Tuesday, December 24, 2019
The Affordable Health Care Act - 1343 Words
The Affordable Health Care Act in Advanced Practice Kristin Curcione Daemen College The Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) has been a hot topic of discussion since it was signed into law by the President in March 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Health Human Services, the primary upshot of this act was to provide health benefits and access to health insurance to millions of uninsured under the new law. A study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund was released in 2013 identifying 60 percent of the population aged 19-29 did not seek medical care because of cost. Since its acceptance by the Supreme Court to uphold the new law, millions of the formerly uninsured residents can now purse necessary medical treatment when desired. Although there have been numerous controversies as to whether or not the ACA provides greater benefit or harm, the bottom line is as more have coverage, there will be an increased number of consumers for advanced practice nurses and physicians. Even greater of an impact is the way in which reimbursement has been identified. Under this new la w, hospitals and physicians are penalized for readmissions in 30 days for the same diagnosis as manifested by the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines. As a result, advance practice nurses are being pushed to provide better outcomes. Quality of care over quantity has become the new healthcare trend. Clinicians are being asked to spend more time assessing patientââ¬â¢s needs andShow MoreRelatedThe Affordable Health Care Act1024 Words à |à 5 Pagesafter Congress passed the Affordable Care Act and was then signed into law by President Barack Obama. The law was passed that the number of Americans covered by health insurance would increase. In return, the cost of health care will decrease. What is the Affordable Health Care Act? According to the Health Insurance Organization(2015, pg.1) The Affordable Health Care Act, also known as, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) ââ¬âis the landmark health reform legislation that includesRead MoreThe Affordable Health Care Act972 Words à |à 4 PagesThe Affordable Healthcare Act also known as ACA, is very important for us as consumers. But what does it mean exactly? Well the Affordable Health Care Act allows us to have insurance coverage. There are several different ways that we can achieve coverage either as an individual or through our employer. There are many different health care insurance is you can trees from and they all have different things they cover in different cost or premiums. There are several different things that can take intoRead MoreThe Affordable Health Care Act1359 Words à |à 6 PagesThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a United States federal statute that was signed into law by President Barac k Obama on March 23, 2010. This particular law has come with much controversy. The law (along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010) is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress. PPACA reforms certain aspects of the private health insurance industry and public health insurance programs, increases insuranceRead MoreHealth Care And Affordable Care Act1714 Words à |à 7 Pages2010, Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance and decrease the cost of health careâ⬠(Supreme Court Opinion, 1). In America, it is a basic necessity to possess health care, logically, Congress would like to make such a necessity more accessible to Americans. Due to a divided government, there are variant views on whether this is necessary and just. Health care benefits all Americans; it is just a matter ofRead MoreThe Affordable Health Care Act140 3 Words à |à 6 PagesThe Affordable Care Act has been a point of contention for many people. I am going to review the Affordable Care Act as far health care provider challenges and benefits. I will look at this from an individual point of view. I will look at this from an employer point of view. I will look at this from an employee point of view. Lastly, I will give my reflection regarding this topic. The most apparent benefit of the Affordable Health Care act is that it makes health insurance obtainable to the uninsuredRead MoreThe Affordable Health Care Act1811 Words à |à 8 PagesThe Affordable Health Care Act was designed to help Americans gain increased access to healthcare, improve the quality of healthcare, and decrease the overall cost of receiving health care. ââ¬Å"The changing epidemiology of the nation and its impact on the cost of healthcare became one of the major drivers of healthcare reform in the United States,â⬠(Mason et al., 2016, p. 275). Accountable care models were also introduced to improve the quality of healthcare and improve the costs of healthcare. In theRead MoreThe Affordable Health Care Act1600 Words à |à 7 PagesHealth care has been a prominent issue within the United States. The United States has made strides to make health care more affordable and accessible to all citizens. However, those strides are not enough to truly make health car e obtainable for everyone. The Affordable Health Care Act was made to help make health care affordable for everyone so that everyone can receive the care they need. The Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) does not do its job in making health care affordable. It is essentialRead MoreAffordable Health Care Act1262 Words à |à 6 PagesAffordable Care Act and the Rural American The United States in the past month has gone through a rollercoaster ride of events, from government shutdown to fiscal cliff deadline. All of these fall short to the main focus of this paper. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will affect every person in the United States however; I will focus on the benefits of the ACA on the rural American. The ACA was passed in 2010. On October 1st, 2013 the Patient Protection and Affordable CareRead MoreThe Affordable Health Care Act972 Words à |à 4 Pagesincluding all of its expansion on the health care system, but some have been reluctant to implement the program. One of those reluctant states has been Florida, which is apparent by multiple court cases that has come since its inception (1). With Floridaââ¬â¢s House of Representative consisting of a majority of Republicans, the conservatives of the state have fought the incorporation of the bill (2). With legislative bodies in opposition of the terms of the Affordabl e Care Act, it begs to question how policyRead MoreThe Health Of The Affordable Care Act1637 Words à |à 7 Pagesas well as managers of health care costs. How can an advocate be involved in a process that limits care to some, while providing more complete care to others? As the elderly population grows, the idea of rationing care has become an ethical discussion. Reasons for rationing resources and care might be to preserve dwindling resources or to prevent waste. However, there is a question about who decides what is wasteful or non-beneficial to patient care. The Affordable Care Act is allowing individuals
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Literal Intelligence Collection Free Essays
Literal Intelligence Collection: National Intelligence and the NSA wireless intercept program Intelligence Collection: Sources and Challenges February 13, 2012 In the aftermath of 9/11 the intelligence community (IC) felt pressure from all directions. Employees of the IC, Congress, and the general public wanted questions answered as to why our nation didnââ¬â¢t know an attack was imminent. This ââ¬Å"failureâ⬠of intelligence caused a shake up within the entire IC, leading to many future changes. We will write a custom essay sample on Literal Intelligence Collection or any similar topic only for you Order Now One such change was in communications intelligence (COMINT) collection. According to Cummings (2006), ââ¬Å"President George W. Bush said that he authorized NSA to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations in the weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacksâ⬠(p. 6). The Presidentââ¬â¢s decision had many repercussions. I will discuss the parameters of the decision, the management issues associated with it that lead to such controversy, and the impact it had on national intelligence and the NSA. What led to this drastic decision by the U. S. President? The United States was blind-sighted in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack which resulted in the death of 2,977 innocent Americans. This was the largest attack in the history of the U. S. on our soil and although the signs were there for the intelligence community to see, it was mistakenly not put together. Much of the attack stemmed from communications between terrorist or those connected and working with terrorist within our Country, and this was unacceptable. In order to defend against such communications, according to Lichtblau amp; Risen (2005), ââ¬Å"Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible ââ¬Ëdirty numbersââ¬â¢ linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communicationsâ⬠. The sole purpose of the NSA program was to safeguard our national security in a more expansive, efficient manner. The center on law and security (2007) states ââ¬Å"â⬠¦this requirement to demonstrate all of the substantive and procedural elements of FISA to the Attorney Generalââ¬â¢s satisfaction before any surveillance can begin, would fatally impair the Presidentââ¬â¢s ability to carry out his constitutional responsibility to collect foreign intelligence to protect our Nation from attackâ⬠(p. 9). Any implementation involving citizenââ¬â¢s privacy is assured to draw controversy, and the root of the problem with this program was a management issue. The President, DCI, and the Director of the NSA should have informed the head of the Senate Select and Congressional oversight committees with a more in depth understanding of the changes and the secrecy. A plan should have been in place to deal with leaks to the public of the changes, and a more detailed description of the amendment to the policy should have been created and kept under lock and key. Intelligence collection involves many activities that citizens (lacking all of the facts), may deem unconstitutional. The problem with this is most of the time the facts are not available to the general population, media, and even certain members of the Congressional oversight committees, for fear of an operation leak. Much of what the IC does must remain secret, at least until the aftermath (which could be years later). In regards to the topic at hand, authorization of warrantless wireless intercept by the NSA, the main problem arose due to management failures in the implementation of such a controversial topic. The center on law and security (2007) states, ââ¬Å"Critics of the NSA program do not necessarily object to the type of surveillance, but rather to the way in which it has been authorized, and to the absence of any oversightâ⬠(p. 10). The Congressional oversight committees serve as a checks and balance to the IC and the President informed the heads of the committees (Gang of Eight) of his plan to authorize wireless intercepts on Americans. Cummings (2006) states, ââ¬Å"â⬠¦the executive branch had limited its briefings of the legislative branch to the Gang of Eight. They further asserted that the executive branch had prohibited them from sharing any information about the program with congressional colleaguesâ⬠(p. 7). In the aftermath, it seems the Gang of Eight did not understand the necessity of secrecy behind this information. The President should have explained the reasoning behind the secrecy and why the information was limited to the Gang of Eight. If the Gang of Eight understood the parameters and restrictions in place, they could better defend the plan when future problems arose. Preparations hould have been in place for dealing with the public if and when the time came that the media caught wind of the wireless intercept. At some point the President should expect that the public would have to be addressed with some details defending his actions. There should have been regulations in place, describing the limits the NSA still had to endure when it came to U. S. citizens. When reports came out in 2005, there was much confusion as to what exactly the President had authorized, and if there were limits in place for the NSA. A failure to properly address the issue allowed the media to run wild with stories, further outraging critics. Silence and secrecy only added to the problem of distrust of the IC. In preparation, President Bush should have had a detailed description of the amendment to the policy, with restrictions still in place for the NSA. This policy should have been dated at the time it went into effect, signed by the President, the DCI, the Director of NSA and the Gang of Eight and kept in the possession of the Director of the NSA. Having a signed document would serve the future purpose of showing there was knowledge of the parameters of the amended