A short story – The tranquil night wind

The tranquil night wind whistled gently, puffing though the strands of my hair as I slept. The luminous amber streetlights outside twitched as they projected a silhouette of tall, lofty trees prancing in the serene wind through my windows onto me. The sky was clear and the stars were easily visible as they twinkled through the night. After a day of unbearable heat and hard work done, I was in a very satisfying sleep but had awoken through instinct where I had felt that something was irritating me. I felt like I had forgotten to do something and my brain wouldn’t stop reminding, but what was it reminding me? That’s the question. I tried to ignore it but my mind wouldn’t stop sensing a feel of discomfort. I finally decided to get up and try to resolve the matter and investigate what was going on. I approached my door and just before I went to grasp the door handle I felt a slight shock run through the palm of my right hand. I abruptly pulled away and froze for a minute. It was dark and gloomy in my room so I decided to turn on the lights. With caution I flicked on the light switch and was surprised to not feel any more shocks. the luminous light bulb from the ceiling of my room glistened so luminously that I went blind for a few seconds and I just stood there rubbing my eyelids as they couldn’t cope with the sudden illumination of the room. Feel quite dizzy, I continued to attempt to open the door. I vigilantly stretched out to reach for the door handle again and this time I successfully held it firmly without any shocks. Maybe it was just my mind playing up with me? I mean, it was 3am in the morning and I wasn’t feeling too bothered as I investigated what felt wrong. I twisted the door handle but it didn’t open. I tried to twist it open again but it didn’t seem to open. At this point I was furious; I took a deep breath and pinched myself to make sure this wasn’t just another horrid dream, unfortunately it wasn’t. I took a big step back away from my door and charged towards it whilst I firmly clutched the handle and dragged it mightily. It still didn’t open. I roared in fury. I screamed for my parents but I got no reply. I repeated but this time for my siblings but I stood there without a response. No words could explain the rage I was in. I shrieked once more and I irately jolted my door which countered with a massive bruise to my foot . I fell to my feet with my head on the ground, tears recklessly flowing down my face. This wasn’t the day for someone to mess with me, not at all. I got back up on my feet and as I loomed towards the window, I heard a whisper which said â€Å"it’s just you and me† in a sonorous demonic voice followed by an awkward cackle. I brusquely stopped and jumped with fear. I hastily dived under my bed and snatched the broad metal pole I had hidden under there. I got back up and spent 2 or so minutes inspecting my room looking to see if by any chance it was anyone. Was it my conscience? Was it something outside? Or was it really some sort of spectre really talking to me? I scuttled to my open window and took a pro longed gaze outside to see if anyone was out†¦there was nobody. It was an opaque, pitch black night with the white stars twinkling above. The roads were ever so quiet. Who would be out at this time? I guess I did hear something after all, 3am in the morning and my mind seems to be playing with me; I couldn’t even open the door to go and get some water or anything else refreshing. I turned away from the window to retry the door again†¦and I heard a really deafening thump. I jerked in fright and my heart was thumping so hard that I could see it beating out of my t shirt. I gradually rotated myself towards the direction of the noise with my heart in my hands. All four windows in my room had pounded shut. Coincidence? I’m starting not to think so. I stood there in awkward silence for a good 5 minutes. Why me? I stepped foot to approach the windows and the lights flicked off. I squealed worse than those in an intense horror movie; this wasn’t no movie this was reality and I don’t know what was happening. I couldn’t see anything but a slight shadow of something behind me, shortly after that I felt a cold, icy hand on my shoulder. As I turned around, my vision instantly went blurry and I couldn’t see much but I could see something similar to a white spirit with gleaming red eyes. I fainted.

Hca Case Study

I. Introduction The business-level strategy is acombined and synchronized collection of the obligations and actions that are used by the firms to attain a competitive advantage. The firms try to consume core abilities in certain product markets. Under this strategy, the firms stipulate their choices on that how they plan to strive in individual product markets. It’s important that every firm should improve a business-level strategy to generate the differences between its own place and its competitors’ places.The bond between the customers and business-level strategies is very important because the customers are main cause of the strategy’s success. The bond that a firm develops with its customers creates the value and profitability. There are five business-level strategies that a firm shouldor can practice to create and support its chosen strategic position against competitors. These include the variation, the cost leadership, the focused cost leadership, focused differentiation, and the unified cost leadership/differentiation. In chapter 6, it argues these five strategies and side by side with the risks that are associated with each other.In chapter 6 they also argue corporate level strategies. The corporate-level strategy has emphases on the actions that a firm takes to attain a competitive advantage by choosing from and handling a collection of different businesses competing in different product markets. These strategies help the firms in choosing on new strategic positions that are likely to increase the value. The product diversification is avital type of the corporate-level strategy. The diversifications also can differfrom the low levels to the high levels. Well normally, the diversification strategy is used to raise the firm’s value by improving its whole performance.It is essential that the managers should attentive to their firm’s internal organization and to its external environment when making decisions regarding t he most advantageous level of the diversification. In chapter 7 there is discussion of mergers, takeover, and acquisitions. A merger is formed when the two firms mix their businesses with each other. An acquisition is a strategy that involves when one firm purchasing the bulk or all interest into another firm with the aims of making it into a subsidiary company within its own group.A takeover is a type of acquisition where the acquired firm does not ask for the capturing firm’s proposal. Acquisitions are used for thenumerous reasons, which contain increasing in the market power and conquering the entry obstacles to new markets. Sometimes a firm must restructure its self in order to change its pool of businesses or financial procedure. This can be done through the downsizingor leveraged buyouts. A firm’s major goal for restructuring is to improvement or successful in strategic control. II. SWOT Analysis A. External environment The U. S. healthcare industry is one of the biggest industries in U. S. The U. S. ospital industry is split with thevarious ownership and noticeably different revenue sources with a small number of the main firms. The HCA was operating in a conservative industry where their aremany challenges and financial constraints. One of the major aspects that affected HCA is the increased quantity of the uninsured Americans citizen. The Columbia/HCA’s goal was to emphasis on the providing beds for insured patients to have the profits up. As the number of uninsured Americans citizen increased, it made it harder to keep the beds at full capacity. The increases in health care costs also played a role in the HCA’s actions.The Tenant and Triad Hospitals are recognizedas the big competitors for HCA. The HCA’s business strategy also puts them in competition in the urban areas mainly against autonomous non-profit hospitals. Many do not have the equal financial performance aims and this helped HCA to be the market leader. B . Strengths and Weaknesses The HCA’s strengths involvedarethe leading position in the hospital market, thespacious and infinite service offerings. The HCA developed such a strategy that dedicated on a main group of market-leading hospitals by utilizing its own financial resources, medical related, and management proficiency personnel.At current, the HCA still utilizes this whole operating strategy. The HCA controlledits advanced business practice. After selling its non-hospital business and the other facilities that did not resemble with its strategy, HCA is still persistent to focus on the providing of high quality healthcare. The company also has some weaknesses including its negative past and spoiled public image that included charges of the fraud, which headed to the federal government investigations. Over the years, the organization’s strengths have mostly remained same, except the fact that HCA does not provide the spacious amount of required services.The HCA mad e a clever choice to focus on only giving the hospital services in order to increase its quality and not to be putteringthemselves in other industries. The HCA still is known for its previous corruption, but still remains the prominent firm in the hospital industry. C. The Case of HCA 1. The HCA’s core capabilities consist of the greater patient care and its functioning strategy it that has been using for many years. It’s other core capabilitiesare includesthe financial resources, medical background, and the management proficiency.These competencies build the value for the company by specializing in the removal of excess capacity and the gratitude of the economies of scale. The HCA’s organizational resources add the unique value for the firm. In 1968, the HCA was founded and they operated under aunited cost leadership/differentiation business-level strategy. There was achance in the hospital industry to create the low cost services with differentiated qualities, and this is what HCA desired to implement in their system. The HCA was able to adapt quickly to the new technologies and fast changes that arose in the external environment of the HCA.The company focused on two resources of competitive advantages-cost and the differentiation in various aspects. The HCA establisheda strong network with physicians and with other healthcare practices under this strategy (HCA, 2011). 2. The HCA’s arepurchase of many small rural hospitals and the opposing investor-owned health care companies created a positive return on the firm’s invested capital in market. The HCA acquired these health care facilities in the faith of revolving them into the most profitable hospitals and control the industry for that specific region of state.There were problems of the recruiting in small rural hospitals, but HCA’s investments in the equipment and facility renovation have signified improved the firm’s ability to gain the support from small ru ral physicians. The external factors, such as the great unemployment in the certain or various locations and in the farming communities affected the purchasing of said facilities. The acquired hospitals constantly had the small staff in contrast with their competitors. However, the HCA focused on modification of the bed size. The acquired hospitals also had a good amount of oard-certified experts in comparison with their competitors. The HCA focused on main renovations and developments for the acquired hospitals for the creation of financial economies. 3. The HCA used both horizontal and vertical integration for the cultivation of mergers and acquisitions. The Columbian &HCA had such an acquisition strategy in place and the purchasing facilities and in building new facilities that prohibited its offers to purchase. In the firm’s own integration strategy, the company simply acquiredthe physician practices where HCA were not steadfastin its investments.The company fixed admissi on goals for the acquiring of physicians. The company then owned the coarsely 2,700 medical practices, and these acquisitions then began purchases by nonprofit competitors. 4. The HCA did not aspect too much integration because of its management proficiency. The company established a working strategy to obtain its goal and to succeed in gaining market authority. However, the management appeared to be too focus on the acquisitions and obtaining total power, which landed the company in such trouble that, consisted of a federal investigation for fraud.The company had lost focus on the point of quality of service. The firm also had become too huge due to acquisitions. Before the downfall of the Columbia/HCA, it had 2,700 medical practices, many of which were the non-hospital practices (Goldsmith, 1998). The HCA soon understood that the focusing on size was not really a good strategy for the success path. Overall, the HCA was between the 60% of failures in the merger/acquisition strategy . The merger with Columbia and the hostility to go into the several acquisitions was one of the reasons of HCA’s downfall. III. My Impressions of the CaseThe HCA had a great operating standard of the concentrating on patient care, but they lost focus by pushy to control the health care industry. Their business-level strategy primarily started off well but some are developed into one that only attentive on profitability of success of the company. The company soon lost sight of the main goal of satisfying the customer to achievethe value for the company. The HCA focused on the developing acquisitions and mergers to gain more profitability and variation in market. This caused the company to enlarge beyond its ethical operating means.It took the benefit of integration systems in order to take over the industry. This case revealed how a firm can negatively and positively usesthe acquisitions, mergers, and leverage buyouts. Overall, this case was one of a decent case to transmit to Chapters 4, 6, and 7 of the text. References Hitt, M. , R. Hoskisson, D. Ireland. (2012). Strategic management: Competitiveness & globalization. (10E ed. ) Mason, OH: South-Western,Cengage Learning. Montague Brown, Ph. D. (April 1, 1992). Physicians and Management in Health Care. Jones and Bartlett Learning. April 1, 1992.Jeff Goldsmith. (1998). Perspective: Columbia/HCA: A Failure Of Leadership. Health Affairs, 17, no. 2 (1998):27-29. Retrieved November 21 2012 from: http://content. healthaffairs. org/content/17/2/27. full. pdf HCA Holdings, Inc. (2011). Our History. Retrieved November 21 2012 from: http://hcahealthcare. com/about/our-history. dot McCosh, Jonathan G. (2003). A Strategic Analysis of the Hospital Industry and HCA Incorporated. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship. Retrieved November 21 2012 from: http://www. highbeam. com/doc/1P3-1178660521. html

