Monday, September 30, 2019

Research-based Reading Program Essay

The Texas Reading Initiative has outlined a fairly comprehensive statement on the value of reading and the significance of infusing the habit of literacy among the young. Besides teaching/conducting a reading program per se, the quality, depth and integrity of such teaching methodology is equally important. This is the main reason why most reading advocates have bannered the discourse of a â€Å"research based† reading program rather than the traditional teaching methodology for teaching children how to read. It works on the emerging assumption that teaching the young is delicate enough for the reading teacher to adapt a research-based method. The paper on Components of a Research-based Reading Program, part of the Red Book Series by the Texas Education Agency, outlines the fundamental attributes of the recent development of teaching reading among the young. It is composed of a deeper understanding of the recesses of a child’s mind, its formation, development and predictable growth (Hilgard, 2001). Generally, the essential attributes of these Twelve Essential Components comprise an advanced understanding of adult-child training and communication: the Teacher-Trainer, the channel and the recipient (the child). These maybe the basic attributes of ordinary communication but an analysis of the paper can reveal that the communication framework is actually the basis of this research-based program, not to mention that the concept of code interpretation and language are involved and mentioned in that paper. The two ends of this communication curve, the Teacher-trainer and the child are the live working elements of this reading program, which makes the simplest components. What is generally interesting in these Twelve Components is the channel element and how the child decodes the communication. The paper frequently discusses the concept of language and how the child perceives instruction from the teacher, which is its whole point. This is the brunt/meat of the teaching methodology, where the paper discusses â€Å"opportunities† and â€Å"strategies† to aid child development. Such things are stated on the paper as to how to exploit the nature of the language channel, where educators strategically use the oral component to understand the written language-the act of reading. According to the authors, by the oral way, the child is directed into opportunities for appreciating sounds, its differences and â€Å"referents†, a concept used by linguists. They say that children may read aloud and â€Å"understand their building blocks† (www. tea. com), which we assume as auditory building blocks. This may imply that to reinforce one’s reading, one has to learn how to speak it first, using the auditory logic of the language’s construction, thus utilizing the nature of the child’s brain to absorb these â€Å"building blocks† into communicative memory (www. childdevelopmentinfo. com). And of course, there is the written format to contend with. This is where the recipient can visually decode using some of the strategies. Decoding in this context means visually playing with the language construction (â€Å"wordplay† as the paper says) through â€Å"blending† and what they call â€Å"word families† and writing patterns. On a lighter note, there is nothing new about the research-based reading program offered by the Texas Reading Initiative. The allegedly â€Å"new† methodology works much like teaching a foreign language to students in the collegiate level, but in the child’s case, localized and specialized for a kindergarten or grade-schooler. The same opportunities and teaching strategies have existed in basic foreign language class in university, and child psychologists seem to find it effective if made easier for children. Reference: Child Development Institute. Reading Improvement. Retrieved January 27, 2008, from http://www. childdevelopmentinfo. com/store/reading-improvement. htm. Hilgard, E. R. (2001). Introduction to Psychology. New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Abortion and Unborn Child Essay

For many years when you heard the word abortion people would have plenty to say. Everyone has an opinion when it comes to abortions and how they affect women and men. Mitt Romney who is one of our former presidential candidates has very interesting views about abortion. Many people will agree with how Mitt Romney wanted to handle abortion if he won office. Romney was brought up in a Mormon house hold and in this religion abortion is a forbidden word. Abortion should be illegal and should be frown upon like murder in America. Abortion is a medical procedure that requires a licensed professional to perform under doctor and nursing care. This procedure is abuse to the mother and the unborn child it consisted of salt poisoning, a partial birth, dilation and evacuation of embryo. According to (Romney2011) he made several comments in his campaign about how he is a big supporter of the reversal of Roe vs Wade. The Roe vs Wade was a controversial case this was history in the making. Before 1973 abortions were illegal. Abortions are looked at as killing a life that did not have a choice. Romney is an advocate and big supporter of the unborn child protection act. He opposes abortion except in rape, incest, and if the mother’s life is in danger. See more:  The Story of an Hour Literary Analysis Essay Some people have used the word genocide to describe abortion in the early 1900’s which means killing off a species of any decent. Abortions should be out lawed in the U. S. and should have strict punishment for anyone who chooses to break this law. Women are seeking for affordable ways to receive an abortion procedure and run into all kinds of problems which may cause you can bleed to death. According to Guttmacher Institute about 41 million legal abortions take place worldwide each year and about 48% of those abortions are illegal. In 1988 the abortion pill was introduced to France. Both types of abortions surgical or medical can have physical side effects such as nausea, stomach cramps, bleeding, and some mental or emotional problems. Health problems can occur even with a license doctor there are still many things that can go wrong. There are reports of women who had a legal abortion procedure and died. Some women have had the procedure and never been able to get pregnant or carry a baby to full term due to problems caused from having an abortion. This is a big concern for America when women are dying on the table after having an out- patient surgery performed. Abortions affect everybody not just the women who carry’s the child. Men play a role in the conception but are not asked what their opinion is on what will happen. Men should have a choice too, they have feelings but we often don’t take them into consideration. The women may want to have an abortion due to money problems or not stable enough to handle a child at the moment. The men should be allowed to have some right to where if they are stable enough they will have a choice to raise the child. We have single mother’s and father’s in our country in all different races and religion. I have seen men turn their life around due to having children some men will say having a child saved their life. Some people believe that a unborn child has the right to live weather the life they choose will be a good life or not. People will say that the fetus right to live comes before the mother’s right to choose. One view that made really good sense was if the government keep giving the women an option or a way out then extinction and poverty will be sure to come. If we make abortions illegal then America will think before they act. Women and men won’t be so quick to have unprotected sex which can result in a child being conceived. Women will resort to other ways to protect themselves like using condoms or birth control options to ensure they don’t have a pregnancy. The use of birth control lowers the likelihood of abortions by 85%. We can educate people better about the other options they may choose instead of abortion. Adoption is a good idea with adoption your child can be born an given a fair chance at life to a family that may not be able to have children. Abortions should be illegal due to the lack of facts about is the fetus really a life or a mother’s choice. Congress need to come together and make a law about the abortions in our country. Being a activist can be a good way to spread the message about pro-life choices. An activist sometimes carry a bad rep because in the past some activist routinely threatened clinic workers and some even stalked the families or damaged their property and pets. Many pro-lifers will use the bible as a tool to get the message across about abortions being wrong. The bible do state that to do away with a life in anyway is a sin. (â€Å" We need to protect our future generations and legal abortion is the unlimited right to the private use of lethal force against innocent human beings. †) Boyle,M 1997. The late-term abortions are just too horrible to imagine this consist of the fetus being in second or third trimester or and having a live birth then killing off fetus when it is extracted from the mother. This is murder to many people when you are stopping a life from becoming a human being. A website that will give you a good view on what abortions really are is called Nuremberg Files. This website aims to make us visualize the criminal nature of abortion it makes the pro-life activist point out how the fetus is the victims. By allowing abortions to be legal make us question other laws like self defense law or the right to bear arms. Some laws are put in place to help protect or regulate a law that is already put in place. Abortion is another word for murder we can’t expect the world to be a better place if we allow such decisions to be made by a woman who want to terminate a fetus just because of her own selfish reasons. Men should have the same rights to a fetus they played a part in creating. A woman should have the right to choose to be safe and protect herself from harm but we cannot give her the right to abort a unborn child that did not ask to be here children, fetus, and embryos should have the right to live.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Automated Car Parking System