policy. If this policy had to become public (open source) at some point, it would hopefully show that Management had made an organized effort of implementing change and involved as many officials as possible under the current circumstances. The National Security Agency (NSA) has the task of protecting U. S. national security systems through the use of signal intelligence (SIGINT), to include COMINT. Prior to the President giving authorization to warrantless domestic eavesdropping following 9/11, the NSA had to obtain a court approved warrant in order to eavesdrop on a U. S. citizenââ¬â¢s communications, otherwise known as a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant. According to the center on law and security (2007) ââ¬Å"FISA warrants require ââ¬Ëprobable causeââ¬â¢ to suspect that an individual is acting either for a ââ¬Ëforeign powerââ¬â¢ (including terrorist organizations) or as an ââ¬Ëagent of a foreign power,ââ¬â¢ a target (a cell phone, a computer, a BlackBerry, or a landline phone, for example), and that foreign intelligence be a ââ¬Ësignificant purposeââ¬â¢ of the warrantâ⬠(p. ). NSA is no stranger to negative public perception regarding their unconstitutional practices. This wireless intercept program put the agencyââ¬â¢s reputation at stake once again. Reports of the NSA having access to most Americanââ¬â¢s phone records detailing their calls and communications is cause for concern for critics. Due to a lack of proper implementation, notifications and opportunity for oversight, the NSA and the IC has to climb another uphill battle to win back the trust of Americans. Dilanian (2011) states, ââ¬Å"U. S. intelligence officials insist that the new surveillance powers have been crucial to stopping terrorist plotsâ⬠. Hopefully, some of the more recent successes in the community can erase the impact of failures and the intelligence community can improve their reputation once again. References Cummings, Alfred (2006). Statutory procedures under which Congress is to be informed of U. S. intelligence activities, including covert actions: NSA domestic surveillance. Congressional Research Service Dilanian, Ken (2011). 9/11, ten years after, more surveillance; A legacy of watchful eyes; The government eavesdrops on U. S. citizens as never before. Los Angeles Times Aug 30, 2011. Tuesday Home Edition. Lichtblau, E. amp; Risen, J. (2005). Bush lets U. S. spy on callers without courts. The New York Times, Dec 16, 2005. doi: 942423341 The Center on Law and Security at the NYU school of Law (2007). The NSA wiretapping program. For The Record, 1(Jan) 1-16. How to cite Literal Intelligence Collection, Papers
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Business Management Available Business Resources
Question: Describe about the Business Management for Available Business Resources. Answer: Strategic Management A strategy is a plan of action to be followed with an aim of achieving certain set business goals and objectives with the available resources [1]. Some examples of goals or objectives may be to improve customer service, improve the production methods and equipment e.g. the machines and technology [2]. Business managers have to be able to choose the best course of strategy to implement in their organizations to ensure continuous success of the business. They therefore have to utilize their available inner strengths and opportunities to be able to compete with their competitors in the market. A good strategy must be able to achieve the following key roles [3]. Help the business be better than its competitors Help the business achieve its unique objectives and goals Help the business utilize the available resources efficiently and effectively Keep the business as a going concern and successful as much as possible 1Langfield-Smith, Kim. "Management control systems and strategy: a critical review."Accounting, organizations and society22, no. 2 (1997): 207-232. 2Kaplan, Robert S., and David P. Norton. "Transforming the balanced scorecard from performance measurement to strategic management: Part I."Accounting horizons15, no. 1 (2001): 87-104. 3Ramosà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Rodrguez, Antonioà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Rafael, and Jos Ruzà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Navarro. "Changes in the intellectual structure of strategic management research: A bibliometric study of the Strategic Management Journal, 19802000."Strategic Management Journal25, no. 10 (2004): 981-1004. The Unilever Company is a world-wide business organization that produces and sells so many different products like soaps and other beauty products. Therefore, Unilever Company can be able to beat other competing companies in the market by improving their methods of advertisement and selling e.g. the New Lifebuoy Soap. Unilever can use the three types of business competitive strategies (Focus, Product Differentiation and Cost leadership) to help it achieve its goals and objectives without any problems or strain [4]. They can focus on a certain group of consumers, make the soap unique and different from its competitors products and also reduce the cost of the soap to be able to attract customers. By doing this they will be able to increase their sales, be better than their competitors, utilize the resources available to the maximum to produce and sell their products and will also be able to stay in business as long as possible i.e. will be a going concern for a very long time. Business Model Innovation Business innovation is the act of coming with new products, ideas, methods, technology among other things which nobody else had before. A Business Model involves four things i.e. the customer, business product, value created by the product to the customer and profit or revenue generation. However, Business Model Innovation is the adapting, refining or combining patterns of other existing business ideas or products to come up with completely different products or ideas. Simply, it involves imitation of existing businesses to produce different products [5]. There are 55 business model patterns that are responsible for all business model innovations e.g. flat rate, supermarkets, rent instead of buy, e-commerce to name just but a few. 4Teece, David J., Gary Pisano, and Amy Shuen. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management."Strategic management journal(1997): 509-533. 5Chesbrough, Henry. "Business model innovation: opportunities and barriers."Long range planning43, no. 2 (2010): 354-363. In addition to that, there are four steps to follow in order to innovate a business model: Initiation, Ideation, integration and implementation. Furthermore, there are three rules that are put in place to ensure successful business model innovation: Only one business model can be implemented at a time, clear communication of the new business model and the need for change in the business, no long concentration on short term key performance indicators and ensure top management commitment and lastly no concentration on lack of invention of anything in a business [6]. For example the Unilever Company can improve its business model innovation by following the steps mentioned above. During its initiation stage, it has to analyze its current business model once again by concentrating on their consumers or customers, their products, the value of the product to the customer and how it generates its profits. During ideation, they can borrow ideas from the overall 55 business models with an aim of coming up with a better business model e.g. learning from other industries new selling, promoting or advertising methods. During integration Unilever has to check the business progress i.e. whether it is in in line with the companys objectives and goal and whether it is it is serving its general purpose to the society and the company. During implementation stage, the company should now put the new improved business model into action and check out its impact to the business but that is if it has a chance to positively affect it [7]. 6Chesbrough, Henry. "Business model innovation: it's not just about technology anymore."Strategy leadership35, no. 6 (2007): 12-17. 7Zott, Christoph, Raphael Amit, and Lorenzo Massa. "The business model: recent developments and future research."Journal of management37, no. 4 (2011): 1019-1042. If the business model does not positively impact or profit Unilever, then it should not implementation the new business model but if it does then it is important to implement it [8]. Cage Framework This is a framework that was developed by Pankaj Ghemawat that was based on research in international economics. However, CAGE is a short form of Cultural, Administrative/political, Geographic and Economic. This framework was meant to evaluate how different countries trade with each other despite their similarities or differences in many ways or factors like culture, economic, environment and political [9]. Generally, not only trade that is affected by these factors (similarities and differences between countries) but also other relationships and interactions are affected. For instance, looking at a merchandise business trade, if two countries have the same official language, share a boarder, have similar levels of per capita income then they are likely to trade at a higher rate than those without these kind of similarities. 8Zott, Christoph, and Raphael Amit. "Business model design: an activity system perspective."Long range planning43, no. 2 (2010): 216-226. 9Leamer, Edward E., and James Levinsohn. "International trade theory: the evidence."Handbook of international economics3 (1995): 1339-1394. When I consider Unilever Company, it is an international organization that sells its products in most of the countries in the world. This also means that many different countries with different cultures, geographical backgrounds, economic conditions, political status and other differences and similarities are involved with Unilever products trading. Therefore, for these countries to be able to trade well and have good relations, they have to relate themselves to this framework and find out their position [10]. They have to evaluate themselves using the CAGE Framework so that they can be able to understand each other better and improve their terms and conditions of trade. Therefore, this frame work is a very important tool that businesses can use to evaluate and analyze their international trade status in general. References Langfield-Smith, Kim. "Management control systems and strategy: a critical review."Accounting, organizations and society22, no. 2 (1997): 207-232. Kaplan, Robert S., and David P. Norton. "Transforming the balanced scorecard from performance measurement to strategic management: Part I."Accounting horizons15, no. 1 (2001): 87-104. Ramosà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Rodrguez, Antonioà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Rafael, and Jos Ruzà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Navarro. "Changes in the intellectual structure of strategic management research: A bibliometric study of the Strategic Management Journal, 19802000."Strategic Management Journal25, no. 10 (2004): 981-1004. Teece, David J., Gary Pisano, and Amy Shuen. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management."Strategic management journal(1997): 509-533. Chesbrough, Henry. "Business model innovation: opportunities and barriers."Long range planning43, no. 2 (2010): 354-363. Chesbrough, Henry. "Business model innovation: it's not just about technology anymore."Strategy leadership35, no. 6 (2007): 12-17. Zott, Christoph, Raphael Amit, and Lorenzo Massa. "The business model: recent developments and future research."Journal of management37, no. 4 (2011): 1019-1042. Zott, Christoph, and Raphael Amit. "Business model design: an activity system perspective."Long range planning43, no. 2 (2010): 216-226. Leamer, Edward E., and James Levinsohn. "International trade theory: the evidence."Handbook of international economics3 (1995): 1339-1394. Krugman, Paul R. "Increasing returns, monopolistic competition, and international trade."Journal of international Economics9, no. 4 (1979): 469-479.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Shapiros Auto Wreck Essays - , Term Papers
