, the service quality will be identified. There are two parts in this chapter: the first part will discuss concept and principle of the service quality and the following part will note the service quality models. Mainly the SERVQUAL model and the Total Quality Management (TQM) will be examined. Then in chapter 3, implementation, the chosen organisation which is the Club Mediterranean (Club Med) will be applied for the service quality model. The last chapter is conclusion of the report and the Appendices will be stated next to reference list. TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦2p Chapter 1: Introduction 1. 1 Purpose of the Report †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4p Chapter 2: Service Quality 2. 1 Principles of Service Quality †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5p 2. 2 Service Quality Models †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6p Chapter 3: Implementation 3. 1 Background of the Club Med †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8p 3. 2 Steps of Implementation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9p Chapter 4: Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12p Reference List †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13p Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦15p CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. 1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT â€Å"Service organizations exist as a function of their customers; service quality then, is the primary survival strategy† (Schneider and Chung, 1993, p. 124). Carey (2003) note that the service quality is a subject that permeates every component of the tourism industry. Especially in hotel and resort, the service quality is integral for long term survival. Therefore each company should take the service quality as serious management philosophy and have to adopt theories and models to identify gap between expectation and perception. CHAPTER 2: SERVICE QUALITY 2. 1 PRINCIPLES OF SERVICE QUALITY Service quality is defined as the degree of excellence intended that meets customer requirements (Wyckoff, 1992). However, Carey (2003) points out the service quality, the result of a comparison between the expectations of a customer and the actual service they received. Therefore, understanding gap between the expectation and the received service can be a key source of the service quality. According to Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons (2001), these expectations are based on several sources, including word of mouth, personal needs, and past experience. Thus, people may have more expectation on the high-rated hotel. Usually, the five-star hotels are more expensive than the lower level so customers may expect to get serviced as much as they pay. In other word, the service quality can be a primary goal for hotels to gain more profits. To put simply, better quality means better profitability and market share and when higher quality and large market share are both present, profitability is nearly guaranteed (Ross, 1993). According to Scheuing and Christopher (1993) the service quality is a powerful force that reshapes attitudes and actions toward creating customer satisfaction and loyalty, and thus, sustainable competitive advantage in an unstable environment of dynamic global competition. Accordingly, the managers who work in hospitality industry need to know not only how to manage the organisation but also how to manage the service quality to provide customer satisfaction continuously. 2. SERVICE QUALITY MODELS Levitt (1972) argues that the theories and concepts of quality and its management have adopted slowly into the service industry from manufacturing. Rather than a paradigm shift taking place, the existing quality theories and models were held in their entirety by parts of the service sector and the paradigm shift occurred when difficulties were occurred in the sector, for example, the use of only qualitative data analysis methods (Williams & Buswell, 2003). There are many service quality theories and concepts have been used such as the Statistical Process Control (SPC), Ten Benchmarks of Total Quality Control, and the 14-step Quality Improvement Programme, However, in following paragraphs will discuss two service quality models which are SERVQUAL and Total Quality Management that is known as TQM. 2. 2. 1 SERVQUAL model SERVQUAL is a survey instrument that measures service quality. According to Saleh and Ryan (1991), it was initially devised for the assessment of services within the financial sector, and consists of a 22-item, seven-point Likert Scale but not all of the issues were directly applicable to a hotel. However Martin (1986) offers a 40-item scale in the assessment of service within restaurants, and from this a number of questions were picked and adapted for hotel and finally therefore, a 33-item and five-point Likert Scale instrument was developed. There are five dimensions of service quality: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. In the guest survey, the customer will answer the questions which are based on the five dimensions. Fitzsimmons et al (2001) point out the multiple dimensions of service quality are captured in the SERVQUAL instrument, which is an effective tool for surveying customer satisfaction that is based on the service quality gap model. 2. 2. 2 Total Quality Management (TQM) Bardi (2007) states that preparation for adopting TQM is necessary to achieve success goal in hotel. Biech (1994) defined Total Quality Management (TQM) as a customer-focused, quality-centered, fact-based, team-driven, senior-management-led process to achieve an organization’s strategic imperative through continuous process improvement. In its simplest form, the TQM is a management philosophy which states that the whole organisation is working for meeting the customer’s need and expectation (Williams et al, 2003). The TQM has two major proceedings: customer requirements and expectations determination and these requirements and expectations’ deliver organising (Ross, 1993). Ross (1993) points out that the measurement of success is customer satisfaction and the only way to achieve the successive customer satisfaction is through continuous improvement by TQM. CHAPTER 3: IMPLEMENTATION: 3. 1 BACKGROUND OF THE CLUB MED Club Mediterranean (Club Med) is an international hotel chain company operating worldwide resort villages. Club Med was founded in 1950 by Gerard Blitz who is the two time Olympic medalist champion while Blitz stayed at the Olympic Club’s tent village where he had the idea to combine his passion for humanitarian causes with athleticism. The initial concept of the Club Med was to offer people to enjoy sports holidays with reasonable price. The company expanded through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and during 1980s it continued to diversify and decentralize, becoming ever more international (International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 1994). Today, the Club Med is with over 80 villages across 5 continents at beaches to mountain, ski resort, and even history-rich area and with its G. Os that are members of staff representing around a hundred nationalities speaking over 30 languages and it continues to emphsise its multicultural aspect. Currently the company offers five styles of holiday, so that people can choose the village that best meets their holiday expectations. The Club Med’s aim is to provide its customers with a holiday as close to perfection as possible by creating a unique atmosphere which engenders a sense of wellbeing, as well as by providing top-quality amenities, the company aims for total customer satisfaction (International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 1994). 3. 2 STEPS OF IMPLEMENTATION As the report discussed above, the Club Med can use whether SERVQUAL model or TQM method to improve the company’s service quality. However if both two model used together, it will make synergy effect on the business. First, to adopt SERVQUAL model on the Club Med, quantitative research will be used and the data are from existing the company’s record. Not only the quantitative data but also qualitative research will be used to identify the service quality gaps which brought to inconsistency between the guest expectations and the guest perceptions. The staffs of the Club Med can have in-depth and face-to-face interviews. The interviewees will be included the reception GOs, the sport activity GOs, the bar and restaurant GOs and whoever village GOs to identify the gap. This provided the researcher to recognize which department has the most contact with the GMs (gentle member that known as guest of the Club Med). Next step is for sampling procedures and in the process the reception desk or the front desk will allow information relate guest complaints. It is because of in many hotels, the front desk has high level of contact with guests and also the reception desk will receive the majority of guest complaints (Carey, 2003). The two survey populations will be the GMs and the GOs. In addition for the guests, the guest survey can be asked. For instance, the Likert Scale survey which is asking guests to rate each activity or department in a scale of 1 to 5 can be used. Currently, the Club Med is using customer satisfaction ratings virtually. According to Fitzsimmons et al (2001), the Club Med uses the questionnaire and it is mailed to all guests directly after their departure from a Club Med vacation to assess the quality of their experience in the village. The information from the survey completed by guest is used in several ways. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance (1994) points out that if there is a complaint about one of Club Med’s villages, head office immediately reports back to the village manager. After all the interviewing and surveying, data collection and analysis by coding will be necessary to identify the service gaps. Through the coding analysis, finally the Club Med can find gaps in the service process. Therefore the Club Med an get a broad response and a better understanding of guest expectations and perceptions to improve their service quality. Next, to adopt the Total Quality Management (TQM) on the Club Med, as shown in the appendix 1, there are several steps for implementing TQM. The first step is defining the mission. According to the International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance (1994), the Club Med’s aim is to provide its customers with a holiday as close to perfection as possible. Thus the company’s mission is total customer satisfaction. The second step is for identifying system output and the third is for identifying customers. To use of demographic questionnaire can be useful not only to know the guests but to set a target markets so improve systems as their requirement. Then the next step is for negotiating customers’ requirements. From the bargain, developing a â€Å"supplier specification† that details customer requirements and expectations is the next. Finally, determining the necessary activities required to fulfill those requirements and expectation will be finished the implementing TQM. On the contrary, Dale (1994) notes that number of barriers to achieving TQM that shows in appendix 2. Accordingly, the company should avoid several components as lack of commitment from senior management to service quality so the Club Med’s head office must focus on the service quality improvements continuously. The second component to avoid is fear of the changes to work patterns and processes. Thus the senior management should empower employees. Then lack of resources and no customer focus is following. To improve service quality and to adopt TQM, company has to keep focus on the customers’ requirements. For the last, without correct data collection and analysis, the Club Med can not meet improved service quality. CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION The service quality will be a major component of the future hospitality industry continuously. Therefore hotels need to manage the service quality with various theories and methods. As discussed above, this report has applied SERVQUAL and TQM on the Club Med to identify the service gaps. Accordingly, if the Club Med uses the service quality, they can reduce gap and provide customer satisfaction. The any efforts from hotel’s marketing an not be stand on long term period solely. However, the quality of the interactive service between hotelier and the guest can be possibly long term and this can be why the improving service quality is important to hotel. Both service quality theories and models’ measurement is a customer satisfaction. Thus to improve a hotel or resort’s service quality with customer satisfaction, the whole of departme nts should link and think about the service quality together so the all of employees and the senior mangers generate continuous improvements. REFERENCE LIST Bardi, J. A. , (2007). Hotel Front Office Management (4th ed. ). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Biech, E. (1994). TQM for Training. US: McGraw-Hill. Carey, K. L. (2003). Improving service quality in small communities: the Bahamas as a model. Las Vegas: University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Club Med. (n. d. ). Retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www. clubmed. com. us Dale, B. G. (1994). Managing Quality (2nd ed. ). Hemel Hempstead: Prentice-Hall. Fitzsimmons, J. A. , & Fitzsimmons, M. J. (2001). Service Management: operations, strategy, and information technology (3rd ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance (1994). Sun, Sea, Sand and Service, 7(4), 18-19. Levitt, T. (1972). Production-line approach to service. Harvard Business Review. In C. Williams, J. Buswell, Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism. London: CABU Publishing. Martin, W. B. (1986). Quality Service, The Restaurant Manager’s Bible. US: Brodock Press. Saleh, F. , & Ryan, C. (1991). Analysing Service Quality in the Hospitality Industry Using the SERVQUAL Model. The Service Industry Journal, 11(3), 324-345. Schneider, B. , & Chung, B. (1993). Creating service climates for service quality. In E. Scheuing, W. Christopher (Eds. ), The Service Quality Handbook. New York: American Management Association. Snow Japan. (n. d. ). Retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www. snowjapan. com/e/services/club-med. html Ross, J. E. (1993). Total Quality Management: text, cases, and readings. Florida: St. Lucie Press. Williams, C. , & Buswell, J. (2003). Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism. London: CABI Publishing. Wyckoff, D. D. (1992). New tools for achieving service quality. In C. H. Lovelock (Eds. ), Managing Services: marketing, operations and human resources. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice-Hall. APPENDICES [Appendix 1] Implementing TQM by †¢Defining the mission †¢Identifying system output †¢Identifying customers †¢Negotiating customers’ requirements †¢Developing a â€Å"Supplier specification† that details customer requirements and expectations †¢Determining the necessary activities required to fulfill those requirements and expectations. Source: Ross, J. E. (1993). â€Å"Implementing TQM†. Total Quality Management: text, cases, and readings. p. 2. Florida: St. Lucie Press. ) [Appendix 2] Number of barriers to achieving TQM †¢Lack of commitment from senior management to service quality †¢Fear of the changes to work patterns and processes †¢Lack of resources †¢No customer focus †¢Poor data colle ction or analysis (Source: Williams, C. , & Buswell, J. (2003). â€Å"Number of Barriers to Achieving TQM†. Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism. p. 22-23. London: CABI Publishing. )

