Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic management - Essay Example This development stresses the importance of crafting and implementing a competitive business strategy for Tesco’s to regain its market leadership. II. Company Overview: Tesco PLC Tesco is the largest retailer in Great Britain and the third largest supermarket in the world. Its market share in the UK retailing industry is 12.5% and it controls over 30% of the grocery market which is 75% dominated by four major players Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury and Morrison (Dobson et al 2008). Tesco has 2,440 stores and has an employee of more than 4,000,000 people. Its online grocery store www.tesco.com is recognized as the world’s biggest online grocer in the world. It has its own-label products which accounts approximately 50% of its sale. III. Industry Analysis: PESTEL For any business enterprise to become more responsive to the changing demands of the market, it is imperative that it should be able to define its internal competence and resources and external environment as well so that it can devise a strategy where it can profit and regain its market position. The tools that will be used to define both the internal and external environment of Tesco are PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT Analysis. PESTEL Analysis a. Political factor The liberalization of trade allowed other competitors to enter into market to compete with Tesco which contributed to its sales decline. In a report by Lyall, â€Å"foreign discounter such as Aldi and Lidl combined with an increased domestic rivalries appears to have blunted the edge Tesco had† (2011). b. Economic factor – perhaps this is the most significant factor in Tesco’s external environment that contributed to its underperforming sale in the first half of 2011. In Mintel’s May 2009 survey, it reported that 43 percent of consumers say â€Å"trying to add to my rainy day savings/emergency fund† (ProgressiveGrocer 2010). This was corroborated by a recent survey conducted by Mintel, who also reported that consumers today are more price conscious than previous years (Mintel 2011a). These development in the grocery made consumers to become more receptive more with foreign discounters because they are now more price conscious than before. c. Social factors Due to the recent economic crisis, consumers are now scaling down on their luxury expenditures and became more conscious on cost. This shift in consumer behavior affects Tesco because some of its consumers are switching to foreign discounters to save on grocery costs. d. Technological factors Technology is an important organizational competence that can enhance a company’s competetiveness. It enhances a company’s competitiveness by being more responsive to customers’ needs and being more efficient. In the case of Tesco, its technological investment in 2009, particularly its in-house designed supply chain application enabled it to increase the availability of its stock and reduced warehouse stock ing resulting in the more efficient operation of its warehouse. e. Environmental factors To date, Tesco does not have any environmental issues and this factor did not contribute to Tesco’s underperforming sale. f. Legislative factors If there is any recent legislative factor that has an utmost relevance to Tesco today, that would be the passing of the Tesco Law on October 06, 2011 which has been named after the chain store. The

Brontie’ Swanston Essay Example for Free

Brontie’ Swanston Essay Sometimes early intervention for struggling learners is ideal. Most learning problems can be prevented if students are in positive school and classroom contexts that accommodate individual differences (Madden, 1991). However, even in the most positive environments, some students still experience difficulties. For these students, early intervention strategies must be implemented as soon as learning problems are noted. Early intervention means that â€Å"supplementary instructional services are provided early in students’ schooling, and that they are intense enough to bring at-risk students quickly to a level at which they can profit from high-quality classroom instruction† (Madden Wasik, 1991). The intent of early intervention is to create general education support systems for struggling learners as a way to improve academic performance and to reduce inappropriate special education referrals (Madden, 1991). Examples of early intervention include clinical teaching, peer and expert consultation, teacher assistance teams, and alternative programs such as those that offer tutorial or remedial instruction in the context of general education. A critical concept for ELL students is comprehensible input. This concept expresses that in order to acquire a second language the learner must understand what is said to him. Learners should receive input that is appropriate to their age and language level. This language should be just beyond the learner’s current proficiency but easy enough for them to understand. Teachers need to develop background knowledge, deliver content that is contextualized, and use gestures, pictures and real objects to make input comprehensible (Saunders, Goldberg, 1991). When newcomers are assigned to a mainstream classroom and spend most of their day in this environment it is especially critical for them to receive comprehensible input from their teachers and classmates (Saunders, Goldberg, 1991). In other words, if the teacher prefers lectures, it leaves the English language learner will not be receiving this input. All teachers are aware of the need to â€Å"explicitly link past learning and new concepts† but some teachers fail to consider students’ backgrounds and experiences when planning lessons (Saunders, Goldberg, 1991). One way to avoid making unwarranted assumptions about our students’ past learning, background or experiences is to create a common classroom experience as the basis for instruction (Saunders, Goldberg, 1991). Another strategy is to help students make conscious links between their experiences and the text as described in the sample lesson below. Two good concepts to implement would be literature logs and instructional conversations. Before and after reading, students respond to prompts that help them link their experiences to those of the main character or main theme (Saunders, Goldberg, 1991). The instructional conversations that follow these prompts provide oral language practice for Ell’s, and help deepen students’ conceptual frameworks for comprehension (Saunders, Goldberg, 1991). Researchers found that using either the literature log or the instructional conversation increased comprehension for Ell’s but using both produced deeper understanding (Saunders, Goldberg, 1991). Teachers should apply the following steps to be successful in previous two concepts: Step 1 Create pre-reading and post- reading questions or prompts Pre-reading question or prompt: a generic probe about students’ experiences that might be similar to those of the main character/s. Step 2 Briefly review the story again building on student responses in a think-aloud format. Review the procedure for tracking story events and noting when these events are similar to or different from experiences discussed by the class. Examples: two-column notes, post its, adapted story sequence chart Students read or listen to the text: pairs, small groups, tape, and buddy reading Step 3 Present the second literature log question or prompt; model a response. Allow time for students to write about or discuss the prompt. Facilitate the second instructional conversation in which students discuss similarities and differences between and among their experiences and those of the characters. Variations: use picture books with limited text for non-readers or beginning Ell’s of any age. Allow students to respond in their first language. Older or more proficient students can respond to prompts that focus on the setting instead of, or in addition to, events, characters and theme or compare experiences across texts. (Saunders, Goldberg, 1991) It is also vitally important to emphasize key vocabulary. Lack adequate vocabulary is one barrier to reading for Ell’s. Research on vocabulary acquisition indicates that a successful vocabulary development program should have a least the following five components: 1) Intentional word selection (words that represent new concepts, are important outside of the specific activity, or cross content areas) 2) Direct instruction in word meaning and in strategies used to learn new words 3) Modeling of strategies and processes for learning new words 4) Multiple exposures to new words and opportunities to use new words (wide reading, intentional word-focused activities, and ongoing review) 5) A system to help students track new vocabulary (Beck, McKeon, 2002) Here is a five-step vocabulary activity to implement with your ELL students: 1) Teacher provides a definition (tell, read, demonstrate) 2) Teacher creates a non-linguistic representation of the word while engaging in a â€Å"think aloud† that helps students identify key components of the visual and their relationship to the new word 3) Students write or say their own definition of the word 4) Students create their own linguistic representation of the word 5) Return to visual to add or revise elements as students deepen their understanding of the concept Adapted from Marzano, Pickering, 2001 It is important that the teacher shares a knowledge base relative to the education of students learning English (Thomas, Collier, 1997). Efficient teachers should be familiar with second language acquisition, the relationship of native language proficiency to the development of English, socio-cultural influences on learning, effective first and second language instruction, informal assessment strategies that can be used to monitor progress (particularly in language and literacy development), and effective strategies for working with culturally and linguistically diverse families and communities (Thomas, Collier, 1997). It is also imperative that there is recognition of the students’ native language. Language programs must have support of principals, teachers, parents, and the community (Thomas Collier, 1997). School staff should understand that native language instruction provides the foundation for achieving high levels of English proficiency (Cummins, 1994). For regular education teachers and ESL/bilingual teachers, when it comes to language development, there should be a share responsibility. There also must be collaborative school-community relationships. Parents of students learning English must be viewed as capable advocates for their children and as valuable resources in school improvement efforts (Cummins, 1994). By being involved with families and communities of English learners, educators come to understand the social, linguistic, and cultural contexts in which the children are being raised (Ortiz, 1997). Thus, educators learn to respect cultural differences in child-rearing practices and in how parents choose to be involved in their children’s education (Garcia Dominguez, 1997). It is vital to implement academically rich programs for ELL students. Students learning English must have opportunities to learn advanced skills in comprehension, reasoning, and composition and have access to curricula and instruction that integrate basic skill development with higher order thinking and problem solving (Ortiz, Wilkinson, 1991). Students must have access to high-quality instruction designed to help them meet high expectations (Cummins, 1994). Teachers should employ strategies known to be effective with English learners, such as: 1) Drawing on their prior knowledge 2) Providing opportunities to review previously learned concepts and teaching them to employ those concepts 3) Organizing themes or strands that connect the curriculum across subject areas 4) Providing individual guidance, assistance, and support to fill gaps in background knowledge Although it is evident that students fail in school for a variety of reasons, in some cases, their academic difficulties can be directly attributed to deficiencies in the teaching a learning environment. These difficulties may become more serious over time if instruction is not modified to address the students’ specific needs. Unless these students’ specific needs. Unless the deficit in learning is caught early and the appropriate intervention is accessed, they will continue to struggle, and the gap between their achievement and that of their peers will widen over time. References Cummins (1994). Knowledge, power, and identity in teaching English as a second language. â€Å"Educating second language children: The whole child, the whole curriculum, the whole community† Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Garcia, S. B. , Dominguez, L. (1997). Cultural contexts that influence learning and academic performance. In Silver, L. B. , â€Å"Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic Of North America: Academic Difficulties†. Philadelphia: Saunders Co. Madden, N. A. , Slavin, R. E. , Wasik, B. A. (1991). Success for all, â€Å"Phi Delta Kappan. † Thomas, W, P. , Collier, V. (1997). School effectiveness for language language miniority students (Resource Collection Series No. 9). Washington: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Beck, I. , McKeon, M. Kucan, L. (2002) Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. Guilford Press. Ortiz, A. A. Wilkinson, C. Y. (1991). Assessment and intervention model for the bilingual exceptional student. â€Å"Teacher Education and Special Education, 14 Saunders, W. and Goldenberg, C. (1999) The Effects of Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs on the Story Comprehension and Thematic Understanding of English Proficient and Limited English Proficient Students. http://www. cal. org/crede/pubs/research/RR6. pdf Marzano, R. , Pickering, D. J. , Pollock, J. E. (2001) Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: MCREL, ASCD.

