Motivational Approach

Motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort's ability to satisfy some individual needs (Robbins, 168). For some business analysts, employee motivation is a good way to increase productivity in an organization. When people get motivated, they will have a reason to put more efforts on what they are doing. Motivation is a crucial management tool in lifting the organization's work force's ability. There are many different ways to motivate employees. Employers can motivate their workers as individuals, groups, teams, or the organization as a whole. Motivation takes forms like offering rewards, improving working conditions, or employee recognition. However, which approach should employers try? Team-based reward systems have been raised as an issue in work management areas. Many people prefer team-based reward systems to an individual approach. San Diego Business Journal, issued on Oct. 6, 1997, published an article titled â€Å"Team-Based Productivity Incentive System.† This article summarized the ideas that supported the team-based approach. The author, Bob Harrington, opposed the individual reward system. As he stated, individual reward systems create unnecessary competition and reduce cooperation between employees. It also reduces creativity because employees will only do what is necessary to get rewarded. Moreover, Harrington said team-based incentives influence individuals to work well together and cooperate with one another. No longer are employees and management measured purely against financial information. Instead, outstanding performance is based on a combination of items that measure the strategic objectives of the corporation. This paper will see if the team-based incentive systems are the best approach for business environments as Harrington discussed. Medical insurance and educational opportunities, among others are all common benefits in compensation programs for many manufacturers. Many people argued that these benefits attract and retain employees, but have little to do with work performance. Some also believe that if these benefits are spread out among workers in general, these kinds of work incentives will not guarantee good performance. Well Pay vs. Sick Pay is an example of how an incentive program reinforces wrong behavior and reduces productivity. Manufacturers with incentive systems that reward employees for achievements and growth can increase their competitiveness and profitability in today's global market. Yes, it is true that organizations need to have incentive systems to satisfy their work force. Team-based incentive systems such as gain sharing, profit sharing, etc., become increasingly popular in work environments. People now are required to work as a team, and altogether help each other to achieve an objective. Your work is my work, and your responsibility is mine. People will become more cohesive as working in a group or a team. Team-based incentives offer several advantages. However, I do not totally agree with Harrington that individual incentive systems do not have any good influence over workers' performance. Some people are extremely successful when they work on their own. People, who are raised in an individualistic culture, might not benefit from working in a group. So, individual incentive systems do play an important role in increasing a work force's productivity as long as the employers know how to use this reinforcement system properly. If organizations set a standard to measure individual achievement and reward that individual on what he (she) perform, then, the individual incentive system might work as well as the team-based one. Moreover, managers need to realize that team-based incentive systems might cause Social Loafing effect in the work force – the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually (Robbins, 260). Motivations are necessary in a working environment to increase the productivity of the work force. Reward systems must create a win-win situation for employees and employers. Team-based incentive systems might work very well and are a preferred process for many organizations in today's work market; however, managers should adopt individual incentive systems in many cases, when employees are more skillful, efficient, and effective as working individually. The major purpose of the incentive system is to motivate and organize employees.

Alcohol advertisements should be banned Essay

Alcohol is the ingredient found in beer, wine and spirits which causes drunkenness. Abuse of alcohol, or consumption of more alcohol than the body can handle, can lead to liver damage and other debilitating conditions. Alcohol abuse can also lead to alcoholism, or alcohol addiction, in which a person becomes physically and psychologically dependent on alcohol to the point that he or she cannot function without it. Alcohol advertisements can be seen virtually anywhere; they are especially known for sponsoring sporting events, concerts, magazines, and they are found anywhere on the internet. Excessive alcohol consumption is unquestionably bad for one’s health. Numerous researchers indicate that alcohol consumption on a regular basis destroys the liver and oesophagus. Thus alcohol advertisement in the print media and cinemas which encourages one to consume alcoholic drinks should be banned. In addition, alcohol advertisements are proven to have a huge influence upon teenagers. These advertisements are played a lot during TV shows watched by youngsters such as football or the ashes today. Television, cinemas and billboards are needed to stem the tide of binge drinking among teens to reduce the amount of teens affected by the deadly outcomes of alcohol. The number of alcoholics in this country has seen an exponential increase. More and more working women too are getting hooked on drinking. Instead of relegating drinking alcohol to social occasions, there’s an increasing number of both men and women drinking alcohol excessively and regularly. Alcoholic drinks give a false sense of confidence and boldness. It is quite common to see those who had too much to drink behaving inappropriately as the alcohol makes one lose their inhibition. The media should be more meticulous in terms of its advertising content. Advertisement is an important source of proceeds, particularly advertisements related to alcohol which generates huge sums of profit for the media companies. It can begin by banning alcohol advertisements and instead run advertisements that shows the public the dangerous consequences of alcohol consumption. The money spent on consuming alcohol can be diverted into better buying products such as health supplements and health food. It is clear that advertisements directly influence alcohol consumption, so the ban on alcohol advertisements should take effect immediately. Too many families and individuals have been and are still being greatly affected.

Please tell us how you spent your most recent summer vacation

I spent most of my last summer (2007) traveling around Europe’s architectural sites and familiarizing myself with two important design softwares: Photoshop and Illustrator.Since the summer was to be the last one to spend as a family, my parents and I decided to take a vacation of my choice, of which I choose Europe because of the continent’s wealth of historical and architectural heritage. I have always been fascinated by the cultural history of the continent’s architectural sites.The first place to visit was Rome. It was amazing to the Roman Coliseum whose size architecture and appearance is just a beauty to be reckoned with; I felt so privileged to have seen this great piece of art. Irrigations pipes and channels built during the days of the Roman Empire were also great pieces of dazzling architecture I was privileged to see.The second city to visit was Paris, France. One of the dazzling sites was the Mona Lisa, but I was dazzled to see that the picture is smal ler than expected. It is widely said that a picture could be more than a thousand words; the Mona Lisa is worth more than those words and more than thousand times its sheer size.This little-yet-widely-famous picture is recessed in the gallery, protected by thick glasses, Mona Lisa’s smile, small eyes and her androgynous features is a site for any art lover to stare and admire.While still in France, we had a chance to visit Venice whose water transportation system and the beautiful voice that many of the Gondola drivers are just amazing sites. I spent the latter part of my summer learning how to use Adobe Photoshop and illustrator. The skills I developed, steady hands and strong concentration, will make it easy to deal with design classes at NYU.#2) Describe a trait or characteristic that has been passed along to you by your family. Tell us why you like or dislike this part of yourself.My home nickname is â€Å"silent but deadly†. â€Å"Silent† is from my father and â€Å"deadly† from my late mother. I like the combinations of these two names because it makes me feel as if my parents are in me at all times. My father is a successful executive in Hong Kong and has exemplified greater leadership skills that I have been associated with the character traits I borrowed from him.Indeed, I find myself becoming a leader like my father. I have already started developing those skills through participation in group activities both in my neighborhood and in school; I have served as leader in several extracurricular activities throughout my education career. The listening skills that I got from my father have enabled me to be attentive to others as well as being tolerant to colleagues’ opinions.My mother was a great philanthropist, perfectionist, full of grace, caring, attentive, understanding, and a-people-person. She was also charismatic, investigative and a straight talker. She was a thoughtful person who would never take stand or decis ion on something before undertaking some thoughtful process. The resulting decisions would have been final; she stood to what she believed-in.These characteristics have made me an individual who is interested with other people in the society. Being a blend of two talented individuals has made a big contribution to the person I am today. Sharpening the combination of two individuals to NYU is one of the goals I want to achieve. I am also planning two use the skills I have developed from my parents legacy to make a contribution in NYU’s community.#3) New York City is an essential element of academic and cultural life at NYU. If you could start a club or service organization at NYU, what would it be and how would you envision it impacting the larger community.I plan to make a contribution to NYU and NYC through the establishment of a Chinese club that will enable members of the community to learn about Chinese ways of life. The club will for instance help NYU community members l earn mandarin and Chinese calligraphy that are increasingly becoming popular worldwide.Other activities of the club would include opera and water painting. All NYU community members would be welcome in the club, even if they are not of Chinese origin. This is because the club’s intention is to teach and learn from others. Incase there exists other clubs of this sort, I shall join them and make my contribution from there. The Chinese club will make a pint of joining hands with other cultural organizations in the NYU and with NYC to celebrate different cultures.This shall be achieved through celebrations and carnivals at different calendar dates. Taking advantage of New York City as the melting port of world cultures will be the greatest help that NYU will provide this club; members shall be able to understand different people through learning and teaching activities. In addition, the club shall embark on helping people of different cultures to cope with the fast paced NYC-life .This shall be achieved through the network of friendship that will have been established through association with other clubs within the college and New York City itself. To ensure that information about the club reaches a wider group of audience, the club shall establish a website where all its activities will be posted, including materials to teach language and calligraphy.#4) You have been selected to sing in a talent show. What song would you choose? Why?I would definitely sing Whitney Houston’s â€Å"I Will Always Love You†; it reminds me of pleasant memories and has cultivated sense of making use of opportunities I find on my growth process. I first came across this song when I was watching the movie, â€Å"The Bodyguard† with my parents.   It was a very interesting movie. Like most of the love stories, this talked about a Bodyguard fell in love with his client, Whitney Houston.   Unlike many other movies, this movie is very special because it incorpo rates several music soundtracks.However, Whitney Houston’s â€Å"I Will Always Love You† stood out from the rest because it was my mother’s favorite song and. Lyrics, too, are very touchy and meaningful.   I love the lyrics of the song because it speaks a lot of the feelings I have for my mother.   Even though it has almost been 8 years since her death, â€Å"I will always love you† provides me with fresh memories of her.   In terms of musical quality, I love the arrangement, mainly because of the many instruments that were used: such as piano, guitar, drum, and last but not least the saxophone.The saxophone part comes in the chorus; it heightens the overall emotion quality of the song.   I love this song and it is one of my all-time favorites. Because of the fresh memories that the song provides, I have always looked forward to saying â€Å"I Will Always Love You† to people and places; I for instance said it when I left Europe’s arc hitectural sites. I would therefore feel obliged to sing the song at NYU, because the opportunity of studying there will leave a lasting impact in my life.#5) Please tell us what led you to select your anticipated academic program and/or NYU school/college, and what interests you most about your intended discipline.I am applying to the College of Arts and Science at New York University and hopefully major in the field of East Asian Studies, focus of study being: Chinese and Japanese Tradition†. Though I am born and raised in a Chinese family, I attended International School from 5th Grade onwards.The International School, provided me with the opportunity to study European, American, Native-Indian, African, Indian history and many more.   However, little of Chinese history of art was taught. This has left me with great urge of learning the history and art of my country; which is the reason why I intend to study at NYU. It is unfortunate that I have no answers when my friends from the States ask about Chinese histories, cultural rituals and many more.However, reading â€Å"China: Its History and Culture†, written by W. Scott Morton has provided me with great foundation for learning Chinese history.   It was not after reading the book that had a very understanding about the Chinese culture and values.   I think it is never too late to learn about something, especially something that is as meaningful and interesting as the history of my root, the place that I am born in.   I started looking for a transfer and NYU came across my mind.The strong faculty that NYU has will help me excel in this specific field of study.   NYU has many resources and opportunity to offer that no other university can provide. In addition, NYU’s liberal arts education will provide me with and opportunity to learn about other areas of study apart from East Asian studies.