Shapiro's "Auto Wreck" Philosophers have pondered the meaning of life and death since the beginning of time. There are many hypotheses. From reincarnation to Valhalla -- then on to heaven. There have been many proposed solutions. Yet no one fully understands dea th. In Shapiro's poem "Auto Wreck," he illustrates the irrationality of life for it can be taken away at any given time for no rational reason. Shapiro uses metaphors to emphasize the fantasy-like and wild setting of the auto wreck. The following is an excerpt taken from "Auto Wreck": "And down the dark one ruby flare Pulsing out red light like an artery." This statement contrasts the red light emitted from an ambulance to the blood of an artery. The idea that a light is spurted out like blood is abstract and bizarre. In addition to that metaphor, Shapiro writes: "One hangs lanterns on the wrecks that cling Emptying husks of locusts, to iron poles." This rhythmical sentence paints a picture of locusts, grass? hopper like creatures, clinging to a luscious green jungle of grass. Yet symbolically this jungle is the twisted, black, and crisp auto wreck. This depiction of the auto wreck is extravag ant and almost unreal. Using metaphors, Shapiro portrays the fantasy-like auto wreck in which wildness is indispensable. In addition to Shapiro's use of metaphorical phrases, he emphasizes the lack of comprehension of the on-lookers as a result of death's inconsistency with logic. Shapiro directly tells the reader, "We are deranged." The word "we" symbolizes u s, as a whole institution or better yet -- society. He goes on further to say, "Our throats were tight as tourniquets." By this he means that the on-lookers were stopped, almost speechless, as they gazed upon the wreckage contemplating the reason b ehind death. Finally, Shapiro writes: "We speak through sickly smiles and warn With the stubborn saw of common sense." What the writer is getting through is that the on-lookers attempted to rationalize the accident with their common sense. But their "common sense," or their logical reasoning ability, was being sawed upon as they continued to puzzle over death. Once again, the old age question of "What is the meaning of death?" was tackled at the scene of the auto wreck. Finally, Shapiro asks rhetorical questions which could never be answered by logical means. One question which Shapiro asks is "Who shall die [next]?" This question could never be answered for death strikes without cause but randomness. The second question Shapiro asks is "Who is innocent?" No one knows who is innocent. The driver might have been suicidal. Maybe he might not have. Who knows, for this is death that is being dealt with. These hard questions could not be reasoned with deductively. Only an irrational source such as an all-supreme and omniscient being could answer these questions. In death, there exists strictly irrational causes for the loss of life. Death is an eccentric jungle whose twisted, convoluted, and entangled vines represent the causes of death which can not be mapped out mathematically, but can be mapped o ut by the deranged explorer or sole creator of that jungle, both of whom are irrational persons in themselves.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Chapel essays
Chapel essays Everyone knows that Rome is the home of art. One of the example of this is Sistine Chapel in Vatican is decorated with works by many great artists of different periods. It was built between 1475 and 1483, in the time of Pope Sixtur IV della Rovere. The chapel is rectangular in shape and is 40,93 meters in length and has width of 13,41 meters.It is 20.70 meters high and is roofed by a flattened barrel vault. It is consisted of six windows cut into the long sides, forming a series of pedantries between them. All the art work was done between 1481 and 1541. The wall paintings were done by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli, as well as the Perugian Pietro Perugino. But the most astounding art work was done by Michaelangelo on the ceilings and above the altar. It was the work of Michaelangelo that gave the Chapel the life. Michaelangelos art was one of a kind with beautiful fresco colors, and depiction of various characters and events on the ceiling. Michelangelo gave all the perfec tion to this work that can be given such as new poses, clothing on figures, and various inspiring details. Michaelangelo could be given the most credit for the beauty of the chapel because he alone created as many beautiful paintings as all the other painters together. He proved what one man is capable of with his artistic talent, due to which the chapel achieved its greatest fame. These men together built a chapel that could be called the 8th wonder of the world. The wall paintings were decorated by several talented Florentine painters. It was done by Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, as well as the Perugian Pietro Perugino. The walls of the chapel was divided in three horizontal segments. The lowest porthion of the side walls were covered with a series of tapestries depicting events from the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The central one with two life cycles, one relating the life of Moses, and the other ass...
Friday, November 22, 2019
Assignment # 7 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1
# 7 - Assignment Example b) The amount of profit generated by the company per dollar of sales: Net profit margin. It is profitability ratio. A company should have higher value for the ratio because it indicates high profitability. c) This ratio gives a measure of the number of days it takes a company to collect on sales that it sells on credit: Days sales outstanding. Efficiency/Asset Utilization ratio. A lower value for the ratio is favourable as a company collects cash faster from customers, it has good collection procedures. d) This ratio is used to determine how easily a company can pay interest expenses on outstanding debt: Times interest earned. It is a leverage ratio. A higher value for the ratio is favourable; the company has more cover for finance costs hence low business risk. e) This ratio specifies the number of days it takes for the companyââ¬â¢s inventory to be converted to sales, either as cash or accounts receivable: Days in inventory. Efficiency/Asset Utilization ratio. A lower value for the ratio is more favourable as the company is converting its inventories into cash faster; hence the inventory is more liquid. f) This ratio indicates how profitable a company is over on accounting period (typically 12 months) without regard to how it is financed: Return on assets. Profitability ratio. A higher value for the ratio is required because it indicates that the company is more profitable. g) A ratio that further refines the liquidity by measuring the amount of the most liquid current assets there are to cover current liabilities: Acid test ratio. It is a liquidity ratio. A company should have higher value for the ratio to be able to meet its short term obligations with lots of ease. h) This ratio compares the amount of interest-bearing debt in a companyââ¬â¢s capital structure to its total assets: Debt-to-total asset ratio (leverage ratio). A lower value for the ratio is required because it indicates less leverage and less risk. i) This ratio is a measure of
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Is the Death Penalty Effective Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Is the Death Penalty Effective - Research Paper Example Rather, it is an economic drain for most of the states in our country that continue to use it as their severest form of criminal punishment. It also provides an emotional and psychological release for the criminal who suffers the most in death row. We all have a right to life. We all have the right to change the way of life that we chose to lead in the past. Nobody ever wants to willingly live a life of crime. Some people, or most hardened criminals like Charles Manson, prove to have psychological shortcomings that have driven them into such a horrific lifestyle. With that kind of information on hand for anyone to see and read about, one can only come to the conclusion that the death penalty is a punishment that is outmoded and irrelevant when dealing with criminals. Rather than killing these people, prisons should make more effective use of their criminal rehabilitation programs instead. Opting to keep the most dangerous criminals under lock and key for the rest of their lives witho ut a chance of getting a parole rather than trying to right a crime with another crime. Let's call a spade a spade in this case. The death penalty has never been an effective crime deterrent. The states that implement them such as Florida, California, and Texas still have high crime rates with murder rates still on the rise. These aforementioned states have seen a reduction in their police force and a trimming down of their prison budgets all because the state budget cannot afford to keep the law enforcement team on the payroll the way they need to be. But, and this is what boggles the minds of most thinking people who live in these states, the fact remains that these very same states manage to spend millions of dollars of the state budget in implementing death penalty actions. Case in point: Before the Los Angeles riots, for example, California had little money for innovations like community policing, but was managing to spend an extra $90 million per year on capital punishment. Te xas, with over 300 people on death row, is spending an estimated $2.3 million per case, but its murder rate remains one of the highest in the country. (Dieter, Richard ââ¬Å"What Politicians Don't Say About the High Costs of the Death Penaltyâ⬠) Keeping the above costing in mind, it is sufficient enough to say that Capital Punishment as we know it is actually making America a dangerous place to live in. When a country, or a state for that matter, pours out so much of its budget on the death penalty while their crime prevention measures and law enforcers suffer with meager budgets or a slash of employed police officers, one can only deduce that something is very wrong with the way people of the state view their safety concerns and strategies. Why do some states continue to enforce the death penalty when it has a f cheaper alternative? By placing a criminal in prison for life, without parole. we prevent the clogging of our judicial system with motion after motion for reconsidera tion on behalf of the sentenced death row convict. Capital punishment trials are one of the most costly trials that can be had by any accused most specially since there is a huge
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Assess the concept of cosmopolitan democracy Essay
Assess the concept of cosmopolitan democracy - Essay Example Later on, other important issues such as global environmental problems, global justice system, crimes against humanity and economic and cultural globalisation added to the global peace concern. The concept of cosmopolitan democracy was supposed to resolve or at least alleviate these global problems. The main idea of cosmopolitan democracy is to design and implement "a system of governance arising from and adapting to the diverse conditions and interconnections between different peoples and nations" (Held, 1998: 25). David Held and Daniele Archibugi, the most renowned European theorists of cosmopolitan democracy, argue that although democracy has gained universal acclaim as the best form of political establishment after fall of the Iron Curtail and end of the Cold War, it influences only domestic level, while the realm of international relations remains practically unaffected by democratic processes. International institutions, including the United Nations organization and European Union do not care much about democratisation of their activities which results in lack of accountability and restricted public access to information. The risk is that if this tendency remains, democratic forms of governance will give up to authoritarianism (McGrew, 2002). Cosmopolitanism offers an alternative that helps effectively fi... Democracy is to be conceptualized as a process, rather than as a set of norms and procedures. A feuding system of states hampers democracy within states. Democracy within states favours peace, but does not necessarily produce a virtuous foreign policy. Global democracy is not just the achievement of democracy within each state. Globalization erodes states' political autonomy and thereby curtails the efficacy of state-based democracy. The stakeholders' communities in a relevant and growing number of specific issues do not necessarily coincide with states' territorial borders. Globalization engenders new social movements engaged with issues that affect other individuals and communities, even when these are geographically and culturally very distant from their own political community (Archibugi, 2004: 439). These assumptions suggest that contemporary form of national democracy must be seriously transformed in order to survive. Firstly, the sovereignty of the nation states must be restricted by increasing numbers of international treaties and conventions. Secondly, the existing international governing structures must be reformed to provide a better opportunity for international dialogue and democratic decision-making. Thus, Derk Bienen, another known theorist of cosmopolitan democracy, claims that in order to achieve these goals the UN must establish a second chamber consisting of members elected directly by people, the veto-right of the Security Council should be limited, and the system of international courts has to be strengthened and reformed in a way to provide better protection for individuals. Initially, the UN was founded not as an assembly of democratic states: the primary purpose of this organization was to prevent military conflicts similar to WWII.