McDonald’s in British

The UK is the largest European market for fast-food, probably because the market is more developed than in other European countries. McDonald's first British unit opened in Woolwich, London, in 1974. Its growth from the first restaurant was dramatic. At the end of 1999, it had over 1,000 outlets in the UK, of which 302 were run by franchisees. McDonald's employed over 48,000 people; a further 16,500 worked in its franchises. The total sales from both its company owned restaurants and its franchised outlets reached  £400 million and it catered for 2.5 million people a day. By the end of the twentieth century, McDonald's logo was no longer confined to the high streets but extended to leisure centres and retail parks as well as airports and cross-Channel ferries. McDonald's has gone beyond this by opening its own motorway service station called McDonald's Services which it opened on the M5 in Devon in 1999. In February 2001 McDonald's bought a 33 per cent stake in Prà ªt à   Manger. McDonald's dominates the chained fast-food sector both in terms of company and brand terms, taking a share, by value, of 52 per cent n 1999. Together McDonald's and Burger King had 73 per cent of the market in 1999. In a busy world where one does not even have time to change out of his work clothes to spend â€Å"quality† time with his or her daughter, McDonald's is there to help. The food is necessary to have the fun and companionship, but what the food consists of is irrelevant. Love (1995) points out that as McDonald's started to expand in the late 1960s it realized that to cultivate a national mass market, it needed to develop a media campaign that focused on the family rather than the product and price. When McDonald's returned to their complete American menu, altered their buildings to be more similar to their American architecture, and modified their ad campaigns to â€Å"food, folks, and fun,† – the myths of hard work and leisure, Americana and American culture and consensus – did their work. In Britain the McDonald's ads proclaimed,   â€Å"The United Tastes of America.† In the UK, adverts were aimed in the middle of the biggest market, the family segment. If children wanted to have fun at McDonald's, their parents would take them, and they would be McDonald's customers for life. From my perspective, the McDonald's success is based upon its ability to tell a story, a story that does not make sense from a logical perspective but rather from an aesthetic one. The story has coherence and fidelity and helps one solve his or her problem through the purchase and possession of commodities. McDonald's is successful not through the components of a rational system that includes efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control, but through its advertising campaign that hails each of us to come in and buy its product of â€Å"food, folks, and fun,† to come in and fulfil our American dream. Although most Americans would not consider McDonald's to make the â€Å"best† hamburger in their home towns, McDonald's is hugely successful on an international basis. One does not go to McDonald's expecting the best hamburger in town. One goes to McDonald's expecting the image. McDonald's success is due to their creation of a narrative that is not necessarily true but rather provides us with a sense of personal identity, a sense of community life, a basis for conduct, and explanations of that which cannot be known. Labour shortages encourage fast-food employers to alter their work systems in ways that minimize the demand for labour through reorganization or technological change. Subway Sandwiches supplies franchisees with pre-portioned sandwich ingredients from centralized food preparation plants; McDonald's has experimented with robotic french fry makers, automated touch-screen ordering machines, and automatic electronic payment systems for cashless drive-through service. McDonald's also expects its new â€Å"Made for You† food preparation system to reduce employee turnover and provide some labour savings. Before the imposition of the minimum wage McDonald's employees worked in the regions under 18 started on  £3.25 per hour and those over 18 started on  £3.50 per hour. In the UK McDonald's has three separate pay ‘scales' for inner London, outer London and the provinces and it has both under-18 and over-18 starting rates. In fact McDonald's increased its UK pay rates again by a flat rate of 10 pence on 28 March 1999 to bring the over-18 starting rate to  £3.60 outside London. Something like 70 per cent of McDonald's UK employees are under 21, and approximately 30 per cent are under 18. In October 1999 McDonald's was the last of the leading fast-food chains to remove the youth rate for under 18s. In 2000 McDonald's increased its minimum rate outside London to  £3.75, once again probably in response to the small increase in the minimum wage for that year of  £3.70. Figures from IDS (2001) suggest that McDonald's does not pay the lowest wages in the sector: it actually appears somewhere in the middle compared with other companies. However, its dominance in the market place undoubtedly has a constraining effect on wages amongst its competitors. The evidence at the McLibel trial also confirms this. Vidal (1997:312) states that the judge commented that: â€Å"the British McDonald's operation pays low wages and it depresses wages for other workers in the industry.† Of course McDonald's has been increasingly involved in the acquisition of other companies in recent years. In the UK the purchase of the Aroma coffee chain and more recently Prà ªt à   Manger may signal a new corporate strategy. In any case the relatively small number of restaurants in Europe compared with that in the US suggests that the European market is likely to experience a lot more expansion in future, although McDonald's is already the market leader in the UK. The UK McDonald's is, as in many other countries, expanding rapidly and becoming an increasingly important feature of modern employment. Although the majority of outlets in the sector are independent operations, it is the chain operations often owned by large multinationals which are the most profitable and which are driving growth. It is a highly competitive industry and labour costs are a large percentage of the overall costs of the business. It is hardly surprising therefore that there is likely to be a continual and persistent downward pressure on wages and conditions in this sector. Bibliography IDS. 2001, â€Å"The national minimum wage in pubs and restaurants†, Incomes Data Services, March: 1-8. Love J. F. 1995, McDonald’s: Behind the arches. New York: Bantam. Vidal, J. 1997, McLibel: Burger Culture on Trial, London: Macmillan.   