Strategic Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Human Resource Management - Essay Example Strategy has over the time replaced the use of planning to illustrate a well laid down pattern of making decisions and taking actions by the upper management in an organisation towards a specific goal. Therefore, SHRM is critical in determining the success of any business entity and in steering the entire material and human resource in the organisation towards the common goal. Strategic management is mainly determined by three factors in an organisation, which are the resources, environment and the management that has to control and allocate resources towards the success of an organisation. An organisation has to operate in an uncertain environment with external factors such as economic and socio-cultural factors affecting decisions and operations in the company. Consequently, strategic management requires that the HR manager defines measures to facilitate organisational performance through strategies address the prevailing socio-cultural and economic forces. Economic and social-cult ural factors have an active role in determining the effectiveness of a human resource strategy in an organisation. For instance, while politicians are responsible for making tax decisions and other decisions that lead to policy formulation in a country, such policies affects economic factors in the business environment. Moreover, exchange rates, income growth, unemployment, industrial classification and customer confidence in an organisation are all factors that are closely rated to political dynamics, which affects economic factors in an organisation (Thompson, 2002). In addition, these factors have an effect on social aspects, while social factors do impact on them as well. Social factors are responsible for determining the dynamics in a society and include demographics and the overall population dynamics, which comprise of factors such as education level, income distribution, age distribution, mobility, customer behavior and entrepreneurial dynamics (Thompson, 2002). Pollution, g ender roles, fashion, harmful factors, lifestyle, among others are examples of socio-cultural factors that affect operations in an organisation (Pearce & Robinson, 2005). Moreover, the human resource manager has to put in place strategies to address the health services of the workers their social security in pensions, and has to consider work force mobility and work culture dynamics. These social-cultural factors translate to increased costs to the organisation, and the HR has to come up with strategies to ensure perform while at the same time cutting down costs. There are varying changes in the business operating environment that are caused by increasing forces of globalization, changes in demographics of the company’s workforce, intellectual capital and other changes that force an organisation to have a different approach in mangling human resources(Wright, 1998). A highly performing human resource approach that fails in establishing strategic integration lacks the competit ive advantage for survival, and would gradually lose its ground in the current market (Kazmi & Ahmed, 2001). In order to have operational excellence, research has shown that human resource managers have to align with the business strategic goals. Considering that a business is affected by external environmental factors such as economic and social-cultural factors, an effective HR manager has to pu

The Regional Transportation District in Denver Essay - 1

The Regional Transportation District in Denver - Essay Example Through research and analysis, it has been shown that the project is feasible and the only thing needed to be done is the making of a dream into reality. Probably, the strength seen in this proposal is the consideration of its weaknesses so that preparations could be made for a positive response to problems that may arise. Foreseeing what could happen in the administration of the project makes one be prepared to face not only those which are expected but to anticipate things that have never been brought to mind during the course of planning. It is true that there could be other problems to be met in the future in the process of realizing the dream of a quality-based parking space and one could not know what to prepare for in such case but having an attitude of preparedness can evade unsolved problems. As all ideas have their strengths and weaknesses, it is also true in this thought of making a parking space to solve the current problems in Denver RTD. Not disregarding the weaknesses but considering them to make the plan even better, the team who will be working on this is encouraged to unite in the realization of a traffic free and parking space problem free community without even going against the law nor putting the burden on the citizenry. This author believes that everyone would love to live in a world where there is less stress in the streets and in the workplace and this proposal is not just a solution to the most evident problem on the parking spaces but also extends help to make our days go well in school and at work. It is then concluded that the proposition is not only feasible but also very helpful in the society, affecting many aspects of our lives, making the expenses and trouble we will all go through in realizing our desire. It is then my desire to encourage the actions of those who are in the position to approve review all the information presented in this paper and with the same passion as this author has, may you all become one in mind to exte nd the best that you can to have a Denver that can take pride in its Regional Transportation District.

Journal format Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Journal format - Essay Example I found it difficult to work with the child in that situation because I have an inborn knack for empathizing with people, most specially my young patients. I began to work with the patient by starting the child on 10 lbs. weights and then slowly increasing the weights until we reached the goal of 45 lbs. The child was obviously uncomfortable and in pain but I needed to continue with the task, offering the child words of encouragement and appeasement along the way in order to prod the child not to give up on the task. I also had an opportunity at this point to observe the nurses who were assigned to group and bedside reports. The nurse on duty for the night was quite helpful and did not mind having to teach me how to perform a head assessment on a patient. We spent the night with her teaching and me learning about how to calculate pediatric medication dosages, how to check the link for formularly medication, and other related tasks. I made sure to questions her about the diagnosis of patients but every time I asked about a patient, she would simply tell me to run a Google search. One of the patients was admitted with Jarcho-Levin syndrome, Vacterl syndrome, severe congenital scoliosis with history fa history of fused ribs, spinal bifida, and club feet. His VEPTR (Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rib) was removed that day. I found his case quite interesting so I ran a Google inquiry on his illness and then asked my preceptor to clarify certain points pertaining to his case for me. What I did find out on my own however was quite interesting. I learned that the illness also went by other names such as costovertebral segmentation anomalies, spondylocostal dysostosis, spondylocostal dysplasia, spondylothoracic dysostosis, spondylothoracic dysplasia, were all very rare genetic disorders that are characterized by malformation of bones in the

Annotated bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Annotated bibliography - Essay Example These criteria were useful in selecting entries in the bibliography list. Amoako-Gyampah, K. and Salam, A., 2004. An extension of the technology acceptance model in an ERP implementation environment. Information and Management, 41(3), pp. 731-745. Amoako-Gyampah and Salam (2003) intended on establishing the relationship between belief systems, usefulness of technology and subsequent use of the ERP system. The authors collected data from over one thousand workers in their country .They used the TAM (technology acceptance model) model to establish hypotheses for their paper. Amoako-Gyampah and Salam found that communication and training affect belief systems. This paper will be quite useful in assessment 3 because management is yet to approve the ERP project. They need reassurance that the plan will elicit support from members of the organisation. This paper will provide insights on how the company can achieve high usage rates. The major advantage of such an article is that it is theor etically founded on a pre-existing model. Furthermore, it uses empirical research to support its assertions, so Peet’s can rely on it. The paper addresses nontechnical factors that alter ERP usage, which is quite useful in the analysis. Fui-Hoon, N., Zuckweiler, K. and Lau, J., 2003. ERP implementation: Chief information Officer’s perceptions of critical success factors. ... This means that reengineering ought to focus on tailoring the business processes to fit ERP software. They also add that errors in adoption occur when enterprises fail to use capabilities within the ERP system. Organisations have sometimes made too many customisations before understanding their business practices. This paper is insightful because it relies on views of CIOs who have succeeded in implementing ERP systems. Subjects are thus speaking with authority on the matter. The article is relevant to the assignment because it extols the merits of buying one’s ERP system and taking advantage of its capabilities. Gattiker, T. And Goodhue, D., 2005. What happens after ERP implementation: Understanding the impact of interdependence and differentiation on plant level outcomes. MIS Quarterly, 29(3), 559-587. In the paper, the writers assess implications of certain organisational qualities in the performance of the ERP system. They found that organisational models must have low lev els of differentiation and high interdependence for them to experience ERP impact. Data integration works well when interdependence between subunits is high. Furthermore, ERP coordination improvements will be minimised when units in a company depend on each other. The article will be useful in this assessment because it addresses some of the potential glitches that could minimise these outcomes. Findings could be used to convince management about the usefulness of an ERP project as Peet’s already has highly interdependent business functions. Additionally, customisation will moderate effects of differentiation in the organisation. For the business report to garner support from management, it must acknowledge potential barriers and identify ways of overcoming them. This is what the