Medical And Social Disability Models

INTRODUCTION The traditional focus on individual impairment has been broadened by the modern concepts of disability to one that recognizes that the effect of impairment is not only dependent on the underlying condition, but is also dependent on the social and environmental factors (RACGP 2007). Therefore, impairment does not necessarily imply that one is disabled or handicapped by it. There are three main types of disabilities Physical disability Intellectual disability Developmental disability In this analysis we will focus on intellectual disability with particular emphasis on the impact of medical and social models on people with intellectual disabilities. INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY An individual is considered mentally retarded or intellectually disabled based on the following criteria: Where the individual has an intellectual functioning level (IQ) that is below 70 (Carlson 2010). Where significant limitations exist in at least two of the adaptive skill areas (Carlson 2010). Mental retardation manifests itself before attaining the age of 18 (Carlson 2010). IMPACT OF MEDICAL AND SOCIAL MODELS ON PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES Traditionally, explanations for disability were based on the medical model which views disability as a particular trait in an individual departing from the norm (Harris 2010). There is no doubt that the medical model has significantly impacted on persons with intellectual disability. As pointed out by many theorists, this model is primarily responsible for numerous beliefs and practices surrounding people with intellectual disability. The view that intellectual disability is objectively abnormal and undesirable has given rise to a large number of related assumptions including the view that disability is objectively bad, is a personal tragedy and thus something to be pitied, prevented and if possible, cured (Harris 2010). This notion perhaps explains many of the practices associated with it including institutionalization, involuntary sterilization, forced rehabilitation, euthanasia, social marginalization and even â€Å"mercy killing†(Harris 2010). In this regard, euthanasia refers to the medically assisted suicide whereby the individual with intellectual disability is subjected to death with the intention of putting an end to his/her suffering (Anon 2006). Since the medical model often falls short of providing a truly assisted living and instead proposing medically assisted suicide, its associated impacts on those with intellectual disability has been heavily criticized with many of the view that sanctity of life is paramount (Anon 2006). Indeed, the freedom of bodily autonomy and personal choice is fundamental freedom to every individual regardless of the disability. Aside from the medically assisted suicide, there is the aspect of forced sterilization. The most famous case of this involuntary sterilization was that of a woman in Virginia known by the name Carrie Bell who underwent a compulsory sterilization after having been alleged to be mentally retarded (Russel 2006). Carrie Bell became the first woman to undergo a compulsory sterilization in Virginia after the Supreme Court affirmed the compulsory sterilization law (Russel 2006). People with intellectual disability should however not be treated with such an invasive and irreversible procedure. The right to bodily integrity and reproduction are fundamental to personal identity regardless of disability. Also, persons with intellectual disabilities tend to be more often isolated and institutionalized either in a nursing home, hospital or care home. Such institutionalization denies them their basic right to freedom, citizenship and participation in the community. Supporting this view, Samuel Gridley Howe, founder of the Perkins Institution in Boston (the first residential institution for people with mental disabilities), rejected the trend towards lifelong institutionalization of persons with intellectual disability and instead proposed that they be stimulated by being absorbed back into the community among sound and typically developing persons, as opposed to their segregation away from the rest of the society (Carlson 2010). With the onset of the social model, there has been a shift in emphasis away from pathologising the individual to stressing on restrictive environments and societal attitudes (Harris 2010). This model views disability as a consequence of the environmental and societal attitudes that hinders people with impairments from interacting and participating in the society (Harris 2010). The model maintains that persons with disabilities are prevented from participating in the society due to social inequalities, discrimination, barriers to opportunities, insufficient support systems, prejudices and negative stereotypes, and general societal attitudes (Harris 2010). The possibility that mental health problems may be derived from social injustice such as negative stereotypes, social inequality, discrimination and oppression among others is not widely recognized (Harris 2010). It is a fact, however, that people with intellectual disability are more likely to experience such injustice and oppression as a direct consequence of their impairments (Harris 2010). They can experience a vicious circle of isolation, unemployment, poverty, scarce social and support networks as well as insecure housing among others. With the above in mind, it is worth examining some of the non-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practices that may be employed by social workers in their contribution to mental health services. NON-DISCRIMINATORY AND ANTI-OPPRESSIVE PRACTICES Initially, most of the mental health institutions in the UK, did not meet the needs of some people while others were overrepresented in the more coercive areas such as compulsion and detention (Roberts, et. al., 2008). However, with the enactment of the Provisions of 2007 Mental Health Act, concerns about the diminishing contribution of social workers to mental health services have been brought to light. Emphasis is now placed on professional collaboration and integration with the training of social workers, which has become the key to providing critical perspectives (Roberts, et. al., 2008). PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION AND INTEGRATION The widespread adoption of non-discriminatory and anti-oppressive approaches in social work and education has heightened the professional awareness and understanding of issues such as social exclusion, oppression, stigma and stereotypes (Roberts, et. al., 2008). Moreover, social workers have become more aware of their own potential oppression towards individuals with intellectual disability (Roberts, et. al., 2008). In this respect, the National Institute for Mental Health in England has reviewed the roles of a range of mental health practitioners and identified distinctive contributions from the different professions. Value based practice that involves working with this diversity has been developed and is currently at the heart of the mental health policy and practice (Roberts, et. al., 2008). DEVELOPING SUPPORTIVE NETWORKS AND REDUCING ISOLATION Social workers have a key role to play in developing supportive networks for those with intellectual disability and reducing their marginalization and discrimination in the society. Providing therapeutic emotional support and group work approaches to service provision as well as promoting development of practical skills demonstrates the value of networking and mutual support to those with intellectual disability (Roberts, et. al., 2008). For example, a study based in Northern Ireland assessed some of the benefits of therapeutic group work on children with intellectual disability (Roberts, et. al., 2008). The study identified improvements in children’s self-esteem and confidence, improved social interaction and improvements in their academic achievement as well (Roberts, et. al., 2008). EQUALITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION It is a fact that disability is often associated with all kinds of discrimination including discrimination in terms of employment and education. In terms of employment, people with mental disabilities are often considered as a hazard and are seen as having potentially greater risk of falling ill (Lago & Smith 2010). In terms of education, the view of disability has significantly contributed to separate education for many disabled children. Emphasis has often been placed on corrective treatment for their impairments at the expense of access to mainstream curriculum and contact with other able bodied peers (Lago & Smith 2010). Hence, in a number of circumstances, these individuals have been alienated from the society. In demonstrating its commitment to equality and social inclusion of people with mental disabilities, part of the underlying standards of the National Service Framework for Mental Health in the UK is to ensure equality in treatment and access to services for all, regardless of the disabilities, gender, ethnicity, age, religion or sexual orientation (Roberts, et. al., 2008). This aims at promoting social inclusion whilst addressing discrimination issues which are often associated with mental ill-health. PROMOTING INDEPENDENCE AND SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORT Equally important is the promotion of independence and self-directed support to individuals with mental disabilities. In this context, Independence involves giving those with disabilities absolute control over the services and systems that support them (Adams et al, 2002). Key to this is the need to firmly place the principle of independent living within the support systems and at the centre of mainstream public life (Adams et al, 2002). Support services are essential to ensure the independence of these individuals. These services range from access to equipment, health services, personal assistance, independent information, to support from peers and advocates (Adams et al, 2002). In order to achieve this goal, a number of organizations have been developed in the UK. The Self-Directed Support Scotland (SDSS) is one such organization which actively promotes independent living for the disabled by working alongside other organizations with the aim of supporting and championing self-directed support to the mentally disabled individuals (Adams et al, 2002). Independence may as well be promoted with the use of a person centred approach to planning, which focuses on individuality and emphasizes on the importance of independence and autonomy. VALUES UNDERPINNING PERSON-CENTERED APPROACH Traditionally, people with intellectual disability have had little input into the design and delivery of services that they receive (Towell & Sanderson 2004). There is however a growing body of evidence of a change in service provision towards a more person centered approach. Person centered approach refers to an approach that enables people to take a lead in planning all aspects of how social care services that they receive are delivered (Mansell and Beadle-Brown, 2004a). Professional services provided to people with disabilities have traditionally been based on the person’s impairment (Smull & Lakin 2002). Professional efforts have tended to channel services to these individuals according to the category of their impairments such as sensory impairment, learning difficulty or loss of mobility (Smull & Lakin 2002). This has led to a process of assessment that analyzes and quantifies the impairment and its impact based on the ability to undertake a range of tasks (Smull & Lakin 2002). The most serious consequence associated with such an assessment is that the participation of such people in ordinary community life is then seen to be dependent on their success in achieving these goals (Dowling, et.al, 2006). Person centred planning challenges this notion of â€Å"dependence†. It goes beyond the â€Å"needs led† or â€Å"holistic† assessment and considers a person’s aspirations as neither limited by entitlement to neither services nor dependent upon professional development (Dowling, et.al, 2006). It is concerned with the whole of someone’s life, not just their need for services. In this regard, person-centred planning is high on the national policy agenda in the UK (DADHC 2009). The main principles and values underpinning person centred planning include: Independence; – as pointed above, a person centred planning goes beyond the â€Å"needs led† approach and considers a person’s aspirations as neither limited by entitlement to neither services nor dependent upon professional development (DADHC 2009). Equality: – Person centred planning challenges the unequal power structures that have long characterized the relationship between the users and their service providers (DADHC 2009). In this regard, Sanderson al (2002) suggested that organizations need to operate from a position where they have â€Å"power with† service users as opposed to that where they have â€Å"power over† them. Inclusion: – person’s centred planning seeks to develop a better and shared understanding of the person with the disability and identify the person’s aspirations and assess what support him/her might require (DADHC 2009). Choice: – the person must be consulted throughout the planning proces s and he/she chooses the setting and timing of meetings as well as who is to be involved in the process (DADHC 2009). In this regard, Sanderson (2000) considers friends and family as a part of the planning process. However, the ultimate decision lies with the service user. IMPORTANCE OF PERSON CENTRED PLANNING IN CARE DELIVERY Its importance in care delivery includes (Sanderson 2000); Helping people achieve their aspirations Clarifying the supports needed to pursue these aspirations Help shape contributions from a range of service agencies by ensuring that they are directed at meeting the goals of the user. Energizes and motivates people based on their understanding and commitment to supporting people with disabilities. CONCLUSION There is no doubt that the medical and social model has significantly impacted on persons with intellectual disability. Clearly, we have identified several practices associated with disabilities including institutionalization, involuntary sterilization, forced rehabilitation, euthanasia, social marginalization and even â€Å"mercy killing†. There is need for social workers to ensure non-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practices in their association with those with intellectual disabilities. A person-centred planning is equally essential in the delivery of care services to people with mental disabilities. REFERENCE Adams, et al., 2002. Anti-Oppressive Practice, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan Ltd: 227–236. Anon, 2006. â€Å"Eugenics, euthanasia, and physician assisted suicide: an overview for rehabilitation professionals†. Journal of Rehabilitation Carlson, L., 2010. The faces of intellectual disability. Bloomington: Indiana University press Department of Ageing, Disability & Home Care (DADHC), 2009. Exploring and implementing person centred approaches. Sydney, Melbourne: Australian Catholic University press. http://www.adhc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0005/228290/DADHC_PersonCentred201208.pdf {Accessed 20th January 2012} Dowling, et.al, 2006. Person-centred planning in social care, London: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Available from http://www.jrf.org.uk/system/files/9781859354803.pdf { Accessed 23rd January 2012} Harris, J.C., 2010. Intellectual disability: a guide for families and professionals. Oxford. Oxford University Press. Lago, C. and B. Smith, 2010. Ethical practice and Best practice. http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/35379_01_Lago_&_Smith_2e_Ch_01.pdf { Accessed 23rd January 2012} Mansell, J. and J. Beadle-Brown, 2004a. â€Å"Person-centred planning or person-centred actionPolicy and practice in intellectual disability services†, Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 1–9 Roberts, et.al, 2008. SCIE Research briefing 26: mental health and social work. http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/briefings/briefing26/ { Accessed 25th January 2012} Russell, P., 2006. Sterilization of intellectually disabled minors Sanderson, H., 2000. PCP: Key Features and Approaches. Retrieved August 25, from http://www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk/PDFs/PCP%20Key%20Features%20and%20Styles.pdf {accessed 25th January 2012} Sanderson, H., E. Jones and K. Brown, 2002. â€Å"Active support and person-centred planning: strange bedfellows or ideal partners?† Tizard Learning Disability Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 31–8 Smull , M. and K.C. Lakin, 2002. â€Å"Public Policy and Person-Centered Planning†. In Holburn, S., Vietz, P.M., (Eds.) Person Centered Planning: Research, Practice, and Future Directions. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes The Royal Australian College of General Practictioners (RACGP), 2007. Disability. Available from http://www.racgp.org.au/scriptcontent/curriculum/pdf/disability.pdf {accessed on 20th January 2012} Towell, D. and H. Sanderson, 2004. â€Å"PCP in its Strategic Context: Reframing the Mansell/ Beadle-Brown Critique†. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 17, 17-21 Trevithick, P., 2000. Social work skills: A practical handbook. Buckingham, Philadelphia: Open University Press.