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Text Analysis of Hamlet and Man on Fire Essay Example for Free
Text Analysis of Hamlet and Man on Fire Essay Over time Hamlet transfigures from a highly emotional state to a temperament which is extremely methodical and emotionally stale. This mentality leads to a course of self-imposed blockades that ultimately result in the deferment of his revenge. Creasy, contrastingly, begins in an emotionless and detached state, a facade consolidated through his apparent want to die. However, this icy stature is chiseled away by Peta when he is assigned as her bodyguard. Upon Petaââ¬â¢s kidnapping Creasy is enraged, with reason exchanged for an intense and tremendously emotional approach for revenge. Hamletââ¬â¢s first soliloquy clearly exhibits the magnitude to which his emotions have informed and consumed his thoughts. Even before knowing the reasons behind his state, it is established that Hamlet has a wish to die, a point pushed by the expression of ââ¬Ëtoo too solidââ¬â¢ in the opening sentence. This repetition of ââ¬Ëtooââ¬â¢ expresses Hamletââ¬â¢s dismay at his own permanency, an idea consolidated in the following line with the words ââ¬Ëthawââ¬â¢, ââ¬Ëresolveââ¬â¢ and ââ¬Ëdewââ¬â¢ contrasting to make a depiction of evanescence. This remarks that he does not wish to live long . Hamlet also shares a rather resentful view of the world and this is represented through the use of decay imagery. When Hamlet depicts ââ¬Ëhow weary, stale, flat and unprofitableââ¬â¢ the world appears to be he wholeheartedly believes that there is no worth in the world and that it possesses things only ââ¬Ërank and gross in natureââ¬â¢. Additionally, the use of caesurae in the sentence indicates, in its very nature, the desultory state of Hamlet. Dislocated sentence structure is also an indicative part of enforcing his wildly emotional state. Constant and erratic leaps between ideas in the mind of Hamlet lets us know that he is not thinking methodically or in a way that would be considered steady. This concoction of chopping and changing ideas is easily displayed where Hamlet says ââ¬Ëlike Niobe, all tears: why she, even sheââ¬âO, God! ââ¬â¢ This depicts how he redirects his thoughts as seemingly new ideas come to mind and this thus adds to the knowledge of Hamletââ¬â¢s emotionally unpredictable frame of mind. In contrast, Creasy projects a completely different mental picture at the beginning of Man on Fire. He appears as a character that is very much in his right mind and objective of his emotions. This kind of emotionless facade is furthermore evident in Creasyââ¬â¢s unsociable stance when in the presence of Peta. An example of this comes when Peta asks Creasy whether or not he was scared of her to which he provides a very short, blunt reply of ââ¬ËI used to be. At first. But not anymore. ââ¬â¢ This dialogue also indicates that Creasy may have social difficulties and by extension is lost in ways of approaching people or at least those he is not familiar with. An obvious inference of this lack of communication is that Creasy is lonely and quite dejected. A view of the world as being hopeless is also taken up by the character and evident when Peta says that ââ¬Ëthere are some good things in the worldââ¬â¢ and Creasy replies ââ¬ËOh yeah, like what. ââ¬â¢ In this way the characters of Hamlet and Creasy are similar ââ¬â sharing a correlating perspective in which the world is of no prospect. An amalgamation of all these elements lead to an inevitable emotional trough for Creasy; in which he falls into total despondency. This state is characterized through the song ââ¬ËBlue Bayouââ¬â¢ which Creasy plays while drinking in the night. In this scene he becomes suicidal as he is assaulted by images and thoughts from which he cannot escape; leading the song to becoming fragmented pieces of non-diagetic sound. This fragmentation and seeming discord is emphasized by Scott who employs a magnitude of frantic panning and rapid cut shots in order to display the breakdown in Creasyââ¬â¢s mental state. When the scene nears its end, Creasy attempts to take his life with a gun that inevitably fails to deliver the life ending bullet. At this point, a non-diagetic and mellow piano starts that indicates a kind of relief to the perplexity of the previous moments. The contemplation of suicide is comparatively explored by Hamlet in the third act. Here, he questions, quite simplistically, his existence with ââ¬Ëto be, or not to be. ââ¬â¢ From this point, Hamlet appears to ponder reasons for living or ying by asking whether it is ââ¬Ënobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles. ââ¬â¢ This analysis indicates that Hamlet has devolved from his highly emotional state to a temperament that is extremely methodical in nature, even when considering the ending of his own life. The use of the word ââ¬Ëthusââ¬â¢ also indicates a fluent transition from one idea to another. Throughout the soliloquy Hamlet appears to be in search of reasons not to die rather than does that consolidate suicide. The most prominent idea being the ââ¬Ëdread of something after deathââ¬â¢. Evidence of this is most prominent when Hamlet states ââ¬Ë to die, to sleep;â⬠¦for in that sleep of death what dreams may comeââ¬â¢. This indicates fully his fear of life after death and perhaps a kind of retribution for his sins or that of which he will commit in ways of exacting revenge on Claudius. The analytical disposition assumed by Hamlet and his inherent rejection of passion ultimately leads to his downfall and thus, this is his tragic flaw. In contrast to this, Creasy establishes a strong bond of friendship with Peta and, in the wake of her kidnapping, transforms himself into an unstoppable and passionate force for revenge. The most evidential dialogue for this newly ignited passion comes when Creasy says ââ¬ËIââ¬â¢m gonna kill ââ¬Ëem. Anyone that was involved. Anybody who profited from it. Anybody who opens their eyes at me. ââ¬â¢ These short sentences are indicative of his straight-to-the-point nature and disregard for excessive analytical thinking. Additionally, Tony Scott settles his use of cut shots and selects longer scenes to focus on Creasyââ¬â¢s intent for revenge and the fact that no external forces will impede his pursuit. Subtitles are also employed by Scott to emphasize certain key aspects of scenes and additional bolding of words within the subtitles makes features prominent still further. In all, Creasyââ¬â¢s heightened passion to rescue Peta leads to his downfall and this can be acknowledged as his tragic flaw. In conclusion, Creasy and Hamlet are two contradictory characters in terms of their mindsets over the course of their respective texts. Creasy in Man on Fire evolves for an icy, stale and emotionally objective state to a mentality of passion and purpose. A variety of cinematic techniques are employed to depict both demeanors of Creasy including cut shots, subtitles and diagetic and non-diagetic sound. Hamlet, alternatively, begins in a consumed state of passion that declines to a methodical manner involving enormous analytical evaluation. The final state of both characters are inevitably their tragic flaws and equally lead to their demise -fulfilling their roles as tragic heroes.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Distance Learning Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays
Distance Learning Distance education can trace its roots to 1840 when Sir Isaac Pitman, the English inventor of shorthand, came up with an idea for delivering instruction to a potentially limitless audience: correspondence courses by mail. By the 1900s, the first department of correspondence teaching was established at the University of Chicago. The founding of the United Kingdomââ¬â¢s Open University in 1969 marked a significant development of the newest phase of distance learning involving a mixed-media approach to teaching (Matthews 1999). Distance education takes place when a teacher and student are separated by physical distance and technology (in the form of print, voice, video and/or data) is used to bridge the instructional gap. (Willis & Dickinson 1997) Today, in addition to serving the learner who lives far from campus, distance education is aimed at part-time students, time-strapped adults learners, and students trying to work full-time while earning degrees. Virtual classrooms are not aimed at the traditional market of young college people, but disciplined adult learners. The benefits such students reap include: increased access to higher learning, flexible scheduling of personal time, convenient location, individualized attention by the instructor, less travel, and increased time to think about and respond to questions posed by the instructor. At a cursory glance, distance education appears to be working. With few exceptions, most of the research writings suggest that the learning outcomes of students using technology at a distance are similar to those of students who participate in conventional classroom instruction. The "no significant difference" finding has become accepted as fact. But th... .... Steven P. Crow. Available: WWW URL: http://www.aaup.org/319let.htm Phipps, Ronald and Merisotis, James (1999). Whatââ¬â¢s the difference? A review of contemporary research on the effectiveness of distance learning in higher education. Available: WWW URL: http://www.aaup.org/319let.htm Schneider, Alison (1999). AAUP seeks greater faculty role in distance-education. Chronicle of Higher Education, 45(42), p. A34. Sherry, L. (1996). Issues in distance learning. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 1(4), pp. 337-365. Willis, Barry and Dickinson, John (1997). Distance Education and the World Wide Web. In Khan (ed.), Web-Based Instruction, (pp. 81-84). Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Educational Technology Publications. Willis, Barry (1992). Strategies for teaching at a distance. ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 351 007.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Environmental Factors Role in Obesity Epidemic Essay
Are Environmental Factors the Main Reasons for Obesity Epidemic? In her essayâ⬠Whatââ¬â¢s to Blame for the Surge in Super-Size Americans? â⬠Tori DeAngelis discusses the various factors that lead to obesity. DeAngelis reminds us that obesity is getting worse and worse by the day. According to the current government estimate, about 65 percent of Americans are obese or overweight. DeAngelis states three factors that contribute to obesity. These are environmental factors, stress and gene factors. The author gives mainly two causes, environmental and gene factors. The other factor is the gene factor. In this essay, it is said that gene factors may also have an effect in causing people to be overweight and obese. I strongly believe that environmental factors are the major factors which play a great role in obesity. As DeAngelis stated in her essay, easy access to fast food is one of the major environmental factors that contributes to obesity (Page 291). Today, there are close to 160,000 fast food restaurants in United States. These restaurants are fast, fun, inexpensive, and can be found almost everywhere. When people look a quick, easy meal to grab on the go, fast food is the common solution. Itââ¬â¢s far too easy to choose fast food over cooking a healthy meal at home and when it comes to eating out, temptation often wins. Fast food is the driving force behind the epidemic of obesity. It contains large amounts of fat accumulates in your body. You will gain weight and that could lead to obesity. The more weight you gain, the more you will be at risk for serious chronic illnesses such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease and debilitating conditions. The second environmental factor which DeAngelis states on her essay is lack of physical activity (Page 292). Lack of physical activity is a major environmental factor that contributes to obesity epidemic. The lack of physical activity is one reason why people get obese. The remote control, video games, automobiles, televisions and to some extent computers are all parts of the environment which discourages people from being physically active. Some people live in neighborhood where they canââ¬â¢t go outside because walking and running is too dangerous. Plus, given that we are becoming fatter, it becomes less interesting to exercise. As you know, weight gain occurs when calories consumed exceed calories burned. Physical activity plays a key role in energy balance because it uses up calories consumed. The third environmental which DeAngelis state on her essay is stress (Page 292). Stress is another major environmental factor that contributes to epidemic of obesity. When people are really stressed, they tend to crave comfort foods that are high in fat or sugar. They may eat often even when they are not hungry. People learn to eat as a way to cope with stress. They may be too exhausted to exercise regularly when they are under a lot stress. Once a friend told me obese people are often embarrassed about their weight and appearance. This leads to more depression, so they turn to food to feel better, which makes the problem even worse. So everybody should try not to stress themselves in order to keep their body fit and to live a healthy life. In conclusion, as DeAngelis states the rate of people getting obese is increasing. And she tells us the factors that are causing this problem. I think this is happening mainly because of the environmental factors. We all have to realize how damaging obesity can be to the body and for our overall health. Obesity is something that is increasingly on the rise today and will continue to rise unless we do something about it. Informing people how bad it really is and encouraging people to live a health enhancing lifestyle is one way to reduce the growth of obesity. A healthy diet and exercising are the keys not to become obese. Last but not least both the people and health professionals have a critical role compelling the fast food industry to change the way it does business.