1.Explain how an understanding of psychological theories and Essay

1.Explain how an understanding of psychological theories and approaches might contribute to career management from an individual and organisational perspective - Essay Example This means that there is tremendous room for improvement both from the individuals’ perspectives as well as from the company’s standpoint, since the company is the one which can benefit in the long run, in terms of revenues, increasing sales trends, changing (and positive) consumer recognition models and recall patterns and so on and so forth. The effective handling of staff ensures that their careers are developed in a proper and adequate manner and there is understanding between the corporations and their staff members. Career management’s main task is to maintain the careers of the employees who have been enrolled on the active roster of an enterprise or a company and thus bolster their careers in the light of growing trends, changing circumstances and problems that might arise from time to time. This also means that employees are better understood by the organizations not only with regards to their own individual standpoints but from the whole industry’s stance as well. This can be a positive sign since people would trust the initiatives which are taken by the corporations and thus aspire to contribute in a better and more productive manner as and when the need arises. Moving ahead, advances in different fields of technology have done a great deal to produce miraculous devices and solutions. In some circumstances however, these advances have created problems for the elderly. More aggressive technology approaches are used to extend the life of the elderly. On the whole the elderly, as well as others, welcome that development -- even if they fear some of its consequences. In this context, here we discuss the health information management profession and the careers attached with the same. A number of different institutions and educational centers have of late endeavored to expand their business and hence the field of

Information Sensitivity and Protection of Data Essay - 1

Information Sensitivity and Protection of Data - Essay Example Additionally, the policies, contracts and standards illustrated in this policy affects the entire BIDMC staff, provisional staff, autonomous contractors, representatives, as well as additional IT clients, anywhere could be positioned across the corporation (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, 2007). In addition, one of very important features of the BIDMC security and privacy policy is to improve and optimally augment the overall working and operational security of the corporate confidential/ownership data and details. Additionally, this policy encompasses clear guidelines for proper establishment of information security management and privacy protection (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, 2007). Afterward there are some improvised strategies for the overall protection and management of the prohibited activities at the workplace. Additionally, there is a proper code of ethics that needs to be followed for the better management of the privacy all through the organization (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, 2007). Moreover, the BIDMC’s security and privacy policy ensures the denial of big sized file sharing over the business network.

WALMART-international corporation Research Paper

WALMART-international corporation - Research Paper Example The company has worked very hard to get into this position by pursuing right strategies in both national and international regions. The organization thrives as an efficient merchandiser with effective processes and systems. These strategies have contributed to the overall buying power, superior growth and leadership in various systems such as logistics and supply chain. The company is headquartered at Bentonville, Arkansas, United States. The company has established more than eighty-five thousands stores across the globe. Product portfolio of the company includes, apparel, footwear specialty, supercenter, discount store, warehouse club, cash & carry, superstore, hypermarket and supermarket. The strategies of corporate management include selling products of high quality and high brand name and it lowest prices (David 293-298). The low prices are kept by reducing the overall operational costs through the use of advanced and unique electronic technology and unmatched warehousing. Mercha ndising deals are negotiated directly from the manufacturers which eliminate the work of middle men and save a lot of costs. The community outreach of Wal-Mart is focused on various goals such as involvement with local community services, customer satisfaction, providing scholarships for higher studies etc. The major emphasis of the company is on environmental and child issues. Mission and Goals Mission and goals are the building blocks of an organization. They guide the actions of an organization and define the goals and objectives. Whether an organization is big or small, to have a mission is the first step for setting up a business. The mission and purpose of Wal-Mart is to save the money of its customers so that they can have a better life. Apart from that, the purpose of the company is derived from the philosophy of the company’s founder. The motto of the retail giant is to work together and lower the living cost for everyone (Ahmed 23-30). This will provide an opportuni ty for the world in terms of saving money and enjoying a better life. Core Competencies Competitive advantage for Wal-Mart lies in its ability of cost differentiation and strong distribution channel across the globe. Cost leadership and distribution strategy of Wal-Mart has created barrier for competitors to copy the strategy of Wal-Mart (Gagnon 130-135).Expanded distribution channel of the company has helped them to sell products to large base of customers and increase market saturation for competitors. Wal-Mart follows a low cost leadership strategy. Macroscopic view of Wal-Mart’s competitive strategy shows that the company uses a resource based model in order to develop a value chain proposition which can’t be matched by competitors. With the help of the resource based view (RBV) model, it can be summarized that Wal-Mart has three major resources which are tangible, intangible and human resources, in order to create and maintain strategic capabilities. Resource capa bilities of Wal-Mart can be explained in the following manner. Access to both tangible and intangible resources has helped Wal-Mart to achieve the capabilities which has established the departmental chain as a global market leader.

Lodging in Canada Essay Example for Free

Lodging in Canada Essay Real estate is classified as one of the greatest personal financial assets one can own in Canada. Some statistics have estimated that, more than 70 percent of Canadians posses their own personal homes (Alexander, 2006). The value of all residential homes in the country is estimated to amount to more than 2 trillion dollars. Given the current demand for personal homes, the future financial plans of most Canadians includes the value of owning homes. The increased desire for most people to own personal homes and yards has been attributed to the various demographic and market factors. Some of these factors include; an aging population and a low inflation economy which has been sustained over time. Demographic factors have been cited as the greatest contributors to the current demand for personal housing in Canada. Statistics show that, Canada experiences a medium growth in its population and medium rates of immigration as well. The high number of people who are retiring from their jobs and retracting back to their homes has increased the demand for personal homes in the country. In addition, the demand for residential homes has also risen as a result of the net growth rate of household formation. However, this rate is expected to decline from the current 1. 4 percent to around 0. 8 percent by the year 2030 as a result of an aging population in Canada (Alexander, 2006). As much as these factors have led to an increased growth in the number of personal homes and residential estates, the same factors are likely to result into higher home prices in the near future. For this reason, the average price of personal homes is expected to increase by about 4 percent per annum over the next 20 years or so. The future trend for personal housing is also expected to change in the next few years due to the increased reliance of Canadas population growth rate on immigration. Initially, Canadian immigrants preferred rental accommodation but this trend has recently changed, as most immigrants now seek to own their own personal homes. In this case, the rate of household formation is bound to increase. However, some demographical statistics suggest that, the rate of new homes construction is bound to go down in future as a result of an aging population. In this case, it is predicted that the rate of personal housing is likely to reduce from 175,000 housing units per year as it stands today to around 125,000 housing units per year in the year 2030 (Alexander, 2006). Historically, those Canadian cities with a problem of land scarcity have been found to posses the highest demand for personal housing. These cities which include Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal have hence been found to have the highest price gains in house prices over the past two decades or so. By the year 2030, the housing demand in these cities is expected to increase above the current national average, especially in Toronto and Vancouver, due to the increased rate of immigrant growth. Other cities in Canada which are expected to experience a rise in housing demand in the near future include Edmonton and Calgary, as a result of more stable conditions in the labour market. On the other hand, a few cities are likely to experience lower housing demands than in the past, due to less supportive demographics presented by the low population growth. It can thus be concluded that, though the current demand for personal homes in Canada is quite high, the future number of new housing levels is likely to be moderate the demand for more personal houses is bound to increase, due to the aging Canadian population. The entry of new house levels is largely dependent on the rate of immigration and in this case, any slight increase in the number of immigrants will shift the demand for housing to a high end. Reference. Alexander, C. (2006). Long-term outlook for Canadian homes. Canada Special Reports. Retrieved on 21 November, 2008, from http://www. td. com/economics/special/ca0906_home_prices. jsp.

How structural and linguistic devices are used to target specific audiences in printed media texts Essay Example for Free