Barchester City Council in the center of Barchester manages seven car parks. The Council is in need of a car parking system to automate daily operations of car parking like controlling barriers, handling payment and issuing tickets. Core activities aside, the council also wants to automate car parking management like problem recording, monitoring service level agreement with the security pany that provides a guard at the car parks and issuing season tickets. This report provides the analysis of the functionality, possible ou es, risks of taking information systems and the resources required to implement it. To automate daily car operations and its management tasks, the following areas are proposed to integrate into the new system. The new car park system will operate payment for car parking and entry and exit of the car from the car park. Car parking will be of two different types – ordinary customers, who will be able to pay for the parking when they are using it. Seasoned ticket holders, who will have the privilege to park in designated areas from Monday to Friday, and an advance has to be paid by them which can be for three, six or twelve months (Sabnam, Das, & Kashyap, 2016). While nearing the entry barrier, a sensor placed under the road will detect and the control pillar will display ‘Press Button.' For the regular customer, the ticket will be printed within five seconds after the button is pressed, and a ‘Take Ticket’ text will be visible. Pulling the ticket will raise the barrier. In case the park is full, no tickets will be issued. During exit, the ‘Press Button’ display will be activated if there is a car waiting (Dong, Jin, & Hou, 2014, p. 1770). In the case of seasoned ticket holders, the user inserts the season ticket which checks for some conditions like if it is the weekday, the validity of tickets, among others. The barrier is raised only when all checks are passed, and the checking operation should not take more than five seconds (Sumathi, Varma, & Sasank, 2013). The time of entry is also recorded. The ticket issued will have a barcode which will include date, time and number of the entry to the car park and th e same information will be printed on the ticket in human readable form (Mahmud et al., 2013, p. 722). As Tsang & Leung (2013) stated, for payment, the regular customer has to go to the pay station for payment when the customer is about to leave. The automated system will pare the information on the ticket's bar code with the stored information. If a date is matched, then the barrier is raised, and if not then the display tells the customer to visit the office who will manually check the ticket (Agerholm et al., 2014). As expressed by Jog et al., (2015), the customer while approaching the exit barrier, the sensor detects the vehicle and the control pillar displays ‘Insert Ticket' to the customer. The barrier opens only when the time does not exceed more than 15 minutes between payment of the ticket and checking of the ticket. If more than 15 minutes has passed alarm rings and the customer can then speak with the office attendant by showing the ticket (Baglane, 2014, p. 75).  Ã‚   The Council has tied up with security panies to inspect the car parks periodically. The security guards have a card which when punched to the card reader at the car park office, the arrival and departure time is recorded. It works almost the same way with seasoned ticket holders (Mohammed, 2015). The car parking management system handles all the other tasks that are not managed by the regular operation system. Security SLA is similar to service level agreement the council has made with the security panies. An exception report is generated monthly which tells if the number of visits or the duration of the visit of the security pany is lesser than the minimum required as laid out in the contract (Whaiduzzaman, 2014, p. 330). As stated by Kenaid & Ali (2016), for selling season tickets a sub-system is required. The season ticket is issued to either a pany or an individual's name, and the contact details on the pany are recorded. The ticket will carry the issue and expiry date and will be valid for three, six or twelve months. The information on season tickets has to be made prior available to the operation systems (Ang, 2013, p. 5). A renewal form is also sent to the season ticket holders two weeks before their cards’ expiry date. Renewing before the expiry date will set the season ticket valid for another three, six or twelve months. A record also has to be maintained which will show the usage of the season ticket as pared to the ordinary customer for the same period regarding costs (Hanche, 2013). According to the Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2015), the fault recording system will record any problems related to car parks. Faults can include things such as doors and windows to equipment such as security cameras, card readers, and barriers. Reported time and date of fault is recorded for service level agreement. As stated by Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2014), in case the fault lies with any aspect of the operational system, then the maintenance pany has to be notified immediately. Council’s direct labor organization will be notified of any other issues. A monthly statistical report is required to show records of the date and time the fault is fixed, the panies that were allocated and the time taken to set (U.S. Patent No. 8,624,756, 2014). A record is necessary which will keep track of all the tickets issued in a year for the Council to carry out the annual review of ticket costs, to estimate revenue for the next year. For the proposed Information System of the automatic car parking external resources that are required are: The operating system version can be Unix, Linux, Mac or Windows (Patterson & Hennessy, 2013).   It is necessary for the employees to interface with the Parking Management System with their personal puter (Mienkina et al., 2015). As opined by U.S. Patent Application No. 13/748,152 (2013), it is required for employees to access their accounts and for administrators, manage payments and generate reports. Local Area Network munication interface via Ethernet (U.S. Patent Application No. 14/454,440, 2014). Computers used must be at least Dual Core machines for a system to work optimally. The design needs to be flexible and modular enough for the structure to be upgradable or changed as per design requirement (Wong, 2015, p. 600). As stated by Saware (2016), certain risks e with integrating information system in car parking system. It can be confusing for those who are unfamiliar with the system and have a fear of the system's breakdown. At high peak hour volume, the system may break down or may not be able to cope (Wang, 2014, p. 975). With the emergence of newer technology, the existing system will b e quickly outdated and replacing the system will result in a higher cost. There is also the uncertainty that the building department may not review or approve the process (Ferreira, 2014, p. 475). With the proposed system in place, there will be a better perception of security as customers would not step out of their space. This system will be beneficial to tight parking spaces where ramped parking structure cannot be a modated. As the parking space will be utilized to the maximum, the parking efficiency will be very high regarding space and costs. The mon problem with looking for parking space will be solved, and since the cars would not roam around for available space, therefore, emissions will be reduced. Less chance of any vehicle mishaps since at every step the system will guide the car. Familiar parkers will require less intervention of the office staff. pared to the bined walking time/parking/driving in conventional ramped parking structures, the retrieval time will be much less with the automatic car parking system. Openings in exterior walls or ramping floors would not be required, and facade integration will be easier. To implement the automatic car parking system the proposal made was to divide the system into two parts – Operational System and Management System. Operational System operates with payment related operation for car parking. Tickets issued are mainly two types – ordinary customers for those using the parking space on a usage basis, and season ticket holders, who possess a ticket for three, six or twelve months and get designated car parking space on weekdays. Operations included in the Operational System includes payment at the pay station, opening, and exit of barriers of the car park, issuing tickets and recording of security visits by security guards. Management Operations include those services which are not handled by the Operational System.   It includes making reports on service level agreements, a sub-system for selling and renewing tickets, fault recording with faults related to the doors and windows to the equipment of Operational System. The various risks as sociated with implementing an automatic car parking system includes incurring huge costs on moving to a new technology, the unfamiliarity of users with the new parking system, system breakdown and issues during high volume of traffic. The proposed ou e is said to be quite positive as it will be a definite upgrade over mon ramped parking spaces regarding space and cost efficiency, less emission, better security and easier navigation.   Agerholm, N., Lahrmann, H., Jà ¸rgensen, B., Simonsen, A. K., & Tà ¸fting, S. (2014). Full-Automatic Parking registration and payment. In  Proceedings–10th Its European Congress. Ertico-ITS Europe. Ang, J. T., Chin, S. W., Chin, J. H., Choo, Z. X., & Chang, Y. M. (2013, June). iSCAPS-Innovative Smart Car Park System integrated with NFC technology and e-Valet function. In puter and Information Technology (WCCIT), 2013 World Congress on  (pp. 1-6). IEEE. Baglane, S. B., Kulkarni, M. S., Raut, S. S., & Khatavkar, T. S. (2014). Parking Management System.  International Journal of Modern Engineering Research,  4(2), 72-77. Berman, S. B. (2014).  U.S. Patent Application No. 14/454,440. Brandmaier, J. A., Gillespie, J., Hughes, S., Koza, D., Loo, W., & Lowry, F. (2015).  U.S. Patent No. 9,019,092. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Brandmaier, J. A., Gillespie, J., Hughes, S., Koza, D., Loo, W., & Lowry, F. (2014).  U.S. Patent No. 8,799,034. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Dong, H. R., Jin, S. T., & Hou, Z. S. (2014, June). Model Free Adaptive Control for automatic car parking systems. In  Intelligent Control and Automation (WCICA), 2014 11th World Congress on  (pp. 1769-1774). IEEE. Ferreira, M., Damas, L., Conceià §ao, H., d'Orey, P. M., Fernandes, R., Steenkiste, P., & Gomes, P. (2014, June). Self-automated parking lots for autonomous vehicles based on vehicular ad hoc networking. In  2014 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium Proceedings  (pp. 472-479). IEEE. Ganot, Z. (2014).  U.S. Patent No. 8,624,756. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Hanche, S. C., Munot, P., Bagal, P., Sonawane, K., & Pise, P. (2013). Automated Vehicle Parking System using RFID.  Volume-1, Issue-2. Jog, Y., Sajeev, A., Bidwans, S., & Malick, C. (2015). Understanding Smart and Automated Parking Technology.  International Journal of u-and e-Service, Science and Technology,  8(2), 251-262. Kenaid, B., & Ali, S. (2016).  U.S. Patent No. 20,160,110,926. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Mahmud, S. A., Khan, G. M., Rahman, M., & Zafar, H. (2013). A survey of intelligent car parking system.  Journal of applied research and technology,  11(5), 714-726. Mienkina, M., Circello, J. C., Mei, W., & Xiao, Y. (2015).  U.S. Patent Application No. 14/708,969. Mohammed, T. S., Al-Khairi, W. K., Al-Jubouri, A. T., & Shamas, O. S. (2015). Development and Implementation of an Automated Car Parking System.  Applied Mechanics & Materials. Patterson, D. A., & Hennessy, J. L. (2013). puter organization and design: the hardware/software interface. Newnes. Raleigh, G. G., Tellado, J., Green, J., Lavine, J., James, J., Nguyen, L. A. M., & Carter III, R. B. (2013).  U.S. Patent Application No. 13/748,152. Sabnam, M., Das, M., & Kashyap, P. A. (2016). Automatic Car Parking System.  ADBU Journal of Engineering Technology,  4. Saware, N., Waje, S., Kore, M. M., Patil, T., & Nanaware, P. (2016). Perspicacious Vacant Car Parking Detection System. Sumathi, V., Varma, N. P., & Sasank, M. (2013). Energy efficient automated car parking system.  International Journal of Engineering and Technology (IJET),  5(3), 2848-2552. Tsang, C. L., & Leung, Y. W. (2013, July). Automatic Redemption of Free Parking in Shopping Malls. In puter Software and Applications Conference PSAC), 2013 IEEE 37th Annual  (pp. 286-287). IEEE. Wang, W., Song, Y., Zhang, J., & Deng, H. (2014). Automatic parking of vehicles: A review of literatures.  International Journal of Automotive Technology,  15(6), 967-978. Whaiduzzaman, M., Sookhak, M., Gani, A., & Buyya, R. (2014). A survey on vehicular cloud puting.  Journal of Network and puter Applications,  40, 325-344. Wong, K. S. L. (2015). Flexible design principles.  Facilities,  33(9-10), 588-621. With a decade's experience in providing essay help,

Friday, September 27, 2019

Ethics Case studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics Case studies - Essay Example John has rested his hope in my positive recommendation to get the opportunity which he regards as a lifetime opportunity. Patients are the major stakeholders in this case because their life will be at risk in case the wrong person is offered the job. Indeed, the only practical alternative is to be honest with the reference lab regarding John’s capabilities. Lying for him would be unethical and short-lived because even if he is hired, it will not take long before the new employer discovers his incompetence. This would result in him being fired and it would be embarrassing for him to come back to seek his old job once again. This would jeopardize the Center’s reputation and my credibility as a reference person. Professional code of ethics states that the best interests of the patient should come first before individual and organizational interests. The interest of colleagues should be given second priority when the patient’s well-being is at risk. The profession should also be safeguarded through ethical practices. I would clearly explain to John the competencies required in the new job and make him understand that in my honest opinion, he is not qualified for the job. I would also explain to him the undesirable consequences that may result from my strong recommendation for him including putting his current job and the potential job at risk as well as jeopardizing the reputation of the lab. As the lab supervisor, you receive a report from one of the evening shift technologists that another one of the evening techs is doing the â€Å"sink test† (i.e. dumping samples down the sink and making up the results) in urinalysis in order to get to dinner earlier. What action would you take? The ethical problem in this case is dishonesty in one of the laboratory technologist who is putting the patients’ health at risk. The wrong results may cause irreversible damage to the patient. These actions may damage the reputation of the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Essentials of Negotiation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Essentials of Negotiation - Essay Example   Describe your negotiation style. My negotiation style tends to be integrative and principled. My primary strength is that I have a good motive in seeking to obtain a win/win situation for all parties; I want to define the goals and maximize the objectives for everyone within a discussion framework that has fair standards and a high level of integrity. The weakness in my position is that a dishonest bargainer could possibly use my desire for consensus to manipulate me through deceit or hardball tactics. 3a.1 I had two friends who engaged in an integrative bargain resulting in a win/win situation. ... The first had a vehicle with relatively high monthly payments. His objective was to get out from under the financial strain and he wasn't concerned with making a profit on the deal. My other friend didn't really need another car but liked our friend's vehicle more than the one what she was driving. They both wanted to make sure the other achieved sensitive to the other's position their objective. She sold her vehicle, bought his for the payoff and, after refinancing with the down payment from the sale of her car, obtained lower monthly payments for herself. Everyone ended up happy. 3a.2 A family friend was the chief financial officer for his company. In analyzing the corporate debt, he determined that a refinance of the mortgage would save thousands of dollars. He called in his banker and asked for a reduced interest rate. At first, the banker was reluctant, but when the CFO mentioned that he could find a better deal at a competing bank if he moved all of the company's accounts (savings, checking, and investments), the banker quickly conceded. The company got a reduced payment and the banker kept the all of the accounts, the loss of which would have cost far more than lowering the interest rate. Even though a concession was made, both parties ultimately won. 3b. Win/Lose 3b.1 One of my relatives knew an individual that had come into some very difficult financial conditions. That person wanted to sell their car to pay off a hospital bill. My relative knew exactly what the other person owed on the car, and hard balled them into taking a price that yielded a $500 profit by pulling out the cash and putting it on the hood.  Ã‚  