Business Model and Strategic Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Model and Strategic Plan - Essay Example Through this combo-meal product, the larger number of consumers can be enticed to try out the new Starbucks product. A significant amount of advertising would have to be included in this strategy in order to inform the target population of the new product (Cravens and Piercy, 2008). These advertising can simply come in the form of posters displayed in front of the Starbucks stores, and made visible to everyone. Advertisements would also have to be taken out in newspapers, magazines, and the social media. Television advertisements would also help inform a larger population about the new Starbucks product (Cravens and Piercy, 2008). The advertisement would also have to emphasize on the uniqueness of the new product for Starbucks, and all the perks and benefits it can offer the clients. It is important for the new product to stand apart from other combo-meals of other business establishments (Rust, et.al., 2004). The advertisement can present a variety of combination meals of sandwiches and coffee for the customers to choose from. The advertisement can also appeal immediately to individual consumer tastes, including the vegetarians, the vegans, or those who have cultural preferences in their meals. The bottom line of the advertisements is that the new product for Starbucks is one which serves the needs of the consumers satisfactorily (Rust, et.al., 2004). It is also important to test the new product and its viability in the market. This can be done through research. A research can be carried out covering the possible target population. This target population would be invited to Starbucks and would be invited to test the new product. Posters of the new product would be displayed outside the stores (Zeithaml, et.al., 2006). The research would note if the respondents would opt for the combo meal, and what type of meal they would choose. Feedback on the quality and the value for money

Napoleon Bonaparte Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Napoleon Bonaparte - Research Paper Example This research paper describes life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Many historians appreciate and acknowledge Napoleon as one of the best and great men of all time. He was ruler of the French who strengthened and institutionalized a lot of restructuring of the French Revolution, that occurred during 1789 to 1799. Napoleon, even today, is considered to be one of the best military commanders of all time. This research pape is very well-structured and divided in 6 parts. The researche focuses most on describing Napoleon Bonaparte’s place in history, explores his controversial status as a hero or a villain, described Napoleon Bonaparte's years at St. Bernard and also deeply analyzed the biggest mistake in his life - the Russian Campaign. In this research paper full presentation on the Russian Campaign is given. It mentiones some important facts, such as Napoleon's confidence that he would win, the number of troops he had, war strategies that was used both by him and by Russians and his defeat. In conclusion of this research paper, author states that without the changes that Napoleon brought into effect in many countries, these nations might still be in the national devastation that they were prior to Napoleon taking over. The French revolution aroused and floated new ideas pertaining to parity, justice, liberty, and the very nature of social contact. Author concludes that the heroic efforts of Napoleon not only in battle, but also in the French society as a result of the French revolution should be remembered forever.

Amazon (Kindle Fire) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Amazon (Kindle Fire) - Research Paper Example In order for it to stay at the top in its sales, more needs to be done to obtain competitive advantage that is essential to get rid of any competition in the prospect. Comparing with the rest of the firms, Kind Fire presents a gap of about $300 for a similar commodity, thus, allowing customers to enjoy significant sales from its target markets. The gap exists because the other firms seek to sell their commodities at $499 while Kind Fire sells its commodity at $199. From the recent market results, Kind Fire has hit a sale of five million in the period terminating on December 2011 although Amazon has already resolved to stop working for this company. In comparison, the market leaders Apple Inc. sold at eleven million for their iPad in the last quarter, thus, presenting an undefeatable upper hand. According to the CEO of Amazon, the company aimed at realizing smaller profits from these devices although in its capacity as the retail company has resolved to dwell in smaller margins a fact ors that only few electronic firms would manage. Comparing to other firms, Kind Fire from Amazon Inc. has revealed excellent pricing strategies, through price elasticity in order, to keep sales high above most influential firms in the sector. According to most analysts, Amazon has not much interest in obtaining a gap in the tablet device market rather it views it as an opportunity to develop into the market for the digital world and make use of the vast opportunities that exist within the target market (Rohida 1). The firm has the chance to present its services to Kind Fire similar to their tests concerning the digital content. In order to realize these objectives, Kind Fire and Amazon have used price as the tool for entering into the market. Price is considered to determine the purchases that occur within the digital and electronic markets. With the emergence of Apple Inc. and other firms that market commodities such as the iPad, the world has presented demand for the commodity alt hough the prices do not favor the customers. Unless a marketer manages to offer his or her product an edge over the competitor’s commodity, only little sales can be realized. Therefore, marketers ought to give their firms an edge over the competitors in order to acquire competitive advantage that serves to augment the sales of firms that manage to establish one. Pricing strategies are offered on various grounds through consideration of different concepts such as the target market, demand, assortment of products offered and the commodity life cycle (Roth 2). Pricing strategies assists the marketer in realizing his or her pricing objective. Therefore, the pricing objective that a marketer prefers assists in the creation of the best pricing strategy. Both the pricing objectives and pricing strategies are guided by the business plan that a certain firm places in the business environment (Roth 2). Selection of a pricing objective precedes the determination of the best pricing stra tegy for the firm. Kindle Fire utilizes the penetration pricing strategy in which the firm seeks to obtain entry into the market environment, especially if there are other already established firms with a similar product. The aim of utilizing this pricing strategy is to attract customers into purchasing products from the new market entrant and improve the market share of that firm (Roth 5). In case the anticipated extents of the

What are the important milestones for executing business Essay

What are the important milestones for executing business - Essay Example The strategic plan is described as what gives specifications and directions to the execution of a strategy. It positions the business within the context of the segmented market created. All the individuals involved in the execution of the business strategy must also be involved in the planning stage to ensure that they understand the various elements of the strategy (Freeman, p79). This becomes critical in seeking to enhance the implementation process for the executive strategic plan. Involving the participants not only ensures they understand the plan but also accept the plan by perceiving it as something that they own. When the strategic planning approach is undertaken in the form of questions, answering these questions provides a comprehensive understanding of both the concept and the business as well. Once these have been understood the various milestones which should be achieved can be clearly identified, and solutions to these milestones developed and incorporated within the strategic plan. This article provides a clear discussion of the strategic planning process by explaining the steps involved in the process and the questions which one should seek to answer through

Is mass media a cause of moral decline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Is mass media a cause of moral decline - Essay Example Mass media have enjoyed the limelight for the benefits that it has brought to the society to a point that its failures have been overlooked. The failures range from poor coverage of content and negative exposure to moral decadence in the society; where moral decadence is crucial. As a result, it is essential to evaluate mass media in order to ascertain whether it is a cause of moral decline in our society. Mass media have contributed largely to the decadence of morality in the society due to its role in lowering religious tolerance. As such, mass media have continuously portrayed the differences found within different religious groups and drawn criticisms towards them. This has led to increased hostility amongst different religious groups and religions since mass media draw a line between them. This creates the illusion that none of the religions can coexist peacefully without getting into each other’s business and without pointing out their differences. ... A large portion of the population spends a large amount of time watching television or interaction with other forms of mass media. This is the same mass media that is indiscriminate in its programming, where it portrays popular culture, in which sexual promiscuity and people are idolized. It is this idolization that is killing the sense of guilt and morality in people especially children as there is not much they understand (Wilson, 2008). They are more into taking that which they are exposed to as the gospel truth, as opposed to choosing that which is right and leaving out the rest. In addition, mass media over the internet provides easy access to inappropriate content in the form of pornography, which affects the behavior of people and their perception of the world and others (Wilson, 2008). This is in the case where one becomes hyper sensitive to sexual content that he or she thinks and perceives real life events on a sexual perspective. As a result, there is increased possibility of sexual crimes since pornography is glorified in mass media leading to rapes and abortions in pregnant women; proving that mass media has considerable influence towards moral decadence. Moreover, mass media present strong content relating to violence and aggressive behavior, which affects the development and control of emotions in people (Wilson, 2008). In this case, mass media, especially television and video games show increased instances of violence, which may be helpful for the individuals watching them. However, the intended benefits do not entirely manifest themselves in the people but instead manifest a negative consequence of moral decadence. This is because instead of creating an avenue for the release of negative

Action Research - Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Action Research - - Assignment Example I have gained confidence while in class. I find duty delegation to be one of my strongholds in managing students. I have constantly built on this vice without considering the credibility of my objectives. However, some of my classes have been affected by late arrival of students, murmuring among students and absenteeism. In my career as a teacher, I am perplexed by fact that teachers are expected to effectively manage classroom arrangement which is independent of good student behavior but due to poor planning. Classroom arrangement requires that the teacher observe all the students at ago and monitor their behavior and work. It also demands that teacher must see the door while in his or her desk. Furthermore, teachers should make sure that frequently used areas are easily accessible and unobstructed. In addition, common classroom materials such as student reference materials and attendance pads should be availed. As if to make it worse, the students should be able to see the teacher without movement and undue turning. Furthermore, setting the expectation of students and periodically talking to them is very difficult. In addition, monitoring the degree by which students comply with school rules and regulations is one of the irritating outcomes as a teacher. The use of teacher led instructions and explaining school wide regulations is a source of irritation. What can I do about it? Again and again I get angry about the fact that students are held accountable for their performance and work. In addition, I get angry by the fact that focus of students is centered on academic purpose while learning is considered as the core purpose of students’ effort. As a teacher, if there is disruptive behavior like fighting, possession of drugs continuous lesson interruption stealing in my class and later actions taken in accordance to the school rules and

The Battle as the Main Substance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Battle as the Main Substance - Assignment Example The following are the arguments that support this position. The battle analysis method was developed by the US Army Command and General Staff College to provide a format by which any military professional may find insight from historical battles and campaigns, in order to help deepen his or her understanding of warfare. It is intended to be a general guide for military personnel to ensure that significant actions or factors that affect the outcome of a battle or military operation are not overlooked (University of Southern Mississippi ROTC, p. 51). It is comprised of the following checklist: First, define the subject. This involves determining what, where, when, who and why about the study that is being undertaken. It is important to ascertain the date of the battle, its location, and the adversaries involved. This step involves looking for good sources of information such as books, articles, the Internet, and so forth. Second, set the stage (review the setting). From the mass of data, the information is reduced to the essentials among which are the strategic factors, the operational settings, and the tactical situation. In the latter, it is helpful to be guided by the OAKOC (observation and fields of fire, avenues of approach, key and decisive terrain, obstacles, and cover and concealment). Thirdly, describe the action. This step in the battle analysis is the main substance of what people consider military history. The battle should be studied chronologically, with the importance of progression of events derived in the analysis. First, the opening moves of the opposing forces in the battle should be examined, to determine which side gained the early advantage over the other. Detail should then be drawn for the major phases and the key events and decisions that turned the battle in favor of either side. Finally, the outcome should be stated: which party won the battle; what the objective was and whether the objective was attained or not; and what the long-term repercussions of the battle had been. Fourth, draw lessons learned (assess the significance). Lastly, the significance of the encounter should be assessed. This comprises the most important aspect of battle analysis. In this step, the information derived about the action is analyzed to yield important lessons for t he future. It involves relating causes of why something happened, to the effects of these events. The insights derived therein called the â€Å"constants of war† form part of the timeless lessons useful in future encounters (USM-ROTC, n.d.).  

