Instructional Approaches Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Instructional Approaches - Essay Example The articles selected for analysis reflect different instructional approaches and illustrate different methods and techniques used in social sciences. The article "Literary Studies and Cognitive Science: Toward a New Interdisciplinary" by M. Th. Crane and A. Richardson discuss a new interdisciplinary approach applied to literary studies and social sciences. In this article, a special attention is given to cognitive learning approach and its application. the authors underline that building on earlier theories of learning, researchers working toward interactive technologies perceived limitations in earlier methods. By developing theories that emphasize synthesis and integration of sets of knowledge and skills, researchers hope to address such limitations as an emphasis on components instead of integrated wholes, a closed system that made incorporation of new knowledge difficult, which resulted in essentially passive instruction and labor intensive practice in design and development of instruction. The authors state that the teacher provides modeling of the metacognitive strategies necessary for beginning the task, and, when problems are encountered, assistance is provided by the teacher or group. One learning procedure reflecting this stance, complex dynamic simulations, structures collaborative group work in sharing a complex problem-solving task. This approach is based on theories about the social genesis of learning in which the learner is characterized as being motivated to seek explanations through exploration. The article "Using Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development to Understand the Construction of Healing Narratives" by C. P. Cook-Cottone analyses instructional approaches and learning theories in terms of the Narrative Process. The Healing Narrative Model is based on the structured approach. It means that one is that learning should be contextual and a process of active application of knowledge toward specific problem-solving goals. Also, the article pays a special attention to experiential (or sensorimotor) level and early relationships (or Preoperational) level. An initial authoring activity in instructional design is a clarification of the learning goal for the instruction and/or curriculum. The specification of the goal(s) will help prescribe the format of the instruction. For example, if the goal is the learning of new information, there are basically possibilities. Second is the general agreement regarding the importance of modeling problem-solving strategies as well as the role of conflict or failure in providing an impetus toward new learning. The research by Harris and Pressley, M. (1991) describes bad illustrates the cognitive strategy instruction:. The authors underline that in contrast to the behaviorist view of the learner as shaped by the environment, cognitivebased researchers are investigating the ways that the learner actively shapes the environment to facilitate learning. His research indicates that the knowledge of novices is organized around the literal aspects of a problem statement, whereas the experts' knowledge is organized around principles and abstractions not apparent in the problem

Driving Stick Shift Essay Example for Free

Driving Stick Shift Essay Learning to drive a stick shift is one of the things I mastered in life because of the effort and practice I’ve invested. I can still remember the day I learned how to drive a manual transmission car. My cousin stopped by our house and I asked him to teach me how to drive. The only problem was his car was a stick shift. I honestly got intimidated by those horrendous three pedals and that hair-chilling gear shifter, but nothing stopped me from wanting to learn because I knew it would be worth it and I thought I would make me look cooler. So he grabbed the keys and drove to a parking lot that had a wide empty road. He stopped, turned off the car, got out and said â€Å"Okay, your turn. † So I began the initiation into the high art of driving a stick shift. He gave me all the instructions, he told me to press down on the clutch so I can start the car. I kept my left foot on the clutch and put the car in first gear. I slowly released the clutch as I was slowly pressing on the gas pedal. Then, boom! I stalled and the car shut off. My cousin started laughing. I tried to get the car started again and I still stalled on my fifth attempt. He continued laughing while giving me advices. Finally, on my sixth attempt I got the car going. When he saw that I could stop and get the car moving normally and shift gears without grinding the clutch, he gave me the green light to drive to the main streets and freeways. It took me a lot of practices and effort before I got the gist of it. It was all worth it, I actually enjoyed it and promised that my next car would be a stick shift. At first I thought having a stick shift car would only make me look cooler, but when I had my own car I actually learned that it’s less expensive then automatic cars, gets better gas mileage and most of all it’s simply more fun!

Wars throughout Time Essay -- essays research papers

Sometime during the course of World War II, the United States became the most powerful nation in the world. During the last two hundred or so years, the United States has fought ten major wars and innumerable smaller military actions. For the most part it has been successful, in some instances defeating some of the world’s most powerful countries. In other instances it has simply been lucky. A common threat throughout the nation’s existence has been the practice of indifference and neglect. Between wars the Army shrinks to a very small size. Funds and attention almost disappear. This policy of the US Army may well indeed danger the nation’s safety in the future Military strength includes not only the Army, but sea and air power as well which will not be considered here. The resources of a country such as population, size, wealth, and factories all contribute to a nation’s military might and to how fast it might be expanded. Military power for ground forces has traditionally been measured in terms like regiments, brigades, divisions, corps, and armies. In addition, an important distinction exists between the Regular Army (the permanent establishment officered with West Point graduates), the militia (very important to the nation’s military strength for the first hundred years, local part-time units), and the National Guard or Reserves (in modern times a strong back-up to the Regular Army). The combined sizes of these forces have fluctuated widely when the nation has been at a threat of war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was very important that they created an Army during the American Revolutionary War. The colonists had militias, which fought with the British against the French and Indians. But the revolt against England demanded much more. The Americans who wanted independence gave it a maximum effort. The population of the colonies barely numbered 3,000,000 in 1775. Of the available manpower, a very large proportion either fought with the British or stayed neutral. So for an estimated 184,000 men to have fought for the new nation before the war ended in 1783, the remainder had to contribute a lot. (Almanac 209)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The new government was disorganized and needed money. Nevertheless, it created the Continental Army. It was organized as infantry in many regiments of about 800 men each. At any one time there were only about 15-20,0... ...ar II was the turning point. The rest of the world started fighting two years before Pearl Harbor. This gave the U.S. the time to expand its Army. It just barely did so (remember the Draft Act passing by one vote). Good fortune and luck allowed the policy of tiny peacetime army to work one more time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Cold War changed this forever, reinforced by tough lesson in Korea. In the time since then, the state of the world and technology demands that Army not plan a grace period to expand. It has to plan to meet a potential crises with what it has ready. Technology has dropped the need for large numbers of divisions and fighting troops. But technology has conversely demanded that stockpiles of equipment and training be at high levels at all times. Future wars will be over long before new orders for weapons like cruise missiles can be placed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The best way to prepare for the present is to learn and correct our mistakes from the past. The cost may be high, but the world remains a dangerous environment. Today the U.S. must have a ready-to-use Army of a size sufficient for any conflict ahead. This was not always true in the past.

Globalization’s Side Effects

Globalization’s Side Effects May. 14. 2009 Discussing globalization’s side effects might not be appropriate without determining first what globalization is. Although everyone has his or her own definition and uses the term globalization in his or her own way, globalization can be defined generally as a condition in which cross-border movements of money, goods, thoughts, and even people have become much more available on a large scale. Despite globalization having provided people throughout the world with many benefits, it has caused negative impacts on their countries’ economies as well as serious concerns about their nationalities and identities, which globalization gradually erases. The primary adverse effect of globalization is that it destabilizes the foundation of the developing countries’ economies. After cross-border movements of money and goods had become much faster and easier, many cheap and well-made products have invaded the markets of emerging countries. As a result, many local products almost have disappeared because they simply can not rival the cheap prices and high qualities of foreign products. In Paracho, Mexico, for instance, things are getting worse. A Mexican traditional guitar maker complains that his village has lost its famous craft of building guitars because of the invasion of the cheap and well-made guitars from China (Campbell, 2004). Paracho is not only losing its famous craft, but also losing the smarter and more intelligent workers who are leaving it to seek better job opportunities in the Unite State of America. In fact, hundreds and hundreds of villages and cities, especially in developing countries, are losing their main industries in addition to their traditional crafts and therefore their people emigrate to avoid being jobless. The second adverse effect of globalization is that it is gradually erasing the differences between cultures. Needless to say, a culture is a set of values and assumptions that group of people hold, and what makes the differences between one nation and another is the variety of the differences between these values and these assumptions. People’s thoughts all over the world about what is stylish and fashionable are starting to converge. Today, everyone seems to have the same desire which is buying what the advertisements want them to buy. The more you buy, the more happiness you get (Rifkin, 2003). For some intellectuals, globalization is making people’s desire cheap. It replaces people’s high and noble thoughts such as building their countries and contributing to human development with the culture of consumerism instead. Although many people all over the world acknowledge that globalization has provided them with many benefits, they have a strong feeling that globalization is slowly but surely obliterating their culture and traditional way of living. (The Pew Global Attitude Project). In conclusion, there is no doubt about the benefits that people all over the world gain from globalization. However, it causes developing countries serious problems. People in those countries are not only losing their jobs, but also their identities. They have become consumers of goods that are made in other countries. Globalization indeed is a huge challenge that many societies face: some of them have successfully known how to cope with it, yet many of them, unfortunately, have not, and therefore they have become globalization’s victims

Are Violent Video Games Bad for the Youth

In recent discussions of violent video games, a controversial issue has been whether violent video games are bad for youth or not. On one hand, some argue that video games do not affect the youth at all. On the other hand, however, others argue that violent video games affect the youth tremendously. According to media violence researcher Craig Anderson, Chair of Iowa State University’s Department of Psychology, â€Å"in a violent video game, you rehearse the entire aggression sequence from beginning to end† (Hoerrner & Hoerrner 2). According to [his] view, he is saying that â€Å"you have to be vigilant, looking for enemies, looking for potential threats; you have to decide how to deal with the threat, what weapon to use, and how to use it; and then you take physical action to behave aggressively within the game† (Hoerrner & Hoerrner 4). The issue is whether violent video games are bad for eight, nine, or even ten year olds. My own view is that violent video games are indeed bad for young children. Though I concede that whether a child’s parents choose to allow their children to play these violent games is up to them, I still maintain my view that violent games are bad. A perfect example reassuring a parent that their child is not participating in playing these violent games is to check the ratings on the video games to make sure there is no violence in them. Although it might be objected that parents do not have time to check the ratings on their kid’s games, I reply that it is, once again, an option guaranteeing their children are not being exposed to violence. All in all, the issue is important because these violent video games are affecting children’s behavior, making them more aggressive, as well as more violent. Allowing kids to play violent video games changes the way they act towards their peers by causing them to become more aggressive. They no longer seem to have compassion towards one another, but instead coldness towards each other. This was proven when the American Psychological Association concluded that â€Å"playing a lot of violent video games is related to having more aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Furthermore, playing violent games is also related to children being less willing to be caring and helpful toward their peers† (Junior Scholastic 1). Therefore, when children experience more aggression, they are going to feel that their aggressive manner is fine. This age group is not going to take a second look at their negative actions since they see it as â€Å"just fun and games† (Junior Scholastic 1). In essence, by allowing kids to play what they want and not setting boundaries for the kids, parents are not doing any justice to their offspring; instead, parents are saying that it is alright to treat others in an aggressive manner as long as it is just in fun and games. Another perfect example of how violent video games cause children to become more aggressive towards their peers would be the afterschool program I work for — LA’s Best. There I see how these games affect the kids due to how they act towards each other. They are always play-fighting with each other and having fun in their eyes, that is, until someone comes to me or my other staff members crying. When we ask them why they were play-fighting to begin with, they all have the same similar respond-‘that’s how they fight in Mortal Kombat. ’ Mortal Kombat is a popular series of fighting games that contain high levels of blood and gore. So to see our kids reenact what they see on their video games is upsetting because it shows us, the staff, that our kids version of playing together is hitting and tumbling around with each other until someone gets hurt. The eight to ten year olds no longer see playing together as participating in a friendly game of soccer, but instead, a vicious way to kick those who they despise. Therefore, by allowing our kids to involve themselves in these vicious games, changes their definition of the meaning of ‘fun’. They now see fun as hitting and kicking each other until someone is down in pain since they see this type of act of violence in their video game. Lastly, not only do kids experience aggressive behavior through video games, but also criminal violent behavior. This is due to the high rating of violence in the kid’s games. These games make it seem okay to shoot and kill people because the young children can always restart the game and play again. However, in reality, the only thing that these games do for children is actively train them to kill. Take for instance, Retired Lt. Col. Dave Grossman who â€Å"argues that children learn to use weapons and become sharp shooters through simulated games the same way soldiers use simulations to improve their shooting precision. Just as children can improve their phonics with Learn to Read with Winnie the Pooh, they can learn to shoot with deadly accuracy, playing Doom, Splinter Cell, Hitman, and other first-person shooter games† (Hoerrner & Hoerrner 2). Although many would question what Grossman is saying, it actually was proven to be accurate â€Å"in [the] 1997's high school shootings [in] Paducah, Kentucky, [when] the 14-year-old who opened fire on a before school prayer group landed eight out of eight shots on eight different targets. Five of those were headshots† (Hoerrner & Hoerrner 2). Keep in mind the â€Å"teenage shooter had never held a real gun before his shooting rampage†¦ however, spent long hours playing first-person shooter games that simulated killing with the same weapon he used that morning† (Hoerrner & Hoerrner 2). To sum it up, the violence in video games does lead to violent behavior. Video game interaction leads kids to think that using violence is acceptable, causing them to choose their fist over rationality. In conclusion, violent games do indeed lead to aggressive and violent behavior. Not only do these games cause children to be aggressive towards one another, but they also lead to the physical pain of others due to the high content of violence. This is due to children having the entire aggression sequence from beginning to end imprinted in their mind. This therefore, leads them having to seek potential threats while having to figure out which physical action will have the best outcome. This is why every parent should watch the levels of violence in video games as well as set boundaries to what their children can and cannot play.