The Effects of Politics on Fiscal Policy over the Last Seven Business Cycles :: Macroeconomics Research Paper

Abstract Being an election year, all you hear is the incoming presidential nominee bashing the policies of the current president. Of all of the administration policy, his economic stance, the health of the economy under his administration, and this fiscal policy are among the most prevalent. Does the possibility of losing an election affect how administration reacts to a recession? This paper shows that out of the last seven business cycles, during the last five, politics does not seem to be an issue when administrations consider what needs to be done to boost the economy. Though Kennedy and Nixon both tried to use fiscal policy to further their own position and ensure re-election, the administrations of late have understood that the economy is not a re-election tool and that what-ever need to be done to bring us out of a recession is necessary, even if it means they may risk not getting reelected. Reelection be Damned One might wonder how politics plays into fiscal policy. Does the possibility of not getting reelected affect the choices a president makes? No, in fact, the administrations of the last seven business cycles usually make fiscal policy decisions that prove to be political suicide, yet are best for the economy. Started with the farthest back, John F. Kennedy is an exception to this rule. In his campaign, he promised tax cuts, but by the time congress got around to it, the economy was obviously expanding. Seeing as this would be embarrassing to the administration, congress went ahead and approved the unnecessary tax cut. Richard Nixon, whose reelection was a non issue due to his resignation, also played the political game. Though his administration say that wage/price control would be ineffective at controlling inflation, they went ahead and implemented them with the goal of â€Å"gently tighten monetary and fiscal policy, which they thought would bring down inflation without a big incr ease in unemployment† (Hebert, 1984, 4). This proved to be detrimental anyway because wile people expected prices to stabilize, they failed to realize that this meant that the prices they charged would stop rising as well. Ronald Reagan took a huge leap of faith when his administration introduced supply-side economics. Although it didn’t work in the way that he wanted it to, it helped greatly to boost the economy. However, had it been a horrible flop, His administration would have been highly chastised for it.

Care of Suicidal Patient in Ed

This article Is about caring for pediatric patients who are suicidal. I believe In coincided with what we have recently been learning about during our clinical experience. I was also Interested in this article because I had worked In pediatrics for six years prior to working in a rehab/nursing home setting. After reading this article, I learned ways to carefully screen the pediatric patient, how to do an assessment and how some families act and what measures of support they need during their families time of crisis.This oracle gave a case study of a boy that was brought Into the emergency apartment with his mother and grandfather. When the nurse met him in the reception area he was sitting In a chair with his legs pulled up to his chest and his shoe laces were untied. He avoided eye contact during their meeting. The mother in the case study was visibly upset.This boy was brought to the emergency department because this young boy was found in the kitchen holding a butcher knife to his neck, when his mother walked In and got the young boy to give her the knife, Prior to this day there were many changes in the young boys life, he recently started a new school and he was diagnosed with Espalier's syndrome. This boy also had trouble making friends in his school and he was being bullied. Other children at school were threatening this boy. This story made me think of all the children that are In POEMS and how he seemed to have a lot of things In common with them. They were all in similar situations.The nurse after obtaining this history from his mother and asking about any medications, vaccinations, allergies, possible exposures to communicable diseases also needed to obtain his vital signs and head to toe assessment The young boy let the nurse do his height and weight but as soon as the nurse put the stethoscope to he boys chest he felt his heart pounding and he thought It meant he was going to die. The boy had anxiety during the assessment so the nurse stopped the a ssessment and showed what she needed to do on his mother and after the boy relaxed a little bit, he allowed the nurse to finish the assessment on him.The nurse got a one on one to stay with this patient because he was at risk for doing harm to himself. The nurse also had to obtain an EGG and urine drug screen. In our clinical setting, I have seen the urine drug screen used on every patient but not the EGG. According to this article, It Is Important to obtain a baseline EGG because many psychophysiology agents can affect the conduction system of the heart. After the boy was medically cleared, he was eligible to meet with the psychiatrist and social worker. He had to wait for the psychiatrist and he became agitated and started kicking the wall.Security had to be called Into the room and the safety door was lowered. The nurse removed their name badge and their bandage scissors as they were both safety hazards. The nurse re-entered the room keeping their pathway to the door unobstructed . All dangerous items were removed from the room. The nurse used many different techniques to deescalate the situation and used the mother to get Information of things that have worked In the past. When the boy was ready to discharge, the nurse gave them education on a safety plan the called tort keeping knives out to the boys reach and tallow up tort outpatient care.No medications were given to calm him down. The suicide rate in the entire world has increased over the past few decades with a greater number of boys attempting suicide then girls. In 2010, there was a study hat found 14% of children ages 11-20 reported having suicidal thoughts within the previous month. According to this article, Native American males have the highest suicide rate in the United States for children over 10, and non-Hispanic black females have the lowest rate.Some psychosocial risk factors include, the presence of an underlying psychiatric condition, a history of prior suicide attempts, a history of phy sical or sexual abuse, and a lack of mental health treatment. Poor coping skills have been identified as a predictive of a suicide attempt in both sexes. Environmental and social risk factors include owning a gun in the household, being homeless or living in a corrections facility or group home, poor parent-child communication, social isolation, bullying and difficulties at school.Many emergency rooms are using the five level triage classification systems called Emergency Severity Index Triage Algorithm. This takes into account not only the acuity of the patient but also the number of resources that will be required during the evaluation. A level 1 patient would require immediate life-saving intervention. A level 2 patient would be considered in the â€Å"danger zone,† and needs emergent retirement. Level 3 patients need more the 1 resource, level 4 patients require 1 resource and level 5 patients require none.At the Children's Hospital Boston, the use a screening tool that c onsists of 4 questions, â€Å"Are you here because you tried to hurt yourself? † â€Å"In the past week, have you been having thoughts about killing yourself? † â€Å"Have you ever tried to hurt yourself in the past other than this time? † â€Å"Has something very stressful happened to you in the past few weeks? † If the patient answers yes to one or more of these questions they become characterized as SSI bevel 2, and the nurse would explain the policy on physical and chemical restraints which are only used as a last resort.Some strategies that nurse's use to promote successful interactions with the patient and their family members include active listening, close observation of behavior, attending to non-verbal body language, asking open-ended questions, conveying a non-judgmental attitude, clarifying information, and providing support. The patient's safety is always the greatest concern as well as the staffs safety. Family education is very important wh en working with suicidal patients, because heir care is often managed at home.It is important for them to follow up with outpatient care, outpatient psychiatric support, and a home safety plan. Also, the nurse needs to let the family know if when they will need to seek emergency care again. This article has helped me gain a better understanding of the psychiatric patient, no matter the age, even though it focused on pediatrics. All these techniques can be used when dealing with suicidal patients. Our role as nurse's plays an important role in managing our patient's care while they are in our care and promoting their health y educating our patients and their families.

