Analysis of Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, by...

Wallace Stevens is not an easy poet to understand. His work is purposely twisted and tangled so one is forced to thing-whether they want to or not. Stevens’ poetry ranges from real life situations to situations which are simply a depiction of his imagination. One thing can be concluded though, Stevens does not allow his work to have a single meaning. Why should he? This is the upmost quality that makes his stand out from his competitors in the poetic industry. An interesting theme though which Wallace truly enjoys writing about, in all seriousness, is something thought provoking- perception. The book definition of perception is â€Å"appending [something] by the means of senses or the mind† . In his poem, â€Å"Thirteen Ways of Looking†¦show more content†¦This is where one can see the new role the blackbird is playing. A new perception of the bird. It is now part of one’s conscious. It does not have an on or off button that any human can control just l ike a â€Å"river†¦moving† (Stevens 48). A new theme is suggested in this part which makes its way up to the top a couple more times in the work. It is choices. It this specific case it is clear that the individuals the speaker is referring to do not have a choice but to acknowledge the bird. In the fifth part on the other hand, once again a new idea is presented and this is not the case. Here the bird becomes an objectified â€Å"beauty† but this doesn’t last long because as the sixth part approaches, the readers once again return to the winter time â€Å"filled† with â€Å"icicles† (Stevens 17-19). A circular pattern can now be seen with the seasons. Another hint of a continuous process occurring- the process of perception. In the seventh stanza the speaker calls up the â€Å"thin men of Haddam† (a city in Connecticut) and asks about the â€Å"golden birds† (Stevens 25-26). He goes on to say that the â€Å"Blackbird walks around the feet of the women about [them]† (Stevens 28-29). What could he possibly mean? Loazi, a philosophical author, wrote in his book that one should â€Å"Know the masculine, keep to the feminine.† With that being said, when the lines from the poem are re-evaluated, it can be seen that theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens995 Words   |  4 PagesThe title of Wallace Stevens poem, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, is misleading, because he does not only offer thirteen ways of looking at blackbird, but the poem offers us many insights on how humans think. Blackbird, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, has many similarities with Thirteen Ways of Looking at A Blackbird other than just thei r titles. They use many poetic conventions to explain their poem s ideas, both writers use a blackbird to compare to humans and humanRead MoreThirteen Ways of Self-Questioning1358 Words   |  6 PagesThirteen Ways of Self-Questioning The poem â€Å"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird† is written by Wallace Stevens. It contains thirteen sections; each section provides us a picture that is centered by the element of blackbird. Blackbird in the poem signifies people’s consciousness. So this poem wants to tell us that every person has a perspective to look at the world. It questions our process of thought to understand the world, and reminds us realize the problem of it. In â€Å"The Language of Paradox†

Beethoven, Symphony No 3 ( Eroica ) - 1447 Words

Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the greatest composers and a musical genius. Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany and died on March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria. Beethoven came from a family of musicians just like many other great composers before him had. At the age of only 11 Beethoven began serving as an assistant to the court organist and had several published piano compositions at the age of 12. At the age of 18, he became the legal guardian of both of his younger brothers, after the death of his mother and dismissal of his father from the court choir because of alcoholism. By this team Beethoven was also a court organist, violinist and responsible for composing and performing.†¦show more content†¦Works that he created after this time showcased heroism. Beethoven was a self-educated man who enjoyed reading the likes of Shakespeare and other famous poets. He had many love interests in his life, but was never able to sustain a long-term relationship. The Immortal Beloved was a passionate love letter that he wrote to a women. He only referred to her as the â€Å"immortal beloved† and did not use a name. It was said to have been written about Viennese aristocrat Antonie Brentano and was never sent out, but found in a drawer after his death. Beethoven had reached complete deafness in the 1810’s. At this time he piano playing and conducting were deteriorating. At the age of 44 he was no longer able to play in public, but insisted on conducting still. Often times the performances were chaotic and he was hard to comprehend by musicians. He had a custody battle for his nephew Karl, in which he won. This caused disaster as Beethoven craved attention and companionship. After 1818, Beethoven conducted some of his greatest works even though he was completely deaf. Beethoven’s music was influenced by Haydn and Mozart although he had his own unique style. He was one of the greatest compo sers ever and had to overcome his complete deafness and suffering to put out these great works. One of Beethoven’s famous works was his Symphony No. 3 (Eroica). It was known as Eroica or â€Å"heroic† in Italian. This work was written immediately following the Heiligenstadt Testament. ItShow MoreRelatedProgram Notes on Eroica1665 Words   |  7 PagesHLM 213 Program Notes April 26, 2012 The Eroica Symphony Beethoven’s third symphony was first preformed privately in early August of 1804. One would think that the people of this time period would marvel over anything Beethoven composed. However, Eroica was not as well received or understood, as Beethoven would have liked. Many educated listeners were thrown off by the â€Å"false† horn entry halfway through the first movement. It is said that Beethoven’s pupil was surprised by this, and was reprimandedRead MoreLudwig Van Beethoven ( 1770-1827 )1428 Words   |  6 PagesLudwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer, a representative of the Viennese classical musical school; was born in Bonn, but spent most of his life in Vienna. Notably, Beethoven s music is a complex synthesis of creative achievements of the Viennese classics (Gluck, Haydn, Mozart); art of the French Revolution; and the new emerging artistic direction, Romanticism. The works of Beethoven bear the imprint of ideology, aesthetics, and art of the Enlightenment. This explains the logic,Read MoreThe Rise Of Ludwig Van Beethoven1458 Words   |  6 PagesThe rise of Ludwig van Beethoven into the ranks of history s greatest composers was paralleled by and in some ways a consequence of his own personal tragedy and despair. Beginning in the late 1790 s, the increasing buzzing and humming in his ears sent Beethoven into a panic, searching for a cure from doctor to doctor. By October 1802 he had written the Heiligenstadt Testament confessing the certainty of his growing deafness, his consequent despair, and suicidal considerations. Yet, despiteRead MoreBiography Of Ludwig Van Beethoven s Symphonies1558 Words   |  7 Pages Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies are indispensable pieces of music and contributed to him being referred to as one of the most famous musicians in all of musical history. His symphonies are still played today and are recognized around the world. He is known as a symphonic master due to his nine symphonies. Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer during the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. Beethoven’s symphonies were greatly influenced by Haydn and Mozart inRead MoreFirst Movement of Beethovens Symphony No. 3 Essay499 Words   |  2 PagesBeethovens symphony No. 3 Eroica Beethovens Symphony No.3 also known as the Eroica consists of four parts, namely, allegro con brio, adagio assai, scherzo and allegro, which is the standard structure of a symphony. In this work, the analysis focuses on the first movement so as to show how Beethoven enriched symphony. The first movement has a distinctive sonority and texture. It is considerably long as it takes about 14 minutes (it may depend on the version). Some complete symphonies from the classicalRead MoreEssay about Analysis of Beethoven Symphony 3 and Mozart Symphony 403307 Words   |  14 PagesBeethoven Symphony No. 3 and Mozart Symphony 40 Forms Sonata form is one of the more popular forms of music that is found in a variety of different works including symphonies, concertos, and sonatas. Sonata form features three distinct sections: the exposition, development, and recapitulation. Mozart was one of the early composers of this form of music. I will examine the clear distinctions between each section and how he does not stray from the typical form. In later years the form would changeRead MoreThe Revelation Of Beethovens Childhood1617 Words   |  7 PagesLife as it was for Beethoven had many varying elements, and this research paper will be revealing a lot of what he went through as a young boy all the way to the end of his life and career as the world renowned Ludwig van Beethoven. The basis for this paper is to express and expound on the life and career of Beethoven, and why he was seen as part of the pivotal transition between the Classical and Romantic eras. The topics that will be discussed will be the revelation of Beethoven’s childhood andRead MoreThe Romantic Era Of Beethoven1709 Words   |  7 PagesBeethoven The Romantic Ludwig Beethoven grew up in an unhappy home during the late 1800s in Bonn, Germany. His alcoholic father was an angry man and Ludwig escaped his dreadful childhood in his music. At the age of twelve, Ludwig had symphonies imbedded in his mind and soul. He was a gifted composer who supported his family with his talent, he taught music and performed. Music was not enough to protect Ludwig from his abusive home life, his mother died and his father’s drinking grew worse. AtRead MoreThe Impact Of Beethoven On The Development Of The Symphony Until Mahler3555 Words   |  15 PagesDiscuss the impact of Beethoven on the development of the symphony until Mahler. Difficult as it may be to define the true relationship of an artist to his successors, this difficulty is enormously increased when the subject is as complex a man and musician as Beethoven. His role as both a â€Å"preserver of the eighteenth-century tradition1 and a pioneer of romantic self-expression, has secured his status as one of the most revered composers in the history of Western music. Throughout his symphonic cycleRead MoreBeethoven’s 8th Symphony, 4th Movement Narrative2154 Words   |  9 PagesNovember 30, 2011 The Not so Little Symphony Classical music has many purposes: it can move the listener with different emotions, it can relate to an occasion, or tell a story. For Beethoven, having a storyline in musical pieces was significant, through the chords and notes he conveyed struggles that related to him and could be linked to the general public. Whether it was a physical struggle or a social struggle, most of Beethoven’s earlier pieces evoke a protagonist that had to overcome an obstacle

