Human Resource Planning Essay

The process that connects an organization’s strategic plan with its human resource needs is called human resource planning. The process ensures that staffing needs are addressed to achieve the organization’s objectives. Human resource planning is important because it helps an organization maintain a competitive edge and retain employees. Human resource planning determines the supply and demand of employees, according to the needs and wants of the business and its customers. The internal and external environment has an impact on the consideration of human resource planning. For instance, internal impacts are promotions, transfers, or firings, and external impacts can be changes in technology, the economy, or the industry. The competence and qualification of current and future employees and their career paths are more factors to consider when developing a human resource plan. These impacts can affect the staffing and human resource planning processes depending on the need s for a company to remain successful. Human resource planning is important and ongoing because of both internal and external environmental changes. Planning and Strategic Development and Implementation Human resource planning is identifying present and future needs of an organization to reach its goals (Obeidat, 2012). Human resource planning also involves predicting the demand and supply for employees, considering the business needs, and strategies for development and employment to meet requirements (Obeidat, 2012). The results will provide an analysis of human resource supply and future demand, which will identify gaps and most likely include staffing. Therefore, having knowledge of the goals and expectations of the company, can identify methods to reach these goals and track its progress. Planning in this manner allows a company to link resources with business performance. The results will identify the required number of qualified and competent candidates and this will help the business meet its goals and objectives. For instance, human resource planning and staffing connect by addressing the company’s direction, skills, knowledge, and abilities needed to follow a certain path. It also assesses the current competencies within the company and the gap between the direction and requirements to succeed. Description of the Staffing Process The eight elements of the staffing process are human resource planning, recruiting, selection, orientation, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation, and employment decisions (Plunkett, Allen, & Attner, 2013). Human resource planning involves assessing current employees, forecasting future demands, and constructing plans to add or transfer employees (Plunkett, Allen, & Attner, 2013). Recruiting involves looking for qualified people within or outside the company for vacant positions (Plunkett, Allen, & Attner, 2013). Selection is interviewing and testing candidates and hiring the best applicant(s). Orientation is when new employees learn about the fellowship. Training and development is when new employees learn their jobs and expand their skills. The performance appraisal is the origination of the touchstones for judging the workplace of employees (Plunkett, Allen, & Attner, 2013). Compensation is generating pay and benefits for each position. Employment decisions include promotions, demotions, transfers, layoffs, and firings (Plunkett, Allen, & Attner, 2013). Elements and Activities The proper planning, recruiting, and selecting of staff is an ongoing process. The hiring process is just the beginning of staffing. The human resource department must retain employees through training and development, performance appraisal, compensation, and employment decisions. The first step in human resource planning is the staffing process. The human resource planning process starts with a job analysis. A job analysis describes the skills, knowledge, and abilities required to perform each position. The job description will include what, how, and why employees perform his or her duties. It specifies minimum acceptable qualifications a candidate must possess to do the job effectively. A human resource inventory comes after the completion of the job analysis. The human resource inventory will categorize the needs and wants of the position. Afterwards, a human resource forecast is created to anticipate future demands for each position based on the plans, goals and objectives of the organization. Last, the forecast and inventory are compared to decide whether staffing needs will come from internal or external candidates. Read more:  Essay on Human Resource Planning Activities and Planning, Development, & Implementation The primary influence in the use of a company’s resources is the mission and vision of the organization. The mission and vision of the business provide the reason for the use of the resource. An effective and efficient business, strategic and business plans specify how its resources are managed and utilized. The most important resources a business must effectively use are: technology to create a product or deliver the service, the finances to pay for the requirements, and the skills and talents used by human beings to complete the job (Soberg, 2011). The business specifies the technology it needs to achieve the mission of the organization. The required technology will depend on the amount of product or service the company wishes to provide. The strategic plans and vision will be a factor in this decision to ensure it aligns with the goals of the company (Sober, 2011). The best fit for the organization and its mission will come down to the industry and what is currently utilize d. The financial aspect of the equation will specify how to produce money, control money, and foresee the revenue and expenses. The budget for a smooth, successful business operation will rely on the need for achievement in regards to the goals and objectives. The decision must include the cost of the entire operations including maintenance. For instance, the expenses cover purchasing, maintaining and adapting technology and compensating employees. The human benefactor is the knowledge, skills, and abilities utilized to generate and carry the product and service. People are an organization’s largest resource because products and services could not be managed, created, or delivered without the knowledge, skills, and abilities of human beings (Soberg, 2011). For example, without any assistance from human beings, technology and money cannot be utilized. The effective use of human resources assist companies in attracting the right employees, expand the knowledge, skills, and abilitie s of these employees, and keep the employees within the organization. Conclusion Human resource planning is the prediction of future business and environmental needs of a given organization. Human resource planning estimates the number of people available to work for future purposes. It strives to identify proper staffing required to perform organizational activities. Human resource planning is an ongoing process which starts with  objectives, move toward an analysis of resources and ends at evaluation of the human resource plan. Human resource planning compares the present and future status of the organization. The results identify what changes are necessary to meet goals. Human resource planning is vital so companies can meet their objectives and gain a competitive edge over its competition. The proper prediction of employment needs is important. An organization must foresee staffing issues beforehand, just as they predict potential threats in the industry that can impact on overall business success. Employee performance is a direct link to the success of the company. Therefore, a company that is not able to achieve goals is the result of workplace failure. Nevertheless, human resource planning is important to ensure the organization does not hire the wrong people or neglect to predict changes in staffing needs. The only way an organization can ensure employees have the skills, knowledge, and abilities the business needs to succeed is by planning for human resource needs. A human resource plan goes hand in hand with the companies plan to determine the resources it needs to achieve the goals. References Obeidat, B.Y. (2012, October). The Relationship between Human Resource Information System (HRIS) Functions and Human Resource Management (HRM) Functionalities. Journal of Management Research, 4(4), . doi:10.5296/jmr.v4i4.2262 Plunkett, W. R., Allen, G. S., & Attner, R.F (2013). Management: Meeting and exceeding customer expectations (10th ed.). Mason, OH : South-Western Cengage Learning. Soberg, A. (2011). The Link Between Strategic Planning and Human Resource Planning. Retrieved from http://www.hrvoice.org/the-link-between-strategic-planning-and-human-resource-planning/

Pre 1914 Poetry William Blake Essay

These poems ‘Holy Thursday (experience)’ and Holy Thursday (innocence) are set on Ascension Day in a service in St. Paul’s church. This was a special occasion for the orphans who came from London Charity Schools. The ‘Holy Thursday (innocence)’ poem can be interpreted in two different ways. The impression we get at first is that the orphans are treated well and they lead happy lives but after reading ‘Holy Thursday (experience)’ you start to realise that there is a negative way of understanding the same poem. This view shows the orphans to be mistreated and very unhappy. The phrase ‘their innocent faces clean’ suggests children that are being well looked after rather than being abandoned and roaming the streets of London. There is a suggestion that the children have companions, are well behaved and have a sense of order by the line ‘the children walking two by two’ This is further added to by the phrase ‘In red, blue and green’ which implies that they were dressed in bright, smart uniforms rather than rags. The children have angelic guardians to nurture and protect them, as implied by the lines ‘Grey-headed beadles walked before’ who have ‘wands’ are described ‘as white as snow’ which makes us feel that these are enchanted guardians who are pure and magical. Another phrase that adds to this is the sentence ‘Wise guardians to the poor’. There is further reference to the good work that the guardians are doing when William Blake uses the term ‘Multitudes of lambs’ implying the guardians are shepherding and guiding innocent creatures. The idea of lambs conjures up the image of animals all grouped together making sure that they are all safe. The orphans are referred to as flowers in the second paragraph, implying delicate, natural and beautiful. Flowers signify peace implying that the children are good-natured. ‘Seated in companies they sit’ like good well-behaved pupils in a school, to say their nature is calm and peaceful rather than loud and rowdy. Their god-fearing nature is implied by the words ‘raising their innocent hands’ probably referring to prayer as they are hopeful and eager. In the last paragraph William Blake is saying the children enjoy going to church, praying and singing hymns as †like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song.Overall the poem has a lively rhythm with pace to give it a beat and fluidity. Now I am going to analyse ‘Holy Thursday (experience)’ poem. In the first stanza Blake describes England as a country which is ‘rich and fruitful’. This would appear to be his own experience of life in England but this statement can be interpreted in different ways. Blake could have meant that England is rich in that there is fruit and food but it is poor because of the amount of orphans. He uses ‘holy’ to infer that England is a Christian Country and asks why babies should be reduced to misery and fed and looked after by people who don’t care for them ‘Cold and usurious hand?’. In the second stanza he asks three rhetorical questions. We know ‘the trembling cry’ isn’t a song and that whatever is crying is probably alone and maybe crying out for help. ‘Can it be a song of joy?’ Perhaps it could be a song of joy for the favoured few who live in the rich and fruitful land but for the many poor children roaming the streets of London it isn’t. ‘It is a land of poverty’. In the previous poem ‘Holy Thursday (innocence)’ he says that the children ‘raise to heaven the voice of song’. He obviously believes that songs can lift a spirit and in ‘Holy Thursday (experience)’ it hurts him, that there are no songs of joy going heavenwards form children who are so pure. Normally to see how rich a country a country is you measure the amount of wealth the country but here Blake is measuring the happiness by asking if their singing which is usually a sign of happiness from children. The third stanza describes their happiness in terms of the climate. Their lives are like a place where the; ‘sun does never shine. And their fields are bleak and bare.’ In the third line he contrasts their journey through life with that of Christ’s crown of thorns. The image that this reflects is of a painful way through life. And the next line is echoed in a later work by C.S Lewis who uses the term eternal winter to mean a place, like Siberia, that is unbearably sad and where happiness does not exist. This metaphor makes us aware that there is never any joy of warmth in their lives and that emotionally they are completely bereft and emotionally starved of love. In the last paragraph he again refers to the environment and the weather to describe a situation where everything would be all right and ‘Babe cam never hunger there’. This completely fails to show the real reason why those children are poor. Rain and sunshine won’t get them out of the grinding poverty that they are in. It is simply used as a metaphor to change the children’s situation from eternal winter to dry warm summer in which they would appear to be happy. Throughout the poem there is a lack of colour and description so it is difficult to conjure up any image other than of a grey bleak landscape, where grey people and grey children exist in a society that doesn’t value them. In ‘Holy Thursday (innocence)’ he uses descriptive words such as ‘clean’, ‘two by two’, ‘red’,’ blue’, ‘green’ and ‘as white as snow’ to conjure up a picture of London that is quite different. Blake also appears to be attacking the church in other poems for its splendour and wealth but also its lack of humanity and awareness of the ‘multitudes of lambs’ which could be led to the slaughter and misery of poverty. Reading the ‘Holy Thursday (experience)’ makes you reconsider the poem ‘Holy Thursday (innocence) and its approach. In a negative this is my interpretation.In the first stanza it is implied that the thousands of orphans are being made to scrub their faces clean so much that it hurts. This cleanliness of the children is only a faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade to give a good impression when the phrase ‘their innocent faces clean’ appears. This implies that the children are disciplined and regimented. This makes a good impression on the carers. This is also show ‘in red and blue and green’ because it shows that they are being made to wear a uniform. Being forced to wear uniforms means that the orphans also lose their individuality. ‘Grey-headed beadles walked before’ could show that these ‘carers’ are bad people who order the children around and make them walk ‘two and two’ like in the military. This also implies that these bad people are egotistical because they only look after themselves and they might only be looking after the children for extra money. These military officers have canes to beat the children with as it says ‘with wands as white as snow.’ This idea of the children being part of a military force is backed up by the quote ‘seated in companies they sit.’ Because the army is sectioned off into companies, they stand in a certain order and they are very obedient. ‘These flowers of London town’ implies that the children are innocent and pure but like flowers they will eventually die. Flowers are also vulnerable and easily ruined. The comparison between the groups of children and the ‘multitudes of lambs’ implies that the orphans like the lamps, group together like pure innocent creatures. The image of the lamb also stands for the idea of vulnerability and sacrifice. Like the lambs the orphans are forced to do what the carers tell them to do, and may face an early death as victims of a cruel world. ‘Thousands of little boys and girls’ suggests that there are any poor orphans who are homeless. This shows that there is a large scale of poverty. The orphans plead for help by ‘raising their innocent hands.’ ‘Like a mighty wind†¦voice of song’ implies that the wind is like a destructive hurricane ready to sweep their lives away. Ironically the ‘wise guardians of the poor’ are there to look after the orphans for the money and are not concerned about the orphans at all. The rhythm of the poem in this negative view is a like a strict military march.

