Saturday, August 31, 2019

Understand the Role of the Nurse

Introduction The purpose of this assignment is to explore the professional responsibilities of the nurse and their role in safeguarding vulnerable patients, all of which are based around a fictitious scenario. The scenario is centred on a patient named Margaret and is going to be used to identify any vulnerability issues Margaret may have. Margaret could be identified as been vulnerable, as she is an 89 year old lady who is suffering from a heart condition. Margaret is currently living with her daughter and has said that her mother’s health has begun to deteriorate.Margaret is becoming very confused and forgetting to take her medication which has resulted in numerous admissions to hospital. No consent was needed on this occasion as it is a fictitious patient. Based around this fictitious scenario, the aim is to discuss and identify vulnerability and any issues arising from it. Exploring all aspects of vulnerability involving all models and discussing confidentiality, looking a t the importance of it and why it should be maintained.This assignment will also look at the mental capacity act and how the nurse and other healthcare professionals assess the patient for capacity and use the models of assessment. All these are in place to protect the patient’s health and well-being and patient rights. Communication is another important skill for any nurse to have. Good communication skills are essential in providing a high standard of care, which will be explored and discussed in detail.It will also explore what accountability and responsibility is within the nurse’s role. The nurse being accountable for their actions and adhere to the Nursing and Midwifery Councils (NMC), Code. â€Å"The core function of the Nursing and Midwifery Council is to establish standards of education, training, conduct and performance for nurses and midwives to ensure those standards are maintained, thereby safeguarding the health and well-being of the public† (NMC, code, 2009).It will then identify and explain how the patient’s autonomy might be promoted by the nurse, highlighting the support available and with the nurse building a therapeutic relationship with the patient, relating to scenario whilst maintaining appropriate professional behaviour and interventions. Overall this assignment will explore and discuss many of the NMC guidelines about the above topics.It will give you an understanding of the nurse’s role involved in delivering the best possible care to the public. Firstly to explore accountability within the nurse’s role The Nursing and Midwifery Council states, â€Å"Accountability is often defined as responsibility, but there is a difference between the two. Responsibility is concerned with answering for what you do, whereas accountability is being answerable for the ‘consequences’ of what you do† (NMC, 2009).

Friday, August 30, 2019

Accountant Necessities

Running Head: Accountants Accountants Stacy Frank CGD 218 Mike Miers September 24, 2012 Accountants In my opinion Accountants are inspiring for people. They help can help you with financing and anything else such as tax etc. Accountants make sure that they give you the help you need before they let you get out of their eyesight. I myself also wanted to work at a bank. I always had plans on going to college and get my degree to become the Accountant I wanted to become. There are many different people in life who do things that can benefit others by helping them in so many ways.Your enjoyment is your fun and pride. Everyone have their own way of doing what is right and there are so who don’t care what they do. You have to strive for the best in order to be the best and you have to do perfect in whatever you do. Accountants do a great job when it comes to financing, tax reparations, records, and investors. They are on point when it comes to their work. They have a lot of paperwor k to do but as long as you do what is asked of you to do then you are going to get your job done.It is amazing when you can find a bank that will allow you to get loans for important things that you need to get for yourself and help you out with things such as your utility bills and other things that need to be gotten. Everyone needs a little help in life. There are times when people struggle and they wonder how they are going to make it. There is something in me that make me feel so sorry for people like that. My thing about that is I try to help them in every which way. I plan to become an accountant in the future. There are many aspects of being an accountant.Accountants become the measurement, disclosure, and also the provision when benefiting with business. I will be able to precede financial information, investors, and tax authorities in life. You have to give life your all even though there are things that may follow. Accountants have to be very skilled workers for the job. Y ou have to know what you are doing and you have to have experience. No matter what you do you have to have the ability Accountants to show what you can do on that job. Accountancies are people who are in charge of a lot of things in life.Your dreams are all that matter and you have to do your best to reach them. Sometimes people love to see others down, but you don’t get nowhere being that way. Accountants are required to follow a set of rules and regulations at the workplace. Those rules and regulations are Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. A company is allowed analyze financial performance of the business. There are many words that follow accountancy and they are listed as a combination of skills and pride. A business should be recognized as a symbol for help and need.Accountancies have good salaries each year. Salary| $32,259 – $60,787| | | Bonus| $0. 00 – $5,088| Â   | | Profit Sharing| $485. 53 – $5,891| | | Total PayXTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e. g. healthcare). | $30,070 – $61,937| | | This is good for the market and the people who have job as an accountant.You have to be able to benefit yourself in so many ways and you have to do what is best for you in the future. You have to strive for the best in order to be the best and you have to do perfect in whatever you do. Accountants There are a lot of things and pictures that support accountancies. This is known as visual communication and the purpose is to get a message sent out to the audience showing their work and skills. REFERENCE Accountants Ryan, W. (2012). Visual literacy: learning to see. Bridgepoint Education.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Business Opportunities in Food and Beverage Industry Essay

Business Opportunities in Food and Beverage Industry - Essay Example Food is a very defining element of a culture. Eating different kinds of foods does more than just satiating the craving for taste; it provides a greater insight into other cultures. This paper discusses a business idea of establishing a South Asian Tea Restaurant in New York. Americans generally like the South Asian foods a lot. â€Å"one should not be surprised if a seven-year-old American kid walks up and asks for aloo mater samosas and his mom is keen on having the complimentary chai† (Deccan Chronicle, 2013). Popular food items include but are not limited to samosas, pakoras, halwa poori, murgh cholay, and lassi. These foods are not only very tasty, they also have a high nutritious value since they are all made from natural products and do not include the use of any preservatives or chemicals that is a big plus point. â€Å"Everything is made right there, even the samosas(no frozen boxed samosas here), pakoras, and chutneys(not jarred like most places serve) are all made fresh here and delicious† (Justin, 2013). The fundamental purpose of establishing any business is to make money. Most of these food items are extremely cheap to make and yet sell for a very large price primarily because of their nutritional value, their exceptional taste, their exotic looks, and their cultural affiliations. Even more, when these food items are made in bulk, they become all the cheaper to make and more profitable to sell at the same time. At a famous Indian restaurant, â€Å"While Samosa and Idli Sambar are available for $5.50, one has to spend $7 for Masala dosa and $7.5 for two pieces of gulab jamun† (First Post, 2012). Considering the ingredients used in the making of a samosa, one samosa might cost the owner no more than $0.15. Comparison of this to the amount it sells or provides evidence of the profitability of the business. The other food items are similarly cheap but with a huge profit margin. It takes careful planning and strategy to establish s uch a business at the right point. The owners should look for an area where the population of South Asians is relatively higher as compared to other regions in America since the prime consumers of this business are people from such countries as Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Such areas are not hard to find since most of these families tend to live together in neighborhoods since they have common cultural values and find one another helpful in America. In order to have an edge over other such restaurants, the owners need to pay special attention toward ambiance. Songs of old legendary singers like Noor Jehan, Lata, Rafi, Mukesh, and Kishore can provide the place that extra boost that it requires to appeal massive in-pour of consumers. South Asians mostly like to have samosas and pakoras with tea during the lunch breaks and as snacks, so these items should be available all day long whereas other items like halwa poori and murgh cholay should be made available in the breakfast. Menu for lunch and dinner can be decided depending upon how large the owner wants the business to be. Establishment of this business successfully imparts the need to advertise it in such a way that the benefits of these food items in general and what they offer in comparison to the typical Western food, in particular, are easily noticeable for the audiences. To achieve this, the contemporary issue of diseases caused by consumption of chemicals needs.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Investment Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Investment Banking - Essay Example In UK the investment banking scenario has undergone radical transformation in the two decades covering the period 1985-2005.In the following paragraphs we probe available literature in order to outline main drivers of this transformation and emerging scenario. There have been very many drivers determining the landscape of investment banking activities in UK.Principal among them are new paradigms in regulation and supervision over investment banking activities and changed due to high risk assumption by agents as traders and investment banking failures, US influence through take over, merger and acquisitions of British investment banking activities, increasing importance of relationship banking and radically altered scale of FDI activity in UK area since late 1980s reflective of hastening pace of globalization and relationship relocations. The trading theory in finance exclusive reliance is placed on expected utility theory (Bernstein, 1996). Even agency theory of trading like expected utility theory, has, since Williamson (1963), assumed consistent risk aversion of agents acting for risk neutral principals. Principals, are assumed to be risk neutral as they can diversify their share holding across firms, are forced to either incur opportunity costs in monitoring agent activities or give agents bonuses/ incentives to equal agents' and their risk appetites. (Eisenhardt, 1989;Tosi and Gomez-Meija, 1989; Beatty and Zajac, 1994; Jensen and Meckling, 1976).Similarly both expected utility and Agency theories assume perfect rationality .However Agency theory has defined aggregate irrationality in the form of Noise trading. Dow and Gorton (1997) state that traders have problems taking rational decisions between 'simply doing nothing', 'actively doing nothing' and the need to avoid contracts which give incentives for inactivit y. In dilemma, agents may get in ex ante unprofitable trades that have some chance of being profitable ex post' (Dow and Gorton ,1997).Market turns more liquid and trades entered in far exceed principals' requirements. In case ex-post profit expectations come untrue-widespread trading losses are experienced. Sociological and psychological approaches have also explained irrational trading behavior and unnecessary risk assumption and realized trading losses leading to malfeasance charges. Among them important are irrationality causing factors such as trading on the basis of personal familiarity (Baker, 1986),herding (Adler and Adler, 1984), and decision making affected by stress (Kahn and Cooper, 1993), prospect theory defined as a preference for the avoidance of loss, even at higher risk (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979, Tversky and Kahneman, 1986), judgmental biases in decision making (Bazerman, 1998) , imputed rather than measured - decision making bias by individual traders(Thaler, 1991, 1993; Shefrin, 2000).This sets the theoretical foundation for high risk assumption and losses in trading activities by investment bankers agents. High bonus payments