Social Inequality essayEssay Writing Service

Social Inequality essayEssay Writing Service Social Inequality essay Social Inequality essayAffirmative action policies and programs are measures taken to create equal opportunities within employment and education. They are intended to prevent or decrease discrimination based on the applicants’ origin, gender, religion, race etc. Among the measures of affirmative action there are outreach campaigns, employee support programs, targeted recruitment policies and so on. All of them are meant to guarantee that public institutions provide equal opportunities for equally qualified people. However, affirmative actions is a subject of controversy because racial and gender quotas often create a counter effect of reverse discrimination.No society can be free from discrimination because despite constitutional rights and freedoms people are born with different abilities and talents. Another thing is that there can be a biased approach to people of other skin color or ethnicity. Discrimination is now more often treated as a historical fact, but inequality is not an easy thing to abolish. However, affirmative action is sometimes considered to be an inadequate medicine that treats symptoms instead of the disease.In one of the affirmative action cases, Strauder v. West Virginia, the Supreme Court explained that the Equal Protection Clause guaranteed the civil rights for all races . The Supreme Court stated that the rights enjoyed by the white were equally given to the color races. It was stated that the general government provided the protection of the civil rights in that way, whenever they should be violated. The Supreme Court underlined that according to the Equal Protection Clause similar situations were to be treated in the same way.Today, there is a continuous search of effective alternatives for affirmative action to reduce inequality in the society. Experts say, the main thing to do is to find and solve the root causes of the social problem under consideration. Still, it has been found out that at the moment there is no substitute policy to work more properly or at least as well as affirmative actio.

Television essay Essays

Television essay Essays Television essay Essay Television essay Essay Television has a big Influence on how everybody perceives themselves. We can relate to what we see In TV such as romance, career and family. One In particular however contradicts their name Modern Family, which comes on BBC channel. Modern Family portrays an example of the mythical norm of a traditional family, gender stereotyping and how gender affects social ranking. Characters from Modern Family challenge the patriarchal society while other are still subordinated to it. Modern Family debuted on September 2009. It centers around three different families, Jay and his children Mitchell and Claire. Jay is married to Gloria who is from Columbia and are raising two children together. His son Mitchell who is in a gay relationship with his partner Cameron, adopting a Vietnamese baby. Jays daughter Claire is a house wife who provides structure to the home, whereas Phil her husband provides for the household. The social hierarchy ranking system is based on how society assigns a group whether the person Is privileged or oppressed based on the differences. The book Womens Voices defines privilege as advantages people have by virtue of their status or position In society (61 Based on the characters roles all the husbands are reviled because they are white and males. All of the wives have some privileges because of their husbands making them upper class, but are also somewhat oppressed since they are women. Mitchell and Cameron fall under the male privileges but are oppressed because they are gay. Homosexuality and female gender have always been groups easily discriminated by society. Likewise to the hierarchy privileges of each character, sexism still goes unnoticed by most viewers. Gender stereotypes are presented throughout the Modern Family series. The women on the show are seen as unintelligent and emotional. One example of gender stereotype Is found In the episode A Hard Jays Night Phil Is helping Gloria sell an old apartment she lived In before she met Jay, while waiting for a client they decide to visit an old hair salon Gloria used to work In and volunteer to help. Gloria states that she had forgotten how exhausting It was working at a hair salon, since she Is now a house wife. She confesses to Phil that she feel afraid of selling the old apartment because she used to provide for herself and now it was Jay providing for her. By being young, attractive and in some cases of Hispanic origin, Gloria displays he characteristic of a gold digger. A gold digger is a person getting involved romantically with someone wealthy. Being that Jay is a wealthy person with a big house and a business his own. Gloria usually speaks about suffering poverty while growing up, and has easily adapted to living an upper class life style. Another example of gender stereotype is Phil Dungy who is considered as the head of the household because he Is the man of the house, while Claire stays at home and cares for the kids. 80 percent of single-parent households are headed by women, but on sitcoms, half of them are headed by men (Highlighting et al. . These types of stereo types reinforce patriarchy by defining the wives roles primarily as the frankly caregiver and the husbands as the providers. In addition to the sexism found in all Cameron. Mitchell tends to be more of the provider of the household whereas Cameron has a caregiver role who helps maintain the home. Cameron displays feminine traits, which influence him in to appear as the women of the family. This stereotype effects heterosexual males and females. Bernard Whitley points out in his essay that, Evidence that this belief system is tied to heterosexuals perceptions of Sabine and gay men comes from demonstrations that men who are described as having feminine characteristics are Judged likely to be gay whereas women described as having masculine characteristics are Judged likely to be lesbians (692). The show not only misleads family structure but also encourages traditional gender roles and stereotype of women. In conclusion, Modern Family is Just like any other television show made up to entertain us. Yet it also gives us an idea on how people are defined by their gender or sexual orientation. Modern Family is not the only show that entities to oppress subordinate groups of people. However, it helps to influence the colonization that molds the viewers perception and morals to continue the oppression of these subordinate groups.

Translating Feel to Spanish

Translating Feel to Spanish The English verb to feel is one of those verbs that can be tricky to translate to Spanish. More so than with most words, you need to think of what the word means when trying to come up with a Spanish equivalent. If youre fairly new to Spanish and trying to think of how to say a sentence using feel in Spanish, you should probably see first if you can think of a different, and simpler if possible, way of saying what you want to say. For example, a sentence such as I feel sad means basically the same thing as I am sad, which can be expressed as Estoy triste. In that case, using sentirse to translate feel would also work: Me siento triste. In fact, sentir or sentirse frequently is a good translation, as it usually means to feel an emotion. (Sentir comes from the same Latin word as the English word sentiment.) But sentir doesnt work with many uses of feel, as in these sentences: That feels smooth. I feel like going to the store. I feel that its dangerous. It feels cold. In those cases, you need to think of a different verb to use. Here are some of the ways you can translate feel:   Feeling an Emotion As stated above, sentir or sentirse can often be used when referring to emotions: Me siento muy feliz. (I feel very happy.)Me siento fuerte psicolà ³gicamente. (I feel psychologically strong.)Se siente en conflicto cuando necesita escoger entre uno u otro. (He feels conflicted when he needs to choose one or the other.)No sentimos nada. (We dont feel anything.) However, Spanish has many expressions using other verbs to express emotions. Here are a few: Estoy muy feliz. (I am very happy. I feel very happy.)Él tenà ­a miedo. (He was afraid. He felt afraid.)Tengo celos a mi hermana. (Im jealous of my sister. I feel jealous of my sister.)De repente se enojà ³. (Suddenly he got angry. Suddenly he felt angry.) Sentirse is frequently used with como to express the concept of feeling like a ...: Se sintià ³ como una extraà ±a en su propia casa. (She felt like a stranger in her own home.)Me siento como una estrella del rock. (I feel like a rock star.) Feeling Sensations Spanish generally doesnt use sentir to express what is felt with the senses. Sensations are often expressed by idioms using tener. If describing what something feels like, you can often use parecer (see next section): Tienen hambre. (Theyre hungry. They feel hungry.)Tengo frà ­o. (Im cold. I feel cold. It feels cold here.)Tenà ­an sed. (They were thirsty. They felt thirsty.) Meaning ‘To Seem’ When to seem can be substituted for to feel, you can often translate using the verb parecer: Parece lisa al tacto. (It feels smooth to the touch. It seems smooth to the touch.)Parece que va a llover. (It feels like its going to rain. It seems that it is going to rain.)La herramienta me parece à ºtil. (The tool feels useful. The tool seems useful to me.) Meaning ‘To Touch’ Tocar and palpar are often used to refer to touching something. Although palpar comes from the same source as palpate, it is used much more often than the English word and can also be used in informal contexts. El mà ©dico me palpà ³ el abdomen. (The doctor felt my abdomen.)Todos tocaron la piel de zorro para que les diera buena suerte. (Everyone felt the fox skin so it would give them good luck.) ‘To Feel Like’ Meaning ‘To Want To’ A phrase such as to feel like doing something can be translated using querer or other verbs used to express desire: Quisiera comer una hamburguesa. (I feel like (eating) a hamburger. I would like to eat a hamburger.)Prefiero salir yo con mis amigos. (I feel like leaving with my friends. I prefer to leave with my friends.)Katrina no tenà ­a ganas de estudiar. (Katrina didnt feel like studying. Katrina didnt have a desire to study.) For Giving Opinions Feel is often used to express opinions or beliefs. In such cases, you can use opinar, creer or similar verbs: Pienso que no me gusta. (I feel I dont like it. I think I dont like it.)Creo que Argentina es el mejor equipo del mundo. (I feel that Argentina is the best team in the world. I believe that Argentina is the best team in the world.) ¿Por quà © supones que tienes una infeccià ³n? (Why do you feel you have an infection? Why do you suppose you have an infection?) Key Takeaways Although sentir and sentirse are the most common verbs translating to feel, in many situations they would be incorrect.Other verbs that are frequently used for to feel include tocar, querer, and creer.A good way to translate feel is to instead translate a synonym for feel as it used in the context.

Conflict and Critical Theory of Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Conflict and Critical Theory of Crime - Essay Example Therefore, labeling or defining individuals as criminal offenders spurs processes that stabilize or reinforce participation in a crime or other conditions present before the labeling. Lemert’s contribution in criminology was significant, especially in differentiating between primary and secondary deviation. He referred to primary deviance as instances when individuals engage in behavior that violates the norms of a society without seeing himself or herself as taking part in a deviant action. The deviations are dealt with or rationalized as roles of socially satisfactory roles. On the other hand, secondary deviation refers to occurrence when an individual starts to employ deviant function or action as a defense, adjustment, or attack mechanism to the covert and overt issues developed by the resultant societal response to him. Some of the objective evidences associated with this change are in symbolic appurtenances of the novel role, speech, clothes, and mannerisms (Cordella and Siegel 130). Today, the labelling theory presents as highly significant aspect in criminal justice. Criminology experts can reduce crimes greatly by applying the labeling theory. The main idea behind employing this theory is that it assists in deciphering the reasons behind criminal intents and behaviors. By gaining an understanding why individuals take part in a crime, experts can devise ways to break the cycle, curb crime, and offer rehabilitation to the deviating individuals. However, this premise needs extensive research to perfect on ways that are appropriate to curb

Auditing Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Auditing - Literature review Example lified public accountant to an organization during the period of the audit engagement but are not connected to an audit or checking of an organizations financial statement. Auditor’s independence is the foundation of the auditing profession (Miettinen, 2008). Non-audit services largely affect the auditor’s independence. Due to the non-audit, services conducted in an organization, the accuracy of the information given by the auditors’ will increase compared to when they give information without non-audit services being done (Adelopo, 2012). There also exists a relationship between non-audit service fees and auditing quality. Non-audit services increase the quality of auditing in any organization (Reckers, 2003). The quality of auditing is increased, as the auditors are aware that the documents in the organization have been scrutinized. Since the no-audit service and auditors pass through the information, number of errors containing the information is reduced (Beattie, Fearnley, and Hines, 2011). Non-audit services and auditing independence are somehow related. The non-audit services affect the independence of auditing directly as they affect how the audit is carried out. The practices are similar as both try to improve the quality of information given by scrutinizing the information of the financial statements and the report given to shareholders (Dunne and Morris, 2008). Strohm, C. (2006). United States and European Union auditor independence regulation implications for regulators and auditing practice. Wiesbaden, Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag.