Community Health Needs Assessment Tools Health And Social Care Essay Free Essays

string(177) " current tobacco users 393 22 % Although under a batch of debate, coal and in general volatiles \( dust \) have been proven by sufficient evident as causes of respiratory harm\." The research demand to bring forth qualitative and quantitative informations sing a peculiar community wellness demand is straight proportionate to the impact that the peculiar wellness demand has on the community and sometimes even the mortality/morbidity generated by the peculiar wellness job. In this respect, in this current appraisal we review the wellness demands of coal excavation workers in West Virginia, USA to place jeopardies and hazard factors refering to their wellness, by virtuousness of their designated profession. Community wellness demands appraisal is a strict undertaking that serves the population under survey by clarifying the current demands, reflecting the state of affairs which is frequently non balanced between wellness suppliers, insurance strategies, wellness disposal and/or community leaders. We will write a custom essay sample on Community Health Needs Assessment Tools Health And Social Care Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now It besides serves at placing peculiar demands that are overlooked by health care functionaries that are either fresh or debatable by clarifying perceived and expressed wellness and well-being demands. In other words, it can be a utile means to picture the selected community ‘s skyline in regard to wellness demands, health care deficits and aetiology, all utile countries for the facilitation of better public wellness direction. In order to execute an accurate community wellness demands appraisal, research should be grounded on an up to day of the month background survey of the selected population ‘s demographics and nose count ( socioeconomic, work force and other ) informations, where available. Furthermore, peculiar wellness factors should be taken into history by pull offing information presently disseminated through health care functionaries ( such as mortality, disease prevalence, hazard factors analysis ) . This research would besides profit from an on-site reappraisal of environmental and work related conditions, if possible. The most utile and widely used instrument to carry on a community wellness demands appraisal and subsequent analysis is by agencies of a structured questionnaire based study that will use cross sectional and population specific points targeted at the current wellness demand. Furthermore, the instrument should be designed with attending to environment and province specific conditions, such as ordinances and Torahs, insurance coverage and even so, local traditions and unwritten codifications of behavior. For the above grounds, in this essay we will carry on a reappraisal of available information on the community of Coal Mining Workers in West Virginia, USA. After the acquisition and analysis of the pertaining informations, we will show a structured study instrument, taking to place wellness demands with regard to bing wellness jobs and patient satisfaction. BACKGROUND-RESEARCH We searched a broad array of online databases and administrations supplying demographic and other information for the population in inquiry. We besides conducted a MEDLINE hunt, to pull the image of already identified wellness demands and/or needs appraisals already conducted in this population. Search footings employed were â€Å" coal workers † , â€Å" west Virginia † , â€Å" wellness demands † , â€Å" pneumonoconiosis ‘ , â€Å" interstitial lung disease † , â€Å" occupational jeopardy † entirely or in combination. West Virginia is a province in the Middle atlantic subdivision of the USA, capital Charleston. The province is ill-famed for its mountain composing and important coal excavation industries. The mineral and coal resources in the country are huge, and West Virginia has been considered to hold fuelled a great portion of the industrial revolution of the developed universe. Furthermore, coal excavation and related work constituted major portion of the employment activities of the province, while still in the twenty-first century, it is believed that mining safety and environmental concerns are amongst the most ambitious issues confronting the province. In 2009, West Virginia was inhabited by 1,819,777 people. 5.6 % of West Virginia ‘s population were reported as under 5, 22.3 % under 18, and 15.3 % were 65 or older. Females made up about 51.4 % of the population ( United States Census Bureau, 2010 ) . Furthermore, harmonizing to US Census Bureau Data, West Virginia is the 3rd lowest in per capita income province. It besides ranks last at average family income. Virginia ‘s grownup population with a unmarried man ‘s grade is the lowest in the U.S. At 17.3 % . The chief economic system is coal, and the province is the lead in coal production, 2nd merely to Wyoming.From the West Virginia Office of Miners ‘ Health, Safety and Training we find that the West Virginia Coal Industry provides about 30,000 direct occupations in WV, including mineworkers, mine contractors, coal readying works employees and mine supply companies. In peculiar 20,715 are registered as employees in the 188 active coal mines in WV, while an extra 4,842 work as an independent contractor. From the same beginning we read that for 2009, fatal accidents were 3, non fatal accidents 1,164 and the accident frequence was estimated to be A 2.79 % . Involved in accidents are chiefly high electromotive force equipment, and countries in and around river burden outs. But apart from human deaths, a major wellness job for VW coal excavation workers is pneumonoconiosis, or ‘black lung ‘ . The CDC has implemented a safety and wellness chapter sing occupational Respiratory Disease Surveillance, and particularly for coal mineworkers, the Enhanced Coal Workers ‘ Health Surveillance Program ( ECWHSP ) . The ECWHSP includes studies that include specifically designed standardized wellness questionnaires, work histories, spirometry testing, radiographic scrutinies, and aggregation of other relevant wellness information, which are gathered in a specially designed nomadic scrutiny unit by trained forces on site.Results of the ECWHSP 2009 study on mine workers in West Virginia are shown on table 1: Finding Examined Rate Entire Engagement 1,884 20 % 9,593 pneumonoconiosis ( gt ; =1/0 or PMF ) . 93 5 % 1,884 pneumonoconiosis ( gt ; =2/1 or PMF ) . 43 2 % PMF 24 1 % advanced pneumonoconiosis 35 2 % hold a chronic cough. 624 34 % conveying up emotionlessnesss from their thorax. 690 38 % hold chest sounds of wheezing. 613 34 % hold had an onslaught of wheezing 738 41 % hold experienced dyspnoea on degree 741 41 % hold experienced dyspnoea on a hill 1,119 62 % hold chest stringency 672 37 % hold chronic bronchitis. 142 8 % hold emphysema. 79 4 % hold had pneumonia 337 19 % hold asthma 132 7 % hold TB. 4 0 % ne’er smoked. 954 53 % former tobacco users 455 25 % current tobacco users 393 22 % Although under a batch of debate, coal and in general volatiles ( dust ) have been proven by sufficient evident as causes of respiratory harm. In item, in coal mineworkers a important association between the degree of FEV1 and dust was found, even after accommodation for age, build and smoke ( Cowie,1999 ; Soutar 1989 ) . Some more interesting figures arise from the State Health Facts web site, shown in Table 2: Measured index WEST VIRGINIA USA Age-Adjusted Invasive Cancer Incidence Rate per 100,000 Population, 2005 484.2 458.4 Births of Low Birth weight as a Percentage of All Births, 2006 9.7 8.3 Number of Deaths per 100,000 Population, 2007 951.7 760.31 Life Expectancy at Birth ( in old ages ) , 2005 75.3 78.0 Percentage of Adults Who Have Ever Been Told by a Doctor that They Have Diabetess, 2008 11,9 8,2 Number of Deaths Due to Diseases of the Heart per 100,000 Population, 2006 236,9 200,2 Asthma prevalence among grownups 9.0 8,2 Percentage of Adult Population Aged 21-64 Old ages Who Reported a Disability, 2007 22,4 12,8 The above figures need to be assessed in cautiousness sing the high prevalence of â€Å" business of coal worker † in West Virginia. Apart from the evident pathophysiology of dust come ining the lungs and rendering them inveterate inflammatory, with marks of fibrosis and atelectasia or other interstitial pneumonic disease or pneumonoconiasis, wellness demands of coal excavation workers are extended to a assortment of diseases that are non as normally identifiable at the first expression. Although current testing methods and occupational policies do be for these workers, they tend to be centred on respiratory diseases. Coal Mining nevertheless, is a demanding, clip devouring manual labor that is frequently clamant and causes a assortment of clinical manifestations. As such we can see lower dorsum hurting, physical restrictions ( Galagher,2005 ) cervical spinal column degenerative alterations, vibration-hazard related organic structure alterations, sudden coronary decease ( Kopytina et al, 1993 ) , skin lesions ( Begraca et al, 1991 ) and mental wellness alterations ( Lagunov,1991 ) . Furthermore, the coal excavation community frequently has unmet demands on the degree of healthcare entree and use, that different stakeholders are normally incognizant. In a survey by Smith et al,2005 a community wellness demands appraisal was the agencies to the proviso of a community nurse and a alteration in healthcare proviso among former mineworkers in Kent. Having reviewed the major constituents of community wellness demands appraisal for mine workers in West Virginia and holding conducted the appropriate background reappraisal, we propose the undermentioned questionnaire as a tool to carry oning an effectual and fruitful rating of sensed and existent wellness demands, in a community of mine workers. This tool comprises of a wellness demands assessment portion, where the replies are left unfastened and positions are encouraged for propositions in order to ease the analysis of expected wellness and engagement to wellness concerns. The 2nd portion is a standardised demographics and wellness questionnaire that is used widely in this signifier, with minor changes in measuring the perceived wellness and demographic information of the survey population in inquiry. Emphasis is given on other diseases that might impact the coal excavation community ( participants are requested to number five-5 major wellness concerns ) and on sensed degree of attending and attention this community is having or should be having harmonizing to its demands. A inquiry sing their sibling ‘s wellness is put in the terminal to clarify concerns that are besides documented in the literature sing out of site taint with dust by coal workers that bring their occupational jeopardy in the household place or by scattering in neighborly countries ( Pless-Mulloli et Al, 2001 ) . Questionnaire: We are carry oning a reappraisal of the Health Needs within the WV coal excavation community. Along with statistical informations and analysis we are besides interested in your point of views. Instruction manuals Part One: Health Problems There are several factors that influence or find whether the people in your coal mineworker ‘s community are healthy. From the undermentioned list, delight rank from 1-5 ( 1 being the highest precedence ) what you think are the top five wellness and disablement issues impacting your community? Health Issue Your Ranking ( 1-5 ) Asthma / Respiratory Disease / Pneumoconiasis Cancer Cardiovascular Disease Depression / Psychiatric Disorders Diabetess Disability Drug and Alcohol usage Nutrition Fleshiness Oral Health Physical Injury ( including force and accidents ) Self injury / Suicide Sexual Health Smoking Other ( delight stipulate below ) What do you believe is needed to turn to the top three precedence issues identified above and what difference will this do? Issue 1: Issue 2: Issue 3: What is needed? What is needed? What is needed? What difference will this do? What difference will this do? What difference will this do? How much influence do you believe the following have as to whether people in your coal excavation community are healthy? Please mark each factor with an Ten, ranking â€Å" influence † from 1-5 following with an Ten Influence ( 1 is most, 5 is least ) Factors 1 2 3 4 5 Cost of services Ease of entree to wellness services Education Employment Family support Housing Income Social Isolation Conveyance Community support Insurance position Other ( delight stipulate below ) Your inside informations Please supply us with some information about yourself. This will help us with the analysis of the questionnaire consequences. Please mark the following that applies to you with an Ten Name ( optional ) Cultural Group American German decent Latino Other Gender Male Female Age Range Children ( aged 0 – 14 ) Adults ( aged 25 – 64 ) Youth ( aged 15 – 24 ) Older Peoples ( aged 65+ ) Where make you populate? metropolitan country county How many old ages have you worked in the coal excavation sector? ( figure of old ages ) Make you see your ego healthy? Yes No What is your chief concern? How frequently do you see a physician? List one preventative diagnostic trial that you had the old 6 months: ( colorectal showing, pap trial, ECG, CXR, ultrasonogram etc ) : Does your employer offer wellness promotion/wellness plans? Yes No Type of wellness insurance ( province ) : In the undermentioned subdivision, select which answer describes you. *Note that N/A stands for non applicable A Always Sometimes Never N/A You wear a place belt: You wear a helmet when siting a bike, Rollerblading or skateboarding: You drive the posted velocity bound: You eat at least 5 helpings of fruits and veggies each twenty-four hours: You eat fast nutrient more than one time a hebdomad: You exercise at a moderate gait at least 30 proceedingss per twenty-four hours, 5 yearss per hebdomad: You consume more than 3 alcoholic drinks per twenty-four hours ( female ) or more than 5 per twenty-four hours ( male ) : You smoke coffin nails: You chew baccy: You are exposed to secondhand fume in your place or at work: You use illegal drugs ( marihuana, cocaine, Methedrine, etc. ) : You perform self-exams for malignant neoplastic disease ( chest or testicular ) : You wash your custodies with soap and H2O after utilizing the public toilet: You undergo physiotherapy for lower dorsum hurting You apply sunscreen earlier planned clip outside: You get a grippe shooting each twelvemonth: You pattern safe sex ( rubber or other barrier method, etc. ) : You take vitamin pills or addendums day-to-day: You spend money on chancing more than one time a month: You attend spiritual services on a regular basis: You volunteer in your community ( church, schools, civic organisations, etc. ) : You donate money to community based organisations ( churches, non net income organisations, etc. ) : You get adequate sleep each dark ( 7-9 hours ) : You feel stressed out: You feel happy about your life: You feel lonely: You worry about losing your occupation: You feel safe in your community: You are afraid for your kids ‘s wellness You feel that the authorities is apt for your wellness You feel that the authorities is apt for your kids ‘s wellness How to cite Community Health Needs Assessment Tools Health And Social Care Essay, Essay examples

