Saturday, August 31, 2019

Chemistry Concentration effects rate of reaction Essay

   I chose to use hydrochloric acid at 100% for the main experiment. Main Experiment For the main experiment I chose to change the concentration of the Sodium Thiosulphate. I will be testing the concentrations 100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20% and 10% and recording the results. I will then plot two graphs, a time graph, and a rate of reaction graph. Results: HCL (cm) Na2S2O3 (cm) Water (cm) First Experiment (s) Final Experiment (s) Increase in Time. On the next page I have drawn a graph to show the time taken for the reaction. By looking at my graph I can see that some points are slightly off of the line of best fit. To make sure that my line of best fit wasn’t wrong, I decided to plot a reaction graph. To plot the reaction graph I had to work out 1/time for each result and then plot it on a graph. Instead of the time on the y axis of the graph, I had to do a scale for my 1/time and so the numbers were not too small I had to time the 1/time by 100, so on the axis I had to label it, 1/time x 10. The reaction graph is on the next page. By looking at the reaction graph I could see that the results for the sodium thiosulphate at 70%, 50%, 30% and 20% were quite away from the line of best fit. I retested these and worked out the 1/time for them, I then plotted them in blue on the reaction graph and found they fitted much better. These are the retest results: HCL (cm) Na2S2O3 (cm) Water (cm) Time Taken (Seconds) 5 35 15 60 5 25 25 80 5 15 35 167 5 10 40 251 Some results were significantly different. The original results may have not been as accurate as there may have been contamination, inaccurate measurements or different lighting making the image seem to disappear quicker. Analysis By looking at my results I can see that my prediction was correct: The more concentrated the Sodium Thiosulphate, the faster it will react. This is because there are more molecules of Sodium Thiosulphate, so they are more likely to collide making the reaction faster. When the concentration is lower, the reaction takes place slower. The following diagram, used in my prediction, seems to be correct. In the low concentration, 50% concentration on the Sodium Thiosulphate, you can see that although there are the same amount of molecules, there is water which the Hydrochloric acid will also ‘bump’ into. This means that the Hydrochloric acid is less likely to ‘bump’ the Sodium Thiosulphate molecules and thus, make the reaction slower. I have also found out that the higher the temperature, the faster the reaction takes place, this proves my theory correct in which the higher the temperature, the faster the reaction. However, this does not prove that the particles are moving faster as I would need an electron microscope to see if this was correct. However, when the concentration of the Sodium Thiosulphate and Hydrochloric acid is changed it also has an effect on the reaction rate. This is because there are more molecules of the Sodium Thiosulphate and Hydrochloric acid and thus, they ‘bump’ into each other more often. Evaluation Overall this reaction was successful, but I think it could have been made more fair. I carried out the experiments over several days, and this may have made it unfair as the temperature and weather was different. I could have had more accuracy by carrying out the experiments in a temperature controlled environment. I also feel that the reaction was unfair due to inaccurate measurement, all measurements relied on the naked eye and may have not been the measurement we wanted, but appeared to be. I think that a way to make them fairer would be to use scales and weigh the chemicals, or use a pipette. Both of these methods are more accurate, but are much slower. In the main experiment I found some odd results, but retested them and they ‘fitted in’. The original results may have not been as accurate as there may have been contamination, inaccurate measurements or different lighting making the image seem to disappear quicker. I also feel that the reaction is an unfair one to test as it relies on the naked eye to tell when the image has been obscured completely. This can be difficult as different lighting levels can make it easier to see and sometimes the human brain may fool you into thinking the image is still there. I could change my method to make it more fair I could use lasers instead of the eye to see when the image has ‘gone’. I would place lasers on each side of the beaker, when the laser beam path gets fully obscured by the build up of sulphur, the beams would get ‘cut’ and the computer will accurately record when this has happened.

Friday, August 30, 2019

My Best Friends Secret Essay

It was Saturday and all my friends were playing chase in the neighbouring pastures with some other younger kids. As usual, I was stuck in my sizzling bedroom working on my random body part project. I longed to play with my friends in the windy park brimmed with beautiful leaves with shades of yellow, orange and red. I thought about informing my mum to let me have this day off, but I knew mum wouldn’t approve. I sighed at the thought. I took one last peep at the smiling and giggling friends before spinning around to complete my task. It was time for brunch, were I get to rest at last. My hands were red from all the writing and my nose was blocked. I might be coming down with a cold. I jiggled myself awake before slumping downstairs to the kitchen. It wasn’t a surprise when I saw my best friends and the pesky younger children sitting mutely at the dining table. I threw myself onto a couch bed and made myself comfortable. My mum fetched a jug of orange juice, a few cups and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. I gripped one of the filled glasses and two cookies. I settled down for afternoon television, but something was different. Nobody was talking, they were whispering about something. I desperately wanted to hear about the subject, but I didn’t want to be rude, so I turned back to the television show. Something bugged me inside my brain. What are they talking about? Is it about me? I shivered at the rhetorical questions. Now there was a buzzing noise of what I think is girly gossip. I edged closer towards the crowd of girls. I caught a few conversations: â€Å"Didn’t you hear? Thomas has a crush on Sohnjah!† â€Å"Don’t be ridiculous! He would never have such a crush on the watching TV girl there!† Both of them giggled. â€Å"I bet Sohnjah is gonna be embarrassed! She looks real easy to blush!† â€Å"Hate to admit it, but I think she likes him too! What a great couple the make!† â€Å"It will be a great wedding, for the two of them!† I gritted my teeth as they all buzzed on. Even my best friends, Mihindie and Nicky, were in this. So you were the people who spread that secret and you didn’t even tell me! Not going to tell me anything, are you? I flustered while stomping upstairs and into my mum’s room to sob. Dad came up next to me and patted me gently on the back. I cried silently, not letting any of my sniffles or tears come out. I grabbed my frustrated head and tried to calm down. It was difficult, since I never knew what the secret was about, nor when it started. All that time, when I was at band, Nicky and Mihindie were sharing this pathetic secret? I trotted over into my room and walked to the bedside table. I lifted the photo of me and my best friends at the zoo. I spat at the two heads of my friends with a disgusted look on my face. I fussed about them for an hour with my mum and dad until my mind reminded me of the time when they told me how fussy I am sometimes. I had to admit that they were right. I am fussy and uncontrollable. If they were here, they would never ever play with me. I had to promise never to lose my temper ever again.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Accounting for Managers