What Does it Cost to Attend Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art?

College expenses are a concern for many families. This fact is relatively predictable given the rising cost of attending college. CNN reported that by 2016 , the average family was paying over $100,000 out of pocket for a four-year degree from a private university. It comes as no surprise that more than 85% of college students receive some type of financial aid to help defray college costs. What does come as a surprise for many families, though, is the difficulty of predicting college costs in advance. Wide variability in a number of different factors means that narrowing down college costs can be almost as intimidating as paying for them in the first place. That’s why we at have analyzed the costs of attending over 1000 different colleges to bring you this series. In this post, we look at how much your family might pay for a degree from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Simply put, college costs vary widely because of the sheer number of factors that impact them. With so many cards at play, it’s rare that they will align in the same way from any one family to another. This means that price tags from one family to the next are bound to vary widely, but understanding some of the factors that influence them can help you to narrow in on what your own costs might be. The first factor in college cost and arguably the most important is a college’s list price. This is basically the raw amount that it costs to attend a school including tuition, room and board, and any necessary fees. Sometimes people refer to the list price as a sticker price. The sticker price at a college can give you a baseline for comparing it to other colleges, but always confirm exactly what a sticker price includes before you draw any conclusions. While list price gives you a good starting point for comparing college costs, net cost can be a more revealing data point. The average net cost at a college is the average amount that families pay out of pocket for their students to attend. Net cost is impacted by three primary factors. They are federal, state, and local aid, institutional aid, and merit scholarships. While average net cost is just a small glimpse of how much a family might pay to attend college, for many families it provides a clearer picture of college expenses. The list price at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art was $63,435 in the 2016-2017 school year. Cooper Union is a private college, so list price and other costs are the same regardless of where a student lives. Having said that, few students actually pay list price. In general, only those families with a combined annual income exceeding $175k will pay the list price. Variation in familial income is a large factor in the variability of college costs at almost any given university. The net cost to attend Cooper Union is $54,996 for students who qualify for financial aid. For students who do not qualify for financial aid, the net cost is $42,379. The amount that a family receives for financial aid varies most significantly based on a family’s income. For our purposes, breaking down college costs according to family income then seems very reasonable. At Cooper Union, the college costs based on family income are as follows: In 2017, merit aid was generous at Cooper Union. In fact, 100% of students who did not qualify for aid based on their financial needs, were offered merit aid. The average merit aid award for a student without financial need was $21,056. This places Cooper Union at 45th in the pool over 1000 schools we analyzed for merit aid generosity. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. Loans are another common way of helping to pay for Cooper Union. In 2017, 88% of students at Cooper Union had loans. The average federal student loan per undergrad student was $1,308. Paying for college can be thought of as a long term investment in the future. The initial expense is justified by long term increase in earning potential. Considering student outcomes can help to predict the possible return on your investment. At Cooper Union, 86% of students who begin degree complete it within six years and the average salary ten years out is $64,900. Cooper Union is located in New York, NY. This is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, so planning for increased spending should be an important consideration. The cost of living index in New York City is 209.3 , meaning it is roughly twice as expensive as the national average. Groceries, transportation, and utilities are all significantly more expensive in New York, but the most significant expense is housing. For students who want to live off campus in New York, rent prices are not cheap. A studio apartment averages over $1700/month and a three-bedroom goes for around $2600/month. The job market in New York is around average. Unemployment rates and projected job growth are in line with national averages.   Ã‚  The minimum wage in New York state is currently $11.10 and it is slated to increase to $15/hr in coming years. The median hourly wage in NY is over $21/hr. Scholarships can be a great way to help fund a college education. The National Merit Scholarship Program is one of the most widely recognized programs in the country. It attracts more than one million participants annually, as every high school junior who takes the PSAT is eligible. More than 50,000 students receive recognition and other awards are also given by the National Hispanic Recognition Program and other specific corporations and individual colleges. You can find more information about the program in our post How to Qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program . Many students find other scholarship opportunities that are good fits for them. These can range from large national contests to smaller, local or more specialized scholarship organizations. You can learn more about some of the scholarship opportunities available to you through these posts: Paying for college represents a significant financial hurdle for many families, sometimes made worse by the amount of uncertainty surrounding college costs. Luckily, there is plenty of help available for families who need it. For more assistance planning for college costs, applying for financial aid, or securing scholarships, consider the benefits of the Applications Guidance service. Here, you will be paired with a personal admissions specialist from a top college who can provide step-by-step guidance through the entire application process, including the funding options available to your family.