Interest Policies Insurance Industry

Question: Discuss about the case study Interest Policies for Insurance Industry. Answer: Introduction A Conflict of interest is a situation in which a person or organisation is involved in multiple interest, financial interest, or otherwise, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation of an individual or organisation. Black's Law Dictionary also describes conflict of interest as being in connection with "public officials and fiduciaries and their relationship to matters of private interest or gain to them" in situations where regard for one duty tends to lead to disregard of another. The term "private interest" would mean any tangible benefit accruing directly to the one with a conflict of interest, or indirectly through associates, related organizations, friends, or family members. Tangible benefits can include, for example, direct financial rewards, improved employment, social positioning, public recognition, advocacy and publicity, business referrals, or political influence. It is a policy that any insurance broker who has the license to operate as a broker is obliged to manage, avoid and disclose situations of conflicts of interest within the organisation. There are many a number of situations where the conflict of interest may arise and some of these situations may arise where the broker: Acts under a binding arrangement Is reliant on an insurer(s) for commission as their sole or principle method of income Has representatives whose income is solely derived from or contingent upon commission or volume business Has arrangement in place for premium funding Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is an insurance-based financial services provider.Founded in 1872 - and in Canada since 1923 - Zurich has a global network of subsidiaries and offices in North America, UK, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and other markets. Zurich's 60,000 employees serve customers in more than 170 countries. In Canada, they focus on developing unique solutions for Large Canadian Corporations, Canadian based multinationals, Canadian business in manufacturing, real estate, technology, public sector and constructions and groups and associations in niche markets. Zurich knowledge of U.S. and international insurance and their close working relationship with Zurich colleagues around the world enables them to provide borderless insurance solutions to meet customers needs, regardless of their location. In Canada, they conduct business exclusively through a network of independent insurance brokers. The FSA has set out high-level requirements in respect of conflicts of interest for insurance brokers. There is the need to identify conflicts of interest in the organization so that it is tackled effectively and it is imperative on the managers, employees and all appointed representatives to help in the identification of the conflict of interest which may occur between them and the and their clients or one client of the firm and another client on the other hand. Other aspects of the potential source of conflicts of interest have been indicated above but the four main possible sources or the most significant conflicts of interest are indicated below: The first significant point is where the firm or the employee of the firm is likely to main any financial gain, or avoid a financial loss, at the expense of the client in this case the firm or employee is not supposed to make any financial gain or even avoid any financial loss at the expense of the client. For further understanding of this issue which may lead to conflicts of interest, an example of such situation is where there are maximum commission rates that the regulator has advised that insurance companies pay to brokerage firms lets say a commission of 15% is paid to a broker (eg KEK Insurance Brokers) for a motor comprehensive business. The broker as per its duties seeks competitive quotations from selected insurance companies, (competitive quotation here means that the rates are good and equally the insurance company has the ability and capabilities to pay claims when they fall due) and when these quotations are received, the broker is supposed to make known all the rates to the client and then advise them as to which one is best in terms of rates and then ability and capability to pay claims when they fall due but at the point where the broker conceals the rates of other insurance companies and then forwards that of a particular insurance company because the broker knows that it is going to gain much more commission over and above when other insurance companies give, for example 18% in the case of motor insurance businesses, at this stage, the broker has gained financially at the expense of the client who could have gotten better and competitive terms from other insurance companies who were not even approached by the broker. There are also certain situations which also indicates that the broker is likely to make financial gain at the expense of the client and this is where the firm or the employee receives inducements in the form of money, fuel coupons from other insurance companies so that they place the business with such companies even though they are not competitive. The second most significant conflict of interest is when the firm or employee have an interest in the outcome to the client or of a transaction carried out on their behalf, distinct from the clients interest in that outcome. In this case, instead of the brokerage firm or the employee having the interest of the client at heart in the discussion of premium computation and especially in situations where there are claims. For example, the client has made a claim for damage to his/her vehicle and per the duties of the broker, they are supposed to follow up on all repair estimates and make sure that the vehicle is either repaired or when it is a total loss case, the client is properly compensated but because the employee has interest in the outcome or the transaction, it wouldnt give the best advice to the client, example lets say a claim has been made and an estimate forwarded to the insurer, the claim is not in respect of a total loss and the client is not even asking for a total loss bu t because the employee wants the vehicle, they persuade the client to push for total loss and talks to the insurer to issue discharge for total loss even though the clients interest in not for it to be declared total loss. The employee then after the client has finally agreed for total loss and signed the discharge, the employee will then contact the insurance company for it. Thirdly, another form of conflicts of interest is when the employee or firm have a financial interest or other incentive to favor the interest of another client over the interest of the client. Analysis Of How Each Of These Four Conflicts Of Interest Is Mitigated Zurich should maintain and operate effective organizational and administrative arrangements with a view to taking all reasonable steps to prevent conflicts of interest from giving rise to a material risk of damage to the interests of the clients. Zurich should keep and regularly update a record of the kinds of service carried out by or on behalf of that firm in which a conflict of interest has arisen Zurich should have an effective conflicts of interest policy in writing appropriate to the size and complexity of their business. Zurich must take all the reasonable steps to identify conflicts of interest. Recommendations to change business practice to improve the identification of mitigation of conflicts of interest. Zurich insurance broker as an international firm, it is very important that you continue to operate as transparently as possible. I believe you need to have more understanding of your business operation. By understanding how you operate and how you view the conflicts of interest policy will definitely help your organisation. The conflict of interest could be best avoided if different stakeholders in the organization can work together to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Zurich insurance is a large organization that has various internal and external stakeholders. The conflict could be best avoided within the organization only when the management can understand the expectations of different stakeholders in the organization. The expectations of the stakeholders could be well understood with the regular communication with them. Therefore. It is important that the organization and the management should arrange for various formal and informal meetings with stakeholders. I would also recommend counselling your staff and stress the importance of how to identify and orally provide information on conflicts of interest. This should then tie back into written confirmation. Within the procedural manuals write a principle statement on how Zurich brokers will deal with conflicts of interest situations. In the organization compliance meetings, put a permanent item on the agenda to ensure the compliance officer and responsible managers are constantly monitoring the situation. According to the FSAs guideline practice for conflicts of interest are as follows: Firms should always be willing to change business practice or exit a particular activity if the conflict risk cannot be satisfactorily mitigated. Firms must have a conflict architecture that is able to deliver the mitigation resulting from the review process. Best practices includes:- Clear, documented policy on conflicts identification and management governing general business conduct and procedures for managing conflicts where they arise. Ownership of conflict resides with business line management, who are responsible for identifying and managing the risk, supported by legal, compliance and other control functions. Conflicts clearance processes for routine day to day transactions. Clear arrangements for dealing with significant or sensitive transactions that may affect the reputation or financial stability of the firm with the appropriate escalation process. Explicit consideration of conflict risk in both the new business take-on process and decision making at a transactional level. Good recording of decisions and actions. Senior management must lead in ensuring the integrity of the management of conflicts of interest. To do this, the senior management needs to be sufficiently independent of the day-to-day transactions and conduct of business where conflicts may arise. Use of appropriate management information The culture of the firm must be support effective management of conflicts of interest. Conclusion A better understanding of the nature of conflicts of interest and the clearer and fairer formulation of rules can support greater confidence in the Insurance industry. With robust conflict of interest policies in place, organisations can continue to carry out their respective activities not in wary confrontation but in beneficial cooperation with the representatives of industry. It is important that the conflict should be taken as a positive thing within the organization. It appears that the primary conflict among the employees in the organization is with respect to the processes. Some of managers and employees of the organization do not like the existing processes and therefore they do not provide adequate support to the new managers. Therefore, it is important that the leaders and the management of the team should work on the process standardization. The process standardization cannot happen in a day or two. The management must establish a culture where the organization can minimiz e the people dependency and establish the defined processes. It is also important that the processes should be implemented effectively within the organization. The management should take a top-down approach to implement the processes and to develop a platform where conflicts could be avoided and any conflict could be taken in a positive manner. References https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Clo-Con/Conflict-of-Interest.html#ixzz416qt1kzq (2015) Advanced Insurance Broking 930 textbook by Chartered Insurance Institute. https://www.revisionmate.com Zurich.com