Saturday, November 9, 2019
Improving science literacy with hypermedia Essay
Methods Learning Design Architecture The four cornerstones of this Science learning and teaching design are goal-based and constructivist learning, simulation, computer-based creative learning environment, computer-based creative assessment, as well as the traditional lectures and tutorials. In the present research, the Discovery Channel ââ¬Å"Pompeii: The Last Dayâ⬠site was used as the hypermedia environment for investigating the science topic of Plate Tectonic Theory, first, and the impact of natural processes on human history (Pompeii), second. A few words need to be said about the structure of this hypermedia resource and its value for the current research. It is organized as the complex system of thematic hypermedia audio/video-packages accompanied by informational texts in written form. The structure of the site appears to be complex, so far as on the macrolevel it consists of the hypermedia sections: ââ¬Å"What Happened Here? ,â⬠the ââ¬Å"Virtual Volcanoâ⬠simulation, Pompeii Quiz, and Eruption Videos. Each macrounit, meanwhile, is designed as another macroentity. For example, the section ââ¬Å"What Happened Here? â⬠provides learners with different types of information on the theme of volcanic activity having erased ancient cities from the earth surface. The ââ¬Å"Step Back in Timeâ⬠slide-show is organized as a series (7 parts or pages) of the typed texts (ââ¬Å"The Long, Deathly Silence,â⬠ââ¬Å"Herculaneum,â⬠ââ¬Å"Two Days in August,â⬠ââ¬Å"The Story of Lupercus,â⬠ââ¬Å"Pompeii: Part I,â⬠ââ¬Å"Pompeii: Part II,â⬠and ââ¬Å"The Story of Caius Julius Polybiusâ⬠by Rossella Lorenzi). The ââ¬Å"Ongoing Excavations,â⬠or ââ¬Å"Ongoing Archaeologyâ⬠slide-show comprising 6 parts or pages (ââ¬Å"Uncovering Pompeii,â⬠ââ¬Å"Bringing the Oldest Pompeii to Light,â⬠ââ¬Å"A Unique Glimpse,â⬠ââ¬Å"Herculaneumââ¬â¢s Lost Papyri,â⬠ââ¬Å"Lost Plays of Sophocles,â⬠and ââ¬Å"Multi-Spectral Imagingâ⬠) is analogous in structure to the ââ¬Å"Step Back in Timeâ⬠macrounit. Besides, within the same ââ¬Å"What Happened Here? â⬠macrosection, there is a ââ¬Å"Pompeiiââ¬â¢s Eyewitness Accountâ⬠web documentary. The students listen to the text and watch the video accounting for Pliny the Youngerââ¬â¢s story about the ancient Pompeii devastation. Whereas the aforedescribed macrounit explores the issues of human history in relating to natural catastrophes, the other macrosections concentrate on Plate Tectonics theory and scientific description of volcanoes as natural pressure valves. Under the umbrella of Volcanology, there are the hypermedia macrounits ââ¬Å"Virtual Volcanoâ⬠and of ââ¬Å"Eruption Video. â⬠The section ââ¬Å"Virtual Volcanoâ⬠consists in its turn of the Overview and the ââ¬Å"Virtual volcanoâ⬠simulation sections. The theme of the section is ââ¬Å"Tectonic Plates and Volcanoes. â⬠The Overview dwells on the Earthââ¬â¢s tectonic structure, volcano types (three subsections) and structure. The information is presented through both visual and textual form (typed text). In the macrounits of ââ¬Å"Global Perspectiveâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Virtual volcanoâ⬠a specific type of hypermedia ââ¬â symbolic simulation or microworld ââ¬â introduces students to the details of tectonic structure and volcanic activity. Simulation is ââ¬Å"a computer-based simulation of a work or decision-making environmentâ⬠as a system (Sauer, Wastell, & Hockey, 2000, p. 46, qtd. in Gredler, 2004, p. 577). Whereas a ââ¬Å"Global Perspectiveâ⬠is a genuine symbolic simulation of Earth with delineated plate boundaries and active volcanoes, the ââ¬Å"Virtual volcanoâ⬠section is an experiential simulation. This is an alliance of hypermedia and video images ââ¬Å"to create a virtual experience for students who are fulfilling roles as researchersâ⬠(ibid. ). The macrounit seems to be designed to improve studentsââ¬â¢ comprehension of the theme by projecting the concepts from short-term to long-term memory, training topical vocabulary and operating knowledge in the goal-based settings. Six informational video packages within the section of ââ¬Å"Eruption Videoâ⬠train audition as well as visual comprehension. It also broadens studentsââ¬â¢ vocabulary with useful terms and present visual information on useful concepts (e. g. pyroclastic flow, lava flow, underwater volcano, etc. ). The informational section ââ¬Å"Volcano newsâ⬠provides learners with interesting facts on ancient and modern volcanic activity (as well as other scientific facts; there are 13 news pieces, 2 of which are corrupted). The hypermedia assessment tool is given in the form of the Pompeii Quiz. This is an interactive multiple-choice test ââ¬Å"Would you survive after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius?. â⬠To accomplish the test, a student must use knowledge having been gained during the research of the site. The Discovery Channel ââ¬Å"Pompeii: The Last Dayâ⬠site seems to be a useful hypermedia environment for investigating the topics of Plate Tectonic Theory and its impact on human history. First, students pick up useful concepts related to several branches of science (tectonics, Volcanology, history, archeology, etc. ). Second, they learn important vocabulary on the topics in the flow of constructivist and creative learning process. Due to the fact that the hypermedia environment is used for achieving the learning goals, the body of information is presented through various media (typed text, oral speech, graphics, videoimages, photographs, simulations) and organized flexibly. A learner is free to step from one macrounit to another being led by his/her personal background and motivation, return to the sections which are of most interest for him/her essentially and train comprehension skills in the Quiz as many times as (s)he needs. Finally, it refines studentsââ¬â¢ ICT skills while they use the World Wide Web to reach the site and proceed from page to page. Instruments To evaluate the effect of the hypermedia learning environment on studentsââ¬â¢ comprehension of Science (Plate Tectonics, Volcanology, History, Archeology), the researcher investigated each of the four ââ¬Å"Pompeii: The Last Dayâ⬠sections for the most significant scientific concepts to be utilized by students in the learning process. The search was done by qualitative linguistic analysis of the informational texts. The concepts were grouped into three main sections: geographical names, personal names and scientific terms and concepts (see Table 1 for the list). The students were assumed to learn those terms in the constructivist educational process through the hypermedia tools to incorporate them into their evaluation assignments as the evidence for their improved science reading and visual comprehension. Second, an end-of the week questionnaire was administered to the eight-graders in the Science Hypermedia class to find out feedback on their learning experience from using the hypermedia learning environment including time spent on independent research in the hypermedia environment (ââ¬Å"Pompeii: The Last Dayâ⬠) (see Tables 3, 4 and Figure 1). Third, Power Point presentations were used as creative evaluation instrument to check the learning outcomes of studentsââ¬â¢ comprehension. All the students were trained to create computer-based presentations by the given program. In an effort to guide and improve the learning of science concepts in the realms of Geology, History and Archeology with eight-graders in the middle school, a week study of the Topic ââ¬Å"Plate Tectonic Theory and the Impact of Volcanic Activity on Human Historyâ⬠was designed as an action research experiment. From the point of view of settings and partly qualitative assessment of the outcomes of research on specific stages (e. g. studentsââ¬â¢ feedbacks), this study may also be called a case study, since only one science topic was investigated in regard to studentsââ¬â¢ comprehension and motivation. Two classes of eight-graders relatively equal in achievements and learning potential were invited to participate in educational experiment. However, there was no internal sampling conducted within each of the classes. All the students participated voluntarily and for no reward in grades or other. The goals of the present research were clarified to all the participants (N = 40). The total number of participants (N = 40) was invited to study the topic of Plate Tectonics and its impact on human history through different learning resources. The students of experiment group (n = 20) studied the topic in the hypermedia environment (a school computer laboratory equipped with Windows-based microcomputers and, optionally, at home), whereas the other group of students (control group, n = 20) did not use any hypermedia resources learning solely from printed textbooks and handouts as well as teacherââ¬â¢s oral instructions. To comment, the student of the experiment group received small portions of a teacherââ¬â¢s instruction while researching the hypermedia context. They were also assisted by a teacher in proceeding from one structural part of the site to the other in order to investigate the topic on each otherââ¬â¢s individual pace. However, the general framework of scientific topic was introduced to a group of students. Thus, both group and individual types of instruction tool place in the research. One more thing to note, the studies in both the experiment and the control groups were conducted by one and the same teacher of a teaching style being familiar to the students from previous experience. After a week of studies, the students from both the groups designed Power Point presentations on the topic within the Hypermedia Evaluation Project in lieu of a formal examination. The assessment comprised: 45% on the subject comprehension (major concepts and direct conceptual links), 45% on utilizing Power Point hypermedia resources, and 10% on creativity. All the students (n = 40) were trained in using the Power Point program. Presentations were evaluated by three examiners. The point of degree between the evaluators was high (r = . 088).