Effects of Mass Media Worksheet Essay

What were the major developments in the evolution of mass media during the 20th century?| The major developments in the evolution of mass media during the 20th century included the radio, television, and communication gadgetry, such as personal computers, cable TV, DVDs, DVRs, direct broadcast satellites, fax machines, cell phones, smartphones, and PDAs.For a large part of the 20th century, televisions and radios where stationary devices. More recently, devices such as, laptops, ipads, and smartphones allow people to view magazine articles, radio programs, songs, TV shows, and movies, from almost any location they want. On the Internet, multiple images, texts, and sounds are digitally reproduced and transmitted globally. These devices are constantly being update to provide consumers with the newest technologies possible. The Internet and social media, such as Facebook and e-mail are other large developments in the evolution of mass media. In fact, Facebook alone has more than 500 million users worldwide. Social media allows people from all over the world to connect through ongoing online conversations, share stories and interests, and to produce their own media content. This also gives people the choice to upload photos and homemade videos, and share them with others around the world.The media convergence has allowed media marketers to consolidate multiple media services such as, cable connections, phone services, television transmissions, and Internet access, under one corporate umbrella. For example, when a company owns more than on media outlet they can have a reporter or producer to create multiple different versions of the same story for multiple media outlets. This helps companies to manage resources and maximize profits. How did each development influence American culture?| The rapid development of cable television and the Internet have caused traditional leaders in communication to lose some of their control o ver information. For example, ABC, CBS, and NBC lost some of their audience to other networks, like MTV, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Comedy Central, and radio talk shows. Internet Bloggers have become a large factor in the news as well because blogging allows anyone to speak  their mind at any time. The Internet and social media are changing the ways in which we absorb and interact with the media culture. Sending letters through the mail has, to some, become a thing of the past, as e-mail has become the quickest way to send communication to one person or a group of people in a matter of seconds. In addition, several repressive and totalitarian regimes have had difficulties with controlling messages sent through the borderless Internet.Along with these types of developments, we have also seen differences in the types of content that is put on news shows, television shows, video games, radio shows, and the Internet. From personal problems to dangerous stunts, this type of content has consumers worried about the overwhelming amount of information now available. Research indicates that there is a connection between aggression in children and violent games and entertainment shows. According to Campbell (2012), â€Å"children, who watch nearly forty thousand TV commercials each year, are particularly vulnerable to marketers selling junk, food, toys, and â€Å"cool† clothing†. The evolution of mass media has come a long way, but it plays a controversial role in society. | Resource Campbell, R., Martin, C.R., & Fabos, B (2012) Media & culture: An introduction to mass communication (8th.) New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Find Glyphs and Icons for Application, Menu, Toolbar in Delphi

Find Glyphs and Icons for Application, Menu, Toolbar in Delphi A glyph in Delphi lingo is a bitmap image that can be displayed on a BitBtn or SpeedButton controls using the controls Glyph property. Glyphs and icons (and graphics in general) make your application user interface elements look professional and unique. Delphi controls and the VCL allow you to easily setup toolbars, menus and other user interface elements with custom graphics. Glyph and Icon Libraries for Delphi applications When you install Delphi, by design two image libraries are installed also. The standard Delphi bitmap and icon sets which you can locate in the Program Files\Common Files\CodeGear Shared\Images folder and a third-party GlyFx set. The GlyFX pack contains a large number of icons selected from many of the GlyFx stock icon sets, as well as wizard images and animations. The icons are supplied at various sizes and formats (but not all sizes and formats are included for all icons). GlyFx pack can be found in the \Program Files\Common Files\CodeGear Shared\Images\GlyFX folder. More Delphi Tips   Create Delphi Form from a StringDrag a Delphi Form Without the Caption BarUnderstanding the Birth, Life and Death of a Delphi Form

Gun Safety for Children essays

Gun Safety for Children essays In 1992, guns were the leading cause of brain damage in children next to automobiles . In the year 2000, there are as many guns in this country as people, over 250,000. Over onehalf of all households in the US have guns. Did you know that in the United States a child is killed every two hours by a loaded gun? This adds up to 14 children under the age of 20 that are killed every day. The children that are not killed by guns will have serious brain damage, which will cost 14,000 per child to treat. This amount is enough to pay for one year of private college. (Gun Safety) There are several ways to stop this tragedy from happening in our communities. The first is to teach our children what guns are and what guns can do. Gun safety advocates preach that children should know gun safety at a young age. The advocates say that there are four rules that children should use when they see a gun: STOP!; DONT TOUCH; LEAVE THE AREA; TELL AN ADULT. If a child does these steps successfully it would cut accidental shootings by 30%. The next way to keep your children safe from guns is to keep your gun unloaded, and ammunition locked separate. When there is a loaded gun in the house it raises the rate for suicide and accidental shootings by 50%. There are gun vaults that you can purchase for your firearm. They come in all sizes, from revolver to rifle. There are some extremely sophisticated vaults out there. One is the GV 1000 Standard Mini Vault. It holds your gun in a little storage unit that has a tamper proof system. You access the gun by a special no look finger key code. If someone tries five times to open your safe, and is unsuccessful, a tamper-proof alarm goes off. It also has a key entry for those who dont care for combination locks. It is also important to keep the keys to gun safety equipment hidden and out of reach of children. Another way to keep your children safe is to have a lock for your unloade...

