Seventeeth-Century Roles for Puritan Men,Women, and Children (by James Essay

Seventeeth-Century Roles for Puritan Men,Women, and Children (by James Kirby Martin et al - Essay Example of women has changed since puritan times in the area of education as women have come out of being just housewives and have followed men in the search for knowledge. Many women have proven themselves equal to if not better than men in many fields, which were thought only to be possible by men. Today, there are many women doctors, professors and even astronauts, among the many fields into which women have ventured. Though they may be weaker physically, they have proven that it is not the case mentally. They have won awards all over the world in various fields and become pillars of society in this regard. Many have even proven capable of handling domestic and educational roles most effectively. There also have changes in the highly competitive area of politics where a number of women have risen to be leaders of their nations. Leaders like Golda Meir, India Gandhi and Corazon Aquino have risen to the presidential positions in Israel, India and The Philippines respectively, where they have conquered male contender, and this shows some of the dramatic changes that have occurred to women’s roles since puritan times (Martin,

Compare how Willy Russell Essay Example for Free

Compare how Willy Russell Essay Compare how Willy Russell portrays the two brothers in Blood Brothers. Account for the different reactions the audience have to the two characters throughout the play. Willy Russell successful playwright Blood Brothers conjures up many debateable topics including the intriguing separation of twin brothers Mickey and Eddie. During my essay I shall indulge into the social differences and similarities occurring between the twin brothers, whilst giving personal responses of my own and explaining the effects materializing on the audience and if it is what Russell hoped for. I shall give thought provoking evidence to back up my opinions and create emotional differing acknowledgements to enhance my essay. The theme constantly running through the play is that of a social difference and a difference in class. The title Blood Brothers has several denotations with Blood meaning possible violence or a blood relation whereas Brothers could mean a close/good relationship. The opening line Have you ever heard the story of the Johnston brothers? makes the audience inquisitive from the start, and sets the scene for the story. From the first mention of the brothers in Act 1 Scene 5, the audience can notice Edward is instantly shown to be more socially superior to Mickey having been chosen by Mrs Lyons to be the baby to have the life of luxury and live with her. She pressurised Mrs Johnston to say At the birth of my twins I shall give one of the children to Jennifer J. Lyons. Russell is trying to cause an early rift amongst the brothers and profound that society treats people in many different ways and can pave the way for peoples lifespan. The audience feel generally excited towards this turning point in the play and would love to know how the rest of the play and the brothers lifes pan out. I feel a certain sorrow for Mrs Johnston having been threatened by Mrs Lyons, to secure the rights of Edward. In Act 1 Scene 8, Mrs Lyons says They say that if either twin learns he was one of a pair they shall both die immediately. Despite a great sadness for Mrs Johnston, I also feel a magnitude of happiness and hope for the great life Edward shall have before him. Once the brothers meet the comparison between the two experiences another social difference, as in terms of manner the brothers speak within a whole different complex. Poor manners and a broad liverpudlian accent are reminiscent of something Mickey would say. In Act 2 Scene2 Mickey says Im not playing now because I am pissed off. Whereas the well spoken Eddie would say Fantastic, I shall look it up in the dictionary. This particular difference occurs due to the far from similar worlds the brothers have been brought up in; this difference would make the audience think the brothers had no relation or link whatsoever. The audience also feel sorrow for Mickey knowing he has not had the same chances as his brother but I can also presumably see humour as the brothers diverse childhoods lead them to say contrastingly opposite things. Again in Act 2 Scene2 the level of knowledge between the two brothers is also experiencing a huge difference, exaggerating that the upper class are more intelligent than the lower class. Again Russell is trying to convince the audience that Eddie is benefitting from his greater advanced sociality. Eddie says Dont you know what a dictionary is? Mickey responds Course I do. Its a thingy isnt it? Eddies question may insult the intelligence of Mickey but again the different upbringings result in a difference of knowledge. The audience and I feel pitiful for the poor Eddie who hasnt had the same chances as his brother yet I can see a humorous side as Russell again exaggerates how less intelligent lower class people are. Mrs Lyons tells her son not to play down where Mickey lives. Two possible reasons for this could explain Mrs Lyons concerns. The first reason could be that Mrs Lyons doesnt want Eddie to play with children with such a gulf in class and mix with the wrong kind. The second reason could be how Mrs Lyons doesnt want Eddie to meet Mickey and unravel the truth about their brotherhood. Mrs Lyons says Ive told you never to go where that boy lives. I believe the audience vent their first bit of anger, aimed at Mrs Lyons as she is hiding the inevitable truth from Eddie and the audience probably believe the brothers deserve to know the truth. But telling the truth could ruin Mrs Lyons chance of parenthood. Mickey ventures into an adventurous life and Eddie very much wants to follow in his steps. Many quotes prove this, like when in Act 2 Scene3 Mickey says Hiya Eddie. Look, Ive got our Sammys catapult. You coming out eh? Eddie replies Isnt Mickey fantastic, Mum? This shows the first of many similarities between Eddie and Mickey and despite different lifes, there is still a likability factor between the two and they enjoy playing and being mischievous. This bond between the brothers pleases the audience who want the boys to happily reveal the secret, being kept from them. Mickey persuades Eddie into light hearted behaviour (peer pressure). Eddie, despite reluctant still enrols in this misbehaviour, showing a side similar to his brother.

Why is Nancy such an important character in the novel Oliver Twist? Ess

Why is Nancy such an important character in the novel Oliver Twist? {1837-1839} Oliver Twist was probably one of the most popular novels of its time. Within Oliver Twist the characters were the central main focus of the novel. Oliver: the main c... Why is Nancy such an important character in the novel ‘Oliver Twist’? {1837-1839} Oliver Twist was probably one of the most popular novels of its time. Within ‘Oliver Twist’ the characters were the central main focus of the novel. Oliver: the main character is made to appeal to the reader’s sense of sympathy. Meanwhile Fagin is loathed by the reader. Nancy is seen as not so important by the reader but actually is the most important character after Oliver. So just why is Nancy such an important character in the novel ‘Oliver Twist’? The first mention of Nancy is when she comes to see Fagin, along with Bet, and she is described from Oliver’s point of view as not so pretty, with a great deal of hair but it wasn’t very neatly. They were untidy and dirty below the waist. Their stockings and shoes were also very dirty. â€Å"Oliver thought them very nice girls indeed.† This shows that Oliver’s first impression of Nancy is quite a good one which then shows that she might be influential to him later on in the novel. This is because he is easily led by Fagin and his gang because he thinks they are nice people. And he will be easily led by Nancy who he thinks is also a very nice person too. A long time afterwards they left when Master Bates said, that it was time to pad the hoof. Next Nancy is mentioned when she has to go and find out what happened to Oliver! At first when Fagin asks Bet, she declines and when he asks Nancy, she also declines! But the... ...) who tried to rob them which shows Nancy is on the same side as them( the side of good). So why is Nancy such an important character in the novel Oliver Twist? The main reason Nancy is such an important character is because she risks her life to save Oliver and goes through many hardships and brutalities to ensure that Oliver stays alive and doesn’t get dragged into the criminal underworld that she hates and doesn’t wish to be part of! It is a typical ‘good VS evil’ scenario and when good prevails the reader really enjoys this. This is what is happening with Nancy, she represents good in a struggle with Fagin and Sikes who represent evil. She dies but for a just cause, when she frees Oliver from the criminal underworld and lets him know about his undiscovered riches. So that is why Nancy is such an important character in the novel ‘Oliver Twist’.

Self-reliance :: essays research papers

The idea of self-reliance is an American idea. Self-reliance is a way of life when one is reliant on one's own capabilities, judgment, and resources. When someone is self-reliant they are completely Independent. Many American authors have used examples of this idea, self-reliance, in a lot of their writing. For example, in a Progress to the Mines by Byrd examples of self-reliance are present. In the beginning of the story Byrd writes about a character who Ò... rode eight miles together over a stony road,Ó in order to get to a house. This shows self-reliance because riding eight miles, all by himself, is a hard task to accomplish. Especially back then when the story took place because there werenÕt very many people around to help one if one got into trouble. Byrd shows another example of self-reliance when he was describing one of the main characters who ran an iron mill. He described him as Ò...so great a master in the mystery of making Iron, where in he had led the way and was the tubal-cain of Virginia.Ó This shows self-reliance because Byrd shows that this character is the best iron maker around and that heÕs self-reliant in doing it. Byrd shows self-reliance once again while describing this same character. He said ÒHe was... first in North America who had erected a regular furnace.Ó This shows self-reliance because he set up this iron mill and furnace in the middle of nowhere with no help from anyone else. All three of these examples show that Byrd has examples of self-reliance in his writing. Another American writer who has examples of self-reliance in his writing is Franklin. In FranklinÕs Poor RichardÕs Almanac he shows many examples of self-reliance. Franklin says that ÒGod helps them that help themselves.Ó This greatly advocates self-reliance. Franklin is saying that you should help yourself, i.e. be self-reliant, before looking to God, or anyone else, for help. Franklin shows self-reliance again when he says ÒKeep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.Ó Franklin is saying that if you work hard at something like keeping a shop you will be supported by that hard work and that you will be self-reliant. Franklin shows self-reliance once again by saying, ÒAt the working manÕs house hunger looks in, but dares not enter.Ó In this quote Franklin is saying that if you work hard youÕll never be hungry, youÕll never have to depend on someone else for food, and that youÕll be self-reliant. These three examples show that Franklin has examples of self-reliance in his book Poor RichardÕs Almanac. In an other piece of writing by Franklin, The Auto-Biography, examples of self-reliance are also present. In this book Franklin writes about his childhood.

What empathy means to me

Although there are many definitions for the term empathy, one of which states that it â€Å"refers to the reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another (Davis,113)†, a very fitting definition, however empathy is so much more than Just a label for a reaction toa situation. Personally I don't think empathy is measureable by scientific assessment, rather empathy should be viewed as a means of moral virtue. A large part of empathy is respect; disagreeing with someone's choice or thought, while being able to view a situation from their point of view without udgment is truly key.This being said, that doesn't mean you have to agree or change your thoughts, but the ability to take in both opinions and react approperately is empathy. Both of my parents taught me â€Å"have you thought about their side of the situation? † This use to frustrate me until I discovered that taking a step back from my perspective and looking at it from a different approach usually made me change my attitude about the situation. No, it didn't always fix the situation, but it encouraged me to change my attitude from negative to understanding.Matthew 7:12 states â€Å"So hatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. † Empathy is like a mirror, a reflection, but a reflection of emotions that you feel in your life being applied to the lives of those around you. This expression though commonly thought of as a sympathy or a form of comfort, isn't always the case. Looking at life through the eyes of others is how empathy is expressed. This realization of others feelings can create a bond between you and them. Reflecting on your experiences and applying the emotions from your life to situations of others is part of this mirroring.Empathy was defined by www. newyorker. com in the article The Baby in the Well by Paul Bloom as â€Å"an instinctive mirroring of others†. He also brings up the case of â⠂¬Å"The Empathy Altruism Hypothesis† a study done by psychologist C. Daniel Baston. This theory states that taking into consideration others points of view produces a form of self-satisfaction. This self-satisfaction is selflessness; that in itself self-motivates that person to express more empathy. I agree that there is self-satisfaction in helping others that drives you to want to help again, without any form of repayment.Empathy isn't Just thinking about doing something, but taking action. Empathy as an action seems to fall into a grey area where compassion, kindness, and comprehension all mesh together in a common meaning. According to www. thesaurus. com, these terms are synonymous; in this way, empathy is some much more in-depth than Just a term. Theodore Roosevelt once said â€Å"No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care†. Part of being human is having expression, and emotion. Without it, what would separate us from a robot? Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan wrote the articleIs the internet killing empathy? (found on www. cnn. com) and bring up the statement â€Å"have our brains become so desensitized by 2417, all-you-can eat diet of lurid flickering images that we've lost all perspective on appropriateness and compassion†¦? † I agree that it has. Empathy is something to be learned over time through personal experience. This cannot be achieved without interaction with others face to face. If someone never experiences a situation how are they to know think that much of our perception of empathy comes from our learning though personal interaction.The only way that empathy can be taught is by experience. Whether that be reading someone else's reaction to something, or taking the â€Å"monkey see, monkey do† approach. Regardless, empathy to me is my connection, reaction, and personal views of a situation being expressed toward others at all times and having respect for both of our views. I appreciate that I was taught from an early age to view others opinions, no matter what the case may be, and interpret situations in that manner. Listening, understanding, and interacting with others is the appropriate action in all things in life.