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

United Arab Emirates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

United Arab Emirates - Essay Example United Arab Emirates The principal and the most prosperous of all of the seven states is the capital of the federation, the Abu Dhabi generating nearly sixty percent of the country’s wealth. The most popular city from the federation, Dubai City is located in the Dubai Emirate, the second leading emirate while Sharjah City and Khawr Fakkan are the two main cities in the third biggest state, the Sharjah. The UAE consists of tribal groupings of Arabian Peninsula sheikhdoms found on the tip end of the Persian Gulf and north the Gulf of Oman, the area was involved in several dynastic clashes for centuries just immediately after it was converted to Islam in the seventh century. The main tribal groups of the country’s nationals are the Qawasim and the Bani Yas who emerged as the powerful tribes after the dynastic disputes. The Qawasim were originally traders and inhabit the present day emirates of Ras al Khaymah while the Bani Yas were predominantly agriculturalists and pastoralists and lived in what is today the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The British mounted expeditions against the inhabitants in an attempt to have control of the maritime routes and a desire to establish supremacy in the area over other interested European powers. However, regular warfare among tribes was still rampant at sea and the sheikhs made several truce agreements with the supervision of British political authorities to whom the warring parties reported any violations of the truce treaty. A perpetual maritime truce was signed by the tribal sheikhs in May 1853 to end any further conflicts at sea between the tribes. The coastal sheikhdoms thereafter remained under British protection practicing their traditional form of Arab monarchial rule while Britain oversaw their defense and foreign relations. In 1952 under the guidance of Britain, the seven sheikdoms established the Trucial Council to advance the implementation of common policies concerning administration of the sheikhdoms with the aim of eventually leading to a federation of emirates. In 1968, Britain decided to end the protection status with the seven sheikhdoms and withdrew United Kingdom armed forces out of the region. Three months thereafter, the seven sheikhdoms formed a Federa tion of Arab Emirates together with Qatar and Bahrain, still under British rule. However, in 1971 the latter two states decided to cede from the federation to establish separate sovereign states. Immediately after in the same year, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Dubai, Sharjah and Umm al Qaywayn agreed to have a common federal constitution in order to achieve independence under the United Arab Emirates. On December 1, 1971, Britain ended all ties and relationships with the seven sheikhdoms including every one the treaties and declared the federation independent on December 2, 1971. Initially the six emirates formed the federation and the other remaining sheikhdom, Ras al Khayman, joined the United Arab Emirates in February 1972. When independence was declared, Sheikh Zayid of Abu Dhabi assumed the presidency of new UAE until 2004 when he died while Sheikh Rashid Al Maktum of Dubai was entitled the vice president and his son Sheikh Maktum ibn Rashid Al Maktum was named the prime mini ster. Geography

Monday, August 26, 2019

The Grade I Deserve In This Course Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Grade I Deserve In This Course - Essay Example Oftentimes I recognize that fellow students participate in classroom lectures and complete their homework not out of a genuine intellectual interest, but out of a desire to merely achieve a high grade. While I commend their standards and commitment to success I believe such an approach is not effective in gaining the greatest benefit from the course. During this course I have made my greatest effort to digest and appreciate the course material in a way wherein I would truly understand its deeper meaning and implication, both for the content as well as for improving my English writing skills. It follows that while others may appear to have outwardly been more involved in the course, I believe that my commitment and intellectual involvement are very high in terms of my own abilities, as well as relative to other students in the course. In examining the extent that I accomplished the goals of this course I believe I was highly successful. In these regards, I greatly improved my writing and linguistic abilities. I recognize my improvement in the increased ease I feel writing documents that in the past would have taken me a significant amount more time. Another element of my improved understanding is that I have increased my critical thinking skills. I believe that one of the central challenges of the course was approaching difficult or dense material and gaining a deeper understanding of this material’s central arguments. In the process of engaging with this challenging material I found that I began to develop increased strategies for tackling things that previously I would have simply ignored. I believe that these increased critical thinking skills, as evidenced both in my improved English writing and comprehension abilities, are perhaps the greatest things I gained from the course. Taking the cumulative impact of the previously articulated examples,

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Expedia Value Chain Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Expedia Value Chain - Assignment Example This research will begin with the statement that the value chain of an organization consists of all activities that are performed in order to achieve a competitive advantage in the industry. According to Michael Porter, the value chain consists of two types of activities. They are primary activities and support activities. The present research has identified that primary activities include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Secondary activities include procurement, human resource management, technological development, and infrastructure. From this research, it is clear that Expedia uses technology in order to create an interface that enables customers to make bookings and reservations online. It is partnered with similar services helping its customers to search and sort cheap flights, hotels, car rentals, holiday destinations, and so on. Expedia partners with industry experts including Hotels.com, Egencia, Venere, Hotwire, etc. The te chnology department at Expedia works to allow customers to make their reservations online through the company interface. Such activities occur electronically to send customers their receipts. The Sales department takes care of all sales and support services provided by the company. Expedia runs social media marketing campaigns and also runs an affiliate program. The customer support staff is present to assist customers with the service.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Jamaican Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jamaican Culture - Essay Example This essay mostly focuses on the description of Jamaican people and ther bright culture. This essay suggests a brief travel through the Jamaican land which will reflect its true views on religious beliefs, holidays, cuisine, etiquettes, clothing and life-style. History of Jamaica and it's modern developing also described in the essay. Jamaica is the third largest isle out of a chain of four islands known as Greater Antilles and forms the northern boundary of the Caribbean Sea. Jamaica is very mountainous and has valleys, waterfalls, marshlands, flat plains and tropical rain forest. This essay describes Jamaica as a melting pot of many traditions, some legacy of the authentic ancestors and the rest introduced by foreigners. The main ethnic group of population in Jamaica are Blacks, with the minorities of other. According to some researchers, mentioned in this essay â€Å"being one of the largest cities in the country, Kingston is the capital of Jamaica located at south of United States of America†. It also provides reader with information on Jamaican religion and beliefs, such as Christianity and Rastafarian religion, which was developed there. Some other lifestyle traditions of Jamaican citizens are also described, such as common greetings, reationship displays, table etiquette and business etiquette, socializing and different educational levels for men and women. In conclusiion, this essay mentiones Jamaicans as family oriented people who believe in family values and states that the island is exquisitely beautiful.

Summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Summary - Assignment Example The new smart phones are in approach of anyone these days. There are many other forms of applications like multimedia, games applications through which a person can pass his/her time. Therefore, in real they can keep information of their credit cards, tickets and can have storage of electronic cash and much more than this. In simple it also plays a role of electronic wallet. The article highlights and discusses about the technologies which are now leading to the highest peak of growth in the 3rd generation of mobile networking. Some of the new mobile and terminals technologies discussed by the authors in the article are discussed below: Mobile networks and their development: Most of the mobile services are based on the second generation (2G) and these services made possible to transfer the data and services through wireless telecom network e.g. (GSM) as â€Å"Global System for Mobile communications†, (GPRS) as â€Å"Global Packet Radio Service†, (HSCSD) as â€Å"High S peed Circuit Switched Data†, (SMS) as â€Å"Short Message Service† and many other. The International Telecommunication Union system changed the standard in 2000, called International Mobile Telecommunications. The main idea of this change was to make enable the services such as, (video streams, animations, pictures, etc.). According to the authors, as the advancement is continuously being made in the ground of mobile networking, the plans have started on the development of 4G which will be completed by 2012. One of the main reasons for the differences in networks generation is of the capacity available to the customers. The current 2G is providing the capacity of min of 14.4 kbps and max to 57.6 kbps and then 3G network will be having the capacity of more than 2Mbps. 2G has a big hand in supporting the E-Commerce through WAP technology which brought in Internet to the handsets. Another rising technology is Bluetooth. It can be used for small transmission of information on ad hoc basis form point to point (Tsalgatidou, Veijalaninen, Markkula, Katasonov, and Hadjiefthymiades, 2003). Mobile Terminals: Smart-phones are the name given to the new introduction of mobiles. And this is because their features can be added or deleted or can even be modified. In most of the new smart-phones, GPRS, Bluetooth and MMS services are available and also the availability of inbuilt or attachable camera with the high color display resolution is there. Internal memory of megabytes is another added innovation in these mobiles for high storage which also is supported by external memory chip normally known as memory card. The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has played an important role in putting a standard in mobiles, its services and applications. Java, MMS and XHTML are the most important technologies of OMA. In order to provide extra securities to mobile services, MeT was established to provide high security and more innovations to mobile transaction (Tsalgatidou et al., 2 003). Positioning systems of LBS: LBS, â€Å"Location Based Services†, require a specific positioning for mobile terminals. Geocoding is a system which offers positions for mobile terminal and is divided into three main classes: satellite positioning, network-based positioning and, local positioning. All these different positioning systems differ in their techniques, features and reliability. Satellite Positioning: Satellite positioning system is a system which uses satellites revolving around the earth and

Friday, August 23, 2019

International Corporate Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International Corporate Finance - Essay Example A comparative analysis of the pros and cons of doing business in both of the countries has also been provided, along with recommendations on the market that the Flying Wombat should target. An appendix is present for easy reference and a bibliography is also present at the end of the report. NOTE: In order to fully grasp the concept of the paper the researcher felt it important to include the profiles of the countries under discussion. However, to prevent plagiarism it is important to state that the profile of China has been taken (in its full form) from the National Geographic site. The source has been given at the end. "China is the world's most populous country with about 1.3 billion people. China's geography is highly diverse, with hills, plains, and river deltas in the east and deserts, high plateaus, and mountains in the west. Climate is equally varied. China has the world's longest continuous civilization; for more than 40 centuries its people created a culture with strong philosophies, traditions, and values. China remains a predominantly rural society, with only 39 percent living in urban areas. The first half of the 20th century saw the fall of the last Chinese emperor, Japanese invasion, World War II, and civil war between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces. The People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976 imposed state control on the economy. Since 1979, China has reformed its economy and allowed competition, and today has the world's highest rate of growth. China has seven of the world's ten most polluted cities. The largest producer and consumer of coal, the country is turning away from coal toward clean hydroelectric resources. Politically it still maintains strict control over its people. Chinese rule over Tibet remains controversial, fighting with Muslim separatists in Xinjiang continues, and political issues with Taiwan remain unresolved. China regained Hong Kong from Britain in 1997 and Macau from Portugal in 1999. In 2003 China became only the third nation (after Russia and the U.S.) to launch a manned space flight, with plans to reach the moon by the year 2010" (The China Country Profile has been taken from the National Geographic site, (http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_china.html). Political Risks in China Van der Putten (2003) has stated that, foreign investors in China need to be aware of the following risks associated with doing business in the country; Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is also known as labor risk. Labor risks include forced labor, suppression and the existence of inaccurate labor regulations. All of these factors can adversely affect businesses and it is mandatory that foreigners are aware of them. In addition, van der Putten (2003) states that labor issues and multinational organizations are often in the limelight over international matters. Concerns such as these can result in damage to the reputation of the foreign firm as well as boycott by the