Managing Through People Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Through People - Assignment Example ions, including, eg, career development, training, organization development, etc.†1 Human resource Management (HRM) is the management activity of the employees of an organization where as the Human Resource Development (HRD) is a more general term in which apart from the management function the developments of the organization and the employees (internal and external) through different types of training activities are also the functions of an HRD department. The globalized current business environment has made the task complicated for the HR department. Most of the companies are now establishing their manufacturing units in overseas countries in order to exploit the overseas markets. Some employees need to be sent to the overseas countries in order to set up the business there. The HR managers need to train such employees in accordance with the needs of the target country. The difference in culture, language, environment all must be addressed by the HR managers while formulating the training procedures. Microsoft is believed to be one of the biggest software companies in the world. In fact it controls the majority of the world’s software market with their monopoly. Even other companies like Intel were forced to make microprocessor chips suitable for the Microsoft’s Windows operating system because of their monopoly. Microsoft did this by creating a series of operating systems (DOS, then Windows), and by defining the kind of machine that could run their OSs.† (Why is Microsoft a Monopoly?) Microsoft is lead by its founder Bill Gates. It is actually the great leader ship Bill Gates, shaped Microsoft into such a big monopolistic firm in the world. â€Å"Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, ie: a leader is the spearhead for that new direction. Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have already been established.†2 The leader always concentrated on setting the

FILM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FILM - Essay Example During this time, independents and large film companies had bitter and sometimes violent clashes. The main themes of this program are universal appeals of silent films across the world and the success of moviemaking in Hollywood, because of its fitting climate and environment. This program shows the negative effects of successful films on actors. Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle is one of the most despised comedian actors, who later on became charged and acquitted of manslaughter. The need to regulate the movie industry’s unsuitable scenes emerged and filmmakers practiced self-censorship through following Hollywoods Production Code. Hollywood produced numerous successful movies about the war, which expanded the motion industry further. These films showed imagination and realism in depicting the causes and effects of war. They included wonderful scenes and breathtaking actions. This program focuses on the lives of several well-known stuntmen. They were the people behind exciting action and gag scenes. The themes are underpaid and underappreciated stuntmen and the rise of dangerous stunts. This program profiles Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. It shows the difference between appearance and reality. These actors are successful in real life and had charming personalities, but their film characters clashed from their true personalities. This program focuses on two of Hollywoods best directors, Cecil B. DeMille and Erich Von Stroheim. They had similar perfectionist attitudes, but DeMille worked within the system while Von Stroheim fought against it. It showed the role of bureaucracy in Hollywood. This program illustrates the comedy geniuses of Harry Langdon, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin. The main themes are comedy as a serious business and comedians as intelligent and creative actors. This program shows the difficulties of filming

Dietary Intake, Gender and Activity Factors Influenced on BMI Essay

Dietary Intake, Gender and Activity Factors Influenced on BMI - Essay Example Nevertheless, overweight is most importantly attributable to excess intake of energy, which lead to not only a positive energy balance but also an accumulation of body fats (Moore, 2000). Also, a sedentary lifestyle is the other factors that can contribute to a gain in weight. BMI is a reliable and easily obtainable indicator of relative body size. At most times, BMI is directly associated with LDL and total cholesterol plasma concentrations. However, an inverse relationship has been reported between BMI and HDL-cholesterol (McNamara et al. 1992). On the other hand, the effect of gender on the association between blood lipid constraint and BMI has not been evidently recognized because most of the studies that have been conducted in this area are hardly consistent. Participating in physical activities is commonly used as a valuable way of preventing a number of health risks that are especially caused by heavyweight across all genders (Eaton and Eaton, 2003). There are a number of reports that have indicated that youth and children spend most of their leisure time in sedentary engagements such as playing video games or watching television (Moore, 2000). Mounting evidence reveals that sedentary behaviors, which are characterized by lack of physical activities, are attributed to increased risk of physical problems Sedentary behaviors have been proved to, be associated with physical activities, eating habits, and obesity when correlation designs are used (Gortmaker et al., 1996). Although these designs are valuable in determining associations between variables, experimental designs that entail the manipulation of sedentary behaviors are important in determining the causal impact of sedentary habits on energy consumption (Robinson, 1999).  

Report on Performance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Report on Performance Management - Essay Example The report will cover the definitions of each link and the transitional aspect portrayed in management process undertaken by the firm. This report is an application of theoretical course work into practical work. Performance management is a continuous process which never ends. Once incorporated in an organization, it forms part of the culture of that enterprise. The process involves six closely related components namely; prerequisites, performance planning, performance execution, performance review, and performance renewal and re-contracting. Each of the above components requires thoroughness in implementation. In the event of poor implementation of any of the above, the entire performance system suffers. This is why it is eminent for links to be established between the components. Some of the recommendations suggested to performance in Omega Inc. include; management and the employees should together identify the necessary tasks to be accomplished and the mode of action necessary to ensure success. This involves the prior analysis of the anticipated results and the appropriate behaviours required to accomplish those tasks. The objectives should be mutually agreed between the organization management and the employees. ... Excellent performers should be encouraged through concentrating on their strengths and enlightening them on how they can capitalize on their strengths to improve performance. In conclusion, the consequences suffered due to the failure of the performance management process in the case study indicated that the process is a strategy that systemizes and manages the impact of all contributing factors that influence the organizational productivity and performance. The analysis of Omega Inc. has provided the practical facts that involve the transition from one link to another as stipulated in the basics of the performance management process. From the above discussion on the case study, it is clear that for any performance management process to be successful, everyone in the organization should be involved; not just the sale representatives or managers. Contents Executive Summary 1 Contents 2 Topic Background 4 The Case Study: Performance Management Process in Omega Inc. 5 Discussion 5 Perfo rmance management links 5 Prerequisites 5 Performance planning 7 Performance Execution 8 Performance Assessment 9 Performance Review 10 Performance Renewal and Re-Contracting 11 Conclusion 12 Recommendations 12 Robbins, S.P. (2012). Management, Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W. p. 444. 15 Report on Performance Management Performance management is a continuous process of measuring, identifying, developing and aligning the performance of teams and individuals with the organizational goals. The process involves six closely related components namely; prerequisites, performance planning, performance execution, performance review and performance renewal and re-contracting. Each component of

Dietary Intake, Gender and Activity Factors Influenced on BMI Essay

Dietary Intake, Gender and Activity Factors Influenced on BMI - Essay Example Nevertheless, overweight is most importantly attributable to excess intake of energy, which lead to not only a positive energy balance but also an accumulation of body fats (Moore, 2000). Also, a sedentary lifestyle is the other factors that can contribute to a gain in weight. BMI is a reliable and easily obtainable indicator of relative body size. At most times, BMI is directly associated with LDL and total cholesterol plasma concentrations. However, an inverse relationship has been reported between BMI and HDL-cholesterol (McNamara et al. 1992). On the other hand, the effect of gender on the association between blood lipid constraint and BMI has not been evidently recognized because most of the studies that have been conducted in this area are hardly consistent. Participating in physical activities is commonly used as a valuable way of preventing a number of health risks that are especially caused by heavyweight across all genders (Eaton and Eaton, 2003). There are a number of reports that have indicated that youth and children spend most of their leisure time in sedentary engagements such as playing video games or watching television (Moore, 2000). Mounting evidence reveals that sedentary behaviors, which are characterized by lack of physical activities, are attributed to increased risk of physical problems Sedentary behaviors have been proved to, be associated with physical activities, eating habits, and obesity when correlation designs are used (Gortmaker et al., 1996). Although these designs are valuable in determining associations between variables, experimental designs that entail the manipulation of sedentary behaviors are important in determining the causal impact of sedentary habits on energy consumption (Robinson, 1999).  

Telecommunication Technology & the delivery of Healthcare Services Essay

Telecommunication Technology & the delivery of Healthcare Services - Essay Example It is now widespread and is being integrated into the operations of hospitals, home health agencies, specialty departments, private physician offices and patient’s workplaces and homes (Blobel st al, 2008). It should be made clear that telemedicine is not a separate and independent medical specialty. The goods and services offered through telemedicine are most of the time part of a larger and higher investment by the medical institution. This investment is either on the delivery of clinical care or information technology. In fact during reimbursement, there is never a clear distinction specified between the services provided by telemedicine and those provided on site. The fee structure does not reflect a separate coding and billing for the remote services (Lewis, 2005). The terms telehealth and telemedicine can be used interchangeably as they as mean the same concept. Telemedicine encompasses the following services; Sometimes the term telehealth is used to refer to a wider description of remote health care which does not necessarily involve medical and clinical services. However, The American Telemedicine Association uses the two terms in a similar manner a person would refer to health or medicine in the local vernacular. There is a close relationship between telemedicine and health information technology (HIT). However, there is a slight difference; HIT more often than not refers to e-medical records and accompanying information systems. On the other hand, telemedicine is the actual offering of remote medical and clinical services by the use of technology. 2. Monitoring of patients remotely; Involves the use of devices to collect patient data remotely then send them to a remote diagnostic testing facility (RDTF) or a home health agency for interpretation. Such services assist the visiting nurses. In terms of improved access, telemedicine does not only improve patient’s access to medical services, but also gives health facilities