US Government essays

US Government essays In Chapter 1 of the U.S. Government curriculum, we learned a lot about the start of what has become our government. We learned of John Locke and living in a state of nature, the purpose of government, the state, geographic distribution of power, forms of government, and the basic concepts of Democracy. We also learned a wide variety of new vocabulary, which is listed below. Sovereign (ty) direct democracy government public policies state Representative democracy anarchy confederation parliamentary government unitary government federal government Nation-state presidential government dictatorship social contract The first step in forming government was taken by a man named John Locke. John Locke was an English political philosopher who lived from 1632-1704. (Pictured on blue tab) He believed in the natural rights philosophy, which was based on envisioning life without government. Locke and his fellow philosophers called this living in a state of nature. Later he, along with others, created the Social Contract Theory. The people of a state would live in a state of nature until everyone agreed to give up to the state as much power as was needed to form a government. This was formed by contract. In that contract the members of the state created a government to implement the powers they had willingly granted to the state. As time progressed other forms of government were formed and used all over the world. The Founding Fathers created a list of principles to keep the people of the United States free, this was called the preamble to the Constitution and each of those principles was a purpose for having a government. (See Preamble under blue tab) The first principle mentioned was to form a more perfect union. This means that they wanted to give the people of the United States as much freedom as possible, while having a better government. The second idea was to establish justice, which ...

Free Essays on Misgivings

Misgivings Thunder struck outside, and Amy jumped out of her chair. She was terrified sitting alone in the house alone. It hadn’t seemed so big when she and Toby came to look at it last fall. It belonged to a couple who had both passed away earlier that year. Amy and Toby fell in love with the house from the moment they laid eyes on it. The master bedroom had a large window that looked out over the front lawn. Next to it were French doors leading out to a wrought iron balcony. A white washed porch encompassed the first floor of the house, its rails intertwined with white roses that blessed the thick summer air with their sweet aroma. â€Å"It had seemed so welcoming then.† Amy thought to herself as she arose from the chair, wearily getting ready for bed. She pulled one of her husband’s old fraternity sweaters from one of the many boxes that were spread across the room and put it on. Amy laughed to herself as she passed by her reflection in the antique vanity mirror; the shirt hung from her small frame almost reaching down to her knees, and her long auburn hair was piled carelessly upon her head. Another crash of thunder sent her diving childishly to the safety of the king size, four post bed where she pulled the lavish wine colored duvet up over her head. â€Å"Toby will be here tomorrow.† she reassured herself, â€Å"He’ll be here tomorrow.† She fell into an uneasy sleep with the lights still on. Amy hadn’t spent a night away from her husband since they had been married eighteen months ago. The mere thought of him not being beside her haunted her subconscious as she slept. It was dark outside when Amy awoke, a wash of pale blue moonlight spilled into the bedroom. Slowly Amy eased herself out of the warmth of the immense bed and made her way towards the hallway. The hall was dimly lit with candles and it seemed to go on forever, the glow of amber from the candles faded as she followed them down into the dark â€Å"cave†. T... Free Essays on Misgivings Free Essays on Misgivings Misgivings Thunder struck outside, and Amy jumped out of her chair. She was terrified sitting alone in the house alone. It hadn’t seemed so big when she and Toby came to look at it last fall. It belonged to a couple who had both passed away earlier that year. Amy and Toby fell in love with the house from the moment they laid eyes on it. The master bedroom had a large window that looked out over the front lawn. Next to it were French doors leading out to a wrought iron balcony. A white washed porch encompassed the first floor of the house, its rails intertwined with white roses that blessed the thick summer air with their sweet aroma. â€Å"It had seemed so welcoming then.† Amy thought to herself as she arose from the chair, wearily getting ready for bed. She pulled one of her husband’s old fraternity sweaters from one of the many boxes that were spread across the room and put it on. Amy laughed to herself as she passed by her reflection in the antique vanity mirror; the shirt hung from her small frame almost reaching down to her knees, and her long auburn hair was piled carelessly upon her head. Another crash of thunder sent her diving childishly to the safety of the king size, four post bed where she pulled the lavish wine colored duvet up over her head. â€Å"Toby will be here tomorrow.† she reassured herself, â€Å"He’ll be here tomorrow.† She fell into an uneasy sleep with the lights still on. Amy hadn’t spent a night away from her husband since they had been married eighteen months ago. The mere thought of him not being beside her haunted her subconscious as she slept. It was dark outside when Amy awoke, a wash of pale blue moonlight spilled into the bedroom. Slowly Amy eased herself out of the warmth of the immense bed and made her way towards the hallway. The hall was dimly lit with candles and it seemed to go on forever, the glow of amber from the candles faded as she followed them down into the dark â€Å"cave†. T...

buy custom My College Reunion essay

buy custom My College Reunion essay I wish to appreciate every person present in this function. I also wish to extend my appreciation to the Alumni office for offering me the chance to share my personal and professional life with you. I will be brief and to the point. I graduated from this University ten years ago with a degree in computer science. Since my childhood, I have had a great passion to learn the operations of computers. Upon my graduation, I secured a job with Dynamo Development, Inc. where I was included as a member to the programmers working for the company. The company has a huge client base and at times I was forced to work under pressure with a lot of work from the clients. My talent and creativity paid well and enabled me to work at a high pace than most of the work mates. This ability paved the path to my rising in ranks. I was first made the team leader of the programmers I was working with after the first two years of working with the company. Later in the fourth year of working with the company, I was promoted to the assistant chief programmer and later became the chief programmer. My personal life has equally been rewarding. Over the weekend I used to work on my business website which is now fully developed. I was the key person behind the EFEX (Equity Finance Exchange). This was an idea I came up with and later sold it to the company. In the seventh year of working, I enrolled for a masters program in computer science which I completed and proceeded to undertake the doctorate degree which I am working on now. Due to the vast experience I have acquired, Dynamo Development, Inc. requested me to relocate to Tokyo in Japan. In Japan I am entitled with the leadership of the company branch. Apart from leading the Dynamo Development branch in Tokyo, I lecture at the Temple University in Tokyo on basic computer programming course. I am actively involved in charity work: I have been volunteering my spare time teaching young local students computer basics. I also spare one week each year to engage in habitat for human in Thailand. The interaction I have had with the Japanese has enabled me to learn Japanese which I am fluent in. I do enjoy my life now and will always remember the old days when I used to be an undergraduate student in the United States. Thank you. Buy custom My College Reunion essay

Making Choices about Exigency, Genre, and Readership Essay - 1

Making Choices about Exigency, Genre, and Readership - Essay Example Thinking about genre will enable the writer to consider the style and manner of writing. Considering about readership will compel the writer to engage with the subject being written and not just to write to comply to the requirements of an assignment. I have to admit that the only person I thought of in my previous writing classes is my teacher on how to satisfy him or her so I can get better grade. Writing for an ideal community of readers compels me to find ways to meet the expectations of those who are already interested in my topic and for them to consider my perspective, accept my explanations, arguments and proposals. Writing for a class is primarily motivated by compliance or as a response to the requirement of a class. This may or may not engage the writer as he or she writes the paper. Writing for â€Å"real† readers on the other hand, engages the writer about the subject being written in order to convince its real readers to adopt his or her point of view or be convince with the persuasion of the

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD - Case Study Example High numbers of employees in the current market organizations such as Russia and Brazil have developed their own way of making this strategy work. Bring Your Own Device initiative has been pointed out that businesses are unable to control their employees from bringing personal devices. However, this case study is divided in two ideologies. The benefits and risks involved in exercising Bring Your Own Device in workplaces (Wlech, 2015). The use of Bring Your Own Device at workplace has amplified substantially over the years. Hence, the use of paper and manual practices continues to diminish. For instance, schools have progressively used technology while studying through the use of gadgets such as tablets and personal computers. This type of learning assists students to be more cooperative and get involved in the learning process (Kelly, 2014). Bring Your Own Device has increased business productivity since organizations use green practices and positioning in a friendly environment. Bring Your Own Device saves money and creates peripheral support for employees’ hard work. However, Bring Your Own Device escalates productivity. This case study proves that employees are more productive if they are allowed to use their personal gadgets. There are numerous reasons for running a Bring Your Own Device strategy. One of these reasons is better satisfaction from the employees. Employees become more flexible while working. Bring Your Own Device saves cost expenditure in the workplace because it reduces spending on hardware maintenance and software licensing. While Bring Your Own Device increases motivation, the employees are more contented, more relaxed and often work efficiently with their personal devices (Evans, 2013). Though the use of Bring Your Own Device strategy is an advantage to a company as it makes employees more productive, the cost of this strategy is a great financial assurance to companies that procure many

Entrepreneurial Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Entrepreneurial Leadership - Essay Example Case (2010) identifies three P’s (people, passion and perseverance) as the key ingredients of a successful entrepreneurship. He said that the presence or absence of the three P’s in the right mix can lead to success or failure as an entrepreneur. His successful steering of AOL has been contributed to these 3 P’s by him (Case, 2010). However, the failure of merger of AOL with Time Warner was a result of incorrect focus on the 3 P’s. The merger resulted in cultural clash of employees and hence they were focused on their personal issues rather than the innovations. The passion that was earlier present in AOL employees was lost in the huge merged enterprise and finally perseverance was hit hard because people lost their belief in internet and they stopped investing in innovation. Another thing lacking in the deal was â€Å"vision execution†. A great idea rebounded because the 3 P’s were not rightly focused on â€Å"executing† the vision (C ase, 2010). Kouzes (2008) talks about five leadership practices which help in motivating people to perform at their best. Thus, he also focused on people and showed how great leaders inspire them to arouse perseverance and passion in them. The five principles are – having a clear vision of what is required so that the employees understand what is expected of them and they move accordingly, setting example by doing what is being preached, challenging the current state of affairs as status quo never inspires people to perform at their best, enabling others to act in line with the vision by understanding the motivation factors of a team or individual and encouraging the heart by rewarding exemplary performance (Kouzes, 2008). Drucker (2007) distinguishes between entrepreneurial strategies and entrepreneurial management. The first strategy is that of being seen as the undisputed leader in the market. Strategies are for external markets and can be used alone or in combination with others. It is the riskiest but pays the most if successful. This is what AOL tried to do by merging with Time Warner. Other strategies involve â€Å"creative imitation†, â€Å"entrepreneurial judo† and finding a specialized â€Å"ecological niche† (Drucker, 2007). This gives rise to entrepreneurial leadership where leaders operate in dynamic market conditions and transform the inconsistency and dynamic character of the market into opportunities (Tarabishy, Fernald and Solomon,). He is capable of using different strategies or a combination of them to establish his product/ service or company in the current environment. The entrepreneurial leader should have a clear vision, communicate it well and then help his people execute it. Types of organizations and leadership styles Organizations can be classified into different types depending on their size, culture, decision making authority and design etc. An organization which follows top-down communication, has very rigid rules, is bureaucratic in authority and has very narrowly defined tasks is called a â€Å"Mechanist Organization† (Kinicki, 2007). On the other hand an â€Å"Organic Organization† is flexible, with open communication networks, flat hierarchical structure and employees who perform variety of tasks and not just the specific ones (Kinicki, 2007). Decision making in such organizations is de-centralized and middle and lower level managers have more control over various decisions. For transformational leaders, an organic organization is best