How structural and linguistic devices are used to target specific audiences in printed media texts Essay Different audiences expect and react to different ideas, presentational devices, linguistic devices and so on. For example teenagers may expect bright, vibrant colours and exciting design, whereas older people may look for softer, neutral colours and a more formal design. Of course, these are stereotypical views but the designers of the media texts must make them with a stereotypical view of their audience in mind. In this essay I will look at three different media texts aimed at different groups and explain how they attempt to appeal to these audiences. Firstly I will compare the ideas put forward in the three texts. In the Club 18-30 leaflet the focus is mainly on going out and having fun, in clubs, pubs and on beaches. The Superfamily piece talks about the activities that a family can participate in, such as pool games, quizzes, tennis courts, squash courts and fantasy golf. It also tells the audience about the things done to make a family holiday easier, such as baby care, childrens clubs and so on. The Forever Young brochure focuses on the older generation ands talks about the activities and facilities that they might enjoy, such as tennis, aerobics and golf, cathedrals to visit and conveniences like laundry services, money exchange, spacious bar and sun terraces. Now I will look at the presentational and structural devices in the three texts. In the Club 18-30 text bright, vibrant colours are used such as pink, blue, yellow and red. The title states the target audience straight away making it very obviously eye-catching to the right people. The pictures used are those of people dancing in a club and having fun as this is what most people going on this holiday want to do. This is not a full page advertisement as there is only a very small amount of information wanted; about the clubs, bars, beaches etc. This is all given in a fun, jaunty font with not too much reading needed. The Superfamily brochure is done in red, white and pale yellow. These are soft, welcoming, almost primary colours. This emphasises that this is a family advertisement. There are pictures a families by the pool as well as kids playing and having fun. All the borders are wavy and curved making this feel like a safe place for children and the font is plain. The Forever Young brochure has soft, autumn colours as well as natural blues and greens. Also, the pictures are serene. This is because the average older person wants a calm relaxing holiday. There is a full page layout with plain, simple borders. There are pictures of a cathedral and an empty pool. This helps add to the feeling of calm and relaxing on the holiday. I will next look at the language used in each of the pieces. In the Club 18-30 piece the language used is cool and slang with misspelled words such as in yer face. This is to target the younger audience. It is humorous yet with some facts, such as bars, clubs and beaches to visit. There are some opinions such as home to some of Europes premier DJs. It states what the younger audience may worry about when it says that youll need a fair bit of wedge. It also states that there are many things to do on your doorstep suggesting great ease, an important factor to youth. The Superfamily brochure uses informal yet informative language, like for the sporty among you. It is persuasive and serious, giving the reader a lot of reasons why the holiday is right for them. However in doing this it keeps a very friendly and approachable attitude as it wants to appeal to families. It states the many things that they will do to make family life easier, such as baby care and childrens clubs. Forever Young uses formal language as this is what appeals to a lot of the older generation. It is serious and informative, stating plainly what things there are to do and makes them seem calm for example it has a traditional, relaxed feel about it. This is important as most older people want a relaxing holiday. It is persuasive as it uses opinions about things like prettiest and traditional. Overall I believe it is very important for advertisers to use all means at their disposal to attract the target audience. They must choose the right presentational devices, the right language and the right style in order to convince the target audience to buy their product.

Image processing Techniques to Forecast Plant Disease

Image processing Techniques to Forecast Plant Disease A Synopsis on A Feasibility Study on The Prediction/Forecasting of Disease for Plant Leaf Using Image processing Techniques by Chaitali Pandya   INDEX PAGE (JUMP TO) Introduction Scope of the proposed study Review of work already done on the subject Objectives of the proposed study Research Methodology Hypotheses to be tested Tentative Chapterization Bibliography Introduction India is a country where the agricultural plays a very important role. Here more than 70% depends on agriculture. Demand of agricultural industry, is increased day by day, so it is very important for the plant to grow effectively and increase its yield. The crop may be fruits or vegetables. For that it is very much important that a plant has to be monitored its growth period at the time of crop. Image processing is used as a tool to observe the diseases on leaves of plants during farming from plantation up to harvesting. This study might help to forecast a plant leaf diseases. Importance/Rationale of proposed Investigation The demand of the agriculture industry increases day by day, it is very much important for the plant to grow effectively and gives the maximum output or harvest. For doing so, it is essential to monitor the plant and plant leaf during its growth period, as well as, at the time of harvest. Scope of the proposed study The research only considers the plants of the vegetables that are of any type. Digital Images of defective leaf of a plant. The study only considers the Image processing toolbox for converting the image. The study modifies the existing algorithm to convert image to text to perform the disease forecasting. Review of work already done on the subject A web based tool named as Identificator is used to help the people who are not experts in identifying plant diseases in a particular way, which is totally based on the picture selection and/or little text descriptions. It is applicable when no suitable images exists, which represents the symptoms on a specific sample of plant tissues. User can access this system from anywhere, it can be said as a multi accessed system, because the multi-access key of identification has to be generated, and it from the remote side or desktop computers or smart phone operators can easily use it. In this, the user selects pictures approaching the symptoms and the system gives the most probable disease.[1] The other study for the identification of symptoms of a plant diseases, where the images are colored is a machine vision system. The region, where the diseases found, in the digital pictures were improved, separated, and a set of features were removed from each of them. Inputs to a Support Vector Machine (SVM) features were then used as classifier and tests were performed to identify the best organized model. [2] One study based on leaf image has been done. Some chemicals applied to the plants on the periodic basis. This kind of technique was only applied to the plants where the leaves already have been defected with the disease. Hundreds of chili plants were observed to perform disease forecasting. To detect disease on the chili plant leaf, the image processing technique plays a very important and useful role. This system will help farmers for the future monitoring and plantation.[3] One study has already been done, in that a quantitative and qualitative optimization criteria for the co-operative evolutionary optimization method had been used, that involved a user and system (CEUS) for problems. The model, which is named as interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) model, system and user plays the own role for the evolution, such as individual replica or evaluation. Exactly in the opposite side, the proposed CEUS allows the user to dynamically change the allocation of search roles between the system and user, resulting in immediate optimization of qualitative and quantitative objective functions without increasing user exhaustion. To achieve above mentioned optimization, it is better that a combination of user evaluation prediction and the integration of interactive and non-interactive EC would be used.[4] Objectives of the proposed study The main objective of this research is to maximize the cost-effective, reliable harvesting to the agriculture industry. With regarding of doing so, the study will seek following objectives: To provide the tool to forecast/predict plant diseases for the vegetables. The study may give the solution to the problem where the crop of any vegetable will not give the expected results. To forecast how the plant leaf got defected in concern with the diseases. It may give the partial solution of the diseases by image of plant leaves. Research Methodology In this research study, different image processing techniques might be used. First digital image will be taken of the plant leaf. Image editing software MATLAB will be used to convert the image using image processing toolbox. A survey on the image will be done in the qualitative and quantitative situations. Data might be collected from the specified region(s)/ farm(s). Comparison of the data which is taken from the digital image with the actual data to forecast the disease. Hypotheses to be tested Sources of Information Sources of the information would be the farm or a nursery from where the digital pictures might be taken on a specific interval to study whether the leaves are affected with any specific diseases or not. Tools and Techniques of Research Tools that will going to be used is the MATLAB R2010a (image editing software) with image editing tool ,that will help to convert the image into the text, those texts will be used for the future reference. Tentative Chapterization There might be the following chapters in the PhD thesis : Title page Abstract (with keywords) Table of contents List of tables List of figures Abbreviations Statement of original authorship Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 2 Literature review 3 Methodology 4 Analysis of data 5 Conclusions and implications Bibliography Appendices Bibliography Nakayama, S. O. (2014). User-system cooperative evolutionary computation for both quantitative and qualitative objective optimization in image processing filter design. Applied Soft Computing , 203 218. Jhuria, M. a. (2013). Image processing for smart farming: Detection of disease and fruit grading. Shimla. Elad, I. P. (2012). Identificator: A web-based tool for visual plant disease identification, a proof of concept with a case study on strawberry. 144 154. Husin, Z. a. (2012). Feasibility Study on Plant Chili Disease Detection Using Image Processing Techniques. (pp. 291-296). IEEE. Smith, A. C. (2009). Image pattern classification for the identification of disease causing agents in plants . Computers and Electronics in Agriculture , 121 125. Zhou, Y. C. (2010). Plant root image processing and analysis based on 2D scanner., (pp. 1216-1220). [1] Elad, I. P. (2012). [2] (Smith, 2009) [3] (Husin, 2012) [4] Satoshi Ono and Hiroshi Maeda and Kiyomasa Sakimoto and Shigeru Nakayama

Free King Lear Essays: What a Difference One Word Can Make :: Essays on King Lear

What a Difference One Word Can Make in King Lear King Lear's response to Cordellia's failure to express her love for her father in words is symbolic of King Lear's madness in the play. His madness is most clearly manifest in his need for his daughters to testify to him of their love. Cordellia's failure to say that she loves him winds up destroying him. What is fascinating though is that it is not the rejection of him that hurts so much as his dismay that his daughter would say such a thing. The last line of the selection (Conflated Version 1.1.94) highlights Lear's anger at not only the words that Cordellia speaks, but Cordellia herself. In this line King Lear warns Cordellia that if she doesn't change her ways she will lose her inheritance, "Variant Mend your speech a little, Lest Variant may mar your Fortunes."(1.1.93-94). The second variant in these lines changes the meaning of King Lear's wrath. In the 1608 quarto version the variant text reads, "it". The, "it" in this case is referring to what Cordellia has said. In the 1623 Folio version the word, "it" has been replaced by the word, "you". This variant between the two editions might seem minor but in fact it changes the meaning of Lear's anger from anger at Cordellia's speech to anger at Cordellia herself. This change has two major effects on the play. First, it shows the madness of King Lear. In the quarto version his anger is directed at Cordellia's speech. This is rational way of dealing with the situation and shows that King Lear still has love for his daughter. He loves her but not what she has said. In contrast in the folio version King Lear's madness is evident in his inability to separate what Cordellia has said from his love for her. King Lear like a lunatic sees Cordellia's inability to pronounce her love in front of her conniving sisters to be a blanket statement that she does not love him. He is unable to reason that her statement might have logic because he himself has no logic. He doesn't see that his breaking of the chain of being by abdicating his throne and dividing up his kingdom has also destroyed the chain of being in his own family. His daughters usurp his power as he violates the order of the universe.