An Examination of Disciplinary Actions Taken for Black and White Male Students

An Examination of Disciplinary Actions Taken for Black and White Male Students AbstractRacial Discrimination, also known as racism, is the practice of limiting people's rights and privileges based on their phenotypic appearance as members of particular groups called races. The problem  Ã‚ ¾f disruptive student conduct in school has been, and continues to be, among the most pressing problems facing educators in public schools today (Duke Jones, 1984; Gottfredson, Gottfredson, Hybl, 1993; Kadel Follman, 1993). In this study, quantitative survey method will be used t Ã‚ ¾ investigate whether high school Black male students receive different disciplinary punishments than do high school White male students f Ã‚ ¾r th Ã‚ µ same infractions. The information regarding low-income status and the perception of students about disciplinary punishments will provide additional insight into th Ã‚ µ factors that shape students' behavior  Ã‚ °nd attitudes toward school  Ã‚ °nd may subsequently impact disciplinary outcomes.DedicationT‘tl Ã‚ µ  Ã‚ ¾f study: AN EXAMINATION OF DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS TAKEN FOR BLACK AND WHITE MALE STUDENTS. Th‘s study ‘s 11250 w Ã‚ ¾rds ‘n l Ã‚ µngth (‘€lus ____ ‘€Â Ã‚ °g Ã‚ µs  Ã‚ ¾f  Ã‚ µss Ã‚ µnt‘ Ã‚ °l t Ã‚ °bl Ã‚ µs  Ã‚ °nd f‘gur Ã‚ µs),  Ã‚ µx‘ lud‘ng t‘tl Ã‚ µ ‘€Â Ã‚ °g Ã‚ µ, t Ã‚ °bl Ã‚ µ  Ã‚ ¾f ‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¾nt Ã‚ µnts, summ Ã‚ °ry,  Ã‚ °Ã‚‘ kn Ã‚ ¾wl Ã‚ µdg Ã‚ µm Ã‚ µnts, ‘€r Ã‚ µf Ã‚ °Ã‚‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µ,  Ã‚ °Ã‚‘€‘€Â Ã‚ µnd‘‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µs  Ã‚ °nd l‘st  Ã‚ ¾f s Ã‚ ¾ur‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µs but ‘n‘ lud‘ng n Ã‚ ¾t Ã‚ µs,  Ã‚ °nd ‘s thus  Ã‚ µqu‘v Ã‚ °l Ã‚ µnt t Ã‚ ¾ 50 st Ã‚ °nd Ã‚ °rd ‘€Â Ã‚ °g Ã‚ µs ‘n l Ã‚ µngth (225 w Ã‚ ¾rds = 1 st Ã‚ °nd Ã‚ °rd ‘€Â Ã‚ °g Ã‚ µ).Figure 2In wr‘t‘ng th‘s study, I h Ã‚ °v Ã‚ µ ‘ Ã‚‘t Ã‚ µd  Ã‚ °ll ‘€ubl‘sh Ã‚ µd s Ã‚ ¾ur‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µs us Ã‚ µd, ‘n‘ lud‘ng Int Ã‚ µrn Ã‚ µt s Ã‚ ¾ur‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µs,  Ã‚ °s f Ã‚ ¾ll Ã‚ ¾ws:C D‘r Ã‚ µÃ‚‘ t qu Ã‚ ¾t Ã‚ °t‘ Ã‚ ¾ns  Ã‚ °r Ã‚ µ m Ã‚ °rk Ã‚ µd  Ã‚ °s qu Ã‚ ¾t Ã‚ °t‘ Ã‚ ¾ns,  Ã‚ °nd th Ã‚ µ s Ã‚ ¾ur‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µ  Ã‚ ¾f  Ã‚ µÃ‚ Ã‚ °Ã‚‘ h qu Ã‚ ¾t Ã‚ °t‘ Ã‚ ¾n ‘s ‘nd‘‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ °t Ã‚ µd.C Th Ã‚ µ s Ã‚ ¾ur‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µs  Ã‚ °r Ã‚ µ  Ã‚ °ls Ã‚ ¾ ‘ l Ã‚ µÃ‚ Ã‚ °rly ‘nd‘‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ °t Ã‚ µd f Ã‚ ¾r m Ã‚ °t Ã‚ µr‘ Ã‚ °l summ Ã‚ °r‘z Ã‚ µd  Ã‚ ¾r ‘€Â Ã‚ °r Ã‚ °Ã‚‘€hr Ã‚ °s Ã‚ µd fr Ã‚ ¾m th Ã‚ µ w Ã‚ ¾rk  Ã‚ ¾f  Ã‚ ¾th Ã‚ µr wr‘t Ã‚ µrs.C S Ã‚ ¾ur‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µs  Ã‚ °r Ã‚ µ ‘ndÂ⠀˜Ã‚‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ °t Ã‚ µd  Ã‚ °t th Ã‚ µ ‘€Â Ã‚ ¾Ã‚‘nt ‘n th Ã‚ µ t Ã‚ µxt wh Ã‚ µr Ã‚ µ th Ã‚ µ m Ã‚ °t Ã‚ µr‘ Ã‚ °l ‘s us Ã‚ µd,  Ã‚ µÃ‚‘th Ã‚ µr thr Ã‚ ¾ugh  Ã‚ ° r Ã‚ µf Ã‚ µr Ã‚ µn‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µ ‘n th Ã‚ µ t Ã‚ µxt  Ã‚ ¾r thr Ã‚ ¾ugh  Ã‚ ° f Ã‚ ¾Ã‚ Ã‚ ¾tn Ã‚ ¾t Ã‚ µ,  Ã‚ °s w Ã‚ µll  Ã‚ °s b Ã‚ µÃ‚‘ng l‘st Ã‚ µd ‘n th Ã‚ µ b‘bl‘ Ã‚ ¾gr Ã‚ °Ã‚‘€hy.I m Ã‚ °y h Ã‚ °v Ã‚ µ d‘s‘ uss Ã‚ µd th Ã‚ µ study w‘th  Ã‚ ¾th Ã‚ µrs  Ã‚ °nd us Ã‚ µd  Ã‚ °dv‘‘ Ã‚ Ã‚ µ  Ã‚ °nd sugg Ã‚ µst‘ Ã‚ ¾ns fr Ã‚ ¾m  Ã‚ ¾th Ã‚ µrs ‘n wr‘t‘ng ‘t, but th Ã‚ µ study...

Gay couples should not be able to get married and adopt a child.

Gay couples should not be able to get married and adopt a child. Elementary school and junior high school are the times in a child's life where he or she would get made fun of most. There is a lot of teasing, as well as, unnecessary words that are said to one another. During this period, a child must learn how to deal with words and how to stand up for himself or herself. However, if that child has a weakness, it would be a much harder time. Gay couples should not be able to get married and adopt a child.Throughout many time periods in a child's life, that child experiences many words of ridicule. Elementary and junior high school are the times when these children start and become harsher. If a child comes from a gay couple, that child would get made fun of much more than a child from a straight or "normal" couple. It would be a greater task or even challenge for that child.Children at N.Y. Zoo (LOC)Children are very emotionally weak and anything said to them that is painful will be remembered in the future. This causes the child to grow up remem bering a certain event that they can't let go. This also causes the child not to aspire to anything. This is resulting a subconscious feeling that they will be cursed at if they try to become something. Their self-confidence will decrease due to the negative words said at him or her which will trigger that child to grow up hating his or herself and maybe even all others that are surrounding him or her. On a more realistic note, children today can hardly take the pressures of life as is; if you add a weakness as your parents being gay, this creates a larger weakness and more room for being cursed and made fun of. If you add...

International Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

International Management - Essay Example Interaction of these companies with local companies can act as the basis through which ideas, knowledge and skills are shared. These companies are quick to share their developmental aspects, and in so doing local companies can access a gateway through which they can better their technologies given their level of output production. Knowledge transfer can contribute to the performance of local companies. Many local companies are hardly exposed to the operations and modes of business of industrious multinational companies. Transfer of knowledge from highly effective international companies is likely to impact positively on the operations of local companies3. Improved knowledge base would boost resource allocation decisions and further impact on cost minimization with maximization of revenues being the sole objective4. Achievement of the three factors guarantees a highly effective and efficient business performance. Taking products to foreign markets is another internalization factor. This constitutes cross-border trade. In other words, international trade will proliferate. Meeting international quality standards of goods and services is the fundamental underlying factor in this aspect. International prices of goods and services are always better than the domestic prices5. The profit motive for producing and manufacturing companies drives them towards adopting the right production techniques in order to maintain a constant supply of goods and services in the international markets, while at the same time satisfying the domestic

Korean Cultural Consideration of Death and Dying Essay

Korean Cultural Consideration of Death and Dying - Essay Example Most cultures hold the belief that the dying process is never rosy. This being the case, people should be aware that individuals do not need to undergo a lot of pain and suffering only due to cultural beliefs. The paper will explore Korean cultural approaches to death and dying. In particular, the paper will explain unique concepts with regard to the culture in relation to death and dying. It will also look at how the Korean Culture presents death and dying rituals, and the similarities and differences between that culture and American culture. Korean Approaches to death and dying The Asian Health Support Service (2004) notes that customs pertaining to death and dying are much dependent on a person’s age, religion, marital status, manner of death, status in the society and area of residence. These factors greatly affect the manner in which the Koreans perceive death and dying. They perform certain cultural rituals as a way of giving the bereaved an opportunity to abide by the set obligations of the deceased person (Asian Health Support Service). The Koreans have very strong family ties especially when one of the family members is sick. In this case, when one is admitted to the hospital, he receives many visitors who provide them with encouragement and consolation. At the time of being in the hospital, the patient is expected to have somebody by his or her side until the patient is ready to be discharged. In case the condition of the patient gets worse, the community prefers that the patient is discharged before his death so that he/she can be taken back home alive. It is also worth noting that the culture does not prefer a patient being admitted in a nursing home for care (Schwartz, 1997). This is because traditionally, the culture reveres dying at home so as to avoid the dead transforming into a kaekkwi (evil spirit). In this respect, members of the family make every attempt to ensure that any sick person is taken back home before he/she dies irrespecti ve of whether or not the patient is receiving treatment in hospital. The Korean people believe that it is a misfortune to bring a dying patient’s body home. However, doing so before his/her death is a sign of respect, as noted by the Asian Health Support Services (2004). For a long time, this belief was so engraved in the people’s culture to an extent that disobeying it was disrespectful to the deceased and the bereaved family. It is, however, worth noting that within the contemporary setting, the custom is dying off. The Asian Health Support Services (2004) notes that the Koreans’ way of thinking and cultural beliefs are changing drastically, and many hospitals in Korea have rooms established to shelter bereaved families. Some rooms are also specially established for holding funerals for the grieving families. This is one way by which the Korean government and hospitals are ensuring that cultural beliefs of the people do not lead to preventable deaths. The pati ents in this respect continue receiving specialized treatment up to the time of death. Koreans Present Death and Dying Rituals Koreans present their death rituals in a unique way in line with their culture and customs. Crying and wailing is also a part of the death rituals among the Korean people (Kim & Loyola University Chicago, 2008). When one dies, family members flock the home of the deceased crying to