State the different steps involved in a confirmed documentary letter Essay

State the different steps involved in a confirmed documentary letter of credit, with payment terms of ninety days sight. Then compare and contrast documentary collections and documentary letter of credit - Essay Example Afterwards, the beneficiary or the seller then transports the goods and comes up with the documents required to support the letter of credit. It is after presenting the relevant documents to the advising bank or the confirming bank that the documents can be processed for any payments to be done (Barru, 2005). The confirming or advising bank scrutinizes the documents to establish compliance with the provided letter of credit. In the event that the details are correct, the advising or confirming bank can put claims of funds through either obtaining a debit from the issuing bank’s account, waiting for some period of time to allow the issuing bank to remit or through any other bank as per the requirements of the credit. After this, it will be upon the advising or confirming bank send the documents to the issuing bank which again examines the papers for compliance and in case there are no complications, the issuing bank debits the account of the buyer. Finally, the issuing bank performs yet another duty of sending the documents back to the buyer (Azar & Abdallah, 2015). One of the similarities between the documentary collections and letters of credit is that the execution of both of these payments is performed by the banks. Moreover, documents are very essential in both of the payments and this becomes the second similarity between the two methods of payments. The third similarity is that both of these documents are governed by rules of trade which are accepted internationally (Barru, 2005). While the letters of credit majorly fall under the governance of UCP 600, cash against documents payments in this case referred to as documentary collects fall under the governance of the rules outlined in URC 522 (Ilie, 2015). For the letters of credit to be opened by the bank that issues them the applicant must be willing to accept the banks request to open them or in other

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) - Assignment Example The number of people suffering from CFS has been increasing overtime. Research shows that by 2011, approximately 270,000 people in the UK suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. More than 1 million of America’s total population has CFS, with about 75 % of these being undiagnosed (CDC). For CFS patients, severe fatigue is the major complaint that is recorded. Records show that the number of women who suffer from this condition is three times higher that of men, a ratio of 3:1. In the diagnosed cases, women comprise 60-80 % of the total (CDC). Also among adults, the highest level of occurrence of the disease happens between 40-49 years. In addition, children are more disposed to the condition as compared to adults, with the highest frequency of occurrence happening in adolescents between 10-17 years. Research further shows that African Americans are more susceptible to the condition (CDC). Though the medical field has not identified and proved the main causes of the condition, there are several suggestions on the same. Some of the common social determinants suggested include gender, race, age, cultural differences, socio-economic status, psychological distress, domestic workload, employment dissatisfaction, physical diseases and presence of

State the different steps involved in a confirmed documentary letter Essay

State the different steps involved in a confirmed documentary letter of credit, with payment terms of ninety days sight. Then compare and contrast documentary collections and documentary letter of credit - Essay Example Afterwards, the beneficiary or the seller then transports the goods and comes up with the documents required to support the letter of credit. It is after presenting the relevant documents to the advising bank or the confirming bank that the documents can be processed for any payments to be done (Barru, 2005). The confirming or advising bank scrutinizes the documents to establish compliance with the provided letter of credit. In the event that the details are correct, the advising or confirming bank can put claims of funds through either obtaining a debit from the issuing bank’s account, waiting for some period of time to allow the issuing bank to remit or through any other bank as per the requirements of the credit. After this, it will be upon the advising or confirming bank send the documents to the issuing bank which again examines the papers for compliance and in case there are no complications, the issuing bank debits the account of the buyer. Finally, the issuing bank performs yet another duty of sending the documents back to the buyer (Azar & Abdallah, 2015). One of the similarities between the documentary collections and letters of credit is that the execution of both of these payments is performed by the banks. Moreover, documents are very essential in both of the payments and this becomes the second similarity between the two methods of payments. The third similarity is that both of these documents are governed by rules of trade which are accepted internationally (Barru, 2005). While the letters of credit majorly fall under the governance of UCP 600, cash against documents payments in this case referred to as documentary collects fall under the governance of the rules outlined in URC 522 (Ilie, 2015). For the letters of credit to be opened by the bank that issues them the applicant must be willing to accept the banks request to open them or in other

Program Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Program Evaluation - Essay Example The violence that has slowly increased since the 1990s is not over, and the public in this nation are not safe from becoming a victim of a violent juvenile crime concerning drugs, and gunfire. Studies have shown that child neglect and abuse has been proven to be directly correlated to violence in a youth’s future. The â€Å"Safe Home’ Youth program aims to prevent violence prevalent among the youth in the United States. This requires minimizing the effects of drugs and guns on the youth. It has been decided that an outcomes-based evaluation will be performed by government officials along with school administrators, at the end of the probation period. The outcomes of this program will show the participants, who are the parents and children, that the program has benefits and prevents youth violence dramatically. The outcomes will enhance knowledge, perception, and economic conditions in public school system communities. With this in mind, the following program evaluation has been designed to determine the effectiveness, efficiency and the cost-benefit. Many approaches to evaluation are possible depending upon the program to be evaluated and the purpose of evaluation. Irrespective of the approach, evaluation must be purposive, empirical and analytical (Maxfield, 2001). Purposive implies to have a specific purpose for conducting the evaluation. The purpose of the program must be known to all and the purpose must be clearly stated. The purpose of the Safe Home program has been clearly explained. The outcome of the evaluation has also been stated. The logic of the program and the logic of the evaluation constitute the analytical element. This implies that all evaluation activities must be logically connected. The program goals have to be clear and they are pursued through a logical model. The data collection activities have to be consistent with the activities and goals. Sample selection should reflect

Breast Cancer Essay Example for Free

Breast Cancer Essay Cristian Davalos 2nd Period There are many different types of breast cancer. For example, breast cancer can begin in different areas of the breast like the ducts, the lobules, or in some cases, the tissue in between. In this essay I will explain the different types of breast cancer. I will also talk about the symptoms many women have when they get breast cancer. Then I will explain the treatments for breast cancer, and the alternative treatments. First of all, there are two main types of breast cancer invasive, and non-invasive, which means if the cancer is only in your breast or spreading out to other body parts. The first type is Ductal Carcinoma which is a non-invasive breast cancer where abnormal cells have been contained in the lining of the breast milk duct. The second type is Invasive Ductal Carcinoma which means that abnormal cells that originated in the lining of the breast milk duct have invaded surrounding tissue. The third type is Triple Negative Breast cancer which means that the cells in the tumor are negative for progesterone, estrogen, and HER2/neu receptors. The fourth type is Inflammatory Breast Cancer which is a less common form of breast cancer that may not develop a tumor and often affects the skin. The fifth type is Metastatic Breast Cancer which is cancer that has spread beyond the breast, sometimes into the lungs, bones, or brain. The sixth type is breast cancer during pregnancy; women who are diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy may face tremendous additional strain due to concern for the safety of the unborn child. There are also other types that are less common which include Medullary Carcinoma, Tubular Carcinoma, and Mucinous Carcinoma. Next, the symptoms women get before the actually get breast cancer. Some women may get a lump in the breast or underarm that persists after your menstrual cycle. This is usually the first apparent symptom of breast cancer. Most all lumps associated with breast cancer are usually painless, but in some cases it may cause a prickly sensation. Another symptom is swelling in the armpit, pain or tenderness in the breast. Also any change in the size, contour, texture, or temperature of the breast, a reddish, pitted surface like the skin of an orange could be a sign of advanced breast cancer. In some cases a change in the nipple, such as a nipple retraction, dimpling, itching, a burning sensation, or ulceration, or a scaly rash of the breast may be associated with an underlying breast cancer. Finally, the treatments of breast cancer have two major goals, which are to rid the body of the cancer as completely as possible, and to prevent cancer from returning. One treatment is Chemotherapy which uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Another type is Hormone therapy such as tamoxifen in premenopausal and postmenopausal women and the aromatase inhibitors arimidex, aromasin, and femara in postmenopausal women. Hormone therapy uses drugs to prevent hormones, especially estrogen, from promoting the growth of breast cancer cells that may remain after breast cancer surgery. Also, another treatment is biological therapy such as Herceptin, Perjeta, or Tykerb, which work by using the bodys immune system to destroy cancer cells. These drugs target breast cancer cells that have high levels of a protein called HER2. Alternative types of breast cancer treatments are lumpectomy surgery to remove a tumor and a small amount of normal tissue around it. Also another alternative treatment is partial mastectomy surgery which is to remove the part of the breast that has cancer and some normal tissue around it. The lining over the chest muscles below the cancer may also be removed. This procedure is also called a segmental mastectomy. Another treatment is total mastectomy, is surgery to remove the whole breast that has cancer. This procedure is also called a simple mastectomy. The last alternative treatment is modified radical mastectomy surgery which is to remove the whole breast that has cancer, many of the lymph nodes under the arm, the lining over the chest muscles, and sometimes, part of the chest wall muscles. In conclusion, as you may see there are many types of breast cancer and also a whole lot of treatments, as well as alternative treatments. References http://www. breastcancer. org/symptoms/types http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/breast-cancer/HQ00348 http://www. nationalbreastcancer. org/types-of-breast-cancer http://www. webmd. com/breast-cancer/guide/breast-cancer-treatment http://www. cancer. gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/breast/Patient/page5