Hinduism and Buddhism Essay -- Religion religious Compare Contrast Ess

Hinduism and Buddhism The concept of God It is first of all necessary to establish what is meant by the term "God". This term is used to designate a Supreme Being endowed with the qualities of omnipotence and omniscience, which is the creator of the universe with all its contents, and the chief lawgiver for humans. God is generally considered as being concerned with the welfare of his human creatures, and the ultimate salvation of those who follow his dictates. God is therefore a person of some kind, and the question whether such an entity exists or not is fundamental to all theistic systems. In contrast to this notion of a personal God some modern theologians have interpreted the term "God" as representing some kind of abstract principle of good. This view was first developed in the ancient Indian Upanishads where God is equated with an abstract principle, the Brahman. The ancient Indian philosophers could entertain such a view because they also had a theory of karma, which really does away with the need for a personal God. Buddhists too have a theory of karma, which is different from that of the Hindus, and which even more unequivocally dispenses with the need for a deity. The use of the term "God' to denote an abstract reality by monotheistic theologians who have no theory of karma is difficult to justify, consequently this is merely a device to explain away the contradictions that arise from the notion of a personal God. In fact the actual practice of theistic religion proceeds as if God is a real person of some kind or other. Buddhism Buddhist gods Buddhism has 33 Gods the most potent one of them all is Indra. It is Buddhist beliefs that the gods and spirits are with us persistently. The mountain Meru can be compared with mount Olympus of the Greek gods. Buddhists believe that on top of this sacred mountain are the 33 gods with Indra as their principal. Buddhism primary principal is moral strength and exercises. It is concluded in three regions. The first is the principles of lust, which belongs to the realm of animals, humans and various divine essences. The realm of the gods consists of six levels, which are the liberation of material desires. The subsequent region compromises entities that are born in the dominion of the Braham gods liberated from lust and wishes, they constitute a term of embodiment. They divide in four stages wh... ...e if one means by originality an idea or an utterance not found previously in any creed or philosophy, or never before inculcated by any moral and spiritual leader, then surely you cannot find it anywhere. Neither Abraham nor Moses nor Jesus nor Buddha nor Muhammed said anything that could not be found either in the religious tradition in which they were born or in creeds and philosophies in other times and places. Many of the great moral teachers often make a direct reference to others, and even if they do not, one can relate their ideas to something that has gone before. To Pernilla Thank you for being patient and I apologize for not turning it in the day I was to. Enjoy your trip. Sources: Internet www.hinduweb.com www.islam-guide.com www.buddhanet.com CD-ROM Encyclopedia Websters concise interactive Encyclopedia Printed in 1996 by Merriam-Webster Microsoft Encarta Uppslagsverk 2001 Printed in 2001 by Microsoft Corporation Books Religions for Today Authour: Roger Whiting Stanley Thornes Publisher Ltd Printed in 1991 The New Webster’s International Encyclopedia Revised Edition 1998 Edition and published by Trident Press International

Learning Patience and Responsibility at Hells Pizza Essay -- Peter Pi

Learning Patience and Responsibility at Hell's Pizza Even the job from hell can teach you patience and responsibility. When you hear the name Peter Piper Pizza, you may think a fun family restaurant. When I hear Peter Piper Pizza I get chills down my spine. Having worked there for about two years, I started to get annoyed over every little thing that was a part of my job. I had the worst position that they had, Game Technician. When I first applied for the job, the game guy was going to be the easiest job that I could find. Little did I know that this position taught me the more about being patient and responsible than any other experience I have had. It was mid sophomore year of high school when I started the job hunt. I applied to many places, grocery stores, restaurants, and even the movie theaters. No reply from any of them. It was about a month and a half when Bob from Peter Piper Pizza called me up looking for new employees. â€Å"Hey this is Bob from Peter Piper Pizza, is this Brandon† Bob asked. â€Å"Yes it is† I replied. â€Å"How would you like to come in and work for us at Peter Piper Pizza† asked Bob? â€Å"I would love to,† as I smiled with a huge grin on my face. â€Å"Well ok I will see you tomorrow for your interview† Bob stated. â€Å"Ok see you there† I said. I was so excited that I was finally going to have a job. I was a little nervous about the job interview, but that was a piece of cake. The interview lasted only about five minutes. An easy question here and an easy one there, and before I knew it I was the new game technician at Peter Piper Pizza. I was so happy once the interview was over; I was telling everyone that I had just got a job. Right after the interview me any my mom went and got me my food handlers card. ... ...Brandon there are customers at the prize counter† Bob stated. I would deal with this working environment every day. With so much responsibility and work to complete, my manager would sometimes think that it was fine if I would work the oven on my shift. So now I have to hand out all of the prizes, fix any broken game and ones that were acting up, hand out lost tokens to customers, get the pizza out of the oven to cut it and call it over the intercom to the customers. Working this job for nearly two years, it made me significantly more responsible and taught me many things about being patient. Having to deal with many different things at once, I learned how to balance things and take duties one step at a time and not get overwhelmed. This job was like taking a two year class on how to be responsible and be patient when difficulties are stacking up against you.

Landscape, Spirit, and Music Essay

Anne Boyd’s â€Å"Landscape, Spirit, and Music: An Australian Story† is a substantive view on the integration of the landscape of a distinct culture represented by aboriginal beliefs and traditions to Australia’s inimitable non-Indigenous music industry. Boyd said, â€Å"it is possible to see something of the significance of music in constructing an ‘inspirited’ relationship with landscape as part of a possible process of ‘aboriginalization’ which is slowly affecting all of Australia’s non-indigenous inhabitants. † Boyd sought to prove her assumptions by presenting various evidences in the works of famous Australian composers such as Ross Edwards, Peter Sculthorpe, and David Lumsdaine, including the artistry of Tommy Barrtjap as a musician. The landscape that Boyd was referring to with regards to the influences of some non-Indigenous Australian composers encompasses the history of Australia, the culture of its indigenous people, as well as the physical landscape or environment that makes the country matchless in beauty and whereiwthal. The history of Australia serves as the backdrop or milieu from which the composers were able to structure their unique, meaningful, and poignant music. Furthermore, the culture of Australia’s indigenous peoples becomes the inspiration for musicians or composers to create something exclusive and distinctive. Thus, the musicians and composers that Boyd mentioned in her discussions were able to create a kind of music that channels mysticism, spirituality, and the metaphysical, representative of Australia’s indigenous culture. Boyd said that â€Å"All three composers [Ross, Edwards & Schulthorpe] have drawn upon birdsong, not literally, but in a mythical and ritual sense; birds thus become spiritual messengers linking human music and landscape. † The great influence of Australia’s history and the indigenous culture of its native inhabitants is expected, as argued by Schultz . Schultz said that the emergence of a unique and distinctive music is most likely, particularly in Australia because â€Å"the existence of diverse immigrant population, a sense of real or imagined isolation, insecurity about the presence of a national character†¦ unique natural features such as climate, geography and flora and fauna, a pre-existing and extant culture with a strong and individual civilization, high standards of education with concomitant levels of artistic self-awareness, and substantial government subsidization of artistic activity† are dynamic and influential factors that would encourage such devotion and revolution in making and producing music for the sake of art. Furthermore, Lim believes that the growing interest of non-Indigenous Australian musicians to the history of Australia and culture of its Indigenous peoples as landscapes to developing music has something to do with the stipulation of these composers to develop a unique kind of music and a pe rsonal identity as a musician or composer. Lim said â€Å"Aboriginal cultures continue to be used by artists as a marker of authenticity in the construction of an Australian identity of sense of nationality. † By and large, Boyd’s discussions as supported by the narratives and arguments presented by Schultz and Lim explicate the great weight or importance of Indigenous culture in Australia as well as its history in helping musicians and composers create music that represents nationalism and establish a unique and inimitable identity. Works Cited Boyd, Anne. 2007. â€Å"Landscape, Spirit and Music,† in The Soundscapes of Australia: Music, Place and Spiritually. Richards, Fiona (Burlington, VT: Ashgate), pp. 11-18. Lim, Liza. â€Å"Crossing Cultural Boundaries and Ecstatic Transformation,† Sounds Australian 26 (2006), 10-11. Schultz, Andrew. â€Å"Other Places, Whose Music? : Some Introductory Comments on Appropriation and Tradition,† Sounds Australian 20 (1991): 8-9.