Ratignolle’s delivery Essay Example for Free

Ratignolle’s delivery Essay The story commences with Edna Pontellior, her husband and family, spending their summer holidays on Grand Isle. Ratignolle who was presently pregnant that time and her family, was also there for vacation. Reisz, a great pianist, was also there for the holiday. Her playing of the piano awakens Edna’s concealed desires and passion. We are also introduced to Robert Lebrun who courts women in the summer season, in particular married women. Edna caught his picture. Robert persuades Edna to be true to herself by articulating her own needs and desires. They fell in love with each other and since she’s married this pointed him to detach himself from her and to look for his destiny in Mexico. Upset, Edna chose to put her desires before her family. In the course of realizing her true character, she paints and sketches and deserts her obligation as a wife and mother. She continued to be good friends with Reisz and Ratignolle. She has an affair with Alcee Robin, a womanizer, but is still feel warmth for Robert. She left her house and rents a tiny house that looks like a pigeon’s house. The leasing of the house was compensated by the little income she produces by selling her paintings. When Robert came back, Edna struggle to revive her relationship with him by telling him that she is an independent woman and not concerned with social mores. She plans to leave Leonce. When she went to Ratignolle’s delivery, Edna was told to reassess her decision as it will damage her two sons. She drowns herself after she found out Robert’s goodbye note that tells of his love for her and after realizing that she cannot go on with her life with Leonce. And being a divorcee in this society was unthinkable. Purpose: The purpose of the novel is to show how women are treated and to show how valuable a woman’s feelings are. It gives us a view of the demands of society and the needs of individuals. Women should be treated fairly and that they should be given the respect they deserve. It not about how you should live in the eyes of others, but how you live your life the way you want to and you know how much you deserve that kind of life. Main Characters: Mrs. Edna Pontellier is the main character in the book that awakens to a new life as she finds out her independence. She is the young wife of Leonce Pontellier and the mother of Raoul and Etienne. She falls in love with Robert Lebrun. Edna is honest about her feelings for Robert and of her disappointment with Leonce and the tradition of marriage. This is revealed in her dismissal of social principle and traditions which she felt have caged her. During the rest of the novel, she lives in New Orleans, wasted her time with Reisz, had an affair with Alcee Arobin, moves into her own small house, deserts her old life, and affirms her love for Robert. Mr. Leonce Pontellier is Ednas wealthy, traditional husband. Although he rarely shows his love through material things, he often shows his disappointment through rage. He perceives Edna to be reckless, and seek for help from Dr. Mandelet as to her moody temperament. â€Å"It would have been a difficult matter for Mr. Pontellier to identify to his own satisfaction or any one elses wherein his wife failed in her duty towards their children. It was something which he felt rather than perceived, and he never voiced the feeling without subsequent regret and ample atonement (8). † He went to New York for a business trip as Edna moves out and falls in love with Robert Lebrun. Robert Lebrun is the younger, attractive, teasing man with whom Edna falls in love with. Robert is a clean-shaven young man with the stand for of a bohemian and doesn’t care about the world. He smokes cigarettes because he can’t pay for cigars. He works in New Orleans as a clerk and visits his mother in Grand Isle. Even though he honestly loves Edna, he leaves her two times without following through on his feelings. â€Å"Robert spoke of his intention to go to Mexico in the autumn, where fortune awaited him (4). † In the end, he left a note that said: I love you. Goodbye, because I love you (132). Robert struggle to resist on his feelings for Edna because he knows it was not right to love a married woman. Thats why he left to Mexico. The insight of this caused Edna to drown herself. Adele Ratignolle is the personification of perfect womanhood from this era, mother of five children, and idyllic wife to Alphonse Ratignolle. She becomes a close friend of Edna while at Grande Isle and watches out for her friend in the ways of love. She knows the power of her own femininity and cautions Robert not to play with the old fashioned sense of feminism that Edna has. She exemplifies everything about femininity and womanhood of the last century. She is faithful to her husband, gives birth every two years, and embellishes herself with sumptuous outfits and jewelry. She dependent on her family, and is remarkable for her beauty. Mademoiselle Reisz is the unconventional single pianist who charms Edna with her Chopin Impromptu at Grande Isle. She is a close friend of Robert Lebrun, who writes to her asking for a performance of Chopin for Edna any time she desires. Reisz embodies everything that Ratignolle does not like being independent, carefree, a single life with no children, and a life overflowing with art. She brings out the subliminal feelings of Edna to Robert and to her independent spirit. She helps in Ednas view of life and love changes. Alcee Arobin is the young, charismatic, scandalous man who seduces Edna into his arms. He’s one of which Edna spends time with. He is a womanizer, gambler, and businessman. Raoul is one of Edna and Leonce Pontelliers sons. He becomes slightly ill making Leonce to shout at Edna for being irresponsible. Etienne is the other son of Edna and Leonce Pontellier. The Colonel is Ednas father who was an officer in the Confederacy in the Civil War. He like the parties, singing, dancing, and drinking at the Ratignolle parties and tries to influence Edna to come to his sisters wedding. He questions why Edna and Leonce do not spend more time together at night. Madame Lebrun is Robert and Victor’s mother. She manages the cottages in Grande Isle, and is friendly with Edna in New Orleans. Victor Lebrun is Roberts younger brother and the fortune of Madame Lebrun. He flirts with Edna and frequently tells her how beautiful she is. He also went to Ednas dinner and spends time with her in New Orleans. Conflict and Resolution: One of the conflicts in the novel is the married life and society’s prospect of men and women. It is a prejudice of gender roles in the society. Women did not have the freedom to do what they want because they are viewed as dependent to men and just to stay at home. The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels. (8) Leonce believes that Edna is not doing her womanly task and is an irresponsible mother. He believes women must be inclined to their children, household chores, and their husbands. And when Edna starts to show signs of independence, he lost his temper and was filled with disappointment and resentment. It relates to the novel as Edna looks for a source of income and eventually sells her painting to earn an income. And because of that, the consequence of the things she did was imposed to her child. â€Å"He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of her children. If it were not a mother’s place to look after children, whose on earth was it? (6)† Edna realized that she can’t portrays the person the society wants her to be and resolves that problem by changing the way she lives her life. Edna takes actions according to her own desire, with no consideration to Leonce. She goes out alone, visits friends by herself, and eventually annoys her husband. Leonce has trouble dealing with his wifes new free character and thinks her to be mentally uneven. Edna believes that she can be an artist and a lover and be independent. It was evidently clear that women were seen as property of their husband. This is illustrated from Leonce Pontelliers straightforward comments like â€Å"Looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of property which has suffered some damage (2). † This was resolved when Edna left the house and when she eventually gave up and went to the ocean to drown than go back and enslave herself from the hands of her Leonce. Edna doesn’t want to depend on other people and doesnt want anyone to depend on her. She just wanted her independence, to be what she wants to be in her own way, and to not to give up her life and soul for her children. She wants to live her life for herself and to her affair with Robert. Edna admits to never belong to anyone again which in turn, brings her ahead of her time and out of the typical female of her time. Setting: The novel was set in 1899. This is the time when the Industrial Revolution and the feminist movement were starting to become known but were still outshine by the general attitudes of the 19th century. Grande Isle is the summer dwelling place for the Pontelliers and Ratignolles. They reside at the Lebrun cottages during the summer months. Edna and Robert meet and spend their time together while on Grande Isle. The Lebrun family owns the cottages at Grande Isle where the beginning of the story takes place. Madame Lebrun manages them and befriends Edna Pontellier. Next is at Kleins, it’s the hotel close to Grande Isle where Leonce Pontellier use up much of his time and money. The Carondelet Street in New Orleans is where Leonce Pontellier does much of his big business and bump into Robert Lebrun for quite a few times. The pigeon-house is Ednas new small home, where she has only one servant. This is where she paints, and finds freedom and independence. She sometimes visits her children at their grandmothers and goes back home to her independent, single life. She likes having time to herself, and knowing on her own when and where she wants to see other people. Edna and Robert rouse their relation by the ocean. Edna loves the water and learns how to swim, spending most of her time. Edna expresses her outlook of the beach, with the blue sky and ocean that makes her imagine of her youth. She talks of the view as a painter longing for a canvas to create an art. She then meets her end, while drifting deep into the ocean. Language Devices: The novel was full of symbolism where in each narrative section, there is a central and dominant symbol that adds meaning to the content and to emphasize some delicate point the author made. First symbol is the Art because it is a symbol of freedom and failure. It is through the progression of trying to be an artist that Edna achieved the utmost point of her awakening. She perceives art as a way of self-expression and of self-assertion. When Edna arrives, Adele Ratignolle is folding laundry. She abandons it to entertain her dear friend. Edna shows Adele her paintings and desires to paint Adele. She values her opinion greatly and hopes for positive feedback on her work. She humbly revels in Adeles overt appreciation of her painting. She gives her several as gifts, greets Monsieur Ratignolle and leaves, contemplating her life and her feelings for her friend. Birds are the major symbolic images. They symbolize the means to communicate and entrapment of women like the two birds in the cages. Flight is another symbol linked with birds because it acts as a place for awakening. The capability to spread your wings and fly is a symbolic theme that happens often in the novel like when Edna escapes from her home, her husband, her life and leaves for the pigeon house. Reisz address Edna for the need of having strong wings in artistic happenings â€Å"The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth (96). † Like these birds, Edna is ensnared by societys expectations of women, since she is not suited for the role of a mother and domestic wife. As the parrot talks with a language which no one knows, Edna convey her inner desires to flee from societys truss that stay silent and invisible to those around her. And like a newly emerged baby bird, she finds safety in the pigeon house, as she find out of her place in the world and fight against societal principle. In the last chapter of the story, Edna saw a â€Å"bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water (135). † Like the bird, Ednas wings are not strong and spirited enough to survive as a person fighting against societys advocate to be traditional. Edna is fully dressed when first introduced in the novel. Slowly over the line of the novel, she removes her clothes. This symbolizes the peeling of the societal rules in her life and her increasing awakening and stresses her physical and external self. Ednas dress counters the peripheral nature and it also opposes her inner nature. It signifies the partition between her and her surroundings and between her social character and her awakening nature. When she commits suicide, she was naked. She drops everything she has in her quest. The moonlight symbolizes the fight Edna has with the perception of sexual love and romantic love. At the end of chapter ten, subtle images of strips of moonlight (34) are introduced with strong sexual feelings. It suggests that this combination characteristically expect the problems Edna will have shaping the connection between sex and romance. The ocean is a sign for freedom and escape. Edna remembers the Kentucky fields in her childhood as an ocean, she learns to swim in the bay, and she then flee into the sea. The ocean is also a foundation of self-awareness, both an external knowledge of the growth of the universe and an inner obsession with self. The sound of the waves calls to her, console her throughout the novel, and proceed as a constant sign in the novel. Womens bodies are prone to moisture, blood, milk, tears, and amniotic fluid, so in drowning the woman is immersed in the womanly natural element. For Edna who had found freedom in the ocean, drowning brings her back inside herself. Sleep is a significant figurative pattern consecutively through the novel. Ednas seconds of awakening are often lead by sleep and she does a great compact of it. Sleep is also a mean of escape and patching up her worn out emotions. Another language used in the novel is a metaphor. The author uses metaphor to speak about the character of Edna towards the end of the novel. The author uses feelings to utter the feeling and entrapment that in the long run, lead to a lethal end. Describing Edna starts in a descending coil into the rebirth of her mind, to conclude in a sensual reawakening when Edna recognize what fear is, but also what strengths she had. The author assimilates a water pattern as a metaphor for Edna’s rebirth and sexual awakening. In Chapter 6, as Edna begins to awaken to her position in her world, the voice of the sea describes the start of a new world. The start of things, of a world especially, is necessarily unclear, muddled, and very troubling. â€Å"The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude: to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace (135). The sea is a dominant metaphor in the novel. The sea has stood for ancient chaos and danger. In Chapter 10, Edna swims out into the ocean, only to feel an unruly fear. The author also draws awareness to the sea as a source of life and new birth. Ednas learning how to swim present a point as she swims with dominated control towards the limitless in which to mislay her. The sea has opened up a new area of discovery for Edna. By the storys end, Edna had given in to the authority of self-discovery and self-actualization that was voiced by the sea. As Edna begins her final walk into the bay, the sea signifies new birth, as Edna go into the water naked in the open air (135) as susceptible as a newborn infant. By combining these water metaphors with diverse awakenings, the author constructs a link between the ocean and Ednas feelings. Sleep and wakefulness also serve as metaphors throughout the novel. For Edna, to be awake is â€Å"to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her (14). To be awake is to recognize. To be awake is to be open-minded. At times, the author makes the metaphor precise. Like having literally awakened from her sleep, Edna metaphorically awakens to the dramatic details of the world and asking How many years have I slept? The whole island seems changed. A new race of beings must have sprung up, leaving only you and me as past relics (43) As with the metaphor of the sea, the metaphor of wakefulness concluded in the last chapter. Edna did reflect and realized her essential seclusion from the old world, and her need to enter a new one, when she lay awake upon the sofa till morning (134). They are associated with restlessness, and unawareness with sleep that Edna avoided. She is, greeted by the sea to an untainted kind of sleep as the sea, like a mother comforting a sleepy child. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace (15). unaided in the sea, Edna will sleep the sleep of death but the story entails her to be more awake than those she left in the old world. Work Cited Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Bantam Books. New York, 1992.