The Implementation Of Austerity Measures Economics Essay

The Implementation Of Austerity Measures Economics Essay The implementation of Austerity measures in Europe resulted into a recession in 2010/2011. However, Germanys economy continued with growth over the years 2011 and 2012 and although the Germany government has been known as a great advocate of Austerity measures, it has at times increased its expenditure but its growing revenue has worked to moderate the deficit unlike in many other European countries. In addition, Germany was able to maintain growing revenue to moderate expenditure increase as it never sought to stimulate its economy through tax cuts becoming a model of fiscal prudence which moderates deficits by keeping revenues high. (Euro stat, 2013) Germany is one of the largest economies in the Euro zone with a growing economy and low unemployment. The country was able to pull itself out of the global financial crisis and has maintained a booming economy and advocates Austerity measures for the peripheral economies in Europe. However, the country is currently experiencing high inflation due to its bid to aid the peripheral economies and having its economy currently stalling with stagnated industry sales and reduced foreign demand for its products. Five year trends Year GDP Billion Euros Unemployment % Inflation % National debt As % of GDP National deficit As % of GDP HICP % 2012 2,643.90 81.70 2011 2,592.60 6.00 2.30 80.50 -0.80 2010 2,496.20 7.40 1.10 82.50 -4.10 2009 2,374.50 7.50 0.30 74.50 -3.10 2008 2,473.80 7.80 2.70 66.80 -0.10 Source: Euro stat 149/2012. Debt vs. deficit and Austerity Debt refers to the amount that a government borrows to sustain its expenditure in the case where its spending are in excess of its revenue while deficit is the excess of budget spending above the available revenue. In relation to Austerity, deficit is more critical as the measures are sought to directly control the government spending hence the deficit by cutting on the expenditure. How Germany got into the situation For Germany, being in the current financial and fiscal crisis is both by bad luck and poor choices. When a common European currency was created in 1992, the control of Banking, Finance and Fiscal policy was left in hands of national governments; a system that succeeded in generating massive economic growth in Germany and Euro zone. However, the massive buying of the sub-prime loans system in US by the European Banking including Germany was one cause of the problem as the Germanys banks kept on buying on the US system even when the sub-prime market was collapsing in 2007. On the other hand, the inability of the other European peripheral countries to deal with the financial crisis resulted to the problems spill over to the Germans economy. This has negatively affected the country as it seeks to aid the economies out of the situation sometimes paying higher prices in terms of inflation. Who holds most of the debt With its total current debt as a percentage of GDP at 278%, Germanys non financial corporations and financials are the greatest holders of the debt with 87% each while the governments debt is 83%. On the other hand, households debt stands at 49%. This means that the largest holders of the Germanys debt are Financials and non financial Corporations followed by the government while households are the least debt ridden. Recommended steps: Finding a solution to the fiscal challenge facing Germany and other European countries has resulted to various remedies being fronted by different stakeholders ranging from the governments to the lenders and other European leaders. For Germany, the following has been recommended. Germany government The Germanys government in the leadership of Angela Markelel under the conservative Christians Democrat has since 2005 been adamantly insistent of Austerity programs. For instance, there was a proposed budget cut in 2009 in a bid to reduce the budget deficit by 80 billion Euros to a 3% of the GDP by 2014. The proposal involved reduction on welfare spending over a period of four years as well as raising taxes on nuclear plants operators and air travel. There was also a proposed cut on public sector payroll to a tune of 15,000 by the year 2014 as well as a reduction on military spending by cutting the armed services by up to 40,000 troops. In addition, the Germany government advocates the fiscal compact in which all the European countries are meant to maintain balanced budgets in order to stabilize the regions economy. (Pietras, 2009) Opposition Germans opposition has been against Austerity measures and in alternative recommending increased efforts to create jobs and spur economic growth in Germany and Europe as a whole by increasing government spending but retaining high government revenue. (Boston, 2012) Euro leaders European leaders are opposed to the Austerity measures and recommends implementation of fiscal policies that provide growth incentives that should accompany the budget slashing rather than the Austerity measures advocated by the Germany government. (Boston, 2012) European Central Banks/IMF/International banking houses /lenders Germans reaction to proposed Austerity package The Austerity measures have been faced with great resistance both from within Germany and outside. The Social democrats who are Germany governments opposition are opposed to the proposed Austerity measures as well as the ratification of the Austerity fiscal package for the European countries. The possible results of the measures including reduced welfare benefits and cut on jobs are facts that Germans take into consideration in their opposition to the programs which would deny welfare benefits to those who need them most at time when it is most needed. The wage earners are also likely to be the most affected hence their great opposition for the measures. Resistance for Austerity measures has also been widely felt from other countries like Greece where there were widespread street demonstrations as people voiced their opposition to the measures. In addition, elections in Italy were highly bent on voting out the proponents of the Austerity measures and voting in those who spoke out aga inst the measures. Outcome prediction and fairer effective alternatives recommendations Some of the limitations of the Austerity measures are the likely results including reduced GDP growth hence resulting to even great debt GDP ratio which undermines the countrys ability to service its debts hence the liquidity problems being likely to escalate to more solvency crisis. Austerity measures would also result into high unemployment as the programs advocates cutting several jobs in the civil service while the cuts on jobless benefits would negatively impacts on the welfare of the jobless. In addition, it would result to some stimulus such as business subsidies being done away with negatively impacting on Germanys competitiveness in the international market. Austerity measures would also result into low income in short-term while wage earners suffer most and long-term unemployment. Alternative fairer measures would be stimulus programs which would increase government spending hence debt but with continued retention of high revenue. By keeping the GDP growing, the debt GDP ratio would remain constant without hurting the economy and its people. Another alternative to the Austerity measures would be focus on investments in public infrastructure like health and education and jobs creation which should be funded through fair and reasonable taxation.

augustine :: essays research papers

Augustine "I loved the happy life but I feared to find it in Your house and so I ran from it even as I sought after it. I thought that I would be miserable if I were kept from a woman's arms. I did not believe that a cure for this disease lay in Your mercy; I had no experience of such a cure. I believed that continence was within a man's own powers, though I was unaware of such a power within me. I was a fool and did not know - as it is written [in Scripture] - that no man can be continent unless You grant it to him. And this You surely would have given to me if, with inward groanings, I had knocked at your ears and with a firm faith had cast my many cares upon You." (from The Confessions, Book 6, Chapter 11, circa 397-400 A.D.) Augustine was born in A.D. 354 in the town of Thagaste in Algeria. His father was a pagan and his mother was a devout Christian. Augustine was educated as a rhetorician in the former North African cities of Tagaste, Madaura, and Carthage. Augustine died in A.D. 430 identifying himself as the supreme â€Å"doctor of grace.† Augustine is, arguably, the greatest theologian-philosopher of all time. Some elements of Platonism can be seen in Augustine’s teaching. His view of the world is Platonic, there is the outer and the inner world, the lower and the higher, the sensible and the intelligible, and the carnal and the spiritual. To become wise requires a movement of the mind inwards and upwards to God, an opening of the mind to truth which provided the mental vision that has been purified by faith. His theme of the divine in the world and in man is more biblical than Platonic, which allowed him to regard the material world with a reverence that would be impossible for a Platonist. His doctrine of evil as no-thing, a privation, is different from both Platonic thought and Manichaeism. A philosophical question faces Christians, and in fact all theists, that challenges the belief in God. To theists, God is an omnipotent, perfect God. He is good. Theists accept this, and embrace it, for how else can they worship God and give their lives to Him unless He is good? However, in this world, everything is consumed by evil. If God is the author of all things in this world, and he is good, theists must then ask themselves what is evil and where it came from.

Domestic Violence: Why Do Women Stay? Essay -- Violence Against Women E

What is battering? Why do men batter? Why do women stay? These are all questions that I will answer. I will also offer insight into the minds of victims that may help give a better understanding to the devastating cycle that hides behind the doors of many homes today that is known as Domestic Violence. What is battering? Battering is a pattern of behavior that is used to establish power and control over another person. This control can be obtained through many different avenues. Minimizing, making light of the victims concerns, shifting responsibility and laying blame. Isolation, controlling what the victim does, reads and limiting outside involvement all together, even from family. Intimidation, causing the victim to feel afraid by using looks, gestures, or actions, such as demonstrating violence in her presence. Emotional Abuse, putting the victim down, calling her names, convincing and making her believe she’s crazy, humiliating, depriving her of sleep and playing mind games. Why do men batter? Battering begins and continues because violence is an effective method for gaining and keeping control over another person. Batterer’s usually do not suffer consequences for their behavior, which encourages them to keep up their behavior. They get a sense of security when they have control that makes them feel better about themselves. Some of the characteristics of batterer’s include men that see women as property, they have low self- esteem, they don’t take blame for their behavior, and they appear to be very charming and often are seen as a â€Å"nice guy† to outsiders looking in. They often have traits such as extreme jealousy, possessiveness, unpredictable behavior and a bad temper. "Why do women stay in violent relationships?" is generally answered with a victim-blaming attitude of abuse. They are often accused of having no character or they must like or need bad treatment, otherwise they would leave. Others may be told that they "love too much" or have "low self-esteem." Common sense would probably have most rational people thinking in this way. The truth is that no one enjoys being abused, no matter what kind of emotional state or self-image they may have. Some of the emotions that I experienced in this kind of relationship are isolation, paranoia, shame and embarrassment. As a victim of abuse, I, like many victims, didn’t rea... ...feelings to hopefully numb the pain. Yet, I needed to remember the pain in order to keep my strength to refrain from going back to my husband. Victims go back to their abuser an average of eight times, this is due to the dependency and the feeling that you can’t live without your abuser, which is a belief that is tactfully instilled by the abuser and learned and accepted by the victim. Domestic violence is horrifying, confusing, and disorienting to say the least. With limited support from friends and family and a society that seemingly supports abuse, or rather, punishes victims for leaving their abusers. We, as a whole, ask that famous question, â€Å"Why does she stay?† She stays because there isn’t a way out. Work Cited: 1. Mason, Miles. â€Å"The ABC’s of Divorce† Divorce Source. www.divorcesource.com/TN/ARTICLES/mason1.html 2. Fischer, Kay-Laurel and McGrane, Michael F. Moving Beyond. Saint Paul, MN; Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 1997. 3. Brown, Cathy. Personal Interview. November 17, 2004. 4. McGee, Susan. Survivor’s Handbook for Battered Women. August 29, 2003.

What’s the Buzz on Smart Grids

Case Study: What’s the buzz on Smart Grids 1) How do smart grids differ from the current electricity infrastructure in the United States? The main difference where the smart grids differ from the current electricity infrastructure in the United Sates is that there is no information currently available as to how much energy/electricity is being used and where it is being used. In simple words it can be said that currently there is no exchange of information between the provider and the consumer.The smart grids will be able to provide all information regarding the usage pattern of electricity consumption by the customer which would help in the effective usage of electricity. The grids will then be able to know as to when the consumption is at peak and when it is not being used much. Also with this technology the consumer will be able to monitor their energy consumption which would encourage them to save. 2) What Management, Organization and Technology issues should be considered when developing a smart grid?There may be a lot of issues the smart grid might have to face: a) Management Issues: It is very important that proper planning must be done before the implementation of smart grids. All aspects should be planed and discussed over and over again with the managers at each level. It is a huge project which involves a lot of investment and a failure at the planning stage which is the beginning would be a disaster. It is also very important to make correct decisions at the right time. If correct decision are not made it could mess up the project. ) Organization Issues: Before the implementation of the project it must be made sure that everything is being done legally and taking into consideration all government policies. People within the organisation play an important role. The roles of each individual should be defined and proper flow of information is required in all levels. c) Technology Issues: According to me this is the most issues that the project r elies on. On the whole it is a technology project and the investment cost is immense. It is very important that all Hardware, Software, Network and communication requirements are in place. ) What challenge to development of smart grids do you think is most likely to hamper their development? According to me the challenge the smart grids will face is the acceptance by the customers. Not all customers will want to accept this change. It is usually the case that people are reluctant towards change. Also, if the customers find out that they are going to pay for this change and technology most of them would say no.It is very important to decide how the project is going to cover such a huge cost. It should be stress that the project has a long term potential and would help the customers in the long run. ) What other areas of our infrastructure could benefit from the smart technologies? Describe one example not listed in the case. The areas of infrastructure that could benefit from this sm art technology are not one. But, an example could be construction and mining industries. Efficient way of using electricity should be used in these industries which would greatly reduce their cost on a project. 5) Would you like your home and community to be part of a smart grid? Why or Why not? Explain. I would certainly want my home to be a part of the smart grid because it will help save energy and cost over the long run.If I was able to monitor the usage of electricity and know how much each electrical item at my home consumes electricity I would use it more efficiently and safe a lot of cost. I would be more motivated to use energy efficient items. Also the case talks about the electrical items can be turned on/off from anywhere. Let me discuss this example to demonstrate the efficiency. I go to work in the morning at 9 AM which is when I turn of the air conditioner at my place, I would be working at my office till 5 PM before leaving my office I would turn on the air condition er at home so that by the time I reach home my home is nice and cool.This is a simple example how we could save on the electricity cost. Also with these grids the providers would know how the usage patterns are and decide on what rate should be charged from each customer. The only concern that I would have is that the cost of the actual setup of the grid. If that price is not immediately transferred to me I would be happy to accept this change. It should be well distributed and nominal so that the consumers do not feel the pinch.