LITERATURE REVIEW ON A BUSINESS INNOVATION Essay

LITERATURE REVIEW ON A BUSINESS INNOVATION - Essay Example The 3D printing innovation underwent a long evolution that depicts great development in terms of affordability, usability, and efficiency in its numerous applications. The MIT and ZS Corporation made significant contributions to the introduction and development of the 3D printing innovation. 3D printing is a versatile yet short process that has great significance in digital economies that can change the world. It relates to the Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory. However, despite its significance and numerous applications, people are still considering various aspects before adopting 3D printing in their manufacturing companies. Nevertheless, 3D printing remains to be a fundamental aspect in the business world. Introduction 3D printing is one of the most celebrated business innovations that continue to influence the manufacturing and production industry. Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing is business and technological innovation that encompasses the process of making a three-dimensional solid product of any shape using a digital model (3Ders.org 2013, p. 1). Indeed, 3D printing is a huge versatile and rapid process that accommodates geometry of varying complexity in variant applications, and supporting many types of materials (Z Corporation 2005, p. 2). The 3D printers operate at resounding speeds, extremely low costs, and within a wide range of applications (Z Corporation 2005, p. 2). ... Additionally, products manufactured through 3D printing are applicable anywhere in the product life cycle. To achieve 3D printing, innovators used an additive process, where successive layers of material adopt different shapes. The 3D printing innovation, which uses additive processes, is completely different from the traditional machining processes, which used subtractive processes to remove materials in the manufacturing process. Indeed, 3D printing uses digital technology where it uses standard inkjet printing technology to create parts layer-by-layer by depositing a liquid binder onto thin layers of powder (Z Corporation 2005, p. 3). Then it moves the print heads over a bed of powder where it prints the cross-sectional data sent from .stl, .wrl, .ply, and .sfx files through a feed piston and platform (Z Corporation 2005, p. 2). Notably, the cross sectional layers join automatically to produce the final shape. The 3D printing offers improved visualization, greater automation, and more cost-effective reuse of 3D data (Z Corporation 2005, p. 2). Subject to its numerous applications, ability to produce objects of any shape or geometric feature, its effectiveness, and its low costs of production, 3D printing stands out as a successful business innovation using digital solutions. Indeed, through the 3D printing innovation, we can manufacture products locally (D'Aveni 2013, p. 1) and close to their point of purchase or consumption through a cheaper and faster process. Subject to its significance and effectiveness, the demand for 3D printers is on an increasing trend in the modern times. In this report, I will include the conceptual framework of this case using relevant theories. I will then present my findings and analyze the case. Conceptual

Guidance for the Prevention of Falls in the Elderly

Guidance for the Prevention of Falls in the Elderly According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one out of three older adults have fallen each year and twenty five percent of these incidents result in severe injuries such as head traumas, hip fractures or lacerations. The quality of life of older adults who fall decreases due to the injuries or fear of future falls which might limit their activities, reduce mobility and body fitness and in turn increase the risk of falling. The direct medical cost of falls was estimated to be around $30 billion. Indirect cost of falls is long-term effects: such as disability, lost of independency, lost time from house duties, and reduced quality of life. (CDC, 2012). Guideline Description Clinical practice guideline, prevention of falls in older persons is published on the American Geriatrics Society’s Web site (http://geriatricscareonline.org/FullText/CL014/CL014_BOOK003). The guideline was developed by American Geriatric Society (AGS) together with British Geriatric Society (BGS). Panel members came from different professional organizations. Most of them were medical doctors who work or teach in very prestigious hospitals and universities. Some other members included: the public health worker, the pharmacist, the physical and occupational therapist and Registered Nurse with PHD who works at New York University. There was no psychotherapist, psychologist, social worker or recreation worker on the panel. Old 2001 guideline was intended to support health professionals in assessment of fall risk and also help management of older adults who had a history of fall or were at risk of falling. (Journal of American Geriatric Society, 2001) This was update to the previous version of 2001 guideline which was developed by American Geriatrics Society, Geriatrics Society, American Academy Of and Orthope dic Surgeons. 2010 guideline was endorsed by The American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Medical Association, the American Occupational Therapy Association, and the American Physical Therapy Association. Most panel members had no financial interest or commercial interest for the work they provided. Only one doctor received grants from the American College of Emergency Physicians and one member National Association for Home Care and Hospice held shares in various pharmaceutical companies. A preliminary draft of 2010 guideline was peer reviewed by many professional organizations. The Rating System To analyze all studies and grade the evidence, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) rating system with 40 years of experience was used. This organization has volunteer members of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. Quality of evidence rating system used a grade of A, B, C or D for each recommendation and I for insufficient evidence. A grade meant strong recommendation that physicians provide intervention to eligible patients, B grade meant a recommendation that clinicians provide this intervention to these patients, C grade meant no recommendation for this intervention and D grade meant when recommendation is made against the routinely providing the intervention to asymptomatic patients. Different clinical algorithm annotations were used. The guidelines made for different settings or situations: community residing elderly, screening for falls or risk of falling, screening positive for falls or risk for falling, screening falls last 12 months, evaluating gait and balance and determining multi factorial risks for falling. This new guideline doesn’t consider fall risk assessment to be done for elderly who reported just one fall without reported or demonstrated unsteadiness. The Quality of Evidence Selection of evidence was well organized three step process. In the first step, researchers collected studies from high level: meta-analyses, systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies between May 2001 and April 2008. The databases were Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of controlled Trials, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness and Centre for Reviews and Dissemination/Health Technology Assessment. They also added some studies conducted before 2001 since, in some areas, there were no recent studies available. In a second step, members performed review of abstract of these studies and also the exclusion and inclusion process. Ninet-one studies met inclusion criteria. Only high level of studies published in English and population in those studies age 65 and older were included. In a final step they obtained full texts of these ninety-one studies and made an evidence tables. Since some interventions were different in those studies, res earchers mostly focused on the individual studies, however, they still submitted five most recent meta-analysis and evidence based guidelines. Since guideline was intended for fall preventions in community, some topics such as hospital based fall preventions, bone health and protection, syncope and restraints were excluded. Those included specific recommendations for elderly residing in long term care settings such as nursing homes and elderly with cognitive impairment. These extra recommendations make this guideline used on broader settings. Practice Applications To address identified risks and to prevent falls â€Å"Multifactorial† and â€Å"Multicomponent† interventions were used. Multifactorial is most used in long term settings where set of interventions are offered to all participants when Multicomponent is used in community settings where customized set of interventions that target risk factors are offered. Most components of both kind of intervention are: different kind of exercises and physical activity, medication adjustment, especially psychoactive medications, medical assessment and management, environment adjustment and education. Considerable evidence, two meta-analyses proved that this kind of approach prevents falls in elderly. Multiple studies with high number of participants groups found Gait/Balance, Strength and Flexibility type of exercises very effective. And multiple studies in high risk of fall 140 participants showed that functional type of exercises are even harmful. The management of visual and medical problems and postural hypotension remained particularly effective. A Systematic review found no compelling evidence that verified effectiveness of vision correction in falls reduction in community or long-term setting residents except for first eye cataract surgery. This conclusion is made primarily with the lack of well-designed randomized studies. The strongest risk-relations arise with psychotropic medications and polypharmacy. Even dose reductions of these medications when discontinuation is not possible due to medical conditions found to reduce falls, while multifactiorial interventions: assessment, adjustment and discontinuation found to be very affective. Medication review provided inconclusive evidence whether it is effective in reducing falls in Long Term Care (LTC) setting Three RCTs showed benefits with treating of postural hypotension in addition to medication reduction, optimization of fluids and behavioral interventions in community and LTC settings and tree RCTs were ineffective in LTC settings. About 30 percent of patients 65 and older do experience syncope and they will not be aware of fainting. Instead they will report the falling. (Kenny, Bhangu King-Kallimanis, 2013). Two RCTs showed significant reductions when this intervention was incorporated with environment assessment and modification in LTC setting. Several meta-analysis and RCTs showed benefit of vitamin D supplementation in fall prevention. AGS recommends to the healthcare providers to use Vitamin D 4000 IU per day for their patients.. Even in old people with normal serum vitamin D levels, vitamin D supplementation showed benefits. Vitamin D is safe and inexpensive, improves uptake of calcium to reduce osteoporosis and loss of muscle mass which both can contribute to falls. (Tangalos, 2013) Although AGS/BGS guideline discusses overall importance of managing foot and footwear problems it does not significantly make any recommendations for LTC residents. However best practices should be a foot screening to be completed on an admission day to an LTC facility and quarterly evaluation at least to make sure that any skin integrity issues are identified and addressed in a timely manner. To review resident’s footwear for any poor fitting, unsafe shoes should be accompanied to these screenings (Willi Osterberg, 2014). Guideline discussed modifications of environment home and LTC settings. While two studies found a use of home environment modification intervention alone in community elderly effective, one study didn’t support it. Fifteen studies found that this type of intervention as a part of multifactorial fall prevention programs will make a big difference by reducing risk of falls. Patients and caregiver education was discussed as primary and secondary prevention measures. Examples of educating patients were: how to use assistive devices correctly, how to participate in local exercise program, or how improving health and building fall preventions skills was found effective in community settings. Education in long term care staff in some large number of studies got mixed results while some studies showed effectiveness of healthcare staff training about fall prevention strategies, some found insignificant reduction in falls. While cognitive impairment can be independent risk factor for falls, guideline did not find sufficient evidence to recommend, for or against, single or multifactorial interventions in home setting elderly with cognitive impairment. One systematic review found physical activities effectiveness in reducing falls in cognitively impaired patients. A study of patient education in addition of staff education, environmental modification, drug review, exercise and other multicomponent intervention programs was associated significant effect on falls in groups with higher Mini-Mental State Examination scores, not with lower scores. Implementation Feasibility Although considerable guidelines exist on fall prevention, there is no solid evidence that demonstrates the cost benefit on investment of all prevention and injury protection programs in LTC settings. While there are a lot of recommendations and interventions outlined in the guideline, there is still no clear guidance for specifying the right combinations of interventions to protect specific risk-population, residents with dementia or osteoporosis. (Quigley, Bulat, . Kurtzman, Olney, Powell-Cope Rubenstein, 2010). Historically, calcium and vitamin D administration improved bone health but in 2013 some controversy regarding these supplements arose when the USPSTF issued statement that evidence was insufficient whether more than 400 International Units of vitamin D3 and more than 1000 mg of calcium can be primary preventions of fractures. Although USPSTF guideline was for younger men and women and nonistitutionalized postmenopausal women and not for institutionalized elderly questions were still raised about use of this vitamin. Vitamin D supplement not routinely prescribed in LTC settings. While it is a routine in LTC facilities to include orthostatic hypotension assessments to evaluate residents risks and reevaluate after each fall, usually they are often administered by licensed practical nurses or certified nursing assistants who maybe unaware or resident’s recent medication change or history of heart arrhythmias. If the measurements are not taken accurately at correct time intervals, the errors will arise. (Parry % Tan, 2010). Modification of medications should be communicated among nursing staff to enable them to take appropriate interventions. This recommendation can make big difference for my patients. Environment assessment and interventions should be a part of fall risk management protocol but it should be incorporated with multifactorial interventions since no date supports that environment change alone will decrease risk of falls. Addressing staffing issues also can be very important. The consistent assignment of staff to same resident s can be very effective to reducing falls. It allows staff to anticipate the residents’ unsafe and high-risk behaviors and have a better ability to intervene before a fall occurs. *(Quigley, Neily, Watson, Wright Strobel, 2012). Caregivers would be more effective if they are not moved to different units. Finally, all staff making frequent rounds and checking on patients regardless of call light use can further support an environment of heightened safety awareness. In the LTC facility where I work we do in-service not only nursing but every disciplinary staff members about awareness of fall strategies. We came with 4P strategies which stand for: Pain, Positioning, Personal items, and Potty/toileting. Every disciplinary member is assigned scheduled hourly rounds check if all four problems are addressed. While guideline never discussed using personal alarms on residents as an intervention to reduce falls it is still used as first intervention after fall happens. Meanwhile staff response to an alarm sound hardly ever results in prevention of falls. (Rader, Frank Brady, 2013). While we still continue to use â€Å"personal alarms† in LTCs these alarms in dementia residents can result more agitated behaviors, physical aggression, and attempt to escape the stimulation. To replace these auditory clutter with silent alarms, visual monitoring system, motion detectors and staff presence will make difference. (Guildermann, 2013). Our facility also use overhead paging system 24 hours of day which can cause overstimulation of residents. LTC facilities should be more home-like unlike the hospitals and healthcare staff should change our culture how we communicate. We started giving personal phones to the staff while in the facility to cut use of overhead paging. Summary and Final Recommendation AGS/BGS guidelines do not make recommendations for hip protectors, however, the Veterans Administration Safety Center adopted their use as best practice. Hip protectors use will benefit residents with a history of unresolved fall risk, diagnosis of osteoporosis and level of compliance with regard to these devices. Recent literature found that compliance as a challenge, and â€Å"compliance issues must be tackled if hip protectors are to be part of a resident-centered approach. (Combes Price, 2014). Most people discontinue its use due to discomfort and dislike of how these devices made them look but new designs to high impact pads may resolve this issue. Newly designed hip protectors are made from polyurethane foam, which absorb about 90 percent of the impact of a fall. They are thinner and new clothing is designed to place these pads in such a way that would make it more practical and attractive, making daily tasks easier.Two meta-analyses showed that hip protectors’ effecti veness in community or institutional settings. (Quigley et al., 2010). While guideline didn’t discuss pain assessment, one study (Eggermont, Penninx, Jones Leveille, 2012) published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society found that depressive symptoms are associated with fall risk and are mediated in part by chronic pain. When Interdisciplinary team (IDT) meets to discuss risk management of actual fall residents who tried to attempt to transfer unattended or fell after sliding from well-chair, first thing team looks at is a urinary tract infection, thinking that resident may want to use toilet or blame resident behavioral problems most of the times they miss recognizing pain, discomfort and desire to move. Residents should be regularly evaluated for pain and non-pharmacologic interventions should be used first. If that does not alleviate the pain, mild analgesics should be administered. In my opinion exact combinations of interventions for specific population should be built on the assumption that all residents are risk for falls in order to provide a better protection. And prevention will be most effective when based on understanding of fall risk factors at individual, staff and organization levels.

Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Essay -- Edwards Sinners

Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" The passages given from the Edwards' 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'; and the opening sentence of the Declaration both include many points such as the tone, diction, and syntax. The points shown throughout each sentence aims for the intent of obtaining the attention of the audience. The way each sentence is arranged with its own syntax can very well appeal to listeners, depending on its structure and imagery. Within the given sentence excerpt from Edwards' 'Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God'; you may perceive that the speaker is undoubtedly reaching for the audiences attention without sustaining his harsh yet fearful manner. Throughout this controlled harsh tone of voice, he captivates the audience through a deep sense of threat or harm. Within this deep threatening and captivating speech, the speaker uses God as the higher power in order to obtain the audiences attention, to grasp each person's emotions and fill them with fear. The speaker uses fear to complete the assurance of the people to do his intentions. Although the Edwards excerpt sentence involved fear, emotional deception and mental deception to obtain the audiences full attention, the opening sentence of Jefferson's Declaration gives the audience a much different approach to procure the audiences focus. Jefferson's opening sentence has a mild tone of diction, for the beginning of an informative speech. The eloquent words highly imposed among the s...

Discuss the Types of Unemployment and the Benefits of Controlling It In the UK Essay

Unemployment is the number of people out of work who are actively seeking employment at the current wage rates. To be actively seeking work you must be of working age: 16-64 for males and 16-59 for females and not economically inactive. That means you cannot be in full time education, be on a training scheme, have retired early or be raising children at home. To measure unemployment in the UK the government uses two methods to quantify the rate. The first is the Labour Force Survey, in a monthly survey of a sample of households representing the entire population. The surveys are based on the activities of each person of working age in the households, within a one week period. A person who did any work during that week for pay or profit, worked 15 hours or more as an unpaid worker in a family business, or had a job from which he or she was temporarily absent, is counted as employed. A person who was not working but was looking for work or was on a temporary lay-off and available to take a job is counted as unemployed. The second is the claimant count, where the governments collect figures on the number of people claiming unemployment benefits from the DSS. This second method often gives lower values as they is likely to be many people who do not except the benefits, purely on principal or because they do not need the extra cash. There are five main types of unemployment which all affect the economy in different ways. These are cyclical or demand deficient unemployment, frictional unemployment, seasonal unemployment and structural unemployment. The first of these, cyclical or demand deficient unemployment is based around what will happen to demand in a recession. When the economy goes into a recession there is a rise in unemployment as there is insufficient demand within the economy. This is really only a short term cause to unemployment, because when in recession the economy is in disequilibrium. However macroeconomic forces will work to restore the economy to its long run equilibrium, however in the short run there will be unemployment. In a recession the demand curve will shift left to D2. With the wage rate remaining constant at W in the short term there will be unemployment of GE created. In response macroeconomic forces will cause one of two changes. Either the economy will move out of recession, causing the demand curve to shift right and back to the equilibrium point of W , E. Else if the economy stays in recession the forces will cause the wage rate to drop to Y and cause the number of workers employed to rise to F. However as the economy moves out of recession the demand curve will shift right, causing the economy to move back towards its equilibrium at W , E. The second types of unemployment, frictional unemployment is the term used to define workers who have recently lost a job and are in short term unemployment until they find further employment. There is always turnover of labour in a free market, so frictional unemployment is not regarded as a major problem. Seasonal unemployment is when workers work within an industry that only requires them to be employed at certain times of the year. For example in the tourist industry workers tend to work in the summer, but are then laid off in autumn months before taking up their jobs again the next spring. There is very little that can be done to prevent seasonal unemployment in a market where the demand for labour varies throughout the year. Structural unemployment is when the demand for labour is less than the supply in an individual labour market. There are three main examples of this. Regional unemployment, where different areas of the country have different rates of unemployment and because of a lack of factor mobility, labour is not able to freely move between regions and balance unemployment. Sectoral unemployment is when workers from one industry are unable to adapt to a different industry, therefore not being able to follow the changes in demand. Finally if technological unemployment, where technology advances and replaces manual labour, therefore without retraining workers would not have the skills to operate these machines and therefore would not be suitable for the demand of labour. Controlling the rate of unemployment in the UK is going to be a key element in the performance of the UK economy. The rate of unemployment is directly related to real GDP. So in both the short run and the long run if the economy is to grow then unemployment most be controlled. The rate of unemployment will also determine the kind of policy the government will have in place to boost the economy, although this is also based on the type of government in power. The current labour government are Keynesian economists and believe that in the long run there may be mass unemployment. They also use fiscal policy, which is a demand side policy. So their economic goals will depend a lot on the long term unemployment levels that are predicted. If the government are predicting a period of sustained unemployment they are likely to be aiming at lowering inflation. Whereas if they predict full employment they can aim for increased GDP. Because of the shape of the long run aggregate supply curve, both these goals can be achieved without altering any other elements of the economy. To lower inflation the demand function would need to be shifted left. This could be achieved by an increase in the National Insurance contributions of workers. This would cause more of people’s income being taken in taxation leaving them with less money to spend on goods and services, which would cause a decrease in the total demand in the economy. To help increase economic growth the total demand in the economy would need to be increased. This would need a shift left in the demand function, which could be caused by a fall in interest rates. This would cause more people to borrow money and less to save, leaving more money in the economy which will increase the demand for goods and services. If unemployment can be kept low then the costs of unemployment are minimised as well. Not only do the government have to spend less on unemployment benefits but also have less trouble with crime and vandalism, which will also save them valuable money. Also everyone will have more money to spend, not only the previous unemployed, but also previous taxpayers as the government will require less money from them. This will increase total money in the economy and cause the aggregate demand to shift right, which will cause the growth of the economy to increase. So sustainable unemployment is good for the economy as it enables the government to set goals and work towards them around the long term predictions for unemployment rates. This is only an option if unemployment is kept in a boundary. Else if it is too fluctuated then it is hard to judge what the government will need to do from one day to the next. However controlling unemployment may not always be a good thing. For example because unemployment is directly related to economic growth, if you are controlling unemployment then you are also controlling economic growth. This will not be a good thing as the economy is at its most efficient when economic growth is climbing at a rate constant to the economy, not controlled by the government.