The Thirty Years War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Thirty Years War - Essay Example Later, the war turned into a rather general conflict involving France and the Hapsburg poweri. As mentioned earlier, the war was spread in phases over the period from the year 1618 to 1648. Initially, there was a treaty called Peace of Augsburg signed in 1555 which brought temporary peace in regards to religious competition in the state of Germany. However, the treaty only recognized the Lutherans and Roman Catholic. Despite this, the Cal-vines had made gains in a number of states and consequently began to demand recognition of their rights and acceptance of their ways of life. In 1617, Ferdinand of Styria was the king of the Bohemian Kingdom and was an ardent supporter of numerous Catholic missions. This did not go well with the Calvinists because they feared that under Ferdinand rule they would be oppressed and their rights would not be recognized. The Calvinists went ahead and threw two Catholics from a building, seventy feet tall, as a show of their dissatisfaction with the king. Fortunately, the two Catholics just sustained minor injuries as they fell on a pile of manure. But this action led to the Catholics invading Bohemia which was a Calvinist strong hold. The conflict resulted into war ending with Catholics winning and Calvinists losing and sustaining heavy and multiple casualties1. Another significant period of the war was between 1625 and 1629 in Denmark where the Protestants went into battle with the Catholics. During this phase, the war claimed many casualties and a significant destruction of property from both sides. In the end, the Catholics claimed victory and installed their king who continued the unpopular policies directed towards oppressing non-Catholics. This alarmed those Christians who viewed this as sheer absurdity and ways of oppressing fellow man. As a result, the Protestants cooperated came together all over Europe with an aim of championing their rights and revolting against the dominant Catholic majority ii. The entire period of the thirty years war was characterized by many religious conflicts in many European countries and empires. However, the saddest thing was that, besides causing psychological harm, it also claimed many lives and led to massive destruction of property and infrastructure. Therefore, the war considerably affected the lives of many Europeans. According to statistics, it reduced the population of German states by about 25% with the male population being reduced to half. The destruction was also aided by diseases and famines in different regions all over Europe. It was hard to feed the masses as there was no time to cultivate hence significantly reducing the food supplies. Diseases were also hard to treat as there were no properly organized supplies of medicine and medical personnel. Furthermore, the hostility between different groups resulted in blocking of supply routes as rivals did all they could to cut supply to opposing sides. The destruction was also catalyzed by the expulsion of oppos ing religious groups from the regions where they were the minority. For instance, Protestants were expelled from Czech land; an action which reduced the population of the land by a third. The destruction was quite severe that the regions that were hard hit by the war took centuries to recover. Despite the thirty years war largely being religious inclined, it also involved political supremacy and conquest. This is because many rulers looked forward to taking advantage of the weakened regions to conquered them and spread their dominance.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

List and explain the three step risk analysis process and list Personal Statement

List and explain the three step risk analysis process and list resources - Personal Statement Example At any rate, it is always better to be prepared for any eventuality although admittedly, it is virtually impossible to prepare adequately for anything and everything. However, having good plans in place is better than having no plan at all that can deal with a contingency whenever it so happens. The most crucial part of security planning and loss prevention is critical thinking. This is the ability to think and ask the tough questions other people may hesitate to ask. Further, it is a way to get out of the box-mindset and adopt a different attitude from the business as usual. In his book, author Philip P. Purpura postulates critical thinking as the cognitive ability of analysis, the interpretation, the explanation and the evaluation of ones own reasoning, to even include ability to question ones conclusions and judgment in a continuous process of assessment (2008, p. 4). In this regard, there is a highly-recommended three-step risk analysis process that is to be followed in order to have a good grasp of the security situation. It is the rational and orderly way of identifying a problem, determining its probability of occurring and finding solutions. The objective of this process is to also estimate the loss in case of an adverse event happening. This 3 step process is discussed in much greater detail in the next page. Conducting a loss prevention survey – this first step takes into consideration all possible threats, hazards, vulnerabilities and weaknesses that can threaten security and survival. Purpose of this activity is to assess probable adverse events based on certain conditions such as weather, geography, fire protection systems, pending litigation, proximate presence of nearby hazardous materials (nuclear, chemical, biological, etc.) and all other identifiable threats to include social, political and economic conditions. The survey is actually a questionnaire in the form of checklist to make sure everything is covered during the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Contemporary Brand management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Contemporary Brand management - Essay Example In this paper, the concepts of branding and its relation to the brand NIVEA have been discussed. The paper comprises of theoretical concepts of brand positioning and brand analysis related to NIVEA brand. The concept of ethics and branding of NIVEA have also been included. Finally, the ways of improvement of brand management has been recommended in the paper. 2.0 Brand Brand is regarded as a trademark that distinguishes itself from other brands or products. The visual uniqueness of a brand is the combination of several features such as name, symbols, letters, shape, slogan, signature, colour and others. Name is considered as the most vital element of brand. The name of the brand cannot change frequently but other elements can be changed in due course of time. There is an important reason to change the name of products or services. It is generally conducted to expand the brand appeal in new markets where the original name may not act as advantageous or considered as standardised in th e ‘international trademark portfolio’ of the company. Brand may generate higher revenue that may have an influence on the overall performance of the business (Interbrand, 2004). Product is considered as a thing that can be bought or used, but brand is the promise related to certain things i.e. intangible. It may be guarantee of quality, heritage, prestige and others. A company when enters a new market, might launch new products, but they are totally depended on their existing brand for success (Davis & Baldwin, 2006). Brand is considered as the image related to products or services that can be developed in the mind of the consumers. On the other hand, company image relates to prospective customers, valued customers, lost customers and group of people associated with the company (Scribd, 2011). NIVEA is one of the international skin care companies and family owned brands by Beiersdorf. The brand is targeted in satisfying the need of the consumers. Their products range fr om female face as well as body products to shaving gel, sun care lines and deodorants for men (Keller, n.d.). The market of the brand is segmented based on the fulfilment of consumer’s needs. Segmentation is done in two ways: one relates to include consumer with identical tastes or needs and the other, consumers are highly content by products so as to meet the needs. The NIVEA brand introduced three product segments, i.e. protection, after sun and self tan. There are various products that come under this segment (Scribd, 2011). The women were the major target market of NIVEA, especially the upper section of the society. They are delighted with the products of NIVEA that involve both care and to beautify the skin. However, nowadays their products range from women towards men care products (Slideshare, 2011). There are several competitors of NIVEA that include L’Oreal, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Estee Launder Cos, Avon Products and Johnson & Johnson among others (Adbran ds.net, 2011). The cream of NIVEA has become the primary product of their business and it is indicating their brand name as well. Besides NIVEA cream, other related products such as sun care products, body soap, powder, tanning lotion and oil also become the major products of the brand. The cream has received brand identity as a ‘caretaker’ of skin (Keller, n.d.). In order to be more competitive the executive at Beiersdorf’

Monday, September 23, 2019

Are the GMO foods good or harmful to our health Research Paper - 1

Are the GMO foods good or harmful to our health - Research Paper Example Farmers are mainly focusing on cash crops modification such as corn, soybean, cottonseed oil, and canola. Genetic modification is done to help in resistance to herbicides and pathogens. Additionally, genetically modified foods are said to have a high nutrients profile. There are critics of the GMO who focus on environmental impacts and safety. GMOs are reported to damage the environment as well as violation of consumer’s and farmers right as some seeds are subject to intellectual property. Genetically engineered plants are produced in a laboratory. There is alteration of their DNA and assessments done to check whether the desired qualities are achieved. One of the most frequent modifications made is the addition to one or more genes to the plant’s genome. After the production of the desired plants, the producers register for approval so that they can test out in the fields (Skinner & Liang, 2004). GMOs have changing relationships to foods. Some GMO foods are consumed processed to remove its protein and DNA while others are consumed unprocessed. Other are used to generate unmodified foods. Animal and plant relationship differ in all aspects. GMO foods are associated with some advantages in either the consumption or production. They are created with the aim of providing products at lower prices and with significant benefits in terms of durability or nutritional value. The developers of GMO seeds desire that their products will remain acceptable to producers and the developers are concentrating on innovations that will directly benefit farmers. One primary reason for producing GMO is to improve crop protection. The GMO are aimed at raising crop protection through the introduction of diseases resistant crops caused by viruses and insects or plants that tolerate the herbicides (Duvauchelle, 2014). One of the reasons why people like GMO foods is because of their pest resistance. Crop losses from insects have

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Frankenstein, Blade Runner Context Essay Example for Free