Nursing: Homosexuality and United States

And the Band Played On University of Central Florida Question #1 Based on what you observed in the film or read in the book; clearly articulate and delineate at least three of the sociopolitical factors that influenced public health policy development for HIV/AIDs prevention and control in the United States. Then discuss separately each of the three sociopolitical factors each factor and discussion is equal to three points each. The three sociopolitical factors that influenced public health policy development for HIV/Aids prevention and control in the United States were identifying early possible ways of spreading the disease, how it affected our blood supply and that to acknowledge the social implications that it could be everyman’s disease. Initially, in the movie there were signs of the disease but they were not sure even what it was. People were dying from a type of pneumonia that was not common; one man had Toxoplasmosis which is a cat’s disease. Other patients had a low or no T-cell count. As the movie progressed they found a connection with â€Å"Patient Zero† and this concept that they called the GRID which stood for Gay Related Immune Deficiency and this term was coined by Bill Kraus who was speaking on behalf of the gay rights in Washington, D. C. in 1980. In the connection with patient zero it is ultimately discovered that there was a flight attendant who was gay who had sexual intercourse with many men who then had sex with others and the doctor’s were able to make the connection with this information. They were able to trace back to the flight attendant who was patient zero and who he slept with and who all of those people had slept with, so on and so forth. The flight attendant had given him names and they were able to talk to several men who gave names of other men that they had sex with. (Spelling, Vincent & Spottiswoode, 1993). The second factor that helped to form public policy and help with control and prevention was regarding our blood supply. It was discovered that there was an older man who was a hemophiliac who had received many blood transfusions at the University of Colorado Medical Center. There was also a woman who was an IV drug user who had contracted AIDS. This helped to dispel the myth that it was only a gay disease, but was transported through the blood; therefore our blood supply was at risk. The CDC in Atlanta met in 1983 and motioned to change the name from GRID to AIDS which was Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. However, because of expense the blood banks refused to change testing procedures. Eventually, the blood banks finally agree to test but many people were affected with AIDS virus before that finally took place. (Spelling, Vincent & Spottiswoode, 1993). One of the big factors early on is that no one wanted to be associated with AIDS due to the fact that it was considered a homosexual man’s disease. There was a lot of fear, denial and anger surrounding this disease. In 1981at the CDC Dr. Guinan asks that a report about an epidemic with gay men had broken out and he wanted it published in the medical journal. The fear of the word â€Å"homosexual† was marked off and not used for that article. It took a long time for the realization that this disease could affect everyone from homosexual males, IV drug users, blood transfusion patients, women and even babies. Even though it was initially considered the disease came from gay men and their sexual practices it crossed all borders as time went on. Still today there is some prejudice regarding AIDS. (Spelling, Vincent & Spottiswoode, 1993). Question #2 How were early victims and contacts identified and located? One example was from a gay flight attendant who had by his own admission had at least 250 partners and that was a conservative number of partners, when he was a patient at NYU Medical Center. Later, the doctors make the connection and tracked him down to ask for names of other men he had slept with. He gave Dr. Darrow 73 names which at least was a beginning for them to contact other men and from there they could get them names of men or women that they too had slept with. The doctors began to see a common thread of patients who had low T cell counts, rare pneumonia, Kaposi’s sarcoma and other signs/symptoms that they were looking at and trying to make the connection with what this disease entailed as they were sharing information with each other of their findings. (Spelling, Vincent & Spottiswoode, 1993). Question #3 Describe how the events in the film compare with the steps in the epidemiological process described in Maurer and Smith. There are three types of epidemiological studies that include descriptive, experimental and analytic. (Maurer & Smith, 2009). I think that the descriptive would be the closest to the film. The reason is that the movie talks about those who are affected and different scenarios. One such scenario would be Dr. Francis when he was seeing a woman on her death bed, and she spits blood on his hand and he is scared. He was a key player in that he saw some symptoms and tried to go back and put together pieces of the puzzle of what that meant with other findings, different populations, ages, sex, blood etc. What was difficult were how many hurdles the medical community had to try and overcome. There was little funding, discriminatory attitudes and a basic belief it did not belong in their back yard. The government was inefficient and slow and much of the red tape left many to suffer and die. They believed that it was a lifestyle choice and that their punishment was just. (Spelling, Vincent & Spottiswoode, 1993). The people who were most affected early on were homosexual men. It did seem to be more prominent in San Francisco where there was a high population of gay men. The first case was in Copenhagen in 1977, various countries and finally the United States. This disease affected everyone from gay, straight, IV drug users, babies and hemophiliacs. (Spelling, Vincent & Spottiswoode, 1993). It is worthy to note that the homosexual men were engaging in very risky behaviors such as in the bathhouses they were with multiple partners and also engaged in the use of poppers. Gay men also engaged in sex often without protection and even when they tested positive they would still engage in risky behaviors. Kalichman SC; Cain D; Simbayi LC, (2010). What was your overall reaction after viewing this film/reading this book with respect to the impact on the health care system in the United States? I had never seen the film before so I found it very interesting. Knowing what I know now I look at that film in disbelief that we had to go through all of those hurdles and how many lives were lost. It was a failure to act from the CDC, blood banks, government; the doctor’s fighting with their egos for credit and even those fighting with each other and the politicians who don’t want their careers ruined. I don’t remember it affecting me much because I am a straight, heterosexual female, but I do remember thinking how scared I was when it first came out. It does not mean however, that I am safe because I am female. I do know that. The money that it cost in the aftermath of inefficiency is probably numbers I can’t imagine. I applaud Dr. Francis in standing up for what he believed was right in the face of his colleagues who fought him the whole way. It must have been a lonely path for him but I believe when you are passionate about something that is when you will prevail, and he did. I hope that history doesn’t repeat itself and that as humans we can learn from our errors. One impact that I can have as a nurse is to dispel myths and teach the facts about having HIV and living with it. There are still many misconceptions surrounding HIV and since we are in a position to educate, it is our duty to do so. Ojebuyi B. (2009). References Kalichman, S. , Cain, D. , & Simbayi, L. (2010). Behavioral changes associated with testing HIV-positive among sexually transmitted infection clinic patients in Cape Town, South Africa. American Journal of Public Health, 100(4), 714-719. oi:10. 2105/AJPH. 2009. 162602. Maurer, F. A. , Smith, C. M. (2009). Community/public health nursing practice: health for families and populations. St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elselvier Ojebuyi, B. (2009). Increasing people's knowledge about HIV/AIDS: an investigation into the effectiveness of reading as a communication strategy. Journal of Health Management, 11(3), 473-488. Retrieved from CINAHL Pl us with Full Text database Spelling, A. , Vincent, E. D. , (Producers). & Spottiswoode, R. (Director), (1993), And the band played on [Motion picture]. United States: Home Box Office.

Most Significant Events Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Most Significant Events - Essay Example The last half of the twentieth century brought to America many remarkable social, economic and political events. Choosing the five I feel had the most powerful effect on America and the World was no easy task. Each decade held many amazing, newsworthy and notable times. After much consideration the five I have elected to go with are The Cold war, The Vietnam War, Reaganomics, Nixon’s Legacy, and Liberal Reform. Following World War II, there was a significant increase in births. The children born of this era were called, â€Å"The Baby Boom Generation†. This year, 2011, the Baby Boom Generation ranges in age from forty-six to sixty-five and represent about twenty-seven percent of the United States population. This almost twenty-year span saw the largest number of births on U.S. record. The parents of the â€Å"Baby Boomers† were spawned of the â€Å"Great Depression† and the â€Å"Dust Bowl†; children of poverty, deprived of so much. The greatest war in human history, World War II, changed their lives. After World War II the Baby Boomers and their parents experienced that American Dream. Mostly because of the GI Bill of Rights that was passed on June 22nd, 1944. This bill allowed returning GI’s to be able to buy homes and return to school. Jobs were everywhere and easy to find, particularly in the North East and along the coast. Because of the GI Bill, the suburbs were born as a couple after the couple moved their families outside the cities.... This caused a great boost to the economy as new housing developments, new schools and shopping centers sprung up everywhere; a nice safe place for children to grow up. The fifties were a time of innocence, in the beginning, but by the close of the fifties, innocence was lost as suburban moms began to work outside the home and â€Å"Latch Key† kids were born. The Sixties was the divining moment for the â€Å"Baby Boomers†. Their music, social ideas, lifestyles and the Civil Rights movement changed many things. â€Å"Make Love Not War was their motto and they lived for the advice of Timothy Leary’s advice to, â€Å"Turn On, Tune In and Drop Out†. By 1979, lots of â€Å"Boomers† were increasing the divorce rate. The sixties ideals had changed the way people thought, acted and believed. Times had changed and for most, there was no going back. From 1945-1954, President Truman evolved a policy of containment designed to hedge in the U.S.S.R., but even so , the cold war turned hot in Korea. At home, an anti-Communist crusade against suspected subversives subsided only after its reckless leader, Senator Joseph McCarthy, was censured. From 1963-1975, the idea that communism in Southeast Asia threatened vital American interests was argued and debated by many presidents. But it was Lyndon Johnson, who became President after Kennedy’s assignation; who began a massive bombing campaign and sent half a million American troops to intervene in Vietnam’s civil war. In 1974, amid dissent at home, Richard Nixon, then President of the United States, gradually began to withdraw U.S. forces from Vietnam, signaling limits to America’s influence as a superpower. In 1965, thousands of US

Communication in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Communication in business - Essay Example In economic pursuit, we aim at promoting environmental sustainability.3 Our business is based on a solid philosophy of equal employment opportunities and fostering environmental sustainability through green manufacturing processes. ... n employment or occupation occurs when a potential employee is treated negatively or differently due to his characteristics that are not relevant or inherent for successful performance of the job. Commonly characteristics that employees are mainly discriminated against include race, color, age, sex, gender, political inclination, ethnicity, religion and nationality. We at Hyundai Motors have since extended these characteristics to include sexual orientation, disability and diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Discrimination in employment matters has been witnessed in areas such as recruitment, job allocations, promotions, and performance evaluations, security of tenure, compensation and termination of employment. Hyundai Motors prohibits all manners of employment discrimination, whether direct or indirect discrimination, by ensuring all employees and potential candidates are accorded equal opportunities regardless of their personal characteristics. Discrimination in employment matters infringe s the fundamental human right of equal access to employment and humane treatment in the workplace.7 Principle 8 Initiatives to promote greater environmental sustainability Benefits and implications Hyundai Motors engages in clean manufacturing processes that limit environmental pollution. According to Global Compact principle 8, business organizations undertake measures to promote environmental sustainability.8 According to the Rio Declaration, business organisations have the responsibility of ensuring their activities do not degrade the environment or cause pollution. The immediate communities expect the business organisations to actively participate in environmental conservation initiatives. All business organisations should work closely with the major stakeholders like suppliers in order