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND INFORMATION SECURITY AND ETHICS Essay - 1

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND INFORMATION SECURITY AND ETHICS - Essay Example The internet has also made it possible for consumers to make decisions in a stress free environment without succumbing to any pressure thus making the process enjoyable. Â  The entertainment industry has also not been left out with this latest trend in business. Most entertainment products are distributed either in digital or physical form. This has aided in the sale, purchase, and distribution of entertainment content. Some of the products on sale are music, audio books, videos, e-books, and games. Electronic and mobile commerce has enabled consumers to purchase and download content from the internet through download portals (Obrien & Marakas, 2005). Transactions are done online and payments made using business cards like visa cards and PayPal. Most of these websites only sell official and legal sheet music. Therefore, mobile and electronic commerce has brought entertainment at the fingertips of consumers. Consumers can now download music anytime anywhere. Â  The financial industry has also had its share of the electronic and the mobile commerce. Banking services have improved as customers can now deposit and withdraw money online through mobile banking. There is also increased online brokerage. Another impact of electronic commerce is evident in the stock trading market. Investors can now monitor their stocks and trade them online. Another benefit of electronic commerce is the system of smart card based payment. This has enabled easier transaction by reducing the use of hard cash in making payments thus ensuring cash safety. Â  Electronic and mobile commerce has also boosted transactions in the retail industry. Selling of goods and services has been made easier by allowing customers to choose, make decisions place orders and even pay for their products (Rayport & Jaworski, 2002). This type of commerce has enabled buyers and sellers from all over the world to meet on the same site. Therefore, it has

Biblical creation story in reference to science Essay

Biblical creation story in reference to science - Essay Example The second is the day age view that states that the days in the book of Genesis are indefinite periods and not the normal twenty four- days. The restoration theorists come up with a different view that the days in genesis are indeed the normal days, but a lot time elapsed between the first and second verses of the book of Genesis when God was recreating the earth. The fourth view that is the literary framework view states that the author of the book of Genesis did not intend to indicate the order of creation nor the number of days and it is therefore not in order to go into this line. Science and the biblical story of creation can only be linked if the Genesis days are viewed as indefinite periods. Theologians use other verses in the Bible to explain the other verses. It is this explanation that shows that the days in Genesis could only be explained in the form of periods that are indefinite. When looking at the Hebrew Bible, the word yom is used to explain the days in the creation story. In Hebrew, the word yom represents the normal days with twenty-four hours. This can be misleading, but when we look at other scriptures, the word yom represents periods of time. For example, in the book of Hosea 6:2 where Hosea tells the people that after two days God would revive them and on the third day, raise them up.( New King James Version) Taken in this context, it cannot mean the ordinary twenty-four hours of the day. One would argue that the days in Genesis chapter one are normal days because God commanded man to work for six days and rest on the seventh day. The aspect being brought in here is that man should dedicate some of his time to worship his creator: it is the idea of rest being brought in. In Exodus 23: 10-11, the Sabbath rest is a yearlong and also in Leviticus 5: 8-17, the Israelites were commanded to take a rest of jubilee after fifty years. The author of Genesis chapter one states that vegetation was created before the sun. This statement

Retail Theatre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Retail Theatre - Essay Example enticing when the front stage, backstage, the script, roles, the setting, the light effects, and the characters all blend together to stage a play with a unique theme (Baron, Harris & Harris, 2001). Retailers have been trying to create theatre environments that involve opportunities for audience participation and interaction. This metaphor has been used by retailers to gain competitive advantage and as a means of differentiation in the highly competitive market place. However, a theatre has a very elite and specific audience whereas the retailers are trying to create a variety of customer responses and reactions. To what extent this metaphor is justified depends on the benefits that both the retailer and the customers derive. Pine and Gilmore point out that the use of ‘theatre’ was not metaphorical. They use theatre in the sense that â€Å"work is theater† not â€Å"work as theater† (Harris, Harris & Baron, 2003). A retail theatre is considered to be a fun experience aimed at creating excitement. There are certain retail themed environments which employ retail theatre concepts to encourage the consumers to animate the theme. Baron, Harris and Harris (2001) discuss about four different theatrical settings and it has been found that many retailers are actually using such settings to enhance the customer experience and encourage customer participation. In theatrical realism the audiences are voyeurs as they feel that they are looking into their own private world and they observe a very personal situation. Many retailers have been trying to implement this concept. Niketown creates a setting in which the physical exercise and sporting environment allow the customer to become engaged in the shopping activity (Sands, Oppewal & Beverland, 2009). Computer retailers such as Apple have also embraced this concept of realistic settings and have benefited in terms of increased sales and positive word of mouth. Warner Brothers, the sports retailer has set up a video screen

Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Human resource management - Essay Example ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: It takes place in a normal work environment using the actual projects, documents, tools and the work place as the training location. In this type the trainee is assigned to a supervisor or a senior employee and he/she observes their training in more like a one to one situation. The purpose of on-the-job training is a better work performance; the trainer can not only focus on his/her input in training, in fact the trainings must have its desired impacts. Although there are no specific ways applied in training because different situations, different assignments call for different methods but the many different types of on the job training are (Rapid Training Development 2010): JOB ROTATION: Job rotation is one of the commonly used methods in on-the-job trainings, this method involves the trainee to move from one job or assignment to another in order to gain experience. In this method the trainees are placed under each and every type of job from clerical job to assistant, cashier, manager for them to learn the importance and the manner to handle every job. COACHING: in this method the trainee is placed under the watchful eyes of a supervisor who acts as a coach and supervises him/her through different assignments. They offer their feedbacks regarding the trainees work and performance make suggestions and help them make improvements in their work quality. But there is only one limitation for the trainee that he/she cannot express their ideas so openly. JOB INSTRUCTION: this method is also known as â€Å"step-by-step training†, in which the trainer explains the different ways of doing jobs. He also gives him/her job knowledge, teaches them the method of doing it and allows him to do the job on their own but under their supervision. After the job is job the trainer appraises, provides feedback, and corrects the mistakes that are made. The

Financial Statements Paper Part II Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Statements Part II - Research Paper Example The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement store in terms of sales. In fiscal year 2008 which ended in February 1, 2009 the company generated $71,288 million dollars (Annual Report, 2008). The most important report that is released by public corporations regarding the operating and financial status of the company during a period of time is the annual report. In the annual report the managerial staff of the company provides an overview of the financial condition of a company. This paper analyzes the managerial assessment of the financial condition of the company. In order to determine whether the managers are being truthful about the situation ratio analysis will be used. In the 2008 annual report the managers admit that 2008 was a down year, but they claim that the firm made improvements to its operation and that considering the recession the firm is happy with the results. The managers are telling the truth in regards to the negative effects that a recession has o n the retail industry. In the annual report it claims that the company reduced its revenues by 7.8% and that operating earnings per share was reduced by 22%. The managers are insinuating that the profitability of the company was weak. In accounting there is a principle called the conservatism principle. This principle states that when in doubt; choose the method that will be least likely to overstate assets and income (Weygandt & Kieso & Kimmel, 2002). Three ratios that provide information regarding the profitability of the company are the gross, operating, and net margin. The metric results for Home Depot for these three financial ratios respectively in fiscal year 2008 were 34%, 6%, and 3% respectively. Financial analysis evaluate whether a financial metric is good or not is by comparing it to the industry ratio. The gross margin, operating margin, and net margin industry standards are 26.85%, 5.11%, and 3.18%. The company outperformed the industry in two of the three profitabilit y ratios and in the one that it was below the industry it was only by 0.18%. In the annual report the company claimed that the firm’s generated over $5.5 billion in cash which help the firm reduce its debt obligations. A financial ratio that can help a person determine the validity of the manager’s statement is the current ratio. The current ratio is a financial metric that test the ability of a company to pay off its short term debt (Garrison & Noreen, 2003). The current ratio of Home Depot in fiscal year 2008 was 1.20. A current ratio is normally regarded as good if it is above 1.0. The current ratio of Home Depot at 1.20 is also above the industry norm of 1.15. Another statement the manager claim in the annual report is that the firm had accumulated a very solid $41 billion in assets. Having a lot of assets is good, but it is more important to generate income off those assets. A financial metric that test how efficient a company is at utilizing its assets to generat e income is the return on assets (ROA) metric. The return on assets of the company in 2008 was 5%. The figure is good when you compare to the industry standard of 3.9%, but the firm’s ROA was reduced by 100% in comparison with the previous fiscal year. There were other operational decisions of significance mentioned in the 2008 annual report such as the fact the company closed down 15 stores, it