Frankenstein, Blade Runner Context Essay Good morning/ afternoon miss, today I will be speaking about the themes of two texts and the context in which they were written. The two texts ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Blade Runner’ both embody themes of science, creation and nature that are reflected in the author’s life and what was happening in the world around them. By examining Mary Shelley’s life we can see many of the key themes of her time reflected in Frankenstein. The novel Frankenstein was written in 1818 and follows the story of a scientist, Victor Frankenstein and his quest for creating life. However his experiment goes wrong as his creature goes on a rampage after he has been rejected. One theme from this novel that is part of Shelley’s life is the natural world. The theme of the sublime natural world was embraced by Romanticists such as Mary Shelley who, in their writing, glorify the natural environment. By showing nature as a powerful force it gives an idea that nature is a great and controlling force, somewhat god like. Victor, depressed after the deaths of William and Justine for which he feels responsible for, heads to the mountains. A cold†¦ breeze†¦ upon my cheeks †¦ fills me with delight† is a shortened quote from Victor which expresses his feelings towards nature as a joyous one. The influence of nature on mood is evident throughout the novel and just like Victor feeling happy in the embrace of nature; the monster also feels his heart lighten as spring arrives after a being abandoned in the cold winter. â€Å"The weather became fine and the skies cloudless†. Contrasting to Frankenstein that explores the beauty of nature, Blade runner explores how when the natural environment fades the consequences for both humans and the planet are terrible. Blade Runner is a film directed by Riddley Scott in 1982 and follows the story of a blade runner named Deckard as he sets out on destroying artificial humans known as replicants. In the 1980s many Americans, including Scott feared their country was in a great decline and depression of the war and industrialization. These somber themes are evident within the film. At the beginning of the film we see a montage of manmade buildings and structures that overwhelm the landscape as there are no natural elements. Symbolism is very important in this opening scene as we also see setting in the background, the sun. The sun setting symbolizes the end of the earth and that humans are entering into the dark. Rain in many parts of this film and is used as a visual metaphor to suggest that nature is crying for its destruction by humanity. The effect of this impression is that when nature dies everything will mourn. The setting of this post apocalyptic film is not the only thing that has been urbanised. Many animals have been created artificially. When Deckard first goes to Tyrell he is shown an artificial owl, to which he responds â€Å"must be expensive†. The repetition of animals being artificial and expensive highlights that nothing natural remains and that nature has been taken over by commerce. Scott uses the animals as a symbol to represent how artificial the world has become. Another theme that is evident in both Frankenstein and Blade Runner is science and creation. Frankenstein was written in a period of technological advancement where science was just beginning to take shape and the thought of recreating life was evident. An event in Shelley’s life that impacted her was the work of Luigi Galvani who discovered that the muscles of dead frog’s legs twitched when struck by a electricity. This advancement leads Shelley to critique the ideals of science contrasting to the value of nature. Shelley is clear on her feelings about the use and abuse of technology. The reanimation of a man from the dead can be useful so we can always be with loved ones, but what responsibility should we take once we bring people back from the dead? How far can we go in raising the dead without destroying the living? Shelley seems to portray the idea that man cannot handle becoming like God without difficulty. Victor Frankenstein learns all he can about the field of science, both before, during, and after his work at the university and is continuously obsessed with creating life. The effect of uses a character obsessed with creating life, then later rejecting it further shows how Shelley feels about miss using technology. Similarly to Frankenstein, Blade Runner also questions the values of science and creation. Scott created his film when industrialization and when technology is rapidly becoming part of everyday life. As the creator of the replicants, Tyrell simply creates the androids for money and power then immediately outcasts them. Scott makes the company of Tyrell seem very dark and large to emphasize his power within the city. Both Mary Shelley and Riddley Scott draw inspiration from the events and other themes that are impacting their life, whether it is nature, the advancement of technology or creation issues at the time of writing.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Unethical issues of AIG

Unethical issues of AIG Company history   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   American International Group, Inc is a company whose operation began back in 1919. It was established back then by Cornelius Vander Starr as an insurance agency in Shanghai, China. AIG left china in 1949 after Starr had established himself as the westerner the sell insurance to the Chinese people. AIG headquarters then shifted from china to New York City, which is still the headquarters up to date. It is from here that AIG began its expansion tapping into other markets such as the Latin America, Asia, Middle East and Europe through use of its subsidiaries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was in 1962 when Starr transferred management of AIG United states holdings to Maurice R. Greenberg. Greenberg introduced policies that made the company shift from its original personal insurance background to anew high market corporate targeted cover. The new management under Greenberg went on to focus mainly on selling AIGs insurance packages through independent brokers. This deviated from the initial system which made use of company agents thus eliminating the agents salaries. This move aimed at reducing the expenses of the company but it led to decreased sales in some of the companys products. Greenberg was named the successor to Starr in the year 1968. In the following year 1969 AIG first went public.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The start of problems facing AIG began during the tenure of Greenberg as AIGs CEO. It was during tenure that the company expanded from its initial line of insurance into other many complex lines of business and insuring risks that only a few other companies would consider handling. This led to the involvement of the company in businesses that it did not fully comprehend. AIG started investing in many different types of securities which included mortgage backed securities and also credit derivatives trading. AIG then went ahead to become a leading player in these markets, insuring other companys debt obligations against losses due to its excellent credit rating at the time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was AIGs Financial Product Unit (AIGFP) that brought about the fall of the company, due to its disastrous credit swaps product. AIGFP was founded in the year 1987 by three Drexel Burnham Lambert Traders who were led by a Howard Sosin, a finance scholar. They convinced Greenberg based on the companys AAA credit rating to create a division which focused on complex derivatives trade. Greenberg and Sosin signed an agreement in which 38 percent of money earned went to AIGFP while the remainder 62 percent went to AIG. If things had to go bad down the line it was AIG and not AIGFP that would be on the hook. AIGFP continued its expansion program opening branches in other countries such as London, Tokyo and even Paris. Despite the fact that AIGFP had never made even a single credit swap by the year 1998 the unit had revenue of over $500 million (Tpmckraker, 2009)..   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was in 1998 that AIG was approached by JP with a proposal to insure JP Morgans Complex corporate debt. It was stated by Gary Gorton, a Yale Business Professor that the chance of AIGFP not paying out these deals was almost 99.85 percent. This was based on the reasoning that for the unit to pay out these deals the economy would have to be in a full blown recession and that in this situation the counter parties would have already been wiped out. It was with this deal that AIGFP agreed for the first credit swap with Savage the then CEO signing the deal. Later in 1998 Cassano replaced Savage as CEO of the company. Although Cassano was not experienced in the complicated assessment of risks using computer models he was gifted in accounting and credit. It was through Cassanos strong desire to succeed that led to growth of the units revenue to 1 billion in a year and also led to a significant growth in the number of employees to 400 in 2005. AIG What went wrong? The start of problems facing AIG began during the tenure of Greenberg as AIGs CEO. It was during tenure that the company expanded from its initial line of insurance into other many complex lines of business and insuring risks that only a few other companies would consider handling. It was in the year 2002 that AIGFP was charged by the justice department for illegally helping PNC Financial Services to not correctly show their bad assts in their books. AIGFP did this by setting up a separate company special purpose entity to handle all the issues related to the assets of the PNC firm. By doing so AIGFP was alleged of breaking the securities law by setting up the company by the Feds that would invest in the firm making it appear real. It was until 2004 that AIG would fully settle the charges against it. It was asked to give back over $45 million in fees, a fine of $80 million and in addition give up all the interest it had earned on the deal. The unit was not formally sanctioned due to the incident but the justice department placed it on a short leash.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was in March of 2005 that Greenberg stepped down as the CEO amidst investigations on allegations of accounting malpractices at the firm by the New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The issue under investigation by then was not directly related to AIGFP, but the effects of the dealings eventually affected the operations of the unit negatively. Following the departure of Greenberg at the helm of the company and in addition the investigations ongoing within the organization the credit ratings agencies downgraded the companys credit worth from AAA to AA. This reduction in AIGS credit rating led to provisions in some of AIGFPs credit default swaps. This made AIG to pay in collateral for the deals over $1 billion. This was the mark of many dark days for the unit.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was until later in the year that Eugene Park an executive at AIGFP was named to closely look at the portfolio containing the firms credit default swaps. The evidence was alarming in that the unit had insured many CDOs that had large proportions of it as sub prime mortgages. This meant that in any situation where the housing market had to collapse the risk of default was too high. This coming up after the downgrading of the units credit ratings indicated an increased chance that AIGFP had to come up with collateral to pay out all the bets it had made in the past. After Cassano was informed of the report he put up a group of investment bank researchers whose prime job was to assess the risks posed by the sub prime mortgages. The credit default swaps were stopped later in 2005 but this came as a case of too little to late owing to the fact that Cassano could not avoid obligations to his unit of over $80 billion worth that was in the form of collateral ized debts that were inform of already made swaps in the books of AIGFP.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the year 2007 with the collapse of the housing market and plummeting in value of sub prime assets AIG was supposed to pay a sum of $1.5 billion to Goldman Sachs based on the credit default swaps insured by AIG to cover the mortgage backed securities. During the same year AIG had to pay $2 billion to meet the demands of other firms that made collateral demands. It was during this year that the stock prices of AIG fell 25 percent and a reported loss of $1.1 billion in portfolio swaps in AIGFP. The problems facing AIG continued further with the company reporting a loss of $11.5 billion and in addition $5.3 billion posted as collateral in February of 2008.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   AIG would get further shock as the credit rating agencies planned to further downgrade the companys credit ratings as at September of 2008. This would trigger needs for more collateral that the company would not handle. What was unethical about AIG?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What was unethical about AIG was that the company would hand out multi-million dollar a bonus to its over 450 employees operating in its six offices around the world. After handing out these bonuses AIG still had the guts to accept a government bail out plan, this was as the country underwent recession with most of its citizens unemployed and barely making ends meet. AIG also conducted some unethical behavior with its executives dealing in unethical financial reporting practices and illegal brokerage as uncovered during a recent investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (Cooper, 2006). AIG Whistleblower   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Former AIG CEO Greenberg claimed that following his departure internal controls he had established during his 40 years at the helm of the company had been abandoned. This was made in comments written to the made House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In the comments Greenberg accused Robert Willumstad and Martin Sullivan who were both his successors as the CEO of AIG of being unable to execute enough oversight on AIGFPs division. And it was for this reason that the company faced a lot of troubles emanating from the divisions $500 billion portfolio. Greenberg claimed that the branch which was formed in 1987 was the company beginning to its downfall. Reports said that until this time AIG had lost $50 billion and made a $25.9 billion in mark to market losses. This was related to securities the company held in its investment portfolio and its CDS value.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Greenberg in his letter said that within the nine months a lot of credit collaterals default swaps had been made leading to increased obligations on the companys debt. This he said was different during his tenure and it was after he left office that most of the default swaps done by AIGFP were exposed to sub prime mortgages. . This led to the involvement of the company in businesses that it did not fully comprehend. AIG started investing in many different types of securities which included mortgage backed securities and also credit derivatives trading. AIG then went ahead to become a leading player in these markets, insuring other companys debt obligations against losses due to its excellent credit rating at the time. AIG today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   AIGs future is still not clear after facing years of problems. It is now a year since AIG was bailed out by the federal government and the company is still in a transition. The company is undergoing several transformations that include increased efforts to appoint a new chief executive officer, its initiative to sell most its non core assets tied to the firm and the increased anticipation take off of its new Chartis brand dealing with its commercial property operations. AIG is still faced with the responsibility of repaying federal loans handed to it by the government which amount to billions of dollars. This is further complicated by the fact that it is still unknown how much the governments patience will last. All the above reasons lead to the inability of experts to gauge the companys future (Time. The curious Capitalist, 2009).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The future of AIG is still dependent on the financial market stabilization. The companys policy holders are encouraged by the companys gradual rise from its problems. The process of redefining AIG i.e. prompted shifts in capacity has led to some of its clients having to reassess how they relate to the insurer. Most of the companys clients have chosen to remain loyal and appreciate the efforts made by the combine AIG and Chartis. Clients believe that the decision by the company to re brand its casualty operations was a step in the right direction. Although the Chartis spin off expected to be in the form of a public offering date has not been set, Chartis made a good start by explaining that it would take some time to its clients. AIG though slow in the process of disposing its noncore assts has made it clear that it would make sure that it gets the true value of its businesses through the process. The other looming question on AIGs future is its abilit y to repay the government bail out loans. References Top of Form Cooper, R. W. (2006) Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations Spitzers Allegations of Unethical/Illegal Behavior: Has the Insurance Industrys Ethical Environment Really Changed Dramatically? New York: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Mary, D. M., Irene, N. M. Victoria, S. (2006) AIG: Accounting and Ethical Lapses. New York: Emerald Group Publishing Limited Time. The curious Capitalist. (2009, Aug). AIG: Still a company. Retrieved October 5, 2009, from http://www.time.com/ AIG Still a company The Curious Capitalist TIME.com.htm