The Harmful Effects of Timbering

How does the role of politics and legislation that affect the timber industry today compare to that of a hundred years ago? In the early years of West Virginia†s statehood there was a government that tried to build it†s own identity. Starting out as an underdeveloped state that was rich in natural resources, there was an urgency to erect industry within West Virginia. Upon examination of West Virginia today, one can see the same desire to maintain and increase industry in the state. It is my belief that today, as well as a hundred years ago, the government views industry as it†s top priority versus state residents and the safety of the environment. I will now attempt to compare and contrast the role politics and legislation has played in the growth and development of the timber industry in the state of West Virginia for the last 100 years. In the early years of West Virginia statehood a definite emphasis was put on industrial growth. Before this industrial growth there was a revolution that took place. As a result of the Constitution of 1863, the law became more industry oriented and moved away from being a protector of philosophy and culture. Following the Constitution of 1872, there was a facilitation to allow the â€Å"transfer of land from smallholders to the coal and lumber companies (Lewis p.103-105).† One of the main goals in the early years of statehood in West Virginia was to establish a strong, striving capitalistic economy. However, their ideas on how to achieve this varied throughout the state. Should the state remain an agricultural society, or move to an industrial society? This struggle continued, and this is when the role government played in the economy was determined (Lewis p. 106). As the timber industry grew in West Virginia â€Å"lumbermen began to demand that the law help them to overcome their lack of capital so they could develop the state†s resources.† The greatest problem at this time was the lack of transportation. The government began to accommodate the timber industry. Corporations were given the right to dam streams or change their flow, with legal permission (Lewis p.107). Ronald Lewis, author of Transforming the Appalachian Countryside, writes that: Public subsidy to improve water transportation for lumber was never undertaken in West Virginia, especially in comparison to with the public assistance provided to railroads. The lumber industry during this period developed no giant corporations that could compare with the railroads, and so its ability to exert political power was comparatively limited. It was through indirect stimulus that the law promoted investment in the lumber industry, which conformed the theme of nineteenth century policy (Lewis p.108). The timber industry flourished through an â€Å"indirect stimulus† of breaks given and provided to the railroads. Legislators gave entrepreneurs many rights to assist with industrial growth, such as building dams across streams or changing the path of a stream, so long as it did not interfere with steamboats and other lumber companies. If a log washed up on someone†s personal property and they disturbed it within the first ten days, they were punishable by law (Lewis p.108). According to Ronald Lewis it is the belief of James Willard Hurst, a prominent legal scholar and I concur, that the government sided with business and exploited the people. There is enough evidence of court decisions and legislation that favors industry and business over the common man, to validate Hurst†s belief. The previous paragraphs depict an industry that thrived although it has slowed down somewhat in the last 100 years. Now, I am going to examine the timber industry in West Virginia today. My source will be Ken Ward†s articles that have appeared in the Charleston Gazette about the regulations imposed on the timber industry. Ward†s articles, in my opinion, are biased in favor of the timber industry. However, when writing upon a subject that is so controversial, it is nearly impossible to not show a bias. An examination of how things have changed, will not show a great deal. However, it is safe to say that more money changes hands today. Today there are more regulations, mostly where permits and licenses are concerned than 100 years ago. â€Å"Anyone who is conducting timber operations, purchasing timber, or buying logs for resale has to obtain a permit from the division of Forestry (Ward, State timbering law).† To attain and keep this license, applicants have to pay $50 a year. At every timber operation there has to be at least one person who has completed a certification course from the Division of Forestry. This person is trained in first aid, soil erosion prevention, and safe conduct of timbering (Ward, State timbering law). The Forestry Division is supposed to be notified within three days of any and all timbering operations. The notification should include the names of those who own the timber. There should also be included a sketch map of the location complete with roads used for the hauling and stream crossings (Ward, State timbering law). In Ken Ward†s article, †¦Critics say more rules are necessary, but backers say present law is sufficient, a Morgantown geologist, Richard diPretoro stated that he believes the timber industry is under-regulated, comparatively speaking. The coal industry, which is much bigger than timbering in West Virginia today, has much stricter regulations. Strip Miners have to return the land to previous contour when they are finished. Those in the timber industry can leave the land any way they so desire (Ward, Critics say more rules†¦). Loggers are supposed to follow a set of guidelines known as â€Å"best management practices.† These are a set of voluntary guidelines set up to protect the environment. Environmentalist would like to see regulations for the timber industry become more stringent. However, the director of the state Division of Forestry, Bill Maxey, feels that they have more regulations than they need. I†m not sure that Bill Maxey†s statement is free of prejudice, because the Division of Forestry is responsible for overseeing loggers and well as promoting the growth of wood product businesses. In my opinion, that would be conflict of interest. Many people interviewed in Ward†s article discuss how the environmental damage done by the coal industry is more harmful and will last longer than that of the timber industry. Joel Stopha, a wood products marketing specialist, states, â€Å"Poor timber harvesting practices will cause only a few years of water quality problems(Ward, Critics say more rules†¦).† We have the means to ensure that we have no water quality problems whatsoever. So, how does the role of politics and legislation compare in regards to the timber industry today to that of 100 years ago? I believe that the state government is still mainly focused on the growth of industry in West Virginia just as we were in the beginning of our statehood. Today we see more regulation in the form of different fees and licenses required. As with everything else in this world, things change. Of course, the timber industry is no different. However, other than the natural changes that occur, there really has not been a huge change in the fact that the state government still favors industry over the state residents and this is reflected in the way the state government is failing to enforce the laws that protect the bodies of water in this state by allowing the timber industry to contaminate bodies of water even if it is for â€Å"only a couple of years.†

Hospital Marketing in North Shore University Hospital

Being one of the foundations of the system of health care, New York’s North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) is identified for its 2,700 health specialists, approximately 730 beds facilitated by 10,500 nurses—the biggest in Long Island.   With a yearly operating budget amounting to roughly $4 billion, NSUH is the country’s third-largest, secular and non-profit hospital. With an interview with Theresa Howard, assistant for the hospital’s marketing department, she discussed how North Shore University Hospital came to be a competitive health care provider. Bautista: What was inside NSUH before in terms of marketing? Howard: NSUH functioned similar to an in-house provider, satisfied with satisfying interior requirements and conversing with the staffs, doctors and patients.   They didn’t put forth enough attempt to endorse their hospital, certain with idea of being unwavering.   They didn’t even have marketing memorandum that plays when clients or callers calls and when they are put into hold. Bautista: When did NSUH realized that they have to advertise? Howard: That’s when contenders become present and they discovered that the patients were not opening the doors like in previous years and realized that the revenues started to decline.   They never realized this till they understood the consequences.   Time changes and man chooses all the best for him.   They choose the best hospital that would offer the best services they could. Bautista: What were the primary steps they did upon seeing the problem? Howard: They automatically hired me and my partner Christine Malcolm to think strategies that will get back the sympathy of their clients and will boost the image of the hospital.   We didn’t do anything new; it’s just that it was new for NSUH.   We built a strong strategic program and development through financial models, convincing NSUH that they need to exert effort because NSUH was not doing well in terms of revenues.   NSUH has to cut its budget and risk for marketing. Then after convincing them, we hired Storandt Pann Margolis advertising agency and began to work with marketing planning, doing interviews, and developing the budget for the year 2003.   We made advertising campaigns including commercials wit televisions and radios, website and different kinds of strategies to catch attentions.   We even proposed to change the name of NSUH.   We also conducted our first mass-marketing campaign.   .   We also redesigned the website for guide consultations for physicians and also for additional ad campaigns.   We even include call centers and advertising agents. Bautista: After such effort you’ve done, what were the results? Howard: Finally, campaign was launched in October 2003, using the different kind of media.   They didn’t used actors in the ads, but instead, put up the actual interview with the doctors, staffs, nurses, researchers with regards to what they does to improve and deliver their quality service.   The result after several weeks, there’s an increase of volume in the referral line in the redesigned website.   From the fourth  top-mind surveys, NSUH went up to 3rd.   The have been also an increased of admission to 2-3 percent from the last year’s record.   This campaign had also returned profit which they have loss for the last years.   They got a profit of $6.5 M, which was truly a big improvement.   Revenues increased to 9 percent as a result of an effective marketing. This has shown the relevance of having marketing plans.   With the highly competitive time, we need to create strategic plans in order to establish a stable business.   Furthermore, having marketing plan doesn’t just strengthen the stability of a certain company, but instead, also benefits the consumers with regards to good the opportunities they’ll receive upon choosing one. References: Michele Howard, vice president for marketing department of NSUH University Medical Center. http://www.strategichealthcare.com/pubs/shcm/f2_MarketShare_print.php: August  11, 2007