MicroFHess Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MicroFHess - Essay Example Example: as more and more fertilizers are employed by the famers, production of crops may increase by the same unit of fertilizers employed, ceteris paribus. 3. Economic profit is the difference between revenues received from the sale of output and opportunity cost (Mankiw, 1998). For example, the difference between incomes received from selling a car and forgone alternatives of making that car. 4. Law of diminishing returns states that when other factors are held constant any additional unit of input leads to an increase in output at a declining rate till at a certain point where any additional input leads to a decline in output (Hall and Lieberman, 2010). For example, if more fertilizers are added in the production of wheat the output increases till a certain point when any additional unit of fertilizers added leads to a decline in output of wheat. 5. Marginal product of labour is the additional amount of output that is being produced when a firm decide sto employ additional labour in the production process (Hall and Lieberman, 2010). For example, a firm may produces 10 units of output with a labour of 5 people, and after adding another 5 people output may increases to 20 units. 6. Monopolistic competition. Is a type of market structure with many sellers selling similar but differentiated products whereby each seller has the freedom of setting his or her own selling price (Mankiw, 2011). Example: in the United States numerous sellers differentiate their products and the prices for those products (Mankiw, 2011). 7. Sunk cost refers to the amount of money that has already been spent and can not be recovered (Hall and Lieberman, 2010). For example: Amount of money incurred by investor to start and operate a business. 8. The principal-agent problem refers to a conflict of interest that arises when the agent pursues the same interest as his principal (Mankiw, 2011). Example: car dealer hires an agent to sell his cars to particular

A & P Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A & P - Essay Example While it is logical that we need to conform to modernity and all its package, Sammy is one young man whose attitude towards fashion is still backward. The ladies are dressed fashionably in conformation with the modern trend. On the contrary, Sammys attitude towards their kind of dressing considers them an embarrassment. Sammy finds this kind of dressing to be appropriate only when people visit the beach: "You know, its one thing a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach†¦" (2). Well, it is true that people used to put on decently in cloths that covered all their body-part long ago due to tradition. However, modernity has come with fashion and society has been forced to embrace this change. Sammy, and some few young men like him are still living in the past and do not want to accept the change. Sammys actions seem very immature for his age. It is not normal in the modern world to find a young man destructed just by the way of dressing of young ladies. Young ladies in the modern society are known to dress fashionably, especially when they go for outing, date and even just strolling around. On the contrary, Sammy shows immaturity when he gets destructed by these ladies to an extent that he even forgets his duties and almost drops the jar on his hand: "The jar went heavy in my hands. Really, I thought that was so cute" (3). Sammy is a clear example of those conservative, old fashioned and traditionally young men who only knows that money should be carried on ones hands. The author shows how amazed Sammy is when he saw one of the ladies without any money in her hands and was wondering where the money was going to come from: "Now her hands are empty, not a ring or a bracelet, bare as God made them, and I wonder where the moneys coming from" (3). This left Sammy wondering about where these ladies get their money from. It is only traditional to

Difference Between Economic Growth and Economic Development Essay Example for Free

Difference Between Economic Growth and Economic Development Essay Economic Growth is a narrower concept than economic development.It is an increase in a countrys real level of national output which can be caused by an increase in the quality of resources (by education etc.), increase in the quantity of resources improvements in technology or in another way an increase in the value of goods and services produced by every sector of the economy. Economic Growth can be measured by an increase in a countrys GDP (gross domestic product). Economic development is a normative concept i.e. it applies in the context of peoples sense of morality (right and wrong, good and bad). The definition of economic development given by Michael Todaro is an increase in living standards, improvement in self-esteem needs and freedom from oppression as well as a greater choice. The most accurate method of measuring development is the Human Development Index which takes into account the literacy rates life expectancy which affect productivity and could lead to Economic Growth. It also leads to the creation of more opportunities in the sectors of education, healthcare, employment and the conservation of the environment.It implies an increase in the per capita income of every citizen. Economic Growth does not take into account the size of the informal economy. The informal economy is also known as the black economy which is unrecorded economic activity. Development alleviates people from low standards of living into proper employment with suitable shelter. Economic Growth does not take into account the depletion of natural resources which might lead to pollution, congestion disease. Development however is concerned with sustainability which means meeting the needs of the present without compromising future needs. These environmental effects are becoming more of a problem for Governments now that the pressure has increased on them due to Global warming. Economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition of economic development.

Tradition and Continuity Essay Example for Free

Tradition and Continuity Essay Why, and to what extent, have conservatives been committed to tradition and continuity? Conservatism was a reaction to all other ideologies. It believed in conserving the best of the past and governing society with reform, not revolution. In the French revolution there was a lot of uncertainty because people did not know what to do afterward and they ended up in a worse position then they were before. Conservatives believe that humans are; psychologically imperfect, which means that we are security seeking creatures who dislike change. They believe we are intellectually imperfect which means we are incapable of acting rationally and are very instinctive. They believe we are morally imperfect which means we are born sinful and conservatists have a profound scepticism about our natural goodness. Conservatives have always been committed to tradition, ever since Toryism was first formed. They only believe in slow change which relates to peoples changing views and opinions like the English Legal System. Because they believe we are psychologically imperfect, they don’t want us to undergo any uncertainty whatsoever and so they dislike revolution because even though people may have a ‘better’ idea of how things should work, it has not yet had the test of time and so there is no need for risk. Conservatives believe society is like a living organism i.e. a tree, so it needs to reach out to both the past and the future and cannot be severed from its roots to survive. Since individuals lack wisdom, tradition is a better test of goodness and virtue, as Edmund Burke said, ‘the accumulated wisdom of the ages as the heritage of society is the best source of virtue and goodness’. Conservatists are pragmatic, which fits into their commitment for continuity, they are not opposed to change, but question it and only accepts slow, specific, evolutionary change. Conservatists preserve the best and change what is essential. Tories changed to Conservatories because they needed to accept limited change to prevent greater change. This is why they accepted the extension of the franchise ‘the right to vote’ and the rise of the welfare state to forestall more radical demands. Conservatism is not trying to go backwards ore forwards, but rather to preserve the status quo. This means it is not trying to create a utopian society like Liberalism, Socialism and Anarchism. Conservatists believe that human nature is not a constant, but ever changing as the nature of society changes and therefore have criticised all other ideologies on the grounds that they have been based on a fixed view of human nature. Classic Liberalism had an ideology with a fixed view of human nature and believed in Laissez-faire economics where the private companies would control the economy and help it to grow, but in the industrial revolution, they saw that capitalists took advantage of the workers and so modern liberalism was born, this shows that Conservatives have a better knowledge of human nature than the liberals do. Conservatists do not like abstract theory and the intellectual approach to politics. It believes in an un-codified constitution which can evolve through time like the UK constitution. It acts on the basis of concrete observation, circumstances and past events, rather than a theory. In conclusion the extent that Conservatism has been committed to tradition and continuity is very high because the whole point of conservatism is to preserve and in the early days of Toryism, they wanted to keep things exactly the way they were, this is why people call them the party for the rich because in the early days, the aristocrats and land owners had the power. Tories had to become Conservatists to cope with the ever-society and to prevent revolution like in France they had to give in to some democratic demands. Conservatists do not believe in the majority having a say, because what the majority want is not always right for the nation, this is where paternalism comes in so that the relationship between the state and its people is like parents and their children, it may not always seem right or fair, but in the long run it is what’s best for the Country. Conservatists want to continue the way things run so that society moves on and is not in a stand still place, where people become uncertain about how the Country will be governed, or if other Countries will see this as a chance to attack. A tree is not taken out of its roots and continued growing.