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Seperate Peace Summary Essay examples -- essays research papers

A Separate Peace Gene Forrester is a quiet, intellectual student at Devon School in New Hampshire. During the Summer Session of 1942, he becomes close friends with his daredevil roommate Finny, who has a talent for getting away with mischief through his sincere, disarming charisma. Finny prods Gene into making a dangerous jump out of a tree into a river, and the two start a secret society based on this ritual. Gene envies Finny's astonishing athletic abilities, and he begins to suspect that Finny envies his superior academic achievements and has been taking steps to distract him from his studies. His suspicions turn to hatred, but he makes sure to maintain an appearance of friendship so Finny will not suspect him. Gene realizes he was grievously mistaken about the existence of any rivalry between them one day when Finny expresses a sincere desire to see Gene succeed. He goes to the tree to jump with Finny while he is still in a state of shock from the force of his realization, and when Finny gets out to the edge of the branch, Gene shakes it, causing Finny to fall to the bank and shatter his leg. The doctor tells Gene that Finny's athletic days are over. Gene goes in to see Finny and begins to confess what he has done, but the doctor interrupts him and Finny is sent home before Gene gets another chance. The Summer Session ends, and Gene goes home for a brief vacation. On his way back to the school from his home in the South, Gene stops by Finny's house a... Seperate Peace Summary Essay examples -- essays research papers A Separate Peace Gene Forrester is a quiet, intellectual student at Devon School in New Hampshire. During the Summer Session of 1942, he becomes close friends with his daredevil roommate Finny, who has a talent for getting away with mischief through his sincere, disarming charisma. Finny prods Gene into making a dangerous jump out of a tree into a river, and the two start a secret society based on this ritual. Gene envies Finny's astonishing athletic abilities, and he begins to suspect that Finny envies his superior academic achievements and has been taking steps to distract him from his studies. His suspicions turn to hatred, but he makes sure to maintain an appearance of friendship so Finny will not suspect him. Gene realizes he was grievously mistaken about the existence of any rivalry between them one day when Finny expresses a sincere desire to see Gene succeed. He goes to the tree to jump with Finny while he is still in a state of shock from the force of his realization, and when Finny gets out to the edge of the branch, Gene shakes it, causing Finny to fall to the bank and shatter his leg. The doctor tells Gene that Finny's athletic days are over. Gene goes in to see Finny and begins to confess what he has done, but the doctor interrupts him and Finny is sent home before Gene gets another chance. The Summer Session ends, and Gene goes home for a brief vacation. On his way back to the school from his home in the South, Gene stops by Finny's house a...

Humor in A Midsummer Nights Dream :: Midsummer Nights Dream

Humor in A Midsummer Night's Dream Shakespeare uses many ways to portray humor and make his plays a success because of it. He created a careful mix of love with humor to create a success called "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The focus of this paper is to describe how Shakespeare uses humor in his play. One way that Shakespeare uses humor in this play is by using plain humor that need not be interpreted in any way. He did this by creating the artisans. The artisans, obviously are not intelligent at all, but try to be. They mess up grammar, spelling, and everything that the author of "Pyramus and Thisby" had wanted for his play. For instance, when Bottom says "Thisbe, the flowers of odious savors sweet,"82 he was supposted to say ‘odors' instead of ‘odious' in the sentence. Odors means "fragrant smells," while odious means "repulsive." A simple mistake by someone that is low in the society, but totally changes the meaning of the sentence. This humor is obvious to everybody watching that Bottom had made a mistake. This type of humor, while obvious, sometimes doesn't portray the meaning correctly. Inferred humor is sometimes more suited for this. Shakespeare used something like inferred humor to get across some other meanings that added to the play. One good example is the character of Puck. Puck is a hyperactive child that gets into a lot of mischief. His attitude toward his tasks is sort of a light and airy one. He does not take life seriously, he only does what is fun. This type of character is totally different than everyone else in the play; they are in a serious tone, while Puck is just dancing around pulling pranks on everyone. One good example of a prank that Puck created was putting an Ass' head on Bottom. It was unnecessary, just fun. What made him funny was these sort of pranks, and the contrast of his attitude toward the other ones in the story. For example, Lysander is bound up in love for Hermia and Helena, depending on what part of the play. He is very serious and sad because Hermia is being forced to marry Demetrius. Sort of equivalent to a tragedy. Puck is just creating mischief and having fun. Another way that Shakespeare uses humor is that he uses examples that would never happen in real life. For example, after Lysander and Demetrius had been led around the king's oak for a long time, they fell down and went to sleep. This contains no logic whatsoever, because they are trying to kill each other,

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

8th grade graduation speech -- essays research papers

My fellow classmen, as we look back on our years here at school we should remember the meaningful words of a fellow class member of mine when she said, "Dude, where's my iPod?" It's hard for me to think of a better way to describe the many layers of adolescence, because deep down aren?t we all "dudes?" Do we not all have our inner "iPods", and are we not constantly searching for them? Now, we're leaving our childhood behind to study the vast sphere we call planet Earth, into the notorious world of high school, where things will be so much different. Of course we will still have our varied studies, Geometry, Biology, maybe even Forensics or an Accelerated English class here and there. We will still struggle with the daily setbacks formed by peers and strict teachers and principals. But so much of our lives will change. The cars in the parking lot will be driven by, well, students. Our male friends will grow a little fuzzy around the face, and of course, our day will most likely begin with a bell that actually works. As we face our freshman year with excitement and maybe even fear, l...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Differences in Competencies Between Nurses Prepared at the Associate’s Degree Level Versus the Baccalaureate Degree Level Essay