Marketing Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Marketing Professional Practice - Essay Example Thus, it is very evident that since these organizations cater to a wide range of sectors and industries, the manpower should be equally diverse, in terms of their educational and cultural background, experience and social exposure. One of the important criteria for selecting employees will be finding candidates who are service oriented. Their objective is to help the most unattended and unrecognized individuals and groups of the society (Burgos 2013, 23-26). The people working in these organizations should be able to handle and carry on the tasks properly. There is shortage of funds and many times the salaries of employees are delayed. In case of smaller organizations, the problems are more acute. The candidates applying for such an organization should be aware of this issue and should comply with it. Even the chief executives and other senior management teams perform many roles, compared to their peers in bigger and private organizations (Dolnicar; Lazarevski 2009, 280-290). Low pac kages and even lesser incentives are the common issues which results in low employee morale and high attrition in these organizations. ... The candidates must comply with the ethical norms and regulations and should be strict in terms of ethical practices. Not for profit organizations often face crisis of funds, crisis of employees and sometimes crisis of available projects. To overcome and minimize these issues, NPO’s need individuals who are able to show leadership qualities even in these crisis situations. Though the requirement for technical assistance and management is low compared to other private organizations, there has to be a minimum balance and smooth flow of the projects. For this, ideal candidates should be equipped with sufficient training and experience. This training and experience is required to handle the technology and the management functions of the organization. Ethical Issues in Non-Profit Organizations In an economy which is highly uncertain, non for profit organizations have started experiencing a rise in unethical practices. In the last few years, complaints regarding ethical violations b y top management and leaders have surfaced in the industry. This has grabbed a good amount of attention and concern from the public. Even though the number is less in comparison to profit and big industries, this number is rising constantly. Apart from this, a large number of ethical issues have started to arise which has resulted in financial issues and frauds in this industry (Watson 2007). If the misconduct in the non for profit organization go unaddressed, it can lead to an erosion of the public confidence. Loss of consumer confidence can largely dampen these organizations as customers are one of the major contributors of fund in this industry (Santora; Sarros, 2012). Ethical issues can occur in various places in an organization. The most vulnerable areas are as follows;

Visiting Ireland Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Visiting Ireland - Research Paper Example At the moment, I am going to convince you to visit Ireland instead of another country by elaborating on the Irish geography, ancient attractions, the magnificent natural environment, excellent infrastructure, and the vibrancy of the country’s multicultural background. Geography Let us begin with the unique Irish geography. For a country covering about 70,000 square kilometres of land surface, Ireland is approximately the size of West Virginia in United States (Kockel, 1994). However, in spite of its small size, Ireland has more than its fair share of major attractions, for everyone who values and appreciates the beauty of nature, blend with a touch of human ingenuity. For a country with ancient history and civilisation that rivals Mesopotamia, the beauty of visiting Ireland is that you get that rare opportunity of experiencing the lives of ancient Mesolithic stone age inhabitants and modern exuberant lifestyle in urban centres at the same time. Ireland is the home of scenic la ndscapes, with rich history and multicultural setting that spreads from the capital city Dublin to the smallest hamlet in the countryside (Irishtourism.com 2012). Ancient heritage To appreciate the progress that humanity has made up to the contemporary society, it is important to look back to the ancient civilisations, which have left an indelible mark on the Irish landscape. You should visit Ireland because it offers you the opportunity of seeing and experiencing the cradle of human civilisation in Europe. Ireland has historical artefacts, buildings and structures that have resisted the powerful forces of nature and they continue eliciting awe and admiration from harshest critics and sceptics. The Blarney Castle, Boyne Valley, Cahir Castle, Ceide Fields and Christ Church Cathedral are just a few of the must see historic sights and buildings in Ireland. Others include Hill of Tara, Clonmacnoise, Dublin castle, Glendalough and Newgrange (Cronin, 2003). The Blarney castle was build be fore AD 1200 and the King Muster Cormac McCarthy rebuilt the imposing building after its destruction in 1446(Irishtourism.com, 2012). The Blarney Castle houses the Blarney Stone, a mysterious artefact that is shrouded with mythical and legendary tales. The most popular myths surrounding the existence of the Blarney stone is that Biblical Jacob used it as a pillow. Prophet Jeremiah according to the myth brought the stone to Ireland. The stone is an important Christian artefact because it is believed that Blarney Stone existed during the exodus of Jews from Egypt and Moses struck it with his staff to produce clean water for the thirsty Israelites in the wilderness. Thus, Blarney Stone is a valued medieval artefact and is said to possess mysterious powers (Irishtourism.com 2012). Boyne Valley is a must see for anyone with interests of ancient technology and history. The valley contains valuable information about the â€Å"burial tombs of Knowth and Newgrange† (Irishtourism.com 2 012). These tombs are over 5,000 years old, exceeding the great pyramids of Egypt and the Stonehenge of England in age (Peillon and Slater, 1998). Build during the medieval neolith age, Boyne Valley is recognized world heritage site. For tourists interested in ancient agrarian practices, the Ceide Fields is the place to visit. Ceide fields are the oldest farming systems in the world, dating back to over 5,000 years ago.

Stem cell research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stem cell - Research Paper Example Adult stem cells or somatic stem cells are â€Å"multipotent† cells that function as an internal repair system lifelong in some organs such as the gut and bone marrow, to replenish damaged cells (Pessina and Gribaldo, 2006). The characteristic ability of the stem cells to renew themselves continuously for long periods and differentiate into specific cell types under appropriate conditions (Zhong, 2008) make them good candidates for cell-based therapies in regenerative or reparative medicine. Customarily, although inappropriately, the term â€Å"stem-cell research† is used in news reports and political debates to discuss all scientific research involving stem cells. There is no controversy about research involving adult stem cells that are obtained from bone marrow, or the umbilical-cord stem cells taken from the residual blood found in the umbilical cord after delivery of the baby, or the stem cells present in the amniotic fluid. However, it is the research on and appli cation of ESCs for clinical use that has led to a raging controversy both on the basis of religious beliefs and for political brownie points. Scientifically, too, ESC therapy is not all hunky-dory. For instance, it has not been possible yet to consistently control the growth of ESCs. Also, the interactions of ESCs with other cells have been known to cause erratic growth patterns, including tumors, and tissue rejection responses (Repair Stem Cells Institute, 2009). The Catholic Church has supported adult and umbilical-cord stem-cell research but is vehemently opposed to embryonic stem cells being used for research based on religious beliefs. The main reasons for the opposition of the Catholic Church to ESC research as described by The Pontifical Academy for Life (2000) are (1) The only way in which ESCs can be isolated at present involves the destruction of an unimplanted blastocyst-stage embryo at the sixth to eighth day of development. The isolation of the inner cell mass (ICM) of the blastocyst for the preparation of embryonic stem cells is tantamount to destruction of the embryo; hence, the Church considers that a gravely immoral, and consequently, a gravely illicit act; (2) producing cloned human embryos and then destroying them in order to harvest ESCs is considered illicit; and (3) the use of embryonic stem-cell lines that already exist for research is also equal to destruction of innocent human life and, hence, immoral. Although the highly dramatized versions appearing in news reports of the possibility of growing whole organs from stem cells in petri dishes sounds amazing, it is more science fiction than reality. However, from a cell and developmental biology standpoint, ESC research is highly important. Scientists working on the application of stem cells to the medical field have been greatly worried, though, since stem cell research has suffered great harm on account of lack of accessible or quality stem cell lines. Following the ban by the U.S. fede ral government of embryonic stem cell research in August 2001, only those stem cell lines that came into existence before August 9, 2001 remained unconstrained by the ban. However, those cell lines have become possibly

Taxation System of UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Taxation System of UK - Essay Example Finally the system of collecting taxes must be efficient. For example if the government spends more in order to collect a given amount of tax money it is useless having a system of taxation. In the UK the current system of taxation has a number of shortcomings such as collective bias in favor of those who are able to pay and structural deficiencies at the deduction level. The British system of taxation is basically determined by a desire to act in conformance with the age old principles of taxation as enunciated by Adam Smith. In the first instance taxes must be fair or equitable; secondly they must be convenient; thirdly they must be neutral; fourthly they must be efficient; fifthly they must be simple; and sixthly they must be adequate (Jones & Catanach, 2008). Yet how far these principles have been adhered to in the current situation in Britain is to be decided by each individual because there is much more to be desired in the British tax system with reference to the equity principle and the government's efforts to redistribute income on a nation-wide basis. According to the first maxim of Adam Smith as noted above every person should pay in proportion to that which is based on their respective revenue earnings and to the extent to which they enjoy protection of the government. Simply it is the "ability to pay" principle. Further he shows that tax should be levied on economic rent because the rent and the revenue were considered as synonyms in Smith's days. However according to the tax system revenue includes only income from an investment and it excludes wages and salaries. Thus in the18th century Britain most of the income was earned from landed properties. In the 21st century Britain where services have come to occupy a very important place, the old approaches to taxation might not be feasible though the fundamental principles remain intact. Secondly, tax payers must be certain about the current and future periods of time. Moreover, it must be predictable and should not be arbitrary. Each person should be aware about the exact amount that he/she has to pay according to their earnings. They should know reasons, exceptions/biases, and abatements when they are paying taxes. Government revenue budgets are either one year in duration or less (Ricardo, 2006). This affects businesses because they have to plan for corporate taxation a number of months, if not years, in advance. According to the third maxim, tax payment should be convenient to the tax payer. In fact the government should be flexible in the application of the tax rules. For example in demanding due payments, collecting payments and so on, tax authorities ought to identify more convenient ways so that the taxpayer isn't inconvenienced by way of haphazard schedules and rules as in the case of VAT financial penalty on late payers in Britain.Finally, tax system shoul d be efficient with reference to its determination cost and collection cost. Thus it ought to be as lower as possible. It is imperative that the cost of employing the tax officials should be less than the taxpayers' personal cost. However the British government has to spend a considerable amount of money on such things as maintaining records and form filling to collect taxes from people.