Boots ltd Current strategic position

Boots ltd Current strategic position Management Summary Introduction This report will examine findings and analyse Boots current strategic position in the industry. It will analyse whether or not the new IT system has had any impact in the organisation efficiency and financial wise. Here I will discuss the formation of one of the most biggest pharmaceutical and cosmetic company in Europe. Boots is one of the largest cosmetic high street and online retailer in the country, and in recently in continental Europe. It was founded by John Boot in 1849 when Mr Boot opened an herbalist shop in Nottingham. Boots as a company was formed in 1883 and they appointed their first pharmacist a year after. They opened their first flagship store in Nottingham in 1892. Since then it has been one of the most popular place to go get cosmetics and medicine. The companys chemists were taken over by UniChem Plc in 1991 and they started their global brand recognition by opening their first Boots store in Republic of Ireland in Dublin in 1996. Since the mid 1990s Boots faced heavy competition from many sectors of the retail industry. They had to restructure their brand in order to counter attack the competition it faced. In July 2006, Boots merged with their biggest rival Alliance UniChem. By announcing this deal, this made Boots the largest distributor in pharmaceutical and healthcare products. This also gave them continental recognition as UniChem was one of the largest pharmaceutical players in continental Europe. Like Wal-Mart bought Asda but they are known as Wal-Mart in America and Asda in Europe, Boots is known as Boots in England but UniChem in Europe. Alliance UniChem and the Boots merger allowed these two companies become the biggest pharmaceutical and cosmetic dealers in Europe, reaching out to more and more people, thus making a huge profit in the process. It elevated both companies to higher grounds and is still thriving to be more successful. Boots have a website setup for the American market, but do not sell online, and many of their products are only sold via department stores and pharmacies in America, but they do not have outlets for the average customer to come and look around. In 1997, Boots formed a loyalty card scheme, called the Advantage Card, a card which customers carry, get points when they purchase products and then reward them with special offers. This also allowed the company to find out the buying habits, and find out what customers normally would buy and then send them special offers regarding these in order to bring them back into the store and spend more. They estimated that they would sign up eight million customers, but by December 1998 they went over this estimate by signing up over ten million customers to the Advantage Card scheme, and by this their estimate of the four percent sales growth actually succeeded. The cost of the scheme was  £25 million therefore the sales growth was an important part of this scheme. The IT system was a huge part of the organisations card scheme. Boots is a long-established IBM customer, but they were researching other companies in regards to their new customer analysis system before deciding to stick with IBM. The reason they went for the IBM solution was because they offered the complete package as well as their own technical support teams and experience. This would obviously save them time due to the fact they do not need to train up a new person to train more people therefore the ones that create this will be able to train the Boots employees into how to use the IT system. The database project started in spring 1997, 6 months before the card launch. This is because the company would need to make sure the database is right before they can officially launch the cards otherwise there would be a system overload, or even a backlog which would cost a lot of money, this would also enable the structure being right from the start. The size of the database eventually went up to 1.6 TB (terabytes) which held more than 2 million card holder details and some non card holder buyer behaviours in order to contrast between the two buying behaviours. The analyst team at Boots analyse these customer buying behaviours, thus finding out what type of products intrigue the card holders, as well as the non card holders. By doing this, they can create a report for the marketing team, and tell them what can be done to entice non card holders to join the Advantage Card scheme. They can also find out what products are selling the most between the two categories of buyers, and find out new ways to sell their products to the four groups of promotion buyers, the deal seekers (only seek promotion deals), stock pilers (who buy in bulk when the items in promotion then dont bother coming back when they are not), the loyalists (the ones that buy the products a little more when they are on promotion then revert back to their normal buying habits) and the new market (customers that buy the product when they are on promotion and then continue buying the products when they arent. This report will now analyse the Boots strategic position by evaluating using different methods. Strategic Evaluation Swot Analysis Using Swot Analysis, I will now analyse the organisations current position. Strengths Boots is a powerful pharmaceutical and cosmetic retail brand. It has a reputation of having great deals compared to other stores, and has a wide range of products in store. It has grown substantially from being a one-store shop in a city to being a continental brand (by merging with Europes biggest cosmetic and pharmaceutical brand Alliance UniChem). By merging, the company has become the biggest cosmetic brand in Europe, and has the entire infrastructure in place to make it a successful and big brand. The company has a good IT system which was created and run by IBM which is one of the worlds biggest IT company in the world, and uses its IT infrastructure to analyse what products are being sold the most, the most popular and customers buying behaviour, using the loyalty card scheme the backbone of this. By doing this, the analyst team at Boots use this information to give these loyal shoppers deals and it therefore eventually makes profit. The company uses its vast financial profits to invest time and money in training people and retaining a development team. By doing this they have people who know what they are doing, therefore have an advantage over other brands who do not consistently train and invest in their employees. The companys online shopping is a great help to people who cannot go to the store because of their disability/being old. Their online prescription feature allows the user to order their prescription drugs online and delivered to them. This reaches out to more people, and especially to those with disability who cannot go to their local pharmacy, and get it delivered to their door the next working day. Weaknesses Though Boots is one of the biggest brands in UK and Europe, it still is not Global like some of the companys rivals. The system that is in place could cause error hen external influences such as recession affects shoppers. It may set the trends of customers and forecasts but not necessarily forecast the trend for recession and other external influences. Like most other companies, the year of 2009, which was mostly hit by recession and VAT went down to 15% to help people with this downfall, affected businesses. Their loyalty card system is showing the customer buyer behaviour, but is it really taking into account the recession period? People are buying less and less and therefore targeting customers that used to buy these products, and offering them deals that they may not buy due to the recession, will adversely affect them, the buyer and the company. Other external factors that contribute to their weaknesses are interest rates and inflation. By this going up each year, it makes the product prices go up also. This affects the trend in buying. Will people buy the same product they bought cheaper the year before? The loyalty card scheme may help towards this problem, but will casual buyers end up buying it here or go and buy it from a pound shop. In terms of company image, Boots are well known only in UK, whereas the company uses a different name in Europe due to Boots not being an universal word and Alliance is a universal word in Europe and UniChem is the name of the company they merged with, thus giving them profits but not actual name recognition. The company have recently moved their brand to the USA. The company is also known as Alliance Boots, and their pharmacy over there is called The DrugStore. They do not have shops in USA, but sell their products in department stores or normal drug stores/pharmacies. But because their American website does not allow online shopping, only advertising the brand, and they do not have any outlets in America, they are missing out on huge profits as America are one of the highest prescription drug users in the world. It may be good distribution but making outlets will sell more. If the company was to merge with an American pharmacy/cosmetic/pharmaceutical company, they could slowly intr oduce their brand to the American market and make it global. The IT system needs to be enhanced so it can cope with this expansion. The brand in the UK also only have shops in high streets, maybe making more stores like Tesco have with their Tesco Express branches, they can reach out to more people. Opportunities Boots should take the opportunity of merging with an American company so that they can break the American market. Also to do this same thing for Asia they can make their brand a Global brand. In 1997 they introduced Boots in New Zealand, but the store closed down in the same year due to slow sales. If an opportunity of merger for good companies in Asia and America come in, Boots could do well with this, that way they can focus their intentions of getting brand recognition in these markets where they could see their profits go above the scale. Boots are just a trade and distributor in America, this means they selling in department stores and pharmacies, but they do not have a store out there to show the market what the company actually does. New locations offer Boots opportunities to exploit the market development. Threats Being number one means that you are a target for competition, locally and globally. This means more and more companies will be competitively putting their prices down to compete with big companies, thus getting more and more people to shop with them rather than the big companies. The stores loyalty card scheme is helping this cause, getting more and more customers to shop with Boots so that they can be rewarded. By being a global retailer, if they expand their operations to the USA and further, means they are exposed to political problems in the country they do their business in. Political downfall and economy downfall means fewer shoppers, and they need to tackle this problem to avoid loss of profits. The cost of producing many products has fallen because of lower manufacturing costs, due to outsourcing to low-cost regions of the world. This has lead to more and more price competition between rivals, therefore resulting in price deflation. This is a threat because rivals are finding more and more ways to entice customers to shop with them rather than their competitor. Supermarkets in particular will name their rivals in advertisements, stating they are cheaper than them. Boots on the other hand do not tend to name their competitor, rather focusing on their own name recognition to sell their products, and using their loyalty card scheme to reward their loyal customers, whilst the casual customers do not bother signing up to the loyalty card scheme and tend to shop only when there are promotions in store as the loyalty card offers do not appeal to them. Their direct competition in terms of cosmetics AND pharmaceutical products are Superdrug. Superdrug sell from both categories, but Superdrug does not seem to carry such a large range as does Boots, but are slightly cheaper. Therefore when it comes to recession, Superdrug will tend to sell more due to them selling cheaper. When recession is over, will customer buying behaviour change? There is a chance of that, un less they are so used to buying cheap products it may change slightly. Superdrug have less variety than Boots, therefore Boots tend to sell more of the products that the average customer cannot buy in Superdrug. Price is normally higher on these due to the company knowing their competitor not selling the same product. Porters Five Forces Model Now I will use Porters Five Forces model for competitive analysis of the companys strategic position. The five forces allow the marketer to compare a competitive environment. Existing Competitors The main existing competitor is Superdrug in terms of what gets sold in Boots. This is because Superdrug sells what Boots sell, but has less variety but is cheaper. Customers tend to shop at stores that are cheaper, but because of Boots selling more variety it counter attacks this problem. It also allows the customers to choose between the brands, which gives healthy competition for both, which is good for the company and customers, as it gives them new ways of ousting the competitor. Superdrug does not have a loyalty scheme, thus eliminating the need for a good IT system. Boots have an advantage over this as their IT system was created and developed by IBM, and they can monitor activities using their IT system, and this is a huge bonus for them. Other competitors are supermarkets and smaller stores, such as Asda and Tesco. Asda and Tesco do not have pharmacy facilities, but they sell cosmetic goods, which are most of the time are on offers. This tends to leash the customer to their store, but one main disadvantage of them is that they do not tend to sell varieties of these products. They may have their own loyalty cards, but people who tend to shop more and more on cosmetic products tend make use of their Boots Advantage card. Threats of New Entrants