Immanuel Kant’s Philosophy Essay

If a billionaire were to leave behind all his fortune but makes a dying request to donate $1 million to his favourite football team when the same can be used for a better cause, what would one do? Donating it to charity would seem like the right thing to do, but the answer to it, according to Kant would be quite the opposite. Here, it’s not the consequences that determine the rightness of an action. Rightness is in accordance with morality. According to Immanuel Kant’s views, a supreme moral principle must entail an absolute necessity and should be done out of duty. He believes that, only actions that emanate out of a sense of duty are moral actions and any act performed keeping one’s own self-interest in mind are, regarded as actions that are not born out of morality. For an example, consider a shopkeeper who is at the liberty of pricing his goods. He could over charge the customers and attain increased profits but that would be an act contrary to one’s morals. He could also choose to price his goods inexpensively, in order to increase the sales. However, in this case, he is acting is a way to ultimately benefit himself and not out of morality. Morality ultimately rests not on sense, experience or feelings, but on reason. If the same shopkeeper, sets fair prices merely because it’s the right thing and not for the fear of getting caught, then he is fulfilling his duty to morality. Furthermore, Kant feels morality is something one ought to adhere to, unconditionally, that is, without doing so to gain any reward or merit. For example, if one senses the possibility of a robbery occurring, one must report it to the police out of a sense of duty as he is in a position to do so. Then his action is a moral one. However, if he were to do so, with hopes of making the headlines and getting rewarded, then in this case, he acts out of self-interest and such an action is not considered a moral one. According to the Kantian philosophy, the one thing that’s good in itself, without qualification, is good will. He believes in the existence of an element of certain common sense in the foundation of moral law, which arises out of good will. Morality is valuable in its own right and not based on the fact that it has instrumental value. All other intrinsic goods, moral or intellectual, can serve the vicious will and accord to evil deeds. They are only morally valuable, if accompanied by a good will. Honor can lead to pride. Not even success and happiness is good in themselves. Thus, a good will is good not in virtue of wanting to bring about happiness, but in virtue of wanting to obey the moral law. For Immanuel Kant, motive is the antecedent of all moral worth and not consequences. He argues that one must perform moral duty solely for its own sake i. e. , duty for duty’s sake. Some conform to the moral duty they presume it in their own enlightened self-interest to be moral. Rightness of actions is determined by their accordance with morality. In order to decide order to decide whether an action was moral or not it is not enough for one to simply help the person in need, but their intention behind providing the aid has to be known. Even if one were to provide aid to someone in need out of a sense of compassion, it would not be considered a moral action according to Kant as it was motivated by emotion. For example, a father playing baseball with his son, should do so out of a sense of duty and not because he loves him. For Kant, the only acceptable motive for a moral action was a sense of duty. The reason is that the consequences of an act are often beyond our control and hence cannot be used to gauge the morality of an action . For Kant, an unsuccessful attempted murder is as bad as a successful one because they had identical motives. It didn’t matter to Kant, if an act was act performed improperly or left unfinished. For example, if a fire-fighter in an attempt to save a man from reducing into ashes, accidently gets him killed having performed the act erroneously, such an act would still be considered a moral one by Kant as the fire-fighter was carrying out his duty. Consider another illustration, Two soldiers volunteer to cross enemy lines to contact their allies on the other side. Both start off and do their best to get through the enemy area. One succeeds; the other doesn’t and is captured. But, aren’t they both morally praiseworthy? The success of one in no way detracts from the goodness of the other. Kant considered the duties that instigate moral actions as absolute. For him, moral duties are said to have imperative nature and they were to be followed irrespective of the consequences. And this is termed as ‘Categorical imperatives or duty’ and this can be categorized into two: where in the examples of ‘Hypothetical’ duties included, â€Å"If you want a good job, get good education. † Whereas, ‘Categorical Imperatives’ suggests the intrinsically right thing to do like, â€Å"Tell the truth. † But Kant believed that, for an action to be moral, the motive behind the action and the principle underlying the action (maxim) must be universally applicable. For example, one is expected not to honk near hospitals, one must be kind to old and disabled etc. Categorical or unqualified as they recognize the imperial status of moral obligations, unlike Hypothetical. Any actions done in violation of Kantian theory would be considered immoral. Kant also persuades people not to view others as a means to an end and degrade the value of human life. But to respect them for the person they are. For example, one should be polite to people they meet without anticipating any favour, in return. On the other hand, he feels all that choices should be autonomous as every single person is capable of reason. Our natural inclinations and influences shouldn’t limit our choices. This very briefly summarizes Immanuel Kant’s view on Morality. Kant’s views outline a clear structure of moral judgments but firstly, he fails to provide us with guidelines as to how go about taking rightful moral decisions when faced with tough situations. For example, if one has to lie about a friend’s presence in order to save his life, to choose between speaking the truth and protecting the friend leaves one in a fix as the universal maxims seem to conflict each other. Further, Kant disregards the emotional aspect that is involved in everyday decision making process, by expecting people to alienate feelings like compassion, pity etc. He also seems to completely ignore the consequences of one’s actions, which is quite impractical when looked at, from a practical point of view. Finally, there is no mention of how certain acts are clearly immoral while he strongly advocates the following of universally applicable maxims. As much as his views bear an influence, his principles find very little effectiveness and practical applicability in one’s daily life. Bibliography – BOOKS AND WEBSITES AND MORE – 1) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – plato. stanford. edu 2) Encyclopedia on Philosophy published by Macmillan. 3) Kant’s search for the Supreme Principle of Morality by Samuel J. Kirstein 4) Ethical theory of Immanuel Kant – bellevuecollege. edu.

Roman Catholic Communion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Roman Catholic Communion - Essay Example Hence, when it comes to rituals, Communion tends to be an important ritual in the Roman Catholic religion. Communion in the Roman Catholic religion not only extends a sense of belonging to the Roman Catholics around the world, but also helps them stay connected with the essential beliefs and values associated with their religion. In the Roman Catholic Church, communion tends to be the source and centre of the Roman Catholic religion. Communion tends to be the high point of any Roman Catholic mass. In the Roman Catholic Church, communion happens to be an important sacrament. It is a way and means to reach Jesus. The Ritual of Communion The communion in the Roman Catholic Church begins with an opening prayer. The clergy conducting the mass makes a sign of cross and says the opening prayer. The clergy formally welcomes the believers attending the mass and offers prayers for the well being of the parish and the community. After the opening prayer, the clergy starts the reading of the scr ipture. It does need to be mentioned that the reading of the scripture in a Catholic communion is not random or haphazard, but rather it follows a liturgical calendar. The Catholic Church has prescribed the readings for each and every day of the year. This practice of affiliating to the same reading on a particular day at the Catholic Churches placed all across the world, lends a sense of community and camaraderie to the people following the Catholic religion. The reading of the scripture is followed by the Lord’s Prayer. Once the Lord’s Prayer is said then begins the sacrament of communion. The priest offers to the believers gathered in the Church for the mass, the bead dipped in wine, which at a symbolic level is taken to be the blood and body of Jesus, offered to the believers so that it could atone for the sins committed by them (O’Collins & Farrugia 250). It does need to be mentioned that communion tends to be the most important aspect of a Catholic mass. T he Roman Catholic religion preaches that receiving communion is a must for the attainment of salvation. The other important belief associated with the Roman Catholic communion is that only a priest, who has been ordained in the apostolic succession, could manifest through Jesus Christ the imminent miracle of Transubstantiation, thereby changing the ordinary bread and wine into the blood and body of the Christ. Meaning and Significance of Communion It does need to be noticed that Communion or Eucharist commands a central place in the Roman Catholic form of worship. Baptism and Communion are the two sacraments that have been clearly mentioned in the Bible. It is held that the practice of Communion was actually started by Jesus Christ, and this ritual is clearly recorded in the Gospels. It was Jesus Christ who initiated the practice of the Last Supper where he offered bread to His disciples, telling them that it is His body, and then made them drink a little wine, saying it to be His b lood. Jesus told his followers to repeat this ceremony and the Catholic Christians have been practising this ritual right from the days of early Christians. The ritual of Communion owes its spiritual moorings to the sacraments relation to the actual sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In the New Testament one many a times come across Jesus addressing himself as a sacrifice, thereby pointing towards his imminent sacrifice on

The Necessity of Parent and Community Cooperation and Collaboration in Essay

The Necessity of Parent and Community Cooperation and Collaboration in Early Childhood - Essay Example In order to understand this issue and address it effectively, it is vital to answer the following questions: a) how do differences of alteration in society and families have an impact on children and early childhood programs? b) Why are parent/family and community involvement essential in early childhood programs? c) What are the benefits that accrue to parental and community involvement in early childhood programs? And finally, d) How can early childhood professionals encourage and support programs for involving families and communities? In the event that the above questions are addressed in the most appropriate manner; then we can be able to understand how important it is to engage both the parents and the community in early childhood programs.To begin, it is essential to note that parental or community involvement should not only be limited financing or volunteering to the schooling programs of the children. As a matter of fact, the legislation extends the right of parents and com munity to be involved in the daily running of the school programs through continued support and participation in the school’s governing structures ((Powell, 2009). As much as this partnership creates a framework for formal parent involvement, however, the home-school partnership should not be restricted to this. For instance, if we focus on the University of South Africa, they saw the need to introduce a Certificate of Parent Involvement in order to prepare teachers to implement effective school, family, community partnerships. ... As a matter of fact, legislation extends the right of parents and community to be involved in the daily running of the school programs through continued support and participation in the school’s governing structures ((Powell, 2009). As much as this partnership creates a framework for formal parent involvement, however, home-school partnership should not be restricted to this. For instance, if we focus on the University of South Africa, they saw the need to introduce a Certificate in Parent Involvement in order to prepare teachers to implement effective school, family, community partnerships. Changes in the society are also likely to influence the manner in which early childhood programs are governed. In this regard, it is vital to design the curriculum around the Epstein model of family and community and school partnerships (Epstein, 2005). This is because the early childhood field’s interest in parental involvement is based on various powerful ideas in regards to paren tal or communal responsibilities and influences. Indeed, early childhood programs aimed at shaping the relationship between parents, community and schools should actively support the parents to maximize program impact on children (Bredekamp, 2007). This is an idea that has been consistently bolstered by theories and scientific evidence that seeks to highlight on the lasting impact of families and communities on the development of the child. Parents have also been acquainted with the understanding and the apprehension of program goals and curriculum that seeks to promote the healthy child development. This is usually done through parenting education strategies. Secondly,

Vincent Willem van Gogh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Vincent Willem van Gogh - Essay Example The essay "Vincent Willem van Gogh" discovers the famous artist, Vincent Willem van Gogh. The name Vincent was a common name in the van Gogh family: his grandfather who was very learned was also called Vincent and he studied theology in the University of Leiden in the year 1811. His grandfather had six sons, three of whom were talented in the arts where they became leaders. The van Gough family was talented in the Arts and Religion. Vincent had two brothers Theodorus and Cor, and he also had two three sisters, namely Elisabeth, Anna and Willemina. It is said that as a child Vincent was silent, thoughtful and serious traits that saw him through the zundert village school from around 1860, history shows that a single catholic teacher taught approximately two hundred pupils this later changed in the year 1861 when he and his sister were home taught by a governess until 1864 when van Gogh was sent to a boarding school. Jan Provily’s boarding school was located at Zevenbergen about 32km away. Later as an adult Vincent disclosed that he was distressed on leaving his family. It was not until he went to the Willem 2 college in Tilburg that he met Constantijin C Huysmans, a renowned successful artist in Paris that he was taught to draw, but it is to be noted that his interest in art had began at an early age. As a child he used to draw throughout the years that made him come to the conclusion that he wanted to be an artist. His early drawings are expressive and well done but do not have the intensity.