Communication in Early Childhood Essay Example for Free

Communication in Early Childhood Essay Communication is the most important factor for young children’s learning and social development. Humans have the unique skills of language and speech to enable the sharing of information, knowledge and feelings with others. Early childhood educators have an important job to nurture and support the development of communication in children. Communication skills are required in order to deliver the right message and convey it properly to the child. These involve body languages and facial expression. Without this, an educator loses the connection with a young child since one appears to be cold. As an example, when one smiles while delivering the message, the child will be more interested with what you have to offer in contrast to a stern look. Listening skills are those that are used in obtaining information and messages from others. It is imperative that you have the ability to receive feedback from the child so that you may know their needs. It helps to understand what a person thinks and feels and hence to understand the child closely. Skills for managing the process of communication will help the educator in recognising information required and developing a strong hold on the rules of interaction and communication (MacCallion, 1988). Communication has been described as the process where information is transmitted from one person to another. This includes the use of both verbal and non-verbal means to convey a message. Non-verbal communication includes facial expression as well as body language. Good communication skills involve listening, reading, writing and speaking. An early childhood educator deals with children between the ages of birth and 8years. It is at this age when the child learns to relate with others as well as society. Good communication skills are therefore essential for early childhood educators as they may influence the relationship between the teacher and children (Hubley, 1993). Teaching involves sending and receiving information from the students. Good communications skills will encourage the students to participate in the teaching process. This helps portray school as a place where the students can share ideas as well as relate with society. At this early age, most of the children perceive school as a place that separates them from their family. It is likely that most of the children at this age will prefer to stay at home rather than attend school. Good communication skills will help encourage students to appreciate school as a place of learning as well as a place they can express their own ideas (Joram, 1998). Good communication skills are essential in early childhood education. This is because at this age the child is learning how to express themselves both verbally and non-verbally. Children develop communication skills by exploring, sharing and interacting with adults through their own environment. According to recent studies, children at this age learn by observing how their parents and caretakers behave. It is therefore essential that the educator has good communication skills as this will affect how the children express themselves and learn in the future (knott, 1979). The main aim of early childhood education is to encourage academic, emotional and physical growth. However at this age the learning abilities of a child are not fully developed. In a recent study the concentration span of an adult is below 15 minutes while that of a child is less than 5 minutes. This means that the educator has to find ways to engage the child to maintain a longer concentration span. This involves the use of illustrations as well as demonstration that help capture the interest of the child. Good communication skills are essential in aiding the educators’ ability to maintain the child’s concentration span (Joram, 1998). Early childhood education involves the use of play as the mode of education. This is important in nurturing the child’s development as well as learning. Good communication skills are essential in providing an environment where the children feel free to play with each other as well as participate in the class activities. Play involves participation by the children as well the educator. It is essential for the early childhood educator to be able to create a nurturing environment where the child is confident to interact with others and express themselves. The role of the educator does not solely lie in teaching but also protecting  the child in the absence of their parents. The educator should promote the child’s wellbeing both at school and home. As an example an early childhood educator may notice that children are not interested in the book corner yet all the children enjoy story time and also enjoy looking through the books afterwards, however they will not look at the books in the designated area. With further observation and interaction with the children, it is discovered the children have a fear of the photo of a clown that is hanging above the book corner. Good communication skills cannot be ignored in providing an environment where the child feels able to express their fears openly. Listening, observing and interacting are a key role in enhancing good communication skills (Robinson, 2007). It is essential that the educator observes the children playing before participating in the play themselves. This helps the teacher understand the strengths and weaknesses of the children. It also helps the teacher avoid imposing adult ideas in the children’s play. Observation is a key aspect in developing good communication skills. It is through observation that the educator is able to take an initiative role. This means coming up with new ideas or processes that are based on the children’s ideas (McCarthy, 1996). Good communication skills can enable a teacher to organise parent teacher conferences which provide the opportunity for teacher and parents to discuss developmental skills, children’s work and to plan for future learning experiences. The educator can also engage the young child in cooperative learning where children complete a project or task. Pairs work best in kindergartens. The tasks are in such a way that success of the performance is based on the pair rather than the individual. A good educator should therefore be able to ensure that communication is established in such learning experiences (Wubbels, 1992). Use of illustrations has been shown to build the imagination of a child immensely. Good communications skills emphasis on the power of expressing yourself not only by facial and gestures but also employing other teaching materials such as illustrations. By illustrating sections of a story or particular events, children can improve their interpretation and  comprehension. Children employ responses and personal understanding when they see story characters visually. This develops a child’s imagination and the ability to visualise and interpret printed and spoken information (Hubley, 1993). The importance of communication cannot be stressed further when it comes to early childhood education. Communication skills are core of almost all activities that are practiced at this early age which dictates the type of person that one will grow to. Neither can the importance of communication skills be neglected or ignored. Effective communication promotes the interest and needs of the young child. The child will show interest only if the teacher is loaded with gestures, confidence and softness. Improving of the communication skills have been shown to bring about a tight bond between the childhood educator and the child. The most important aspects of life are greatly influenced by good communication skills. This leads to respectful and meaningful relationships between the educator and child. In order to feel and have the bliss of healthy emotions at home, there is a need to develop communication skills when it comes to children. Some educators are not worried when it comes to communication and therefore emotional attachments are rare. Emotions connect human beings in a complex fashion. It is therefore paramount that early childhood educators acquire good skills of communication to ensure that the young brain is able to gather as much as possible and express as much. In doing so, the young child would be able to learn more and the literacy and learning capability levels of the general population could reach unimaginable levels. Reference List MacCallion, M. (1998). The Voice Book. London, UK: Faber Faber. Hubley, J. (1993) . Communication Health. London, UK: Macmillan. Joram, E. (1998). Transforming obstacles into opportunity. Teaching and teacher education, 14 (2), 175-191. doi:10. 1016/S0742-051X(97)00035-8 Knott, P. (1979). Nonverbal Communication during Early Childhood. Communicating with Young Children 18 (4) 226-233 http://www. jstor. org/stable/1476648 Robinson, M. (2007). Child Development and Behaviour 0-8: A Journey through the Early Years. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press. McCarthy, P (1996). Speaking Persuasively. Sydney: Allen Unwin.

Method of data analysis Essay Example for Free

Method of data analysis Essay Thematic analysis was used to make meaningful deductions from the documented raw data. In thematic analysis, a concept is chosen for examination, and the analysis involves noting the frequency of its presence in the whole interview, and finding interrelations among the themes identified. The focus is at the occurrence of selected terms within a text or texts, although the terms may be implicit as well as explicit. While explicit terms obviously are easy to identify, coding for implicit terms and deciding their level of implication is complicated by the need to base judgments on a somewhat subjective system (Patton 2002). Simply put, the researcher read the documented surveys, and analyzed the inter-linkages of these responses. When responses are not explicit, inter-judge validation was used, with another researcher agreeing on the category under which the response may be grouped. The meaning and interpretation of each response was noted, and related to the organization’s overall profile. In this sense and taken as a holistic approach, the data from the chosen institution may be considered as a case study. Methodological Limitations The study also has methodological limitations. First, it did not make use of any other quantitative measure to study the phenomenon apart from qualitative procedure of thematic analysis (Patton 2002). Second, there was only one participant institution, Elfed and its responses may not be reflective of the population it represents (Zikmund 1997). It may be worth noting that the goal of the study is to generalize about the phenomenon across schools; thus, the use of participants from a cross-section of different learning institutions. Third, there were some time constraints on the part of both interviewer and interviewees, which may be a factor in the length of their responses or the duration of the interview. Had there been more time, more probing questions and more data may have been gathered. Moreover, since the study has been limited to an UK-based school, its conclusions may not be able to create a comprehensive generalization to other countries or regions. This is especially true when cultural and economic factors are taken into consideration. Biases in the responses may have occurred since the only source of primary data is the knowledge and perception of the interviewee. The respondent may not be so honest with their answers and express only what is socially desirable, especially because they were ‘carrying’ the name of their school. Logically, they would not want to put the school in a bad light. In addition, since the interviews were conducted at the place of work, the respondents may not be at ease in answering the questions. In effect, their responses may not be as candid or as honest (Denzin Lincoln 2000). Results and Discussion For this part of the study, the results gathered from both the interview and the focus group discussions will be presented in this part of the study. In addition to this, the results will be evaluated and examined with the literature presented in the review of related literature to gather any existing relationships or occurrences within the data gathered. For the first part of this section, the results of the focus group discussion will be presented and will be discussed.