Idioms and Expressions - Draw

Idioms and Expressions - Draw Here are  idioms with the verb  draw  in English. For each idiom, study the definition and read the example sentences.  Next, take the quiz to check your knowledge of what youve learned.  To learn more idioms, you can also use  short stories providing idioms in context. Draw a Blank Use draw a blank  to express that you do  not know the answer to a question: Im afraid Im drawing a blank. I just dont know what to do.Who is that person over there? Im drawing a blank. Draw a Line Between   Use draw a line between  with two objects to show that you  separate one activity from another:   You should draw a line between your private life and work.Some people have a hard time drawing a line between friends and family. Draw Blood   Use draw blood  to express that something or someone has  caused someone to bleed. This idiom is also used figuratively to express that someone hurt another emotionally: He drew blood during his last five boxing matches.She drew blood when she began to put down his friend.   Draw Interest Use draw interest  to indicate that something has  created interest or become popular: Any time a new movie comes out, youll see articles in magazines trying to draw interest to the movie.His crazy comments drew interest during the presidential campaign. Draw Someone Out   Use draw someone out  when you are  asking questions in order to get someone to speak in detail about something: Make sure to ask her lots of questions. Its hard to draw her out and shell try to keep everything secret.If you keep asking questions, you can draw anyone out on almost any subject. Draw Something Out Use  draw something out  to refer to a process that takes place over a long period  of time: The chairman drew the meeting out for over two hours.Its a good idea to not draw out your presentation for too long. Draw Fire Away From Something Use draw fire away from something  when someone  creates a distraction so that people dont pay attention to something else: Id like you to go out and draw fire away from the institution.Politicians dont answer direct questions in order to draw fire away from something that has gone wrong. Draw Something to a Close Use draw something to a close  to express that you would like to  finish  something in progress: Lets draw this meeting to a close by reviewing the decisions weve made.If you dont mind, Id like to draw dinner to a close. Ive got an early flight tomorrow. Draw Something Up Use draw something up after having reached a verbal agreement when you intend a write a contract, proposal, or report based on the agreement: Now that weve agreed. Lets draw a contract up and get to work.Could you draw up a proposal for next weeks meeting? Draw the Line at Something Use draw the line at something  to show that you will tolerate something up to a certain point: Im afraid I draw the line at speaking poorly of my friends.If you were in a difficult position, would you draw the line at breaking the law to resolve your situation? Draw to a Close Use draw to a close  to indicate that something has come to an end: Thank you, Mary. And with that, our presentation draws to a close. Thank you for coming this evening.Id like to draw the class to a close. Remember to do your homework for Monday. Beat Someone to the Draw Use  beat someone to the draw  when you are quicker than someone else in obtaining something: He beat me to the draw and won the auction.Jennifer beat us to the draw and arrived an hour earlier. Quick on the Draw Use  quick on the draw  to show that someone is quick to do or understand  something: She was quick to the draw on buying that handbag.ï » ¿Im afraid youll have to be quicker on the draw on such a good deal. Quiz Use one of the  idioms with draw to complete the blanks. Be careful to use the correct form of the verb draw: The new actor from South Africa is _________. I think shell be a huge success.Id like you to _________ a contract by the end of next week.She told me she ______________ her work and her family, so she wouldnt work more than 20 hours overtime.The politician _________ at the death penalty.  If you can _________ from my scandal, Ill make sure you get all of my business for the next two years.I dont know answer. Im _________.You _________ me  __________, so go ahead and take the last one on sale.Id like to _________ the meeting _________. Thank you all for coming.  Ask her as many questions as you can, so you can _________. Shes a fox!I promise I didnt _________ when I hit him!I tried to ________ her ________ on the details for the deal, but she wouldnt tell me anything.Shes very ____________ and understands almost everything immediately. Answers drawing interestdraw up  drew the line betweendrew the line at / draws the line atdraw fire away  drawing a blankbeat me to the drawdraw the meeting to a closedraw her outdraw blooddraw her outquick on the draw

How To Make Homemade Silly String

How To Make Homemade Silly String Silly string or ribbon spray is a polymer foam that shoots out of a can as colored string. The stuff you buy in a can is an acrylate polymer with a surfactant, although most of the can is filled with a propellant to jet the foam out of the container. Since pressurizing a can isnt something most of us can do, homemade silly string uses a simple, forceful chemical reaction to push strings of foam out of a bottle. The reaction is based on the elephant toothpaste chemistry demonstration. Silly String Materials You can get yeast and food coloring at any grocery store. Probably the best place to get the peroxide and the bottle is a beauty supply store. You need at least 30 volume peroxide, which is ten times more concentrated than typical household peroxide solution. jar of active dry yeast30-40 volume hydrogen peroxideplastic bottle with a screw on pointed tipfood coloring Make Silly String Fill the bottle with pointed tip most of the way full with the peroxide solution.Add food coloring, unless you want white string.When you are ready to make the silly string, add a spoonful of yeast to the bottle and quickly cap it. When the yeast and peroxide react, the resulting foam builds up pressure quickly, so if you dont cap the bottle right away, it will be hard to do it later.Shake the bottle to activate the foam. Point the bottle away from people, pets, furniture, etc. The peroxide is a strong bleaching agent, so its best to do this project outdoors. Safety Information Hydrogen peroxide is extremely reactive and can burn your eyes and skin, as well as bleach your clothes and hair. Wear safety goggles and gloves when preparing and using homemade silly string. Dont play with the foam or drink it and be sure to wash down the area after your project with lots of water. Glowing Silly String If you substitute fluorescent dye for food coloring, you can make the silly string that will glow brightly under a black light. Alternatively, you can use glow powder, which will glow on its own, although not as brightly because the pigment worked best when it is exposed to bright light beforehand. Fun Fact: Military personnel spray silly string to detect trip wires that could trigger explosives or traps. How Real Silly String Works If you have a way to pressurize a can, you can make your own real silly string. Over the years, the composition of the product has changed to improve its performance and eliminate the CFC originally used to propel the polymer. The original polymer for silly string was polyisobutyl methacrylate, extruded by forcing it through a nozzle with dichlorodifluoromethane (Freon-12). Since the original patent, manufacturers have replaced Freon-12, an ozone-depleted compound, with a more environmentally-friendly chemical.  The surfactant sorbitan trioleate kept the string from being too sticky. So, to make your own real silly string, you need an acrylate that will polymerize  in air, a propellant, and a surfactant. Go for it!

Drawing on current research in either social science or neuro-science, Essay

Drawing on current research in either social science or neuro-science, discuss the importance of social interaction to learning - Essay Example This paper will explore the importance of social interaction to learning. Social interaction can be defined as a circumstance where the behavior of one person is consciously rearranged and influenced by the behavior of the other person; also the behavior of one person can influence and consciously rearrange the behavior of the other person. The term behavior encompasses the unconcealed movements of the person in space, the person’s mental deliberation and the person’s physiological processes. A broader definition of social interaction is the circumstance where the unconcealed movements in space, mental deliberations, and physiological processes of a person consciously rearrange and influence the behavior of the other person (Turner 1988, p14). Belonging to the society is a vital quality in adults. It is important for the child to know how to interact well with others socially and make long lasting relationships. It is also important to belong to long lasting relationships. Social interaction can be found within the parks, local store, a friend’s house, and the nursery. Social interaction assists the child to know what is right and wrong, build relationships and teach them how to go about in group situations. Social interaction gives room to the learner to reflect, reconsider, find support and help and take part in problem solving. In other words, the learner has to interact with others in order to take part in those activities. In technology-based learning, social interaction brings in three benefits; improvement in the learning strategies, reduced assistance from the instructor and better perseverance. This is the most recent form of social interaction. This type of interaction has been made easy by the advancement in technology. At each stage of life, people respond to the social expectations. These social expectations push them to interact with

Eng Blog rev..JB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Eng Blog rev..JB - Essay Example Being a firm believer in the power of play he believes that everything should not just be educational and erudite in nature. The blog reveals that the boys have been having fun with ginormous cardboard box made of a space ship, race car, and sailboat, animal shelter among other rough and rugged toys. The blog also reveals an observation by the blogger that ‘girl’ toys, on the other hand, are rupturing with unicorns, spectra, sparkles, charms, toothy smiles, tulle and fluff. The ‘girl’ toys in the blog are reflected as having that nauseating pink too. Greatest things in life are cultured at a tender age. Play forms a greater premise for learning these behaviors that influence how an individual will take to challenges in life. The blog reflects a scenario where girls are relegated to the kitchen and boys nurtured through dirt and noise. â€Å"The toys geared towards boys are so jacked up with testosterone, and I find myself putting out my chest in a semblance of manliness,† says the blogger in description of boy toys. He again defends the clear gender delineation by say that kitchen stuff is all pink and shiny. From the commentary, it is manifest that the community has defied the real change intended through gender equality campaigns by failing to consider the real seeds of gender inequality. Much should, for this reason, be done to incorporate our actual take of the girl and boy child through play if we have to achieve real gender

The Increasing Collaboration in U.S. Military Essay

The Increasing Collaboration in U.S. Military - Essay Example The challenges that they encounters in their quest to transform and adapt to more collaborative strategies are discussed. Areas that the military has attained success during its collaborative endeavors have been mentioned. Further, a clear description of collaboration is presented, including those involved with the military, the objectives of military in collaborating and the present status as well as the success measures. Introduction In military warfare, the world is increasingly embracing collective and collaborative efforts in accomplishing the military activities and practices effectively. Collaborative efforts are practiced in military command relations, joint operations, strengthening personnel and equipment, training and tactics as well as in fostering cultural relations. Collaboration develops best in environments where relationships are mutual and well nurtured (Bushe, 2010). In military operations and practices, collaboration with other stakeholders is perceived as problem atic because the military forces are compelled to certain demands with the collaborative partners. The collaboration partners may be perceived with element of suspicion, leading to reluctance in sharing information on matters of national security out of fear. Consequently, collaborative work in military is more pervasive and complex. The United States military forces are working toward increased collaborative methods because of their understanding of how to improve collaborative work. Growing U.S. Military Collaboration Description of Collaboration Collaboration is the practice and concept of bringing appropriate individuals jointly in productive ways with proper information to establish genuine goals and strategies for tackling the common issues of the collaborative organizations or communities. This practice or concept is practiced because it helps to deal successfully with complex organizational or community issues. Collaboration strategies can be used as a means of building soci al capital, sustaining a democratic society and transforming the civic culture of communities or regions besides being used to address public concerns. Collaboration requires that the shared issues be addressed through engagement, dialogue, inclusion and power sharing. Mutual learning is a basic concept in collaborative working. The collaborating partners mutually benefit from the relationship to realize common goals and objectives through sharing responsibilities, accountability as well as authority for achieving the set results. Collaboration involves sharing of information and knowledge by the partners, and cooperation and coordination to help achieve the objectives (Chrislip, 2002). Involved Parties Multiple stakeholders are usually involved in collaborative work with the U.S. military personnel, depending on the desired goals and objectives to be accomplished. The U.S. military collaborates with civilian interagency, such as civilians from U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agen cy for International Development (USAID) among other organizations. The civilian interagency helps the U.S. military personnel in counterinsurgency operations and activities. The interagency for example, helped the U.S. military through collaboration in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq to facilitate reconstruction and development of the nations and advising the military on how to reach out to the indigenous communities (Green, 2012). U.S. military col