Crafting a Research Study Outline Essays -- Research Management

The title of my research simulation is Early childhood caries and the effects on young children’s emotional well-being. This study will examine how parental perception of early childhood caries impacts young children’s emotional well- being. The overall goal of this study is to identify barriers to treatment of early childhood caries in preschoolers. In addition, the study will describe the 1) prevalence of ECC in a preschool population, 2) parent oral health knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors, and 3) the impact that early childhood caries have on young children’s quality of life. â€Å"Early childhood caries (ECC) has been defined as the presence of one or more decayed (noncavitated or cavitated lesions), missing (due to caries), or filled tooth surface on any primary tooth in children up to 71 months of age† (Hallett & O’Rourke, 2003) . â€Å"Severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) is currently defined by American Association of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) as any sign of decay on smooth tooth surfaces in children younger than 3 years of age, or, in children aged 3 to 5 years, carious involvement of one or more smooth surfaces of the upper front teeth† (Virdi, Bajaj, & Kumar, 2010). Early childhood caries was originally called baby bottle tooth decay. There are several factors which contribute the promotion of ECC. â€Å"Factors such as dietary practices, familial socioeconomic background, lack of parental education over dental hygiene and lack of access to adequate dental care attribute to the widespread prevalence of ECC† (Virdi, Ba jaj, & Kumar, 2010). Early childhood caries have become the most prevalent preventable childhood disease. Oral health status is related to the overall quality of life for children. The impact of untreated ... ...ing Early Childhood Research: International Perspectives on Theory & Practice (2 ed.). New York: Mc Graw Hill. Ryan, K. J., Brady, J. V., Cooke, R. E., Height, D. I., Jonsen, A. R., King, P., et al. (1979, April 18). The Belmont Report Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from National Institute of Health: http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/belmont.html#gob3 Tinanoff, N., & Reisine, S. (2009). Update on Early Childhood Caries Since the Surgeon General's Report. Academic Pediatrics, 9(6), 396-403. Virdi, M., Bajaj, N., & Kumar, A. (2010, September 07). Prevalence of Severe Early Childhood Caries in Pre-School Children in Bahadurgarh, Haryana, India. The Internet Journal of Epidemiology, 8(2). Whiting, L., & Forbes, J. (2009, June). Research involving children. Paediatric Nursing, 21(5), 32-36.

booker T. Washington :: essays research papers

Booker Taliaferro Washington   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on April 5,1856 in Virginia. His mulatto mother raised him. She was a plantation cook., as well as a mother of three sons. She, unlike many other married slaves of the time, was reunited with her husband after the slave liberation in 1865. His father was a white man that had nothing to do with his upbringing. Booker worked painstaking hours at a salt furnace and coal mine along side his two brothers. He was so determined to become educated that he agreed to work the mines at night to make up for the lose of time will he was at school. It is in school that Booker picked up the last name of Washington after finding out from his mother that he already had the last name of Taliaferro. He was then referred to as Booker T. Washington. It is this determination that leads Booker to become one of the most influential black educator, and leader of the late 19th century. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois had contrasting views on the way that African Americans should progress in society. As Dr. Charles Turner stated in his lecture, â€Å"Dubois insisted on confrontational activities in the struggle for social, political and economic rights and gains† (Turner 2003). Washington’s approach on the other hand emphasized â€Å"careerism†. He believed that blacks could advance faster in this new society, which still had hostility towards blacks, by working harder in an economic standpoint rather then relying on the social aspects of equal rights. In 1881 he created what many would never expect from a former slave. The Hampton Institute president asked Washington to head their new black college, Tuskegee Institute. Washington accepted the position. The only downside to the idea was the schools budget didn’t include development and staffing for this new college. Washington took on the job and with help from his skilled students built the building from the ground up. Tuskegee became a very reputable resource for African Americans, bettering their skills and improving techniques as well as providing a better living for them economically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Booker T. Washington is well know for his â€Å"Atlanta Compromise† speech. The speech further provided evidence of the ideology he lived by. He continually denounced the use of violent protest and activist activity and preached the idea of improving yourself socially through a skill. booker T. Washington :: essays research papers Booker Taliaferro Washington   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on April 5,1856 in Virginia. His mulatto mother raised him. She was a plantation cook., as well as a mother of three sons. She, unlike many other married slaves of the time, was reunited with her husband after the slave liberation in 1865. His father was a white man that had nothing to do with his upbringing. Booker worked painstaking hours at a salt furnace and coal mine along side his two brothers. He was so determined to become educated that he agreed to work the mines at night to make up for the lose of time will he was at school. It is in school that Booker picked up the last name of Washington after finding out from his mother that he already had the last name of Taliaferro. He was then referred to as Booker T. Washington. It is this determination that leads Booker to become one of the most influential black educator, and leader of the late 19th century. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois had contrasting views on the way that African Americans should progress in society. As Dr. Charles Turner stated in his lecture, â€Å"Dubois insisted on confrontational activities in the struggle for social, political and economic rights and gains† (Turner 2003). Washington’s approach on the other hand emphasized â€Å"careerism†. He believed that blacks could advance faster in this new society, which still had hostility towards blacks, by working harder in an economic standpoint rather then relying on the social aspects of equal rights. In 1881 he created what many would never expect from a former slave. The Hampton Institute president asked Washington to head their new black college, Tuskegee Institute. Washington accepted the position. The only downside to the idea was the schools budget didn’t include development and staffing for this new college. Washington took on the job and with help from his skilled students built the building from the ground up. Tuskegee became a very reputable resource for African Americans, bettering their skills and improving techniques as well as providing a better living for them economically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Booker T. Washington is well know for his â€Å"Atlanta Compromise† speech. The speech further provided evidence of the ideology he lived by. He continually denounced the use of violent protest and activist activity and preached the idea of improving yourself socially through a skill.

Child Labor Essay -- Essays Papers

Child Labor Child labor has been around for long time and it still exists in today's world. Thiskind of labor provides problems or difficulties in the economic world. Child labor is social problem with the rise of industrial production and capitalism. It appeared in earlier ages in agricultural societies when the children all around the world had to work along with 19th century, spreading to many countries. The problems started when many children, younger than ten years old, were employed by factories. In this paper I will address the issues and history of child labor, the child labor laws, and my suggestions or solutions to child labor problems. Child labor is defined as the employment of children under the age of physical maturity for long hours. Child labor is often used in societies where industries are being developed. The governments and international organization usually consider a person economically active if the person works on a regular basis. A child is a laborer if the child is economically active. The children are used because they are agile, efficient at many unskilled and semi skilled work, quick learners, unprotected and easy for adults to exploit. Historically, children working is nothing new, it was and still is often described for a family's survival. Many of these children are forced into the workforce to become beggars, farm hands and factory workers. These children are denied an education and normal childhood, some children are confined and beaten. Some are denied freedom of movement or the right to leave the workplace and go to their families. Some are abducted and forced to work. Human rights abuses in these practices are existing. There are approximately 250 milli... ...ause criminal is always going to be a criminal. My opinion is that there should be a trade restriction because I want to see some changes in these countries thatuse child labor and trade restrictions on them would be my best choice. Bibliography: 1. â€Å"Child Labor†, http://1rights.igc.org/projects/childlabor/ 2. â€Å"History Of Child Labor†, http://www.atchison.K12.ks.us/gifted/childlabor.html 3. UNICEF, â€Å"Child Protection†, http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html 4. Human Rights Watch, â€Å"Child Labor†, http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.html 5. â€Å"Child Labor Laws†, http://www.doli.state.mn.us/childlbr.html 6. â€Å"US Child Labor Law†, http://www.cofc.edu/~muellerr/childlabor.html 7. â€Å"Children In Factories†, http://www.globalmarch.org/factory-lab/indonesia.html 8. â€Å"Kaushik Basu†,

Cultural Influences Essay

How does an individual’s cultural experience influence his or her personality? Explain why or why not. Provide examples. Every person that is born in any family, in any part of the world is subjected to an upbringing that is surrounded by different sets of values, ethics and morals. These values in turn form the basis of a culture. The important point to note is that these values are never the same; they differ from culture to culture. A culture defines a society, the society in turn defines its norms and those norms and principles influence a personality(Reynolds , 2006). A personality is something that one cannot inherit. But it has a lot of power to be influenced by the atmosphere it is placed in. The question that rises in minds is how? Well let’s just say its human nature to adopt something that a person faces again and again repeatedly. To prove this we can see the example that the oldest of norms and values survive the most in any culture and thus are found to be a vital part of every person’s personality especially if they are from the same culture. This is why we note that people who migrate to different societies have problems in adjusting to the new culture. This is because their own native culture is so much ingrained in their personalities that it is difficult to eliminate it and replace it with new morals of the new society. The best example can be that of students who migrate to foreign countries for education. If a student who has been brought up in an eastern culture of the sub-continent will definitely have problems in adjusting to the new western culture that he has switched to. This is because that person has been brought up in a society that teaches him values completely opposite to the values of the western society that he has migrated to. And the old values are deep-rooted in his personality. He is greatly influenced by them therefore it results in problems regarding an adjustment in the culture. References Book Reynolds. J. (2006). Celebrate Connections among Cultures. Lee and Low Books.