Effect of Knowledge Sharing on Personal and Cultural Factors

Effect of Knowledge Sharing on Personal and Cultural Factors Theory of Knowledge With reference to two areas of knowledge discuss the way in which shared knowledge can shape personal knowledge. In this essay, we are faced with the question as to how shared knowledge can shape personal knowledge. Can the world be improved every time each individual contributes his own knowledge for the benefit of someone else? Is knowledge sharing the key to success? Initially, I will provide definitions of key-notions for better understanding of the difference between shared knowledge and personal knowledge, which is summarized by what â€Å"I know† and what â€Å"we know†. According to the Oxford Dictionaries, knowledge is defined as â€Å"facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject†[1]. Personal knowledge is not certainly the same as community knowledge. What an individual knows or how an individual makes knowledge and what community knows are different matters. Personal knowledge is the knowledge acquired through observation or personal experiences by an individual[2]. Shared knowledge is the knowledge shared between people who exchange through information, skills, or expertise[3]. These definitions are neither the correct, nor only definitions of these terms. The classic general example would be with a patient that has a problem with his leg, where the surgeon would want to operate, the pharmacist would want to medicate, the physiotherapist would want to exercise the musco-skeletal system, the priest would pray and so on. Each of them would take its own approach based on his background and shared knowledge held by profession. However, knowledge sharing encompasses not only the sharing of â€Å"great things†, but equally the sharing of â€Å"little things† with the intention of improving the way things get done.[4] Natural Sciences and History provide plenty of examples which show unique study of the past and influence the present. To begin with, can we use a scientific method to develop personal knowledge from shared knowledge? Darwin’s famed evolutionary theories in On the Origin of Species, where the notion that all life is related and descended from a common ancestor: the birds and the bananas, the fishes and the flowers, all are related. The organism’s genetic code is altered as the genes mutate, of which the beneficial mutations remain because they ensure survival, a process called â€Å"natural selection†. Survival and adaption is determined by natural selection. Darwin’s theory became a theory in crisis in light of the tremendous advances made in molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics over the years. Thus shared knowledge led Darwin to concede that â€Å"if it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down†[5]. DNA testing reveals our genetic make-up and, along with genetics, is a means of helping scientists to establish reasoni ng behind how species have originated from a common ancestor. The Human Genome Project, through its sequencing of the DNA, can help us understand diseases including viruses and appropriate treatment, identification of different forms of cancer, the design of medication and their effects, advances in forensic and applied sciences, biofuels and other energy applications, agriculture, livestock breeding, bioprocessing; risk assessment, bioarcheology, anthropology, evolution. It becomes clear that knowledge is perishable, increasingly short lived and to get most things done you need to share with people to achieve your objectives[6]. On the other hand, for centuries people believed that life was created from elements and not from eggs, seeds or other ways of reproduction. The first to believe in this theory was Aristotle who based his thinking on the studies that Anaximander and Hippolytus had previously made and said that life came spontaneously like mud and earth when exposed to sunlight. The theory of the spontaneity of life continued to be believed for thousands of years after Aristotle until 1877, when Louis Pasteur proved that this theory was wrong. He showed that it was not possible for maggots to appear on meat in a sealed container[7]. Pasteur demonstrated that fermentation occurs through the growth of micro-organisms and the emergent growth of bacteria is due to biogenesis (all life from life). Thus the â€Å"personal knowledge† of difference is changing which then affects the whole group/the shared knowledge. Although truth is an objective requirement for knowledge, belief is a subjective requirement for it. Reason gives us greater certainty than perception or belief. What we often hear is said that science has proved something. â€Å"Every scientist knows that science advances only if knowledge is shared†, said Dr. Walt Warnick[8] . If scientific knowledge is not shared, then research may not be done accurately. It is better if scientists share their opinions and thoughts in order to progress and succeed in finding new aspects in several different fields. Every single scientist has to have the incentive to share, use and improve his judgment, disclose ideas or being open to everything is more correct. Scientific progress needs a background of careful observation and imagination plays an important role in the development of new scientific ideas. Thus, part of Copernicus’ genius was that while he saw what everyone else saw when he looked at the night sky, he came up with a di fferent way of looking at it, although this idea did not catch on when the Greek astronomer Aristarchus had suggested that the earth goes round the sun as early as the third century BC . Hence, the vast majority of our knowledge is neither personal nor individual but it is knowledge shared with the rest of the knowledge of the community. Despite the success of the natural sciences we need to keep in mind that they do not have a monopoly for knowledge. â€Å"History is but the register of human crimes and misfortunes† said Voltaire. History seeks to reconstruct past on the basis of evidence that can be found in the present. History is knowledge and â€Å"those who don’t study the past are condemned to repeat it† (George Santayana). The emerging concept of knowledge democracy addresses the relationships between knowledge production and distribution of knowledge. Although the Athenian democracy was based on open deliberation and voting and recognized this as a distinctive way of gaining knowledge about the world and acting upon that knowledge, it was depended also on the willingness of the citizen participants to accept the implicit assumptions they lived by, and the information on the basis of which they cast their votes. Athenian political culture was based on collective opinion rather than on cer tain knowledge and on the assumption that opinion could be translated on practical reality through democratic political process[9]. Thucydides developed what the world described as historical knowledge and he was supported by the majority of Athenians. Thus the personal knowledge of each Athenian became shared knowledge of all the Athenians and vice versa the shared knowledge of the majority of Athenians became personal knowledge of each one of them. History is not simply concerned with describing the past and explaining it. The study of history is something that can give us good judgment about human affairs. On the other hand, history, as a shared knowledge, is a defence against propaganda. One of the best known examples of the abuse of history is from the Stalinist era in the former Soviet Union and the propaganda within Nazi Germany. Communist propaganda in the Soviet Union was based on the Marxist-Leninist ideology to promote the Communist party. Propaganda was part of education, broadcast by any means possible from schools to cinema, with a goal to build a society on the basis of common ownership of the means of production, where the society would be completely under the control of the state. Propaganda is the art of persuasion and Joseph Goebbels was in charge in Nazi Germany of Hitler. His role was to control and censor information available to the German population that could subject the Nazi party to any hostile or damaging opinions. This meant that the pro-Nazi information broadcast to the public was ever more persuasive in nature. Hitler managed to convince 70 million rational people to engage in horrible atrocities and wage war against the world using his speeches and propaganda[10]. Thus history, which is shared knowledge, is concerned with the past and one obvious problem with trying to know the past is that it no longer exists. History is based on primary sources, but since they are selective interpretation of events they cannot always be taken at face value[11] since memory, emotion, sense perception, reason, faith, belief,language play an important role. In conclusion, what are the implications of this shared knowledge for one’s own individual knowledge? Personal experience, vision and inspiration can contribute to shared knowledge when that personal knowledge is communicated to and accepted by the community as it happened with Copernicus’ or Louis Pasteur’s theories. It could also be argued that the relationship between shared and personal knowledge is bi-directional and inseparable. But, shared knowledge of democracy shaped the personal knowledge of each Athenian. History of one’s own nation might give deeper understanding of one’s own past. Day- to- day work of scientists working within the â€Å"paradigm† has made scientists more aware and more receptive to the evolution of the scientific views, as Thomas Kuhn claimed. However, propaganda during Stalinist or Nazi era show that â€Å"paradigm† shifts are more likely in loose shared knowledge and may cause the total controversy of the world.[12] 1 [1] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/knowledge [2] http://thelawdictionary.org/personal-knowledge/ [3] Frost, Alan.Knowledge Sharing. KMT. Retrieved 17 April 2013.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_sharing) [4]  http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/ksculture [5] Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics p.35 [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project [7] http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-most-famous-scientific-theories-that-turned-out-to-be-wrong.php [8] http://www.osti.gv/home/ostiblog/knowledge-investment-curve-0 [9] http://web.stanford.edu/group/dispersed_author/docs/ThucydidesCriticism.pdf [10] http://brainblogger.com/2008/11/04/hitlers-guide-to-propaganda-the-psychology-of-coercion/ [11] Theory of Knowledge. Richard van de Lagemaat,p.320 [12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kuhn

Development of a Character :: Personal Narrative Essay Example

Development of a Character This past summer, I attended Interlochen Arts Camp as a Shakespeare Theatre Production Major. Wishing to further hone the knowledge I had gained during my previous summer at IAC, I auditioned for Advanced Acting Studio, and was accepted. During the eight week session, one primary focus of the class was on the different "energies" used in acting for the creation and development of a character. Our introduction to these energies seemed simple - we went outside, and were told to walk in any direction at our normal speed and rhythm, using the shade of a large tree as a boundary. Then, as we were walking, Cindy, one of our three directors explained, "There are six different major types of energy used in acting - percussive, vibratory, suspended, swing, collapsed, and sustained. These energies not only apply to acting, but to life in general." As we walked, she described them, saying that some would feel very natural to us, while others might feel alien, even frightening. In turn, the twelve of us transformed our entire beings to mimic these descriptions: Percussive. . . . Kate was naturally percussive. Her movements came like bursts of energy, lots of short little fuses that were being burnt at intervals with no apparent rhythm. Even the way she spoke was joyfully random and unexpected. Instead of just standing up when she was called on, she would leap from her chair. The next energy we explored was vibratory. Vibratory is similar to percussive, but where as percussive is made up of seemingly random spurts of energy, vibratory is a constant flow of repetitive, rhythmic beats. Jeff was vibratory. His feet would tap the ground while his fingers drummed on the arms of his chair and his upper body swayed back and forth to this constant drum-roll. Before I met Michael, I would have associated suspended with an upper class snob. Suspended people can have an air of being taller than the rest of us, chins tilted up wards, eyes gazing down at the people below, their entire being having the sense of being pulled upward. Yet Michael was suspended without being imperious or haughty. He simply had very good posture, and an air of confidence that is so crucial in a performer. He was a dancer, and gave the impression of floating across the ground as he walked.