Managers frequently use CVP Analysis and Budgeting to screen business plans by evaluating a firm’s cost structure and sales volume needed to generate profit. Mountain Views Hotel is planning to open a â€Å"Boutique Hotel† accommodation in the Blue Mountains area that runs a Food and Beverage operation serving breakfast as part of the guest experience. Your team is expected to develop a successful business plan including making recommendations for improvement in future years. The Report will be written as if it were being presented to potential investors in the business. Use the Balanced Score Card approach to present key assumptions and justify them by research and analysis undertaken.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Discuss critically key results that would impact on your future decision-making including a fully supported explanation of how you could improve this business by making any changes.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Make recommendations to the proposed investors including ideas for the next steps to progress the business concept. Prepare your analysis as an authentic business report.   The Australian tourism and hotel industry have significant contribution on GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Australian. As per Price Water cooper house Report of 2009 it is estimated there are 6807 hotels employing almost 188000 people in Australia. The market outlook indicates that the hotel industry has matured because the numbers of hotels have declined over the years and also the income growth of the industry has been minimal.   But the situations are seen improving as the 2015 data suggests that both domestic and international visitors have increased. There has been 8.2% growth in international visitors and 7% growth in domestic visitors (Hall, 1991). In this report a business plan is developed for Mountain View Hotel analyzing the business opportunity of Boutique Hotel in Blue Mountains (Hardiman & Burgin, 2011).   For this purpose the hotel industry of Australia, tourism opportunity in Blue Mountains and the projected financial data of the proposed Boutique hotel are analyzed to develop an effective business plan and also to evaluate the investment decision. The objectives of the â€Å"Mount Boutique Hotel† for first few years are: The mission of Mount Boutique Hotel is to become the preferred choice of customers in Blue Mountain area. Mountain View is a well known hotel chain that is currently running a restaurant in Blue Mountain. It is planning to open a boutique hotel in Blue Mountain. The international and domestic visitors are expected to surge giving a positive outlook for the overall hotel industry. As per the economic forecasts data it is expected that international visitors will grow by 5.3% per annum for next three years. This growth in tourism numbers will have a positive impact on the Australian Hotel Industry. The demands for hotels are expected to grow by 3% per annum in next three years. There is an increasing demand supply disparity in hotel industry as a result it is expected that room rate will grow by 2.9% by 2018 (Anderson, 2006). It can be concluded that Hotel Industry of Australia is looking good and it is the opportune moment to make investment in this sector.   The Blue Mountains is just two hours away from Sydney and it is a perfect holiday destination for anyone looking for a break from hectic life style. The blue Mountain offers spectacular scenic beauties like Three Sisters at Echo point, dinning, shopping, spa, bush walking and other natural attraction (Hudson & Lang, 2002).   It is an ever growing tourist destination with tremendous growth potential. From an hotelier point of view the current market scenario offers an excellent investment opportunity in Blue Mountain. There is a growing optimism in hotel industry because of positive macro economic developments. Being in tune with the overall market sentiment Mount View hotel has decided to start a Boutique Hotel in Blue Mountain. Boutique hotels are much smaller in size but they are stylish and unique further it tries to provide separate experience than that of corporate run hotels (Presbury et. al., 2005). The advantages of a boutique hotel are: The above analysis shows that Mount View hotels decision to open a boutique hotel in Mount View is justified. The aim is to become the best in class boutique hotel in Blue Mountains (Bruner, 1998). It is estimated to have total eighty rooms out of which 30 rooms will be high end deluxe rooms and there will be 50 standard rooms.   The deluxe rooms will include king sized bed, a desk, a mirror and a color television. Further the bathroom of the deluxe room will be of four to five meters with a sink, toilet and shower. The total estimated cost for starting the Boutique hotel is $754800.00. The details are given in the table below. To fund the project a mortgage loan of Rs. 500,000.00 is to be obtained at 8% per annum.   The remaining fund of 254,800.00 is to be provided by Mountain Views hotel. The viability of any business plan is determined by analyzing its projected financial performance.   The business plans are often screened for determining their financial viability by using cost volume profit analysis (Scapens, 1985).   The CVP (Cost Volume Profit) analysis helps in determining the effect that costs and volume has on profit. The Cost Volume Profit (CVP) analysis are often performed to determine the future activity and to provide valuable insight on: There are certain assumptions that are made while performing CVP (Cost Volume Profit) analysis (Drury, 1992), they are: The cost function is a process of dividing the total costs into fixed costs and Variable Costs (Binswanger, 1974). The total cost can only be ascertained after the estimated financial statement is prepared. The projected financial statements are prepared on the basis of certain assumptions and they are: The first step of performing the Cost Volume Profit Analysis is to estimate the cost functions. On the basis of the projected financial statement each cost is determined as either fixed or variable costs.   In the projected financial statement of Mount Boutique Hotel the estimated variable costs is $ 2234605.00 which is $96.49 per unit and the estimated fixed cost is $3153904.00.   The estimated fixed costs include Direct Labor costs of $803,040.00; overhead costs of $1696084.00; selling expenses of $259850.00 and administrative expenses of $394950.00. The estimated variable costs include direct material of $88.49 per unit and over head of $8.00 per unit.   The contribution is calculated by deducting Variable costs from sales. So the contribution margin ratio is that part of the sales that exceeds variable costs (Garrison et. al., 2003). It can be used to pay fixed costs. The contribution margin ratio measures operational efficiency, a higher ratio suggests higher efficiency. In the projected financial statement of Boutique hotel estimated sales is $6995325.00 and estimated variable costs is $2234605.00. The contribution margin comes to $4,460,720.00 that is 66.60% which is very high. It suggests that only 33.40% of total sales cover the variable costs and the remaining 66.6% is used to meet the fixed costs and earn profit. It can be reasonably concluded that any sudden increase in cost will not affect the profitability of the hotel because it has high contribution margin ratio which is a very healthy sign for any business.   The break even sale represents that level of sales where the profit is zero. At this level total sales revenue is equals to total variable costs and the contribution margin is equal to fixed costs (Blocher et. al., 2008). The break even sale is an important level because sales below this level will result in losses and sales above this level will lead to profits. In the projected financial statements of Mount Boutique hotel total fixed costs are $3153904.00 and the variable cost per unit is 192.60 so the break even sale comes to $4733857.83. The total estimated sale is $6695325.00 and the 70.70% of it is Break even sales. This means that business needs to achieve at least 70% of the estimated sales to attain no profit no loss situation otherwise it will make losses. This is a very high percentage and implies that there is a very heavy burden of fixed costs on the business.   It is suggested that business should re estimate its fixed costs structure and try to reduce the Break even sales to 50%.   The hotel should cut down fixed costs by $4399091.00 to attain the targeted break even sales.   The margin of safety is that part of the total sales that is above Breakeven Sales. It is calculated by deducting breakeven sales from total sales. The Margin of safety is a valuable indicator of profitability of an organization (Shih, 1979). It also indicates to the management how reduction of revenue will affect the break even of the organization. The higher the Margin of safety the better it is for the business. Because a low Margin of safety suggests increase in fixed costs, extra discounts or increase in prices by suppliers. So it is important to monitor margin of safety ratios. In the projected financial data of Mount Boutique hotel the total expected sales is $6695325.00 and the break even sales is $4733857.38 so the margin of safety is $1961467.62. The margin of safety ratio comes to 29.30% of total sales. It is suggested that Margin of safety ratio should be improved. It can be done by improving sales or reducing breakeven point.  Ã‚   The Operating Leverage is the analysis of relationship between fixed costs and variable costs. It is calculated by dividing contribution margin by income from operations. The operating leverages are high for companies that have large fixed costs in their total operation costs. A higher operating leverage suggests that every increase in sales will multiply profits when the breakeven point is reached (Lev, 1974). But if breakeven sales are not reached then higher operating leverage will intensify losses. So with high operating leverage a high level of risk is involved. In the estimated financial statement of Mount Boutique hotel the contribution margin is $4460720.00 and Income from operations are $1306816.00 so the operating leverage comes to 3.4 times.   This means that Contribution is 3.4 times more than income from operation so it can be derived that fixed costs are 2.4 times of income from operation which is very high. So it is suggested to take necessary measures to reduce fixe d costs.   The overall projected financial statement of Mount Boutique hotel indicates that it is a high return low risk business opportunity for any investor. The high breakeven sales and low Margin of safety is due to higher fixed costs (Alexander, 2001). The burden of higher fixed costs is due to the amortization of start up costs in initial years as it gets completely amortized then fixed costs will certainly come down thus improving the margin of safety and break even sales figure. The market analysis has shown that it is an opportune moment for any investor to enter into tourism sector. The expected growth figures are very attractive and it is also estimated there will be a shortage of supply as the increase in demand is much higher than that of supply (Jennings, 2001). If the overall macroeconomic views are considered then globally major economies are improving so it is expected that international visitors will surge in coming years. The Mount Boutique hotel will be one of its kinds in Blue Mountains. It will offer a unique experience to its visitors because of its prominent location and customized services. Further the staffs and managements are also experienced and every one of them has a valuable insight in the Hotel industry. In the light of the above analysis it can be concluded with certainty that investment in Mount Boutique will be profitable.   Alexander, C. (2001).  Market models: A guide to financial data analysis. John Wiley & Sons. Anderson, B. A. (2006). Crisis management in the Australian tourism industry: Preparedness, personnel and postscript.  