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Critical Response to the film Remember the Titans Essay Example for Free

Critical Response to the film Remember the Titans Essay Remember The Titans is a film text, centered by the issue of the injustice of a persons race and how it is triumphantly overcome. It is an uplifting story how an American town, Alexandria, conquered overwhelming resentment, friction and disharmony brought on by racial discrimination and mistrust. The town is further thrown into chaos, as protests rage over the killing of an African-American youth and then the integration of the major local High school; T.C. Williams. The integration lead to the demotion of a much loved and highly successful head coach of the school state football team by the name of Bill Yoast, the jobs new occupancy went to an African-American by the name of Coach Boone, who ultimately suffers injustice because of his race and the fact he was replacing a white coach which brought chaos to the white community. The injustice displayed in the film Remember the Titians can be seen numerous amounts of times. Coach Boone sets a wonderful example of the town learning to trust each other and work together and shows the boys a funeral where people had died fighting the same fight people are still fighting today and the injustice of this situation to everyone. The film shows justice can be achieved on earth if people learn to respect each other. This barrier is overcome when one of the black teammates refuses to protect his white teammates because they wont block for the black teammates, they are made to spend time with each other and learn about each others culture which ultimately they learn to respect each other no matter what race or where they came from. This lead to friction in the community and the boys parents wanting Coach Boone fired because of the communities outrage that the highs school had been joined together and the injustice being showed to each other through murdering people becau se of there skin colour and the disrespect shown because of the persons race. As the team learns to show each other good morals, trust and respect during a time where the community were showing signs of discrimination, hate and mistrust and this is when Coach Boone showed the injustice of how his father died having to fight this same fight and the team ultimately responded and overcame the difficulties of having a multicultural team with the assistance of democratic and authoritarian coaching styles by both Coach Boone and  Coach Yoast. The coaching styles improved the players motivational skills there self fulfillment to work together and set an example to be treated equally, which made the coaches and players of different races share the same goals and perception of the injustice of the peoples mistreatment because of race. As the team became an top contender and where playing every game with such passion and serving a sense of justice to each other when people would use racial comments on the field no matter what the race every member would stand up for each other. As the team worked together and both coaches shared there perceptions the team really achieved greatly and this rubbed of into the community. As examples of the white policeman acknowledging and congratulating a black titans efforts goes to prove that justice was being achieved on our earth. The town started accepting everyone for who they are and the titans where treated very well by the community for giving them belief and a sense of pride where justice could be achieved for everyone. In one circumstance Coach Boone had been called a monkey but as the team was well disciplined and respectful of everyone this only inspired everyone in the titans to work harder for each other which resulted in a win not only for the game but for the team to change another persons perspective on racism and achieve the justice they deserved. When the injustice of Coach Yoasts hall of fame removal and the tragic accident of captain Garys car crash It showed in the final game they would win a come from behind victory and Coach Yoast would ultimately not resort to cheating and instead achieve his justice by helping his black partner Coach Boone achieve their goal togeather rather than resort to backstabbing and cheating to improve his own reputation and achieve justice on earth for himself and Coach Boon. This showed that even though Gary had his tragic accident he achieved hiss goal with his teammates of winning the final and teaching the community to respect everyone no matter what there race. This film was a great example of justice being achieved and giving everyone hopes through the Coach Boones leadership skills and charisma to inspire a team, community and a nation. The film showed how these people working together and being respectful of each other can truly inspire and set an example for everyone to achieve justice on earth. Treating everyone equally and teaching them the injustice of what had happened because of the war over race ultimately inspired the boys and the nation to achieve justice for everyone on earth.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Group Theory Elements And Dynamics Management Essay