Human Imperfection Illustrated in Frosts Poem, After Apple Picking Ess

The poem â€Å"After Apple Picking† by Robert Frost expresses the feelings of the narrator during and after the process of harvesting apples by showing the sustainability and ambition of human spirit. Frost’s poem is an accurate reflection of life and of human imperfection through the use of repetition, literal and figurative language and various symbols. The repeated use of the word â€Å"sleep† resonates throughout the poem and suggests that the narrator is experiencing fatigue and weariness, â€Å"I am drowsing off / I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight / Upon my way to sleep before it fell / My instep arch not only keeps the ache / [Woodchuck]’s sleep† (Frost 8-21) One interpretation of sleep is a â€Å"final sleep† due to sleep’s association with winter in this piece. Because winter is most commonly associated to death of life, one may assume that was the author’s intended definition. However, a more logical and literal interpretation is the fact that the speaker is worn out and tired from picking apples, which would relate to and explain some of the other figures of speech in the poem. T...

Child Abuse and Neglect :: Violence Against Children

Child Abuse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Help me!† This is the plea of many children in America. As you read this, one little girl is crying out in pain, one little boy is begging not to be touched anymore. Many children live through everyday being abused sexually, physically, and emotionally. â€Å"More than two million cases of neglect and physical abuse are reported annually. Studies have shown that most parents who abuse their children were once abused as a child† (Funk & Wagnall’s 121). According to the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, 185 children died from child abuse in 1996. There are a lot of ways to put an end to this; it just takes some work and time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all there are the children who are emotionally abused. The question is what is emotional abuse? Emotional abuse is when the child is hurt emotionally causing changes in behavior and low self-esteem. â€Å"For example, the parents may use extreme or bizarre forms of punishment, such as confinement of a child in a dark closet, and less severe acts, such as habitual scapegoating, belittling, or rejecting treatment† (NCCANCH). Children who suffer from this type of abuse grow up being called bad things and never really knowing what love is, take 10-year old Carla for example. She was both physically and emotionally abused. She was neglected; the only attention she got was bad attention. Her mother called her worthless and some of her mother’s boyfriends hit her. Childabuse.org was there for her and now Carla is doing much better (Bob Cooper). Emotional abuse, in my opinion, is a terrible type of abuse that a child could go through. Although it ma y not seem too harsh, it causes many social problems for the child. These social problems include, fear of meeting people, shyness, withdrawing from classmates, and an introverted personality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, there is physical abuse. Physical abuse is when the child has â€Å"physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, shaking or otherwise harming a child.

Face and Social Media Essay

#1: Product – not just another knock-off Competing only on price was not what XiaoMi has chosen as their core strategy. Surely, their phones and tablets are cheaper than Apple’s and Samsung’s but, by far, not the cheapest ones in the market. There are cheaper smartphones that flood China, however all of them have a major flow – poor quality. Essentially, those devices are reverse-engineered versions of Samsung models built from cheaper materials. By coming up with a good quality phone at lower price range was the key strategic move that put XiaoMi firmly on the map. The phone has a robust case, high quality screen and a reasonable battery. It doesn’t break easily, unlike cheaper copycats that start having issues after just a few months of use. By building it’s own Android-based OS called MIUI, XiaoMi phones got new exciting features not found on standard Android devices as well as plenty of customization options. #2: Price – pay less now, pay more later XiaoMi has also realized that selling cheaper phones near their actual cost was not a sustainable long term strategy, so they decided to go with the Amazon’s model – just cover the cost of the devices and make money from selling content. Although, XiaoMi is often compared to Apple, especially considering the fact that their founder, Lei Jun, resembles Steve Jobs in his style and charisma, it is clear that XiaoMi’s true inspiration comes from Amazon. Also, XiaoMi mostly sells online which further reduces cost of sales and overheads related to brick and mortar stores or dealing with distributors and retailers. XiaoMi has also managed to harness the power of social media by not only broadcasting their messages and announcements but by actively engaging with their customers. Engineers are routinely encouraged to speak directly to consumers and use gathered feedback to refine software. #3: Place – gain strength at home first Although there are rumors of XiaoMi’s inevitable coming to North American and European markets, the company seems to stay focused on China with 97% of the shipments locally. It has been mentioned that their next target will be in South East Asia and, most likely, other BRIC countries. Recently, ex-Google executive, Hugo Barra, who himself hails from Brazil, has become new XiaoMi’s international face. It seems that the company is not in a rush to  go to more developed markets dominated by Apple and Samsung and prefers staying focused in its home base where the market is still booming. Perhaps, potential IP related troubles stemming from frequent accusations of possible infringements, also play role in choosing to stay away from US and EU for now. #4: Promotion – the power of word of mouth OK, this one got to be my favorite so I have to break it down. First of all, early on, they have pioneered flash style sales which were done with little or no advertising. Flash sales basically mean selling limited quantities during limited periods. They always create anticipation and urgency – great factors to win consumers’ minds and hearts. Needless to say, the units were sold quickly and talked over a lot all over China’s vibrant social media. Word of mouth marketing worked very well for XiaoMi and they continue to take full advantage of it. #5: Promotion – active use of social media XiaoMi has also managed to harness the power of social media by not only broadcasting their messages and announcements but by actively engaging with their customers. Engineers are routinely encouraged to speak directly to consumers and use gathered feedback to refine software. #6: Promotion – dedicated brand advocates Through its active role in social media, XiaoMi has also succeeded in building a dedicated fan base. Those Mi-fans are very active in social media and are, in some ways, similar to those hardcore Apple advocates that we are all familiar with. Mi-fans are always present at XiaoMi’s product launches where they are known for loud cheering and applauding. #7: Promotion – CEO as the face of the brand Last but not least, XiaoMi’s charismatic boss, Lei Jun, does a great job in making his brand look cool and current. He has put a face to a brand, something that traditional executives in China wouldn’t feel comfortable doing. Lei Jen’s similarity to Steve Jobs in the ways he talks about the brand is not a coincidence – the late Apple’s founder still holds an almost iconic image among Chinese.