Sexuality & bipolar Essay Example for Free

Sexuality bipolar Essay Sexuality as we know it has always been bipolar in its categories: the masculine and the feminine. People are then placed in these categories according to their anatomy, with pre-set expectations placed on them on how they would act and eventually mature. For example, it is unacceptable for women to smoke cigars, repair cars and wear moustache while men are not supposed to be doing housework, carry purses, wear nail polish and cry in public (Kunkel 283). Yet what we take for granted is our knowledge that sexuality is not bipolar and the practices that seem innocent yet oppressive, limiting and binding on our insights. For example, if one would look at a greeting card section, one will find that most of the cards are focused mainly on two categories, for mothers, sisters, aunts and grandmothers for the feminine category and fathers, grandfathers, uncles and brothers for the male. The only remotely gender neutral cards were for friends yet even they weren’t entirely neutral since their colors and design corresponds to what is viewed by society as acceptable for what males and females would like, i. e. , cards directed at women receivers tend to receive cards that are pink or pastel colored with a flowery or â€Å"cute† design. Male receivers on the other hand mostly receive blue and other masculine colors with a sporty motif. Most cards dealing with relationships depict heterosexual couples and labels such as husband and wife, girlfriend and boyfriend and such. On the other hand, depictions of homosexual couples are virtually invisible; a few cards brandishing love quotes are the only ones who are gender neutral. If a homosexual wishes to buy a card for his/her partner, his /her only option is to focus on the love section and a few of the romance. He/she would have to take care to choose the depictions on the cards as well. The reason for the invisibility of the other forms of sexuality is due to the fact that society views heterosexuality as the norm and homosexuality is deviant (Cruz 1012). Homosexuality is viewed as biologically abnormal, pathological, and anti-nature since its very principle clashes with the idea of pro-creation. Society has created labels and borders to prevent the homosexuals from being visible. One example is the categories of relationships with heterosexual anniversaries, marriages and such. In a marriage, there is a label of â€Å"husband† and â€Å"wife†, the male taking the former and the female the latter; same-sex marriages, while still being debated whether it should be legalized or not, possesses no such labels in the relationship. In contrast, the idea heteronormativity has labeled same-sex couples with derogatory names, to mark them as inappropriate behavior and be categorized as sexually deviant. (Kunkel 289). In effect, people tend to reject and persecute them, giving the deviants neither room nor niche to challenge the status quo. In one hour of television, commercials always show images of heterosexual couples in their respective niches in the crowd. Although homosexuals are portrayed in reality shows, there is no hint of their relationships with the other characters on screen. If there is a hint, it is usually downplayed and censored. Heterosexual couples however, are celebrated and objectified. There is virtually no same-sex couple that is depicted even if the media is one of the most influential driving forces in forwarding awareness of these same-sex couples. It is interesting to note that even if people are claiming that they are tolerant and accept same-sex couples, same-sex couples are still â€Å"invisible†. Heteronormativity is driven by gender roles that are imposed by society’s bipolar expectations. Its pervasiveness can be attributed to the fact that since a community is held together by unwritten laws such as norms and taboos, it is safe to assume that society is threatened by these sexually deviant individuals thus heteronormativity is more pronounced and enforced. Heterosexism, in a way, is a cord that binds our society together, yet in return it sets boundaries and insists that it is the norm. Heteronormativity itself does not empower heterosexuals and robs the power from same sex individuals; rather, it limits both parties and disempower them since they are stuck in their labels and categories, with no room to maneuver about. People believe that it is so since other forms of sexuality are invisible and are conditioned to think in the bipolar manner. Heteronormativity is everywhere since society has its own set rules and status quo that is hard to neither displace nor challenge and heteronormativity has been present ever since the formation of such communities. WORKS CITED Cruz, David B. â€Å"Disestablishing Sex and Gender. † California Law Review Vol. 90 (2002): 997-1086 Kunkel, Charlotte A. and Nielson, Joyce McCarl and Walden, Glenda. â€Å"Gendered Heteronormativity: Empirical Illustrations in Everyday Life. † The Sociological Quarterly. Vol. 41 (2000): 283-296

A Strategic Management In A Global Context Business Essay

A Strategic Management In A Global Context Business Essay Formal Strategic Planning is the process that involves an organisation in the defining of its strategy or direction and making the decisions on how its resources should be allocated in order to achieve this strategy. Formal strategic planning is affected by the macro-environment and this is the highest level layer in the framework, this consists of a wide range of environmental factors that impact to some extent on almost all organisations. The PESTEL framework can be used to identify how future trends in the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environment and Legal environments might affect an organisation. Pestel analysis provides the broad date from which key drivers to change can be identified. By using these key drivers organisations can envision scenarios for the future. Scenarios can be used to help organisations decide if change needs to happen depending on the different ways in which the business environment may change. It is important for managers to analyse these factors in the present and how they are likely to change in the future. By analysing these, managers will be able to draw out implications for the organisation. Pestel factors are sometimes linked together i.e. technological factors can impact on economic factors. It is necessary to identify the key drivers of change these are environmental factors that are likely to have a high impact on the success or failure of the strategy. Key drivers vary by industry i.e. Primark may be concerned by social changes that can change customer tastes and behaviours. The critical issues are the implications that are drawn from the understanding in guiding strategic decisions and choices. The next stage is drawn from the environmental analysis specifically strategic opportunities and threats for the organisation. Having the ability to identify these opportunities and threats is extremely valuable when thinking about strategic choices for the future. Opportunities and threats form one half of the SWOT analysis that shapes a companys formulation. The use of SWOT analysis can help summarise the key issues from the business environment and the strategic capability of an organisation that are most likely to impact on strategy development. Once the key issues have been identified an organisation can then assess if it is capable to deal with the changes taking place within the business environment. If the strategic capability is to be understood the business must remember that it is not absolute but relative to its competitors. SWOT analysis is only useful if it is comparative, that is it examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis should help focus discussion on the future choices and to what extent an organisation is capable of supporting these strategies. SWOT analysis should not be used a substitute for more in-depth analysis. In responding strategically to the environment the goal is to reduce identified threats and take advantages of the best opportunities. Peter Drucker, discussing the importance of business policy and strategic planning in his book the practice of management says we cannot be content with plans for a future that we can foresee. We must prepare for all possible and a good many impossible contingencies. We must have a workable solution for anything that may come up. http://www.alagse.com/strategy/s1.php By taking advantage of the strategic gap (which is an opportunity in the competitive environment that has not been fully exploited by competitors) organisations can manage threats and opportunities. http://turbo.kean.edu/~jmcgill/assess.pdf http://polisci2.ucsd.edu/snunnari/HBR_on_Strategy_23_41.pdf#page=25 Core competencies are a set of linked business processes that deliver superior value to the customer, when these are combined they create strategic value and can lead to competitive advantage. By using Porters five forces analysis which is a framework for organisations to analyse industry and business strategy, they can draw upon the five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Three of Porters five forces refer to competition from external sources and the other two are internal threats. This analysis is just one part of the complete Porter strategic model the others include the value chain (VC) and the generic strategies. http://hbr.org/2008/01/the-five-competitive-forces-that-shape-strategy/ar/1 According to Porter (2008) the job of a strategist is too understand and cope with competition; however managers define competition too narrowly as if it has occurred only among today direct competitors. Competition goes beyond profits to include competitive forces such as customers, suppliers, potential entrants and substitute products; the extended rivalry that results from all five forces defines an industrys structure and shapes the nature of competition within an industry. For example Apple are good at technology and innovation therefore they can take the opportunities that give them competitive advantage and makes them leaders compared to Samsung or Nokia. Porters says there are 5 forces that shape the competition: Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of customers powerful customers usually bargain for better services which involve cost and investment Bargaining power of suppliers may determine the cost of raw materials and other inputs effecting profitability Rivalry among competitors competition influences the pricing and other costs like advertising etc. Threats from substitutes where-ever substantial investments in RD is taking place, the threat of substitutes is large. It also affects profitability. Competitive advantage is the heart of strategy and for the strategy to succeed the organisation should have relevant competitive advantage. We can see an example of this with Toshiba who operate in electrical goods, through a flexible manufacturing system it manufactures different products / varieties of some products on the same assembly lines. At Ohme it assembles nine varieties of computers on the same line and on the adjacent line it assembles 20 varieties of lap top computers. It is able to switch from one product / variety to another instantly at low cost and makes profits on low volume runs too. This flexibility of Toshiba to respond quickly and easily to the fast changing market demand is definitely one of its competitive advantages. Whereas its competitors make profits only through long volume runs of a particular model. However, there are a lot of companies who are choosing not to invest due to the recession; however Lidl and Aldi are taking advantage of supplying cheaper products giving them competitive advantage over say Waitrose. http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Bringing_discipline_to_strategy_1054 Benefits of Strategic Planning Effective strategic planning can positively improve the performance of an organisation and give them the ability to serve more clients, access additional resources or enhance the quality of service/product. It can also offer solutions to major organisational issues or challenges and gives stakeholders of the organisation an opportunity to develop harmonic solutions to long-term issues/challenges that have been affecting the organisation. Furthermore it allows for forward thinking, allowing an organisation the opportunity to pause and revisit the mission and create long-term vision. It allows clear future direction allowing stakeholders to look to the future, plan and respond to changes. Evaluation One of the major drawbacks of formal strategic planning is the uncertain dynamic environment, things change constantly and everything becomes shorter. The recession at the present time is making everything unpredictable and this is not good for strategic planning. According to Mintzberg 1994 strategic planning should be used to devise and implement the competitiveness of each business unit. Scientific management was pioneered by Fredrick Taylor and involved separating thinking from doing and thus creating a new function staffed by specialists. Planning systems were expected to produce the best strategies as well as step by step instructions on how to achieve this, but this never worked well. According to Mintzberg strategic planning is not strategic thinking, the most successful strategies are visions, not plans. When an organisation can differentiate between planning and strategic thinking they can then get back to what the strategy making process should be. Once a manger has the ability to learn from all sources around him, including personal experiences and market research and can integrate this into a vision of the direction that the business can then pursue. Mintzberg suggests that strategic planning is a misconception and rests upon three unsound arguments: that prediction is possible, thats strategists can be detached from the subjects of their strategies, and that the strategy-making process can be formalised. Strategic thinkers can apply lessons learned from Mintzberg (1994) three inherent fallacies of traditional planning: The Fallacy of Prediction is the assumption that we can actually control events through a formalised process that involves people engaged in creative or even routine work and can manage to stay on the predicted course. You need more than hard facts you need the personal touch. People are not objective, they are complex. The Fallacy of Detachment is the assumption we can separate the planning from the doing, if the system does the thinking, then strategies must be detached from the tactics. Formulation from implementation, thinkers from doers. One objective is to make sure senior managers receive relevant information without having to immense themselves in the details. One fact is innovation has never been institutionalised and systems have never been able to reproduce the synthesis created by the entrepreneur or the ordinary strategist and probably never will. The Fallacy of Formulisation suggests that systems could certainly process more information, at least hard information. However they could never internalise it, comprehend it, and put it all together. Such control is more a dream that a reality. Reality tells us that anomalies, the fickle behaviour of humans and the limitations of analysis play a huge factor in the organisational outcomes and to disregard them is risky and could lead to incomplete planning. What are the limitations of strategic planning when things are changing rapidly? http://www.globalfuture.com/planning1.htm The limitations of formal strategic planning can be seen if the future is uncertain and the expectations divert from the plan. There could also be internal resistance to formal strategic planning due to factors including: Information flows, decision making and power relationships could be unsettled Current operating problems may drive out long-term planning efforts There are risks and fears of failure New demands will be placed on managers and staff Conflicts with the organisation are exposed Planning is expensive in time and money Planning is difficult and hard work The completed plan limits choices and activities for the organisation in the future Nicholas ORegan, Abby Ghobadian, (2002) Formal strategic planning: The key to effective business process management?, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 8 Iss: 5, pp.416 429 http://www.innovation.cc/scholarly-style/fairholm3.pdf