Differences In Competencies between Nurses Prepared at the Associates Degree Level Versus The Baccalaureate Degree Level in Nursing It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between the associates degree nurse and the baccalaureate degree nurse. After all both levels of learning require passing the exact same exam in order to practice. However, there are some differences of learning between them. Two important differences are the educational curriculum and the quality of care given to patients. The associates degree nursing curriculum (AAS) is a two year program that prepares the nurse to apply technical and clinical skills upon graduation. The baccalaureate degree nursing (BSN) curriculum is a four year program that builds upon the technical and clinical skills of the AAS. Heights of learning is raised by incorporating psychosocial, ethical, legal, evidence based nursing into their curriculum. The first BSN program started out at the beginning of the twentieth century. Annie Goodrich, director of the first privately operated baccalaureate program at Yale University, believed that certain concepts in nursing should be built on the foundation of technical and clinical skills (Creasia and Friberg. 2011) Goodrich believed that the BSN field of study should address psychosocial and public health issues (Creasia and Reid. 2011). Todays BSN programs takes the AAS nurse out of the closed minded dome of just applying technical and clinical skills and into the world of other plateaus and horizons of nursing. This greater arc of nursing consists of addressing ALL pertinent needs that influences the health of individuals, families and communities. BSN nurses learn about legal, ethical, psychological, social and economic issues that pertains to health and health care. Upon receiving my AAS degree in nursing after a challenging two and one half years, I told myself that I needed a break from studying. After all I had completed the â€Å" hardest† part of nursing ; applying clinical skills. In my mind, I had climbed one of the highest mountains of learning, I did not quite get to the top, but its view was  in sight and I would get there some day. There were not any incentives that encouraged me to move forward because all the registered nurses in the hospital where I worked wore the same identical identification cards . Everyone had their name and the words staff nurse written. Another reason that discouraged me from pushing forth is that there was only a two thousand dollar yearly raise when you got the BSN. Many studies were done showing that the outcomes of the quality of care given by nurses that have BSN degrees and nurses with AAS degrees. Two of these studies stand out. One such study is the finding that baccalaureate degree nurses provided better outcomes in health care facilities. According to a study done in 1999 by Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Lake and Chaney, the mortality rate of hospital patients decreased when there was a patient ratio of four patients to one nurse, and when there was a sixty percent staffing of BSN nurses. Another important study is a study done by Estabrooks, Midodzi, Cummings, Ricker and Giovanetti in March 2005, it was found that hospitals with a higher ratio of baccalaureate degrees resulted in a lower thirty day mortality rate of patient (Estabrooks, Midodzi, Cummings, Ricker and Giovanetti. 2005) Nursing is a field of study that mandates that the whole person and all parts of the whole person be taken into consideration so that the nurse could give effective care to individuals. Nurses that hold AAS degrees in nursing have an incomplete â€Å" un-whole â€Å" education. This incompleteness shortens their nursing insight into the outerr stratospheres of nursing. A while back, I remember applying for a position as a Nurse-Family Partnership Nurse. I was confident that I would get the job, because I had solid years of experience. The position entailed doing home visits to first time mothers and teaching them how to take care of their infants. The position also entailed connecting these first time mothers with support services like food stamps and living skills specialists that would empower them. There was a measurable positive difference in the quality of these first time mothers and their infants with the guidance and direction of the BSN nurse ( A Career You  Can Feel Passionate About. Retrieved from www.nursefamily partnership.org). Needless to say, I did not get the position, because I did not have a BSN Degree. This was a wake up call for me. Today with all the solid evidence based studies on the better nursing outcomes with a higher staffing of baccalaureate degree nurses, health care facilities especially hospitals are resorting to hiring only the nurses that have their BSN degrees. Therefore it is imperative that AAS nurses continue on with their nursing education to deliver a better quality of care to individuals and to be more viable for positions that require the leadership of a baccalaureate nurse. References  A Career You Can Feel Good Passionate About. (n.d.) Retrieved from www.NURSEFAMILYPARTNERSHIP.ORG. Aiken, L.H., Clarke, S.P., Sloane, D.M., Lake, E.T., & Cheney, T. (2008, May). Effects of Hospital Care environment on patient mortality and nurse outcomes. Journal of Nursing Administration, 38(5). 223-229. Creasia, L.J., & Friberg.E. (2011). Conceptual Foundations : The Bridge to Professional Nursing Practice. St. Louis, MO. Elsevier Mosby. Eastbrooks, C.A., MIdodzi, W.K., Cummings, G.C. Ricker, K.L. & Giovanetti, P. (2005, March/April). The Impact of Hospital Nursing Characteristics on 30-day Mortality. Journal of Nursing Administration. 4 (718),958-968.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Generally, Laggard High School is a safe place for students.

The buildings and classrooms are well-structured and convenient for both teachers and students. I feel safe inside these classrooms since they are complete with the facilities and materials we need for teaching and learning. Moreover, I also feel safe in school because of the presence of the fire service. Probable fire incidents, as well as other untoward emergencies that may happen in the building, can be easily prevented because of an efficient and effective fire service just across the street. Being bounded by an ivy-league university like the Baylor University creates a positive influence on the part of the students as well as the community. Since high school students see what university students do, they pretty much have an idea of what life in the university is, which could lead them to pursue their own education, if not in Baylor, then in other colleges or universities in the city or in another state. It is a good thing that Baylor is there because as early as freshman in high school, a student can already be influenced to think about what course or study to pursue. Furthermore, since Baylor is a Christian school, particularly the largest Baptist university in the world in terms of enrollment, it fosters a caring and sensitive atmosphere not just for the students in Baylor but also for the whole of the community. Baylor University’s presence generates a sense of safety and security on my part, because I do not have to worry much about Laggard High School’s students’ future. However, not all areas in and around Laggard High School foster a friendly and safe ambiance. Since numerous cars enter through the main entrance and students need to stay behind the main door until 8:30 in the morning, possible accidents may happen. Students flock near the main entrance to wait for time as cars come and go. This could be a trouble area especially for students entering the school and those closest to the car park, who are consumed with their conversations that they do not notice the cars coming in and out of the school premises. This somehow unsafe and trouble area can be fixed by having someone monitor or guard the students coming in as well as the cars that enter and leave the school premises. Also, a conducive and comfortable waiting area, where students who come in early can stay, should also be designated. Another possible solution is letting the students enter 10 minutes before the time so that they can settle and be safe inside their classrooms. In addition, some cars entering the main entrance can use the entrance near Central Avenue so that the number of cars entering along with the students via the main entrance will be lessened, thus less accidents are avoided. Another area I do not feel safe in is the cafeteria. This could be another possible trouble spot because the area lacks adequate monitoring. There should be someone designated to monitor the hall. Monitoring would include watching over the behavior of the students to avoid any untoward trouble among them, as well as restricting the students to go from the cafeteria to the playground. Some students use the cafeteria to sneak out and play in the playground. And since the school lacks sufficient monitoring on some areas and on students’ behavior, we do not know if they could be safe in their playing. Moreover, since they have easy access to the playground, they are influenced to stay there longer than they are supposed to. We do not want this because our real focus is their learning inside the classroom. Students should be advised to know their time for study and their time for play. The Laggard High School is generally a very conducive and safe place for students, but then it also faces monitoring problems that need to be studied so that students, teachers, and parents would feel much safer.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Competitive Bidding Essay