Group Theory Elements And Dynamics Management Essay Importance of Groups and Team has become a major focus in the business world. Organizations have well realized that the evolution from individual to team management approach is a priority in current time. The reality is that much of the organizations work is accomplished directly or indirectly through teams. Teams are used as means of growing effectiveness and efficiency in many organizations. Group procedure and conflicts directly impact the choice of team member selection and required results. Creating an effective team is an art and a science. Any organization is constantly changing and evolving. Change is good and the ability of an organization to adapt and be flexible helps stimulate the organizations growth (Mukherjee and Mukherjee, 2001). The use of teams to administer various undertakings and projects are utilized increasingly by organizations with hopes that the performance and creativity of these teams will take them to the next ladder to success in the business world. This explains the words of H.E. Luccock No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it. Definition A work group is a number of persons, usually reporting to a common superior and having some face-to-face interactions, who have some degree of interdependence in carrying out tasks for the purpose of achieving organizational goals. (Wendell L. French, Cecil H. Bell Jr., p. 155). A team on the other hand has some distinctiveness higher to that of an ordinary group, including higher degree of symbiosis and interaction and higher commitments to achieve organization goals. Therefore, according to Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, a team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Working in groups generates work relationships among individuals who get tied to one another with personal and social ties, which makes them an informal organization. An informal organization consists of relationships that emerge and persist as a result of workers existing in the same workplace and having common objectives and similar problems. An informal organization emerges as a result of a formal organization because it is the latter that gathers workers in the same place to perform certain duties and reach specified objectives. Besides, it represents the formal centers, relations and channels of communication between the workers and the rules that govern their behaviors and relations. Basic elements of the group Work teams and informal organization are based on the following elements: Relations among members: This consists of the daily dealings between individuals regarding their work and personal aspects. The relations of members are among the indices used to find out how far the group is holding together. Roles These constitute roles given to team members can be similar to or different from their roles in the formal organization. One member may be assigned the task of solving work problems; another undertakes the groups recreational and social activities. Role assignment depends upon many factors such as the individuals position in the group, his age, experience, ability and interests and personal characteristics, the extent of his being tied to the group and love for its members. Values There are certain social values prevailing within the group from which members are inspired in their work. The group may follow the values of honesty and integrity at work, competition and production at the best possible levels. The members love for their group can be induced from their compliance with the values prevailing within it. Behavioral rules There are certain behavioral rules dictated by the group upon its members such as helping one another, correcting someone when he makes an error. There are a lot of rules that have to be observed by group members. Feelings Some feelings arise among group members as a result of their daily encounters and continuous relations. These are the same feelings as those found in the bigger society such as love and hatred, acceptance and rejection, peace and dispute, etc. If the group is settled and the informal organization persists, it can serve many major purposes, for it provides the chance of the workers acquaintance with one another and their subsequent cooperation and mutual assistance. Factors that affect the groups behavior The individuals objectives and the extent of their conformity or contradiction with those of the group. The values and principles held by individuals and the degree of with their consistency with the organization values and principles. The nature of work performed by individuals and the degree of it consistency with their interests and abilities. The technological means used at work and the degree of their being modern or old. Technical and social training received by the individual. Ways of superiors and supervisors in dealing with their subordinates. The policies of the organization. The services provided by the management or organization to the individual. Disciplinary and punitive regulations and the procedures of their implementation. Group Theory Elements and Dynamics According to Johnson Johnson there are five major elements that must be present for a group to successfully reach a goal. The five elements are positive interdependence, individual accountability, primitive interaction, appropriate use of social skills, and group processing. One of the factors established in group dynamics is that to have a group, two or more must be present and in like mindset of achieving a common goal. For this goal to be achieved certain skills must be present for a successful outcome.   The skills required to have a successful group, and  certainly to have a successful outcome, involve every group member and certainly his or her participation and commitment. As listed by the authors one of the elements, positive interdependence of group members is necessary to have a successful group. This particular element ensures that one member cannot succeed without coordinating his or her efforts with all the other group members to complete the task. This specific element also helps to eliminate diffusion of group responsibility. Each group member must partake equally and effectively in achieving the set goal so all members must have the same set of motivational factors. First and foremost to be successful the group must achieve its goals, maintain a good working relationship among its members, and lastly be able to adapt to the changing conditions it meets during the process of accomplishing the goal (Johnson Johnson, 2000 P. 12).   Clear, relevant and concise goals must be established and agreed upon by group members as such that a high level of commitment is evoked insuring completion of every group members interdependent contribution to the goal. Two-way communication is paramount for the group to be a success and all members should be aware that each and every one is to assume and participate in the role of leader. There should be a balance in power and decision-making, usually the preferred method being by consensus. According to Johnson and Johnson controversies are certainly going to arise in the group process. When this occurs group members should challenge conclusions and reasoning, resulting in creative decision-making and problem solving. This particular group dynamic presents an opportunity for growth for the group members. Group members should face conflicts which will be promoted by incompatibilities and engage in problem-solving negotiations to resolve such conflicts. Several strategies can be use d including withdrawal, forcing, smoothing, compromising and problem solving. Conflicts arising are an important factor and tend to increase group effectiveness (Johnson Johnson, 2000).   The importance of team work Teamwork is important for an endless amount of reasons. There are so many things that are virtually impossible to take on without the use of a team that knows how to work together. The importance of teamwork is something that should be touched on during team building events. If this concept is not understood and carried out at work, your team will not be running as a solid unit. Understanding your team and the many facets of it is just the beginning. The main reason to form a team is to accomplish something intense that cannot easily be achieved by just one person. People need to rely on each other sometimes and understanding that is the start to a potentially great working relationship. When we all come together with one specific shared goal, success is that much easier to obtain. Its also much more efficient and effective than trying to tackle a huge challenge by one member. Nothing great was ever achieved by one person alone. It took many to build the pyramids so why should it take only one to build your ideal business? Understand that you can only benefit from working as a team. Compromise is the secret weapon of strong team that knows where their priorities lie. Nobody can be right all the time. Working as a team means understanding that compromise is essential for everyone to have their say and input. In order to unite for the purpose of success and forward progression, some will have to concede that their way is not the best. And that is what working with others is about. Learning from each other is a great way to grow as an individual and as a whole. When you work closely with others, you tend to spend just as much time with them as you do with your own family. This can make for intimate working relations where you cant help but get to know others well. Breaking down these barriers and really getting to know each other will improve the quality of your team. By removing the stiff or formal element and working in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere, teams get to know one anothers skills and talents. This makes it easy to select people for roles that you know they are capable of handling. Create a Culture of Teamwork To make teamwork happen, these powerful actions must occur. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Executive leaders communicate the clear expectation that teamwork and collaboration are expected. No one completely owns a work area or process all by himself. People who own work processes and positions are open and receptive to ideas and input from others on the team. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Executives model teamwork in their interaction with each other and the rest of the organization. They maintain teamwork even when things are going wrong and the temptation is to slip back into former team unfriendly behavior. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The organization members talk about and identify the value of a teamwork culture. If values are formally written and shared, teamwork is one of the key five or six. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Teamwork is rewarded and recognized. The lone ranger, even if she is an excellent producer, is valued less than the person who achieves results with others in teamwork. Compensation, bonuses, and rewards depend on collaborative practices as much as individual contribution and achievement. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Important stories and folklore that people discuss within the company emphasize teamwork. (Remember the year the capsule team reduced scrap by 20 percent?) People who do well and are promoted within the company are team players. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The performance management system places emphasis and value on teamwork. Often 360 degree feedback is integrated within the system. Skills for High Performance Teamwork Basic Communication à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn how peoples perceptions and viewpoints differ. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn the basics of face-to-face communication. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Analyze the difference between one-way and two-way communication. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Understand the skill of listening. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Improve active listening skills. Giving and Receiving Feedback Learn what feedback is. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Discover how open or closed to giving and receiving feedback. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn to give effective feedback to others. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn how to receive live feedback from others. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Practice giving and receiving live feedback from team members. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Make a personal improvement plan to respond to team feedback. Group Dynamics Learn what group dynamic is. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Experience and discuss group dynamics in action. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn about group process and shared leadership. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Determine what you can do personally to improve group process skills. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rate the teams group process. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identify how the team will improve its group process. Team Decision-Making à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Discuss barriers to group decision-making. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn about methods of group decision-making. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Practice consensus decision-making. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Practice a group decision-making model. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identify how the team will improve its group decision-making. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Review who is responsible for current team decisions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identify team decision issues to be addressed. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Discuss shifting to ideal team decision-making responsibilities. Team Problem Solving à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn the challenges of group problem solving. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gain a working definition of problem solving. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Create a model for group problem solving and how to use it. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn how to do creative brainstorming. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn how to use cause and affect diagrams to analyze problems. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Analyze how well your team is set up for effective problem solving. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn the areas of group problem solving in which the team will improve. Conflict Resolution à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn a definition of unhealthy conflict and how to keep from crossing over into it. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn about the different conflict management styles. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Use a model to help choose a response to potential conflict situations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Assess which conflict styles the most often use. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Practice Step Model for resolving conflict. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Decide how to modify your conflict style and how you will better handle your current conflicts. Time Management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn how currently using the time. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn the barriers which keep from managing the time more effectively. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn the difference between the important and the urgent, and how to schedule time for the important. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learn to set professional goals to guide your use of time. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Create a systematic approach to managing daily events. Enhanced task performance and synergy Synergy is the effect that the combined return whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts (Sebastian Knoll, Cross-Business Synergies, page 14) The phenomenon of Synergy within a Group or Team has become one of the most vital parts for an organization. People who work in groups are able to produce more efficiently and they confer greater quality of output than that produced by an individual and their productivity combined. Joint problem solving, variety in ideas and knowledge, different views towards an issue and accomplishing difficult tasks are some of the factors added by synergy in groups. To make utilize of synergy in groups managers need to make sure that, the group they put together comprise a variety of skills and talents which are diverse and corresponding but still relevant to the task, and being certain that these skills are coordinated efficiently. Managers should make sure that the groups achieve goals for the organization in their own way and enough independence is provided to solve problems. Case studies about group dynamic and teamwork In todays competitive world where every organization is striving to gain the best position in the market the concept of Group Development and Teamwork are steadily gaining importance. Individual decision making has taken a back stage and paved the way for team management approach for problem solving and decision making which has been productive for the organizations. This strategy not only benefits the organization but also the individual employee, hence its been rapidly adopted by businesses. McDonald Management Professor Tracy McDonald also endorses the above facts that groups and teams take an organization to the next level of high performance and output through motivation, creativity and responsiveness and states that The teamwork push probably started in business in the late 1970s or early 80s with the advent of quality circles [employee problem-solving teams], she says innovation, creativity and change have been some of the main drivers of team success and since the past 10 years, organizations have embraced this concept with welcoming hands. Toyota motor Yuki Funo the Chairman and CEO of Toyota motor, states that the Toyota way is the way to number 1. One of the principles of the Toyota way is to add value to the organization by developing your people and people can be developed by molding them into exceptional individuals and teams to work within the corporate philosophy. Facebook Nippard B. creator a Facebook group (teamwork ladder) on teamwork states that more than 80% of fortune 500 companies subscribe to teamwork. Teamwork brings success no matter how you define victory. Conclusion Team oriented approach is the order of the day when it comes to successful organizations who have empowered their employees, motivated them and involved them in such a way that the existence of the organization wouldnt have been possible without the existence of teams of such highly motivated individuals. Teamwork has bought the employee and the organization closer than ever. Problem solving, creativity, innovation and shared vision are as synonymous to teamwork as teamwork is to success. Although team building is a complex process and there are many challenges that hinder a teams success, it can be concluded that the team is the right organization for every task, the new orthodoxy and a reincarnation of the one-best-way. (Drucker P. 1999)

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Jesus Dual Nature Are Divine And Human At Once Religion Essay

Jesus Dual Nature Are Divine And Human At Once Religion Essay Being one of the enigmatic figures in history and in the Bible, the person of Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Son or the Word of the Father. More importantly, he is characterised by his dual nature which are divine and human at same time. Despite the trend of a new quest for the historical Jesus by Kasemann in 1950-1980s, this paper will mainly focus on the biblical interpretation of Jesus as Christ of Faith. Hence, this paper will concentrate on how Jesus was portrayed in the Bible and in Christology (from Greek christos) and who Jesus Christ is from a theological perspective. At the end of this essay, I will deal with the implications of the Christian doctrine on the person of Jesus. Jesus himself suggests his pre-existence in a number of texts in the New Testament. He said he had glory with the father before the world was (John 17:5), which implied his existence prior to all things.  [1]  The prophecies on Christ in the Old Testament encompass his birth place, the fact that he would be born of a Virgin Mother, death and resurrection. It must be noted at the first place that Jesus is not half God and half man; instead, he is fully divine and fully man at the same time, i.e. he has a dual nature. He is not merely a human being who neither had God within him nor is he God who manifested his principle through a physical person, rather, the two distinct natures co-exist and unit in the person of Jesus, which is also called the hypostatic union.  [2]   Jesus is represented as the seed of the woman, the son of David and the prince of pastors. The following features demonstrate Jesus inherent humanity: he was called man (Mark 15:39; John 19:5), has a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39) and was tempted (Matt. 4:1). He had human emotions such as distress and sorrow; he was equally subject to hunger. More significantly, he had a human soul (Luke 23:46) and died. I shall leave the issue of the son of man and resurrection of Jesus later in this paper. For the present, it seems self-evident that Jesus identified himself with men and was truly man. He was explicitly named the servant who offered himself for the sins of the entire world, suffered and sacrificed himself as the One representing all human beings. This fully human aspect of Jesus received support from arianism and ebionitism, which viewed Christ as a man born naturally, but was rejected by docetism arguing that the human features of Christ were mere appearances.  [3]  The G nostics also denied to Jesus a true human nature. Nonetheless, the above views were both rejected at Church Councils and the idea of the union of the two separate natures in one person was upheld. Besides this emphasis on Jesus true humanity, there has always been stressed that he was sinless. In this sense, he was distinguished from other human beings and he could not be simply said to be the wisest or greatest man at his time, as he was fundamentally different from his fellows (1 John 1:9). The deity of Christ: the divine and transcendent aspect of Jesus Despite the emphasis on Jesus true humanity, there is little doubt about the divinity of Christ. It was clearly taught in the Bible that Jesus was regarded as more than human: he was called God (John 20:28) and Son of God (Mark 1:1), was worshiped (Matt. 2:2) and honored the same as the Father (John 5:23), was omniscient (John 21:17) and resurrects (John 5:39). Son of God, Son of Man Being called the Son of God and Son of Man in the New Testament, Jesus seemed to receive these titles so as to fulfil a messianic purpose. Jesus does not refer to himself as the Son of God, rather, he was named so by the heavenly voice at his baptism.  [4]  The term was also frequently used in the Pauline gospels. This title is clearly connected to a messianic purpose: whilst accepting it, Jesus assumed to be the Son of the Father become One with the Father both in activity and will (i.e. the rightful Son in nature, whereas men can only become sons of God by adoption). Hence, he assumed his roles of saving and judging. More interestingly, in the gospels of John, he equally referred to himself as the Son of Man. It seems that this enigmatic title was mainly used in three different contexts: 1) to address the prophet Ezekiel (e.g. Ezekiel 2)1 to refer to humanity in general and his humility (Psalm 8:14) to refer to a figure representing the end of history.  [5]  Hence, it seems that he used this title when he emphasised his authority and power of judging. Lord The statement Jesus Christ is Lord (Greek kyrios, Hebrew adonai) is frequently used in the New Testament: Thomas called the resurrected Jesus My Lord and my God! (John 20:28), so does the Father: Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever. (Hebrews 1:8).  [6]  Interestingly, McGarth noted in her Christian Theology that in Torah readings, Lord had become synonymous with God in Jewish thinking by the time of Jesus, which might justify Jews refusal to address the Roman emperor as Lord.  [7]  Thereby, Jesus is more than a charismatic figure but the saviour of the world (Luke 2:1); people could pray to him as they would pray to God and worship God. More importantly, Jesus received honor and glory from the Father and reveals the Father: Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9) (329-330) Word In the expectations of classical wisdom, Jesus is not only considered as fulfilment of the Law, but also as the logos (word), i.e. the mediator between the seen and unseen worlds.  [8]  In the gospels of John, Jesus is described as the Word who was God and was with God and was made flesh, (The Word became flesh (John 1:14), which confirms again the intrinsic dual nature in the person of Jesus. The incarnation and three offices of Christ The threefold office of Christ was first formulated by John Calvin as (1) Prophet; (2) Priest, and (3) King.  [9]  Different from the prophet in the traditional sense, Jesus is both gave revelation from God and was himself revelation from God  [10]  , and this may explain why the title of prophet is absent in the epistles. As an unconventional priest, Jesus fulfilled his office by offering himself as sacrifice for peoples sin. In his role of King, he reveals God to men (John 1:18); saves sinners (Gal 1:4) and judges men (Acts 17:31), accomplishes Gods work including saving (Matt 1:23), raising the dead (John 5:25) and building his church (Matt 16:18). He rules over the entire universe with wisdom and justice, and shall return as the King of Kings (Rev 19:16). Resurrection The resurrection which was recorded in all four gospels remains as a debatable topic in Christology: how to understand that Jesus rose from the dead, physically in the same body in which he had died? Should we interpret the word resurrection in a physical sense or a spiritual one? Despite the earlier doctrine of soteriology which consists in regeneration of individuals, it now seems appropriate to say that the testimony of Jesus resurrection by the disciples (Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. Cf: Luke: 24:36-43) only confirms a faith in Jesus resurrection that had its origins in independent acts of divine revelation.  [11]  Scholars such as R. Bultmann argue that the disciples experience is too supernatural to be ascertainable, whereas K. Barth and S. Kierkegaard argued that the resurrection was merely literal in the Bible and could not be experienced by ordinary human beings and can only be accepted by faith alone.  [12]   Although it is difficult to reconcile the interpretation of Christs resurrection as a bodily one in the early Christian doctrine, it must be recognised that this interpretation is core to Christian ethical life and reflects the hope that Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Kings will return with great glory to rule over the cosmos, judge the dead and establish his kingdom (Rev 19:11).  [13]   Implications of the doctrine It appears that the interpretation and understanding of Jesus in the Bible and Christology have various ethical ramifications. As what you believe affects what you do, the life of Jesus and his self-sacrificial love provides the reader with ethical teaching and affects his whole life. As H. R. Mackintosh rightly pointed out: When we come to know God in the face of Jesus Christ, we know that we have not seen that Face elsewhere, and could not see it elsehow. Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and there is no door, nor way, leading to the Father but by him.  [14]   (Word count: 1655 words)