Environmental Toxicology and Human Health

Environmental Toxicology and Human Health Environmental Toxicology and Human Health Environmental Toxicology is a field of science with various disciplines involved in the study of the adverse effects of various physical, chemical and biological agents on living organisms particularly animals, birds and fishes (Philp, 2001, pp. 10-11). Physical agents. They are sources of energy that may have negative effects on human health and that of biological organisms such as fish, birds and animals (Philp, 2001, pp. 20-25). One such agent is noise which can be defined as unwanted sound. Noise has both permanent and temporary damage to the ears rendering one incapable of hearing or resulting to tinnitus both of which are irreparable (McCally, 2002, pp. 58-67). Noise in the workplace also poses a threat to the workers in that they may fail to hear sounds indicating threats. Vibration, also a physical agent is categorized into two: hand-arm vibration (HAV) and whole body vibration (WBV). Continuous exposure to HAV has been proven to lead to hand-arm vibration syndrome a permanent and incapacitating health effect such as musculoskeletal disorders of the hand (McCally, 2002). On the other hand, continued exposure to WBV is associated with severe pain on the lower posterior. Optical radiation also has some grim effects on the health of people. Ult raviolet radiation emanated by the sun presents the utmost danger to our health. When exposed to the eyes it may lead to spoiled cornea and severe pain while exposure on the skin may vary from burning, redness and hastened ageing through skin cancer of different types. Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) generated due to electrical energy used may also be detrimental (Philp, 2001). Though they seldom occur, constant exposure to the EMFs can result to severe effects depending on the frequency of the radiation. Electricity can also be viewed as a threat since it may lead to death or severe injuries such as electric burns, thermal burns and electric burns to people. Last but not least we have ionizing radiation. Contact with low-level ionizing radiations may lead to cancer and DNA mutations while high-level exposures cause radiation sicknesses and burns (Philp, 2001). Biological agents. These include bacteria, viruses, fungi, other microorganisms and toxins associated with them. While some of these agents have no harmful implication on the human health, others have the potential to affect the human health in various ways ranging from moderately mild, allergic reactions to serious medical illnesses even demise. These agents occur widely in the environment (Environmental Toxicology And Human Health, n.d.). Biological agents have the capacity to reproduce rapidly, require little resources to live and can poison at very small doses thus they are a probable danger in a widely in our environment. Biological agents can be categorized into four sets according to their severity of infection and likelihood of prevention and treatment (McCally, 2002, pp. 150-200). Group 1 agents are those with low chances of causing ill effects to the organisms. Group two consists those toxicities that are unsafe for the workers but chances of spreading to the community are very minimal. Group 3 agents are those that can cause severe human disease, pose a serious threat to the workers and are likely to spread to the community. However, these toxicities can be treated. Group 4 agents are similar to group 3 agents except for the fact that there is no effective management for them. These are some of the most contagious and extensive biological agents: anthrax, botulism, avian flu, and Ebola (Environmental Toxicology And Human Health, n.d.). Chemical agents. These are as a result of the products we use in our day to day doings. Pesticides are a perfect instance of chemical toxins (Lakind). Pesticides persist in the environment long after their use which can result in bioaccumulation of chemicals in various organisms along with biomagnification within a group of organisms that depend on each other for food. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is another agent that was banned due to its negative effects on living organisms (Lakind). The reactions chemical toxicities is dependent on several factors that I will briefly discuss. Age is a significant aspect in establishing the response to a toxic chemical (Lakind). For example, parathion is more lethal to young animals. Although very rare, sex can determine the response to a toxicant. For instance, when exposed to parathion the female rat is twice as affected as the male rat. The responses to a toxic chemical also depends on the species (Safe). For example, insecticides are lethal to insects but relatively non-toxic to animals. Toxicity of a chemical is determined by factors such as: the dosage-it is the most critical factor if a substance will be acute or a chronic toxicant (Lakind). The form that a chemical agent is in also defines its toxicity. For instance, the poisonousness of mercury in gas form is very different from methyl mercury. The entry point of a toxin is also a measure of its toxicity. One other factor is the rate of removal from an organism’s system. According to Paracelsus all substances are poisons only the dose differentiates whether it is a poison or a remedy (Safe). Exposure assessment is the process of establishing the regularity, period and expansiveness of exposure to toxicities together with the traits and number of the population exposed. Methods of exposure assessment include direct and indirect approach (Philp, 2001, pp. 100-108). In direct approach exposure to the agents is determined by monitoring the pollutant concentrations reaching the person while in indirect approach the toxicant concentration is measured during specific human activities to predict the exposure distributions within a population (McCally, 2002). Epidemiology is important to research studies of environmental health since many environmental exposures can be addressed only by comparing populations instead of individuals and the interruption of both local and universal environments require us to come up with new methods of study design that is epidemiology. The epidemiologic approach to studying environmental health problems has its limitations. One of such constraint i s the quick changes in the health and nutritional status of many populations that have been affected majorly which may lead to inconclusive results (Safe). Another limitation is the fact that data collected through epidemiology is often ignored and limited by factors such as limited resources, personal priorities, political concerns and public relations (Philp, 2001). Since epidemiology depends on valid data, restriction on the gathering of data can be considered a constraint. This may be due to insecurity or lack of resources preventing the researchers from submitting surveillance data (Safe). References. Environmental Toxicology And Human Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://docsfiles.com/pdf_environmental_toxicology_and_human_health.html Lakind, J. S. (n.d.). Workshop on Human Milk Surveillance and Research on Environmental Chemicals in the United States. journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A. McCally, M. (2002). Life support the environment and human health. MIT Press. Philp, R. B. (2001). Ecosystems and human health: toxicology and environmental hazards. Lewis Publishers. Safe, S. (n.d.). Toxicology, Structure-Function Relationship, and Human and Environmental Health Impacts of Polychlorinated Biphenyls: Progress and Problems. Environmental Health Perspectives.

Understanding Chopins The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays

Understanding Chopin's The Awakening By reading The Awakening, the reader gets a sense of what the life of a Creole woman is like.   In actuality, though, it is not until reading the etiquette books, Chopin’s biographical information, and essays about the treatment of women at the time that there can be a deeper understanding of the rules Edna is breaking. Passages from Chopin's Biographical Information Fawned over as a society belle, admired for her cleverness and musical talent, Kate wrote what she really thought in her diary: â€Å"I dance with people I despise; amuse myself with men whose only talent is in their feet.† She wrote advice about how to flirt (just keep asking, â€Å"What do you think?† and you will be praised everywhere for your intelligence).   (116) The sarcasm and wit of Kate Chopin can be seen and heard through the character of Edna Pontellier.   Just from this small excerpt in Chopin’s diary, we can hear the similarities.   In The Awakening, Edna seems to move through the Creole social scene in a daze, possibly because she despised all of it. But when she was alone with her thoughts, she appears quite aware of what she wanted and needed to be happy. I feel that although many critics say that The Awakening is not based on Chopin’s own life, the author has taken many aspects of her own personal life to develop characters.   For example, the biographical information says that Chopin’s husband is an attentive, loving man.   I think that Robert is, in part, modeled after him. Here is a passage dealing with the rules of etiquette that Edna is breaking: Let nothing, but the most imperative duty, call you out upon your reception day. Your callers are, in a measure, invited guests, and it will be an insulting mark of rudeness to be out when they call. Neither can you be excused, except in case of sickness.   (123) The amount of etiquette that must be learned by these women is astounding.   The articles give the reader a real appreciation for the social faux pas that Edna is   committing. Before reading this, I did not quite understand how far from the norm Edna is straying.   After reading this excerpt, I fully realize why it is such a dire situation to Leonce when Edna went out on her reception day.   The rules made it sound like women needed to be home on their day to have guests; and on the other days, they needed to be out visiting.

Compare the way a news story is presented in three different newspaper extracts Essay

In this essay I will compare the way a news story is presented in three different newspaper extracts. Extract A is from ‘The Times’ on Tuesday 4th September, extract B is also from ‘The Times’ on Tuesday 4th September extract b is an editorial, extract c is from ‘The Guardian G-2’ on Friday 7th September extract c is a front page graphic. All three extracts cover the event that happened on Monday 3rd September between the Catholics and the Protestants. The incidents occurred when Catholics school children from Holy Cross Primary school began there new school year. The children had to walk in between barriers of armoured police, just to get to school. The incident started when republicans was accused of knocking over two men on ladders who were putting loyalists flags on lampposts out side Holy Cross Primary School before the marching season in June. In all three extracts there is a powerful opening statement to catch the readers attention, extract A uses a pun ‘the young girls of the Holy Cross Primary School in Belfast began their new school year yesterday with a horrifying lesson in sectarian hatred’. This is trying to say that in schools children are learning about hatred instead of being taught other lessons such as getting along with everyone regardless of whether they are Protestant or Catholic. Extract B also uses a powerful opening statement ‘Northern Ireland has yet again shown its Gorgon-face of bigotry. ‘ This states that once again Northern Ireland has shown its monstrous side, whereas extract C states ‘Why it takes the image of a child to wake the world’ this makes the reader to feel sorry for the children and is an rhetorical question. Extract A has a big, bold headline it states ‘Children walk a gauntlet of Belfast hatred’ which makes the reader to want to read on. Extract B states ‘Children in the middle’ this is also trying to get the attention of the reader, whereas extract C doesn’t have a headline because it is a front-page graphic. Extract A uses a certain amount of emotive language to make the audience feel certain emotions. Extract A states ‘screamed at’ not shouted at but screamed at, ‘spat at’ use of abuse on children, ‘sobbing uncontrollably’ this states that the children weren’t crying they were uncontrollably sobbing due to the riots. The emotive language in extract A has a certain effect on the audience, it makes the reader feel sympathetic towards the children. Extract B also uses a certain amount of emotive language using words such as ‘Gorgon-face of bigotry’ and ‘hideous spectacle. ‘ These words are usually associated with beasts, therefore this statement is trying to show that what is happening, should be considered as monstrous and that the victims of this monstrosity are innocent children. Surrounded and overwhelming are adjectives meaning that there is no way out for the victims, showing that the whole situation cannot be resolved. Extract B is an editorial and is the editors point of view not the facts. Extract C doesn’t use a lot of emotive language mainly because it is a front-page graphic from a supplement.