Mankiw Chapter 1 Solution

The answers to the Quick Quizzes can also be found near the end of the textbook. 1. The four principles of economic decision making are: (1) people face trade-offs; (2) the cost of something is what you give up to get it; (3) rational people think at the margin; and (4) people respond to incentives. People face trade-offs because to get one thing that they like, they usually have to give up another thing that they like. The cost of something is what you give up to get it, not just in terms of monetary costs but all opportunity costs.Rational people think at the margin by taking an action if and only if the marginal benefit exceeds the marginal cost. People respond to incentives because they choose activities by comparing benefits to costs; therefore, a change in these benefits or costs may cause their behavior to change. The three principles concerning people’s economic interactions are: (1) trade can make everyone better off; (2) markets are usually a good way to organize eco nomic activity; and (3) governments can sometimes improve market outcomes.Trade can make everyone better off because it allows countries to specialize in what they do best and to enjoy a wider variety of goods and services. Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity because the invisible hand leads markets to desirable outcomes. Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes because markets may fail to allocate resources efficiently due to an externality or market power.The three principles that describe how the economy as a whole works are: (1) a country’s standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services; (2) prices rise when the government prints too much money; and (3) society faces a shortrun trade-off between inflation and unemployment. A country’s standard of living depends largely on the productivity of its workers, which in turn depends on the education of its workers and the access its workers have to the necessary t ools and technology. Prices rise when the government prints too much money because more money in circulation reduces the value of money, causing inflation.Society faces a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment that is only temporary. Policymakers have some short-term ability to exploit this relationship using various policy instruments. 2. 3. Questions for Review 1. Examples of trade-offs include time trade-offs (such as studying one subject over another or studying at all compared to engaging in social activities) and spending tradeoffs (such as whether to use your last 15 dollars to purchase a pizza or to buy a study guide for that tough economics course).The opportunity cost of seeing a movie includes the monetary cost of admission plus the time cost of going to the theater and attending the show. The time cost depends on what else you might do with that time; if it is staying home and watching TV, the time cost may be small, but if it is working an extra three ho urs at your job, the time cost is the money you could have earned. The marginal benefit of a glass of water depends on your circumstances. If you have just 2. 3. Chapter 1/Ten Principles of Economics 2 un a marathon or you have been walking in the desert sun for three hours, the marginal benefit is very high. But if you have been drinking a lot of liquids recently, the marginal benefit is quite low. The point is that even the necessities of life, like water, do not always have large marginal benefits. 4. Policymakers need to think about incentives so they can understand how people will respond to the policies they put in place. The text's example of seat belt laws shows that policy actions can have unintended consequences.If incentives matter a lot, they may lead to a very different type of policy; for example, some economists have suggested putting knives in steering columns so that people will drive much more carefully! While this suggestion is silly, it highlights the importance of incentives. Trade among countries is not a game with some losers and some winners because trade can make everyone better off. By allowing specialization, trade between people and trade between countries can improve everyone's welfare.The â€Å"invisible hand† of the marketplace represents the idea that even though individuals and firms are all acting in their own self-interest, prices and the marketplace guide them to do what is good for society as a whole. The two main causes of market failure are externalities and market power. An externality is the impact of one person’s actions on the well-being of a bystander, such as from pollution or the creation of knowledge. Market power refers to the ability of a single person (or small group of people) to unduly influence market prices, such as in a town with only one well or only one cable television company.In addition, a market economy also leads to an unequal distribution of income. Productivity is important because a country's standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services. The greater a country's productivity (the amount of goods and services produced from each hour of a worker's time), the greater its standard of living will be. Inflation is an increase in the overall level of prices in the economy. Inflation is caused by increases in the quantity of a nation's money.Inflation and unemployment are negatively related in the short run. Thus, reducing inflation entails costs to society in the form of higher unemployment in the short run. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Problems and Applications 1. a. A family deciding whether to buy a new car faces a trade-off between the cost of the car and other things they might want to buy. For example, buying the car might mean they must give up going on vacation for the next two years. So the real cost of the car is the family's opportunity cost in terms of what they must give up.For a member of Congress deciding whether to increase spending on national parks, the trade-off is between parks and other spending items or tax cuts. If more money goes into the park system, that may mean less spending on national defense or on the police force. Or, instead of spending more money on the park system, taxes could be reduced. b. Chapter 1/Ten Principles of Economics c. 3 When a company president decides whether to open a new factory, the decision is based on whether the new factory will increase the firm's profits compared to other alternatives.For example, the company could upgrade existing equipment or expand existing factories. The bottom line is: Which method of expanding production will increase profit the most? In deciding how much to prepare for class, a professor faces a trade-off between the value of improving the quality of the lecture compared to other things she could do with her time, such as working on additional research. d. 2. When the benefits of something are psychological, such as going on a vacation, it is not e asy to compare benefits to costs to determine if it is worth doing.But there are two ways to think about the benefits. One is to compare the vacation with what you would do in its place. If you did not go on vacation, would you buy something like a new set of golf clubs? Then you can decide if you would rather have the new clubs or the vacation. A second way is to think about how hard you had to work to earn the money to pay for the vacation. You can then decide if the psychological benefits of the vacation were worth the psychological cost of working.If you are thinking of going skiing instead of working at your part-time job, the cost of skiing includes its monetary and time costs, which includes the opportunity cost of the wages you are giving up by not working. If the choice is between skiing and going to the library to study, then the cost of skiing is its monetary and time costs including the cost of getting lower grades in your courses. If you spend $100 now instead of saving it for a year and earning 5 percent interest, you are giving up the opportunity to spend $105 a year from now.The fact that you have already sunk $5 million is not relevant to your decision anymore, because that money is gone. What matters now is the chance to earn profits at the margin. If you spend another $1 million and can generate sales of $3 million, you'll earn $2 million in marginal profit, so you should do so. You are right to think that the project has lost a total of $3 million ($6 million in costs and only $3 million in revenue) and you should not have started it. That is true, but if you do not spend the additional $1 million, you will not have any sales and your losses will be $5 million.So what matters is not the total profit, but the profit you can earn at the margin. In fact, you wouldd pay up to $3 million to complete development; any more than that, and you will not be increasing profit at the margin. Harry suggests looking at whether productivity would rise or f all. Productivity is certainly important, since the more productive workers are, the lower the cost per gallon of potion. Ron wants to look at average cost. But both Harry and Ron are missing the other side of the equation? revenue. A firm wants to maximize its profits, so it needs to examine both costs and revenues.Thus, Hermione is right? it is best to examine whether the extra revenue would exceed the extra costs. Hermione is the only one who is thinking at the margin. a. The provision of Social Security benefits lowers an individual’s incentive to save for retirement. The benefits provide some level of income to the individual when he or she retires. This means that the individual is not entirely dependent on savings to support consumption through the years in retirement. Since a person gets fewer after-tax Social Security benefits the greater his or her 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. b.Chapter 1/Ten Principles of Economics earnings are, there is an incentive not to work (or not work as much) after age 65. The more you work, the lower your after-tax Social Security benefits will be. Thus, the taxation of Social Security benefits discourages work effort after age 65. 8. a. b. When welfare recipients have their benefits cut off after two years, they have a greater incentive to find jobs than if their benefits were to last forever. 4 The loss of benefits means that someone who cannot find a job will get no income at all, so the distribution of income will become less equal.But the economy will be more efficient, because welfare recipients have a greater incentive to find jobs. Thus, the change in the law is one that increases efficiency but reduces equity. 9. By specializing in each task, you and your roommate can finish the chores more quickly. If you divided each task equally, it would take you more time to cook than it would take your roommate, and it would take him more time to clean than it would take you. By specializing, you reduce the total time spent on chore s. Similarly, countries can specialize and trade, making both better off.For example, suppose it takes Spanish workers less time to make clothes than French workers, and French workers can make wine more efficiently than Spanish workers. Then Spain and France can both benefit if Spanish workers produce all the clothes and French workers produce all the wine, and they exchange wine for clothes. 10. a. To produce the right number of CDs by the right artists and deliver them to the right people requires an enormous amount of information. You need to know about production techniques and costs in the CD industry. You need to know each person's musical tastes and which artists they want to hear.If you make the wrong decisions, you will be producing too many CDs by artists that people do not want to hear, and not enough by others. Your decisions about CDs will carry over to other decisions. You have to make the right number of CD players for people to use. If you make too many CDs and not enough cassette tapes, people with cassette players will be stuck with CDs they cannot play. The probability of making mistakes is very high. You will also be faced with tough choices about the music industry compared to other parts of the economy.If you produce more sports equipment, you will have fewer resources for making CDs. So all decisions about the economy influence your decisions about CD production. b. 11. Countries that have corrupt police and court systems do not enforce individual property rights, including the rights over the goods and services produced by households and firms. Firms will not choose to produce products and individuals will choose not to work if there is no guarantee that they will receive payment for their efforts. Therefore, these countries end up with a lower standard of living. . b. c. d. e. Efficiency: The market failure comes from the market power of the cable TV firm. Equity Efficiency: An externality arises because secondhand smoke harms nonsmok ers. Efficiency: The market failure occurs because of Standard Oil's market power. Equity 12. Chapter 1/Ten Principles of Economics f. 13. a. 5 Efficiency: There is an externality because of accidents caused by drunk drivers. If everyone were guaranteed the best health care possible, much more of our nation's output would be devoted to medical care than is now the case.Would that be efficient? If you believe that doctors have market power and restrict health care to keep their incomes high, you might think efficiency would increase by providing more health care. But more likely, if the government mandated increased spending on health care, the economy would be less efficient because it would give people more health care than they would choose to pay for. From the point of view of equity, if poor people are less likely to have adequate health care, providing more health care would represent an improvement.Each person would have a more even slice of the economic pie, though the pie wo uld consist of more health care and less of other goods. When workers are laid off, equity considerations argue for the unemployment benefits system to provide them with some income until they can find new jobs. After all, no one plans to be laid off, so unemployment benefits are a form of insurance. But there is an efficiency problem? why work if you can get income for doing nothing? The economy is not operating efficiently if people remain unemployed for a long time, and unemployment benefits encourage unemployment.Thus, there is a trade-off between equity and efficiency. The more generous unemployment benefits are, the less income is lost by an unemployed person, but the more that person is encouraged to remain unemployed. So greater equity reduces efficiency. b. 14. Because average income in the United States has roughly doubled every 35 years, we are likely to have a better standard of living than our parents, and a much better standard of living than our grandparents. This is mainly the result of increased productivity, so that an hour of work produces more goods and services than it used to.Thus, incomes have continuously risen over time, as has the standard of living. If Americans save more and it leads to more spending on factories, there will be an increase in production and productivity, because the same number of workers will have more equipment to work with. The benefits from higher productivity will go to both the workers, who will get paid more because they are producing more, and the factory owners, who will get a return on their investments. There is no such thing as a free lunch, however, because when people save more, they are giving up spending. They get higher incomes at the cost of buying fewer goods.To make an intelligent decision about whether to reduce inflation, a policymaker would need to know what causes inflation and unemployment, as well as what determines the trade-off between them. This means that the policymaker needs to unders tand how households and firms will adjust to a decrease in the money supply. How much will spending decline? How much will firms lower output? Any attempt to reduce inflation will likely lead to higher unemployment in the short run. A policymaker thus faces a trade-off between the benefits of lower inflation compared to the cost of higher unemployment. Answers will vary. 15. 16. 17.