Tourism Management,27(6), 1290-1297. Binswanger, H. P. (1974). A cost function approach to the measurement of elasticities of factor demand and elasticities of substitution.  American Journal of Agricultural Economics,  56(2), 377-386. Blocher, E., Chen, K. H., & Lin, T. W. (2008).  Cost management: A strategic emphasis. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Bruner, R. F., Eades, K. M., Harris, R. S., & Higgins, R. C. (1998). Best practices in estimating the cost of capital: survey and synthesis.  Financial Practice and Education,  8, 13-28. Drury, C. (1992). Cost-volume-profit analysis. In  Management and Cost Accounting  (pp. 205-235). Springer US. Garrison, R. H., Noreen, E. W., & Brewer, P. C. (2003).  Managerial accounting. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Hall, C. M. (1991).  Introduction to tourism in Australia: impacts, planning and development. Longman Cheshire. Hardiman, N., & Burgin, S. (2011). Canyoning adventure recreation in the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (Australia): The canyoners and canyoning trends over the last decade.  Tourism Management,  32(6), 1324-1331. Hudson, S., & Lang, N. (2002). A destination case study of marketing tourism online: Banff, Canada.  Journal of vacation Marketing,  8(2), 155-165. Jennings, G. (2001).  Tourism research. John Wiley and sons Australia, Ltd. Lev, B. (1974). On the association between operating leverage and risk.Journal of financial and quantitative analysis,  9(04), 627-641. Presbury, R., Fitzgerald, A., & Chapman, R. (2005). Impediments to improvements in service quality in luxury hotels.  Managing Service Quality: An International Journal,  15(4), 357-373. Scapens, R. W. (1985). Cost—Volume—Profit Analysis. In  Management Accounting  (pp. 59-74). Macmillan Education UK. Shih, W. (1979). A general decision model for cost-volume-profit analysis under uncertainty.  Accounting Review, 687-706. Accounting for Managers Gola and Costa set for establishing a business of selling fruit juices. The location of the shop is inside Shopping Arcade and nearby a supermarket. Their plan is to provide fresh juices to their customers, earn a significant amount of profits and sell off the same in the future course of time.   They will follow just in time for inventory management. Gola is under the impression that they will be successful in earning profits by controlling their cost as he believes that for running a successful business, only profitability is the foremost criteria. Posta believes that their business will be successful due to their choice of location and due to the eating habits of the people. Since there has been a significant shift in the eating habits, people have become more conscious for their healthy well-being and this was one of the reasons why both the entrepreneurs had propagated such kind of idea of business. As an Aspiring MBA graduate studying accounting for managers and being there friend, I can make them understand and analyse many other aspects apart from profitability and location of business. Since I am specializing in the field of Management and Finance I can help them in some statistical analysis which they are significantly missing on their part. Before setting of the business, it is very important to discuss the kind of industry in which they are supposed to enter a detailed analysis is required to be done right from the point of financial investment to related cost both fixed and fluctuating , expected return in fair terms. It is also relevant that they search for their competitors and analyse their business as for how they are creating an impact in the business environment. The location of the business, which they have decided is quite favourable. However, to achieve the same, both of them have to make a significant investment in terms of leasing. It refers to borrowing the property against paying for its value for a significant period of time. For this, they have to enter into an agreement with the lessor of Shopping Arcade. It is equally important that they understand the terms and conditions of leasing properly and should have a lease term of 5 years so that they can cover all their cost during this period of time (BusinessDictionary.com, 2016). For the purpose of investment, they need to have availability of funds. It is required that they approach a bank who can arrange for their finance. They need to convince the bank regarding their potential profitability of business. For this, they should have the significant backup plan on paper which is able to prove with reasonable estimates and assumptions that their prospective business is a successful plan for the future. It is also important that they should be aware of the cost of capital which will be required in their leasing terms. After arranging the significant amount of loan and arranging the same for the lease the next part is to analyse various types of cost associated with their business. Cost can be divided into fixed and variable component. For example, fixed cost will be the lease amount which is to be spread for the period of 5 years cost. Blending machines, refrigerators, furniture, benches washing up sinks, falls into fixed cost.   Variable cost will be the cost of raw materials like all those fruits which will be purchased on a daily basis. Fixed costs remain the same irrespective of the level of output while variable cost changes as per the level of output. Variable cost can increase or decrease as per the level of production but fixed cost remains the same throughout the level of production (Boundless, 2016).   After analysing all the significant cost, the next component is the break-even analysis. Break even analysis refers to the function where it is required to determine what is required to sell on a monthly or annual basis in order to cover the cost of doing the business. Like, if fixed cost is $2, 00,000 and expected contribution will be $4, break even will be $50,000. This means they will earn profits after covering $50,000(Cleverism, 2016). Setting up of standards and its importance: It is also required to set a standard for sales. This will act as a benchmark for their business as how much is required to earn in order to cross the level of breakeven point and earn a significant share of profit. By setting up standard it can be later compared with the actual sales figure. Like, for first quarter sales expected is $15,000 but actual sales was $18,000. Thus, it is a favourable condition for them as actual has exceeded its standards. With the actual figure and standards, variances can be computed for the future relevance (AllBusiness.com, 2016). The reason behind the setting up of a standard is equivalent to setting up of short term goal which will be quite helpful in achieving a long-term goal for the business. For cost, monthly expected expenditure is $10,000 but actual came to $12,000. Reason for extra $2,000 will be analysed and corrective action to be adopted for the same. Budgeting helps us to identify unnecessary expenditures and in making us adaptable towards the frequent changing financial position of the business. Budgeting ensures that we will have sufficient amount of money in order to meet the requirement of the business. It will be advisable to Gola and Costa that they should understand the essence of budgeting and implement the same for the success of their business. The concept of budgeting will help Gola and Costa immensely. It is an important tool which will control the flow of money in their business. It will also ensure that their business will turn out to be very effective and efficient in the long run ( Mymoneycoach.ca, 2016). One of the main reasons behind the term of the lease is to cover all kind of fixed cost during that period. Since it is the plan of Gola and Costa to sell off their business in future, it is required that their business should run in scientific and profitable manner. For this, they need to understand the relevance of documentation in terms of recording finance, lease papers terms of bank loans etc. The prospective buyer will analyse the business in his own way. Unless and until he finds it’s economically viable, he will not take over the business. Now, economic viability can be analysed by way of proper maintenance of records, lease papers, bank loan’s terms, and conditions etc. He will analyse that whether the said business was profitable or not. Whether the bank loan taken has been paid off and all other statutory dues or complied with or not. Lease papers will also be verified. This needs to be understood by Gola and Costa since the beginning of their business. It is very important that they should keep in mind since the beginning regarding selling off their business in the future course of time. This will drive them more proactively to achieve their short term plan which is in the form of standards. By achieving the short-term standard, they will be able to achieve their ultimate aim, i.e. profitability. Unless and until the business is not profitable, it won't remain attractive for the prospective buyer to take over the same in future.   It is also important that the business gains popularity amongst the consumers. This will help in creating the brand image for Gola and Costa and will it yield in terms of goodwill while selling off the business. Both the buyer and seller will be in a profitable position if a business has developed a brand image of its own in the market. The whole process is beyond the concept of capital investment decisions. It involves the role of management accounting as in terms of setting targets and achieving the same, producing raw materials i.e. inventory management, handling the customers and creating a favourable image in front of them etc. So, apart from having the knowledge of finance, it is equally important that Gola and Costa should be aware regarding management accounting and other important aspects. With the help of the above-stated concept, it will help Gola and Costa to have the efficient and effective setup of business. To conclude, it is required that Gola and Costa should not only rely on the concept of profitability or location of business. They should be quite aware regarding the concept of break-even analysis, an estimate of sales and setting up of targets, different types of cost involved and their implications, importance of budgeting in their business, arrangement of investment with the help of a loan from bank and requirements for selling off their business in future. By following these above concepts of finance and management accounting, they will surely succeed in their attempt for a successful venture (Debitoor.com, 2016). AllBusiness.com. (2016). Creating a Budget and Sales Forecast | AllBusiness.com. [online] Available at: https://www.allbusiness.com/creating-a-budget-and-sales-forecast-977-1.html [Accessed 11 Dec. 2016]. Boundless. (2016). Types of Costs. [online] Available at: https://www.boundless.com/economics/textbooks/boundless-economics-textbook/production-9/production-cost-64/types-of-costs-240-12338/ [Accessed 11 Dec. 2016]. BusinessDictionary.com. (2016). What is a lease? definition and meaning. [online] Available at: https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/lease.html [Accessed 11 Dec. 2016]. Cleverism. (2016). Break-Even Analysis: What, Why, and How. [online] Available at: https://www.cleverism.com/break-even-analysis/ [Accessed 11 Dec. 2016]. Debitoor.com. (2016). Management accounting - What is management accounting? | Debitoor. [online] Available at: https://debitoor.com/dictionary/management-accounting [Accessed 11 Dec. 2016]. Mymoneycoach.ca. (2016). What is Budgeting and Why is it Important? | My Money Coach. [online] Available at: https://www.mymoneycoach.ca/budgeting/what-is-a-budget-planning-forecasting [Accessed 11 Dec. 2016]. End your doubt 'should I pay someone to do my dissertation by availing dissertation writing services from