Monday, August 19, 2019

Plagiarism :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plagiarism is defined in the Encyclopedia Britannica Online as â€Å"the act of taking the writings of another person and passing them off as one's own†. In my own words I define it as the stealing of someone else’s literary work and taking credit for their writings. Sometimes it is done intentionally as an act of complete dishonesty. Someone may not want to exert the necessary effort required to research and write his or her own work. They assume it would be easier to just copy another author’s work. Another example of deliberate plagiarism is the buying or selling of papers, or hiring someone to write a paper. Most frequently, plagiarism occurs without the writer knowing that he or she is plagiarizing. Simply quoting an author without stating where the quote was taken from and citing the name of author is plagiarizing. If someone uses an authors style of writing and/ or word usage throughout his/her paper that is also considered plagiarism. Whether done intentionally or in error, plagiarism is a crime that can warrant serious penalties   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plagiarism is a severe problem because it has since become an epidemic and is being practiced at an alarmingly increasing rate. It has become widely accepted among students at many colleges and universities across the United States. It has gotten to the point that many students don’t even consider it cheating. This fact alone makes it even more serious and harder to control. It is now common practice to obtain someone else’s writing and turn it in as an original work. It is not difficult to purchase a pre-written paper or hire another individual to write a paper. Students are willing to pay whatever the cost so that they don’t have to do the work themselves. In fact, paper-selling services such as this have become quite a lucrative business. With the age of technology quickly advancing it has become all the more easily to plagiarize. The impact of the Internet on the plagiarism has been huge. You can find hundreds of websites that, for a fee, will offer papers on every topic imaginable. There are also websites that promise custom made papers written based on the requested criteria. The ease and availability offered through such sites has tempted even the most honest students. With the stress and pressure that the pursuit higher education can bring it is often a welcome release to have a ready-made paper at the stroke of key.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Public Reception of Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Ess

The Public Reception of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Upon its publication in 1884, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was met with mixed reviews. Some reviewers called it flat, trashy, and irreverent. Others called it Twain's best work yet, hailing his humor and style throughout the novel. Though obscure at first, reviews began to appear in many newspapers throughout the country as more and more became interested in the novel as a result of these reviews. Huckleberry Finn was published at a time when the nation was deeply concerned about the effects of literature on young minds. Dime novels appeared in abundance, and had moved from western stories to more modern stories, like those of Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa, published in 1883. The main character in these stories was a young prankster, who routinely succeeded in causing pain to adults, namely his father. Stories like these were considered dangerous to young boys who could model their behavior after the characters in the stories. Huck Finn was seen by many critics as another addition to the growing list of bad-boy stories published in the 1880's. The fact that it was written by an already well-known author added insult to injury for many. The attack on Twain's humor was immediate. The New York World published a review which said: Were Mark Twain's reputation as a humorist less well founded and established, we might say that this cheap and pernicious stuff is conclusive evidence that its author has no claim to be ranked with Artemus Ward, Sydney Smith, Dean Swift, John Hay, or any other recognized humorist above the grade of the author of that outrageous fiction, "Peck's Bad Boy." One critic in the Boston Evening Traveller called it "flat... ...ne of the strongest points of the novel is that it "teaches it lessons by implication, not by preaching; and literature is at it best when it is an imitation of life and not an excuse for instruction." The humor in the novel is also complimented, and it is this humor which contributes to the instructiveness of the novel. The review ends with the statement that the "story is capital reading." Huckleberry Finn was met with both positive and negative reviews when it was published. Those positive reviews praised the work of Mark Twain, encouraging the audience to read the novel. Those negative reviews also encouraged the audience to read the novel by stating the wickedness of it as a whole, therefore influencing people to read it just to see what it contained. Though for some novels mixed reviews mean smaller sales, for Huck Finn, every review lead to sales of novel.

The Spark of World War I :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The conflicting national interests in western and eastern Europe drove the major countries to form protective coalitions, even with nations that had once been bitter enemies. Smaller countries were forced to choose sides, and by 1914, Europe was separated into two heavily armed camps. Any spark would have been enough to ignite the war everyone expected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  That spark was touched off in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In an attempt to ease tensions between Austria-Hungary and people in the Balkans, the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife made a ceremonial trip to Sarajevo.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ferdinand was in line to be the next emperor of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The Archduke had made enemies in the neighboring kingdom of Serbia because he once favored the reorganization of the empire to create a third kingdom of Croatia. At the same time, Serbia was attempting to expand its power by bringing all of the ethnic Serbs under its dominion, so it had designs on Croatian territory as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As Ferdinand’s caravan of open cars made its way through Sarajevo, it was attacked by a group of bomb-throwing terrorists who hoped to assassinate Ferdinand. Their grenade missed the Archduke but killed others in the caravan. Terrified, the Archduke’s driver tried to escape by turning the carriage around and racing towards the train depot. In an ironic twist of fait, he got lost and entered a street where nineteen-year-old Gravilo Princip, a young Serbian nationalist, was hiding. Princip was part of the terrorist group, and he quickly realized a second opportunity to kill the Archduke was a hand. He pulled out a pistol and began to fire, hitting Sophie, who had tried to shield her husband.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Cost of delivery Essay

1. The chain stores’ request to reduce cycle time by shipping directly to the stores would seriously affect the service model and delivery costs for BKI. Because, the proposed model would mean that BKI would have to process more number of deliveries in smaller quantities and transport them separately to each store. Cost of delivery will increase due to smaller quantities to be delivered directly to stores resulting in more trips, farther distances and lower economies of scale. This is in complete contrast to the more structured and systematic current model of weekly deliveries of standard quantities to the stores’ warehouses. 2. In my opinion, Joe Rutner’s proposal of establishing a set of six company-owned facilities to act as regional DCs seems to be a step in the right direction for taking on the supply chain requirements of BKI’s customers in the future. Rather than dismissing this store’s request as a one-off case and handling it on a temporary basis, Rutner has proposed a solution that is likely to take the company forward into the future. He understands that the retail stores are themselves are looking to cut costs by improving their inventory and supply chain management and such requests would become common from most if not all of the existing customers. Moreover the new retail stores mushrooming in the market are likely to have less regional facilities and would need the proposed arrangement from BKI. 3. The matter of ownership of these facilities is very important for the success of this proposed supply chain arrangement as the management of BKI needs to study the long term impact of the costs involved. In the long term it would be better if BKI goes for direct ownership of the facilities as it would benefit the profitability of the operations by keeping the costs of maintenance lower than those involved in the alternatives such as co-owned or franchisee structure. However, the management will have to consider the availability of capital resources if it opts for direct ownership. The capital required for the facilities could be lowered to an extent by going for rented building rather than constructing new premises. This would decrease the time required to implement the new proposal also.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Ethical and Legal Dilemmas of Surrogacy