How to Stop Running Out of Time on ACT Math

How to Stop Running Out of Time on ACT Math SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Because the ACT is designed to be taken by every high school student in the country, it can only test math concepts that every student has experience with. The way the creators of the test make it hard is by giving you questions on a wide range of subjects and sub-topics, presenting them in strange ways, and by putting you on a strict time crunch. Maybe you’ve taken the ACT beforewhether practice or realand found yourself only half way or three quarters of the way through the math section before your time was up. Maybe you just think it would be downright impossible to finish so many questions on time. Rest assuredyou are not alone. And it is not impossible. In this guide, I'll walk you through the timing of the test and teach you how to beat the clock and maximize your time on the ACT. Understanding the foundation of the test will help you keepyour strategies balanced. Math Section Time Overview Before you make a plan for how to best use your time on the ACT, it's important to know how the test is structured. As you likely know,the ACT covers four subjects: English, math, reading, and science, with an optional fifth subjectwritingfor those of you who signed up for â€Å"ACT + Writing." Each of these subjects is covered on exactly one section during the test and you’ll have and no ability to come back to it once you’ve gone on to the next section. This means you don’t have to bounce your brain so quickly from topic to topic (and back again) as you do on other standardized tests, but it also means that the math section is the only math section on the test, so focus will be crucial for maximizing your timing and score. Keep your eye on the prize and only focus on one section at a time. In terms of the questions,you will have60 math questions to do in 60 minutes. This gives youan average of one minute per question. Because the section is not broken up into smaller chunks, you and you alone have to be very careful and strict with yourself about your timing and strategies if you want to finish the test on time. A good thing to keepin mind as you go is that difficulty(how long a question takes to solve and how familiar you are likely to be with the math concepts)roughly goes up in order on the test. The second half of the test will generally have the questions that take the longest amount of timeto solve and will involvemore geometry and trigonometry than algebra. So keep that in mind as you go through. And always remember: there is no guessing penalty on the ACT, so never leave a question blank! You have to be your own ACT coach and keep track of your own timing. No one will be thereto do it for you on test-day. Figure Out Your Target Math Score, and Plan Time Strategies Accordingly To figure out your target raw and scaled scores, take a practice test to gauge your current level and scores. Next, determine what your score goals should be, both raw and scaled. (If you are unsure what your goals should be, that's okay! Check out our article on figuring out your target score.) Once you've found your target score goal, you can look to our time-saving advice to help you reach it. While most of the time-saving strategies on the ACT apply to all scoring levels, there are a few techniques and strategies that vary depending on your current score and your target score goals as well. We’ve split our advice into four main categories: time-saving strategies for all scoring levels tips for those currently scoring a scaled score of 16 or below tips if you’re scoring between 16 and 24 tips if you’re currently scoring 24 or above. Pretty soon you'll find yourselfin the ACT fast lane. Time-Saving Tips for All Scoring Levels These are the tips that will help you maximize your speed no matter what your current score. Afterwards, look belowto find the strategies that best suit your individual scoring level needs. And remember as you go- the ACT is all about balance between speed and accuracy. Once you’ve found the rhythm that works best for you, you’ll be able to up your score and finish on time. For the all-inclusive tips, we’ve further broken this section into three different parts: How toStudy Effectively Before Test Day to Improve Timing Planning Your Overall Math SectionStrategy What to Do on the Day of the Test How to Study Effectively Before Test Day to Improve Timing 1) Familiarize yourself with the test ahead of time. Standardized tests are called â€Å"standardized† for a reasonthe specific questions may vary, but each ACT is as similar to all other ACT tests as possible. The more familiar you are with the structure of and question types on the test, the better off you’ll be (and the quicker you’ll be able to answer questions!). If you can also memorize all the important formulasyou’ll need for the test, you won’t have to waste your time trying to figure them out from scratch. 2) Practice, practice, practice Sit down with a test at home and take it timed. Get used to both the types of questions on the test and the pacing you’ll need to finish on time. As you take your practice test, mark down the time after every fifteen questions. This will show you your current pace. Afterwards, you’ll have a good idea for how long it takes you to finish each set of questions. Now experiment and challenge yourself on your pacing. Were you able to finish the first 15 questions in 20 minutes? Next time you take a practice test, try to do it in 18 minutes. Once you’ve challenged yourself to complete sections faster, compare your accuracy on both testswere you able to gain those minutes back without sacrificing too much accuracy, or did you lose too many points by trying to speed up? Remember that the ACT is all about finding your right balance between speed and accuracy. 3) Practice smart and identify your areas of weakness It’s not enough to simply practice the test over and over again if you continue to make the same mistakes with regards to your timing. Identify which types of problems are the most difficult for you or take you the longest amount of time.Are they usually geometry problems? Word problems? Probabilities? As you get more used to the test and the types of math questions/concepts that appear, see if there are faster or easier ways to solve the questions that take you the most time. Sometimes this can be remembering the properties of special right triangles, like a 30, 60, 90 triangles, so that you don’t have to take the time to find the side lengths via the Pythagorean theorem. Sometimes it might mean using plugging in the answers or plugging in your own numbersinstead of trying to solve the problem algebraically. 4) Employ study strategies according to your current score level and target score. Because there is no guessing penalty, there is not as much variation in strategy by score level on the ACT as there is on other standardized tests. But there are still a few techniques that should be emphasized more or less depending on your current score. As your scores increase, yourstrategies will change. Once you’ve taken your practice test and determined both your current raw and current curved scores, read up on how, exactly, the test is scored.Then, look to the time-saving strategies that suit you for your current level. As you get more familiar with the labyrinth that is the ACT, you'll learn to navigate it with growing speed and accuracy. Planning Your Overall Math Section Strategy 1) Learn to let go of a question It can be very tempting to sit and try to puzzle a question out, but you have to learn how to be more ruthless, both with how you answer questions and in choosing which questions to answer. Each and every question is worth the same amount of points, so pick the questions you can solve easiest and fastest first and then try the more time-consuming ones. If the question takes you more than 30 seconds to figure out or solve, come back to it later. If you're movingon from a question, lightly fill in a random bubble (or your best guess answer) and go to the next question. Sometimes moving on and coming back to a question later can trigger your mind to think of a new approach. (Sidenote: I say fill it in â€Å"lightly† because your bubble should be dark enough that the scanner can read it, but light enough so that you can erase it completely if you have time to come back and find the right answer later.) By filling in an answer (any answer!) now, you’ll have saved yourself some time trying to puzzle out a long or difficult question, and will have at least a 20% chance of getting it right if you forget or don’t have time to come back to it later. 2) Eliminate answer choicesanddraw it out As you go through the test, write on your booklet. Write in the angles and lengths you’re given, draw diagrams, and, most importantly, eliminate wrong answers. Often, you’ll be given a range of choices, one or two of which will be wildly wrong. If you’re using the plugging in answers strategy especially, you can save yourself a lot of time by eliminating one or two of these wrong answers straight away. The fewer answers you have to try, the faster you’ll find the correct solution. And keep in mindany time they describe a figure and don’t provide you with a picture, it means that the question would be too fast and too easy to solve if they provided you with a diagram. Make the drawing yourself! It won’t take you long and it will often point you quickly in the right direction (or at least much more quickly than it would if you tried to work the question out in your head). 3) Identify problems that will take a long time Some questions are not that complicated to execute, but will take time to crunch through. Identify these and save them for last. It is also a particularly good time to use process of elimination on some of the answer choices here. That way, if you need to fill in a temporary answer, you’ve already narrowed down your potential answer options. And you’ve similarly reduced your time in hunting for the right answer if you have time to come back and solve the question later. Remember that your time is better spent on faster-to-solve questions.If the question will take you more than 30 seconds, move on. You can come back to itif you have time. As long as you’re sure to mark any question that you’ve skipped or guessed, you’ll be able to quickly find it when you come back to it later. The ACT is an uphill climb. Find your rhythm and practice smart, and you'll reach your timing goals. What to Do on Test Day 1) Take care of yourself Make sure to rest well the day before the test and eat a nutritious and filling breakfast that morning. It can be easy to let yourself get burned out and lose your pacing by doing so many questions in a short amount of time. But practice, preparation, and rest can do wonders for your focus and your stamina. 2) Don’t lose focus on the topic at hand There is only one math section on the ACT, so you must make it count. Don’t think about how the reading section went. Don’t start anticipating the science section or the essay. You will eat up your limited time if you start to get sidetracked; only think about the section you’re currently on at any given time. 3) Bank time to fill in the bubbles Always leave a minute or two before your time is up to fill in any bubbles for questions you didn’t even get a chance to look at. A 20% chance of getting the right answer is much better than 0% from a blank answer. To save yourself time in going back and forth from test to bubbles, fill in your answer bubbles in chunks as you take the test. Fill in either 10 questions at a time or two pages worth of questions at a time (whichever you like better) to keep yourself on track and prevent yourself from having to continuously flip between problem and answer. Make sure to also bring a good quality eraser. For questions that you’ve skipped and/or moved forward from, fill in your guess lightly in the bubble- dark enough to be read, but light enough to erase if you have time later to come back. The reason you should still fill in questions that you plan to come back to later is to prevent you from accidentally filling in the wrong bubbles on the test if you were to leave one blank (which would give you all incorrect answers down the line). It also prevents you from leaving a question blank if you completely run out of time and don’t have the chance to come back to the question. As always, a random answer is better than no answer on the ACT. 4) Don't worry about anyone else's pacing As much as possible, ignore everyone else in the room while you're taking your test. If you start to worry about how much faster or slower other people are taking the test, you will lose your focus. Concentrate on your test alone and disregard everyone else's pacing. Your test and your goals are all that matter. You are a test-taking island. Imagine there is no one else in the room but you. Current Score is 16 or Below: Time-Saving Strategies In addition to the general strategies for all scoring levels, there are a few other useful techniques you can use for your particular score range. If you’re at a 16 or below scaled score, your raw score is anywhere from a 1 to a 23. If you’re aiming for a scaled score of 20 (the national average), then your goal is to get 31-32 raw points. In order to save yourself time on the test, concentrate most of your attention on the first 40 questions. Doing so will give you 1.5 minutes per question instead of 1 minute. You’ve just increased your time per question by 33%! Consider these first 40 questions as your region of maximum score gain. Give these questions your greatest focus, applying your general strategies for saving time discussed earlier (moving on from problems that take more than 30 seconds, eliminating answer options when using PIA, etc.). By narrowing your concentration range, you will be able to slow down, as you won’t be as concerned with trying to finish every single question in the hour allotted. Anddon’t think just because the first 40 questions are in your point-gain range that you have to get them all right! If there are problems in those first 40 questions that you don’t know how to do, use your eliminating strategies if possible and then fill in your best guess and move on. You’re concentrating on the first 40 to save yourself time, not to necessarily get points on every single question. And lastly, remember to also leave yourself a minute or two to fill in random (or your best guess) answers for the last 20 questions. At 20% odds, you’ll get 4 of them right! Current Score is Between 16 and 24:Time-Saving Strategies If you’re currently scoring in the 16 to 24 scaled score range, your raw score is anywhere between a 23 and a 40. Take your target raw score and add 5-7. That should be your range of questions to pay attention to on the test, as it will allow you to get some wrong and still meet your score goal. For example, if you’re aiming for a score of 26, you’ll need a raw score of 43-44. This means you should focus your attention on the first 50 questions of the test. This will give you 1.2 minutes per question instead of 1 minute, which increases your time per question by 20%! As you solve these questions, apply your general time-saving strategies from above (mark questions that will take too long, use process of elimination, etc.). By putting your focus primarily- or completely- on these 50 questions, you will save yourself time from attempting the last 10 questions (which are often tricky and take the most time). Before you finish, give yourself a minute to bubble in random (or, if you have time to look at them, your best guess) answers for questions 51-60. If you guess randomly on the last 10, odds are that you’ll get 2 of them right anyway! Current Score is 24 or Above:Time-Saving Strategies If your scaled score is at 24 or above, then it means your raw score is currently a 40 or above. In your score range, you’re probably going to look over every single question to determine if it’s one you can do accurately and quickly (rather than focusing your attention on just the first 2/3rds of the test, for example). In your score range, it will be crucial to practice using your time-saving strategies that we covered for all levels above. Considering your goals, you’ll also want to experiment with shortening the time it takes you to complete each part of the math section, as if you’re running a series of sprints. To determine your current pace, split the math section into thirds and time how long it takes you to do each third. Work your way to minimizing each of these times. An example time plan might be for you to aim to finish the first 20 questions in 15 minutes, questions 21-40 in 25 minutes, and questions 41-60 in 20 minutes. By giving yourself 25 minutes for the middle section, you will be going slowly enough to (hopefully) avoid the most common careless math errors. The questions get trickier around questions 20-23, so it’s a good place to slow down a little. In this example time strategy, finish by giving yourself 20 minutes for the last 20 questions. You more than likely will not be able to finish them all in that amount of time, but you will be able to maximize your point gains in this section by finding the easiest and fastest questions to answer first. But bear in mind that this is only one possible time-planning strategy. If this one doesn’t work for you, play around with your timing until you find the right balance between speed and accuracy that best suits you personally. Treat yourself to a nice nap whenthe test isover. You earned it! The Take-Aways Without knowledge and understanding of how to approach the ACT, it is easy to find yourself panicking. The designers of the test know this, which is one of the reasons the test is so seemingly difficult. But if you familiarize yourself with the test ahead of time, focus your attention on your prime scoring range, and learn when and how to move on from difficult questions, you’ll be able to increase your time per question (as well as your overall score!). Deep breaths- you absolutely have the ability to succeed on the ACT. What’s Next? Now that you know the strategies for maximizingyour timeon the ACT, it's a good idea brush up on yourlist of must-know ACT math formulas. The better you know these, the faster you'll be at solving the math questions.And for many of you, you'll be able tosave yourself time (and increase your accuracy) by using plugging in answersor plugging in numbers strategies. If you feel you've got the timing and formulas down and want to see if you can get a perfect score, check out our article on How to an Perfect Score on the ACT Mathby a 36 ACT-Scorer. Feeling overwhelmed? Don't know where to begin?Look no further than our articles onwhat is considered a good, bad, or excellent ACT scoreand what exactly is tested on the ACT math. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Math lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Introduction to management accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction to management accounting - Essay Example The company is also intending to manufacture natural toothpaste, which is expected to attract a large number of consumers considering that there is an increasing attention in regards to health issue. In this respect, the company expects its sales to grow consistently. 2.0 Target selling price and cost card The selling price of the company’s products is targeted to be low-priced relative to other similar products on the market. However, the company would take into consideration the costs associated with labor, raw materials, direct expenses and other variable costs, as well as fixed costs in calculating reasonable prices for both toothbrush and toothpaste. The use would use the marginal costing with an intention of calculating easily the break-even point (Siegel, & Shim, 2010). The company’s direct material cost for every product is expected to be ?0.15 and ?0.1 for toothbrush and toothpaste respectively. The direct labor cost is anticipated to be ?0.05 and ?0.1 for toot hbrush and toothpaste respectively. Direct expenses are expected to stand at ?0.05 for every product. Other variable costs would also stand at ?0.05 for toothbrush and toothpaste. ... This would ensure that toothbrush and toothpaste are priced at ?0.5 and ?0.6 correspondingly. In relation to the market prices, the company’s prices would be slightly higher relative to Fluoridine Active Fresh of ?0.45 and Tubes High Quality of ?0.3. Conversely, it would be relatively lower with respect to Aquafresh of ?6 and Natural Paste of ?7. Additionally, the company’s toothbrush prices would comparatively lower to that of other firms on the market. 3.0 Breakeven point In order to calculate the breakeven point, there was a need to calculate the contribution margin per product using the marginal costing principle. In this regard, the company calculated the total variable costs, which was estimated at ?0.3 for each of the product (toothbrush and toothpaste). Moreover, the company subtracted the total variable costs for every product from the selling price to arrive at the marginal contribution for both toothbrush and toothpaste. Given that the selling price of toothp aste is ?0.5; its contribution margin per product is bound to be ?0.2. Similarly, considering that the selling price of toothpaste is ?0.6, then, the contribution margin per product would be ?0.3. For an individual to arrive at the breakeven point, one should calculate the number of products that may result in the profits of a firm being zero (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2012). In this regard, it is estimated that 2,000 pieces of toothbrushes should be sold to meet the total fixed costs of ?400. On the other hand, it is expected that 1,500units of toothpastes should be sold to pay the total fixed costs of ?450. The company’s average contribution margin is estimated at ?0.25, while the total fixed costs are ?850. As a result, the company would breakeven by selling a total