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Comparison and conclusions about the nature of knowledge between knowing a friend and knowing how to swim, knowing a scientific theory and knowing a historical period.
Comparison and conclusions about the nature of knowledge between knowing a friend and knowing how to swim, knowing a scientific theory and knowing a historical period. We can compare many things and people only by each quality. Contrasting them with their qualities will be at the same time easy and hard. Comparing a friend with something that is not alive, like knowing how to swim are two different things. A friend for example is a human being as everybody, who will help you anytime you want, give you support, understand and love you. According to Jane Sequichie Hifler, "In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil". We learn from our friends and they learn from us. So it is "us" who teach each other and let them know of the world we live in.Knowing how to swim is just something that you can do in the water to move within it. It can't help you nor can it know what you are feeling in any way.English: Flowchart that shows how an idea moves fr...Water also cannot teach you anything nor can you learn from water. When you learn how to swim you teach yourself how and the water it just there. Swimming it just an a ct of moving through a substance that is not air. Although, swimming allows us to experience a part of the world we are in. it allows us to take part in exploring more than just what our feet can touch. This allows us to learn and grow from what we learn under the water and how it interacts with what we see around us. The act of knowing a friend and knowing how to swim are both in turn methods of learning to obtain and achieve things in life.Comparing knowing a friend to knowing a scientific theory shows that they both must be proven. Friends are people who just don't walk up and suddenly become...
Monday, November 4, 2019
Refitting the pieces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Refitting the pieces - Essay Example The results of the interactive Jigsaw Puzzle Media Piece exercise revealed oneââ¬â¢s personal worldview is formed and composed of three essential components. The three components that make up my worldview are God, Ethics and Knowledge, because they shaped my thoughts, experiences, education and life decisions.Believing and trusting Godââ¬â¢s Word provides a lively faith and confidence in Godââ¬â¢s promises. One of the most significant lessons I learned is to live and learn from the Bible. Believing and trusting Godââ¬â¢s Word and incorporating the Gospel in our lives will create a positive worldview and generate consistent worldview beliefs. Godââ¬â¢s teaching, as detailed in the Bible shared messages of loving oneââ¬â¢s neighbor as oneself and to obey the commandments. There were instances in life where trials and challenges are faced through death of loved ones or through troubles in relationships. The lessons of love revealed in the passages of 1 Corinthians 13 g ive the greatness of love in its capacity to encompass patience, kindness, hope and the constant pursuit for truth (Bible Gateway, 2010).Embracing Godââ¬â¢s worldview steers us to make sound choices and life decisions. Those decisions uncover who we are, what we believe, and our purpose. When difficulties become pressing, the faith and trust in God gives courage and comfort that everything would come to pass and that these trials are just temporary incidents that are made to be experienced to make us stronger to face vicissitudes in the future. The Bible creates a moral compass for people to learn and make life decisions. As a book that gives guidance in the form of messages, one is directed to focus on specific aspects in oneââ¬â¢s personality that needs to be addressed. For example, people who face problems in disobeying Godââ¬â¢s commandments would find answers in Deuteronomy 27:11-27: ââ¬Å"(ââ¬Å"Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amenâ⬠(Deuteronomy 27:26)â⬠(Deeper Christian Life Ministry, 2011, par. 1). Those who are reflecting on taking oneââ¬â¢s life or killing others would find answers in the value and sanctity of life through this verse: ââ¬Å"Don?t you know that you yourselves are God?s Temple and that God?s spirit lives in you?â⬠1 Corinthians 2:16â⬠(The Bible and the Sanctity of Life, n.d., par. 10). Following Godââ¬â¢s Word creates the foundation necessary to choose between good and evil and right and wrong . My life decision is to learn, teach and follow the scripture but to also keep an open mind to others beliefs, opinions, and worldviews. Keeping an open mind means being open to accommodate diverse points of views and perspectives from different cultural and ethical orientations. With regards to ethics, oneââ¬â¢s personal contention is to treat everyone like you would want to be treated. Being ethical (moral) is how humans relate to one another, how you relate to yourself, and how you relate to your creator. The word of God provides one with the direction and guidance to avoid treating others unethically or immorality. Oneââ¬â¢s personal beliefs, values and standards on fair and equally treatment in according human rights can impact in a negative or positive manner, depending on the person and how they apply it. For example, there have been controversial issues of equality in gender and race in organizations. With oneââ¬â¢s commitment to ethical codes of conduct, one is co mmitted to treat all
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Red worm food preferences and the rate of consumption Research Proposal
Red worm food preferences and the rate of consumption - Research Proposal Example Most of these countries already started the recycling of their garbage. Many recycling plant were built for plastics, metals, and biodegradable waste but dumping of waste on landfills is still being practiced. The rate of recycling of biodegradable waste was the major difficulty for most of the landfills. The faster rate of waste input as compared to the waste degradation to the landfill pushed many governments to look for an alternative and faster way of decomposing organic waste products (Recycled Organics Unit 9). Decomposting is a process by which organic waste matter is buried or stood still to allow bacterial decomposition to occur. Bacterial decomposition of organic waste is naturally occurring in garbage landfill but the rate of it is slow. Other methods were used to allow faster decomposition of organic waste in garbage landfill. Using worms to increase the rate of conversion from organic waste to fine organic materials is known as vermicomposting (Munroe 1). The result of decomposting is the "compost" production. Compost is a fine, nutrient-enriched, soil-like materials from the decomposed organic waste. Composts are used as an organic fertilizer by farmers. The use of worms in decomposting, which is known as vermicomposting, would produce a vermicompost. Vermicompost is like compost and both are used as an organic fertilizer. Since the rate of production of vermicompost is faster than the compost, the use of vermicomposting in organic fertilizer production and organic waste management recycling is favored (Recycled Organics Unit 9). The increasing popularity of vermicomposting on both waste management and fertilizer production leads to the increasing demand of worms. The worm, specifically earthworms, culture is called vermiculture. Vermiculture is a process by which earthworms are nurtured and fed in a bin or other storage materials to increase their numbers. The number and reproduction rate of the worms should be enough to sustain a regular harvest (Munroe 1). Although vermicomposting uses earthworm, there are only some species of earthworm that could be used and readily available for vermiculture. There are three types of earthworm namely epigeic, endogeic, and anecic type. Epigeic type of earthworm thrives on the surface of the ground. This type of earthworm feeds on fine or decaying organic matter readily available on the ground. On the other hand, endogeic type of earthworm thrives in the ground. This type of earthworm makes and lives in a horizontal hole within the ground. Endogeic earthworm surfaces very seldomly because it already feeds on organic matter imparted within soil. Anecic type of earthworm makes and lives in vertical hole within the ground. The vertical burrow serves as their protection and passage to the surface of the ground to obtain food at night (Recycled Organics Unit 13). Epigeic type of earthworm is used mainly in vermicomposting but anecic type could also be used in addition to the epigeic. Although there many species of epigeic earthworm that can be found in decomposting and vermicomposting area, Eisenia fetida is the most commonly used species in vermicomposting particularly in temperate countries because the rate of organic matter utilization and reproduction is fast, the range of tolerance to chemical and physical
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Google+ report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Google+ report - Essay Example An extension of this is co-branding, which is networking in a way, but with brands and organizations that share the values of Pedal Forward, and which can propel Pedal Forwards own brand awareness too. For instance, Pedal Forward can co-brand with an organic food company that has national traction, or a cosmetics brand that focuses on natural ingredients such as The Body Shop, to raise awareness about Pedal Forwards own campaign in Google+. The idea here is to align the co-branding strategy with what Pedal Forward wants to achieve, and what it stands for (Leap, 2012). Another recommendation is for Pedal Forward to utilize Google+ Hangouts to connect with its fan base in real time, and to then capture that real-time interaction and post it on the Google+ page of Pedal Forward so that a larger population of fans can keep viewing that Hangout session after the event, for their benefit. A Google+ Hangout allows for Pedal Forward to interact via text and via video with a group of followers about a specific topic, say bamboo bike trails, and then capture that interaction for later posting. This is a great idea to do on a regular basis, as a way to stay relevant and connect meaningfully with the audience The idea is for Pedal Forward to try and stay fresh and relevant while reaching out to other pages and communities to increase visibility and to engage existing and new fans. Related recommendations along this line of thinking include setting up hooks from Google+ and from Pedal Forwards website to other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twit ter, Instagram Pinterest, and Kickstarter, to broaden the social media reach of the campaign (Leap 2012). The idea of being able to broadcast Google+ Hangout sessions is great, and something that can differentiate the platform from other platforms such as Facebook. One way Google+ can further improve on this is to hook up these Hangout
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Letter of Advice Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Letter of Advice - Case Study Example Policemen may use emergency powers in urgent situations.1 The powers available to the police under this section were also applied in Operation Saeta from 17-19 December 2005, immediately after the Cronulla riots, during which 16 vehicles and 56 mobile phones were seized2. You were leaving an area where there had been a disturbance and the area had been placed under a lockdown. The law makes it clear that the police must not refuse permission to a person wishing to leave an area that has been cordoned off "unless it is reasonably necessary to do so to avoid a risk to public safety or to the person's own safety."3 But the expanded powers under Section 6A as mentioned above, do allow the police to prevent people entering and even leaving, authorized target areas where there is or has been large scale disorder. These provisions under Section 6A were also applied on 19 March 2006, to set up roadblocks and prevent cars exiting Brighton Le Sands from moving towards Cronulla, to prevent what police perceived to be threatened public disorder event. Thus, I believe Constable Green's confiscation of your phone and car may have been within legal limits. In reference to your arrest, a person may be arrested for a breach of the peace when the policeman making the arrest has a reasonable apprehension of imminent danger of a breach of peace.4 However, if an arrest is to be lawful, an arresting officer must inform the arrestee of the grounds for arrest, at the time of arrest or as soon as practicable, failing which there can be grounds for a possible claim for damages5 because the police can only do what is practicable.6 The recent case of Coleman v Australia7 raised the issue of interference with individual rights through the application of the provisions of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 1997. The complained was arrested and detained for five days and contested the case under his right to freedom from arbitrary detention under Article 9 of the ICCPR. The Court in this case, found that there had been a violation of the complainant's human rights. Despite the existence of the new expanded powers available to the police as I have cited earlier, they are also required to arrest a person only as a last resort.8 There is a requirement to give information and warnings when the police are exercising their powers.9 On this basis, you may be able to contest the decision by the police officer to make an arrest, since such an arrest would not be justified in an instance where only a limited power of arrest applies.10 If I can be of further assistance, please let me know. Yours