20th Century Genius Award Essay

A nominee for the 20th Century Genius Award should be Riley B. King. King has had an integral part in the history of the blues style of music since the mid 1950s. The manner in which he plays his guitar, Lucille, and his voice are very distinguishable. His style of instrumentation has carried over to other genres of music as well. He is hail as the reigning king of the blues. Most blues guitar solos will have some of the recognizable King inspired bent notes. Riley B. King, better known as B. B. King, was born September 16, 1925 to a family of poor sharecroppers in Mississippi. King’s artistic contribution to the 20th century is music, most notably the Blues. In the blues arena, he is probably one of the greatest and most respected guitarists in the history of the genre. When one hears the name B. B. King, the music of the blues immediately comes to mind. His musical motivation came from the music in his church. At first, Riley wanted to become a gospel singer. The pastor in his church taught him the basics of guitar. He then became a self taught guitarist by using instruction books he ordered through the mail. Since his arrival on the scene in the mid 1940s, King has been the definition of blues for the world wide audience. In his youth, he would play his guitar on street corners for dimes. There were nights when he would play in four towns. Riley also performed with small gospel groups. At the age of 21 hitchhiked from his home in Mississippi to Memphis to pursue his dreams in music. In 1948 King’s performance on a radio station in West Memphis launched his career. This performance turned in to regular performances at a grill in West Memphis called Sixteenth Avenue Grill and to a 10 minute time slot called â€Å"King’s Spot† on a radio station in Memphis. King’s 10 minute show was such a hit, the show was lengthened and turned in to a show called â€Å"Sepia Swing Club. † Riley decided he should have a name that was easily remembered for his radio show, so he started out with Beale Street Blues Boy. That named seemed to be too long, so he shortened it to Blues Boy King. When Blues Boy King first performed in New York, he decided to shorten his stage name to B. B. King. King has named his guitars â€Å"Lucille† after he performed at an event in Twist, AR. A couple of men began to brawl over a woman and during the brawl a stove that was fueled by kerosene was knocked over. This set fire to the building and everyone rushed out. When King realized his guitar was still inside, he risked his life to run back inside and retrieve it. After it was all said and done, he found out the two men were fighting over a lady by the name of Lucille. At that time he figured he would give the name â€Å"Lucille† to his guitars so he would remember to in no way do a foolish thing like fighting over a woman. In King’s song, â€Å"Three O’clock Blues (1951), the song begins with a four bar guitar introduction, followed by four full choruses of the twelve bar form. The third chorus is an instrumental with the guitar improvising on the harmonic progression. In this song, King sings and then plays guitar lines that serve as a response to his vocal lines. The guitar lines reproduce and expand on the vocal melody to which they answer and often use string bends to reach blue notes. An accompaniment is provided by saxophones playing notes that are long held. The drums are very quite with little or not accenting of the backbeat. Some urban sophistication in the arrangement is the occasional use of half step slides into some of the main chords of the progression. A great deal of the time, King slides down to the appropriate chord, then turns around and slides up to the tonic chord at the final beat. During his career, King has created one of the most individualistic guitar techniques in the world. He integrated his specific and intricate vocal-like string blends and his left hand vibrato. These types of instrumentation have turn out to be important works of a rock guitarist’s expression. B. B. King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He received the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1987 and has received honorary doctorates from several universities. According to Billboard, â€Å"B. B. King has 74 entries on the Rhythm and Blues charts and he was one of the few full fledged blues artists to score a major pop hit when â€Å"The Thrill Is Gone† crossed over to the mainstream success. † King’s lyrical and expressive solo style has made a large impact on several artists in the rock genre such as Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix, Mike Bloomfield. B. B. King’s urban blues guitar style includes the playing of lines that are equal in importance to the lines he sings. There is no single recording that can show the brilliantness of B. B. King’s abilities as a guitarist or a singer. His interest in playing melodic lines rather than chordal accompaniments is quite obvious in several of his numbers. King has performed as a featured soloist with jazz bands and groups of all sizes. He has also performed with large orchestral string sections playing arrangements of blues songs. Considering what B. B. King has done for the art of blues music, the accomplishments he has had during his career, and the influence he has had on the various genres of music, his contributions to the blues music will continue to impact the music industries for years to come. For these reasons, B. B. Kind should be considered for nomination for the 20th Century Genius Award. References (April 03, 2008). B. B. King. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from Academy of Achievement Web site:  http://www.achievement.org/