Many individuals have a life plan consisting of college, marriage, and then children. After numerous methods of conception, many couples are still unable to conceive a child. A woman who enters into a contract with a couple, agreeing to carry and birth a child, then hand that child over to the contracted couple, who is often unable to conceive own their own naturally is considered surrogacy (Pozgar, 2012). Surrogacy raises many ethical and legal issues for all parties involved. Is it moral or immoral to enter into an agreement with a woman to birth a child for money? What are the legal rights of the woman conceiving or of the couple? Should the child be aware of the process in which he or she was born? Does the child have rights to access the confidential records of the process? These are a just a few questions that will be addressed throughout this paper. Discussed below is the history of surrogacy, the ethical and legal dilemmas that surround surrogacy, alternative solutions to surrogacy, and the potential effects and future implications of how surrogacy may be addressed. There are two types of surrogacy arrangements to consider. These types of surrogacy are genetic and gestational. Genetic or traditional surrogacy is where the surrogate mother contributes her genetic makeup to the offspring, whereas gestational surrogacy consists of the genetic makeup of the intended parents (Greene, 2013). Of the two, gestational surrogacy accounts for 95% of the surrogate pregnancies in the United States of America (Covington & Patrizio, 2013, p. 277). One of the first accounts of surrogacy dates back to the story of Abraham and Sarah in the Bible. Sarah, who was well beyond child-bearing years and having being barren of child-bearing years sought to have a child. Abraham had intercourse with Hagar, a handmaid and gave birth to Ishmael, which she then gave to Abraham and Sarah to raise (King James Bible, Genesis 25:12). While surrogacy continued throughout history, it became more prevalent in the last half century or so. Altruistic surrogacy is when a friend or family member is the surrogate without being paid; however, the most common is commercial recruitment of women who are paid to be a surrogate (Covington & Patrizio, 2013, p. 277). Noel Keane was a broker who made the first commercial surrogacy agreement in the case of Baby M (Cassidy, 2012). The details of this first legal case began raising ethical dilemmas with surrogacy. The application of autonomy and distributive justice are at work with surrogacy. Autonomy is the acknowledgment of a persons right to make their own decisions and distributive justice is equal and fair treatment to all (Pozgar, 2012). Principle number four in The Medical Code of Ethics states requires respect for the patient’s right (American Medical Association, 2001). In surrogacy issues, whose rights should be placed first? The surrogate who is carrying the child? Should the emotional ties that she can accumulate over the course of ten months be placed first or the rights of the adopting parents? Is there a possible outcome for justice to be distributed among all the parties involved? In attempting to define ethical decisions, Jones writes that â€Å"An ethical decision is a decision that is both legally and morally acceptable to the larger community. (Jones, 1991, p. 387)†. Thus, Jones explains that decisions such as surrogacy are often resolved using the perspective of a utilitarian. Utilitarianism is considered a moral theory in which individuals and governmental action should be directed at providing the greatest good for the greatest number of people (Mosser, 2010). One question remains: Can an action be placed on the issue that provides good to all? An ethical dilemma placed with surrogacy is dehumanization and exploitation. For people who oppose surrogacy as means of conception, it is viewed that women who are living in poverty are exploiting their bodies to profit (in cases of gestational surrogacy) financially (Surrogacy, 2008). On the flipside on the issue, can it not also be viewed that allowing these women to do as they see fit with their bodies as economic empowerment? The money provided to these women can used for various financial means outside of taking care of medical heath care for themselves and the child. The amount provided to each female varies depending on what she and the couple feel is sufficient, therefore any extra monetary compensation can used to help the women relieve themselves from other debts. Autonomy does provide the right that women get to choose their reproductive rights and that includes bearing children for those who cannot do so or for monetary stability. Suggesting that surrogacy dehumanizes her is another form of paternalism. Paternalism limits one’s autonomy for their own good (Pozgar, 2012). Some view altruistic surrogacy as a form of exploiting the surrogate. There is no monetary compensation to woman placing her health and well-being on the line for another’s benefit. However, it can also be held that the woman knowingly entered into the agreement with full disclosure of the risks and benefits to her health and body. Again, autonomy and justice are extremely prevalent ethical principles to explore when discussing the topic of surrogacy. Same-sex marriage has become a hot topic in the United States in the last few years. The idea of raising a family by homosexual couples brings about other ethical issues of surrogacy. Should those of same-sex marriages be allowed to have children? How will there relationship affect the child of the couple? A recent article in the American Bar Association’s (ABA) journal tells of a same-sex couple whose case is similar to that of the Baby M case (Hansen, 2011). The United States, unlike many other countries have no policies governing surrogacy, as it is a state-by-state policy (Hansen, 2011). In places such as India, commercial surrogacy is legal and often seen as a popular place of fertility tourism because the costs are one third of that in the United States (Saxena, Mishra, & Malik, 2012). In some cases, children have been placed in orphanages until paternity has been established or in some instances disowned when a child is conceived naturally by the parents, as with Ishmael from the Bible. Women of poor and illiterate backgrounds stricken by poverty are sometimes coerced by intermediaries or spouses to become surrogates. In such cases, fidelity among the couple has been cast aside. The women may feel that they cannot trust their spouse to stand by them if they do not comply with their wishes. Unlike the United States where psychological screening and legal counseling is mandatory to be surrogates, in India women are placed in hostels for the duration of their pregnancy by recruitment commercial agencies (Saxena, Mishra, & Malik, 2012). Back to the case of Baby M and the same sex couples, who after waiting for their buddle of joy begin having legal issues. It is important to know that the surrogate has the legal right to keep the child she has bore, regardless of genetics (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, 2009). In other words, the birth mother is considered the legal parental unit of the child until such documentation states otherwise. She has the right at anytime to change her mind, therefore it is important to have knowledge and fidelity with your surrogate. Understanding the meaning of how the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 reads is important. If you are having problems comprehending or deciphering parts of the act, speak with a lawyer. It reads, â€Å" an Act to regulate certain activities in connection with arrangements made with a view to women carrying children as surrogate mothers,† (Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985). As far as legal rights of the father, if the woman did so in a licensed clinic and has no partner, the child will have no legal father; however, the surrogate’s husband or civil partner is the child’s legal father, unless it is shown that the partner did not consent to the procedure (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, 2009). The intended parents have a course to follow concerning rights as well. If they wish to become the legal parents of the child, they can adopt or file for a paternal order. Provided certain conditions are met, the rights and parentage are transferred with the order, this must be done within six months of the child’s birth and at least one individual of the commissioning couple needs a genetic link for a paternal order (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, 2009). If there is no genetic relationship with the child in question, adoption is the only legal route. In this case, an adoption agency will get involved, so it is important to know the legal aspects of surrogacy. An article in the British Medical Journal argues that the only way to resolve such issues of legality is through legislations and regulations of international laws (Ramskold & Posner, 2012). The ethical responsibilities for physicians of surrogates can been seen as: advising couples who are considering surrogacy, counseling women who may wish to become surrogates, providing obstetrics to women engaged in surrogacy, or offering assisted reproductive technologies (ART) related to surrogacy (Committee on Ethics, 2008). Physicians should not treat the intended parents of a surrogate child while also treating the surrogate mother, as conflicts may arise and not all parties may be treated fairly and the physician should. As in all other aspects of medical care, physicians should be certain that there would be a full discussion of ethical and legal issues as well as medical risks, benefits, and alternatives, many of which have been addressed in this statement (Committee on Ethics, 2008). Physicians may decline to participate in surrogacy arrangement, as with any other treatment of a patient because of personal, ethical, medical, or religious views as per the AMA Code of Medical Ethics (AMA, 2001). A physician should apply the same legal and ethical aspects to the surrogate as with the intended couple. This includes screening and counseling the surrogate and intended couple; referral for mental health testing for the surrogate to evaluate the possible outcomes and effects, as well as evaluate psychological risks, vulnerabilities and benefits, and the possible effects of existing relationships with existing children (Committee on Ethics, 2008). It is important that confidentiality be maintained between the physician and the patient. The intended parents may only access the pregnant woman’s medical records if the woman has given explicit consent. This is guaranteed in the Patient’s Bill of Rights and the Constitution (Right to privacy, n. d. ). This would also address whether or not the child would have any legal right to know his or her birth mother without her consent. Two alternatives to surrogacy are natural conception and adoption. When a couple conceives naturally, there is no need for a surrogate. This can be done through sexual intercourse or through in-vitro fertilization. In-vitro fertilization (IVF) is a medical procedure in which mature eggs are obtained from the female’s ovaries and are fertilized by the male’s sperm, then the eggs are implanted into the uterus (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2013). This option is usually applied due to infertility. Adoption, as an alternative to surrogacy can also be very beneficial to involved parties. Children without parents, due to unforeseen circumstances are provided homes with caring, loving families. A couple adopting may not have genetic links to these children, but loving relationships can emerge and often treat the child as their own. In my personal opinion, I think surrogacy will continue to increase the numbers of childless couples. In such cases where altruism is applied, I think the emotional ties are easier severed because the woman is volunteering her services to a couple she sees in need. I speak of this from somewhat of a personal viewpoint. I have two healthy children and am currently pregnant with my third with no complications during either pregnancy; however, my sister has been trying to conceive naturally for almost 4 years now and has had no luck. I would gladly consider being a surrogate for her should she ever ask. I know from her interactions with my own kids that she would be a great mother to a child. I do not know her medical history or what medical advice she has sought regarding her problem, but I know that I could help a family member in need and not want monetary compensation for doing so. However, I will acknowledge that this is not the best road for all women. The emotional involvement may make it hard to part with the child after carrying it for nine months. I would only recommend this to a woman who has decided that she no longer wants to have children or does not wish to raise any more children of her own. I also see gestational surrogacy still being the most common between the two types of surrogacy because of the emotional detachment. I think that some people feel that not having a genetic link to a child makes it easier to part with after birth. I feel that some women need to be able to look at their child and see similarities in physical features to know that they are part of a child. Gestational surrogacy requires no genetics from the surrogate, only from the intended parents. Considering both types of surrogacy and the current state of how the legal issues around the topic are addressed, I think improvements need to be made. From research, the surrogate has more legal rights than anyone. This provides a very limited window for the intended couple who has long awaited a child. Legislations need to be enacted that provide more rights to intended parents of the child, especially during a gestational surrogacy. I do not think that it should be legal and find it unethical that a surrogate still has legal rights to a child with no genetic link. I find hope in the future that additional regulations in how surrogacy is handled will be sought. While surrogacy has been around since Biblical times, it has made a splash as headline news in the last half century. The legal and ethical dilemmas surrounding the topic derive from the rights of the surrogate, the intended couple, and for the children that are involved with the procedure and process. The alternatives to surrogacy do not necessarily provide additional benefits and in some instances, do not always apply to those wishing to have a child. While no one can predict the future, surrogacy in my opinion, will continue to flourish among couples; not just infertile couples or same-sex couples, but among women who do not wish to go through the process of labor and delivery. Women who live in poverty may continue to see the benefits of surrogacy for economic gain for themselves and their families. There are so many ethical elements at play with surrogacy that the issue will remain to have legal and ethical complications, now and in the future.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Electronic Health Records Essay