Man and Computer Symbiosis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Man and Computer Symbiosis - Essay Example Preface analyses point out that the symbiotic partnership will execute logical operations a lot more efficiently than man single-handedly can do them. Fundamentals for the achievement of the effectual, supportive association comprise developments in computer time distribution, in memory mechanism, in memory association, in programming languages, and in input and output tools. Man-computer symbiosis is a subset of man-machine setups. There are a lot of man-machine setups. Presently, yet, there are no man-computer symbioses. The expectation is that, in a few years, human thinking and computing technology will be joined in concert very strongly, and that the consequential company will think as human mind has never thought and process facts in a manner not moved toward by the data handling machines which is known at the present time. Nowadays computers are designed mainly to solve pre formulated problems or to process data in regards to prearranged processes. The way of the computation can be conditional upon consequences acquired throughout the computation, but all the substitutes must be foretold earlier. If an unanticipated alternative occurs, the entire process stops the progress of and waits for the required extension of the program. The necessity for pre formulation or predetermination has occasionally no great drawback. It is frequently said that programming for a computing machine compels everyone to think visibly, that it controls the thinking process. If the user can think his problem beforehand, symbiotic connection with a computing machine is not essential. Though, various problems that can be considered earlier are very hard to think through beforehand. They would be simple to solve, and they might be solved quicker, during an instinctively guided trial and error process in which the computer collab orate, lengthen errors in the reasoning or exposing unforeseen twists in the solution. Further troubles cleanly cannot be prepared without computing machine abet. Poi-care expected the disturbance of an imperative group of probable computer users. One of the leading goals of man and computer symbiosis is to take the computing machine efficiently into the formularize elements of technological problems. The other major aim is strongly linked. It is to bring computing machines efficiently into procedures of thinking that must continue in actual time, time that travels very fast to allow using computers in traditional ways. Visualize trying, for instance, to direct a battle with the help of a computer on such an agenda as this. You prepare your problem in the present day. Tomorrow you use up with a programmer. After a week the computer gives over 2 to 5 minutes to bring together your program and 50 seconds to analyzing the solution to your problem. You obtain a piece of paper 15 feet long, filled with numbers that, instead of having an ultimate solution, only recommend a method that should be searched by imitation. Undoubtedly, the fight or battle would be ended earlier than the second step in its preparation was started. To imagine in contact with a computer in the similar means that you consider with a partner whose capability increase your own will call for very much tight combinat ion among man and

SB 1070 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

SB 1070 - Essay Example The Illinois’s legislative bill 123 together with the Arizona’s â€Å"Support our law enforcement and safe Neighborhood Act† is the strictest and wider anti-illegal immigration legislative act in the recent times. This bill intends to include more provisions to the federal laws of the United States of America. First, it would be a crime for individual aliens to be in the state of Illinois without the registration documents. It would also restrict the other state, local agencies and officials from the restricting enforcement of the federal immigration laws in the state of Illinois (Ferris, 289). It also provides for the crackdown for the individuals who are harboring, transporting or hiring aliens in the state illegally. This has been described as the strictest immigration law united states. The intent of these additional provisions was to reduce the number of illegal aliens who are estimated to approximately 460, 000 in Arizona only and even more in the state of Illinois and others states in the U.S. ... The act provides for the state law enforcements agencies to question, arrest or detain individuals who are reasonably suspected to be in the country illegally. In this context the act gives the state law enforcement agencies to enforce the law and ensure that the immigrants abide by the state laws. According to Warner (68), this is unconstitutional because the responsibility of enforcing the immigration laws is a federal responsibility and not a state responsibility. If there is reasonable suspicion that they might be in the country illegally, it is the responsibility of the federal governments to enforce the laws. The Illinois’s bill 123 can be described as a bill that affects foreign matters and hence its effect when passed into law would affect the foreign policy of not only the Illinois but also the United States o America. The unconstitutional nature of this act is that the state does not have powers to pass laws that affect the foreign policy and relations. According to Warner (69), just like the states have no authority of passing their own foreign policies or enter into treaties with the other nations of the world, they do not have immigration policies and laws. The argument here is that the immigration laws is an attribute of the foreign affairs and hence the state law enforcing agencies and officials do not have any little power to pass such laws. The signing of the law into affect would therefore mean that the state of Illinois has a different foreign policy compared to the United States of America foreign policies in general and hence it is therefore unconstitutional. The role of a state in enforcing federal immigration laws is provided for in the federal laws of the united state of America. However

Exhibition Paper; Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exhibition Paper; - Essay Example The most renowned statues from the era include the Donatello and Nanni sculptures (Burgio, Clark, & Hark, 2010). Both masterpieces are held at the Museo dell’Opera de Muomo exhibition. The study seeks to implement the visual description of the sculptures as seen in the exhibition with a contextual inclusion of sculptural production in the Florentine Age of the 15th century. The renowned sculpture of Donatello remains an uncontested artifact of the period because of its unique inclusion of proportion in a rather hard to shape material. The 1418 sculpture depicts a biblical version of the events surrounding Isaac’s sacrifice. The sculptor engaged in the use of marble, and it is apparent that his knowledge in the field compelled his conclusion that he would deliver an exemplary artwork in the end. Arguably, the sculptor developed a theological concept prior to the beginning of the work; hence, the evidence shown in the sculptures facial expressions depicts the application of â€Å"scientific naturalism† (Long, 2013). The prevailing evidence from the visual surveillance inclines knowledge to a contemporary viewer that the use of grey almost brown colors emerges from the philosophical freedom held by the sculptor during the Florentine culture. While at the exhibition, a viewer could define the emotional expressions shown in the sculpture of Donatello on Isaac’s sacrifice. Such credentials declare the fury that Abraham felt once ordered by God to honor him through sacrificing his only child. In the contemporary culture, a viewer would agree with the sculptor’s perspective in developing the 191-centimeters’ tall sculpture. The taller figure of the sculpture seems to dominate the smaller one who is in a kneeling position (Burgio, Clark, & Hark, 2010). The rust-brown sculpture depicts a Biblical expression that the sacrifice was to accord God’s will as the taller figure looks upwards while holding a knife on the smaller

Economic Factors Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic Factors - Assignment Example Industry A: 20 firms and a Concentration Ratio (CR) of 30% Name and some of the industry's characteristics An industry with 20 firms and a CR of 30% is called a low concentration industry. This is a type of industry in which its four largest firms control less than 50% of its market. According to Ruffinand Gregory (2000), this type of industry is monopolistically competitive and the market control gained by its four largest firms/industries is moderate. There are many firms producing a similar product. Prices are set through a contestable market model hence the decisions of one firm are not influenced by the decisions of another firm. The above is supported by the fact that in this industry, the key to success is the ability to offer products at a lower price (Weiss, 1989). Even of the sellers were few or even one, they would act as if they were many. Entry and exit from the industry is costless and new entrants are mainly attracted into the industry if a possession of market power i f profitable. The pressures of competition help to prevent monopoly and keep the industry operating at a prices and outputs that are competitive. Expected long-run adjustments in case there was an increased demand for a product that pushed up the price of goods When there is an increase in demand of a product that in turn leads to an increase in its price, all the 20 firms in the industry are going to make positive profits and prosper. In the short-run, marginal costs and marginal revenue will be equal indicating an equilibrium or profit maximization. In the long-run, firms will alter the scale of product and leave or enter the industry. Other firms who want to take advantage of the profit will enter the industry leading to a rise in supply of the product. This will push the market prices of the product down to the long-run equilibrium. What the anticipated adjustment process imply about the CR for the industry The above-mentioned anticipated adjustments imply that there is a relati onship between the CR of the industry and the properties of the industry. For example, when the CR is low as in this case, monopolistic competition takes place resulting to the market exhibiting elements of both monopoly and perfect competition. The reason behind this is that since the industry is monopolistically competitive, each of its existing firms has the power to set prices. They will compete for a control of the market share by lowering their prices and in the end, many of them will charge the long-equilibrium price. This establishes an equilibrium and eliminates incentives for entry. In other words, a low CR eliminates temporary rise in prices and restores the economy to a long-run equilibrium level, a characteristic of a competitive market. Therefore, it is true to say that the lower the CR, the higher the level of competition of the market. Industry B: 20 firms and a Concentration Ratio (CR) of 80% Name and some of the industry's characteristics An industry having 20 firm s and a CR of 80% is called a high concentration industry. 20 firms and a CR of 80% indicate a highly oligopolistic industry. In this type of industry, a significant level of market control is under the power of four of its largest firms (Ruffinand, 2000). The market is dominated by few firms who sell slightly differentiated