Ford Motor Company: Supply Chain Management and Strategic Fit

This report covers the performance of Ford Motor Company over the past 10 years and analyzes the results of its â€Å"One Ford† business plan. The main question this report answers is whether Ford’s resent actions match the supply chain strategy of the new plan. There is also a short comparison between Ford and it closest competitor in the United States, General Motors. Data was collected from different sources such as, annual and quarterly reports, company websites, organizations such as the United Nations, along with independent sources.This data was review and non-financial and financial computations were performed to see it if Ford’s overall performance had improve since the implementation of â€Å"One Ford† and the assignment of new management. The results show that the company has made improvements to it performance both financial and quality based off forecasting, employee efficiency, contribution and cost margins, net income, and higher prices dema nded for their products. Table of Contents Industry Overview In their industry report, First Research (2011) describes both the United States and global automobile manufacturing industries.The industry in the United States is comprised of about 200 companies . In 2010, two of the larger manufactures, Ford and General Motors, had combined annual revenues of approximately $235 billion & . The automobile manufacturing industry is a global industry with players from several major countries. Some of the larger global companies based outside the United States include Toyota (Japan), Volkswagen (Germany), Hyndai (South Korea), Peugeot (France), Fiat (Italy), and SAIC (China) .Although these manufacturing companies are  foreign based a few have manufacturing facilities inside the United States. Some of these include Honda, Nissan and Toyota . While other manufactures have facilities here in the United States, Ford and General Motors have located facilities in other countries. Companies th at locate facilities in foreign countries are attempting to maximize profits by taking advantage of lower labor costs, locate near suppliers and customers, and lower tariffs and other taxes. There are other challenges that are faced by the automobile manufactures besides the distance between their facilities and customers.These challenges include world economic conditions, fuel prices, regulatory standards, and the amount of loanable funds available to consumers . To combat macroeconomic issues such as these, firms must find other ways to increase profitability. Ford Motor Company is one of the automobile companies that has been able to do just that. Ford Motor Company Brief Overview, Products and Services The following information was compiled from Ford Motor Company’s 2010 Annual Report (2011) and www. Ford. com. Ford Motor Company manufactures and distributes automobiles across six continents, employs about 164,000 people at approximately 70 plants.The major bands manufact ured by Ford Motor Company are Ford and Lincoln. Ford Motor Company also owns approximately 30% of Mazda that is located in Japan. Besides automobiles, the company also sells parts and offers financial and repair services for their products to the consumer. In its car segment the Ford brand offers economical and sports cars, and a sedan. The economical cars include the Focus, Figo, Fiesta, and Fusion. The sports car and sedan are the Mustang and Taurus, respectively. MSRP of these cars rang from just over $13,000 to almost $26,000.The SUV and crossover segment includes the Escape, Flex, Explore, Edge, Kuga, Expedition, and the EcoSport. MSRP for these two types of automobiles from Ford ranges from $21,000 to $38,000. Ford brand also has a truck line that includes the F-Series, Ranger, Transit Connect, Super Duty, and E-Series Wagon. MSRP for the truck line ranges from $18,000 to $29,000. Ford Motor Company also has a domestic luxury car segment. The Lincoln brand of automobiles incl udes sedans, crossovers and an SUV. The sedans include the Town Car, MKZ, and MKS. These cars range from $35,000 to $47,000, MSRP.The crossovers include the MKX and MKT and range in MSRP from $40,000 to $45,000. Lincoln’s SUV is the Navigator and starts at an MSRP of almost $58,000. Ford Motor Company’s Changes in Their Supply Chain Strategy Over the past decade Ford Motor Company has had its financial ups and downs and had not been able to maintain a stable net income (See graph below). To combat this problem in the middle of the last decade Ford made some management changes to try and improve their industry position. They addressed supply chain efficiency problems that the company was facing.Some of the needed changes included closing plants, retooling, building flexible manufacturing facilities, and contracting with new logistics firms. The plan to make the transformation was coined â€Å"One Ford† . â€Å"In September of 2006 William Clay Ford, Jr. was name d CEO of the Ford Motor Company. . In Liker and James’ journal article (2011) they noted that Ford brought in Allan Mulally whose job it was to use borrowed monies to bring Ford Motor Company back to a more stable and profitable state. Mulally had to decide where to use the borrowed $23 billion and where to cut cost.To help with this he appointed Derrick Kuzak, former vice-president of Europe’s product development. Kuzack was appointed as the vice-president of global product development . To combat cost Ford has closed approximately ten of its facilities since 2006 . In addition to closing facilities, Ford had to pare down supplier to bring all of its production facilities and products across the globe into alignment. In 2010 James Tetreault, vice-president of North American manufacturing stated, â€Å"[it was] expensive to maintain separate product and supply chains† .The company in 2006 started working on standardizing the architecture of the all it body panel s, vehicle plat forms, die designs and processes . In addition to making manufacturing changes Ford addressed it logistics problems in the United States. From 2000 and into 2009 Ford had used United Parcel Services (UPS) as its logistics partner for transporting both inbound and outbound inventory . Since then, Ford contracted with Penske to be its logistic partner. Penske works with Ford not only in the United States but also in Europe, South America, and United Kingdom .In addition to internal process challenges, there are other internal and external challenges that the automotive industry faces. External Challenges to Ford’s Changes In the middle of all of its changes Ford Motor Company had many different challenges besides its, financial and process changes to make the â€Å"One Ford† concept work. First, it had communication issues from upper levels to lower levels, and they could not get past â€Å"improvements† fully implemented. Second, relationships wit h vendors needed improvement. Third, the world was about to enter into a recession starting in 2008.Even though the world’s GDP was falling, there was continuous inflation all over the world. Finally, iron ore price continue to rise even during the recession. In their case study, Liker and Morgan (2011) said information dissemination was described as â€Å"hand grenades† and â€Å"scud missiles. † To improve this, two types of meetings were started inside the company. First, were the â€Å"Skip-level† meetings that allowed engineers and upper level management to communicate. Second, they had â€Å"All-Hands† meetings twice a year where the entire organization gathered to discuss the status of the improvements.Liker and Morgan (2011) also quoted Mulally as saying â€Å"supplier were treated like enemies† and not partners of Ford. To fix the battles between Ford and its suppliers â€Å"a process of dialogues between matched pairs of Ford engi neers and buyers in purchasing who were responsible for the commercial side of working with suppliers† was put into place . This can help the buyers know what, how much, and when supplies are needed, and hopefully this will increase the supplier confidence in the processes at Ford.Shortly after Allan Mulally came on in 2006 the world was about to enter into a recession that some news reports were saying could be the next Great Depression. According to a United Nations, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2010 report, the rate of growth for GDP in most, if not all, countries began to decline in 2007 and actually entered into declines sometime in 2008. Although GDP was falling, inflation continued without any period of dis-inflation, meaning that prices were still on the rise but just at a slower rate .See the two graphs below for a graphical view of the United Nations data. These results show that the cost of living (prices) were still on the rise, but the amount of producti on (income) is in decline between 2007 and 2009. This makes it harder for consumers to purchase products like automobiles. Even with the upturn in the economies between 2009 and 2010, there is still a likelihood that people are going to be reluctant to purchase expensive durable goods. Unfortunately for the automobile industry its greatest commodity is steel.Over the past ten years world iron ore prices have been on the rise, except for a dip in prices between mid-2008 and the first quarter in 2010 . â€Å"About 98% of iron ore is used to make steel† . These price increases will drive the price of inputs for the car industry up because everything from the nuts and bolts, engine, frame and body panel, on most cars, are made from steel. Higher input prices means either lower gross profits and/or higher prices to the final consumer. The graph below shows the price changes of iron ore from 2001 until the end of 2010.Ford’s Forecasting, Inventory, Transportation, and Revenu e Management To compete, keep cost down, be profitable, and stay in business Ford has had to address the fore mentioned internal and external issues even after getting its â€Å"Ford One† plan in place. To do so it appears that management has addressed the forecasting, inventory, transportation, and revenue management functions of their operations. First, Ford had to address its forecasting so that it would not over or under produce its product to a level that would be detrimental to profitability.Second, inventory and transportation was outsourced to capitalize on the knowledge inside a firm that specialized in logistics and also had the physical resources. With an improvement of the first and second topics in this section the third topic’s, revenue management, tasks are made much easier. After a review of the company’s quarterly reports from 4Q 2007 to 3Q 2011 and the 2001 to 2010 annual reports, it can be determined that Ford uses historical quantitative info rmation in its aggregate forecasting. Some of this information is not automobile industry specific but macroeconomic information that affects sales inside the industry.It appears that Ford’s aggregate demand forecast uses historical data and the macroeconomic information for world production forecasting and then they base their production off of recent market share percentages they control. Ford also recognizes that there is seasonality to its customers purchasing patterns and adjust projection levels. In the notes of the â€Å"Outlook† section of the 1Q 2008 report (2008) Ford commented that â€Å"results generally have been stronger in the first half of the year, with the first quarter being the strongest† .After having forecast errors in 2008 and 2009 that totaled 1.9 million units, Ford’s forecast for 2010 was only off 149,000 units worldwide. As addressed earlier, Ford had shifted its logistics in 2010 from UPS to Penske Logistics. Penske claims that they have lowered Ford’s domestic plant inventory by 15% with the use of Order Dispatch Centers (ODC) and training suppliers on a uniform set of carrier procedures . With the ODCs Ford’s suppliers were no longer delivering to the plant facilities but to the ODC where supplies were cross-docked. This was done because Penske found that delivery trucks were traveling at 50% capacity and crossing routes.Penske now reports that â€Å"most trucks are at 95% capacity when they depart for a plant . On their website, Penske states that they have setup other logistical functions to streamline Ford’s transportation portion in its supply chain activities which include information technology and finance management systems. Their information technology system communicates schedules and shipment information up and down the supply chain and the finance management handles all of the freight bill payments, claim processing and resolutions throughout the supply chain .We have al l seen the ads on television and in newspapers that start around October and run through the end of the year. The manufacturers and dealers give them titles like â€Å"Year End Blowout† and â€Å"Year End Clearance. † The specials they are running are to clear out the previous year models. These sales are a form of revenue management used to increase sales during the upcoming holiday months when consumers are more focused on Christmas and vacations. Specifically, it is a form of dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing is used to sale inventory that is becoming less valuable as time persists .Ford is one of those automobile companies that partake in such pricing practices. They also offer discounts to consumers that finance through their Ford Motor Credit Company. Visit Ford’s website www. fordspecialevent. com and you will see the special interest rates, some even at 0%, and rebates that are offered on select units from the previous year models to help move them off of the dealer lots. This type of sales practice is an example what happens with an inventory push system. The Performance and Financial Results of â€Å"One Ford†After just over three years from when Alan Mulally took the helm as CEO for Ford Motor Company, how have they performed? To determine if Ford’s changes have actually worked we can look at several metrics. First, we will look at the aggregate forecasting numbers from 2008 to 2010. Next, the utilization of employees that are working in the automobile sector of Ford will be analyzed. Finally, we will look at some financial performance numbers to see if the plan has had an effect on Ford’s bottom line. Ford’s forecasting has greatly improved over the past several years.When forecasting, an organization, such as Ford, must take into account its existing inventory and base its production forecast on expected demand that exceeds inventory. In 2008 Ford had forecasted that it would produce just over 4. 5 m illion units, but actually produced only 3. 8 million. Sales that year totaled 5. 5 million units. This means that the annual forecast had an error of 1. 7 million units. In 2009 the total production forecast was 3. 7 million units, but the actual production was 4. 6 million. Sales in 2009 were almost 4. 9 million units. That’s a forecast error of -247 thousand units.In 2010 Ford’s forecasting improved even more. Production was forecasted at 5. 4 million units, but actual was 5. 6 million units, and sales were 5. 5 million units. This results in a forecasting error of 149 thousand units. Ford has lowered its forecasting error by more than 10 times from 2008 to 2010 (See chart below). It has also lowered its mean average deviation between quarters from 1Q 2008 to 4Q 2010 a total of 367 units (See chart below). These kinds of results could show that Ford is moving from a push to a pull type of inventory control system.Since 2003 Ford has reduced the number of employees t hat are in their automobile sector. Along with a reduction of employees, the implementation of the above discussed â€Å"One Ford† plan to improve and standardize production processes has had a positive effect on the company’s financial performance. Between 2003 and 2010 employment went from approximately 279,000 down to 157,000, a reduction of 44%. But with this reduction in employment, production per employee rose from 24. 1 to 35. 2 or 46%. The increased number of units per employee has had a positive effect on the company’s revenues from auto sales and gross profit margin.Revenue from the sale of automobiles per employee has risen 53%, $495. 56 million to $759. 75 million. The total employment at Ford has dropped from 328,000 down to 164,000. This includes both the manufacturing and service sectors of the company. The effect on total net revenue per employee has increased from $501. 75 million to $786. 3 million or 57% from 2003 to 2010. See the graph below for a depiction of the above employee utilization and contribution results. Now we will look at how Ford’s change in their business model has affected the unit contribution and cost, and gross profit margin of the company.The average contribution per unit between 2001 and 2010 was $18,668 and $21,593, respectively. That is an increased contribution of 16% per unit. In 2001 the average cost to produce one unit for Ford was $18,324. This rose to a high of $23,558 in 2007, but the company was able to reduce this cost back down to $18,908 in 2010. The percentage reduction in cost per unit from 2007 to 2010 is 16%. The negative correlation between contribution and cost per unit has a positive effect on the gross profit margin for the company. Ford’s gross profit margin from 2003 to 2010 increased 100% from 6% to 12%.That is after dipping to lows of -4% and 1% in 2006 and 2008, respectively. See the below graph to see how the changes in Ford’s operations has affected the above mentioned financials. To analyze the total effect the â€Å"One Ford† plan has had on the company’s bottom line let us look at the revenue and income side of the financials. First, we need to take into account that the world has been in a recession since about 2008. This has had an effect on the total sales and revenues that Ford has experienced over the last several years, and the difference between 2001 and 2010 results are $160 billion and $129 billion, respectively.To understand how the changes (One Ford) have affected the net income for the company we must look at the trend between sales and cost of goods sold. Starting in 2006 the cost of goods sold for Ford trended downward, as did total sales and revenue starting in 2007, but in 2009 there started to be a change between the rate of growth between sale and cost of goods sold. The rate of growth from sales increased at a faster pace than cost of goods sold. From 2008 to 2009 the change in sales was a re duction of 19%, and the cost of goods sold fell by 22%. Between 2009 and 2010 sales rose 15% while cost of goods only increased by 6%.These differences are a result of the above mention average contribution and cost per unit. Other changes that could be making this difference are the outsourcing of its logistics and relations with suppliers. These increases in gross profits from operations have been enough to offset the reduced revenues (22%) from the financial sector and have resulted in a 141% increase in net income between 2009 and 2010. (All of the above employment, production and financial data was collected from annual and quarterly reports published by Ford Motor Company and can be found on their website, www.Ford. com, and the Securities and Exchange’s website, www. sec. gov. ) Comparison of Ford and General Motors Performance To compare General Motors to Ford Motor Company we will look at worldwide sales revenues, cost of goods sold, and net income. In its 2010 Annua l Report (2011), General Motors claims to lead Ford in worldwide sales . This is true, in the number of units sold. In 2010 General Motors did out sales Ford by almost 2. 8 million units.This has been the trend even back to 2004 where the difference was in General Motors favor at 2.2 million units. Even when it comes to some financial performances General Motors has the advantage. In 2010 average unit cost for a General Motors unit was $14,200 dollars and Ford’s average unit cost was $18,900. That is a difference of $4,700. Between 2006 and 2010 General Motors was able to reduce their average unit cost by 28%. Ford only reduced its average unit cost by 19% in the same period. The big differences that gives Ford the advantage between the two companies are the average gross profit per unit and the net income.Ford is able to demand a higher average price, $21,600 versus $16,100, than General Motors. This has given Ford the advantage in net income with a difference of almost $1. 