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Module Practical Research application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Module Practical Research application - Essay Example evidence that has demonstrated that learning can be significantly enhanced by using the appropriate technology, but the rapidly evolving and developing technologies in some cases leave the teachers with the feeling of unpreparedness regarding how they are used in the inclusive classrooms. Hooper and Rieber (1995) acknowledge that teaching is a demanding job and consider the different way that technology has not been able to have a considerable effect on education in the past while going further to outline the conditions needed for technology to be utilized efficiently in the future. Based on their work, Hooper and Rieber (1995) suggest that the idea and products are supposed to be integrated and the teachers must endeavor to familiarize and utilize the technology through integrating, reorienting and evolving its stages in order to use it effectively. They further state that the teachers who develop ways of integrating technology have a chance to re-conceptualize the part they play in the classroom and through guidance from research findings associated with cognitive psychology and other associated areas, teachers may develop an environment where the students can engage aggressively in perceptive partnerships with the available technology. According to Hansen (2008), developmental concerns are among the challenges that influence the use of technology especially with young learners, regardless of this; some critical aspects of literacy have been enhanced in the cases where technology is available. Hansen’s study was intended to measure when and what forms of technology were incorporated into literacy teaching and learning meant for students in the second grade through conducting interviews as well as observations. The results of the research demonstrated that the curriculum remained consequent to intervention and technology was utilized in both literary learning and teaching almost forty percent of the entire time. With this increase in the use of technology, the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Tourism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Tourism - Research Paper Example Consequently, tourism is advantageous to any nation that desire growth. Countries should encourage tourism because it creates a significant amount of job opportunities, leads to economic growth, and enhance the preservation of cultural heritage. Tourism is among the sectors that create employment opportunities for people. The service nature of tourism is human resource intensive. As one of the globe’s leading job creators, it allows migrant workers, youth, and women to enter quickly into the workforce. About 250 million people, representing approximately eight percent of the world’s workforce, work in the tourism sector (Unep, 2011). According to United Nations Environmental Program (2011), fifty percent of the employees in the industry consist of people aged 25 years and below. It further says that women make up the majority of the tourist industry workers, which is between 60 and 70 percent. Developing countries greatly benefit from sustainable tourism investment as it helps in the creation of job opportunities especially for people that are poor. Apart from the creation of direct job opportunities, there is evidence of the sector creating many indirect employment opportunities. Indirect jobs grow in segment s that lean towards the natural environment and local culture. It is estimated that about one and a half indirect jobs spring from one job in the primary tourism industry. Examples of indirect workers that a person working in the hotel can create may include travel agency staff, taxi drivers, guides, food suppliers, textile workers, gardeners, souvenir shop staff, laundry workers, and airport employees. Developing sustainable tourism can further increase employment opportunities since it allows people to work on water, energy, and waste services. The relationships enhance multiple workplace situations such as part-time, full-time, casual, temporal, and seasonal jobs. Tourism is thus an

Monday, August 26, 2019

Blog Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Blog - Essay Example 350). Therefore, breastfeeding is important to the health of the babies until they reach the recommended age for introduction of the artificial foods. However, it will be a surprise to find out that new studies show that breastfeeding might be associated with hyperbilirubinemia. Although the studies have not conclusively implicated breastfeeding to hyperbilirubinemia, considerable evidence indicates that feeding a baby on breast milk can cause the illness. Hyperbilirubinemia is an illness that causes the red blood cells in your body to breakdown, and release a substance known as bilirubin into the blood. Bilirubin refers to the yellow substance in the blood, and it is a by-product of the breakdown of haemoglobin contained in the red blood cells (Lindh 2010, p. 919). Haemoglobin supports the transportation of oxygen in the red blood cells. It is noteworthy that the liver breaks down the old red blood cells. The high levels of the bilirubin in the bloodstream cause the yellowing of the skin and the white parts of the eye. The condition that causes the eyes and skin to turn yellow is known as jaundice (Lindh 2010, p. 919). Although bilirubin does not affect the infants, the accumulation of the by-product can be toxic to your bodies. It is advisable for babies to receive treatment after their delivery. The accumulation of bilirubin is referred to as hyperbilirubinemia, which new studies have associated with breastfeeding in infants. Many pregnant mothers, friends, and family members do not know the issues surrounding breastfeeding as brought forth by the new studies. Similarly, the healthcare providers have limited knowledge regarding the negative realities of breastfeeding. Likewise, the popular lifestyle magazines have not captured the new facts as revealed by continued research on the breastfeeding. Specifically, the association of breastfeeding with the development of the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Operational Policies and Procedures for HIE Research Paper

Operational Policies and Procedures for HIE - Research Paper Example Conversely, the HIE possesses a structure as well as a syntax of electronic communications that provide standard ways of conveying and delivering information. Hence, the message-based where information is given as a message as well as document-based systems that involve sending information as a structured document/forms. To mention a few of the standards are the Accredited Standard Committee X12 (ASC X12) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (Public Health Data Standards Consortium, 2015). The Health Information Exchange policies involve the lines of arguments that tend to rationalize the courses  of  action towards the management of Health Institutes (AHIMA, 2011). Thus, various plans have been put up by the Medicare agencies and practitioners to oversee that patients’ information are safe and showing support through federal funding for the HIEs. Therefore, Medicare HIE policies can consider the access controls, accounting for disclosures, authorization procedures, as well as consumer education, data integrity and quality among other policies. Thus, under access controls, the Medicare institutions should determine those individuals that require access to the information that are shared within the HIEs as well as establishing the policies and procedures used for managing authentications and auditing. Subsequently, the HIEs should consider reviewing their business associate agreements, language and signatories in addition to their methods for managing sensitive records and patients. By doing so, they ensure access control, as well as functionality of the systems, are stable (AHIMA, 2011). Patient authorization, as well as consent, poses a challenge to most HIEs (Sewell & Thede, 2013). Therefore, it would be of significance for the HIEs to consider their accountability towards disclosures. Thus, this will tend to look into patient/customer requests pertaining their PHIs. Hence, this is achievable in