Central Bank Of GCC Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Central Bank Of GCC - Research Paper Example However, the central bans differ in terms of those who formulate the monetary policies. In European Central Bank, monetary policies are formulated by the General Council while in GCC Central Bank the monetary policy should be formulated by the Governing Board. Those who argue against the GCC Central Bank suggest that the bank it affects the independence of the GCC member countries while those who support it suggest that the bank will promote economic stability in the GCC region. The main objective of the GCC is to develop monetary policies and implement them. GCC members have been intending to create a monetary union since 1980s. So far, significant efforts have been made towards that end. Economic integration is becoming real by the day, and the use of a single currency is almost becoming a reality as well. Currently there is an interregional movement of goods and services, labour and capital. Establishment of a common market in 2008 further improved the efforts of the GCC towards a unionized monetary system (Fasano-Filho & Schaechter, 2003). Most of the convergence criteria for entry into a unionized monetary system have also been attained. However, the main challenges for the GCC in its push to develop a single central bank for the region have been the decision of the required exchange rate for a single currency and the location of the central bank (Boero et al, 2011). There have also been significant disagreements concerning the structure of the new central bank. The suggested GCC Central Bank should have a clear organisational structure which will determine how decisions are made and how such decisions are implemented. This enables the GCC Central Bank to set clear roles and responsibilities for various members of the Bank and to ensure that the right decisions are made at the right time for the benefit of all member countries of the GCC. This report suggests that the GCC central bank should have an executive board responsible for general

Economics of Leisure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economics of Leisure - Essay Example Leisure is defined as time spent when one is not working. This means that time that is compensating for work. Other authors simply define leisure as the opportunity to express one's creativity and master new things so that they feel satisfied and a degree of self-accomplishment. Leisure activities can include resting at home, sleeping, watching movies, engaging in sport activities among others. These activities are essential in an individual’s life because they give satisfaction, pleasure, and enjoyment. They also enhance an individual’s self-esteem as well as promote the general quality of life. Kenneth Roberts argues that the role of leisure is to instill certain values such as teamwork, leadership, and fair play. He also holds that leisure consolidates the social system and compensates people for the unsatisfying and unrewarding aspects of life. For him, all individuals are free to choose the leisure activities they wish. Taking part in leisure activities may be bene ficial or otherwise depending on the activities concerned. Some art, sport and recreation activities have beneficial impacts both socially, economically and heath wise. Allocation of time It is impossible to look at the determinants of leisure without reviewing the allocation of time for work. From time immemorial, the amount of time spent at work has never equaled the amount of time spent away from work. Most people spend almost all their time in the office or at work in general (Kate & Rickards, 2002). The craze and passion with which economic development is pursued in the world today does not allow for involvement in secular activities as much. This means that the allocation of non-working time and its efficiency are important for the economic welfare of a country. In 1965, almost everyone had similar amounts of spare time notwithstanding their socioeconomic status. However, this has changed with time given that leisure time just like income has increased across the board (Aguiar and Hurst, 2006: 19). Secondly, it is now apparent that the biggest winners in the allocation of leisure time are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. This is to mean that today the poor seem to have more leisure time than the rich do. This goes a long way to prove that leisure activities are not immune to economic life. A substantial increase in the quantity of leisure time in the United States between the years 1965 to 2003 according to research has been experienced. Research has it that, the number of hours away from work has increased by six to eight hours for men. That of women has increased by four to eight hours. The less educated individuals experienced the largest increase. The researches have also exposed the emerging inequality in leisure with regard to the growing inequality in income and expenditure. There were adjustments that necessitated the increase in leisure time. For men, it was due to the allocation of less time to the market sector while for women it was due to the decline for time allotted for home production (dcms, 2010). There was also change in leisure time according to the educational qualification of individuals in society. It emerged that while there was uniform increase across the educational status, the less educated had more leisure time as compared to their educated counterparts. The fact that the least

Justice System In China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Justice System In China - Research Paper Example These changes have mostly been in response to the changes in the political, social and economic conditions of the respective nations as well as the philosophies followed by them. The developments taking place in the cultural and political spheres have played a key role in shaping and influencing the legal systems worldwide, and are apparent from the introduction of new laws over time. This paper on criminal justice aims to understand, assess and examine the criminal justice system in China, its historical and philosophical origins and the impact and influence of political and cultural elements in shaping the contemporary law in the country. Historical origins: China is regarded to be one of the few nations which boast of one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. However, according to studies, the country has faced several setbacks with regard to establishing and implementing an effective criminal justice system. China has seen a series of powerful dynasties, spanning over 4000 years of rich history, and witnessing the implementation of diverse systems of bureaucratic controls (Dammer & Albanese, 2010). Each and every single dynasty in ancient China had their own set of rules and laws comprising of criminal codes and statutes which were binding on all citizens. Some of the most prominent of these statutes include the Yuxing criminal laws established and implemented during the Xia Dynasty; the Tandxing criminal laws established during the Shang dynasty; the Qinlu criminal laws implemented during the Qing dynasty; the Hanlu laws during the Han dynasty; the Jiuxing criminal laws of the Zhou dynasty; the Tandxing criminal laws of the Shang dynasty; the Tanglu criminal laws of the Tang dynasty; among others. The criminal laws implemented by all these dynasties were governed by the administrative officials (Nwankwo, 2011). However with the change in political powers and the formation of new governance, which began with the establishment of China as the Peopleâ €™s Republic of China, during the year 1949; brought an abrupt end to the criminal laws observed for over 5000 years. When the Communist party assumed power in China, it set out to abolish all the old laws enacted by the previous governments, and replace it with new ones which were in sync with the universal laws and which complimented the new socialist regime (Nwankwo, 2011). The administration of the concept of justice in imperial China was founded on the basis of a set of values and theories. The conceptions of justice was largely influenced by three major schools of thoughts which included Confucianism, Legalism and cosmological. All the three schools of thoughts had a completely different approach although in principle, the philosophical justifications offered were the same. Eventually, the three schools of thoughts were finally merged together to form a common law based on a common rationale, during the Han dynasty between the period of 206 B.C. and 220 A.D. These set of l aws continued to be put to practice till the twentieth century (Muhlhahn, 2009). Philosophical origins: â€Å"Lead the people with governmental measures and regulate them by law (fa) and punishment, and they will avoid wrongdoing but will have no sense of honor and shame. Lead them with virtue and regulate them by the roles of propriety (li), and they will have a sense of shame, and moreover, set themselves right.† Confucius, in Terrill (2009) pp. 556 During earlier times, the concept of equal

PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXERCISE MODULE 6 Assignment

PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXERCISE MODULE 6 - Assignment Example In risk identification, lists of possible risks are generated through risk profiling, brainstorming along with problem identification. In risk assessment, the vulnerability of the risks are analyzed and measured (MacCrimmon Wehrung, & Stanbury, 2006). In risk response development, the risks manager identifies all the activities which aim in reducing the likelihood of the risks from happening. These include; risk mitigation, risk avoidance, risk transfer and risk retaining. However, in risk response control, the risks managers establish a change management system and risk control such as initiating contingency plans while monitoring, tracking and reporting risk (Lientz & Larssen, 2006). 2. Explain the relationship between risk and cost during the project life cycle (5 Points) The relationship between risk and cost during a project life cycle is that, on the basis of uncertainty, risk management cost under certainty while risk loss cost under uncertainty. During project development, th e project developer has to balance cost and risk by understanding their relationships as well as, developing a learning organization from cost and risks lessons. During the project development, the cost and risk are very high. ... The project change control is significant because it allows the project team to identify, evaluate, approve as well as, document the proposed changes to the project baseline. First, the process is initiated a change request. The change request is a formal mechanism used to propose and assess a deviation to the project being developed. After the change request is evaluated, there is approval that is granted at an appropriate level after which the change request becomes a change order for implementation (Larson & Gray, 2003). Second process is where the change order is communicated to the affected parties along with cooperating them in the project baseline in that data integrity is preserved and budgets reconciled across the project documentation such as work Authorization Document (MacCrimmon Wehrung, & Stanbury, 2006). In change control process, the three phases such as request change, review phase and documentation phase are accomplished in request change phase, appropriate classifi cation is determined, however, for the review phase, assessment of a proposed change request is accomplished while the approval is obtained from an appropriate authority level. Lastly, the approved changes are thus implemented and the integrated project baseline documents are revised in the document phase (Lientz & Larssen, 2006). Silver Fiddle Construction Case Potential risks associated with the project Risks are events which its occurrence can cause positive or negative effects on the project’s objectives. However, risk management helps in identifying, assessing, responding, monitoring as well as, reporting of the risks. For the Silver Fiddle Construction Case, the risk management plan will define how risks associated