Effective Financial Policy and Procedures

Effective Financial Policies And Procedures Effective Financial Policies and Procedures Medical practices establish financial policies and procedures to control patient billing and the ability to collect money for services they provide. Successful billing practices start with thorough financial policies and procedures which explain patients’ payment responsibilities in terms that are easily understood. An effective medical office financial policy is one that both staff members and practice patients can easily follow and understand. Patients need to understand their obligations and staff members need to know what is expected of the patients. All possible situations should be addressed by a good financial policy. This includes financial arrangements and payment plans, payments for services not covered by the insurance company, and a variety of other circumstances. The basic elements of an effective policy should inform patients how particular situations will be handled. Collection of a patient’s copayment, deductibles and any past-due balances should be addressed; as should payment for services that are not covered by a patient’s insurance company. An effective policy should address how a practice handles prepayment for services they will provide and also any possibility for payment arrangements of unpaid balances on a patient’s account. If a practice offers charity care or discounts to patients with low incomes/financial need it should be stated in the financial policy. Finally, a practice’s financial policy should state their accepted forms of payment such as cash, checks, money orders, and credit or debit cards. Clear medical office procedures that are consistently followed by staff members help support the office’s financial policy. When administrative staff members collect appropriate copayments and other fees as stated in the financial policy, they are helping to support the policy. When staff members become lax in their collection duties and neglect to follow established office†¦

Outline Key Legislation and Regulations Which Govern Safeguarding Adults Work Essay

The Human Rights Act 1998 (also known as the Act or the HRA) came into force in the United Kingdom in October 2000. It is composed of a series of sections that have the effect of codifying the protections in the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. All public bodies (such as courts, police, local governments, hospitals, publicly funded schools, and others) and other bodies carrying out public functions have to comply with the Convention rights. The Human Rights Act protects individuals from torture (mental, physical or both), inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment and deportation or extradition (being sent to another country to face criminal charges) if there is a real risk that they will face torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Torture occurs when someone acting in an official capacity (for example a police officer or soldier) deliberately causes serious pain or suffering (physical or mental) to another person. This might be to punish someone, or to intimidate or obtain information from them. Public authorities are not allowed to inflict such treatment on individuals, and they must also protect them from this treatment where it comes from someone else. For example, if they know an individual is suffering inhumane or degrading treatment, they must intervene to stop it. Inhuman treatment or punishment includes serious physical assaults, psychological interrogation, inhumane detention conditions or restraints, failing to give medical treatment or taking it away from a person with a serious illness and threatening to torture someone, if the threat is real and immediate. Relating this to Winterbourne house, the staff must be aware that they must maintain the highest standards of care whilst making sure that they do not breach any of the legislation within the Human Rights Act. This means that they must be able to find out if an individual is being abused within or out of the day centre. The Sexual Offences Act 2003: The Sexual Offences Act 2003 was passed with the aim of protecting vulnerable adults and children from sexual abuse and exploitation. A number of the Act’s provisions may be relevant to older people with mental health problems, including the introduction of a number of new offences to protect ‘at risk’ groups such as people with learning disabilities and other groups ith reduced capacity such as people with advanced dementia, strengthening the Sex Offenders Register to ensure that the location of people who have committed serious sex-related crimes are known to the police, addressing the fear of sexual crime and strengthening and clarifying the meaning of ‘non-consensual’ sex and overhauling the law on consent: the Act introduces a test of ‘reasonableness’ on consent and a list of circumstances in w hich it can be presumed that consent was very unlikely to have been given, e. g. hen the victim was asleep. The sections of the Act covering offences committed against those who, because of a very profound mental disorder, lack the capacity to consent to sexual activity may be relevant to older people with a ‘mental disorder’ who are service users. The Act specifically recognises that whilst the vast majority of people working in the care professions act compassionately, it is clear that some unscrupulous individuals have taken advantage of their position to commit a ‘breach of a relationship of care’ by sexual abuse. It is now an offence for those engaged in providing care, assistance or services to someone with a learning disability or mental disorder to engage in sexual activity with that person whether or not that person has the capacity to consent. However, this does not apply if the sexual relationship pre-dates the relationship of care: for example, where a spouse (or long-term partner) is caring for their partner following the onset of a mental disorder, e. . dementia, and continues to have a consensual sexual relationship with that person. Mental Health Act: The Mental Health Act 1996 is legislation for the care and treatment of persons with mental illnesses and for safeguarding their rights. Most people with mental illness can and do seek out treatment for their condition. The Mental Health Act is concerned with the small number of persons who cannot or who do not seek out treatment. This piece of legislation applies to Winterbourne house as it outlines the importance of maintaining the rights of those suffering from a mental health disorder. Those suffering from a mental health disorder may suffer from low self esteem due to the fact that mental health disorders are still surrounded with a stigma. Those working closely with these individuals must ensure that they do not feel they are being discriminated against and must maintain their self confidence, self esteem and self respect. Mental Capacity Act: The main aspects of this act are that a person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity, the person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help him to do so have been taken without success, a person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision simply because he makes an unwise decision, an act done or decision made, under this Act for or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done, or made, in his best interests and before the act is done, or the decision is made, regard must be had to whether the purpose for which it is needed can be as effectively achieved in a way that is less restrictive of the person’s rights and freedom of action. In terms of Winterbourne house, the carers must ensure that any type of care they take which they have initiated themselves for the individual must be in the best interests of that individual. As well as this, they must ensure that they do not doubt an individual’s own mental capability to make decisions for themselves. Disability discrimination act: The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 aims to end the discrimination that faces many people with disabilities. This Act has been significantly extended, including by the Disability Discrimination Order 2006 (DDO). It gives people with disabilities rights in the areas of employment, education, access to goods, facilities and services, including larger private clubs and transport services, buying or renting land or property, including making it easier for people with disabilities to rent property and for tenants to make disability-related adaptations, functions of public bodies, for example issuing of licences etc. Data protection act: The Data Protection Act controls how your personal information is used by organisations, businesses or the government. Everyone who is responsible for using data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection principles’. They must make sure the information is used fairly and lawfully, used for limited, specifically stated purposes, used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive, accurate, kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary, handled according to people’s data protection rights, kept safe and secure and not transferred outside the UK without adequate protection. There is stronger legal protection for more sensitive information, such as ethnic background, political opinions, religious beliefs, health, sexual health and criminal records. Care standards act: The Care Standards Act 2000 is a piece of primary legislation, which established an independent regulatory body for England known as the National Care Standards Commission. Its remit covered social care, private and voluntary healthcare services. In Wales, the Act provided for an arm of the National Assembly to be the regulatory body for the same services within that country. The principal purpose of the Act was to provide much needed reform of the care services sector within England and Wales. The Act itself defines the range of care services to include: residential care homes, nursing homes, children’s homes, domiciliary care agencies, fostering agencies, and voluntary adoption agencies, private and voluntary healthcare services – including private hospitals, clinics and private primary care premises. It also established equivalence between local authorities and the independent sector in meeting the same standards of care. Race relations act:Â  The Race Relations Act 1965 was the first legislation in the United Kingdom to address racial discrimination. The Act outlawed discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins in public places. It also prompted the creation of The Race Relations Board (in 1966), to consider complaints under the Act. Safeguarding vulnerable groups act: The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups legislation came about as a result of the recommendations of the Bichard enquiry following the Soham murders. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (NI) Order 2007 aims to prevent unsuitable people from working (either paid or unpaid) with children or vulnerable adult. It does this by vetting all those who wish to do such work vulnerable groups and barring those where the information shows they pose a risk of harm. The police act: This act ensures that employers have access to certain information about the individuals which they employ, ensuring they do not have a criminal record. In the past, it did not have to be disclosed whether or not an individual has a criminal record, however, when working with vulnerable adults it is important that it is disclosed and a check is made of the individual. The rehabilitation of offenders act: This is aimed at helping people who have been convicted of a criminal offence and who have not re-offended since. Anyone who has been convicted of a criminal offence where the sentence was less than 2. 5 years in prison, benefits from the Act, so long as they are not convicted again during the ‘rehabilitation period’. Their conviction then becomes ‘spent’. It is the sentence imposed by the courts that counts, even if it is a suspended sentence, not the time actually spent in prison. Once a conviction is ‘spent’, the convicted person does not have to reveal it or admit its existence in most circumstances. However, there are two main exceptions which relate to people working with children or vulnerable adults. In these cases someone applying for a role is required to reveal all convictions, both spent and unspent.