Genetically Modified animal-to-human xenograft Term Paper

Genetically Modified animal-to-human xenograft - Term Paper Example The present article discusses the perception about xenotransplantation as an opening for a better future and the fact that for others, it signifies a move towards one more AIDS-like epidemic. The article discusses research, debate and also the decisions in this area of science. Xenotransplantation, as the name suggests, is a kind of transplantation that is performed between two different species; it encompasses transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs, usually as transplantation from non-human animal species into humans. This could be from mouse to humans or from pig to humans. The transformed tissue or organs are known as xenografts/ xenoplants. On the other hand, if the transplantation is performed between two similar species, then the process can be referred as allotransplantation. With the increasing population, there is an increase in demand for health care and facilities that performs these procedures. It is not currently possible to perform allotransplantations. Moreover, a great number of patients in anticipation of getting organ replacement die on before they get the alternative organ or tissue. There is an augmented demand for allotransplants of heart, kidney and liver, and the most feasible method sought to fulfill the enhanced demand is xenografts. This is of critical interest to those whose ailing lives are on the verge of death and who are still waiting for any donated organ or tissue. A survey was performed to take an assessment from patients regarding their understanding of types and techniques of transplant. The results display that around 75% of respondents knew about xenografting; of these 50% were ready to accept a xenograft for self and 43% for relative; 10% found a xenograft to be intolerable. On the other hand 40% were uncertain and wanted to know about the technology (Arundeii,, 1996). Only 27%

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Strategic Management - Assignment Example According to that organization forms its strategies to get benefit of opportunities or to handle industrial or environmental problem. Strategies of business focus on diversified ways to achieve success. Environmental analysis establishes a linkage between business and its operating environment. Various socio economic and sustainable issues are highlighted in this analysis. In this case study three important framework are used to explain importance of environmental analysis in growth and success of organization. External environmental analysis gives a detail idea about industry. There are some major forces which controls and influence the entire business environment of a country. In this case study environmental analysis of United Kingdom is done. Explaining and analysing various factors of environment organization develop its future actions and events. This analysis also gives information about other players present in the market. The companies form a clear idea about existing compet ition and its competitive position in the market. This framework analysis highlights unpredictable and important environmental factors of UK market. PESTEL analysis explains six macro level environmental factors. These factors play a vital role in affecting business decisions of a company. Political: UK has many political rules and regulations which affects the establishment of business strategies. UK government has imposed several laws and regulations regarding retail management and its waste disposal. Wide range political factors affect Tesco’s operation and business process. Different types of taxes are levied by UK government on the business activities of Retail Company. For example Tesco have given many taxes for conducting its business operations (Meckel 79). Tesco forms strategies to reduce its tax burden in its operating market. The government of this country also encourages the retail company to develop and expand its business

Friday, August 23, 2019

Things Fall Apart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Things Fall Apart - Essay Example They knew that they would capture the natives in their trap which was in form of assistance (Okpewho 32). With respect to the coming of the white man in the village, the white religion started. The villagers thought that it was good to adapt, follow it and this caused them to continue changing with time. Could not withstand the forces of the changing people who could not stick to their traditional way of living Okonkwo followed the community’s traditions strictly all the times. For example, he beat his wife Ojiugo who failed to do her duty of preparing a meal for her husband and the entire family because she came late after plaiting her hair. The wife adapted the British lifestyle whereby women had the rights to do what they wished because they had power while the African culture, the role of a woman in the society was to make sure that she handled all the responsibilities assigned to her with great commitment. For example, according to the religion, during the peace week, no one was right to beat anyone. Okonkwo did it because according to his culture it was right to beat a woman any time when she wronged. Probably, he forgot that it was against the practices of the African culture to do it during the peace week. According to the beliefs, he committed an offence unacceptable to the gods. (33).The introduction of the white’s religion caused so many changes to the natives of t he Lbo society for it prevented them practice their culture and beliefs. In addition, the coming of the white man in the society caused confusion to Okonkwo’s traditions and ended committing suicide. This was an abomination in the African culture and beliefs. Ibo villagers’ way of living continued to show great diversity as by 1900’s because of the British who wanted their culture to dominate in the area and the villagers started absorbing it. Native values of the community went on diminishing. Okonkwo’s son, ‘Nwoye’ was always calm, cool,

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Issues of grandparents raising grandchildren Essay Example for Free

Issues of grandparents raising grandchildren Essay Abstract This paper explores research regarding the impacts on grandparents and grandchildren when the grandparent assumes the parental role because of some type of parental fall through. The articles find that the financial aspect of raising grandchildren in your later years is quite costly as well is the negative health problems the stress of the situation can cause. This paper mainly looks at Baldocks (2007) research on the affects of every aspect of the new situation on the grandparents and grandchildren. Baldock (2007) and the other research used for this paper all suggest that there are multiple struggles that the grandparents will endure when raising their grandchildren. Issues of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren The clichà © life of a grandparent is usually thought of as taking the grandchildren to the zoo, baking cookies, and making crafts. Grandparents are also around to share their wisdom and experiences with the younger generation, however in todays society the amount of grandparents having to take in their grandchildren due to an issue in the biological parents lives has been on the increase for years (Baldock, 2007, p. 70). This change of role for the grandparents can have various affects on not only the grandparents but the grandchildren as well. There are many reasons as to why grandparents come into the situation where they need to take their grandchildren into their care such as teenage pregnancy, parental abuse, and parental drug and alcohol abuse. No matter how the grandparents come into obtaining their grandchildren each family have their own types of struggles they will have to deal with. Both the grandparents and grandchildren can go through multiple financial, health, and behavioral issues that can either bring the family out on top or hurt them, but many are choosing to overcome the difficulties and persevere through them. Literature Review There are many troubles in todays society with drugs, alcohol, and violence, all which are just a few of the reasons that many parents become unable to properly care for their children. These and many other circumstances are which have led to â€Å"approximately 2.4 million grandparents [being] responsible for raising their grandchildren, many in households without the parents present.† (Poehlmann et al., 2008, 165) The decision to undertake the responsibility of raising your grandchildren is a big one to make, however many times there is no decision to make because the children would end up in the foster care system if it werent for the grandparents. In a study completed in Australia about grandparent run homes, â€Å"of the 31,000 children living with their grandparents, 28,700 childrens biological parents lived elsewhere.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) This can make the strain of raising your grandchild even more difficult because of the emotional and financial burdens it may cause. Health Quality of Custodial Grandparents There have been various studies in which they have found that grandparents who take care of their grandchildren have mental and physical aspects of themselves that are in a disarray (Neely-Barnes, Graft, Washington, 2010, p. 87). The role of being a custodial grandparent is difficult not only because it is a new situation which they need to adjust to, but it can also cause physical and mental problems. The situation cause a lot of new emotions and stressors that â€Å"numerous studies have documented elevated rates of depression, parenting stress, health problem, and economic hardship among custodial grandparents.† (Poehlmann et al., 2008, p. 168) Many grandparents are well in their sixtys and so â€Å"when the children arrive, grandparents are unlikely to be prepared for the dramatic and often sudden changes caused by unplanned parenthood.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 73) The grandparents generally see an increase in health related problems because they are put into a situation where they need to focus on the care of their grandchildren which leads to the grandparents health and well-being coming second and in which â€Å"custodial grandparents report worse self-assessed health than noncaregiving grandparents, particularly in the areas of physical functioning, bodily pain, role functioning, social functioning, and general health perception.† (Neely-Barnes et al., 2010, p. 88) Not only are the grandparents not being able to properly maintain their own health, but â€Å"among custodial grandparents, higher levels of depression have been found among unmarried grandparents who were not working.† (p. 88) This new parenting role that the grandparents are put into also effects their social life; â€Å"in one study, half of custodial grandparents reported that they felt isolated from friends in their age group due to their caregiving responsibilities.† (p. 88) Grandparents usually feel worn out by the amount of extra responsibilities they have come to take on which can make them feel worried when they think about having many more years of having to take care of their grandchildren. This type of constant worrying and stress can become quite a negative thing both for the grandparent and grandchild because â€Å"grandparents who are stressed are more likely to become depressed.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 73) Financials When grandparents are put into the situation of bringing their grandchildren into their care, one of the most difficult issues they have to deal with is the financial aspect of raising the children. The financial aspect of raising the grandchildren can be so hard to handle because many of the grandparents are older and even retired which means limited income. â€Å"In around one third of grandparent families (34%), one of both grandparents were employed, while 62% received a government pension, allowance or other benefit as their primary income.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) Children are expensive to raise because of the extra clothing, food, and home resources that are used. The grandparents are used to and comfortable with their current lifestyle and then when the unexpected young grandchildren are brought into the picture this can make the once sufficient income turn into financial instability. Grandparents going through legal proceedings can also be another reason finances are put into a bind when the need to take in your grandchildren is needed because â€Å"grandparents are commonly ineligible for legal aid and consequently face disadvantage in proceedings† (Baldock, 2007, p. 72). One way that is used to try to gain some type of extra income for the grandchildren is by â€Å"formalising their parenting role through legal proceedings [which] can be the only way grandparents are able to access financial support.† (p. 72) The cost of providing for their grandchildren and all of the court related procedures needed to be done becomes such a burden that â€Å"some grandparents have mortgaged their homes to undertake legal proceedings.† (p. 72) Impacts on the Family The result of custodial grandparents not only effects just the grandparents and grandchildren, but the whole family. The strain of raising grandchildren can be felt in the children of the grandparents â€Å"some felt resentful that their parents energy was going into raising their grandchildren and their own children missed out on a relationship with their grandparents.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 72) In many families the reason that the grandparents need to raise their grandchildren is due to some type of addiction from the birth parents. This drug use can cause emotional and social problems in the grandparents and grandchildren which can make the â€Å"grandparentsfeel blamed or express a sense of responsibility for their own childrens drug use.†(p. 73) Grandparents often feel as though there was something they could have done to prevent their childrens drug abuse which in turn would have prevented the need for them to raise their grandchildren. This feeling of â€Å"blame and shame exacerbate social isolation and increase psychological anxiety experienced by grandparents and their grandchildren.† (p. 73) The effects on the grandchildren of not having their parent or parents around is difficult to for them to cope with because â€Å"children separated from their parents because of alcohol and other drugs frequently face psychological, emotional and sometimes physical problems.† (Baldock, 2007, p. 71) According to Day and Bazemore (2011: children living without their biological parents typically present with high rates of psychological problems. Yet, by comparison, adolescents living with grandparent caregivers have the lowest levels of both internalizing problems (i.e. depressive symptoms, negative outlook, low self-esteem), and externalizing problems (i.e. nonviolent delinquency, general violent tendencies, and substance abuse.† (p. 103) Position I have first hand experience in the struggles and issues that can arise from a grandparent having to put their lives on hold and take in their grandchildren in order to provide them a loving and stable home. My parents are currently in the process of adopting my two nephews whom they, as well as myself, have taken care of since they were born. My sister is in a rehabilitation program in Northern New Jersey for addiction to pills, cocaine, and heroin and has been in and out of trouble since her early teens. Growing up the way I did because of the situations and conditions that my sister made my family endure has shown me just how difficult and numerous the issues are when raising your grandchildren. My mother is sixty years old and my father is sixty-two, both having some health problems. Health problems associated with age can have a significant affect on how the grandparents are going to be able to act in their new role as caregivers because many grandparents are older and their health is declining. Taking care of a six and a nine year old can be mentally and physically exhausting. My nephews have many psychological issues because their mother is gone and father is hardly around, these emotional troubles of my nephews also effect me and parents too. My nephews have ADHD and are quite sensitive which makes it even more difficult to calm them down if they are feeling upset or angry because they are missing their mother. I find the emotional impact it has on the children and family to be the greatest because of my experience in knowing how difficult is to cope with the entire situation. The financial responsibility for taking grandchildren in can be quite detrimental to the grandparents because many are retired or only working part-time in order to make a little extra money. My father is retired which has made the raising of two new children quite difficult before they received any assistance from the state. While most families receive financial assistance through state and federal aid, there may be certain circumstances in which a family has to come up with the money themselves. Grandparents know how expensive children are because of their past experience in raising their own children, however times have changed and the cost of raising children has significantly increased. This financial burden put onto the grandparents is not a choice they make, but rather something they just have to endure because there is no other option for the grandchildren. Afterthoughts It is obvious that grandparents who have to bring their grandchildren into their home and raise them because of varying circumstances will inevitably face numerous amount of hardships and issues. The grandparents being older makes the task of raising their grandchildren difficult, along with the cost involved in raising them and the legal proceedings that are done in order to protect the children. While the hardships of custodial grandparents is plenty, many â€Å"who have attended support groups say that it has made a positive difference in their lives† (Baldock, 2007, p.73), which can help them to cope with the new situations they are being placed in. Even though raising grandchildren comes with multiple and varying issues that make it difficult to do, â€Å"grandparents who are raising their grandchildren consistently report that the experience adds joy and meaning to their lives and provides them with companionship and a purposeful social and familial role.† (Kropf ; Burnette, 2003, p. 363)