The Second Brandenburg Concerto Essay Example for Free

The Second Brandenburg Concerto Essay Composing for the inauguration of a harpsichord he had acquired in Berlin, Bach prepared the Brandenburg Concertos in 1720. [1] Drawing from a wide range of musical influences and styles, Bach pays tribute to and in many ways surpasses the works of his contemporaries, ultimately and undeniably furthering the concerto form. The concerto is a genre of instrumental works of three movements performed by one or more solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra. In a musical context, the term â€Å"concerto† (from the Latin concertare; â€Å"to contend, to dispute, to debate† and â€Å"to work together†)[2] was initially used inconsistently to refer to a variety of forms and functions, including vocal ensembles, mixed vocal/instrumental groups, and the act of accompanying. As the form developed, the term gained its lasting definition. The instrumental concerto emerged in the late 17th century. In Italy, two distinct styles arose, reflecting different approaches to musical structure and scoring. The Roman concerto featured a small ensemble of instrumentalists (called the concertino) playing in unison, contrapuntally or in alternation, accompanied by the larger concerto grosso or ripieno. Northern Italian concertos were written for much smaller orchestras, with sometimes as little as five instrumental voices, and emphasized the role of a single soloist (usually a violinist) backed by relatively light accompaniment. The genre flourished in the early 18th century with the many innovations of Antonio Vivaldi. His earliest concertos made use of the ritornello form, in which tonalities are established and reestablished throughout a movement by orchestral refrains. The form was the first to regularly present a recurring musical motif in several contrasting tonalities. Vivaldi also incorporated techniques largely unused outside of opera, such as the orchestral unison and onomatopoeic effects. His compositions contain slow, lyrical passages that allow for and encourage improvisation and embellishment. Suited to a variety of settings and functions, from secular to recreational, Vivaldi’s concertos were highly accessible and diverse. 2 Bach was among the many influenced by Vivaldi’s style. An unofficial student of the Italian composer, Bach devotedly transcribed Vivaldi’s concertos by hand, often rescoring them. [3] Bach’s attention to detail and expertise in musical structure gave his own works a refreshing individuality. His compositions included new, virtuosic instrumental techniques and applications, particularly for the harpsichord. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos brim with dense compositional textures, complex instrumentations (combining strings, brass, woodwind and keyboard instruments) and unusual mixtures of conventions usually exclusive to their own specific form of concerto. Featuring an astonishing amount of instruments, the Brandenburg Concertos make for a tonally diverse listening experience. Taking every sound in his palette into consideration, Bach orchestrates passages both instrumentally homogenous (specifically, string ensemble) and unusually varied (combining recorder and trumpet). The instrumental parts are as unique and unusual as they are difficult: violas da gamba back atypically soloing violas, a recorder fights to sing above a trumpet, and a violin piccolo plays a fast melody customarily reserved for other members of its instrumental family. [4] Following the conventions of the concerto grosso form, the second Brandenburg concerto features two ensembles: the concertino, a small group of soloists, and the ripieno, the larger orchestra accompanying them. The concerto is scored for the violin, viola, flute, trumpet, oboe and continuo. The elaborate interplay between the soloists and the ripieno is most apparent in the manipulation of recurring musical themes. [pic] mm. 1-7 The first measures establish the ritornello, played in unison by both the soloist and larger orchestra, with contrapuntal voices in the accompaniment. The theme is grandiose; the repeating 16th-16th-8th note motif excitedly calls for the listener’s immediate attention, heralding a rising and falling stream of 16th notes that seems to relay some thrilling news. [pic] mm. 8-9, violin A second theme, a brief solo, follows the ritornello, marking the entrance of a solo instrument in its every occurrence. The solo instrument is supported only by the continuo and at most one other instrument in the concertino; the orchestra is at rest. The melody floats sweetly, lingering on a trill as a temporary reprieve from the uproar of the orchestra. The second theme is played by the violin in its first instance and in subsequent occurrences by the oboe, flute and trumpet, respectively. The two themes (the first truncated) alternate in rapid two-measure exchanges. Changes in pitch and direction in the solo passages bring about modulation in the restated ritornellos that follow, shifting the mood of the piece and establishing the soloists and the driving force behind its movement. As the solo guides, the opening of each ritornello serves as a point of arrival. [5] This pattern is characteristic of Vivaldi’s style: his concertos typically began with a full statement of the orchestral ritornello, which would re-emerge between alternating solo passages in a notably altered form. 3 [pic] mm. 9-11 (top), 13-15 (bottom) The first example of this occurs in the transition from the solo passage to the restatement of the ritornello in measures 14 to 15. Reflecting a single change in the solo (a high C replaces the F in the last note), the transposed ritornello moves the piece into the key of C, the dominant to the tonic key of F. To the listener, the key change instills a sense of triumphant accumulation and a desire for eventual resolution. [pic] mm. 31-37, trumpet (top) and oboe (bottom) The next modulation takes the piece to the key of D minor, the relative minor to the tonic key. Against a suddenly (and unexpectedly) downcast orchestra, the high-pitched trumpet introduces a new theme: a simple, prolonged four note sequence that contrasts with the complex and rapid movement of the accompaniment. The oboe answers this sequence between the trumpet’s restatements, gradually guiding it to a lower pitch range. As the trumpet’s sequence tapers off, the full orchestra returns to another restatement of the ritornello.