Evaluation of Agency's personnel administration Essay

Evaluation of Agency's personnel administration - Essay Example Furthermore, they provide for training of labor and instill the organizations values in them so that they can conform to the requirements of the organization both within and outside environment (Leigh & Blakely, 2013). The urban planning human resource also ensures staffs awards are assured while offer punishment to those who break the policy. Therefore, the underlined factors above makes the human resource be a stronger department. Nonetheless, the committee also finds it hard to find the right personnel that provide a perfect fit for the organization. The agency is also thriving to reach the international standards of personnel management such as the level required by the United Nations labor management. This includes actions and not limited to utility theory approach. But incase the personnel department becomes inefficient, the agency outsources to provide for technical assistance (Buller, & McEvoy, 2012). It ensures that their employees are well managed, and the human resource acquires extra skills on how to deal with the staffs. As a result, global standards are maintained that makes the agency one of the best performing in the industry. The human resource department of the urban planning is tasked with hiring the right employees for the organization. The recruitment process begins by the department advertising the available opportunities that the qualified candidates will send the application to. They then review the applications and determine the best candidates who are then taken for interviews to determine their suitability (Breaugh, 2014). In doing so, they have to conduct a background check on the applicants since the personnel must be of integrity before they can be hired. The final component is the hiring criteria. The selected candidates are notified and provided with the employment contract letters. In the process, they are expected to provide to undergo medical tests to

Energy supply chains and states Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Energy supply chains and states - Essay Example This paper will discuss the main actors in the oil supply chain and the roles they play, and analyze relations of power among the actors and regulation. It will also discuss the key arguments linking oil to war. Supply chains serve the key purpose of overcoming the gap between customers and suppliers and manufacturers (Bowersox, Closs & Cooper 2007). Operations that can only be done, or are best done, in distant locations are made possible by supply chain networks. Apart from their ability to bridge physical distance, or space gaps, supply chains also overcome, time gaps, quantity gaps, variety gaps and information gaps. Time gaps occur when the time between products being available and the time when consumers need to buy them differ. Quantity gaps occur when the stocks available from the suppliers cannot match the consumers’ demands, while variety gaps occur when consumers demand a wider product variety than can be available from one supplier. When there is an information gap , consumers are not able to know of the source or availability of products and the suppliers are also unable to know of potential consumers. The Main Actors and their Roles in the Oil Supply Chain In the oil industry, the key actors are the oil companies (which are the operators), the main contractors and sub contractors, and then the suppliers and consumers (Rushton, Croucher & Baker 2006). The existence of numerous actors has been necessitated by highly specialised and unique business processes, which encourage fragmentation. In the oil industry, the supply chain can distinctly be viewed through the different fragments concerned with exploration, production, refining, marketing and finally, the consumer. The oil companies, which may be state-owned or private organizations, interface on a worldwide scale with governmental entities, whereby some have direct links with the governments themselves. The main contractors are usually traditional service, construction or engineering firms, most of which have undergone nurturing under protective government policies on development for years. Suppliers and sub contractors are made up of regional agents, service companies and manufactures. The supply chain network is bound together by expertise, and the assumption that safety requirements and interruption-free operations should never come under compromise. Conventional definitions dictate that the large part of petroleum reserves are held by state-owned (or national) oil companies, which also produce most of the world’s crude oil supply. By virtue of their privilege of holding exclusive rights to the development and exploration of petroleum resources in their home countries, national oil companies also have the power to decide to what degree they may require the private companies’ participation in the activities of the industry. Further, the national oil companies are typically not compelled to strictly operate basing on market principles. For countries tha t are members of the

Fair Trade Brands - Secrets of the Worldwide Popularity Coursework

Fair Trade Brands - Secrets of the Worldwide Popularity - Coursework Example Fairtrade mainly exists in developing countries and it targets specific areas, for instance, the Handicrafts, Coffee Industry, Tea Industry etc, it does so in order to make sure that the workers and the producers are benefitted and their economic stature improves by participating in Fairtrade. To understand the concept better, its principles should be well understood and they are as follows: â€Å"Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, Fairtrade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system.† The most important principle of Fairtrade is to ensure that there are ample opportunities provided to the producer, the sole aim of Fairtrade is to ensure the well being of the workers and the producers and in this process the first is to provide opportunities to the producer because only when the producer has opportunities, it can be passed on to the workers. â€Å"Transparency and accountability, Fairtrade involves transparent management and commercial relations to deal fairly and respectfully with trading partners.† Another important principle of Fairtrade is to make sure transparency exists in every activity initiated by it, in the sense that every activity initiated by Fair trade should be without any fusses and problems, fair rules and policies are followed hence ensuring the economic and financial safety of the producer. Another important principle is to make sure that the producer gets complete independence, in the sense that he/she shouldn’t have restrictions hampering their growth, it provides a very good platform for the growth of the producers and it also improves their marketing skills by giving them access to the market where they get to know so many things which they wouldn’t have learned had they not participated in Fairtrade.

Higher Education Curriculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Higher Education Curriculum - Essay Example As the report stresses in higher education, an academic curriculum is an academic plan that seeks to enable a learning experience as outlined in its blueprint for college and university students. The curriculum is also under a broad definition, which includes several constituents. The first is the goals for the student receiving the education; they include skills under development, knowledge gained under the curriculum and the attitude with which this knowledge is received. The second constituent in the curriculum is the content offered by the system. This is described as the subject matter which is studied in the learning experience. Sequence is also another important constituent of a curriculum. Sequence is the specific order with which information discourse to the learners. This paper discusses that the higher education curriculum has been under constant critique from its introduction due to several factors. During the 1980’s the critics were most aggressive citing lack of quality in the curriculum, poor accessibility by the learners and lack of relevance in terms of the needs of the learners. The job market and changes in tandem with the emerging challenges. This also influences the curriculum in terms of content. Therefore, there has to be constant change in order for the synchronization of students going through the higher education centers. In developing a curriculum, one has to consider the expectations of the learners from the curriculum, and the expectations of the job market from the learners.... The critiques in the 80’s were mostly managers and company heads who complained that the graduates they received had no knowledge on how to tackle problems. In developing a curriculum, one has to consider the expectations of the learners from the curriculum, and the expectations of the job market from the learners. In this way the curriculum developed is suitable for both the learner and the employer. As mentioned above, a curriculum is only effective if it molds learners to fit perfectly into the job market with less dependence on the bosses. The heads of the job fields are the main forces of change for a curriculum. No matter how much a higher learning institution feels it is providing well-educated graduates the job owners are always the final determinants of that. If they determine that a curriculum does not equip the graduates wholly, they point out where changes should be carried out and then the change is introduced to the curriculum. In changing a curriculum, the first step is identifying the problems in the already existing curriculum. In this stage, research is conducted pointing out exactly where there are limitations in the curriculum. This is done throughout the system including the knowledge provided by the institution, the method of providing it, how the learners perceive it and the sequence with which it is under provision. This step entails thorough scrutiny of the curriculum and identification of all problems. The second step is assessing what learners are available and what kind of graduates the market requires. In this stage, consideration of the learner’s expectation is important. The next step is to outline the goals and objectives of the curriculum, which help in carrying out the fourth step which is