Cognition domains Essay Example for Free

Cognition domains Essay Events that happen in an adolescent’s life can affect one of three domains; these three domains are known as ‘psychosocial’ ‘cognitive’ and ‘biophysical’. This essay will focus on the area of the cognition domain now this domain will be discussed in relation to an event that has affected my perception of the world around me, the way I feel in relation to blame and judgment and lastly the ability to learn how to be more reflective. My perception on life changed rapidly when I was informed of a tragic accident concerning the suicide of a family friend. This caused a rapid change in the way I thought about death, grief and sadness. â€Å"David Elkind proposed that formal operational thought also leads to adolescent egocentrism (difficulty differentiating one’s own thoughts and feelings)† (Sigelman, Rider, De George-Walker, Pg 173, 2013) This has impacted the way that I look at the world having gone through this experience I now see that people’s perception can change no matter what. I guess what’s trying to be said is that everyone’s perception is different and it is changing due to the experiences that we all encountering in our everyday lives. The judgment that came after the tragedy was phenomenal. Greg Newham will always be loved and greatly missed but never will he be forgotten. Was it my fault that he died? Greg Newham was a teacher. If I had visited him when the bell rang after school would he still be here today? I did not understand his wife’s decision to not let me go to the funeral. And because of this, because I never got to say my final goodbye it is hard to let go. Hard to move on. A book written by Temple University in the USA about seeking closure states â€Å"closure typically implies that something is finished, ended, closed. Finally you can move on† (2014). Without closure I feel that I am always judging myself. Always questioning my motives, wondering if I could have done more. The last aspect of cognitive development that was affected by this experience was learning. It is hard to live with the knowledge that someone’s death was your fault, even if rationally you know it wasn’t. Those left behind never usually learn the reasons as to why they harm themselves and those around them. Bronfenbrenner’s view of a developing person, with his or her  biological and psychological characteristics are embedded in a series of environmental systems which interact with each other and with the individual over time to influenced development. (Sigelman, Et.al, 2013), with all the developmental events that we all go through it is fair to say that the learning side of our cognitive development is always changing. This essay was written to explain the affects of our everyday lives and how it affects our cognitive domain. With what was said from Bronfenbrenner and David Elkind it is clear to say that the choices we make today do mostly change our lives in some way/s. I never completely understood the affects from my life could change the way I see and think about everything that I do today. References; Sigelman, Rider and De George-Walker, 2013, Life Span Human Development. Temple University, USA, 2014, http://www.temple.edu/tempress/chapters_1800/2136_ch1.pdf

What Affects Heat and the Movement of Heat

What Affects Heat and the Movement of Heat Umar Hill Imagine that you are in the kitchen and you are about to bake some cookies. You prepare your cookie dough, tray and oven. You put your tray filled with cookie dough in the oven and in no time the tray starts heating up. After a while, you wouldnt dare touch the tray with your bare hands. It would cause severe damage to your skin. The movement of energy allows the tray to gain energy in the form of heat. The energy that is being taken in by the cookie dough and the tray is all a part of the heat flow that is created when you put the tray into the oven. Heat flow is the thermal energy that is created from the oven going into the tray and exciting the particles that make up the tray. This movement of energy is affected by a few things; one of them is surface area. Surface area is involved in the movement of heat and it affects how fast the transfer is. Knowing how it affects the movement is important to understand ways that heat transfer can be changed and to predict which objects would gain or lose energy faster in a given situation. Before learning about what affects heat and the movement of heat, we should start with learning about what heat itself is. Heat can be described in multiple ways: the most recognizable is the state of being at a high temperature. In this case, however, heat would be described as external energy moving throughout particles and being transferred between them. Simply speaking, heat is the transferring of energy and all matter contains heat energy, (Ryan, 2009). This transfer of energy always goes from a higher temperature area to a lower temperature area. The more excited particles with more energy move the particles that are close by. They gain energy and the whole substance is heated. If the cookie tray that comes out of the oven is left on the counter for a long time, it will eventually cool down. The tray is losing its energy when it is left in the room temperature air. As the cookie tray is left on the counter, the air gains energy. The energy from the tray is moving from the tray into the air around it and therefore it makes the surrounding air warmer. You would notice this if you held your hand above the tray: the air will feel warm. The fact that heat moves from hot to cold makes perfect sense, because if you think about it; an object that is hotter than its surroundings would never become even hotter without doing anything to it. The same goes for an object that is colder than its surroundings. So as the energy travels from the tray to the air around it, the two substances eventually reach a point where they are both equal in temperature. This is called the thermal equilibrium. As long as two objects or substances are not equal in temperature, there will always be a flow of heat from the higher temperature to the lower temperature substance. This flow of heat will continue until the substances or objects are equal in temperature. Another example would be if you took the tray straight out of the oven and poured a bag of ice onto it. The tray would cool. Th e energy in the tray is lost and it is going right into the ice. While the tray cools, the ice heats up. Over time the two will be the same temperature and both objects would be in thermal equilibrium. Touching two solid materials together that are a different temperature is not the only way to transfer heat. This is only one of the three methods and it is called conduction. Conduction transfers the energy through direct contact of objects. Matter is made up of moving particles and the particles are in constant motion. Whether they are vibrating, translating, or rotating, they are always moving. These motions give the particles kinetic energy, (Henderson, 2011). When the two objects collide, they transfer that kinetic energy to the other object, but nothing between the two physical items are moving. The material is not flowing; just the energy. As two objects collide, the particles in the higher temperature item loses its kinetic energy and the lower temperature item gains kinetic energy. The collision and the transfer of the energy is what would be the conduction. Think about a basketball rolling in one direction. Now think about another basketball that is identical rolling twice as fast in the opposite direction toward the first. After they collide they would roll away from each other because of the hit. The first ball would roll away faster than the second ball now because the second ball had more energy than the first one prior to the collision. Just like with heat flow, the energy was transferred from high to low energy. The higher energy ball lost energy after the collision and the first ball gained energy. Another method of transferring energy is convection. Convection uses the flow of liquids and gasses to move the energy. The movements of the fluids carries the thermal energy along with it to transfer the heat to different regions. Heat expands fluids and makes it less dense. Being less dense then results in a motion between the heated less dense and the non-heated more dense fluids. This motion in fluids creates a circulation within the fluid and carries the energy throughout the entire substance. Think about a bowl containing 10 red balls and 10 bl ue balls. The red balls would be on the bottom and represent the heated substance and the blue balls would be at the top and represent the original substance. When you stir the balls in the bowl, they are mixed up and are random. The red balls are now relatively evenly mixed with the blue balls. The energy is carried out throughout the blue balls and the entire substance is now heated. This is also why we say that heat rises. The hot air will circulate to the top of a house and the lower floors of the building [are] cooler, (Jarvis, 2015). Radiation is the transfer of heat through electromagnetic waves. Radiation is the heat that comes off of a source and spreads the energy to its surroundings. Everything radiates in the form of electromagnetic waves. The higher amount of thermal energy an object has, the more energy it radiates. When object radiates, it sends off waves that increase the energy of surrounding objects and thus increases their heat as well. There are factors that affect the rate at which heat is transferred. Temperature plays an important role in the rate of transfer. Specifically, the difference in temperature between two substances plays the role. Because heat will always try to move and transfer to form a thermal equilibrium, the rate at which energy is transferred will depend on the difference in the temperatures. The higher the difference, the higher the rate. A very hot substance will lose its energy to a very cold substance faster than a mildly warm substance will lose its energy to a cool substance. The rate at which the energy is transferred however, is always changing. If the difference in temperature is a factor of the rate, and as time goes on that difference becomes smaller, the rate will slow down overtime. If we use the ice on the hot tray example again, the ice would gain energy at a very fast rate because of the big difference in the temperature between the tray and the ice. Similarly, the tray would lo se energy at a fast rate. Overtime, the ice will melt and be much warmer, but not quite be the same temperature as the tray. The tray will cool down as well, but not quite be the same temperature as the ice. Because of the now smaller difference in temperature, it is known that the cool now-melted ice will gain energy at a slower rate and the warm tray will lose its energy at a slower rate. Another factor contributing to the heat transferring rate is the materials that the substances are made of. If hot water were placed in a coffee mug, it would take a little while to make the mug very hot; but take the same hot water into a plastic or Styrofoam cup instead, and the cup would feel hot in no time. This is because the material that the two cups are made of are different. The coffee mug makes the rate at which it gains energy slower than the plastic cup. Different materials gain and lose energy at different rates. This difference and the effect that a material has in the transfer rate of heat is called the thermal conductivity of the material; conductivity being the transferring of heat through direct contact of two objects. The higher the thermal conductivity is for an object, the higher the rate at which heat is transferred by it is. Scientists experiment with different materials to see which has a higher or lower thermal conductivity value. Low thermal conductivity val ues are referred to as thermal insulators, (Henderson, 2011). The distance that the heat must be conducted also plays a part in the rate of transfer. The thicker the wall of an object is, the slower the rate of transfer. Think about the walls of a cup. As the ceramic particles at the boundary between the [heat] and the mug warm up, they attain a kinetic energy that is much higher than their neighbors, (Henderson, 2011). This means that the particles heat up their neighbors while taking time and eventually the heat will transfer through an object. Taking a plastic cup and pouring hot water into it would make the cup heat up at a fast rate because of its material, but that rate can be slowed down if the thickness of the plastic cup is increased. Because the hot water has to travel a longer distance to lose its energy, the cup is heated at a slower rate. The distance between the two slows down the transfer rate. The farther the energy has to go, the slower the rate. People wear multiple layers of clothing and coats when going out into cold weather . This is because the radiation of heat coming off our bodies is transferred into the cold air slower because of the multiple layers. Thickness is a good way of insulating heat and keeping things warm. The heat coming off of our bodies is trapped under the coats and multiple layers and continues to keep our bodies warm since it is not lost to the coldness of the air around us. As we know, if we bring two objects that are initially at different temperatures into physical contact, they eventually achieve thermal equilibrium, (Hall, 2014). Thickness affects this movement because it takes longer to move further. Since thickness or distance affects the conductive heat transfer, it would only make sense that the area of the objects being transferred are involved as well. If a marble was placed over a small fire, and another marble twice the size was placed the same, the small marble would gain the thermal energy of the fire faster than the big marble. All chefs know that trying to cook two things that are different in size in the same oven for the same time will never work. The two foods would just never cook the same. One food would be cooked and the other raw, or one will be cooked and the other burnt. This is because of the area in the objects. A larger area will slow down the rate of transferring the heat. The wider a surface area an object has the slower th e rate of transfer. Why does this happen? It all has to do with what is actually involved in the transfer of thermal energy. The faster moving particles excite the nearby particles, (Ryan, 2009) and the energy is carried out through the whole object. Every particle of an objects surface is always involved in the transfer of thermal energy. Therefore, the more area an object has, the more particles are involved and the longer it will take to conduct the energy. The reason why heat flow exists is because there is a difference in temperature and the energy is being transferred to maintain an equality of energy. Unless the thermal equality is reached, there will be a heat flow between the substances. The movement of heat and the transferring of thermal energy is affected by (depending on which method) the material, the temperature difference, the distance, and the surface area of the two objects. The factors that cause these differences in rates are important to understand the behavior of thermal energy and how it works. The flow can be insulated with distance, material and area. The area affects the rate because every particle of the object is involved in the transferring of energy. The larger area an object has, the slower the rate of transfer. Citation Page Ryan, B. (2009, November). Heat energy. Retrieved January 15, 2017, from http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Fire/Science-Ideas-and-Concepts/Heat-energy Hall, N. (2014). Heat Transfer. Retrieved January 17, 2017, from https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/heat.html Henderson, T. (2011). Methods of Heat Transfer. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/thermalP/Lesson-1/Methods-of-Heat-Transfer Henderson, T. (2011). Rates of Heat Transfer. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/thermalP/Lesson-1/Rates-of-Heat-Transfer Jarvis, L., Simonson, D. (2015, October 5). Heat Transfer: Conduction, Convection, Radiation. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from https://www.wisc-online.com/learn/natural-science/earth-science/sce304/heat-transfer-conduction-convection-radiation Wisconsin Online | Heat Transfer. (2014). Retrieved January 16, 2017, from http://alaskapublic.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/lsps07.sci.phys.energy.heattransfer/heat-transfer/