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Age Of Neoliberalism Politics Essay

The Age Of Neoliberalism Politics Essay Neoliberalism is in the first instance, a theory of political economic practices that proposes that human well-being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms and skills within an institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets and free trade. The role of the state is to create and preserve an institutional framework appropriate to such practices. The state has to guarantee, for example, the quality and integrity of money. It must also set up those military, defence, police and legal structures and functions required to secure private property rights and to guarantee, by force if need be, the proper functioning of markets. Furthermore, if markets do not exist (in areas such as land, water, education, health care, social security, or environmental pollution) then they must be created, by state action if necessary. But beyond these tasks the state should not venture. State interventions in markets (once created) must be kept to a bare minimum because, according to the theory, the state cannot possibly possess enough information to second-guess market signals (prices) and because powerful interest groups will inevitably distort and bias state interventions (particularly in democracies) for their own benefit Its foundations can be traced back to the classical liberalism advocated by Adam Smith, and to the specific conception of man and society on which he founds his economic theories. Neoliberalism is, under this view, thought of as an entirely new paradigm for economic theory and policy-making the ideology behind the most recent stage in the development of capitalist society and at the same time a revival of the economic theories of Smith and his intellectual heirs in the nineteenth century. A great reversal had taken place, where neoliberalism had replaced the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes and his followers. Keynesianism, as it came to be called, was the dominant theoretical framework in economics and economic policy-making in the period between 1945 and 1970, The theory stipulated that full employment is necessary for capitalism to grow and it can be achieved only if governments and central banks intervene to increase employment. These ideas had much influence on Presiden t Roosevelts New Deal, which did improve life for many people. The belief that government should advance the common good became widely accepted. But the capitalist crisis over the last 25 years, with its shrinking profit rates, inspired the corporate elite to revive economic liberalism. It was then replaced by a more monetaristà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ approach inspired by the theories and research of Milton Friedman is an ideology somewhat similar to and yet markedly different from much conventional conservative thought, and often hardly recognisable as a genuinely conservative that individual liberty depends on there being a free-market economy, where the state has voluntarily given up its ability to control the economy for the good of society as a whole, or the interests of its own citizens. The main points of neo-liberalism include: The rule of the market: Liberating free enterprise or private enterprise from any bonds imposed by the government (the state) no matter how much social damage this causes. Greater openness to international trade and investment, as in NAFTA. Reduce wages by de-unionizing workers and eliminating workers rights that had been won over many years of struggle. No more price controls. All in all, total freedom of movement for capital, goods and services. To convince us this is good for us, they say an unregulated market is the best way to increase economic growth, which will ultimately benefit everyone. Its like Reagans supply-side and trickle-down economics, but somehow the wealth didnt trickle down very much. Cutting public expenditure for public service: like education and health care.reducing the safety net for the poor, and even maintenance of roads, bridges, water supply, again in the name of reducing governments role. Of course, they dont oppose government subsidies and tax benefits for business. Deregulation: Reduce government regulation of everything that could diminish profits, including protecting the environment and safety on the job. Privatization: Sell state-owned enterprises, goods and services to private investors. This includes banks, key industries, railroads, toll highways, electricity, schools, hospitals and even fresh water. Although usually done in the name of greater efficiency, which is often needed, privatization has mainly had the effect of concentrating wealth even more in a few hands and making the public pay even more for its needs. Eliminating the concept of public good or community and replacing it with individual responsibility. Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves then blaming them, if they fail, as lazy. Neoliberalism has played a major role in redefining the nature of the welfare state. The fundamental problem with neoliberalism, is their perception that the market can cure all problems especially when dealing with the welfare system, which they believe has no reason to exist. They prefer to use either negative income tax or other market-based means to provide for them. Whats worse is they rationalize not giving welfare people through a variety of means which Linda Gordon typifies the problem in their perception with her enlightening and shocking article Who deserves Help? Who must provide? Within it she explicates how the neoliberals pressure the poorest people in a society to find a job, then blame them if they fail, as lazy. She then delves into of how a major structural feature of the US welfare system is that stratification of entitlement justified by degrees of deservingness creates perception of deservingness and undeservingness.  [i]  Many studies show that welfare recip ients find welfare degrading and demoralizing, and greatly prefer the chance to work. There is no incentive for lazy people to enrol in welfare because the payments do not allow families to make ends meet. In the case of the US its gender based, more specifically for mothers (especially single ones.) Welfare mothers familys rent and utilities cost more than the welfare check. Even for those few who receive housing assistance, very little is left over to cover all other monthly expenses, such as transportation, clothing, hygiene and school supplies. The typical food stamp allowance is insufficient, and many recipients actually go hungry near the end of the month. To make ends meet, mothers have to receive income from somewhere else. They do so because they cannot get jobs that pay better than welfare. The very reason why they cant get any jobs that pay better than welfare is a direct result of neoliberal practices that result in only low-wage work remaining in the West. As a result of outsourcing, factories and subsequently jobs, neoliberal countries do nothing to stop multinational corporations from doing so for they would be affecting free trade. Thus allowing jobs to leave the country and people being exploited elsewhere. As well the only real jobs that are really created in recent years have been predominantly retail and service jobs that are low paying and thus inadequate substitutes for the working poor or mothers, to help themselves out of the poverty line. In their article welfare reform as race population control, Kenneth Neubeck and Noel Cazenave continue Gordons path, by charting the evolution of welfare racism and the rationale behind this racism in the United States through a detailed analysis of specific case studies. They delve into welfare racism against black people, immigrants in general and black women. Beginning with the 1911 mothers pensions (largely intended for white widowed women), Neubeck and Cazenave demonstrate that U.S. welfare policy has been racialized, gendered and stigmatized from its very inception, at times excluding and discriminating against African Americans, then eventually immigrants and at other times providing a limited form of highly stigmatized assistance. Using their concept of welfare racism as an analytical tool, the authors explain that: welfare racism exists as a major force shaping contemporary public assistance attitudes, policies and practices à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it serves three major functions, s ocial stratification and social control functions for racialized societies and their racial states.'  [ii]  Welfare racism provides social prestige for the general white population, political and career power for its politicians and other elites, and economic acquisition for the nations economic elite in the form of a large and easily exploitable low-wage labour pool. This is what is needed to perpetuate neoliberalism it is integral to the continual expansion of profits upon which capitalism depends. Neoliberalism is constituted not simply by the exchange of things but is founded on the commodification (which the next article the Three worlds of Welfare Capitalism further delves into) and exchange of labour itself: the source of profit. This is the primary goal of this racialization. As well in tracing the ways that welfare racism exists, persists and changes, Neubeck and Cazenave reveal the mythical and erroneous and persistent characterization of African-American women as welf are queens or welfare mothers. This racism-centered framework provides an excellent lens for exploring the links between stigmatized welfare policy and stereotypes of poor racialized women and men in U. S. social and political discourse. The reason this becazme a popular notion, that of stereotyping black people, immigrants and mothers (especially black ones) is that Neoliberalism is a failing policy, and has not been at all successful in reducing unemployment to the levels that free trade was purported to, in fact its increased ion every country that has implemented them, thus they have no choice but to rationalize this disaster of a policy by blaming not the economic component, but rather the people. Their either lazy, immigrants looking to freeload or welfare mothers who merely desire to have babies and again freeload off the system. Neoliberalism provides the jobs, they just dont want to work them. Their rationale sadly isnt backed up by statistics, for each year America and our country Canada loses major jobs in our manufacturing sector, which sadly service or retail based jobs we might gain dont make up for this loss. Neoliberalism has proven itself to be an unsuccessful ideology in the way it treats its citizens and the next article The three worlds of Welfare Capitalism really delves deep into Neoliberalisms commodification of its citizens. I will commence my analysis of this article by addressing the concept of commodification. Furthermore, I will summarize the three theories presented and apply them to the concept of commodification.   This will lead to the synthesis of themes presented and will, if my intentions are realized, provoke response to the idea of commodifying (or decommodifying) human labour.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whilst reading about commodified labour images of workers with price tags and discount tickets floated through my subconscious in much the same way one might imagine a car lot.   Rows of eager workers aiming to receive the best price for their resources and skills while at the same time guaranteeing they dont get passed over in favour of the more appealing offer in the next row.   Perhaps comparing human capabilities with a car lot appears crude and grossly dysfunctional, but the methodology behind such madness will become apparent.  I shall, therefore, draw upon this analogy in order to develop an analysis of Esping-Andersons welfare regimes. A commodified worker is, in simple terms, a worker with a price.   On a purely micro level, the individual determines what he or she must earn in order to survive within the constraints of the cash nexus, a decision influenced by macro level factors such as the demand and price typically awarded for a particular skill or qualification. Within the market the neoliberalism appears justified: the worker can freely choose between alternative utilities, jobs, employers, and leisure trade-offs. Thus, in a model free market, the worker is able to make decisions freely and without negative ramifications.  Conversely, it is the decommodification of the worker that Esping-Anderson aspires to as this definition of commodification implies that the market is indeed dogmatic.  Furthermore, in reality the market is far from stable and is unrelenting to those unable to participate. Referring to the analogy of car lots commodification requires several conditions including the stability previously mentioned.   This would enable the worker to obtain a fair wage from an employer in much the same way a dealer would assess a fair price to a worthy vehicle.  Ã‚  The absence of stability in the marketplace leads to the inability of workers to exercise freedom of choice.   Faced with the dilemma of an injury (think a head-gasket or deflated tires) the worker must withdraw from the marketplace to recover. But unlike a car with easily replaceable parts return to the marker may not be as simple or prompt and the worker will require an alternative means of income.   The inability to work decreases choice based on the sole premise that ones skills are no longer active and thus, no longer in demand as a commodity.   The employer will seek out alternative labour just as a dealer purchasing new vehicles for the lot would move right along to the cars in the next row; a fter all who wants a car lot of faulty or less than optimal vehicles?   The worker must find a means of survival.   It is within this framework the humanistic element of welfare emerges.   When a worker can no longer subsist independently, what resources exist to prevent degradation?   It is this dilemma which introduces the humanistic element to the analogy.  A car is easily replaced without much consequence to the defunct vehicle itself.  A worker, while potentially easily replaced, most certainly does experience the negative consequences negative of commodification.   For example, transition to a new job may require specific, time consuming, potentially costly retraining.   Esping-Anderson offers a critique of the three theories of welfare, feeling that although some attempt to solve the problem decommodifcation doesnt exist from any of these approaches, it only deceptively convinces the masses that they are being aided. The first theory is the social-insurance model. The adoption of the German social security approach by the Western European countries and the USA countries had two fundamental purposes; the first one to cover the human risks to guarantee a productive labour class; and the second one to maintain the security of the elites, through of control and the stabilization of the labour class. It sought to achieve two simultaneous stratification results. The first goal was to consolidate divisions amongst wage earners by legislating distinct programs for different class and status groups, each with its own conspicuously unique set of rights and privileges designed to accentuate the individuals appropriate station in life. The second objective was to tie the loyalties of the individual directly to the monarchy or in our case (state authority). The goal was to combat labour movements.  [iii]  The state is viewed largely as a minimal interventionist with any welfare allocated firmly upholding the stratification of society or maintaining the hierarchical/patriarchal structure.   The second tactic was Fraternal societies were voluntary mutual-aid associations. The principle behind the fraternal societies was simple. A group of working-class people would form an association (or join a local branch, or lodge, of an existing association) and pay monthly fees into the associations treasury; individual members would then be able to draw on the pooled resources in time of need. The fraternal societies thus operated as a form of self-help insurance company. Sadly despite this supposedly being a fraternal collectivistic approach and an example of a true communalism, the end result was stratification for the weakest, the most likely to need help wereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦likely[to] be excluded.  [iv]   A third porposed methodology was universalism, which is an integral system based on the provision of social welfare for all through public or private institutions rather than partial and individuals subsidies. Programs are established universally to serve everybody and are financed by Government. In this approach institutions are obligated to deliver social services to all without constrains As a principle universalism focuses in Society as a whole; it does not distinguish by class, religion, age, race, sexual orientation, or gender. Universalism in social policy is a re-distributive institutional approach; it considers social welfare as a very important institution of society providing general services outside the market on the basis of the necessities principle. Of course, the reality of fully socialized welfare programs is minimal due to the overwhelming maintenance costs and the problems experienced by governments that try to convince the population to pay higher taxes in order t o provide for those who do not compete in the market place, unwillingly or not. There are, however, several states which strive for high levels of decommodification the best examples situated in the countries comprising Scandinavia.   For him, this model incorporates the redistributions system of available resources along time. However despite sounding equitable the end result was not what was intended. Without verging upon the perimeter of repetition the following summaries of the three major theories presented by Esping-Anderson serve as the foundation for the ultimate link with commodification. This will illustrate the extent to which regime types with characteristics of any of the three regime-types embrace, or berate the decommodification of labour.   The neoliberal welfare regime argues that a free market will abolish class and inequality, while state intervention only strengthens issues of class. The neoliberal model argues that democracy and universal suffrage would be likely to politicize the distributional struggle, pervert the market, and fuel inefficiencies. In reality, however, the neoliberal regime, through the capitalist system, tends to commodify labour to such an extent that people were unable to survive outside of the market. Stripping society of the institutional layers that guaranteed social reproduction outside the labour contract meant the people were decommodified. This leads to a difficulty in class mobilization as workers are now nothing more than a commodity to be traded between industries. As such, they are unlikely to gain the political power to translate power into desired policies and reforms. Because the neoliberal regime is so reliant on market forces, the state will not intervene unless the familial or market institutions fail. Esping-Anderson refers to this structure as a residual or welfare state. Such a state is characterized by means-tested social assistance. This often punishes and stigmatizes recipients of social welfare and ultimately creates a system of class stratification, particularly between the middle class who relies on market social insurance and the poor who are reliant on state-sponsored social insurance programs. Generally, the benefits offered by the neoliberal regime are quite small, as social welfare is seen as a cause of poverty and unemployment, and may lead to laziness and moral corruption. The Social-insurance model disagreed with the idea of laissez-faire economic policies. Esping-Anderson suggests that Social-insurance model ideal was the perpetuation of patriarchy and absolutism as the best legal, political, and social shell for capitalism without class struggle.  [v]   The Social-insurance model paradigm sees a more authoritarian state as better fo r everyone, as opposed to a more chaotic system based on free markets. As such, the corporatist model created its first social policies because the corporatists saw liberalism democracy and capitalism as destroying the old hierarchical structure. In sum, the Social-insurance model does not want to see people starve commodification is morally repugnant. Rather, they want people to subordinate self-interest to recognized authority and prevailing institutions.  [vi]   This idea is characterized in the modern social welfare regimes in that it is still reliant on many of the precommodification institutions. Rather than having people be slaves to the market, the corporatist model makes people reliant on the state. Lastly, the universalism model argues that the accumulation of capital disowns people of property. This leads to deeper class divisions. Additionally, social welfare initiatives like those posed by the neoliberal and corporatist model, is more conducive to ensuring class di visions in the name of stability, instead of actually addressing need . The universalism model expands on this premise, arguing that by bringing social policy into the parliament, workers will have less dependence on the market and employers. This, coupled with a strong coalition between labour and other groups, farmers perhaps, leads to a system of equality and socialism through the exercise of political power Around the world, neo-liberalism has been imposed by powerful financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. It is raging all over Latin America. The first clear example of neo-liberalism at work came in Chile (with thanks to University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman), after the CIA-supported coup against the popularly elected Allende regime in 1973. Other countries followed, with some of the worst effects in Mexico where wages declined 40 to 50% in the first year of NAFTA while the cost of living rose by 80%. Over 20,000 small and medium businesses have failed and more than 1,000 state-owned enterprises have been privatized in Mexico. In the United States neo-liberalism is destroying welfare programs; attacking the rights of labour (including all immigrant workers); and cutting back social programs. The Republican Contract on America is pure neo-liberalism. Its supporters are working hard to deny protection to children, youth, women, the planet itself, and trying to trick Americans into acceptance by saying this will get government off my back. The beneficiaries of neo-liberalism are a minority of the worlds people. For the vast majority it brings even more suffering than before: suffering without the small, hard-won gains of the last 60 years, suffering without end.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Soft Versus Hard HRM