Fair Trade Brands - Secrets of the Worldwide Popularity Coursework

Fair Trade Brands - Secrets of the Worldwide Popularity - Coursework Example Fairtrade mainly exists in developing countries and it targets specific areas, for instance, the Handicrafts, Coffee Industry, Tea Industry etc, it does so in order to make sure that the workers and the producers are benefitted and their economic stature improves by participating in Fairtrade. To understand the concept better, its principles should be well understood and they are as follows: â€Å"Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, Fairtrade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system.† The most important principle of Fairtrade is to ensure that there are ample opportunities provided to the producer, the sole aim of Fairtrade is to ensure the well being of the workers and the producers and in this process the first is to provide opportunities to the producer because only when the producer has opportunities, it can be passed on to the workers. â€Å"Transparency and accountability, Fairtrade involves transparent management and commercial relations to deal fairly and respectfully with trading partners.† Another important principle of Fairtrade is to make sure transparency exists in every activity initiated by it, in the sense that every activity initiated by Fair trade should be without any fusses and problems, fair rules and policies are followed hence ensuring the economic and financial safety of the producer. Another important principle is to make sure that the producer gets complete independence, in the sense that he/she shouldn’t have restrictions hampering their growth, it provides a very good platform for the growth of the producers and it also improves their marketing skills by giving them access to the market where they get to know so many things which they wouldn’t have learned had they not participated in Fairtrade.

Maritime Environmental Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Maritime Environmental Issues - Essay Example El Nino is characterized by extended differences on surface temperatures in Pacific Ocean compared to the average temperature value. It is a cooling or warming of at least 0.9 0F or 0.5 0C in average over east central of tropical Pacific Ocean (Philander1990). In general, the anomaly takes place at an interval of between 3 to 7 years regularly and lasts for between nine months and two years. This anomaly is characterized by events such as: rise in pressures in the surface over Australia, Indonesia, and Indian Ocean; a fall in atmospheric pressure over the eastern and central Pacific Ocean and Tahiti; arising warm air near Peru which usually causes rains in the deserts of northern Peruvian; weakening trade winds in Pacific; and spreading warm water from the west Pacific to the east Pacific and Indian Ocean. This causes extensive drought in west Pacific and rain to the eastern Pacific which is normally dry (Hayes 1991). El Nino is often characterized by warm temperatures, this is becau se of its warm rush of the tropical water that is poor in nutrients and is majorly heated by its tendency of eastern passage through the equatorial current where it displaces the cold water on the surface of the Humboldt Current which is rich in nutrients (McPhaden 1993. In cases where El Nino conditions and/ or episodes lasts for quite long, then the reduction in the trade winds in the east and the extensive warming of the ocean limits the nutrient rich cold deep water together with its economic effects to the local fishing for the international market (Lee 2000). These quasi periodic patterns of climate are experienced across tropical Pacific Ocean approximately after every 5 years. The anomaly phenomenon takes place due to the Southern Oscillation which varies the air pressure of the surface water in the western Pacific and the temperatures of water surface in the eastern Pacific Ocean (Brown 1986). It is the extremes of the oscillations that results into the anomalies of the wea ther conditions in many parts of the world. Those developing countries that boarder Pacific Ocean are widely affected. The phenomenon that characterizes El Nino with unusual warm temperatures of the surface of the ocean in the eastern and central tropical Pacific and unusual cool temperatures of the surface water of the ocean in the central and eastern tropical Pacific, results from the strong circulation of the air in the tropics. This oscillation is famous for influencing climate patterns and weather around the globe (Roberts 1993). Observations have been made on the occurrence of the events resulting from La Nina and El Nino. There is a drift towards the cool neutral side in relation to the sub surface and surface of the temperatures of the ocean along side various changes in the circulation of atmosphere (Dietrich 1999). These changes have indicated a drastic movement in the odds of La Nina that forms in the forthcoming period. This has resulted into uncertainty and the need for close monitoring for any particular signs of future developments. Today, El Nino has been characterized by oscillation of the atmosphere system of the ocean in the tropical Pacific which poses very significant consequences on the weather and climate around the globe. These consequences include high rainfall in Peru and the southern tier of the Unites States, drought and destructive flooding in West Pacific, and in some cases associated with distressing bush fires in Australia (Herpes 2001). El Nino results into warmer winters

Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Management Essay Kopanang Batho Cooperation Services is a company that distributes water to all parts of the urban and peri- urban societies. Its vision is to strive to provide clean water services to all stakeholders and the mission is to provide quality water through highly motivated and professional staff. Ogbor (2009:283) believes that, â€Å"a business is not defined by its name, status or articles of incorporation. Rather it is defined by what it offers, to whom it is offered and how it is offered. † In this assay discussed are the factors affecting human resource management in global organisations and how they affect human resource management. Firstly described, the economic factors; secondly, the political- legal system, thirdly, education and technology and then culture, how each affect the practice and theory of management. Firstly, the economic factors it is all about the change about the new developments in the wealth that managers need to be aware of. The changes brought about these factors require managers forward thinking and who can handle and adapt to change. According to Kynhans et al(2009), â€Å"All these things show how healthy the country is, in other words, how well the country is doing economically†. Today’s organisations are operating in a global environment, the extents has become exceedingly complex and creates enormous uncertainty for managers. For example, some countries are prepared by the idea of free enterprise, that is people turn to find ways of doing things themselves in order to save costs and companies tend to loose clients due to that fact. Moreover, there are differences in requirements for severance pay and vacation days allowed to workers. Again, human resource management practices tend to change so as to prevent unemployment even at the cost of sacrificing productivity; this means some organisations go to the extent of losing productivity so as to spare its employees’ jobs. Secondly, the political legal system, which involves the rules and the regulations at local and national level, as well as the activities that influence the company behaviour affect the human resource management. Legal factors vary from country to country ant the rules and regulations enforced by a legal system can strongly affect human resource management as it states clearly the conditions for certain human resource management practices such as layoffs, hiring, training and compensation. Kynhans et. al cites, â€Å"every organisation is run according to the laws and regulation of that country’s government.† This means every organisation in a particular country is ruled by the laws of that country and they can affect that particular organisation. For example, in other counties it is simple to hire and fire employees while in other countries there are procedures to be followed to do both processes. Thirdly, education can also affect human resource management. â€Å"An organisation’s potential to find and maintain a qualified workplace is an important consideration in any decision to expand into a foreign market.† describes Sims (2010). This means that organisations consider educational background while selecting their employees and such organisations try all efforts to keep such candidates in the organisation. For example, some organisations prefer hiring people who studied full time. Again, other companies prefer hiring candidates form certain well know schools around the world. Again, the technological environment in which a business operates also brings change within the organisation, either processes of production or the type of employees required. â€Å"Many organisations realise they need to start using new technologies to be able to compete with other business. This can have either a positive or negative effect on the people working in that organisation but companies still need to keep up to date with the latest technology developments to stay ahead of the competition,† cites Kynhans et al (2009:23). For instance, if a company needs to change technology, it might not be easy for other employees to adapt and that might delay production. Introducing new products also can affect the organisation in a sense that other old working practices might change and be replaced by new practices and the advancement of technology doesn’t affect countries all at the same time thus some countries are not technologically advanced like others and that can affect the human resource management practices especially when it comes to job evolutions. Also culture can determine the other factors affecting human resource management in the marketplace. â€Å"Differences in culture cause a great challenge in HRM,† stresses Francis (2010). Culture often determines the effectiveness of various human resource management practices, for example, a benefit valued to be important in one country can be comparatively worthless in another country and that can affect the HRM practice as the rules or regulations will have to differ from country to country. In conclusion, it is very important for managers to consider the numerous factors of doing business in different countries and organise the work in different nations. As the world is becoming one village, rules and regulations must at least be more or less the same so as to make it easier to run companies globally. For example, globalise the laws regulating employment so as to make it easy to run companies globally. REFERENCES Francis, C International Business: Text And Cases.2010(5th Edition).New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited John, O. (2009). Entrepreneurship in Sub Zaharan Africa, A Strategic Management Perspective Mitras, D, Shrly .K (2009).Technology, Values and Social Forces in Technology Change Markham, M W. et al. (2009). Human Resource Management: Fresh Perspectives Sims, R, R. (2007). Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues and Opportunities. USA: Information Age Publishing. Inc.