Economic Globalization And Offshore Sourcing Management Essay

Economic Globalization And Offshore Sourcing Management Essay In tune with increased economic globalization and offshore sourcing, global supply chain management is becoming a vital subject for many businesses and Somerset Furniture is one of the companies facing the challenges when set up its global supply chain. The business strategy constitutes overall direction to achieve corporate objectives and goals in long term, but supply chain strategy focuses on driving down operational costs, streamlining procedures and maximizing efficiencies. However, most companies have wonderful business strategies but most of them are unlikely designed a seamless supply chain strategy which can result in great failure when doing business overseas. In this case study, Somersets current approach to manage its supply chain resulted in poor business performance, the visible hazards and other negative factors frustrated Somerset included poor logistics management, ineffective order system and inventory management as well as inconsistency of product quality. In adopting a value chain, Somerset must incorporate and execute a robust supply chain management strategy for best-fit suppliers selection, further establish on how to work with supply partners, distributors, suppliers, customers or even customers customers as a way to remain competitive. Otherwise, the company will not survive. As the marketplace changes rapidly and becomes very competitive, it is critical that Somerset reinforces existing relationships and work together internally and externally. That being said, a well-practiced supply chain strategy results in value creation for the whole organization. In a nutshell, supply chains have shifted from a cost focus to a customer focus, until currently to a strategic focus, scrutinizing the success of a strategy is just as good as the companys capabilities to fully and properly execute all. A great supply chain strategic approach, connected with operational excellence, can provide success for not only the company in crisis but also its partners and customers. 1. Introduction Somerset Furniture is an established ornate residential home wood furniture company with over 50 years history in USA, renowned for producing quality and affordable furniture with a practical range of innovative design. To cope with the fast growing U.S. market, Somerset has developed its marketing strategy by introducing new product lines every few years and successfully gained creditable reputation during the last half of the twentieth century. The company was a pioneer in furniture manufacturing processes and in applying TQM principles to furniture manufacturing. However, Somerset soon faced with thorny problems emerging in mid-1990s, such as stiffer competition, high labour rates, diminishing profits. As a result, the company downsized the domestic manufacturing facility and labour force through outsourcing several internal furniture product lines to China manufacturers, this led to be very successful in reducing costs and increasing profits initially. By 2000, Somerset closed entire manufacturing facility in the United States and outsourced all of its manufacturing to suppliers in China and then set up global supply chain, at which a series of chain-reacting problems raised and affected business. The primary focus of this paper is to find out outsourcing solution and rectify the global supply chain strategy to be very competitive. The evaluation of Somersets approach on managing current supply chain both from strategic and tactical viewpoint will be addressed in Chapter 2. The subsequent Chapter 3 and 4 respectively describes the new strategic supply chain approach and then explains the transformational requirements for changing Somerset supply chain effectively and efficiently. The conclusion will be made in Chapter 5 outlining the study points for readers. Evaluation of Somerset Furniture Companys Approach to Managing Supply Chain from both strategic and tactical viewpoints. Somersets Existing Global Supply Chain Process Map Figure 2.1 Somersets Global Supply Chain Logistic Flowchart Source: Adapted from Fawcett, Ellram and Ogden (2007, p.218) Foreign Competition While Somerset formulated a good strategic marketing plan for continually launching new product lines every few years during half of the twentieth century, simultaneously, experienced the positive effects of applying the TQM in its furniture manufacturing and popularly is known as high-quality yet affordable wooden furniture provider in domestic market. However, since the mid-1990s, the company suffered from the stiffer competition, high labour rate and decreasing profits. To get out of this situation, Somerset started outsourcing several furniture product lines to China that helped benefit from cost-effective and reduced operating costs. Another strategy was reducing the manufacturing facility and labour force, to keep the low costs in line with the pace of outsourcing. It was very successful initially in reducing costs and increasing profits for the company. By 2000, Somerset decided to set up global supply chain and closed entire manufacturing facility in the United States by outsourcing all of its manufacturing to suppliers in China. Shipments of Raw Materials and Inconsistency of Product Quality Somersets global supply chain facilitates the wood shipments from the United States and South America to manufacturing plants in China. This shipment itinerary takes a long time to arrive China, therell be unexpected delays for processing shipment which incurs customer complaints and orders cancellation. Despite of long shipping time, the costs of shipment to the final destination and the raw material from US and South America are apparently high that reduced the profits. As the manufacturing plants employed Chinese workers to produce products by hand in China, it will cause discrepancies in product dimension and quality. Customers would ask for exchange or refund as the quality is not assured by hand-made. Poor Distribution Network and Transportation Management The finished furniture products are shipped by containers from Hong Kong or Shanghai to Norfolk, Virginia, once arrived, the containers are transported by truck to Somerset warehouses in Randolph Country, where all of retailers stores located and installed the furniture to prevent from damage during transport. Ineffective Order Management It is found that therere some critical flaws exist internally within Somersets global supply chain on its order processing and fulfillment system. Somerset processes orders weekly and biweekly and it takes 7-14 days to developing demand forecast and 12 -25 days for processing order which amount totally 22 to 45 days for purchase order to eventually complete. It requires another 60 days to produce product by hand when going into production. Poor Transportation Management As required by Chinese logistics, all finished furniture items have to be transported from the manufacturing plants to Chinese ports, which can take up to several weeks depending on trucking availability and schedules. Since 9/11, random security checks of containers will delay shipment for another one to three weeks and the trip overseas to Norfolk takes 28 days. Hence, from China to Norfolk port, it can take more than two months delivery time. Thereafter, clearing US customs can take another one to two weeks before local workers take another 1-3 days to unload containers and transfer the furniture onto truck to Somersets warehouse in Randolph County. Ineffective Inventory Management The variability of supply chain estimated is up to 40% for schedule deferment. Due to Somersets innovative conception to introducing new products frequently, it resulted in substantial excess inventories left over in warehouse where the obsolete furniture occupy precious space and increase high disposal and storage costs. Somerset proudly stands behind its products and customers can get a warranty period of 1 year from the date of purchase. It brought a serious problem for parts replacement, because China supplier is only able to provide these parts which are in production, but most of the parts are not produced anymore after 1-year guarantee period. Poor Product Quality Although quality auditors are employed by Chinese suppliers to perform quality audit every few weeks, Somerset still encounters several quality issues. Consequently, Somerset has to inspect every piece of furniture it receives from China due to retailers and customers complaints. 3. Development Justification of New Strategic Supply Chain Approach to be used by Somerset Foreign Competition Owing to fierce competition, Somerset has to close its entire US manufacturing facility and outsource all of its manufacturing to China to reduce costs and increases profits for the company. Outsourcing has become a common strategy that is adopted by all US companies and managing supply chains has now become a trend due to globalisation. It is felt that Somerset should have an outsourcing strategy which will continue to evaluate alternate low-cost furniture manufacturing plants around Asia or other regions. Depending on just low-cost China manufacturers which product its products by hand may not be a viable long term solution for its overall corporate or supply chain strategy. 3.2 Shipment of Raw Materials Consistency of Product Quality Somersets shipment of wood from the United States and South America to manufacturing plants in China is a costly and time-consuming process. Raw materials should be sourced from within China or from neighbouring countries around manufacturing facility to ensure low cost and better efficiency in materials movement. The China manufacturing plant produced all furniture products by hand, which is not only time-consuming, taking 60 days to finished the production, but also cause inconsistency of products quality. It is thus recommended that China manufacturing plant be ISO9000 certified, to provide Quality Assurance and invest in partial or fully automated machine to manufacture some of these furniture products so as to cut down the production lead-time and provide better consistency in products quality. In the meantime, the leader should take action of outsourcing another manufacturer in China to replace the current one, because the current plant may not have enough capital to purchase all necessary expensive equipment. Furthermore, the conversion from undeveloped factory to a qualified lean manufacturing facility cannot take place in one day since it is viewed as a long term transformation. Therefore, Somerset should outsource the production base to other China furniture manufacturing facilities, which comprise the following competencies: Lean manufacturing system implementation Lean manufacturing results in significant cost savings over a two to three year period. Specifically, manufacturing companies report significant reduction in raw materials, in-process inventories, setup costs, throughput times, direct labor costs, indirect labor costs, staff, overdue orders, tooling costs, quality costs, and the cost of bringing new designs on line (Swamidass 2002) ISO9000 certification Flexibility (refers to modification, design, machine, production lines and time flexibilities) Capacity (in terms of space, labor, equipment, IT and materials) 3.3 Better Distribution Network Transportation Management According to Chopra Meindl (2010), with regards to movement of products from factory to customer, there are six distinct distribution network designs for company to select one of them, as shown below: Manufacturer storage with direct shipping Manufacturer storage with direct shipping and in-transit merge Distributor storage with package carrier delivery Distributor storage with last-mile delivery Manufacturer/distributor storage with customer pickup Retail storage with customer pickup Somerset can select one of above distribution network to help in improving its distribution network. Choosing the manufacturer storage with direct shipping will help to eliminate the movement of furniture from Somerset warehouse to retail stores. This will have the advantages of better customers experience and lower inventory costs. Installation of hardware can therefore also be done at customers house instead of at retail stores. However, it has the disadvantages of higher transportation costs (because of increased distance and disaggregate shipping) and requiring investment in information infrastructure to integrate manufacturer and retailer. Another improvement in transportation is to eliminate export of raw materials from US to China by sourcing these materials from China or its neighbouring countries. This not only saves transportation time but also costs of materials. Purchasing department of Somerset will thus have the task to source for these new raw materials around Asia. 3.4 Effective Order Management The order processing and fulfillment system in Somersets global supply chain is too long and it is suspected that Somerset and Chinese manufacturing plant may not have the necessary information technology to enable the rapid sharing of demand and supply data. Per Harrison Hoek (2002), they mention that integration of demand and supply data so that an increasingly accurate picture is obtained about the nature of business processes, markets and consumers, can provide increasing competitive advantage. Figure 3.1 shows a conceptual model of how supply chain processes (supply, source, make, distribute and sell) are integrated together in order to meet end customer demand (cited by Harrison Hoek 2002, p.14): Figure 3.1 Integrating demand and supply chains Source: Harrison Hoek (2002, p.14) Another solution is to ensure that Somerset utilizes software for order processing which will automatically route for approval and issue purchase order in an efficient manner. There should also be policy in place to ensure that the approval routes are short and approving manager does not take too long to approve it. 3.5 Better Transportation Management Apparently, the Chinese logistics arrangement, depending on trucking availability and containers, causes wide times variability in shipment of finished furniture items from China ports to Norfolk. It is really critical for Somerset to have a good logistics/transportation manager to understand the root causes, select work with the Chinese suppliers to reduce this time and wide-variability to avoid delay shipment to customers. Langley et al. (2009) recommends proactive management approach to identify and solve transportation problems by reducing the number of carriers, negotiating with carriers, establishing carrier contracts with prescribed service levels, and modifying loading procedures. Hence, Somerset can negotiate and establish new contracts with Chinese suppliers or carriers to ensure that the finished products can depart China ports consistently at a shorter lead-time. In fact, Somerset should establish contracts with all transportation modes to ensure the required transportation service level and lead-times predictability. Other means of improvement and cost-effectiveness can be done through consolidating shipments and monitoring transportation service quality. 3.6 Effective Inventory Management It is highly recommended that Somerset adopts Just-In-Time (JIT) and Lean thinking concepts, as discussed by Harrison Hoek (2002), that can reduce delay, waste and inventory costs. Long-standing approaches to material control, such as reorder point stock control (ROP), economic order quantities (EOQ) and material requirements planning (MRP) can be made far more responsive by the application of JIT principle whereas lean thinking seeks perfection by gradually reducing waste from each of below four areas: Specifying value from the customer perspective Identifying the value stream ( through time-based mapping) Making the product flow through the supply network (by applying JIT principles) Letting the customer pull (through pull scheduling) Somerset may also adopt vendor-managed inventory (VMI) where it takes responsibility for monitoring sales and inventory in the retailers process. This information is used to trigger replenishment orders. As VMI is facilitated by willingness to share data, the use of integrated systems, and standard procedures, it is made more difficult by such factors as long replenishment lead times, inaccurate data, and unwillingness by either party to invest in systems support. Murphy Wood (2008) highlights tracking technology, radio-frequency identification (RFID) to keep track of inventory, which can further improve the efficiency in the supply chain network. 3.7 Better Product Quality The fact that Somerset has to inspect every piece of furniture it receives from China proves that China manufacturing plant must be ISO9000 certified and implement Quality Assurance System in-house. In addition, this will avoid the need to get quality auditors who are employed by Chinese suppliers to perform quality audit. A Quality Improvement Team should be formed in the China manufacturing plant and be trained so as to improve quality on a continual-basis. Somerset can also assist in the implementation of lean manufacturing for its outsourced China manufacturing plant or introduce Lean Six Sigma methodology to effectively control the process for better consistency in products quality. The requirements for the successful implementation of lean manufacturing, as per Swamidass (2002), are: All levels in the plant, from the production worker to the president must be educated in lean production philosophy and concepts. Top management must be totally committed to this venture and provide necessary leadership. Everyone must be involved in the change, and the internal customer must be empowered to play a vital role in this evolutional process. Everyone in the plant must understand that cost, not price, determines profit. The customer determines price, the plant determines the cost. Everyone must be committed to the elimination of waste. This is fundamental for becoming lean. The concept of standardization must be taught to everyone and applied to documentation, methods, processes as well as system metrics. 4. Evaluation Transformation Required In order to change the Somersets Supply Chain Philosophy from its traditionally position of functional independence to an integrated single entity, top management of Somerset has to ensure that conflicting functional objectives along the supply chain are reconciled and balanced. According to Barnes (2001), supply chain management requires a new approach to systems: integration is the key. Somerset must better manage its supply chain effectively through adapting the six building blocks for effective supply chain management (Harrison Hoek 2002) as follows: Develop a supply chain strategy Elements to be incorporated are: Customer service requirements Plant and distribution centre network design Inventory management Outsourcing and third-party logistics relationships Business processes Organizational design and training requirements Performance metrics and goals Gather supply chain information Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to facilitate the flow of information across their organization Develop effective partnerships and alliances Collaborative approach with key suppliers and customers for better decisions in procurement, production, inventory and fulfillment. Pilot new supply chain solutions Piloting initiatives on a small scale reduces risk and can encourage buy-in from others within the organization or supply chain. Elements to be included in any pilot projects are: Involvement of key stakeholders, suppliers, customers and employees. Selection of scope and environment Identification of critical success factors Organise for supply chain performance Organisational change for cross-functional instead of functionally based structures. Develop measurement system for supply chain performance Cross-supply chain instead of function focused measures: On time in full, outbound On time in full, inbound Internal defect rates New product introduction rate Cost reduction Order to delivery lead time Fiscal flexibility Somerset can also consider the proposal by Heinrich Betts (2003) to transform companys supply chain into adaptive business network. This new business model joins companies as partners, into an adaptable and flexible set of business relationships such that each company is able to respond more swiftly into changing market conditions and leverage the networks cumulative ability to: Plan and anticipate demand and supply. Execute plans efficiently and effectively. Sense events that affect the plans as those events occur, and analyze them for impact. Respond to and learn from ever-changing business conditions. Somerset can then move to an adaptive business network in four steps, as in Figure 4.1: Figure 4.1 The Four Steps of an Adaptive Business Network Step 1 Visibility: Sharing of information with partner companies. Many routine business processes with partners standardized. Information posted for common view on portal. Greater insight into business process and data accuracy problems. Step 2 Community: Moving day-to-day transactions to the portal. Establishment of minimum and maximum control thresholds. Reduction of inventory. Time savings via mechanizing transactions. Step 3 Collaboration: Sharing of customer demand data with members. Targeted replenishment of supplies. Responsibility transferred to supply replenishment vendors. Ability to reallocate inventory to fulfill maximum number of orders. Step 4 Adaptability: Time required for many tasks greatly decreased. Many tasks completely eliminated. Inventory and working capital dramatically reduced. New alliances, products, and revenue opportunities possible. Source: Heinrich Betts (2003, p.80) Harrison Hoek (2002) illustrates a number of transitional forces that need to be harnessed to give momentum to the change project, as structured in Figure 4.2 below: Figure 4.2 Transition forces Source: Harrison Hoek (2002, p.267) These 5 forces are described briefly as follows: Viability of current performance level Consider in light of market changes such as: Demographics Time-stressed customers One-to-one marketing The marketplace becomes the marketspace Perceived pay-off benefits from targeted performance Reap the potential benefits of e-business and benchmarking of improvement projects to quantify the potential benefits of making a change. Belief and enthusiasm Ability of project manager to communicate belief in the change process with enthusiasm. Ability to manage change Ability to plan the change, organizing the resources needed to make the change and managing the application of those resources in order to achieve the necessary outcome. Ability to operate in the new environment People in the organization must have the right skills, tools and techniques to operate the new process. The management of the new process will require a new set of performance measures to be in place so that its efficiency and effectiveness can be assessed. Specifically, there are several action items that are required to progressively (from Stage 1 to 3) change Somersets supply chain network to be effective and efficient, as illustrated in Table 4.1 below: Table 4.1 Action Items Required To Change Somersets Supply Chain Network Item Action Item Action To Be Taken Remarks 1 Foreign Competition Outsourced to China manufacturing plants Re-evaluate its capabilitycapacity Done 2 Shipment of Raw Materials from US Source raw materials in neighbouring countries of China Stage 1 3 Poor Distribution Network Manufacturer storage with direct shipping to customers Stage 3 4 Ineffective Order Management Integrating demand and supply data using technology Stage 2 5 Poor Transportation Management Re-negotiate new contracts with all transportation modes Stage 2 6 Ineffective Inventory Management Implement JIT approach and pull system scheduling Stage 3 7 Poor Product Quality Get China manufacturing plant ISO9000 certified Stage 1 However, the implementation of change in business is often frustrating and difficult, particularly in supply chains as it has to be undertaken in a coordinated manner across and between several organizations. It is therefore important to gain agreement from the top level of all companies involved before wide-scale changes can be made. 5. Conclusion In this case study, Somersets approach to manage its supply chain resulted in poor business performance. The visible hazards and other negative factors frustrated Somerset included poor logistics management, ineffective order system and inventory management as well as inconsistency of product quality. In adopting a value chain, Somerset must incorporate and execute a robust supply chain management strategy for best-fit suppliers selection, further establish on how to work with supply partners, distributors, suppliers, customers or even customers customers as a way to remain competitive. Otherwise, the company will not survive. In addition, top management of Somerset has to lead and motivate not only all internal functional teams, but also external suppliers and partners, to work as an integrated entity in the new strategic supply chain network, so as to achieve the overall corporate objectives. In a nutshell, supply chains have shifted from a cost focus to a customer focus, until currently to a strategic focus, scrutinizing the success of a strategy is just as good as the companys capabilities to fully and properly execute all. A great supply chain strategic approach, connected with operational excellence, can provide success for not only the company in crisis but also its partners and customers.