Concepts in Accounting and Developing Financial Statements

Concepts in Accounting and Developing Financial Statements There are likely to be various user groups with an interest in a particular organisation, in the sense of needing to make decisions about that organization. User group Competitors they use for: to assess the threat to sales and profits posed by those businesses. To provide a benchmark against which the competitors performance can be measured Employees (non-management) to assess the ability of the business to continue to provide employment and to reward employees for their labour Government to assess how much tax the business should pay, whether it complies with agreed pricing policies and whether financial support is needed. Community representatives to assess the ability of the business to continue to provide employment for the community and purchase community resources. To assess whether the business could help fund environmental improvements. Investment analysts to assess the likely risks and returns associated with the business in order to determine its investment potential and to advise clients accordingly. Suppliers to assess ability of the business to pay for the goods and services supplied. Lenders to assess the ability of the business to meet its obligations and to pay interest and to repay the mount borrowed. Managers to help make decisions and plans for the business and to exercise control so that the plans come to fruition. Owners to assess how effectively the managers are running the business and to make judgements about lively levels of risk and return in the future. There may be conflicts of interest arising between the various user groups over the ways in which the wealth of the business is generated and/or distributed. For example, a conflict of interest may arise between the managers and the owners of the business. Although managers are appointed to act on behalf of the owners, there is always a risk that they will put their own interests first. They may use the wealth of the business to furnish large offices, buy expensive cars or whatever. Accounting information has an important role to play in reporting, the extent to which various groups have benefited from the business. Thus, owners may rely on accounting information to check whether the pay and benefits of managers are in line with agreed policy. A further example of potential conflict is between owners and lenders. There is a risk that the funds loaned to a business will be used for purposes that have not been agreed. Concepts used in financial statement are: a) Money measurement concept accounting normally deals with only those items that are capable of being expressed in monetary terms. Money has the advantage that it is a useful common denominator with which to express the wide variety of recourses held by a business. However, not all such resources are capable of being measured in monetary terms and so will be excluded from a balance sheet. The money measurement concept, thus, limits the scope of accounting reports. b) Historic cost concept Assets are shown on the balance at a value that is based on their historic cost (that is, acquisition cost). This method of measuring asset value has been adopted by accountants in preference to methods based on some form of current value. Many commentators find this particular convection difficult to support as outdated historic cost are unlikely to help in the assessment of current financial position. It is often argued that recording assets at their current value would provide a more realistic view of financial position and would be relevant for a wide range of decisions. However, a system of measurement based on current values can present a number of problems. c) Going concern concept The going concern concept holds that a business will continue operations for the foreseeable future. In other words, there is no intention or need to sell off the assets of the business. Such a sale may arise when the business is in financial difficulties and it needs cash to the creditors. This convention is important because the value of fixed assets on sale is often low in relation to the recorded values, and an expectation of having to sell off the assets would mean that anticipated losses on sale should be fully recorded. However, where there is no expectation of the need to sell off the assets, the value of fixed assets can continue to be shown at their recorded values (that is, based on historic cost). This concept, therefore, provides support for the historic cost concept under normal circumstances. d) Business entity concept For accounting purposes, the business and its owner(s) are treated as quite separate and distinct. This is why owners are treated as being claimants against their own business in respect of their investment in the business. In the business entity concept must be distinguished from the legal position that may exist between businesses and their owners. For sole proprietorships and partnerships, the law does not make any distinction between the business and its owner(s). For limited companies, on the other hand, there is a clear legal distinction the business and its owners. For accounting purposes, these legal distinctions are irrelevant and the business entity convention applies to all businesses. e) Dual aspect concept each transaction has two aspects, both of which will affect the balance sheet. Thus, the purchase of a motor car for cash results in an increase in one asset (motor car) and a decrease in another (cash). The repayment of a loan results in the decrease in liability (loan) and the decrease in asset (cash/bank) f) Prudence The prudence concept holds that financial statements should err on the side of caution. The concept evolved to counteract the excessive optimism of some managers and owners, which resulted, in the past, in an overstatement of financial position. Operation of the prudence concept results in the recording of both actual and anticipated losses in full, whereas profits are not recognised until they are realized (that is, there is reasonable certainty that the profit will be received). When the prudence concept conflicts with another concept, it is prudence concept that will normally prevail. g) Stable monetary unit concept the stable monetary unit concept holds that money, which is the unit of measurement in accounting, will not change in value over time. However, in the UK and throughout much of the world, inflation has been persistent problem over the years and this has meant that the value of the money has declined in relation to other assets. In past years, high rates of inflation have resulted in balance sheets, which are drawn up on a cost basis, reflecting figures for assets, that were much lower than if current values were employed. The value of freehold land and buildings, in particular, increased rapidly during much of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, at least partly as a result of reduction in the value of each  £1. Where land and buildings were held for some time by a business, there was often a significant difference between their original cost and their current market value. This led to the criticism that balance sheet values were seriously understanded and, as a result, some businesses broke away from the use of historic cost as the basis for valuing this particular asset. Instead, freehold land is periodically revalued in order to provide more realistic statement of financial position. Although this represents a departure from accounting concept, it is a practice that has become increasingly common. h) Objectivity concept the objectivity concept seeks to reduce personal bias in financial statements. As far as possible, financial statements should be based on objective, verifiable evidence rather than matters of opinion. i) Separate determination concept the separate determination concept refers to in determining the aggregate amount of each asset or liability, the amount of each individual asset or a liability should be determined separately from all other assets and liabilities. j) Substance concept the substance over form holds if legal form of the transaction differs from its real substance, accounting should show the transaction in accordance with its real substance, i.e., how the transaction affects the economic situation of the business.

Symbols, Symbolism, Imagery, and Theme in Robert Frosts The Road Not T

Symbolism, Imagery, and Theme in The Road Not Taken The Road Not Taken is told by one person - there is no designation as to sex, station in life or age. This person has come to a crossroads in their life and has two options to choose from. The place in this poem is a fork in a path in a forest, and time is not specified though it could happen today, so it would be considered a contemporary piece. The premise of the poem is that the subject faces and then makes a life decision. Symbolism and imagery are used effectively to reinforce the theme throughout the poem. One instance of symbolism in the first stanza is "And looked down one as far as I could / To where it bent in the und... ...; It is an ideal held by most people that the successful and satisfied people of the world are not afraid to take a more difficult road and march to a different drummer. This is exactly what the character in this poem did by not choosing the common path through life, and in the later years of his life, he or she had the satisfaction of knowing that the choices made where the correct ones.