Sunday, October 27, 2019
The impact of child safeguarding policies
The impact of child safeguarding policies How Current Policies, Theories and Politics Have Influenced Children and Young People This essay is going to look at the policies and politics about the safeguarding, welfare and wellbeing of children and young people. In particular this essay will look at the quality of social services and statistics of childrenââ¬â¢s involvement with social services, the Childrenââ¬â¢s Act 2004 and what this proposes (Kay, 1999). Also the Victoria Climbie Case and who she was involved with, Every Child Matters and the approaches taken, the Childrenââ¬â¢s Commissioner, the Childrenââ¬â¢s fund and charities such as the NSPCC, Lucyââ¬â¢s Faithfull Foundation and Action for Children will all be considered to understand what support is available to children and young people. In 2012/13, it is reported that just under 600,000 children had some sort of involvement with social services because of concerns for their welfare. The Department for Education (DFE) is now known to looking at the prospect of raising the quality of services delivered by social care workers. To achieve this, the DFE has sought to enforce the revised statutory guidance which promotes the welfare of children and safeguard them from harm (Morgan N and Timpson E, 2014). The result being that, child protection services not seen to be at the right level by Ofsted will be changed by the DFE with immediate effect. To improve future services the department for education are continuing to reform the system of serious case reviews to demonstrate to social workers, incidence of serious protection issues and this can be improved on. Other continuous improvement measures include the Step Up to Social Work scheme and Frontline Pilot which are now looking at attracting high-quality graduates interes ted in social work. Private and voluntary organisations are also to be delegated some of the works undertaken by social care workers in an effort to strengthen child protection services, support for looked after children and to give vulnerable children a better chance of staying with their families rather than going into care through improved early interventions services (Morgan N and Timpson E, 2014). The fundamental aim of the Childrenââ¬â¢s Act 2004 is to improve the wellbeing of children and young people through local authorities and agencies while widening the powers of relevant service providers. Safeguarding children and promotion of childrenââ¬â¢s welfare is therefore the priority of the Childrenââ¬â¢s Act. Unsurprisingly, the non-statutory Area Child Protection Committees have been replaced with Safeguarding Children Boards which means a robust plan of strategy could be set out for children and young people and could be made and published by childrenââ¬â¢s services authorities. The Childrenââ¬â¢s Act also allowed databases to be made that held all childrenââ¬â¢s and young peopleââ¬â¢s information whereby professionals involved with children or young people could access and share information (The Stationary Office, 2004). The Every Child Matters initiative (ECM) was introduced in 2004 after the sad death of Victoria Climbie who was widely known by all the relevant agencies two housing authorities, four social services departments, two child protection departments linked to the police, an NSPCC ran child unit and two different hospitals. In the case of the latter, Victoria Climbie had been seen with serious injuries (Department for Education, 2003). The ECM aim to promote the wellbeing of children and young people through better coordination between multi-agencies such as schools, local authority, police and other care providers. This approach is deemed productive as organisations can readily team up to share information in order to boost any identified child protection measure (everychildmatters.co.uk, 2014; Knowles, 2009). The establishment of Childrenââ¬â¢s Commissioner in 2005 has further strengthened the mandate of the ECM initiative as vulnerable people in society now have a voice in parliame nt and their local areas (everychildmatters.co.uk, 2014). The efforts of the government is complemented by a plethora of charity and not for profit organisations such as the NSPCC, Lucyââ¬â¢s Faithfull Foundation and Action for Children to name but a few. The NSPCC being the leading childrenââ¬â¢s charity for example fights to end child abuse by protecting and changing the lives of children for the better and freeing them from harmful situations. The charity will also support parents who are in need of advice in any way (nspcc.org.uk, 2015). Lucyââ¬â¢s Faithfull Foundation on other hand is the only UK-wide child protection charity dedicated solely to reducing the risk of children being sexually abused. They work with all members of families who have suffered from sexual abuse. The charity offer educational programmes, courses and professional support at all levels to victims (lucyfaithfull.org, no date). Finally, Action for Children work with children, young people, parents, carers and run 650 services throughout the UK. This chari ty is able to provide essential services for both neglected and abused children and young people (actionforchildren.org.uk, 2014). Overall it seems that the safeguarding of children and young people, welfare and wellbeing is still a constant battle. Just under 600,000 children in 2012/13 had some sort of involvement with social services because of concerns for their welfare while the DFE continues to enforce the revised statutory guidance with rigour. Seemingly, the system in place for child protection and safeguarding is constantly being reviewed with the Childrenââ¬â¢s Act 2004 now bringing in a multi-agency approach. All what this means is that, organisations and agencies can pass information about a child or young person to other professionals so that an up to date information is always available (Allen, 1990). In effect, the current institutions are committed to averting future cases as in ââ¬ËVictoria Climbieââ¬â¢. The Every Child Matters initiative was introduced through the Childrenââ¬â¢s Act 2004 and now protect the wellbeing and welfare of children using a multi-agency approach. This is in deed a positive outcome of the Childrenââ¬â¢s Act 2004 along with the Childrenââ¬â¢s Commissioner set up in 2005 which has already given children and young people a voice in parliament and in their locality. The Childrenââ¬â¢s fund 2000 among others have also helped disadvantaged children and young people by improving safeguarding practices. In conclusion, current policies, theories and politics within the United Kingdom as whole have positively influenced the welfare and wellbeing of children and young people. It seems that more still has to be done where safeguarding children and young people is concerned but the government is heading in the right direction. Bibliography Websites Action for Children (2014) What is Action for Children [Online] Available at: http://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do Accessed: 11/01/15 Department for Education (2003) The Victoria Climbie Inquiry [Online] Available at: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/6086/2/climbiereport.pdf Accessed: 10/01/15 Every Child Matters (No date) Every Child Matters [Online] Available at: http://www.everychildmatters.co.uk Accessed: 10/01/15 Morgan, N and Timpson, E (2014) Policy supporting social workers to provide help and protection to children [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/supporting-social-workers-to-provide-help-and-protection-to-children Accessed: 24/12/14 NSPCC (2015) About us [Online] Available at: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/ Accessed: 11/01/15 The Lucy Faithfull Foundation (No date) The Lucy Faithfull Foundation Working to Protect Children [Online] Available at: http://lucyfaithfull.org Accessed: 11/01/15 Books Allen, N (1990) Making Sense of the Childrenââ¬â¢s Act. 2nd edn. Essex: Longman Industry and Public Service Knowles, G (2009) Ensuring Every Child Matters: A Critical Approach. 1st edn. London: Sage Kay, J (1999) A Practical Guide: Protecting Children. 1st edn. London: Cassell Stationary Office, The, and HM Government, (2004) Childrenââ¬â¢s Act 2004: chapter 31, explanatory notes. 1st edn. The Stationary Office 2004 1
Friday, October 25, 2019
Depiction and Development of the Knight Hero in Wolfram von Eschenbachââ¬â¢
Introduction Wolfram von Eschenbachââ¬â¢s epic poem Parzival stands as one of the richest and most profound literary works to have survived from the middle ages. Lost in obscurity for centuries until rediscovered and republished by Karl Lachmann in 1833, the poem enjoyed at least as great a popularity when it was first composed as it does among todayââ¬â¢s readers: Some eighty manuscripts have been preserved, in whole or in part, from Wolframââ¬â¢s era (Poag 40). Among the more intriguing aspects of the work is Wolframââ¬â¢s handling of the depiction and development of two of the storyââ¬â¢s primary characters, the knights Gahmuret and Parzival, father and son. Central to the action of the text from its inception, yet never sharing a scene, these men function as the poemââ¬â¢s heroesââ¬âlarger-than-life figures of extraordinary strength, skill and courage whose remarkable achievements and bravery carry the momentum of the story. These men represent the classic knightly warriors of old who (at least ideally) dedicated their energies and passions above all else to the noble pursuit of fame, honor and valor. Indeed, in the course of discussing heroic development in Parzival, one must also note the main charactersââ¬â¢ chivalric development, as their natural proclivity and tendencies as knights are clearly reflected and reinforced in their heroic manner and mien. In the course of this investigation I wish to analyze the ways in which Wolfram depicts these knighly heroes and their development. In this way I shall attempt to achieve a better understanding of how Wolframââ¬âand, by extension, the men of his timeââ¬âthemselves understood the themes and events he describes. I shall also include the critical perspectives of scholars whose have previously c... ...its, though not always attained thorough strict maintenance of precepts such as Campbellââ¬â¢s, isââ¬â and perhaps for that very reasonââ¬âthe stuff of great literature. Works Cited Campbell, Joseph. Myths to Live By. New York: Viking, 1972. Cousineau, Phil, Ed. The Heroââ¬â¢s Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. Eschenbach, Wolfram von. Parzival. English Trans., Ed. Andrà © Lefevere. New York: Continuum, 1991. ââ¬â-. Parzival. German Trans. Wolfgang Mohr. Gà ¶ppingen: Alfred Kà ¼mmerle, 1977. Hasty, Will. â⬠Introduction.â⬠A Companion to Wolframââ¬â¢s Parzival. Columbia: Camden House, 1999. Poag, James F. Wolfram von Eschenbach. New York: Twayne, 1972. Sacker, Hugh. An Introduction to Wolframââ¬â¢s ââ¬ËParzival.ââ¬â¢ Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1963 Weigand, Hermann. Wolframââ¬â¢s Parzival: Five Essays with an Introduction. Ithaca: Cornell U P, 1969.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Personal case study reflection Essay