9 billion in 2010 alone. Plus, Ford has done this all without a bailout from the United States government like General Motors. Conclusion Over the ten years this report covers, Ford has been able to make major improvements in its operations. It has been able to make architectural changes to the body assembly and tooling that makes their production facilities more flexible.Penske was able to come in and reduce waste in the inventory and logistics that was not found by their previous logistics company. The big hurdle that Ford overcame was the implementation and communication issues they had in-house and with suppliers. With all of these changes Ford has been able to alleviate some of the financial woes it was experiencing several years back. Finally, the result of the automobile sector and the total company shows that Ford Motor Company as a whole is moving in the right direction with its â€Å"One Ford† plan. Ford Motor Company: Supply Chain Management and Strategic Fit AbstractThis report covers the performance of Ford Motor Company over the past 10 years and analyzes the results of its â€Å"One Ford† business plan. The main question this report answers is whether Ford’s resent actions match the supply chain strategy of the new plan. There is also a short comparison between Ford and it closest competitor in the United States, General Motors. Data was collected from different sources such as, annual and quarterly reports, company websites, organizations such as the United Nations, along with independent sources. This data was review and non-financial and financial computations were performed to see it if Ford’s overall performance had improve since the implementation of â€Å"One Ford† and the assignment of new management. The results show that the company has made improvements to it performance both financial and quality based off forecasting, employee efficiency, contribution and cost margins, net income, and higher pr ices demanded for their products.Industry OverviewIn their industry report, First Research (2011) describes both the United States and global automobile manufacturing industries. The industry in the United States is comprised of about 200 companies. In 2010, two of the larger manufactures, Ford and General Motors, had combined annual revenues of approximately $235 billion & . The automobile manufacturing industry is a global industry with players from several major countries. Some of the larger global companies based outside the United States include Toyota (Japan), Volkswagen (Germany), Hyndai (South Korea), Peugeot (France), Fiat (Italy), and SAIC (China) .Although these manufacturing companies are foreign based a few have manufacturing facilities inside the United States. Some of these include Honda, Nissan and Toyota . While other manufactures have facilities here in the United States, Ford and General Motors have located facilities in other countries. Companies that locate faci lities in foreign countries are attempting to maximize profits by taking advantage of lower labor costs, locate near suppliers and customers, and lower tariffs and other taxes. There are other challenges that are faced by the automobile manufactures besides the distance between their facilities and customers.These challenges include world economic conditions, fuel prices, regulatory standards, and the amount of loanable funds available to consumers . To combat macroeconomic issues such as these, firms must find other ways to increase profitability. Ford Motor Company is one of the automobile companies that has been able to do just that. Ford Motor Company Brief Overview, Products and Services The following information was compiled from Ford Motor Company’s 2010 Annual Report (2011) and www. Ford. com. Ford Motor Company manufactures and distributes automobiles across six continents, employs about 164,000 people at approximately 70 plants.The major bands manufactured by Ford M otor Company are Ford and Lincoln. Ford Motor Company also owns approximately 30% of Mazda that is located in Japan. Besides automobiles, the company also sells parts and offers financial and repair services for their products to the consumer. In its car segment the Ford brand offers economical and sports cars, and a sedan. The economical cars include the Focus, Figo, Fiesta, and Fusion. The sports car and sedan are the Mustang and Taurus, respectively. MSRP of these cars rang from just over $13,000 to almost $26,000.The SUV and crossover segment includes the Escape, Flex, Explore, Edge, Kuga, Expedition, and the EcoSport. MSRP for these two types of automobiles from Ford ranges from $21,000 to $38,000. Ford brand also has a truck line that includes the F-Series, Ranger, Transit Connect, Super Duty, and E-Series Wagon. MSRP for the truck line ranges from $18,000 to $29,000. Ford Motor Company also has a domestic luxury car segment. The Lincoln brand of automobiles includes sedans, c rossovers and an SUV. The sedans include the Town Car, MKZ, and MKS. These cars range from $35,000 to $47,000, MSRP.The crossovers include the MKX and MKT and range in MSRP from $40,000 to $45,000. Lincoln’s SUV is the Navigator and starts at an MSRP of almost $58,000. Ford Motor Company’s Changes in Their Supply Chain Strategy Over the past decade Ford Motor Company has had its financial ups and downs and had not been able to maintain a stable net income (See graph below). To combat this problem in the middle of the last decade Ford made some management changes to try and improve their industry position. They addressed supply chain efficiency problems that the company was facing.Some of the needed changes included closing plants, retooling, building flexible manufacturing facilities, and contracting with new logistics firms. The plan to make the transformation was coined â€Å"One Ford† . â€Å"In September of 2006 William Clay Ford, Jr. was named CEO of the F ord Motor Company. . In Liker and James’ journal article (2011) they noted that Ford brought in Allan Mulally whose job it was to use borrowed monies to bring Ford Motor Company back to a more stable and profitable state. Mulally had to decide where to use the borrowed $23 billion and where to cut cost.To help with this he appointed Derrick Kuzak, former vice-president of Europe’s product development. Kuzack was appointed as the vice-president of global product development . To combat cost Ford has closed approximately ten of its facilities since 2006 . In addition to closing facilities, Ford had to pare down supplier to bring all of its production facilities and products across the globe into alignment. In 2010 James Tetreault, vice-president of North American manufacturing stated, â€Å"[it was] expensive to maintain separate product and supply chains† .The company in 2006 started working on standardizing the architecture of the all it body panels, vehicle pla t forms, die designs and processes . In addition to making manufacturing changes Ford addressed it logistics problems in the United States. From 2000 and into 2009 Ford had used United Parcel Services (UPS) as its logistics partner for transporting both inbound and outbound inventory . Since then, Ford contracted with Penske to be its logistic partner. Penske works with Ford not only in the United States but also in Europe, South America, and United Kingdom .In addition to internal process challenges, there are other internal and external challenges that the automotive industry faces. External Challenges to Ford’s Changes In the middle of all of its changes Ford Motor Company had many different challenges besides its, financial and process changes to make the â€Å"One Ford† concept work. First, it had communication issues from upper levels to lower levels, and they could not get past â€Å"improvements† fully implemented. Second, relationships with vendors need ed improvement. Third, the world was about to enter into a recession starting in 2008.Even though the world’s GDP was falling, there was continuous inflation all over the world. Finally, iron ore price continue to rise even during the recession. In their case study, Liker and Morgan (2011) said information dissemination was described as â€Å"hand grenades† and â€Å"scud missiles. † To improve this, two types of meetings were started inside the company. First, were the â€Å"Skip-level† meetings that allowed engineers and upper level management to communicate. Second, they had â€Å"All-Hands† meetings twice a year where the entire organization gathered to discuss the status of the improvements.Liker and Morgan (2011) also quoted Mulally as saying â€Å"supplier were treated like enemies† and not partners of Ford. To fix the battles between Ford and its suppliers â€Å"a process of dialogues between matched pairs of Ford engineers and buye rs in purchasing who were responsible for the commercial side of working with suppliers† was put into place . This can help the buyers know what, how much, and when supplies are needed, and hopefully this will increase the supplier confidence in the processes at Ford.Shortly after Allan Mulally came on in 2006 the world was about to enter into a recession that some news reports were saying could be the next Great Depression. According to a United Nations, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2010 report, the rate of growth for GDP in most, if not all, countries began to decline in 2007 and actually entered into declines sometime in 2008. Although GDP was falling, inflation continued without any period of dis-inflation, meaning that prices were still on the rise but just at a slower rate .See the two graphs below for a graphical view of the United Nations data. These results show that the cost of living (prices) were still on the rise, but the amount of production (income) is in decline between 2007 and 2009. This makes it harder for consumers to purchase products like automobiles. Even with the upturn in the economies between 2009 and 2010, there is still a likelihood that people are going to be reluctant to purchase expensive durable goods. Unfortunately for the automobile industry its greatest commodity is steel.Over the past ten years world iron ore prices have been on the rise, except for a dip in prices between mid-2008 and the first quarter in 2010 . â€Å"About 98% of iron ore is used to make steel† . These price increases will drive the price of inputs for the car industry up because everything from the nuts and bolts, engine, frame and body panel, on most cars, are made from steel. Higher input prices means either lower gross profits and/or higher prices to the final consumer. The graph below shows the price changes of iron ore from 2001 until the end of 2010.Ford’s Forecasting, Inventory, Transportation, and Revenue Management T o compete, keep cost down, be profitable, and stay in business Ford has had to address the fore mentioned internal and external issues even after getting its â€Å"Ford One† plan in place. To do so it appears that management has addressed the forecasting, inventory, transportation, and revenue management functions of their operations. First, Ford had to address its forecasting so that it would not over or under produce its product to a level that would be detrimental to profitability.Second, inventory and transportation was outsourced to capitalize on the knowledge inside a firm that specialized in logistics and also had the physical resources. With an improvement of the first and second topics in this section the third topic’s, revenue management, tasks are made much easier. After a review of the company’s quarterly reports from 4Q 2007 to 3Q 2011 and the 2001 to 2010 annual reports, it can be determined that Ford uses historical quantitative information in its aggregate forecasting. Some of this information is not automobile industry specific but macroeconomic information that affects sales inside the industry.It appears that Ford’s aggregate demand forecast uses historical data and the macroeconomic information for world production forecasting and then they base their production off of recent market share percentages they control. Ford also recognizes that there is seasonality to its customers purchasing patterns and adjust projection levels. In the notes of the â€Å"Outlook† section of the 1Q 2008 report (2008) Ford commented that â€Å"results generally have been stronger in the first half of the year, with the first quarter being the strongest†.After having forecast errors in 2008 and 2009 that totaled 1.9 million units, Ford’s forecast for 2010 was only off 149,000 units worldwide. As addressed earlier, Ford had shifted its logistics in 2010 from UPS to Penske Logistics. Penske claims that they have lowe red Ford’s domestic plant inventory by 15% with the use of Order Dispatch Centers (ODC) and training suppliers on a uniform set of carrier procedures . With the ODCs Ford’s suppliers were no longer delivering to the plant facilities but to the ODC where supplies were cross-docked. This was done because Penske found that delivery trucks were traveling at 50% capacity and crossing routes.Penske now reports that â€Å"most trucks are at 95% capacity when they depart for a plant . On their website, Penske states that they have setup other logistical functions to streamline Ford’s transportation portion in its supply chain activities which include information technology and finance management systems. Their information technology system communicates schedules and shipment information up and down the supply chain and the finance management handles all of the freight bill payments, claim processing and resolutions throughout the supply chain .We have all seen the ads on television and in newspapers that start around October and run through the end of the year. The manufacturers and dealers give them titles like â€Å"Year End Blowout† and â€Å"Year End Clearance. † The specials they are running are to clear out the previous year models. These sales are a form of revenue management used to increase sales during the upcoming holiday months when consumers are more focused on Christmas and vacations. Specifically, it is a form of dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing is used to sale inventory that is becoming less valuable as time persists .Ford is one of those automobile companies that partake in such pricing practices. They also offer discounts to consumers that finance through their Ford Motor Credit Company. Visit Ford’s website www. fordspecialevent. com and you will see the special interest rates, some even at 0%, and rebates that are offered on select units from the previous year models to help move them off of the dealer lot s. This type of sales practice is an example what happens with an inventory push system. The Performance and Financial Results of â€Å"One Ford†After just over three years from when Alan Mulally took the helm as CEO for Ford Motor Company, how have they performed? To determine if Ford’s changes have actually worked we can look at several metrics. First, we will look at the aggregate forecasting numbers from 2008 to 2010. Next, the utilization of employees that are working in the automobile sector of Ford will be analyzed. Finally, we will look at some financial performance numbers to see if the plan has had an effect on Ford’s bottom line. Ford’s forecasting has greatly improved over the past several years.When forecasting, an organization, such as Ford, must take into account its existing inventory and base its production forecast on expected demand that exceeds inventory. In 2008 Ford had forecasted that it would produce just over 4. 5 million units, b ut actually produced only 3. 8 million. Sales that year totaled 5. 5 million units. This means that the annual forecast had an error of 1. 7 million units. In 2009 the total production forecast was 3. 7 million units, but the actual production was 4. 6 million. Sales in 2009 were almost 4. 9 million units. That’s a forecast error of -247 thousand units.In 2010 Ford’s forecasting improved even more. Production was forecasted at 5. 4 million units, but actual was 5. 6 million units, and sales were 5. 5 million units. This results in a forecasting error of 149 thousand units. Ford has lowered its forecasting error by more than 10 times from 2008 to 2010 (See chart below). It has also lowered its mean average deviation between quarters from 1Q 2008 to 4Q 2010 a total of 367 units (See chart below). These kinds of results could show that Ford is moving from a push to a pull type of inventory control system.Since 2003 Ford has reduced the number of employees that are in thei r automobile sector. Along with a reduction of employees, the implementation of the above discussed â€Å"One Ford† plan to improve and standardize production processes has had a positive effect on the company’s financial performance. Between 2003 and 2010 employment went from approximately 279,000 down to 157,000, a reduction of 44%. But with this reduction in employment, production per employee rose from 24. 1 to 35. 2 or 46%. The increased number of units per employee has had a positive effect on the company’s revenues from auto sales and gross profit margin.Revenue from the sale of automobiles per employee has risen 53%, $495. 56 million to $759. 75 million. The total employment at Ford has dropped from 328,000 down to 164,000. This includes both the manufacturing and service sectors of the company. The effect on total net revenue per employee has increased from $501. 75 million to $786. 3 million or 57% from 2003 to 2010. See the graph below for a depiction of the above employee utilization and contribution results. Now we will look at how Ford’s change in their business model has affected the unit contribution and cost, and gross profit margin of the company.The average contribution per unit between 2001 and 2010 was $18,668 and $21,593, respectively. That is an increased contribution of 16% per unit. In 2001 the average cost to produce one unit for Ford was $18,324. This rose to a high of $23,558 in 2007, but the company was able to reduce this cost back down to $18,908 in 2010. The percentage reduction in cost per unit from 2007 to 2010 is 16%. The negative correlation between contribution and cost per unit has a positive effect on the gross profit margin for the company. Ford’s gross profit margin from 2003 to 2010 increased 100% from 6% to 12%.That is after dipping to lows of -4% and 1% in 2006 and 2008, respectively. See the below graph to see how the changes in Ford’s operations has affected the above menti oned financials. To analyze the total effect the â€Å"One Ford† plan has had on the company’s bottom line let us look at the revenue and income side of the financials. First, we need to take into account that the world has been in a recession since about 2008. This has had an effect on the total sales and revenues that Ford has experienced over the last several years, and the difference between 2001 and 2010 results are $160 billion and $129 billion, respectively.To understand how the changes (One Ford) have affected the net income for the company we must look at the trend between sales and cost of goods sold. Starting in 2006 the cost of goods sold for Ford trended downward, as did total sales and revenue starting in 2007, but in 2009 there started to be a change between the rate of growth between sale and cost of goods sold. The rate of growth from sales increased at a faster pace than cost of goods sold. From 2008 to 2009 the change in sales was a reduction of 19%, and the cost of goods sold fell by 22%. Between 2009 and 2010 sales rose 15% while cost of goods only increased by 6%.These differences are a result of the above mention average contribution and cost per unit. Other changes that could be making this difference are the outsourcing of its logistics and relations with suppliers. These increases in gross profits from operations have been enough to offset the reduced revenues (22%) from the financial sector and have resulted in a 141% increase in net income between 2009 and 2010. (All of the above employment, production and financial data was collected from annual and quarterly reports published by Ford Motor Company and can be found on their website, www.Ford. com, and the Securities and Exchange’s website, www. sec. gov. ) Comparison of Ford and General Motors Performance To compare General Motors to Ford Motor Company we will look at worldwide sales revenues, cost of goods sold, and net income. In its 2010 Annual Report (2011) , General Motors claims to lead Ford in worldwide sales . This is true, in the number of units sold. In 2010 General Motors did out sales Ford by almost 2. 8 million units.This has been the trend even back to 2004 where the difference was in General Motors favor at 2.2 million units. Even when it comes to some financial performances General Motors has the advantage. In 2010 average unit cost for a General Motors unit was $14,200 dollars and Ford’s average unit cost was $18,900. That is a difference of $4,700. Between 2006 and 2010 General Motors was able to reduce their average unit cost by 28%. Ford only reduced its average unit cost by 19% in the same period. The big differences that gives Ford the advantage between the two companies are the average gross profit per unit and the net income.Ford is able to demand a higher average price, $21,600 versus $16,100, than General Motors. This has given Ford the advantage in net income with a difference of almost $1. 9 billion in 20 10 alone. Plus, Ford has done this all without a bailout from the United States government like General Motors. Conclusion Over the ten years this report covers, Ford has been able to make major improvements in its operations. It has been able to make architectural changes to the body assembly and tooling that makes their production facilities more flexible.Penske was able to come in and reduce waste in the inventory and logistics that was not found by their previous logistics company. The big hurdle that Ford overcame was the implementation and communication issues they had in-house and with suppliers. With all of these changes Ford has been able to alleviate some of the financial woes it was experiencing several years back. Finally, the result of the automobile sector and the total company shows that Ford Motor Company as a whole is moving in the right direction with its â€Å"One Ford† plan.