Australian Paper Manufacturers :: essays research papers

Australian Paper Manufacturers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before 1987, the Australian paper industry was divided into three companies. Australian Newsprint Mills supplied newsprint, Australian Paper Manufacturers produced paperboard, and Paper Company of Australia produced coated and uncoated fine-papers. All three of those companies were subsidiaries of major Australian corporations. Maitland sales, which owned Paper Company of Australia (PCA), recorded $495 million in net sales. Amcor Limited, which owned Australian Paper Manufacturers (APM), grossed $2.4 billion in net sales. APM decided to enter another aspect of the paper industry and dive into uncoated fine papers. They figured that they could draw on their strength in paperboard manufacturing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The making of fine paper or paper in general requires close attention to detail. The first step in making paper requires the wood to be pulped. This process refined the wood so that only the fibers remained. During pulping, the cellulose fibers were separated from the other components so it could be processed further. This process can be done in two different ways, mechanically or chemically. The chemical process produces much sturdier pulp, but unlike mechanical pulping, which uses 90-95% of the wood, chemical pulping uses 45-50%. Chemical pulping is also the least environmentally friendly of the two. When the fibers are made into fine paper, it goes through an immediate step called bleaching, where as chlorine gas and chlorine dioxide are applied to the pulp. After bleaching, chemicals such as, rosin, aluminum sulphate, or synthetics to reduce absorbency for writing papers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The annual consumption of fine paper in Australia rose to nearly 358,000 tonnes in 1987. Uncoated fine paper, such as photocopy paper, stationary, and offset printing paper, comprised 52% of that market, while coated fine paper, the type used in an annual report, comprised of the rest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When chemical pulp was bleached, about 10% of the chlorine used combined with organic molecules from the wood, which was discharged from the mill. Bleaching produced as many as 1,000 toxic chlorine compounds called organochlorines. Pulp mills discharged between five and eight kilograms of organochlorines per tonne of bleached pulp. Due to the fact that pulping requires large amounts of water to flush chemicals from the pulp, companies set up near rivers, lakes, and oceans. The discharge from these plants ran directly into these bodies of water. The most notorious organochlorine is called dioxin, under the name Agent Orange; dioxin was used heavily in the Vietnam War to remove ground growth. Australian Paper Manufacturers :: essays research papers Australian Paper Manufacturers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before 1987, the Australian paper industry was divided into three companies. Australian Newsprint Mills supplied newsprint, Australian Paper Manufacturers produced paperboard, and Paper Company of Australia produced coated and uncoated fine-papers. All three of those companies were subsidiaries of major Australian corporations. Maitland sales, which owned Paper Company of Australia (PCA), recorded $495 million in net sales. Amcor Limited, which owned Australian Paper Manufacturers (APM), grossed $2.4 billion in net sales. APM decided to enter another aspect of the paper industry and dive into uncoated fine papers. They figured that they could draw on their strength in paperboard manufacturing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The making of fine paper or paper in general requires close attention to detail. The first step in making paper requires the wood to be pulped. This process refined the wood so that only the fibers remained. During pulping, the cellulose fibers were separated from the other components so it could be processed further. This process can be done in two different ways, mechanically or chemically. The chemical process produces much sturdier pulp, but unlike mechanical pulping, which uses 90-95% of the wood, chemical pulping uses 45-50%. Chemical pulping is also the least environmentally friendly of the two. When the fibers are made into fine paper, it goes through an immediate step called bleaching, where as chlorine gas and chlorine dioxide are applied to the pulp. After bleaching, chemicals such as, rosin, aluminum sulphate, or synthetics to reduce absorbency for writing papers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The annual consumption of fine paper in Australia rose to nearly 358,000 tonnes in 1987. Uncoated fine paper, such as photocopy paper, stationary, and offset printing paper, comprised 52% of that market, while coated fine paper, the type used in an annual report, comprised of the rest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When chemical pulp was bleached, about 10% of the chlorine used combined with organic molecules from the wood, which was discharged from the mill. Bleaching produced as many as 1,000 toxic chlorine compounds called organochlorines. Pulp mills discharged between five and eight kilograms of organochlorines per tonne of bleached pulp. Due to the fact that pulping requires large amounts of water to flush chemicals from the pulp, companies set up near rivers, lakes, and oceans. The discharge from these plants ran directly into these bodies of water. The most notorious organochlorine is called dioxin, under the name Agent Orange; dioxin was used heavily in the Vietnam War to remove ground growth.

We Must Put an End to Gender-related Stereotypes and Stereotyping Essay

We Must Put an End to Gender-related Stereotypes I have heard it said many times and by many women, "I wish that I were a man. Men have it so easy. . ." It is a statement which stems from the fear and anger that comes from so many years of oppression and abuse; a statement which stems from the pressure to meet the present impossible standards of beauty and bodily perfection. At times it seems to be an understandable statement to make. Admittedly, I have found myself wishing that very absurdity when the pressures of being a woman have seemed to be too much. But as I get older, and hopefully wiser, I am happy to say, and even very proud, that yes! I am a woman. It is a very exciting time for me as a young woman to watch the changes that our world is undergoing at the present moment. So much is going on around us that it seems like anything could happen and that all things are possible. It is all very scary and exciting at the same time. I am not exactly sure how or when the Women's Rights movement began, but I do believe that we have come a long way, and that we also have a long way to go before we are free of those gender-related stereotypes and immense pressures to be "The Perfect Woman." I know that many skeptics will question whether or not that freedom is attainable, but I truly do believe that at this point in time all things are possible. I believe in the equality of the sexes. I believe in the equality of all people whether they be black, white, female, or male. Perhaps it is easy for me to be so positive and hopeful amidst these skeptics because of the family that I have. I don't think that I was aware of the "roles" that men and women adopt because in my family there seemed to be no roles. Both of my parents have... ...he worth of the true beauty within us that so often goes unseen. I believe that every woman in America experiences this. There is so little self-acceptance as we end up living our lives for the fantastic expectations of men. Both Alice Walker and Nora Ephron were finally able to transcend their hang-ups but it took them so many years and an awful lot of tears to be able to finally throw up their hands and give up trying to meet all of the expectations of the world. It is sad that a woman must reach her mid-life, when the pure beauty of youth is lost forever, before she is finally able to shed all of those insecurities that are forced upon her throughout her life. It is hard, and I believe that an equal amount of effort is required from both of the sexes if we are ever going to be able to move beyond this. It is time to look within or we will continue to go without.

The links between school bullying and mugging and there affects on individuals lives