Introduction An open and competitive procurement procedure begins with the promoter’s description of its requirements and an invitation to suppliers to indicate their interest in the contract and their professional capacity to fulfil it. The promoter then identifies potential suppliers and invites them to submit bids. After the bidding phase, most procurement systems require a public declaration of the competitors’ names and their bid prices and, ultimately, of the successful bidder. There is a wide variety of procurement procedures available for use in tendering when it comes to PPP arrangements. Many of these procedures have become prescriptive in nature. Many local governments follow standard procurement procedures drawn up by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC). However, most commonly PPP contracts are awarded as the result of some form of competitive bidding procedure. Designing a competitive bidding process – and getting the best possible result – is easiest when the product or service required is a fairly standard one and the technical outputs can be defined with reasonable certainty in the bidding documents. Particular attention, therefore, should be paid to providing good quality information to potential bidders and to the detailed design of the bidding process. Defining the procurement process Some initial decisions need to be made regarding the procurement and the bid evaluation process. It includes: Qualifying criteria for the evaluation and selection of shortlisted bidders Process for submission and evaluation Details of pre-submission conference or meeting and of other opportunities to ask questions or seek clarifications Indicative procurement schedule Other general instructions to applicants Application forms (as annexes) The choice of procurement method will depend on the government’s budget, capacity, desire to encourage innovation, need for high-level inputs, vulnerability to corruption, and objectives of the ppp project. Three main options, distinguished by the level of competition they create, are available: 1. Unsolicited proposals or direct negotiations. 2. Competitive negotiation. 3. Competitive bidding. Unsolicited proposals or direct negotiations When confronted with a unsolicited proposal, the government has three options: Direct negotiation to the offer.  Purchase the project concept then competitively tender among a range of bidders. Offer original proponent a predefined advantage in recognition of the value of the original proposal(bonus system)and open up bidding. Entering into a sole-source process can save government time and money and may alert government to an unrealized opportunity for ppp. However, sole-sourcing can encourage corruption through lack of transparency, and the cost benefits to competitive bidding are lost. Competitive negotiation. Competitive negotiation entail inviting a small group of bidders to a structured negotiation. The bidders are aware of the presence of the other bidders and there is pressure to obtain the best price. This arrangement is quicker and less expensive than full competitive process and can yield good prices. A time consuming procurement process may be seen as an opportunity cost to the private sector. This needs to be weighted against the degree of and value to transparency. 1. Competitive negotiations, another option of competitive bidding which generally involve the following stages: The government specifies its service objectives, and requests proposals from private operators for meeting these objectives. The government reviews the proposals and selects those that are technically responsive to the request proposals. The government then negotiates contract terms and conditions with the selected bidders. 2. Competitive negotiations may involve simultaneous negotiations with the objective of awarding one contract, or they may result in the award of several contracts. 3. Competitive negotiations are well suited to project in which technical variations are possible, there is much scope for innovation, and it would be difficult to secure project financing on the basis of standardized contract document. Advantages of competitive negotiations They permit bidders to be more creative and innovative. They reduce the incentive for bidders to deliberately underbid in order to win projects. They offer a richer means of screening bidders than price alone. Disadvantages Bids can be difficult to compare. Competition is less transparent than with competitive bidding. Competitive bidding process A competitive bidding process generally consists of: 1. public notification of the government’s intention to seek a private partner for the provision of, for example, water and sanitation services, including prequalification or a request for expressions of interest from private companies; 2. distribution of bidding documents and draft contracts to potential bidders; 3. a formal process for screening potential bidders and finalizing a list of qualified bidders; 4. a formal public process for presenting proposals, evaluating them, and selecting a winner. Different procedures for procurement include invitation to tender; and request for proposals (one- and two-stage processes). Formation of a Procurement Committee A Procurement Committee, often called a Tender Evaluation Committee, is formed for overseeing and conducting the bidding process. Typically, the Procurement Committee is formed with representatives from a number of MDAs with responsibility for the financial, legal and operational aspects of the project as well as the Bureau/Office of Public Procurement in order to have diversity and no one government group alone in charge of selecting the preferred bidder. The Committee appoints an in-house coordinator or an external consultant (Transaction Advisor) to manage the day-today aspects of the bidding process. However, the Procurement Committee itself (and not the coordinator or Transaction Advisor) is responsible for making the final determination of the preferred bidder. The Procurement Committee, in turn, could be divided into functional teams to focus on evaluation of specific aspects of the bidders’ proposals. For example, the Procurement Committee could have separate teams for undertaking technical review, legal review,  local preference review and financial review. The number of teams may depend upon the complexity of the project evaluation. Invitation to tender Generally, an invitation to tender is issued when the promoter knows exactly what it wants and how it wants to achieve its goals. Most often, the tender is issued and the lowest bidder is awarded the contract. Although this approach reduces the cost involved in developing a PPP, it may limit the promoter’s opportunities to view other, more efficient and/or more cost-effective options for delivery of the service. Request for proposals A request for proposals (RFP) is usually used when the promoter knows what it wants to achieve, but would like prospective partners to use their experience, technical capabilities and creativity to identify how the project objectives can best be met. One of the main differences between an RFP and an invitation to tender is that in an RFP the promoter is looking for value (that is, operating efficiency, cost-saving measures, innovations and so on), rather than the lowest bid. The request for proposals can be issued through either: a one-stage; or a two-stage process. The decision between having a single or a two-stage procedure for requesting proposals will depend on the nature of the contract, on how precisely the technical requirements can be defined and whether output results (or performance indicators) are used for selection of the contractor or concessionaire. If it is deemed both feasible and desirable for the contracting authority to formulate performance indicators or project specifications to the degree of precision or finality necessary, the selection may be structured as a single-stage process. In that case, after having concluded the pre-selection of bidders, the contracting authority would proceed directly to issuing a final request for proposals. Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) The RFEI is intended to provide the promoter with sufficient information to draft a clear RFP in cases when the local government has identified its  objectives, but may not have fully defined the project or service to be delivered. The use of an RFEI can assist in two ways: it reduces the time and expense involved in evaluating a larger number of proposals; and it improves the quality of proposals. In this sense, the RFEI is used to gain information to help in drafting the RFP. Request for Qualifications (RFQ) or Pre-qualification A RFQ is used in situations where the promoter and the project team have amore defined project, but do not know if there are any private sector partners with the resources, experience or interest to undertake the project. It is a step within a contract awarding procedure in which the party inviting the tenders selects the companies to participate in competitive bidding for the contract. To this end, potential participants in the competition are requested to submit information on their companies. The RFQ document is more specific than the RFEI document. In traditional government procurement it consists of the verification of certain formal requirements, such as adequate proof of technical capability or prior experience in the type of PPP, so that all bidders who meet the pre-selection criteria are admitted automatically to the tendering phase. Bidders should be required to demonstrate that they possess the professional and technical qualifications, financial and human resources, equipment and other physical facilities, managerial capacity, reliability and experience necessary to carry out the project. Qualification requirements should cover all phases of an infrastructure project, including financing, management, engineering, construction, operation and maintenance, where appropriate. Based on the pre-qualification results, a shortlist is drawn up of the companies eligible to compete. The bidders answer the RFQ with Expressions of Interest. The RFQ process is used as a â€Å"shortlisting† method to pre-qualify selected potential partners who will then receive the RFP. It is not designed to gain answers as to how the project will be completed. Depending on the pre-qualification requirements set out in the documents, different groups of companies will be selected. One recent trend is that pre-qualification requirements laid down by promoters such as local  governments have started to include not only the price and quality of the service they wish to procure, but also requests to address poverty, upgrade welfare and/or create employment opportunities. Often the bidding companies need to prove their recent experience with a previous assignment similar in nature and outcomes. Thus, the purpose of this stage is to enable the contracting authority to formulate its requirements in a manner that enables a final competition to be carried out on the basis of a single set of parameters. Put simply, this is an opportunity to ensure that in the final evaluation, the contracting authority is able to compare â€Å"apples to apples† rather than â€Å"apples to oranges.† Often local small businesses or community-based organizations are best suited to resolve a particular service delivery problem. In such cases, it is important not to leave the m out of the bidding process. One of the means through which this can be achieved is to simplify the tender documents. Obviously, pre-qualification, drafted without taking these potential bidders into account, could serve as an obstacle to the effective and innovative solutions to the existing problems. Meanwhile, the pre-qualifications can still be an effective mean pre-define the bidders for the RFP, when the criteria are correctly specified and weighted according to their value to the PPP project. Simplification of tender documentation The system of tender submission should not require too many forms of supporting information, which could be unnecessarily complicated for small businesses to complete satisfactorily. Besides, the administrative burden for smaller businesses in dealing with tender form requirements for government bodies is disproportionately greater and more expensive than for larger companies. Thus, the tender submission of documentation should be rationalized and simplified as far as possible to make it easier for small contractors to deal with the paperwork involved. However, this simplification of the documentation should not influence negatively the essence of the contract and the contractual obligations. Evaluation of Applications and Shortlisting of Bidders The applications are evaluated based on the technical and financial capabilities to implement the project as per the selection criteria given in  the RFQ. At this stage, the evaluation normally focuses on threshold criteria such that all proposals meeting the criteria are shortlisted for the next stage and all non-confirming proposals are rejected. A Pass/Fail approach is generally the preferred approach for evaluation of responses to the RFQ. However, a target number (3-5) of shortlisted bidders is usually preferred in order to ensure sufficient competition but not at the same time overcrowd the bidding process, and therefore sometimes only the highest qualifying firms will pass on to the full tender phase. If firms feel there are too many bidders, and thus the odds of winning are low, they will not participate in the full tender. Advantages of competitive bidding It ensures transparency. It provides a market mechanism for selecting the best proposal. It stimulates interests among a broad range of potential partners. It works best where outputs are standardized and all technical parameters can be clearly defined. It may encourage underbidding if renegotiation is possible later. The contract Regardless of the option selected, the essential elements to be included in a contract are: The parties to the agreement, Interpretation, sets forth the definitions of important terms and providing guidance on the interpretation of the contract’s provision’s: The scope, territorial jurisdiction and duration of the agreement, The objective of the contract, Circumstances of commencement, completion, modification and termination of contract; The rights and obligations of the contractor; The rights and obligations of the Government; The requirement for performance bonds to provide security for Government if the construction and service delivery falls below standards; Insurance requirements to provide security for the insurable matters; Government warranties; Private sector warranties: Consequence to a change in law; Service quality and performance and maintenance targets and schedules; The identification of regulatory authorities if any and the extent of their roles and authority; The responsibilities of the contractor and the Government with regard to capital expenditures; The form of remuneration of the contractor and how it will be covered, whether from fixed fee, fixed fee plus incentives or another arrangement; How key risks will be allocated and managed; The contractors right and responsibility with regard to passing through or entering public or private property; Reporting requirements; Procedures for measuring, monitoring and enforcing performance; Procedures for coordinating investment planning; Responsibility for environmental liabilities; Procedures for resolving disputes; Delay provisions describing what is and is not an excuse for a delay in construction and operations; Force majeure conditions and reactions; Procedures to be followed when either party to the PPP contract wishes to change any material portion of the contract; Indemnification circumstances; The right of each party to any intellectual property brought to the project or created during the project, including the steps to be taken to protect the intellectual property of third parties, such as information technology software manufacturers; Conflict of interests and dispute resolution; Description of the conditions under which either party may terminate the contract, the process to be undertaken in that regard, and the consequences to each party of a termination; The circumstances that may permit either the Government or any financial institution to â€Å"step in† to the contract to protect its rights under the PPP contract; Consequences of a change in the ownership or key personnel of the private partner; Mechanisms whereby the parties to the PPP contract will interact with each other going forward; Requirement that each party comply with all laws pertaining to the project, including obtainable environmental, zoning, planning and other permits; Conditions by which public sector employees are employed by the private sector contractor, including any restrictions on termination or redundancies for operational reasons; and Conditions precedent: describes any conditions  precedent to be fulfilled by either party before the contract takes effect. This list is i llustrative and does not capture every clause required in a contract. The final content of the contract will depend on the project scope, local legal requirement and precedent, and advice of legal advisors. It may include more elements as per demand of situation and size of the project. CONCLUSION PPP projects have lately become a popular operation model in public infrastructure development all over the world. Long-term contractual arrangements with PPPs change the traditional roles of the public and private sectors. Public sector bodies become clients and private sector bodies become service providers with a large responsibility of the project in question. PPP projects offer different kinds of benefits to both public and private parties. Both partnership parties also have different kinds of goals; however, the common goal is that both parties win. As the results in the text show, proactive law becomes relevant in contract law and contracting. Practicing proactive contracting requires more planning of legal relations. The goal is to prevent difficult future situations and avoid problems. Proactive contracting emphasizes contract preparation. That is why, for example, issues and questions concerning risks, risk management and creative contractual mechanisms play a significant role. In business relations, proactive contracting invites and gathers different professions to participate in a new type of co-operation. A common language has to be found, for example, between the people in companies with technical, financial, and legal backgrounds. In this way, it is possible to assess the possible risks and other critical contractual questions in the contract preparation phase. A partnership mindset is essential in PPP projects. A client and a project company form the main contractual relationship in terms of PPP projects. In addition to this, for example, a project company has several contracts with subcontractors. These partnerships are complex contractual relationships in which trust plays a big role. Co-operation requires constant care in the form of communication and reciprocal trust to strengthen it. Trust is achieved by th e companies and public sector representatives binding themselves to shared goals. Furthermore, once strong  trust has been built and established, firms may enjoy lower costs than those without such trust. In the business context, trust seems to be based partly on economic calculations and partly on the trusting party’s basic values as a human being. Each PPP project consists of several different contracts, so that they are actually a bundle of contracts. These contracts cover, for example, construction, financing, and services. PPP projects are long-term and very complex contractual arrangements which require careful and time-consuming preparation and negotiations. Dozens of different risks exist as well. As regards risks with PPP projects, the proactive way is the only reasonable way to handle and allocate them. This requires investments from the parties. As the results in the text show, changing circumstances play a significant role in long-term contracts and, for instance, in PPP projects in terms of contract law. It is sensible for the parties to prep are for changing circumstances. This requires proactive mindset and actions. In practice, this means that parties have to create flexible contractual mechanisms for contracts so that they can respond to possible changing circumstances in the future. These mechanisms can be, e.g. clauses concerning changes in official regulations and legislation, hardship, renegotiations, and force majeure. As the results in the text show, in Finnish PPP projects and their contractual arrangements, tailored contract clauses, insurances, securities, and guarantees have been used as tools for managing and allocating risks. It has also been noted that the most problematic situations arise when risks are not individualized. Problems also occur when a risk is individualized but the risk-bearing party is not determined. Proactive law and risk management play significant roles in PPP projects. Moreover, tailored contract clauses and mechanisms also have a great significance.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Ethical Issues in International Software Development Essay