Durkheim Modernity Theory

Durkheim Modernity Theory Durkheim saw Modernity as a new form of thinking that would change the way individuals functioned in society. It took away the overarching order in which humanity, nature and God were interlinked and functioned as the higher power and order of life in traditional societies. The Enlightenment bought about values of questioning, it began to examine the relationship and function that traditional institutions, customs and morals had on the individual and society. Science and rationality began to take the place of stability and order. The modernity of these modes of thought lay in the innovative way in which the philosophes sought to demolish and replace established forms of knowledge dependent of religious authority, such as the biblical account of the creation of the world, with those new forms of knowledge which depended upon experience, experiment and reason quintessentially science. (Hamilton 1992, p. 29). This founding of individualism and new thought is what most worried Durkheim. He felt that strong bonds had to be maintained to keep solidarity which was what he felt society needed to function best. He questioned the place the individual now had in this modern society. To Durkheim, social solidarity is the key to society, Without these social links, he stated, individuals would be separate and unrelated (Morrison P. 128). It brings integration, social bonds and interchanges that he feels are key to a functioning society which cooperates together to achieve goals. After all, we are all fundamentally social where our life at home, work or worship is what defines us and gives us meaning and purpose. Without solidarity Durkheim felt, there would be poor cohesion which linked individuals to social groups. Durkheims The Division of Labour in Society (1893) puts forth the two diverse types of solidarity mechanical and organic. Mechanical solidarity saw society as a whole, with collective opinions and thoughts. The higher power of mechanical societies was held within religion. The stability and order of the Church gave continual reinforcement of the way to live your life and the population were bought together as a whole under this chain of being. This meant all individuals were directly linked and a part of society which carried with it strong social rules and moral values with little individual autonomy. At this time there was a strong collective conscience. The conscience collective exists over and above individuals and becomes implanted in them. It is a society in which the division of labour remains at a very basic level (Craib. I. 1997 p.65). Due to Industrialism, society took a major turn and organic solidarity came into place. Industrialism bought about specialisation in the division of labour. As labour developed individuals became reliant on each other to perform separate functions and individual bonds grew rather than loyalties to society. Durkheims concern of organic solidarity was that he felt it took away the social rules which became paramount in mechanical, Durkheim asserted that the tendency exhibited by utilitarians to reduce society to individuals led them to ignore the larger system of social rules which acted as restraints on individual action. (Morrison P. 125). Individuals now had become a product of society. Urbanisation developed so people moved from rural areas into the cities for better work and job opportunities. This created a growing social mass and intensified social interaction. Durkheim was worried that in this form of modernity created selfish individuals which would exist and focus on their own economic gain even at the expense of others. Here, the conscience collective has decreased in importance and now concentrates on the individual. The enlightenment bought about the significance of science. This new knowledge embraced reason and logic which were very important to Durkheim as he was a positivist. People now questioned what was happening instead of leaving it to fate or divine will like in traditional societies. Challenging ideas created differences in opinion which eventually lead to the secularisation of society and threatened values, all contributing to individualism. Industrialisation created a new way of work and lifestyle where labour became highly organised by the market and state and replaced the legitimisation of traditional authority. People began to become specialised in a particular form of labour which was then sold on or traded. Now, people were dependent on each other not reliant on society, The force of social bonds integrates individuals in their economic occupational functions, and the ties to society become indirect and operate through the division of labour (Morrison, P. 130). Durkheim felt there always had to be a higher power for society to function. Society cant be reduced to just individuals, it was bigger than that and needed a higher power. In mechanical, God took the place whereas in organic solidarity it was traded with the formulation of the individuals aim of reaching aspirations set by ourselves. The low conscience collective in organic solidarity concerned Durkheim in the way that without the clear boundaries and reinforcement that the traditional societies set, common ideas would be lost and societies would become unsystematic and disorganised and the level of behaviour expected would break down. Durkheim described this state in his book Suicide (1897) to be anomie. The anomic state was a type of suicide which reasoned that aloneness or estrangement occurred when a relationship between the individual and society is shattered. Durkheim felt that, Suicide is a result of societys strength or weakness of control over the individual (Shneidman p.24). They emerge from the collective but result in the individual belief. He saw this type of suicide as a social fact which ran through various societies not connected to each other. We see the reason for anomic suicide to be that society has in some way failed that individual. In some ways the individuals committing suicide havent been able to create social cohesion and solidarity with their surrounding community. The isolation from this malfunction is the reason for their act of suicide. To conclude, Durkheim felt that if we live our lives this way we will move away and deviate from a functioning society where working for the common good and living by shared norms was principal to the life that we should live. In some cases this may be true, with profit proving everything and exploitation of recourses and skills. Individuals are now placed and classified into society by their occupation and wealth. Durkheim hoped that in the future the importance of status from birth and inheritance would disappear. If everyone started from the same background and standing then societies would be equal and function best, Consensus is possible (Hawthorn p. 123). I feel that the disintegration of the conscience collective has affected the modern society we now live in. However, to say that the norms and values of traditional societies have disappeared is an exaggerated opinion of Durkheims. However, we do see that in todays society the impacts of industrialism and individualism has cre ated strong inequalities which Durkheim was afraid of happening and simply hopes that we can cooperate in such divisions of labour together.

Federalizing Aiports Essay -- Airport Security Government control Essa

Federalizing Aiports On September 11th, 2001, the United States was dealt a devastating blow when our own airplanes were used as weapons of a terrorist attack. Within just days of the attack our nations leaders began debating over how we could solve our airport security problems. As citizens of the United States were avoiding airports, because they did not seem safe, the House and the Senate of the United States Congress argued whether or not airport security staff should become federal employees. The United States House representatives, and President George W. Bush, disagree with the fact that airport security should be federalized. After evaluating the Senates proposal the House found many reasons as to why federalizing airport security is not logical. The proposal to federalize appeared to present many flaws. The fact that the proposition "concentrates on passengers and ignores the thousands of caterers, cleaners, refuelers and others with access to airports and jets who lack mandatory background checks or ID cards" (Why Federalizing Airport Security is a Bad Thing). With insufficient knowledge of the employees background or identification, another travesty, much like September 11th could occur whether security is federalized or not. The Senates solution to make one set of standards for the employees concerns the House. With the so-called "one size fits all" plan, there would be deficient security at many airports, because the sizes of our airports greatly vary. If standard s were set to secure all major airports, such as Chicago OHare and John F. Kennedy airport in New York, then many small airports would be overwhelmed by the amount of security they are required to have. As the House stated "a one size fits all soluti... ...h government intervention, the interests of the House will also be met by not forcing all airports to federalize their employees. Works Cited Book sources Hahn, Robert. Risks, costs, and lives saved: getting better results from regulation. New York: Oxford University Press; Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 1996. Internet sources The Case Against Federalizing Airport Security. 20 October 2001. Richard W. Rahn. 13 November 2002. <http://www.cat.org/cgi-bin/scripts/printtech.cgi/dailys/10-20-01.html>. Senator Clinton Calls on Congress To Adopt Senate Bill Federalizing Airport Security. 6 November 2001. Last viewed: 13 November 2002. <http://clinton.senate.gov/news/2001/11/2001B07603.html>. Why Federalizing Airport Security Is A Bad Idea. 24 October 2001. Daily Policy Digest. 13 November 2002. <http://www.ncpa.org/iss/ter/2001/pd102401a.html>.

Glastonbury Festival Essay

Glastonbury festival (officially The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts) is biggest and one of the most important music festivals in the world, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts. It takes place in south west England. The festival organiser Michael Eavis, a farmer in a Somerset decided to host the first festival, )then called Pilton Festival) as he saw open air Led Zeppelin concert in 1970. Fourteen people, including John Hoare, invested everything they had to build the stage on Michaels own farm. The first festivals in the 70‘s were influenced by hippie ethics and the free festival movement. After the 1970s the festival took place almost every year and grew in size, with the number of attendees and it becomes one of the most important events of the summer. Nowadays in Glastonbury perform bands such as U2, Colplay, Queens of the Stone Age, Pendulum but also less known (so called indie) bands. The only czech representative in this festival was Gipsy.cz in 2007. Altough festival is affected by barrages of rain and floods, the interest for tickets is enormous. For example in 2007, 137 tousand tickets was sold in only 90 minutes! It’s best not to come to Glastonbury with notebook full of plans of what you want to see. If there are one or two particular bands a day you really want to see, then let your day revolve around them and go with the flow! This festival is fill with the great summer atmosphere that only rock festivals can offer.