Introduction Electronic health records (also known as ‘e-notes’) have commonly replaced the conventional paper records used in medical facilities. This discussion describes how electronic health records have provided a solution to a range of health care procedures, have offered cost savings and benefits, and still have greater potential for improvement through future efforts. Overall, this discussion documents the progress and demands for further convenience in regards to electronic health records, presenting concepts, statistics, and recent analyses published by authorities on the topic. Through this, it is evident that electronic health notes still have shortcomings that are commonly noted and targeted, but as they have solved many more problems inherent in previous systems, they are the ideal path for development and improvement in this area. Electronic Health Records Since the development of electronic health records, healthcare managers have been able to reach numerous solutions to previous problems in their systems; this has included improved capacities to record and store the clinical and demographic information patients, the capacity to observe or manage the results of laboratory tests, the capacity to give prescriptions, improved ease of managing billing data, and improved facilitation of analysis for clinical decisions. These improvements reveal the nature of challenges and demands relevant to operations using the previous form of records (paper), with electronic health records being substantially more organized, convenient, and manageable. According to Al-Ubaydli (70), the use of paper records â€Å"had several implications. On the one hand, writing on paper fast and easy, so it fits well with clinical workflow. On the other hand, notes are only useful to the person who reads them, no to the one who writes them. When writing, speed and brevity are essential as there are always more patients to visit and care for. But for the reader, speed means illegible handwriting and brevity means incomplete notes. This leads clinicians to ask patients questions to which the answers already exist in the notes† (Al-Ubaydli 70). Moreover, as the author pointed out, paper is more difficult to transfer or copy, leading to it ultimately becoming easiest to keep the records confined to one central place. With this, they cannot move as easily as the patient, and the chore of copying tended to result in the patients being without a complete set of easily accessible records. Meanwhile, there are substantial space and cost requirements associated with storing paper records. The development of computer hardware, software, and improved data storage techniques eventually led to the development of efficient and effective software capable of storing patient data in secure databases, further allowing all data to be stored in a size-efficient manner that could also be easily transmitted. With the development of the internet, patient files could even be stored and transmitted online, providing an ideal backup for databases while improving the capacity for patients to have complete record sets sent to a range of facilities. The general motivation for creating these electronic health records was to address the problems inherent in the paper records, with the most convenient aspect being the cost-effective nature of storage and transmission; the nature of this being a virtually free cost and nearly instantaneous transmission made the desire and changes especially significant. Moreover, electronic health records would allow users to improve the capacity for users to index, sort, and search through records faster than the time demanded to sort through the paper files manually (Al-Ubaydli 70). An additional benefit is the reduced potential for illegible notes, as the nature of the systems means that all data is entered in using clear computerized text characters. As mentioned, similar to the nature of demands and problems evident in the paper records, there are now demands for improving aspects of the electronic records. However, these problems can be addressed through improved organization, software, and other means that does not demand a drastic change in mediums, as was required to address the problems of the paper records. Al-Ubaydli (71) reported that electronic health records â€Å"must include checks and balances to audit and control access. Second, the user interfaces for adding to the records must become easier to that they fit better into clinical workflow and allow clinicians to do more in less time. Speech recognition continues to improve, and the designers of templates continue to innovate.† The author further points out that similar to the improved search engines of the internet (first challenging and then drastically improved with developments like Google), electronic health records can be similarly improved without restructuring comparable to restructuring paper records. Other researchers have analyzed the nature of electronic health records, further elaborating on the nature of solutions and remaining demands. DeVoe et al. (351) pointed out that the clear and detailed recording of all received and recommended services should be considered the most vital aspect of health records, which is most effectively addressed through electronic records rather than paper records. This further assists with insurance aspects, as the detailed and accurate aspects of recording services can improve coordination with claims and related demands. DeVoe et al. (352) further asserted that electronic health records have the potential to assist researchers and policy makers with overcoming prior restrictions in examining services provided in CHCs. Meanwhile, Hoffman and Podgurski (425) reported on the growth of health care and pharmaceutical costs, frequency of unnecessary medical procedures, evoked healthcare reforms, and critical roles of records in all of these processes. With this, comparative effectiveness research (CER) has commonly been coupled with electronic health records to show that many expensive procedures have had less desirable outcomes for comparable conditions that less expensive ones, pointing out the nature of some health care facilities and physicians. Meanwhile, however, some have argued that CER is likely to lead to limited patient choices, improper rationing of health care, homogenized care, and potentially refusal of needed treatments (Hoffman and Podgurski 425). Congress allocated $1.1 billion to CER through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, which included other aspects of improving and restructuring facilities. Soon it became evident that a unique application of CER could allow physicians to improve their decisions regarding treatment, as when coupled with electronic health records, physicians could conduct computer inquiries across a large database of patient records. Naturally, this would provide a valuable supplement to the patient’s history and literature. Hoffman and Podgurski (425) recommended that software be designed to summarize findings of queries by presenting the most relevant outcomes of patients with the most comparable conditions, while records be developed and stored in a manner which facilitates this. Thus, personalized comparison of treatment effectiveness or PCTE could become a phrase more common than CER in the future. Conclusion Electronic health care records have solved many of the problems that could not be effectively addressed through developments in the paper systems, with major improvements in the capacity to copy and transfer records, cost of storage, and clarity of information. Although this has led to implications for security and excessive copying, databases have been developed to improve the concerns in these areas. Moreover, researchers have proposed additional improvements in development as well as use, with records having the potential to serve as an informal accessible databank, thereby improving understanding and decision making. Works Cited Al-Ubaydli, Mohammad. Personal Health Records: A Guide for Clinicians. John Wiley & Sons: New York, NY, 2011. DeVoe, Jennifer, Rachel Gold, Patti McIntire, Jon Puro, and Susan Chauvie. â€Å"Electronic Health Records vs Medicaid Claims: Completeness of Diabetes Preventive Care Data in Community Health Centers.† Annals of Family Medicine 9.4 (2011): 351-358. Hoffman, Sharona and Andy Podgurski. â€Å"Improving Health Care Outcomes through Personalized Comparisons of Treatment Effectiveness Based on Electronic Health Records.† Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 39.3 (2011): 425-436.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Project Management Sample Assignment Essay