Soft Versus Hard HRM Established in 1964 under STO group, with its subsidiaries, JVs and associates, is a national leader in business. It has significant and focused interests in petroleum, cooking gas, construction materials (including cement and roofing material), medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, home appliances, electronic items, supermarket products and insurance. The company is geographically diverse with operations and developments throughout Maldives and operations in Singapore. The employees of the company should focus on the following aspects of the company; The company treats employees as valued assets and a source of competitive advantage through their commitment, adaptability, high quality skill and performance. If an employee gets late for the work, the employee will get a warning of not to repeat that, if the employee still does so, the company takes an action upon that employee, such as reducing salary or termination. The company has combination of both autocratic and democratic leadership styles. The company has a competitive pay structure, with appropriate performance related reward such as profit share. The company focuses on identifying the training and other employee development needs through appraisal systems. Practical application on Guests model of hard-Soft, Loose-Tight dimensions of HRM Soft versus hard HRM Storey (1989) labeled two approaches of hard HRM and soft HRM. The hard approach, rooted in manpower planning is concerned with aligning human resource strategy with business strategy, while the soft approach is rooted in the human relations school, has concern for workers outcomes and encourages commitment to the organisation by focusing on workers concerns. Soft HRM HRM and personnel/IR Practices with compares to 27 dimensions of Storys definitions Distinguishing between HRM and Personnel Management Personnel management is viewed as workforce centred and more operational in focus. Personnel managers recruit, select and carry out administrative procedures in accordance with managements requirements. They act as a bridge between the employer and the employee. As a result, personnel managers were seen as functional specialists rather than strategic managers and often had little power or status in the organisation. The personnel manager needed to understand the needs of the manager and the employee, and articulate those needs to both sides. HRM approach is in the management of people which can be seen as a radical new approach linked to strategy and viewing people as assets who need to be actively managed as part of the long-term interests of the organisation. HRM can be viewed as a radical integrated approach to the management of people in an organization and, as such, can be seen as a general management function. Where personnel managers can be viewed as specialists, HRM can be seen as the responsibility of all managers, particularly senior managers, and as such is proactive rather than reactive. Guest (1987) identifies the differences in his model The differences between personnel and human resource management Source: Guest (1987). Guest (1987) shows a model of HRM that is commitment based, which is distinct from compliance-based personnel management. According to Guest, HRM is: Linked to the strategic management of an organisation Seeks commitment to organisational goals Focuses on the individual needs rather than the collective workforce Enables organisations to devolve power and become more flexible Emphasizes people as an asset to be positively utilised by the organisation. Dimension Personnel and IR HRM Beliefs and assumptions 1 Contract Careful delineation of written contracts Aim to go beyond contract 2 Rules Importance of devising clear rules/ mutuality Can- do outlook; impatience with rule 3 Guide to management Action Procedures Business need 4 Behavior referent Norms/ custom and practice Values/mission 5 Managerial Task vis-à  -vis labor Monitoring Nurturing 6 Nature of relations Pluralist Unitarist 7 Conflict Institutionalized De-emphasized Strategic aspects 8 Key relations Labor management Customer 9 Initiatives Piecemeal Integrated 10 Corporate plan Marginal to Central to 11 Speed of decision Slow Fast Line Management 12 Management role Transactional Transformational leader 13 Key managers Personnel/ IR specialists General/business/line managers 14 Communication Indirect Direct 15 Standardization High (e.g. parity an issue) Low (e.g. parity not seen as relevant 16 Prized management skill Negotiation Facilitation Key levers 17 Selection Separate, marginal task Integrated, key-task 18 Pay Job evaluation (fixed grades) Performance-related 19 Conditions Separately negotiated Harmonization 20 Labor management Collective bargaining contracts Towards individual contracts Thrust of relations with stewards Regularized through facilities and training Marginalized (exception of some bargaining for change models) 22 Job categories and grade Many Few 23 Communication Restricted flow Increased flow 24 Job design Division of labor Teamwork 25 Conflict handling Reach temporary truces Manage climate and culture 26 Training development Controlled access to courses Learning companies Foci of attention for interventions Personnel procedures Wide ranging cultural structural and personnel strategies STO follows HRM process for their employees. The differences are as follows; The jobs were design according to the team work instead of Division of labour. Communication among employees was increased flow instead of restricted flow. Management role was transformational instead of transactional. So the decisions come from the top management. The speed of decision is fast because the decisions are done from the top management. Communications among line managers are direct, because of transformational hierarchy and the departments were connected through top management. Corporate plan of STO was centralize instead of Marginal. Training and development essential for the company, so it was based on learning companies. Role of Line Managers As a diversified company STO structure was made on 13 departmental managers. The main role of the departmental manager is to achieve companies goals. They should maintain all of things on behalf of an organisation. A line manager has become even a leader at their day to day behavior. Ensuring higher performance by the employees and finding ways to motivate the employees and make them efficient is also is a line managers duty now. Because of this the traditional tasks of line manages has been changed and now they have more important tasks on their hand such as, Create a friendly environment for the employees Advise the employees when needed Understanding the needs of employees Improving performance of employees and organization There are some roles of HR manager by which they run an organisation. Planning, resourcing and retention: A line manager should know the number of staffs is working in the department and who are busier, and which department need more people. For example pharmacists are very busy at Saturday and Sunday on the STO pharmacy. So managers of pharmacy need more staff for these weekend day. He will take decision for taking or recruiting people. This is the planning and resourcing role for line manager. Retention is a vital role for line manager. If there was a new recruited staff, the line manager have to monitor and know are they happy for their time being. Recruitment and selection: Recruiting a right people to the right place is a major duty of the line manager, especially the HR manager. He should follow the rules and policy of recruiting qualified people by checking their productivity and enthusiastic and good behaviour for achieving the companies goals. Training and development: In order to get the best from employees they need to be trained. Training is done to fill gap between the skills and knowledge they have at present and the skills and knowledge the organization wants them to have in order to fulfill set goals. Recruiting the right people for the STO, line manager should monitor the employees and have to check the performance in the department. According to the performance HR manager develop training programmes for the inefficient employees for achieving their goals. Reward remuneration: Employees work their organisation for mainly surviving their lives and interest. Manager has to pay adequate and equitable. Manger also has to manage reward system like pensions, healthcare, other financially. By introducing rewarding employee motivate and get more satisfaction to work. If employees are happier and motivated they will work hard for the company. The human resource functions of HRM Read more: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/hrms-connection-to-strategic-management-of-an-organisation-business-essay.php#ixzz2BLkiMuxt Task1 (Section B) As a HR manager of State Trading Organization (STO) I would like to say that this statement was absolutely true. Performance Management is a key building block of the human resources reform programme. It is based upon International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) performance management principles for the Civil service commission of Maldives common system, namely work planning, agreed upon objectives, ongoing feedback, a mid-point review, and an end-of-cycle appraisal. It is linked to other human resources systems and processes including staff and career development, mobility, and recruitment. Effective performance management improves overall organizational performance by encouraging a high level of involvement and motivation, and increased staff participation in the planning and delivery of work by: Potential benefits by using a proper performance management system (see Appendix 1) STO was a huge public diversified company including many departments, as a HR manager I have to manage and apply different human resource practices in the workplace environment. STO have foreign staffs especially for the technical staffs, so the role of human resource manager also changes according to the technologies and growth in the global market consequently. There are some practices that can help managers changing and evolving in the workplace. STO follows the following practices to manage their workplace environment. The impact globalization and information technology have had on each other has made work more mobile, capable of being performed in different parts of the world without the need to actually set up physical facilities in other countries. Globalization plays an important role in human resource planning. Foe an example by recruiting and selection of employees in the organization with the latest technologies we can recruit people from other countries, so it reduces the cost and more effective and efficient. With the impact of globalization big firms apply online recruiting, online interviewing, online application for the vacant jobs and new posts. When looking for a Maldives the government provides a website called Gazzette.gov.mv which is based on all the government job vacancies, so everyone knows the vacant jobs within as second. Another website called Iulaan .mv provides advertisements and job vacancies in the private sector, it helps the organizations and individuals to access easy and know the vacancies in the country. Globalization has its positive side as well as its negative side. For online recruiting and selection organization recruits employees based on professional qualifications, because of that sometimes the company select the unsuitable employee for the selected jobs. Other changes in the nature of work and workers are being brought about partly by globalization, but not entirely because of it. For instance, it is arguable whether globalization is solely responsible for the growing service sector, and it does not account for the rapid influx of women into the workforce. Diversity is not a liberal ideological movement, to be supported or resisted. Rather, it is a reality in todays business environment. Managed well, diversity provides benefits that increase success. STO always keep an eye on these issues, because the employees from different countries. For an organization to get its arms around the complexity of diversity culture change, HR manager needs to focus on three areas: (1) Individual attitudes and behaviors, The individual attitudes and behaviors component asks employees to do some intrapersonal work that involves identifying their attitudes and beliefs on a wide range of topics such as how they feel about multiple languages spoken in the workplace; attitudes toward whether coworkers can be openly gay in the workplace; conflicting union and management positions on any number of policies. (2) Managerial skills and practices, and The essence of this change is the recognition that one style of management does not fit all. Managerial practices must be tailored to suit a wide range of employees. Depending on ones culture, for example, feedback about performance may be delivered very directly, or it may also be given in a much more indirect and subtle way, sometimes with the help of an intermediary or cultural interpreter. (3) Organizational values and policies. This area is the most complex in which to make progress, and we have seen the least success here. Adjusting the promotional system, for example, or how people are hired and recruited to create a broader talent pool and a more equitable organization, requires complex work that has many steps. For example, how do you begin the process of selecting recruiters who themselves are diverse? And if they are diverse by the internal dimensions, that does not necessarily mean they are open to differences and are themselves objective about others. Workplace example of Religious and Spiritual Diversity in the Workplace The Event Areas to Reconcile à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A newly hired Muslim receptionist in a Christian-sponsored healthcare facility was fired for refusing to remove her headscarf and sues her former employer for unlawful dismissal. (Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. No, 88-352 (Title VII). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Dress and grooming accommodation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Corporate culture tolerance for diverse values and beliefs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Hiring protocols à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A Catholic worker in a retail store sues after being refused time off to go on a pilgrimage to Yugoslavia during the Christmas shopping season. (Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights. (1981). Declaration of the elimination of all forms of Intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief. (Resolution 36/55 of 25). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Range of tolerance for exceptions based on personal religious practice à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Cultural literacy for distinguishing core religious requirements from personal expression à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Flexible leave policy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A Christian in a large communications firm, who wore an anti-abortion button to work, sued her company when dismissed since coworkers threaten to walk off due to the visual trauma of the pins graphic. (EEOC v. Presbyterian Ministries, Inc., 788 F. Supp. 1154 (W.D. Wash. 1992). Dress, grooming, and religious discrimination and accommodation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Religious expression standards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Unreasonable and hostile imposition of religious belief à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ After multiple requests for accommodation were refused, a Jewish professor sues her institutions dean and department head since they consistently rearranged departmental meetings and functions on days that conflicted with her Sabbath preparation. (Arthur, J. S. (1998, June 5). Religious rights not violated, court says. Human Resource Executive, 22. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Parameters for reasonable accommodation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Equitable work assignment processes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Warning and dismissal policy and Procedures à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A manager in a municipal office frequently calls a subordinate a sinner, demanding that the person repent and attend prayer sessions in order not to go to hell. (Wilson v. U.S. West Communications, Inc., 860 F Supp. 665 (D. Neb. 1994), affd, 58F.3d 1337 (8th Cir. 1995). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Prescribed management strategies for escalating hostile work environment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Religious expression norms à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Unreasonable and hostile imposition of religious belief à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Parameters of freedom of speech and hate language à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Warning and dismissal policy and procedures Task 2 Section A (Case study) Audit firms model of flexibility The Audit Commission is an independent body that is accountable to the office of the deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). The work of the Audit Commission is varied. An audit has two main elements. It involves: A formal examination of a set of accounts to see if they are true and fair A checking of quality and efficiency The Audit Commission is often faced with changing employment needs. Different types of contracts help the Audit Commission to deal with all of its varying needs and help it to be flexible. The Audit firms having three major types of flexibility Numerical flexibility In Numerical flexibility, fluctuations in demand for staff members (seasonal, cyclical, task- related and so on). It may vary according to the cases handling, so the workload will be less during off peak hours. It used for non- permanent, non- career labor: temporary staff, part time staff, short- contract staff, consultants and sub- contractors. Functional flexibility In functional flexibility, fluctuations in demand for particular skills- not necessarily related to staff numbers (since one person can be multi skilled). Functional flexibility reflects an organizations ability to adapt to changing conditions and requirements, and is affected by issues such as training, management, and outsourcing. This flexibility helps to developing their employees skills to deal with the different types of works. Place -of -work flexibility This Often called as Locational flexibility, opportunities presented by information and communication technology (ICT) to reduce office costs and create virtual employees (dispersed but interconnected). Its used in home working, Tele- working; use of ICT to facilitate mobile working. Ex: for sales and service staff. The Audit Commission is challenged with changing employment needs. They have developed a number of different patterns for employment needs to meet these requirements. These include: Full time employees Part time employees Job sharing arrangements Permanent and fixed term posts The use of temps or contractors from agencies These different requirements help the Audit commission to deal with all of its changing needs. With the types of flexibilities like; numerical, functional and place- of- work flexibility helps the Audit Commission to be flexible. According to the given case study the firm is implementing the correct types of flexibility to their employees. The firms believes that its ability to deal effectively with the need for flexibility strengthens its position as an employer of choice and enables the group to deliver levels of service that differentiate from its competitors. The advantages and disadvantages of flexible working practices for the employer Advantages Disadvantages Speed of work and more effective Theres no peer influence on the employee. Building Good relationship with the employees employees may lose the office culture in the office environment Recurrent expense will be less Health and safety risks (on the work ) Efficiency rate will be high Dealing with confidential files at home. Frees up desk space and accommodation can be used more efficiency Power failure or any problems with the computers will affect the work and there is a possibility of doing double work Less absence and staff turnover in the firm Dependence on the technology the relationships of employer and the employee become impersonal. More effective in time management Communication Cost will increase for communicating with others. The advantages and disadvantages of flexible working practices for the employees Advantages Disadvantages Save time instead of travelling two hours each way on the train Concentration of the work is less if they follow homework flexibility They can improve their work-life balance Professionalism is less in homeworking They can express their ideas on the work Risk of work finishing on time Less stress from work while their children are young Health and safety while they were on other places (while investigating the firms) More effective in time management Job sharing arrangements with others Can do part time jobs in other places Meet New contacts and good experience Section B (Essay) Equal opportunities within the workplace Today, equal opportunities management and reporting has real significance in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and socially responsible investment criteria. Internationally, business, government and non-governmental organisations acknowledge that effective monitoring of equal opportunities and diversity in the workplace is an important part of improved human capital management and equality practice. The drive for transparency and accountability for such issues including equal opportunities for women has perhaps never been stronger. At the beginning I would like to highlight different forms of discrimination in employment regarding the equal opportunities within the workplace in the United Kingdom. Workplace relations legislation has seen significant changes, and the Fair Work Act 2009 has introduced further significant reforms, including to the institutional arrangements for oversight of workplace relations. The new Fair Work Act 2009 commenced on 1 July 2009 and provides a range of support and protections for women in the workplace. The Fair Work Act expands protections against workplace discrimination which were available under the Workplace Relations Act 1996. Protections against discrimination contained in the Workplace Relations Act applied only to existing employees and were limited to termination from employment for a prohibited reason (for example, on grounds such as sex, race or family responsibilities). The Fair Work Act provides enhanced prohibitions against discrimination by providing that an employer must not take adverse action against an employee or a prospective employee for a range of reasons including the persons sex, marital status, family or cares responsibilities, or pregnancy. The Fair Work Act also includes caring responsibilities as a new ground for unlawful termination claims. While the expanded anti-discrimination protections in the Fair Work Act are intended to provide comprehensive protection from discrimination in the workplace, they also preserve the operation of Commonwealth, state and territory anti-discrimination laws. The main types of discrimination legislation are as direct, indirect discriminations and the regulations regarding the discriminations are highlighted as bellows. Firstly Direct discrimination (Regulation 3) Where an employer treats an employee less favourably than other persons on the basis of his/her age or his/her apparent age, unless that treatment can be objectively justified. ( CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (03/06). Indirect discrimination (Regulation 3) Where an employer applies a provision, criterion or practice, which the employer applies equally to other persons and that provision, criterion or practice puts an employees age group (or apparent age group) at a particular disadvantage and that employee suffers that disadvantage, unless the employer can objectively justify the use of that provision, criterion or practice. ( CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (03/06). Victimisation (Regulation 4) An employer treats an employee less favourably than it treats or would treat other persons by virtue of something done by that employee Instructions to discriminate (Regulation 5) If an employer treats an employee less favourably than he treats or would treat other persons in the same circumstances. Harassment (Regulation 6) Having regard to the circumstances (including the employees perception), an employer engages in unwanted conduct which has the purpose or effect of violating the employees dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the employee. Vicarious liability, Other than direct acts by the employer, an employer can also be responsible for acts of its employees which contravene the Regulations unless the employer can demonstrate that the employer took such steps as were reasonably practicable to prevent the employee from doing the discriminatory act, or from doing in the course of his/her employment acts of that description. Equal opportunities policies are often used within workplaces to guard against discriminatory practices and formalise what is acceptable in terms of the treatment of members of minority groups, or other groups which have been historically associated with discriminatory practice. The named classes may reflect current equal opportunities legislation covering sex, race and disability, or move beyond this to include additional categories. Two-thirds (67 per cent) of all workplaces in Great Britain with 10 or more employees had some form of equal opportunities (EO) policy in 1998. In some organizations, policies are also passed down the organizational hierarchy. The overall incidence of EO policies among workplaces that form part of multi-site organizations is 86 per cent. EO policies are almost universal among the 75 percent of these workplaces which say that they must follow EO policies/procedures that are set at a higher level in the organisation (92 per cent have an EO policy). But among the 25 per cent that dont have to follow higher-level policies or procedures, the incidence is appreciably lower at 68 per cent. The factors considered when making a recruitment decision can be numerous and may be of varying importance. Employers may also be interested in age if it is believed to have some bearing, rightly or wrongly, on the ability of an individual to do a job. For many vacancies, placing importance on the age of an applicant can be unfairly discriminatory. One may expect that workplaces which show an awareness of equal opportunities and discrimination to be less likely to view age as a recruitment factor. Workforce concentration which includes ethnic minority concentration and concentration of younger workers are important factors in equal opportunities practices in the workplace. Concentrations of ethnic minority workers were much more common in larger than in smaller workplaces. In 12 per cent of the largest workplaces (500 or more employees) at least a fifth of employees were from ethnic minorities. There were no clear differences between private and public sector. Individual industries, however, did show clear differences. High concentrations of ethnic minority employees were particularly common in other business services and health, while they were notably absent in construction, in electricity, gas and water and in other community services. There was no association between ethnic minority concentration and the presence of recognised trade unions. Workplace well-being reflects the level of contentment of the workforce. The treatment of employees at work is a contributory factor and can affect employees desire to remain in their job, their workplace behaviours and their health. Consequently the relative levels of absenteeism, injury and illness and numbers of dismissals, resignations and employment tribunal cases may be used to examine workplace well-being. Reference http://workplace.ezinemark.com/best-practices-in-global-human-resource-management-7d2e759f61fc.html Prof R S S Mani (2006) impact of globalization allexperts [online] retrieved from http://en.allexperts.com/q/Human-Resources-2866/IMPACT-GLOBALISATION-HR.htm [accessed on 20-10-2012] State trading organization( 2012) about us Stomaldives [online] retrieved from http://www.stomaldives.com/about/overview.php [ accessed on 20-10-2012] All Answers Ltd ( 2012) management degree essays [online] retrieved from http://essaybank.degree-essays.com/management/equal-opportunities-and-diversity approaches.php [ accessed on 25-10-2012] http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/pubs/hrguidearticle/chapter-12-managing-diversity-in-the-workplace/ Appendix 1