1. Introduction The aim of this report is in order to analyze a personal decision making and the issues in the process of decision in a workplace with critical reflection which includes academic theories and some models. Also some reflections will be given to deal with the problems. I worked as an accountant in a technical company which produces various Laser Cutting Machines. The machines are used in car-making, ship-building, and these kinds of markets are very potential in China. Therefore, the financial situation was great in the company. However, for expanding more markets, the company planned to produce Plasma Cutting Machines which are used in industrial machine making such as electrical cabinet production, metal manufacturing and diggers. The company established a work team which was consisted by nine staffs from different departments and spend three months to analyze whether the new plan should be implemented, and the boss made the final decision according to the advices from the team. I was appointed as one of the members in the work team, and I took part in the team to collect the information of Plasma Cutting Machines market. The analysis showed that the new plan is valuable, and if the company produces the new machines, this would bring more increase of sales. At last, the boss decided to produce Plasma Cutting Machines to enlarge wider market. However, because of the Engineering equipment manufacturing market downturn, the sales of new machines decreased year by year. After five years, this new plan brought a large number of losses. 2. The Normative approaches of decision making As we know that there are two kinds of decisions which are programmed decisions and nonprogrammed decisions (Simon, 1984). It is clear that in this case, the decision is belong to nonprogrammed decisions because the decision maker must choose whether the company should produce the new machine, and it was not routine. For the decision maker, it contained high risk and uncertain factors. Before the boss made the decision, he must consider a lot of factors. According to the normative models (Anthony Hopwood, 1974), it is noticed that the boss realized that the company should not only sell the Laser Cutting Machines, and it needs to develop better. Then in order to earn more money, decision maker suggested investing to product new machines which are Plasma Cutting Machines. Meanwhile he established a team to evaluate the plan. The team collected the information which included the structure and functions, cost and market value about the new machine. According to the teamââ¬â¢s evaluation, the boss thought this investment has very high market value. Therefore, he decided to add a new product line to produce Plasma Cutting Machines. Next, according to the customer requirements, new machines were produced. 3. Outcome The team spent three months to do the research about the Plasma Cutting Machines, and they thought the new machine would bring the benefits to the company. As a result they advised the boss to implement the new plan, and the boss accepted the suggestion. After that the company invested to the new project with a large number of funds. Even though the decision maker prepared a lot of things before he decided to add a new line to produce Plasma Cutting Machines, the new plan seemed not as successful as he expected. The sales of the new machine decreased year by year, and this led to a large number of losses five years later which even influenced the financial situation of the Laser Cutting Machines. 4. The issues and analysis 4.1. Team work In the process of decision making, team work was crucial to the decision maker, and this way brought some benefits such as promoting the employeeââ¬â¢s work efficiency; using more opportunities which are provided by advanced science and technology; making work become more effective through the range of abilities and knowledge distributed from team members (Schein, 1965). However, because of the benefits, the boss relied on the team too much and ignored the disadvantages of the team. This was the one of the most important reasons why he made an unsuccessful decision. The team was a research and development team which is usually used in highly technical company (Ashleigh, 2010). Our work team needed to collect a large number of information about the new machine. First, the members must research the structures and functions about Plasma Cutting Machines. Moreover, the members also need to survey the sales situation of the new machines in the market. Furthermore, the cost of every machine needs to be confirmed, andà according to the sales and cost, the members needed to calculate the profit. Meanwhile, they must survey if other related companies which need to use Plasma Cutting Machines and may become the customers have potential in the future. It is clear that this team helped to develop and test new products, and this work not only needed membersââ¬â¢ professional knowledge but also membersââ¬â¢ innovation and experience in this field (Ashleigh, 2010). Whereas, the members ignored some important factors when they analyzed the new products. First, the cost of the Plasma Cutting Machines are very expensive, and each machine needs more than hundreds of thousands dollars. As a result, most customers preferred renting the machines to buying them, and this contributed to the decreasing sales. Second, the depreciation of the new machines increased fast, and the components of the new machine are very expensive and can be broken easily. Therefore, the company needed to cost high price to fix the machines. In addition to this, there were some other disadvantages. In the process of the analysis, the conflict usually arises among the members because of various sources such as individual differences, incompatible goals, different values and beliefs (Hinds and Bailey, 2003). In this case, the members of the team all came from different department such as Production Department (PD), General Accounting Department (GAD), Marketing Department (MD), and Purchasing Department (PD). Every department focused on different parts of the new plan. PD concentrated more on quality of the machines; GAD paid attention to the economic return; MD focused on market value and customers; Purchasing Department paid more attention to the cost of every machine, as a result when they have relational problems, they may have different perspectives. This situation contributed to negative conflict (McShane and Travaglione, 2003). Consequently, the conflict caused the result of the team work was not to be objective. 4.2 Uncertainty and Risk in the market In the process of decision-making, there are often some uncertain outcomes we cannot see previously, and it means it has risks. Furthermore, if the risks do not be solved in time, they may become a crisis to the company (Davies and Walters, 1999), and the crisis can lead to undesirable consequences. According to the teamââ¬â¢s analysis about the Plasma Cutting Machines, the boss thought the new machines had very high market value because they are used inà the Engineering equipment manufacturing market such as electrical cabinet production, metal manufacturing and diggers, and they were very popular industry in China. However, the market is changeable, and the Engineering equipment manufacturing market was stuck in a dilemma from 2011. Contraction of the current engineering machinery market is mainly due to the downturn of the construction of high-speed rail, and the infrastructure construction was completed gradually. This, in turn, led to the decreasing sales of the Plasma Cutting Machines. Obviously, the decision maker did not realize the uncertain factors before he made the final decision. 5. Reflection As a decision maker in the company, first, he relied on the work team too much. According to the Big Five Personality Model, it is clear that he was not creative enough which means he gets low scores on openness to experience (Digman, 1990). The purpose of the work team is for providing some professional advices to the decision maker, so the boss should improve the professional knowledge about the Plasma Cutting Machines. Second, the boss should give more time to the team, but he just gave three months to the team to collect the information and analyze the new plan. It is obvious that three-month time was not enough to analyze this complicated plan clearly because the team needed to do a lot of work. Also the decision maker should invite more employees into the team because more members can give more specialized knowledge and suggestions. This can help to collect more information and contribute to a more effective decision. Another reflection is when the negative conflict exists, the members should solve it effectively. According to the Nelsonââ¬â¢s (1995) taxonomy, they can use the direct approach to deal with the conflict which means when there are some conflicts among the members, the team leader helps to solve the problems directly. They can also use bargaining approach to solve the conflict. For example, In this case, if the members from General Accounting Department hold the different ideas about buying the components of the Plasma Cutting Machines with Purchasing Department, other members should be the mediators and objectively analyze the two different points. This approach can help the team give more suitable advices to the decision maker. Moreover, before the decision making, the boss should do the survey about the situation of the Engineering equipment manufacturing market because this industry isà associated with the new plan. If the Engineering equipment manufacturing market has great financial situation, that means more companies need to buy or rent our new machines. Meanwhile, he also needs to know about the country policy because it plays an important role in economic market. Sometimes if a company has a good financial situation depends on the country policy. The last reflection is the decision maker should do a risk assessment to decrease the risk of the new plan (Teale, Dispenza, Flynn, Currie, 2003) before he made the final decision because the technology of producing was not mature at that time. At same time, he can study the experience from other Plasma Cutting Machines companies, or he can implement the new plan until this technology becomes mature. 6. Conclusion This report illustrated the decision making about whether the new machines should be produced in a technical company. In the process of the decision, some issues arose and led to the failing result. The one of the main problem is the team did not give the suitable suggestions, but the boss still relied on the teamââ¬â¢s analysis too much. Another issue is the uncertainty and risk of the economic market, and the boss did not realize the risk of the Plasma Cutting Machines. Contraposing the issues, some reflections were be given, and these reflections may help the company to solve some problems. If the decision maker can think about the new plan more specifically, the outcome may be not so disappointing. Reference Hopwood, A. (1974). Accounting and Human Behaviour, London: Accountancy Age Books. Schein, E. H. (1965). Organizational psychology (p. 25). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Simon, H. (1984). ââ¬ËDecision-making and organizational designââ¬â¢, in Pugh, D.S. (ed.), Organization Theory: Selected Readings, Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin. Ashleigh, M. & Mansi, A. (2010).Working in teams and groups. In The Psychology of People in Organisations(pp.236-65). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Nelson,M.(1995), ââ¬ËInterpersonal team leadership skills,ââ¬â¢ Hospital Material Management Quarterly, 16(4), 53-63. Hinds, P. J., and Bailey, D. E. (2003). ââ¬ËOut of sight; out of sync: understanding conflict in distributed teamsââ¬â¢, Organization Science, 14(6), 615-32. McShane, S., and Travagline, T.(2003). Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. North Ryde, NSW: McGraw-Hill Australia. J. M. Digman(1990). ââ¬Å"Personality Structure: Emergence of the Five-Factor Model,â⬠in M. R. Rosenzweig and L. W. Porter(eds.). Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 41 (Palo Alto CA: Annual review, 1990). PP 417-440; Teale, M, Dispenza, V., Flynn, J. &Currie. D.(2003). Management decision-making in context. In Mnagement Decision-Making: Towards an Integrative Approach (pp.3-22). Harlow: Pearson Education.
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