Andre Ampere Biography

Andre Ampere biography Andre-Marie Ampere & Electromagnetism Andre-Marie Ampere was first, a Frenchman, second a physicist and third a mathematician. Andre was born on 20 January in the year 1775 at the Parish of St. Nizier, Lyon, France. During his childhood his father tried to teach him Latin, but he found that Andre’s interests and abilities lied in the study of mathematics. Certainly, Andre cherish the time that his father spent teaching him, for later, during the French Revolution, his father was captured and executed.Andre met Julie Carron in 1796 and married her three years later. Around the same time, Andre tutored in mathematics, chemistry, and languages. He moved to Bourg-en-Bresse, to teach physics and chemistry in 1801. Unfortunately his wife died two years later leaving him with their infant son, Jean-Jacques Ampere. Andre was appointed the professor of mathematics at the University of Lyon just one year later. In 1809, Andre Ampere was appointed professor of math ematics at the Polytechnic school in Paris. He was admitted as a member of the Institute in 1814 and in 1820, after H.C. Orsted’s discovery that a magnetic needle is acted on by a voltaic current, Andre sent a paper of his own to the Academy that was much more detailed. He didn’t wait, on September 18, 1820, the very same day that he sent his paper, he presented a demonstration to the Academy that parallel wires with electric currents would pull or push at one another based on whether the electric currents was moving in the same or opposite directions. In demonstrating this experiment he laid the foundation of electrodynamics.Andre Ampere is best known for the Ampere Circuital Law (Ampere’s Law), which states that for any closed loop path, the sum of the length elements times the magnetic field in the direction of the length element is equal to the permeability times the electric current enclosed in the loop. .Andre also invented the astatic needle and the amper e was named after him. Andre led an inquisitorial life, questioning things he did not fully understand, testing the things that he thought he understood, and proving not only his own theories but the series of many that came after him.Andre Ampere practically invented the science of electromagnetism and he will always be remembered in years to come. Works Cited â€Å"Andre Marie Ampere. † Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2011): 1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. Princeton University. â€Å"Ampere's Theory. † PrincetonUniversity. edu. Princeton University, 27 Oct. 2010. Web. . Princeton University. â€Å"Excerpts: Ampere's Theory of Magnetism. † PrincetonUniversity. edu. Princeton University, 27 Oct. 2010. Web. . Nave, C. R. â€Å"Ampere's Law. † Ampere's Law. Hyperphysics – Georgia State University, 2011. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. .

Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Essay

In Horace Miner’s essay on the tribe of Nacirema, it takes little effort to determine that Nacirema is a depiction of a typical American’s health habits. This essay is important for two reasons: It teaches principles about our own culture and it makes us assess the value/downfall of looking at other cultures with an etic approach. Without a doubt, this essay personalizes the study of cultures and its respective peoples. Regarding the view of North American people, Miner clearly thinks we live with a level of vanity. We view the â€Å"human body [as] ugly† and we use â€Å"ritual and ceremony† to avert the unattractive characteristics. It takes extra focus to understand Miner’s terminology. But it becomes clear that he is pontificated on the use of the medical system, including dentists, psychiatrics, and hospitals. As a ritual, we spend extensive time and money on the idealistic notion of being disease-free. It is interesting that from our perspective, we view these efforts as improving the quality of our life. He, as a person looking in on our society, views these efforts as of entire self-interest. It is almost as if he respects more of a communal culture, rather than one of more singularity with some elements of communality. But it definitely makes me think about who is the corrupted one. In the end, he seems impressed by how advanced this particular civilization has become. Without being inside the culture, he appears to have missed how much we rely on each other, and how our cultural teamwork has created the car industry and computer empire—to name only a few. As hinted in the paragraph above, what this essay demonstrated was the uniqueness of looking at a culture from the outside. Inherently, the scientific approach is taken with upmost respect. It is seen as a view without bias. In bench work, this approach is vital. But when studying societies, too many variables can obfuscate the entire interpretation. Minor sees our rituals as defining our sense of truth. To that, he has a great point. We only have to looking introspectively to see how much work we exert toward the valueless—cars, houses, toys, etc. We sometimes do not put enough time in those of more value—family, friends, spiritually. That  is precisely why Minor is so critical. But what Minor misses by not being â€Å"in† our society is that he is inherently â€Å"blinded.† He cannot deduct the subtleties of the society. For example, those with obnoxious behaviors of greed (e.g., Donald Trump) are often shunned. In the end, it takes balance between the emic and etic views to make more accurate judgment of how â€Å"tribes† work. This essay certainly forced me to reflect on my personal rituals. It made me assess how much effort I make toward personal beauty. But it also made me think that we do these rituals for a purpose—to be healthy and to progenate. Thus, I accept these rituals. But now I do them with the full knowledge that they are cultural norms and my choice of doing them seems much less voluntary.

Intermediate Micro economics. In absence of govt. intervention, market Essay

Intermediate Micro economics. In absence of govt. intervention, market resources allocated to health tend to be below the social - Essay Example However, this is only the case when a government is in question. There are several debates regarding the issue of giving healthcare in the hands of private sectors, but there is a speculation regarding the treatment of healthcare as that of a business with a sole purpose of achieving profits. On the other hand it is also said that in order to maintain a market share in healthcare, the private sector players will strive to provide the best type of technology, which would be more convenient and advanced, and heavy on the people’s pockets. A study of the importance of the role that a government intervention plays in the healthcare also brings to light the adverse effects of its absence. The concept of a socialist system of government believes that it is the government’s job to provide all basic facilities to the people in general with no disparities between income classes and backgrounds as long as they are all citizens of the same society. Basic necessities like education and healthcare should be provided to all, unlike the competitive markets for other consumer commodities. Multi-tier system offers different levels of quality but a single tier system is the true essence of a democratic socialist system where all people are equal when it comes to basic rights. The government provide healthcare through subsidies that are derived from the pool of general taxation. Where socialism is flexible in terms of existence of private entities too, it is often mistaken for a democratic system. The Healthcare system in the US has been center of much controversy for the past few years. This is because of the high costs of healthcare as a result of the influx of an array of private medical institutions and lack of government regulations to hamper their excessive profiteering. This has resulted in the emergence of insurance based healthcare, usually backed by employers as it is not affordable by the general public (Cfeps.org, 2013). The current government has offere d incentives for a better system in place with maximum government intervention to ensure that the masses are provided with adequate healthcare reasonably. Healthcare is a major concern for the people all over and history proves that it is imperative for the government to have a regulatory body in place to ensure people’s satisfaction over this dire need of theirs. Private and publicly funded healthcare systems running in some countries in the world have been a point of controversy. This is because one side holds the notion that provision of healthcare should be government funded and be provided as a free service to the people from the government revenues. Whereas, public funded healthcare which is provided free, drawing from the pool of health tax imposed on the general public, has been seen as an effective system as well (Saltman & Busse et al., 2004). This is where the economic externalities come into play as well since not all the people are availing expensive healthcare f acilities, and some of them who are, are those who have not paid fully for it, resulting in the negative externality for the former and a positive one for the latter. Government intervention in the private markets in the form of imposing regulations and restrictions have been viewed as a hindrance because this tends to de-incentivize the induction of new and more technologically advanced health based companies in the system (Lewis, 2000).

News Corp's Buyout of BSkyB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

News Corp's Buyout of BSkyB - Essay Example It will be pertinent to take a note of Rupert Murdoch's British operations, which started a way back in 1969 when the Mirror group wanted to relinquish from its mid-market daily newspaper The Sun. It is precisely at this time when Murdoch acquired it and made it thumping success with the passage of time by selling three million copies per day. Murdoch's control on the print media of UK became more prominent when he acquired The Times and The Sunday Times from Canadian publisher. During the time Murdoch's UK based satellite network Sky television was making huge losses which compelled him to agree for a merger with British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990. The merged company came to be known as BSkyB which is now considered to be the most dominating company in the British pay-TV market. When seen in the above perspective, the news of proposed buyout of BSkyB by Murdoch’s News Corp has far-reaching implications as it may facilitate a near monopolistic control to Murdoch on print a nd electronic media of UK. The point to be noted here is that BBC and other competing media groups have raised their opposition to the deal. It is not surprising that Business Secretary Vince Cable had to bow down on public uproar and ask Ofcom to investigate the matter on the media plurality issues that may arise after this proposed takeover by News Corp. European Union’s antitrust competition regulator also plunged into action to investigate the matter on the grounds of competition. It will be worthwhile to go through some of the important developments that have taken place in the last few months regarding this complete control and take over issue of News Corp. (Prodhan, Georgina et al 2010) The European Commission The European Commission gave its report in the third week of December, 2010 approving the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation. The commission in its report concluded that the said transaction of complete control of BSkyB by News Corp is not going to hinder the competition in the European Economic Area (EEA). Its findings were only restricted to the competition aspects and has nothing to do with the proposed investigation carried out by UK regulatory body on media plurality aspect to protect legitimate interest of British nationals. It is pertinent to note here that media plurality assessment and competition assessment are two different areas of investigation. The Competition assessment mainly focuses on whether consumer would be facing any hike in the pricing structures or any forced featureless offerings. On the other hand, the issues related to the media plurality are concerned with the role played by media in relation to the democratic fabric of the various institutions and further their capacity to influence them in their own interests, which may be in the long run detrimental to the health of country. The European Union’s antitrust commission’s main findings are listed as per the following. 1. BSkyB and News Corp are in competition with each other to a limited extent as they are active in different markets in the UK and the Ireland. 2. The commission is of the view that the proposed transaction is not likely to improve substantially BSkyB's existing share of the market in the supply of basic pay-TV channels. 3. Both the parties have a small combined market share in TV advertising hence not going to affect the balancing act in competition concerns. 4. The Commission also investigated the possibility of offering mixed bundles of subscriptions for its print and online versions along with satellite pay channels. The commission is of the view that it will not be possible for the vast majority of newspapers' on line editions are currently free of charge and this equation is not likely