The Association for Project Management (APM) suggests that the project business case provides justification for undertaking a project by evaluating benefit, cost and alternative options. The main purpose is to obtain approval and commitment for investment in the project (Association for Project Management 2006, p.129 and MGT8022, USQ 2013). According to Project Management Institute (PMBOK, PMI 2013), the business case describes information from a business standpoint to determine whether or not the project is worth of investment. It is used as a decision making tool by senior leadership. Based on the above, US Toys business case (attached as Appendix I) is being examined with a review of process and process control, project management literature and project management framework. According to Turner (2009), performance improvement can come from sources like operational efficiency, organization effectiveness or higher order strategic issues due to changes in technology or overall busine ss strategy. New capabilities will not solve the problems blocking performance improvement directly but rather it is necessary to achieve intermediate benefits before realizing the main benefit. It is evident from the business case that US Toys has purchased a software solution called Demand Chain Management whose full benefit will be show-caused by integrating it with its legacy warehouse management system. During initial planning phases, appropriate team members or groups should be involved so that they contribute and create auxiliary ideas (Young 2006). Key components of business case like project purpose, objectives and success criteria were established, US Toys business case misses on holistic identification of stakeholders and other critical components. Business case is a recommendation to take a particular course of action supported by benefits, costs and risks analysis (Journal reference). Critical elements of a business case applied to the case scenario are summarized in the following table DefinitionDiscussionUS Toys Business caseA business case should be a recommendationRecommendation should have finely balanced options providing purpose and direction.Business case lists two cost impact options with a nothing option to continue current processes. However, it does not list supporting analysis on why option 3 is recommended. Providing supporting analysis of benefits with the option will influence business decision.For the organisationA business case is worth for significant projects in organisationBusiness case pertains to increased  operational efficiency and hence it is a significant project for the organisation.Supported by analysis of benefitsBusiness case requires exegesis of strategic rationale as well as more detailed, systematic analysis of benefitsUS Toys business case lists options but lacks systematic analysis and strategic rationale.CostsCost estimation is the difficult aspect in a business case but without it, the case cannot be madeCost estimates provided in the business case appear to be high level. It would be good if Return on Investment (ROI) and break even duration are provided as an additional supporting analysis.RisksProjects involve risks and understanding and taking ownership of risk is an essential part of a business caseUpon evaluation, US Toys business does not have risk manag ement process or risk scoring methodology. (Adapted from Gambler 2009, Making the business case Table 1.1 on page 2). Upon review of US Toys business case, it is evident that the enhancements to the existing Warehouse Management System are undertaken for achieving operational efficiency and technology as depicted in below figure. Figure Achieving performance improvement (Adapted from Turner, 2009, Chapter 2 figure 2.2) The targeted benefits lists operational efficiency and leveraging new technology in the form of interfaces to purchased package solution. From the above figure, it is evident that performance is directly proportional to the time involved. The higher the targeted performance the more time required. However, US Toys Business case has not included duration of the project. One of the key definition of project is a project will have definite start and end time in other words a fixed duration during which resources, tools and organizational efficiencies are logically grouped to achieve an agreed upon outcomes. The business case provides a consolidated and summary-level overview of the proje ct. It should address objectives, critical success factors, and communication plan and measurement framework to measure the work being undertaken. It will form the baseline from which the project planning can proceed (MGT8022, USQ 2013) The more formal business case contains more quantitative information for decision making purposes. Applying these principles to US Toys Business case, it is evident that it does not include detailed quantitative information. Though SOWT/TOWS analysis has been included in the Appendix, it does not cross reference to the main objectives of the purpose. While presenting the business case to  the stakeholders, it is imperative to talk about key strengths of the organization and how they can be leveraged to overcome the weaknesses or to exploit opportunities for the benefit of the organization. In addition to this, benefit analysis is shown for the option being recommended. This gives an impression of being forced to take that option instead of recommendation. By including benefit analysis for the option 2 outright purchase of a pre-packaged application, business case would have provided a comparison for the stakeholders in taking an informed decision. Upon review of US Toys business case, it is evident that risk assessment involves continuous monitoring and assessment ongoing basis. It would be beneficial to use spiral model for the proposed solution. By clarifying on the future risks unknown at the point will be known in the course of time during project execution. This provides a framework to manage risks. Figure (Adapted from Turner, 2009 The Spiral Model Chapter 11, figure 11.3) As depicted in the above figure, by advising an appropriate model like spiral model, will provide a framework of project management methodology being followed for the proposed project. This will clarify to the decision makers that process of risk assessment is continuous and does not end with those listed in the business case. As the project progresses, a mechanism is in place to identify risks and appropriate risk response planning is incorporated. According to Turner (2009), projects has three levels of planning the integrative level, the strategic level and tactical level. The business case would have presented with greater value by defining the objectives at the above three levels like efficiency improvement as strategic level, achieving integration of Warehouse Management System with the recently procured Demand Chain Management system as integration level and reduced cycle times in supply chain as tacti cal level. The summarized objectives as listed in the following table will be value-add to the business case. LevelObjective of the proposed projectStrategicWarehouse operational efficiency improvementTacticalReduced cycle times in replenishment of stock at stores country-wideIntegrativeSynergy by integrating with Demand Chain Management system Based on the above analysis, it is recommended for all future projects, US Toys project management team should employ a systematic project management processes in addressing their deficiencies particularly financials and controls analysis in the formation of business case. The  successful project deliverables are dependable upon system thinking approach involving people, structures and application of processes. It is also recommended that to provide an assessment of the Project/Stakeholder relationships to have a better understanding of relationships. References Archibald, R 1992, Managing high technology programs and projects, 2nd edn, John Wiley, New York, USA. Gambles, I 2009, Making the business case proposals that succeed for projects that wo rk, Ashgate, Farnham, UK, pp. 1-20. Gardiner, PD 2005, Project Management A Strategic Planning Approach, Palgrave Macmillan, New York MGT8022 Project-based management, Study book -University of Southern Queensland, 2013. PMI 2013, A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th edn, Project Management Institute, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Turner, RJ 2009, The handbook of project-based management Leading strategic change inorganisations, 3rd edn, McGraw Hill, New York Young, TL 2006, Successful Project Management, 2nd edn, Kogan Page Limited, London. APPENDIX – I US Toys – BUSINESS CASE Introduction US Toys is a leading seller of Toys merchandise in the world with 700 plus stores in United States and 900 plus international stores located in United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, Hong Kong, China and Japan. This business case is for proposed enhancements to current Warehouse Management System for increased operational efficiency. Demand Chain Management (DCM) is a Teradata product currently employed by the US business to control inventory flow from the vendor-to-DC (Distribution Centre) and DC-to-store. DCM supports the full automation of these functions by utilizing the RDF (Retail Demand Forecast) forecast and applying proactive inventory management policies. Included in sc ope for the DCM project are enhancements to the International Warehouse Management System (WMS) to enable to efficiently process store replenishment orders generated by DCM. Overview Vision To ship less quantity of an item to stores but more frequently and ensure that forecasted demand (from RDF) is covered, as well as minimum shelf stock (MSS). Organisational Objective US Toys is restructuring its business operations for cost effectiveness and has set a target of improving operational efficiency by 10 by year 2014. By shipping less quantity but frequently will result in reduced idle inventory in stores and distribution centres. Business Case Purpose of Business case DCM will generate new SOQs (Store Order Quantity) each day that will be used  to pull goods from DCs to Stores as needed, based on the sales demand forecast from RDF. Instead of processing a large batch of Transfers early in the week, the DCs workload will likely adjust so that smaller waves are processed each day for stores that have a scheduled delivery (Appendix C System Flow). Maximize cross dock ability (to ship the goods to stores, which have been received by Distribution Centre on the same day hence eliminating storage space and effort for put away operations (Appendix C System Flow). Business Case Sponsor This business case is sponsored by Senior Vice President Merchandising Senior Vice President Purchasing Situational Assessment and Problem Statement Current process and its limitations when compared to the proposed solution can be summarized in the following table Operational Process/AttributeCurrent ProcessProposed SolutionFrequencyStores get shipment from DC once in a week which is resulting in huge costs in terms of trailers, labour and storage (floor area)Instead of processing a large batch of Transfers early in the week, DCs workload will likely adjust so that smaller waves are processed each day for stores that have a scheduled delivery.User InterfaceCurrent process has to be run from a legacy terminal and maintenance of these terminals is cost intensive.A new web interface is being proposed for the DC to use to plan and create waves that will process both Transfers and Receivers from Interactive Transfers System (existing Legacy system), as well as SOQs f rom DCM. By having a web interface, wave can be planned and process from any system (like PC or Laptop) instead of current use of legacy terminalsCross Dock EfficiencyCurrently receivers (shipment from vendors) and transfers (shipment from DC to stores) are run independently. This limits cross dock ability.To maximize cross-dock, daily receipts will be processed for all stores, each day. PrioritizationCurrent process does take into account trailer capacity. This results in shipping those goods which are not required immediately. Goods which are required urgently are put onto next trailer which results in a weeks delay.Service Level Maintenance is being proposed through a web interface which will be used as input in generating the wave. If a trailer does not have capacity, low priority goods will be excluded from that days shipment and will be included in subsequent wave.Optimize Case PickCurrent transfer system does not optimize case picks (where a carton has to be opened and ship said individual pieces).The  proposed system will utilize current and future needs of a store for optimizing the case picks to a full carton thereby case pick operation is optimized. Assumptions and Constraints Based on SWOT/TOWS analysis as listed in Appendix A, following assumptions and constraints have been summarised. Assumption DCM system is live and in use before building the propos ed system. All web interfaces are being developed for Internet Explorer browser. Proposed enhancements are for International Warehouse Management System and do not include domestic transfers/receipts. Any customisation to DCM is not included in the current scope. Constraints Proposed enhancements will handle multiple distribution centres within a country. Cross country transfers are not possible. Identification and Analysis of Options Identification of Options Following options are available to the organization Option 1Do nothing Option 2Purchase packed Warehouse Management System and interface with Demand Chain Management system. Option 3Enhance the current in-house developed Warehouse Management System. Comparison of Options Key parameter comparison of options is summarized as CriteriaOption 1Option 2Option 3CostNothingUS 1.5 million plus recurring license fee of US 7,500 per instance if purchased instance basis or 25,000 enterprise wide.US 0.5 million and no on-going costs as current support teams can support the enhanced system.HardwareNot applicableServer Infrastructure need to be upgraded costing US 1 million.None as Current infrastructure can handle the enhancements.Benefits to PurchasingNot applicableIntegrated packaged solution will benefit purchasing in making purchasing decisions based on actual stock in DC stores and forecasted demand. Enhanced Warehouse Management System is integrated with DCM thus providing enhanced abilities to make purchasing decision.Benefits to MerchandisingNot applicableOff the shelf package require customization to enable Merchandising to integrate with current legacy systems.Ability to run transfers/receipts on daily basis will result in efficient use of Distribution Centre floor space, trailers and labour. Recommended Option Based on the comparison and benefit analysis in Appendix B, Option 3 Enhancements to Warehouse Management system is recommended for the organization at this point in time. Implementation Strategy Based on the details explained in section 6, Enhancements to Warehouse Management System is scoped as below Project Title Project is being name as iWMS Internet  enabled Warehouse Management System Target Benefits Web Interface to plan and create waves to process transfers and receipts. Web interface to maintain service levels for inventory (Prioritization) Optimized case p ick and re-packing Outputs Browser based interactive screen to process transfers and receipts. Integration with DCM system to update replenishment information for future demand forecasting. Budget Cost break down of Option 3 Enhancements to Warehouse Management System. ActivityEstimated Cost (in US Dollars)Initiation and planning25,000Development Costs300,000Testing Unit and integration25,000Implementation Costs including documentation, training and travel.150,000 Appendix A SWOT/TOWS Analysis Strengths-SWeakness-W1. Brand Value1. Inefficient use of floor space in DC.2. Quality Processes2. Delay in shipping high priority goods to stores3. Own trailers3. Stock out in stores even if the stock is in DCO-OpportunitiesSO – StrategiesWO- Strategies1. Efficient Cross Dock Ability1. By cross docking receipts will improve Distribution Centre floor space and stock the goods for seasonal demands.(S2/O1)1. Increase efficiency in customer communication by several mediums like social media and internet (W1, W3, O1)2. Web Interface2. Flexibility to run waves either from PC or Laptop S2,S3/O22. Provide fuel efficient means to process transfers/receipts (W1.O2)3. Prioritisation3. By prioritizing goods, high priority goods are delivered to stores just in time (JIT) – S1,S2, S3/O33. Prioritization of goods will result in efficient trailer utilization (W1, W2, O1,O2, O3)T-ThreatsST – StrategiesWT – Strategies1. Increasing Competition1. By scheduling trailers like small or medium instead of standard 18 wheelers result in fuel efficiency (S2,S3,T1,T2, T3)1. Implementing lean, Kanban quality processes to reduce non-value add processes. (W1, T3, T1)2. Increasing fuel costs2. Focus on selected market segment for long term growth and market penetration (S1,S3, T2, T1)2. With high service quality and shelfs full of products, reduce the risk of losing customers (W1, W2, T1, T3)3.