International software development is generally defined as the software work undertaken at geographically separated locations across national boundaries in a coordinated manner. As a distinctive strategy to save on the costs by relocating some of the software developing units in other countries/ regions, outsourcing has gained momentum during the last two decade or so. Globalisation has made it possible for companies to easily gain access to markets and resources around the world. With countries like India and China adopting liberal policies in order to attract investments from abroad, it has become quite convenient for multinational companies to tap the pool of resources at very low costs as compared to the costs in US, Germany, UK, France etc. While analysing the growth of outsourcing during the last 10-15 years, Farrell (2006), the Director of McKinsey Global Institute, states that the vast majority of the offshore service jobs have gone to a limited few locations in India, Eastern Europe, and Russia. Outsourcing: Intensely debated and discussed on many forums The issue comes into sharp focus during the recent presidential elections in US when both the rival groups led by Barack Obama and John McCain started assuring the people about saving their jobs and putting a ban on outsourcing to cheaper destinations. It’s been quite a while since the elections are over and President Obama took over, but the pressure from influential lobbies did not allow new administration to pursue any far reaching policies in this regard. Economic slowdown around the globe, with its severest impact on the developed nations, also became a deciding factor in favour of continuing the prevailing outsourcing policies. These are the indicators towards the inevitability of outsourcing in present day world order. The market dynamics, which makes it mandatory for the companies to go for quality and value addition at least possible costs, has been the key driver favouring the phenomenon of outsourcing. Information technology has been the backbone supporting the processes or functions, with the help of next generation outsourcing, aimed at providing the companies with robust cost containment and more revenue-generating tools. NASSCOM, a reputed trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPO industries in India, indicates in one of its recent reports that worldwide the BPO spending in 2008 grew by 12 percent, which happened to be the highest amongst all the segment (NASSCOM, 2009). In one of its recent reports the Economist (2010) indicates that technology has been the main culprit behind job losses in US, as automation and outsourcing have claimed a whole class of jobs. This includes routine but vital tasks in the category of labour intensive as well as highly paid manufacturing and number crunching jobs. The report points out that, ‘the US economy now needs workers to do what cannot be by machines or call centres in Bangalore’ (The Economist, 2010). But the irony is, despite having fullest knowledge about the job losses and increasing restlessness amongst the youth in the country, the US administration in not in a position to take any concrete action to halt the flight of jobs to outsourced destinations. Software development is one of the key areas where outsourcing has acquired newer dimensions. Outsourcing the software development task to countries like India and China has benefitted the economies of these countries to such an extent that outsourcing and providing IT enabled services has become an industry in itself. The Economist (2008) enlists three main advantages of outsourcing; i. Realisation of greater economies of scale by a third party in a position to pool the activities of a number of companies ii. A specialist outsourcing firm can keep itself abreast of the latest developments in the related fields iii. It becomes easier for companies to get works done, which are one time in nature, and for which it becomes difficult for the company to justify recruitment of specialist workforce. This trend has certainly benefitted the concerned companies and the economies of the offshore locations. But, there are quite a few instances, which have raised questions marks about the efficacy of outsourcing decisions. Conflicting situations on account of difference in working conditions, social and cultural perceptions, job losses etc. have highlighted the negative sides of outsourcing. Some of the issues which have come to light as a result of outsourcing are; i. Difference in cultural values and beliefs often leads to communication gap amongst the parties concerned. For example, an Islamic nation would like to have a day off on Friday’s or the workers might also like to have couple of hrs away from work to offer the prayers. But, for a company in US or Germany, this is not a priority and they’d like to see that work be done even during these hours. Similarly, the period around Christmas happens to be a solemn occasion and holiday period for Western companies, but not so much in countries like China and India. Though in general, the companies are supposed to take into account these factors, but at times, such things lead to differences of opinion. ii. Harland et al (2005) contend that international outsourcing of finding software solutions involving some policing and security operations to a country having different culture and approach to social issues could cause conflict with citizens’ traditions and beliefs. This in turn would mean that in view of financial and economic concerns, the host country too often continues to ignore the cultural excesses. But, in case of any dispute arising out of such excesses, the issue gets highlighted in the media, which brings bad publicity for the multinational corporation as well as the host country. iii. When companies entrust the important details about their clients to BPOs in some other countries, that decision runs the risk of exposing those clients to people in other countries. This could result in trampling on the privacy of the customers. A study cited in the Washington Post has pointed out that BPO employees who are laid off or leave their jobs for better opportunities, quite often secretly take along proprietary data as well (Krebs, 2009). The report indicates that about 60 percent of those leaving the job steal the important data of the company and its clients. The data being taken included e-mail lists, non-financial business information, customer contact lists, employee records, and financial information. iv. There have been instances, when credit card details of a customer were misused by the BPO workers. A report by KPMG on ‘data security and privacy in the Indian industry’ indicates that the top management in a number of BPO companies are finding it challenging to ‘drive the importance of security and privacy of information down to every level of the organization’ (KPMG, 2009). Such concerns often lead to question marks on the decisions of multinational corporations’ to outsource the data and records of their customers to untrustworthy people. This presents ethical challenge for the Indian IT industry as well, as the IT industry has to allay the concerns of their clients on two counts. First, by providing technologically advanced and updated services, and second by ensuring that the all important data is in safe hands. v. Outsourcing to emerging economies is also believed to be resulting in international exploitation (Harland et al, 2005). In order to attract business from abroad, some economies resort to softer legislations which taking due precaution about the human rights, child labour concerns, dumping of toxic waste etc. When a company wishes to have the software development task to be completed within a very short period of time, or when the task requires daily interaction between the parent company and the outsourced destination, then the workers in outsourced destinations are supposed to work round the clock, in order to meet the deadline. From the perspective of business and profitability, such arrangement work fine till the time such issues are highlighted in the mainstream media and become source of political embarrassment for the concerned economies. vi. Outsourcing software development to critical functions like systems used in nations’ security runs the risk of compromising nations’ security. The manner in which 14 year old hackers often break into the highly guarded computer systems of agencies like NASA etc. indicates towards the vulnerability of handing over the development of such software development into the hands of people who are remotely connected to the nation’s integrity, social and cultural values. Theoretically it might be possible that the software developer company leaves some software code in the programme and starts receiving updates about the security apparatus of the country, once the system starts working on closely guarded secrets. This will result in compromising the security of the country. vii. As per a study conducted by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), one out of ten well-educated Britons is opting to move abroad (CIPD, 2008). This study indicates how the outsourcing phenomenon has altered the equilibrium. There was a time, when educated youth from developing economies used to make a beeline for seeking an opportunity to serve in US, UK or Germany, but now the jobs are shifting to their countries. It has also come to light that the trend of people going out for jobs is prevalent in Germany as well, but to a lesser extent. The study shows that 1. 1 million well-educated Britons are moving out for better job opportunities to other countries as compared to 860,000 from Germany. This sort of reverse brain drain indicates among other things that there are regions which are more attractive from the HR perspective. If the tense industrial relations persists for longer time period, this might result in political upheavals in countries outsourcing the jobs. viii. Entrusting the task of software development to outside locations certainly enables a company to focus more on the core competency and reduce costs, thus helping the company in showcasing a healthy balance sheet and increased flexibility to reconfigure the resources. But at the same time, such decisions often lead to conflicts with the trade unions as a number of jobs get exported to outsourced destinations. In order to look for low cost alternatives, a number of companies resort to steps like retrenchment, job cutting etc. which has adversely affected the working middle class society. Straining of industrial relations in turn reflect poorly on the welfare initiatives undertaken by the company or in upbringing the brand equity of the concerned company. ix. While outsourcing the software development requirements to destinations outside the country, the company has to make huge efforts in developing an understanding with the BPO Company in order to work out a design appropriate for the requirements. Conclusion Outsourcing has indeed become a popular trend during the last decade. While on the one hand this helped in increasing the ability of multinational corporations to meet the changing marketing requirements, and focus more on core competencies, at the same time, it has resulted in creating number problematic situations like altering the political equations at home, job losses and confrontation with trade unions. No doubt the companies come in a position to leverage the economies of scale, but at the same time such decisions result in exploitation of human rights in the countries of outsourcing destination. When the workers in a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) unit in India or Philippines are entrusted with a task to be completed as per the deadline from the company in US or UK, then the workers are pressed into service for very long hours. During such period, the welfare measures of the workers take a back seat and only thing concentrated upon is the completion of the task and financial aspects. Violations of human rights, cultural and social sensitivities are seldom taken into account while the BPOs attempt to meet the deadlines. Security of the data and the privacy of clients also come in the danger of being compromised by the decision of outsourcing the software development and other such routine jobs. The debate is still going on and as of now the trend of outsourcing is nowhere near reversal. Part of the reason for this unabated growth in outsourcing is the ongoing recession in most of the developed part of the world. Once the economies bounce back and regain the momentum of growth rate, then only the debate will restart. References: 1. CIPD (2008). Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, UK. Britain’s brain drain. Available online at http://www. cipd. co. uk/default. cipd (March 1, 2008) 2. Farrell, Diana (2006). ‘Smarter Offshoring’. Harvard Business Review. Jun 01, 2006. 3. Harland, Christine; Louise Knight; Richard Lamming; and Helen Walker (2005). ‘Outsourcing: assessing the risks and benefits for organisations, sectors and nations’. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. Vol. 25 No. 9. pp. 831-850. Emerald Group Publishing. 4. KPMG (2009). ‘State of Data Security and Privacy in the Indian Industry’. DSCI- KPMG Survey 2009. Available online at http://www. dsci. in/images/stories/data_security_survey_2009_report_final_30th_dec_2009. pdf (May 27, 2010) 5. Krebs, Brian (2009). ‘Data Theft Common by Departing Employees’. The Wasington Post, February 26, 2009. Available online at http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/26/AR2009022601821. html (May 27, 2010) 6. The Economist (2008). Idea-Outsourcing. The Economist, Sep 29th 2008. 7. The Economist (2010). ‘The middle-class task- force – As jobs fade away’. May 6th 2010, Washington, DC. Available online at http://www. economist. com/world/united-states/displaystory. cfm? story_id=16060939 (May 27, 2010) 8. NASSCOM (2009). ‘The IT-BPO Sectors in India’. Global Industry Trends available online at http://www. nasscom. in/Nasscom/templates/NormalPage. aspx? id=56966 (May 27, 2010)