Is it possible that school bullying and mugging are closely linked? If so, can they have permanent side – effects on an individual's life? Too tall, too short, too fat, too thin†¦. I hate my hair†¦ I need a better car†¦ I can't wear that dress as I wore it last week†¦. these are the questions I faced the other morning, the silly thing is that I am confident that millions of other people are waking up and lobbying mini arguments within their minds of similar matters. But why are these matters so important? A very open question, yet in all generalisation can be linked to the word SOCIETY. Blumer (1969) identifies this as noted below: â€Å"Basically human behaviour is not determined by social forces. Rather, people are simply self – conscious beings†¦ † He states that due to ones self consciousnesses, questions similar to the ones asked above arise. The self consciousness of an individual is induced by those labels attached to us through the sub cultures in which we exist. These are closely linked to our childhood educational experiences. Control theory implies that social services will decrease levels of deviant behaviour by strengthening the bond between the adolescent and society. Labelling theory implies the reverse, that the process of formal adjudication through the juvenile court will first stabilize and then increase levels of deviant behaviour. Diversion programs were originally developed as an application of labelling theory, with the objectives of minimizing involvement with the juvenile court, referring adolescents to less stigmatizing social services, and ultimately reducing levels of deviant behaviour. An additional issue has been the effect of gender on service delivery to adolescents in the juvenile justice system. This paper examines these four issues using panel data and multiple regression of follow-up on baseline variables. The term ‘bullying' refers not only to physical and verbal abuse, but psychological attacks intended to inflict fear, distress and to physically harm the victim (Farrington, 1993). Extensive research into the bullying/victim relationship shows that there are two distinct groups (or subcultures). For example, Olweus (1991) found that only one bully in ten was also a victim, while only one victim in eighteen was also a bully (taken from Fishman, Mesch, Eisikovits, 2002). This assumption shows that victims and offenders originate from different parts of society and are in fact judged upon popularity and peer acceptance rather than merit. In fact personal merit i. e. educational achievements, alongside social and physical appearance (Salmivalli, 1998) can turn an ordinary individual into a victim within an educational setting. In comparison, perpetrators saw themselves as being physically fit and popular among their peer group. Those who were victims were often those who felt unpopular and lacked the social skills to form peer relationships. According to Farrington (1993), Adolescents who lack good friends have no support when exposed to an offender's aggressive behaviour. The term ‘mugging' refers to a psychological fear and possible physical attack on a victim. When pupils are constantly being assessed and classified, it is on this basis that they are defined as able or less able. Then placed accordingly in particular sets or streams, entered for particular examinations and given or denied access to certain parts of the school curriculum. Teachers are more likely to define middle rather than working class pupils as the ‘able bodies', the ‘good students' and the ‘well – behaved' based on first impressions or certain stereo-types such as a middle class family is more likely to take interest in there child's education. This in turn disadvantages the working class pupils. A label is a major identifying characteristic. If for example, a pupil is labelled as ‘bright', others will respond to him/her and interpret their actions in terms of this label. There is a tendency for self – fulfilling prophecy to result. The pupil will only act in terms of the label and see themselves as bright, thus fulfilling the prophecy others have made. Muggings are thought of, at times, worse than bullying as the ordeal can leave a psychological scar in the way that person may perceive people in the future. The level of this can vary depending on the loss of items or the ordeal itself. All these factors will cause the victim to look at people in a different way, or even change their own behaviour in the future, asking themselves questions like ‘should I take this much money with me? ‘ or ‘should I tuck this chain in? ‘. Bullying is most commonly thought of as occurring in classrooms but unfortunately has a lasting effect on ones development from adolescence to adulthood to the outside world. It is the ‘name calling' and constant ‘teasing' that makes the individual being bullied i. e. the victim, begin to turn into themselves and think about who they really are. They create questions and insecurities within their own thoughts, as to why they in particular have been singled out as the ‘odd one' that does not ‘fit in'. Questions such as what are they calling me, why are they calling me by such names and what factors of myself do I need to change to avoid being called the latter†¦ (Which takes us back to the very beginning of this analysis) †¦ Too tall, too short, too fat too thin†¦. I hate my hair†¦ I need a better car†¦ I can't wear that dress as I wore it last week†¦. The creation of society! If bullying and mugging were earthquakes, the understanding of the epicentre is imperative, the two tectonic plates grinding, causing the earthquake, would be the Labelling theory and Subculture theories. These two theories lend a hand in explaining how and why anti social behaviour such as bullying may arise and its effects on society at large. The Sub cultural theory suggests that society is made up from several sub cultures that can each be defined by their own set of values and norms, separate from those of the wider society. Members within a sub culture share common values and have similar behavioural patterns, often based around social characteristics, such as ethnicity or styles generated by individuals within a sub culture. Sub cultures usually share some features with the host culture, but may also be oppositional to it. Sub cultural theories attempt to explain why these groups, most of which are concerned with ‘youth gangs' and gang delinquency, engage in deviant acts. The theories also analysed the formation of delinquent youth subcultures within the context of strains and pressures exerted by society. According to Cohen (1955) sub cultures are formed within an educational setting due to status deprivation. This is where a desirable ‘status' such as being popular or accepted by peer groups would be sought after by students and invariably be found through creating a sub culture. For those individuals where status was denied, Cohen (1955) again suggesting this to be a direct result of failure by the educational system leading to failure at work, status deprivation was resolved by the formation of primary groups (the most common form of which was gangs) (Cohen, 1955). By creating specific sub cultures, members, predominately young males, allowed themselves to achieve status positions within a structured group therefore satisfying their desire for some form of status (Cohen, 1955). These sub cultures often resulted to violent and aggressive behaviour towards their peer groups, taunting and victimising other youths, both physically and psychologically. Cohen claimed that if the educational system were to allow an alternative outlet for such status satisfaction, then the need to create a sub culture would be destroyed thus avoiding the anti social behaviour such as bullying. Using Cohen's ideas, it can be said that a bully will be looking for a desirable status. The mugger can be seen as one of these subgroups, and can be seen as a subgroup of bullying (taking it one step further by taking someone else's possessions) or as a subgroup of a gang (where the act is carried out within a group). It is possible for this to give the individual, or an individual within a group, a certain level of status and gained acceptance within a group. Where the Sub cultural theory attempts to explain bullying as a result of social definitions and status, interactionsists suggest that this is not the case. Interactionism, according to Blumer (1969) indicates three central beliefs that characterise social behaviour. Firstly, ‘human beings act towards things on the basis of the meaning that things have for them'. This means that human behaviour is not determined by social forces but rather that people are simply self conscious beings. Secondly, ‘the meaning of things is derived from, or arises out of the social interaction that one has with one's fellow's'. Here Blumer (1969) suggests that meanings are not fixed but are continually tailored and adjusted as individuals integrate with one another. Thirdly, ‘group action takes the form of a fitting together of individual lines of action'. Thus society is not so much a determinant of human action as a product of human activity. Social order is therefore inherently fragile, as it is highly dependant on shared, miscellaneous meanings. So the Interactionism idea would explain mugging as the 1st central belief, ‘human beings act towards things on the basis of the meaning that things have for them'. Thus saying, that a mugger may carry out their act based on what they will gain from it, which could be anything from increased wealth to other possessions. An alternative would be that the person only carries out a mugging based on meanings that are adjusted, such as the person will have carried out the mugging based on a new circumstance or new scenario, which would not have been the case the day, week or year before. Already it is clear to see how these two theories present opposing explanations to bullying and mugging. On one hand the sub cultural theory claims that there are rigid norms and values within society, forcing individuals to comply with the rules. It implies that those who do not conform or are deprived the chance to gain social recognition and desired statuses within society are forced to create their own group in which they can achieve status satisfaction. On the other hand, interactionism argues there are no fixed rules but rather ever changing, shared values that are dependent upon social interaction. It suggests that the extent of bullying and mugging is dependent upon how individuals interact within society. From interactionism stems a new approach which once initiated is widely known as the Labelling theory. The classic formation of this theory is that of Howard Becker 63†², who said ‘.. The central fact about deviance (is that) it is created by society. I do not mean this in the way it is ordinarily understood, in which the causes of deviance are located in the social situation of the deviant or in â€Å"social factors† which prompt his action. Rather, those social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitution deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an â€Å"offender†. The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied – deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label'. Howard Becker 63†² Labelling and bullying both occur simultaneously throughout levels in schools. For example, the breakdown of a ‘typical' classroom layout is that of many diversities and similarities at the same time. There are two different approaches when discussing the relationship between social cognition and social behaviour, and specifically, between emotion and bullying. An information-processing model which shows how aggressive behaviour as resulting from processing biases in one or more steps in a 5 stages social information process (Dodge, Pettit, McClaskey and Brown, 1986; Dodge and Feldman, 1990; Crick and Dodge, 1994). It is this theory when applied to bullies and victims that this social skill deficit model tells us that bullies do in fact have similar deficits to aggressive children. However the victims, on the other hand, lack these social skills of assertiveness and group entry. As a direct result, this in turn means they have less experience in social interaction, in the teasing and play fighting which both in family and peer relationships, may enhance the interpretation processes of emotional expression, social skills, sense of control and self-efficacy (Smith, Bowers, Binney and Cowie, 1993). Labelling and mugging occur early on, during school. For example, the mugger is grouped as being from a poor family or labelled as a ‘trouble maker' by their elders. Giving the child a negative image and possible loss in their confidence to perform to what ‘society' expects. The muggers' emotion can vary; one could say that they lack any compassion to their victim and only have their eyes on their reward. But from another perspective, one could say that the mugger may feel compassion but due to the circumstances they are in, they feel like this would be their only solution. Advocates of this power-based theory (i. e. bullies simply bullying others around them to gain power over other less superior individuals than themselves), argue that bullies' desire for power or control is often strengthened by various social stereotypes about bullying including the negative reinforcement of the media (see the earlier discussion on social tolerance of bullying). It is has been said that bullies behaviour is cold and manipulative and that they are experts in social contexts. The problem of their behaviour can be directly related to the many emotions that surround moral transgression such as guilt and shame. Can it then be questioned as to whether; bullies actually understand other children's emotions but simply do not share them; thus lacking in empathy? Or perhaps they merely are unable to identify the suffering and pain in the victims and therefore they lack social skills? How do they feel during a bullying episode? Can and do bullies feel great for having been tough or have they the human emotion of guilt and feeling responsible for what they have done? If labelling exists within the educational system, and we have seen above how it is valid, then it is not only the behaviour of the bully and mugger that must be reprimanded but that of those who attach these labels. Looking at the educational system, it appears that those in authority, like teachers and others working alongside schools and the pupils inflict these labels upon them. By labelling these individuals, teachers will group these individuals into categories or boxes, thus causing divisions and a hierarchy within the class, and the educational system as a whole. This is because individual will tend to act according to the labels attached to them, thus fulfilling a self fulfilling prophecy. So from this we can see that there is a link between muggers and bullies. It can be seen that both want, in most cases, some level of status or acceptance and that both are categorised and labelled. Any individual that experiences either of these will also be left with psychological scars, which in-turn will change the victim in the way they behave or perceive things. The perception and behavioural changes are not likely to change with ease, and could possibly be detrimental to the individual. Social identity argues that social cooperation is a product of activation of a social identity. Social identity can be thought of as the psychological link between the self and the collective, in this case the school community. Through social identification, the school becomes a positive reference group for the pupil. When a student identifies with the school community, he or she sees themselves as interdependent with this community and he or she behaves cooperatively, upholding the school's rules and values. Tyler 1998, made a similar point. He argued that there were two inter-related aspects to self-worth: the collective and the individual. The collective aspect is reflected in pride in being a member of a school community, in terms of education. The individual aspect is reflected in having respect within this community. Tyler said, â€Å"As self-worth within a community increases in terms of pride and respect, social cooperation within that community also increases†. In other words, what each of us does is strive for a sense of belongingness and significance. Not only meeting our individual needs, but becoming a member of a positive reference group is also importance to us in society. After all, we are social animals. Work by Eliza Ahmed and her colleagues (2000) suggest that one barrier that needs to be addressed is the affective barrier associated with shame. The shame associated with a harmful act acts as a barrier to us thinking of ourselves as a fully integrated member of a community. Indeed, recent findings have shown that shame-management has been found to be an important mediating variable in the understanding of bullying and victimization (Ahmed et al. , forthcoming). The maintenance of bonds is mutually related to emotion: emotions are a means of cohesion. Nathanson (1992) has also argued that shame is the central social regulator that governs our social relations with others. Shame, as such, is closely connected with solidarity (in group cooperation) and alienation (out group competition). Humans are inherently social animals; lapses in important social bonds affect us as individuals. Threatened or damaged bonds create an environment for shame. A long period of unacknowledged shame arises from and generates failure of social connectedness as stated by Retzinger, 1991. Shame can be conceptualised as a thermostat; if it fails to function informatively about the state of our social relationships, regulation of relationships becomes impossible. Thus, shame is an important signal about the state of our social relationships. Shame management involves the search for coherence of identity. Acknowledgment of shame can lead to a greater integrity of the self and our social world; shame avoidance can lead to social alienation and conflict with the self and our social world. To conclude, it is safe to say that the links between school bullying and mugging and their affects on individual's lives are very prominent, and it seems both issues are here to stay in the twenty first century. It seems studies have shown that both bullying and mugging can have permanent side – effects on an individual's life. However, it would appear that if these bullies had not been boxed into groups, thus they would not fulfil their prophecy. Batsche and Knoff (1994) assert that the goal of creating safe schools cannot be achieved unless the issue of bullying is adequately addressed. In order to fully examine the issue of bullying, one would need to pay close attention to the structure of determinants of bullying from personal to social factors; focusing on various forms of relationships that exist in not only our personal lives but in our social lives. For example, relationships between bullies and families, schools and society; all affect the way we behave. It is these other relationships among the victims, bullies and bystanders; as well as relationships between counsellors and other school staff, that are all working together as a team combat bullying. These two theories have shown in this discussion that school bullying and mugging are linked and that bullying can only lead to far worse behavioural problems in the future – both physical and mental.