The Assassin Strikes Again

Once there lived a man named Jack. Every day he woke up refreshed and renewed. Jack started the day by having a nice big stretch, and then he did 100 press-ups. He took a cold shower and brushed his teeth with Sensodyne Jack dressed him self in casual clothes and left for work. Jack has a usual profession. He is hired by rich and powerful people to murder the innocent and honest. Jack became an assassin when he was a teenager. During his childhood he had been kind, generous and helpful boy. One day he was walking home with his friends. Jack's friends suggested that they should go through the alley because it was a shortcut home. Jack agreed and so did the others. They walked through the dark, deep and frightening alley, then they saw a gang of bullies in the alley but they decided not to run. It was a bad decision. The biggest bully started straight away on Jack's smallest friend Mark. Jack consumed with anger, picked up a iron bar and whacked it down violently on the bully's head â€Å"Ahhhh† Jack yelled ferociously, the bullies terrified ran away as fast as they could Jack kept on hitting and hitting the bully until he could not move a muscle. His shocked friends knew he had killed him. They ran way in different directions. The police arrived. Jack ran as fast as he could, until he was out of breath, Even now he's still running and running away from the Police. News travelled fast and within months rich and powerful people were begging Jack to kill their enemies. During a few years Jack was responsible for 15 deaths of innocent people. He was there offered one million pounds to murderer a man called Tom Matthews by his former friend Reece Jones. Tom and Reece had been best friends. Tom was a kind, generous and an intelligent man. Tom had a beautiful wife names Angela. They had just got married three months ago; Tom had joined Reece's company shortly before. Every day he dressed in a black suit and went off early in the morning to work. He was on time every day and ready to go. Tom had a poor family back ground and was determined to make best of his chances. Reece had a wealthy back ground and was always wasting money on gambling. He was always late for work, Reece was very jealous of Tom. One day Tom got promoted to Assistant Manager, Reece was so furious he said â€Å"that's it! I will have Tom murdered!† When he finished work, he rushed home to call an assassin and arranged a meeting outside an abandoned house. He gave Tom's details and his picture to Jack. Reece paid à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100, 000 in advance the rest to follow when the job was done. Jack researched Tom's lifestyle carefully and worked out when Tom would be alone. It was when he went through the junk yard as a shortcut to his home. Jack planned the murder methodically. He would use a rifle with a silencer to shoot him. On May 17th 2004 the plan took action. First he would pretend he was being attacked by a vicious gang He would run up to Tom and beg for his help and say â€Å"I am being attacked by a vicious gang who are trying to murder me.† Tom was driving on the way home from work, feeling tired and sleepy when he was driving through the junk yard, a man rushed in front of his car, Tom stepped as hard as he could on the brake Tom stormed out of his car and asked mysterious man â€Å"Are you Ok† the strange man replied â€Å"no I am not I am being chased by a vicious gang who want to murder me†. The stranger wore a black leather coat and a woollen knitted scarf covering him from the misty fog and cold. The man told Tom he was delivering a package and was shocked when he saw a gang of teenagers brutally murdering an innocent man. Tom went a few steps ahead to see whether he could locate the gang. Jack took out his rifle from his right coat pocket and pointed it at when Tom looked at Jack with astonishment and a fear of death, Jack shot Tom with no hesitation or any mercy the bullet tore through the muscles as it went for the heart of Tom. Tom could see the blood was red As a red paint. Tom could see the blood on Jacks shoes as he fell on to the ground as he was falling he repeatedly asked â€Å"why†, â€Å"why† When he fell on to the ground there was silence. Jack made Tom's murder seem like an accident he put Tom into the car and drove Tom off the cliff. The next day Jack received the full payment from Reece. As Jack was reading the news paper, he saw that Tom's death made the front page. Seeing Tom's wife's picture made him realise that Tom's wife was the girl he loved when he was in school. After thinking for several hours he came up with the decision that he should surrender to the police. The next day he stood in front of the police station thinking should I surrender to the police or not.

Analysis of Capitalism: A Love Story Essay

Michael Moore is the writer and director of the highly relevant documentary film, Capitalism: A Love Story, which is a film explicating on the financial crisis during 2007-2010 as well as the other aspects such as the economic stimulus package with the government committed in resolving the economic order of the United States and capitalism. The approach used in the documentary film is the dialectic approach. This type of approach was best utilized in the documentary wherein it uses two contradicting ideas that try to overpower each other. The film narrates and explains on the financial crisis as well as of other topics that are encompassed in the film. However, a devil’s advocate that serves as an adverse critic emerges to challenge or question the points raised by the other. Thus, this causes a healthy discussion and arouses the critical thinking of the audience. The documentary film although appeals to the general public; however, the satirical sense of the documentary focuses on the personalities in the government as well as the people mainly involved in the fruition of the ideas discussed in the documentary film. Overall, the documentary film is an eye-opener for the public that leaves room for the audience to critic and think of. The fallacy in the documentary film is the contradicting definition of capitalism expressed in the film. The creator, Michael Moore, expressed the Marxists definition of capitalism and that it needs the state, which is the very opposite of the real definition of capitalism. However, as the film shows how the government dips its control through the different courses of actions in attempt to resolve the problem. The arguments presented by Michael Moore are quite convincing, especially through his dialectic approach that make the viewers critically think of the ideas presented and conduct their own deductions. Although the ideas are more abstract, the viewers make up of the gap through their logical and critical thinking. Reference Moore, M. (Producer & Director). (2009). Capitalism: A Love Story [Motion Picture]. USA.

Compare and contrast the arbitration laws of two countries Essay

The significant increase in the role of international trade in the economic development of nations over the last few decades has been accompanied by a considerable increase in the number of commercial disputes as well. Today rapid globalization of the economy and the resulting increase in competition has led to an increase in commercial disputes. At the same time, however, the rate of industrial growth, modernization, and improvement of socio-economic circumstances has, in many instances, outpaced the rate of growth of dispute resolution mechanisms Keeping in mind the broader goal of exploring links between the quality of legal performance, this assignment is an attempt to critically evaluate arbitration in India as a legal institution and to judge the growth and development of the same and to see the exact footing of India in the international front a simultaneous comparison of the arbitral laws of USA to that of India has also been made. In this assignment, the evolution of arbitration law and practice in India has been explored. This assignment is divided into three parts Part 1 explores the evolution of Arbitral laws in USA and India, the underlying idea behind this is to see the process through which arbitration came into being and how the old is the law and its due development in the respective countries. Part 2 explores the present arbitral laws in light of The Federal Arbitral Act and The Arbitration and conciliation Act. Part 3 compares the laws and arbitral process in India with that of USA this part shows the similarity and distinction of the laws in both the countries and also highlights the common meeting point of both the laws. HISTORY OF ARBITRATION LAW IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Native Americans used arbitration as a means of resolving disputes within and between tribes long before Europeans journeyed to America’s Atlantic shores.However the use of arbitration was introduced in America by the revolutionary war by the colonists who had had business experience in Europe. The use of arbitration in the ports of Europe was already known at that time among maritime and trade businesses. The experience of arbitration as a means of dispute resolution which minimized conï ¬â€šict and allowed continuation of the business relationship was brought to Atlantic by the people coming to live and work in North America. In England, arbitration is a much older concept than the common law system, which the United States courts later adopted. In fact, in England arbitration was used as a common means of commercial dispute resolution from as long as 1224. George Washington, the first President of USA incorporated an arbitration clause in his will that basically stated that, ‘ if any dispute should arise over the wording of the document that a panel of three arbitrators would be implemented to render a final and binding decision to resolve the dispute.’ In the ï ¬ rst decade of the 20th Century, several major trade groups applied arbitration beneï ¬ ts of simplicity, speed and minimal enmity. When New York’s The Association of Food Distributors, Inc. (originally known as the Dried Fruit Association of New York) was formed, its bylaws included an arbitration panel for the resolution of disputes. This was done to reduce the risk that its disagreeing members in case of any dispute and after its settlement would find ,themselves unable to resume their business relationship.1 Until the early 1920s, the only law governing arbitration proceedings in the United States came from court decisions, some dating made in the cases in17th and 18th Centuries. In 1925, The Federal Arbitration Act was enacted. It was a recognition of the several beneï ¬ ts of arbitration and it thereby established a national policy which promoted arbitration.It was initially designed to overcome the judicial hostility that was existing towards arbitration which had evolved from the English courts. With the increasing industrialization and growth and development the reluctance of people to adopt arbitration decreased. With the rise in number of disputes mainly involving â€Å" a transaction of commerce† AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION was established by Moses Grossman in 1926 and an era of Alternate Dispute Resolution was started by Charles Bernheimer2 . The National Labour Realtion Act passed in 1930 marked the a steep rise in the concept and usage of Arbitration in USA. The second woeld war was the turning point for arbitration law in America the economic depression and arising conflict led to more and more dispute settlement by means of arbitration by the War Labour Board. A major milestone regarding Arbitration Law was Achieved in the 1970 when when the Uniform Convention on the  Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (The New York Convention)3 became law in the United States by the addition of Chapter 2 to the Federal Arbitration Act.This convention is still effective and provides for International Arbitration Awards which is considered to be more reliable and consistent than the existing court judgement framework in the country. Bibliography LINKS REFERRED: Alternative dispute resolution – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Development and Practice of Arbitration in India –Has It Evolved as an Effective Legal Institution? – CDDRL www.uniformlaws.org/shared/docs/arbitration/arbpswr.pdf www.kaplegal.com/upload/pdf/arbitration-law-india-critical-analysis.pdf www.williamwpark.com/documents/Arbitral Jurisdiction IALR.pdf Conflict resolution research – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia www.utexas.edu/law/centers/cppdr/portfolio/2010 Symposium/Stipanowich New Litigation Final.pdf www.kaplegal.com/upload/pdf/arbitration-law-india-critical-analysis.pdf unctad.org/en/Docs/edmmisc232add38_en.pdf STATUTES REFRRED: The Abitration and Conciliation Act 1996 The Federal Arbitration Act 1925 United States Arbitration Act The Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1940