Hawaii Environmental Policay and Act (HEPA) Essay

Hawaii Environmental Policay and Act (HEPA) - Essay Example Those who would want to make this type of developmental change must get the governments permission. Even proposed buildings or expansion projects of existing structures owned or controlled by the agencies of the government on public land is not exempt from getting the governments permission. You can get said permission from the Environment Department. The Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) is directly charged with issuing the permission. The OEQC's primary task is to stimulate, expand and coordinate efforts to maintain the optimum quality of the States environment. All private as well as public entities and agencies must secure the aforementioned permission. This is how strict the government is that it requires itself, the Laie Elementary School is a government controlled and operated school, to obtain permission to build from itself, the OEQC another agency of the government. This safeguard is to make sure that there will be no destruction of the environment in any way. The Laie Elementary school wants to expand its cafeteria, and so must obtain the needed permission. They understand that they have to carefully study and know the rules of the OEQC. The school is prepared to do everything that the OEQC requires. I will discuss the issues that may affect the environment upon the implementation of the schools plan for developmental change. I will also explain the rules that must be followed before any expansion of the school may be allowed in Hawaii. I- Factual Background The project is located in the central area of Laie town in Oahu Island, more specifically in the campus of the Laie Elementary School. The place is owned by the State of Hawaii and the City and the County of Honolulu. The Campus is about 7.61 acres. Its land use classification is urban and is an R-5 residential under the zoning of the land use ordinance. R-5 zoning means that only single family residential units is occupying the neighboring lands. The proposed project consists of the expansion of the existing Laie Elementary school cafeteria. It will add an approximate of 3,600 SF or over 50% to the existing cafeteria. The cafeteria is approximately 30 years old and can fit only 250 occupants. At the present time the enrollment capacity of the school is at 900 students. To accommodate all students, the cafeteria's meal services have been made to provide meals in three shifts or batches. Presently Lunch is served in three seating shifts, from 10:45 AM to 11:15 AM. With the proposed expansion, lunches will still be served in shifts but it will be decreased to two seating shifts. The proposed expansion includes a dining area; new heater and electrical room; new tray return and wash area; locker room; toilet and an office space. The existing kitchen will be made bigger to accommodate the needs of cooking for the ever increasing school population. This will also ensure that meals are kept hot, preventing any bacterial growth and health issues that may arise from such growth. This developmental change will also include a much needed wastewater facility for the cafeteria. The facility will be connected to a local sewer system. At present, the cafeteria is not connected to a local sewer system. It uses a cesspool system. That pit poses environmental, health as well as safety

Individual Work on Study Techniques - learning styles Assignment

Individual Work on Study Techniques - learning styles - Assignment Example I am aware that each learner has a different learning style that depends on his or her earlier years of socialisation. I am a Chinese family whereby close social relationships are valued, respect for senior is critical, and thus my preferred learning style is listening. The course has introduced me to critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills that are associated with subjects such as mathematics and thus I will be capable of handling difficult situations in my workplace (Reid 2005, p 71). The crucial aspects of my personal life are the ability to remain calm and concentrate on my studies in order to meet my learning goals (Haggar 2011, p 19). I am self-driven and capable of setting realistic and attainable goals that will enable me attain personal fulfillment and gain more opportunities in my career life. The academic studies have enabled me gain self-awareness and evaluate my strengths and weaknesses during learning in order to select the best learning styles that will enable me meet my goals (Allen, Scheve and Nieter 2010 p 123). I have active listening skills and excellent communication skills that enable me absorb critical information during lecturers and interact with peers during group discussions. I am capable of managing my time wisely and allocate enough time towards my study and personal activities. I can prioritise my tasks and prepare work schedules thus ensuring timely accomplishment of all assignments (Dunn and Griggs 1995, p 63). My ability to build rapport and good interpersonal skills have enabled me attain cooperative learning skills that are essential in team learning activities. In this case, I am able to participate effectively in problem-solving sessions with my peers and solve complex case problems that require use of critical analysis and different perspectives (Streeter 2005, p 106). I am inspired my future dreams of becoming of transforming my society and

Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business - Case Study Example Owing to this reputation, Toyota has been able to enjoy several benefits including financial strength, customer loyalty and market share. According to research scholars Steinmetz (2010) and Quelch, Knoop and Johnson (2010), the rapid growth of Toyota had created stress on the manufacturing, engineering and design which may lead to the consecutive occurrences of quality issues. This had in turn demanded the company to recall the vehicles at the beginning of 2003. However, the quality related problem of Toyota gained national attention in September 2009, after the public release of a recorded complaint which was associated with a certain incident. There had been a recorded call to 911 regarding a car crash which was being driven by an off-duty California highway patrol officer. The crash had resulted in the death of the officer along with his family members. This accident was caused by uncontrolled acceleration due to the floor mat problem which sticks to the accelerator pedals. Owing to this incident, the company recalled 3.9 million vehicles in US on September 29, 2009. The matter gained attention in January and early February of 2010, when 2.3 million vehicles had to be taken off the roads due to the sticking pedals (Fan, Geddes and Flory 2011). Toyota stopped selling eight of their models in North America, had shut down their production plant and increased their intensity of recalls in China and Europe. The CEO and the president of the company had apologised for the recalls. Another recall associated with Prius Hybrid, one of their best selling vehicles, was initiated due to some banking problems. After this third recall, the total amount of recall between 2009 and 2010 totalled to eight million that included six million in US itself (Madslien 2012; BBC News 2012; Couts 2011; Mackenzie and Evans 2010). Critical evaluation of the business response using evaluation criteria Reputation: Owing to the crisis related to the uncontrolled acceleration, the responses by the business of Toyota had aroused concerns regarding the reputation of the organization. The car accident had affected the reputation of the organization to a lesser extent than the damages done by the disclosure and communications, recalls and apologies previously. The confidence of the customers was seen to exhibit a sudden fall. The customer reports survey showed that the pre-eminent reputation of the organization plunged from 30 percent to 19 percent (Dietz and Gillespie 2011). In case of Toyota, the recalls were done in the years 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009-10 due to different problems related to brakes, engines and accelerators, which had totalled to over 8.5 million vehicles (Dietz and Gillespie 2011). This staggeringly high number was considered to be sufficient to damage the trustworthiness of the organization. A positive reputation can be said to be as good as the effort that is taken to create and sustain it. The excellence in reputation fails if immediate action for tr ust building contradicts this reputation. In this case,

A Thesis Driven Argument in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A Thesis Driven Argument in Education - Essay Example It is not acceptable as the Asian students are working hard and give their full effort in studies to fulfill their dreams and meet personal career objectives. It is true that people may have several opinions, but looking into the facts that are portrayed by the documentary film it can be argued that Chinese and Indian students deserve more things and opportunities in life as they seriously work hard comparing to the American students in order to fulfill their dreams. According to the interview of Tim Draper; the venture capitalist of Silicon Valley, the education system of America is breaking down. This documentary film follows the argument with several facts. The most amazing and interesting one is that more than fifty percent of the American students do not take mathematics beyond one year in Geometry and two years in Algebra. It is quite shocking. The demand of this particular subject is significantly increasing around the globe. Several geometric, algebraic and calculus calculati ons are required in several big projects. Limited knack of students towards mathematics is seriously affecting the education system of the country. It is an important fact. This source of this particular information is the website of â€Å"National center for Education Statistics, 2004†. Asian students are known for their hard work in their studies. It is true and cannot be denied that major talented and skilled professional come from this part of the globe. But, several political and economical issues create various difficulties for the Asian students to capitalize on the potential opportunities. The education system and concept about education varies from a country to country. American students generally devote themselves in their sports and jobs since their childhood.... This paper approves that recent financial crisis and economic recession changed the scenario of global economic environment. Limited disposable income of people, low purchasing power and poor economic growth of several developed and developing countries forced several governments to change their economic policies. American students can avail several potential opportunities in their life to make prosperous and successful professional career. On the other hand, the Chinese and Indian students follow straight line in studies. They never used to deviate from their major aim and goal due to lack of options and potential opportunities in their countries. This essay makes a conclusion that the documentary film â€Å"2 Million Minutes† is an effective documentary film that provided a strong message attached to it. It is highly understandable that there are huge differences between the education systems in India, China and The United States of America. Students of India and China generally prefer in-depth study. They give their 100 percent in studies as their parents guide them to do so. On the other hand, American students do not love to spend long school hours as they prefer to take interest in several extra curriculum activities. Despite the hard work, the Asian students find it difficult to get the opportunity to study in renowned colleges and universities. On the other hand, American students get the opportunity to study in their preferred colleges. It is the economical advantages and political stability of US that helps the students to grow in their preferable fields. Therefore, it can be stated that the documentary film is totally practical and unbiased.