Marketing Analysis: Mayo Clinic

Marketing Analysis: Mayo Clinic December 14, 2012 Marketing Analysis: Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic: is in the business of providing patient care through their many different Clinics and hospitals. They are ranked number two as one of the top twenty hospitals for heart and heart surgery per the Forbes list of top hospitals, and they ranked seventy one out of one hundred in the top one hundred places to work (Forbes, 2012). The Mayo Clinics are a not-for-profit hospital and teaching center that is renown throughout the world. They became known as the hospital that treats the diseases no other facility or physician want to treat.They have over thirty eight hundred physicians and scientist as well as over fifty thousand Allied health care workers on their payroll. They also have thirty six hundred medical residents, fellows and students through their medical schools. Their slogan is â€Å"We strive to turn the impossible into the possible† (Mayo Clinic Annual Report, 2011). â€Å"The Mayo Clinic cared for more than one million patients at its campuses in Minnesota, Florida, Arizona and Mayo Clinic Health System, a network of clinics, hospitals and health care facilities serving more than seventy communities in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin† (Mayo Clinic Annual Report, 2011, pg. 7, para4). From their beginning in 1863, William Worrall Mayo insisted on standards that would be considered innovative for the time. And as the demand for their services increased, they formed a team of doctors and researchers and became â€Å"the first private integrated group practice. † Initially this practice of teamwork among doctors was viewed as unconventional, but soon patients realized the advantages of the pooled resources, having doctors and scientist under the same roof with knowledge and skills, patients and student came from around the world to learn and be treated (Dickson, 2012).Mayo Clinic over one hundred years ago made it clear through its mission and visi on that the patients’ interests would not be served well if doctors were competing with each other. William Mayo emphasized that making a commitment to the patient; doctors must make a commitment to each other: â€Å"Continuing interest by every member of the staff in the professional progress of every other member,† would be vital to nourishing the organization’s future. Patients are the Mayo Clinic’s first priority and they do not base care on a patient’s ability to pay.Most of the staff is not even aware of a patient’s status, which allows them to give the patients the best care possible without having to worry about being paid (Mayo Clinic, nd). The Mayo Clinic has some fierce competition, such as Johns Hopkins Hospital. Johns Hopkins is an institution with a mission to† improve the health of our community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in patient care. † They also advertise with commercials on television , radio, and in the newspaper.They have internet Social media marketing in place and through their multi-media relations staff, they are able to pierce the market of patients within the United States and abroad. (Johns Hopkins Hospital, nd). The services they offer are comparable to The Mayo Clinic and both are rated in the top 25 best hospitals to work for by HealthExecNews. com. However, Johns Hopkins did not make the top 100 list for Forbes. The four â€Å"P’s† (Product, Place, Price, Promotion) ProductBrand – Mayo Clinic; the name alone is known as a leader in the medical field for their dedicated physicians, scientists and allied health staff that work together as a team to put the needs of the patient first, known as â€Å"The Mayo Effect. † There are three main hospitals and several clinics that offer medical treatments and services as well as training, residencies and fellows for medical professions (Mayo Annual Report, 2011). Product features â⠂¬â€œ Patient satisfaction and quality care given to patients are some of the main reasons that patients choose the Mayo Clinic.Known as the place to go for specializing in treating complex illnesses, patients can receive uninhibited care, regardless of ability to pay (Mayo Clinic, nd). Packaging – The Mayo Clinic is well known throughout the world for their research as well as their teaching facilities for medical professions. In addition, they partner with many facilities to serve communities in five states, while maintaining three main Hospital facilities in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida (Mayo Clinic, nd). Product lines – They have several, mainly books and CD’s on health and wellness.They also have a customer base of over 900,000 people for their Mayo Clinic Health Letter and Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource subscriptions, which are mailed monthly with a quarterly special report as part of the subscription. Having tested the market for potential int ernet subscriptions in 2007, they found many were not interested, but in 2008 the test showed there was more interest in that option (Fletcher, 2010). Place Channels of distribution – Most referrals are from word of mouth; people recommending the organization because of a good experience they had.Media: Mayo utilized the local media by offering their physicians the opportunity to share their expertise with the community through bi-monthly consumer health segments (Weiss, 2009) Internet: Mayo can be found on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Linkedin, and their new patient blog; Sharing MayoClinic (Weiss, 2009). Advertising: Mayo utilizes media through stories and partnerships with the local news as well as sponsoring health events. They do not use mass media advertising and they rely on their reputation (Weiss, 2009).Physician referrals: come from around the world, because Mayo has a reputation of caring for patients others may not want the challenge of caring for or they do not know how to (Weiss, 2009). Physical distribution – Services are administered through care givers and physicians during visits to either the hospital or office visits. The â€Å"Mayo Effect† uses strategies to achieve their goals and mission â€Å"with collaboration, expertise and compassionate commitment to the health and happiness of their patients† (Mayo Annual Report, 2011).Retailing choices – Patients have several choices to receive services, through the hospital, a clinic visit, and now the minute clinic. Mayo has two Minute clinics’ that are a walk-in center and are used to assess and treat minor conditions, and monitor chronic conditions of patients and no appointment is required. The wait time is usually less than 15 minutes. (Keckley, Ph. D. , P. H. , 2008). Inventory decisions – The minute clinics are a new way to see patients that may have less urgent needs such as; sore throat, pink eye, minor cuts and burns, or chronic diseases that may need monitoring.The clinics offer walk-in services to anyone, and they have the ability to look up patient records through Electronic medical records (EMR) leaving no paper record needing to be stored. Centers are being staffed by nurse practitioner and physician assistants with assistance of proprietary technology designed to help diagnose and treat non-serious medical conditions. These centers are now being seen in many pharmacy chain stores and even places like Wal-Mart and Target.Jumping on the band wagon so to speak, Mayo clinic sees the Minute Clinics as a source of patient referrals for their physicians as some patients that come for treatment will be referred to a Mayo Clinic doctor if there is a need for follow up or if their presenting condition needs more treatment then the Minute Clinic can provide (Keckley, Ph. D. , P. H. , 2008). Price Cost-based pricing – Most health care is based on a health insurance system making payments based on a third party pay er system, so the price for care is usually set by entities outside of the doctor-patient relationship.Because of this system, providers do not need to compete for patients based on money prices. Medicare sets prices and national policies for health care services, while health insurance companies negotiate with providers for services and they offer incentives to reduce costs and reduce performing unnecessary procedures (Nelson, 2009). Value-based pricing – In comparison, Mayo is a high cost provider when compared to other Minnesota providers, and many insurance providers list Mayo in the bottom of their tiered health plans, based on cost not quality.Mayo may need to charge more to private pay patients to cover the shortfalls from uncompensated care and public payers (Medicare and Medicaid). â€Å"Because public payments rarely cover the cost of care, providers must charge private payers higher rates if they expect to stay in business† (Nelson, 2009,para 15). As we ente r into new reforms being designed to cut costs and improve quality care the current system is about to change and we can only hope for the better.Competition-based pricing – The Mayo Clinic is able to keep costs down, because they pay their physicians a salary and not on a fee for services like many other health care organizations do. Being a center for excellence, they rank higher in quality of care than other organizations which gives them an advantage when negotiating with insurance companies on the price for services. Because they have an integrated approach, they perform less unnecessary procedures than other organizations, which will keep a patients overall cost down (Nelson, 2009). PromotionCommunication plans – Mayo Clinic is on the cutting edge by initiating an electronic database which allows interaction with other physicians and shared information through an affiliation agreement and e-consultants. With changes coming in the health care delivery system, and payers, Mayo is aggressively expanding their affiliation with other providers. Being known as a center for excellence, they are often called to give a consultation on difficult cases. Becoming an affiliate of the Mayo Clinic gives the provider the ability to use their name in advertising as well as consult with the Mayo Physicians.The goal of Mayo Clinic is â€Å"to be the leader in efforts to get hospitals and physician groups to work together more effectively to improve quality and lower costs† (Graham, 2012). Public relations – Being a pioneer and leading the way is not new for the Mayo Clinic, being one of the first to initiate a Facebook web page that people can write on its wall and share all types of content, is a way of communicating and gaining customers. People are using the site to share stories about their own or a family members experience with the Mayo Clinic. These stories are than shared and â€Å"liked† making this a form of word of mouth.Many w ill visit the site which also offers information and short videos on different subjects, as well as health support issues. They also have Podcasts that are offered at the iTunes store, and it once reached 29th in the Top 100 (Rollyson, 2008). Advertising – Mayo has not spent a lot of money on advertising and relies on reputation to bring in the patients. However, when they opened the Florida clinic in 2008, patients were not banging down the doors so to speak and they realized they needed to do something to attract the patients (Weiss, 2009).They rely on word of mouth and have taken initiatives that bring awareness to the organization. Having a Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube, Podcasts, local television health segments that allow people to call with concerns or ask questions, monthly new magazine and by sponsoring community health events. Employees are also a source of advertising, many are happy to share the Mayo philosophy (â€Å"the needs of the patient come first†) with others. Sales and selling activity – Being a not for profit organization, they are more concerned with quality as this will bring quantity.The Mayo clinic offers advertising ads and sponsorships in their e-newsletters and magazines as well as community events that promote health awareness. However, their financial goals take a backseat to their mission, which is to focus on the patients and meeting the needs of the patient first. Making themselves present on social media sites as well as sponsoring community events that promote health awareness, they are able to draw attention to their name. Having a strong reputation for quality care and their desire to put the patients’ needs before the need for payment, sets a standard that many organizations could learn from.Overall the Mayo Clinic system and philosophy sets a standard that is in a class of its own. Gaining a reputation that has lasted over a hundred years as one of the best organizations to be a patient of o r to work for says a lot for the way they are doing business. Offering other facilities and organizations the opportunity to be affiliated with the Mayo system will continue to bring awareness to the brand and promote their way of helping people, while bring the medical profession together working as a team. Reference: Dickson, F. (2012, May 5).The Mayo Mystique. Marketing Health Services. Retrieved From: http://www. marketingpower. com/ResourceLibrary/MarketingHealthServices/Pages/2012/Spring%202012/The-Mayo-Mystique. aspx Fletcher, H. ( 2010, August). Truth in Advertising. North American Publishing Company. Retrieved from: http://www. targetmarketingmag. com/article/mayo-clinic-puts-straightforward-direct-mail-creative-test/1 Forbes. (2012, July 17). Still the One: Cleveland Clinic Retains Top Spot On US News & World Report Heart Hospital Rankings. Forbes. comLLC.Retrieved from: http://www. forbes. com/sites/larryhusten/2012/07/17/still-the-one-cleveland-clinic-retains-top-spot-on -us-news-world-report-heart-hospital-rankings/ Graham, J. , (2012, Aug. 24). Mayo Clinic Seeks to Extend it Reach with Series of Affiliations Around the Country. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www. kaiserhealthnews. org/Stories/2012/August/24/Mayo-Clinic-Extends-Reach. aspx Hathaway M. , & Seltman, K. (2001, Winter). International Market Research at the Mayo Clinic. Marketing Health Services.