Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information Essay - 1

Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information - Essay Example The knowledge sharing benefits offered by the use of ICTs have encouraged local companies to explore global markets. It has also helped multi-national companies to enter new markets worldwide. The paper analyses the information, knowledge and communication needs of Tesco to achieve its objective. The identified objective for this case is ‘To provide help and support to those who are in need through Tesco’s charity trust’. Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen. In 1929, the company opened its first store in Burnt Oak. After 75 years of experience, Tesco is the third largest retailing company in the world (Tesco, 2011). In 1988, the company started the charity of the year partnership through which it supports a different charity every year. In 2009, Tesco entered into a partnership with the British Red Cross. Recent research studies have shown that by 2021, nearly half a million people would be living with undiagnosed dementia. Tesco along with the Alzheimerâ€⠄¢s society and Alzheimer Scotland have planned to raise ?5million to create awareness of the disease. The main objective is to help raise diagnosis levels from 40% by 2014 (Press Releases, 2010). In the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Tesco has come forward to help the victims of the calamity by garnering support through their sales, employees and customers. Tesco has donated ?50,000 through a disaster relief partnership with British Red Cross. The company has encouraged customers to donate their club card vouchers for this cause. Identifying data and information requirements A business requires different types of data from different sources. These include structured/unstructured data, data from different sources (internal and external) and different quality of data (Ranjan, 2009). Internal data is data gathered from internal sources within the company from employees. External data is information and knowledge collected from external stakeholders, such as vendors, suppliers, customers and shareholders. Data obtained from external sources cannot be directly used in decision making. It needs to be further analyzed for developing appropriate knowledge for use within the business processes. For example, data collected from customers by employees needs to be further analyzed and then used by the executive team in decision making (Ranjan, 2009). In the present information age, companies require access to information, knowledge, people and expertise in order to make informed decisions. As a result, organizations invest a lot of capital, time and effort in ensuring they have the right information to communicate, at the right time to the right person. Tesco’s objective relates to recognizing the need for charity funding and defining strategies to ensure that the funding needs of specific causes like the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are met. Since the strategies are based on identifying the funding needs and accessing funds from diff erent sources, Tesco needs to focus on collecting data on charity requirements that can benefit from such funds. The specific data and information required can be identified as below: Charity causes that require funding – in this case the devastation created by the recent Japanese tsunami and earthquake has been identified for collecting funds from company stakeholders and donating it to the Japanese relief

Poetry Response Essay Example for Free

Poetry Response Essay I really love this poem by Wendy Copes because of the message that it tells me. For some reason there are those people who wish to pull someone down. Sometimes it is because of jealousy, envy and pride. In reality, no matter how hard you try to be good and to appreciate everyone, you really cannot please anybody. There will always be those who are against you.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The poem tells me that I should not let anyone interfere with what I am doing or to let anyone block my way to greater heights. That I should always do my best and show everyone what I can do, what I am able to do, my talents and abilities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Everyone has his or her own goal in life and we must focus on that goal, not looking to anyone but on that goal alone. We should not get our attention off our goal and let someone mess with that. We should always remain focused in achieving that goal or else we may not be able to achieve it. It is true that no one can live alone and that we need others to be able to live and be happy. Still we should not let those who dislike us or envy us to be the reason for our failure, if we do so, we will certainly achieve nothing. Every time that an opportunity for us to be recognized is given grab it. We should not favor or look onto anyone who wants the same opportunity like us. Every opportunity is a stepping stone in achieving our goal, our desire, and our future. The world is a place wherein the strongest is given greater opportunity over the weak, the talented above those that are not, and the wise over the fools.   We should let our light shine, and our talents to be revealed in order to be acknowledged both by man and society. Also, the poem tells us that we should not be move or hindered by anyone. We should not be ashamed in showing our talents and as well as emotions. We must be true to ourselves and not compromising to anyone. If we are glad let it show in our own way. Dance or jump or shout if you want to. We should not let anyone to be reason for our sadness and downfall. Works Cited The British Council. No date. â€Å"Wendy Cope†. November 19, 2007   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth174

Crying Away Stress :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Tearful Serenity: Crying Away the Stress Some days you've just had it. You've been talked at all day by people you couldn't care less about, the lady at the convenience store snapped at you, your friend invited herself over right when you had exactly one hour to write a paper, you got caught in a traffic jam going shopping, you're starting to seriously rethink your life career ... and now there's a thirty dollar parking ticket stuck on your windshield because that darn machine wasn't accepting quarters. You burst into tears. Tears, stupid tears! Always coming when you least want them. Now everyone on the street is looking at you and your eyes are so blurry you trip over the bumper and stumble into the street. What a klutz. How humiliating! Why do you always have to cry like this? But everybody cries. For its capacity to signal physical or emotional distress, crying has left an indelible mark on the slate of human history. Where would art and poetry be without tears? In fact, where would we be? In truth, crying plays an essential role in our biology as well as our social and cultural experiences. We can't stop the tears from flowing, but we can investigate why they flow – and why crying might not be, after all, such a bad thing to do. Tears are body excretions, just like sweat and mucous and urine. We don't usually like to think about body excretions, but when we do, we bear with them because we know they have important functions. Sweat removes excess salts from the body and cools us; mucous traps surrounding pathogens; urine and feces expel unneeded, toxic waste products that would harm the body if they remained within it. All three contribute to the body's self-regulatory or homeostatic nature, readjusting for balance. Tears, too, must serve a biological, homeostatic purpose. But what? In fact, there are three known answers to this question. Scientists distinguish three kinds of tears, which differ from each other by function and also, probably, by composition. Basal tears actually form continuously. We don't experience these minute secretions as tears because they don't "ball up" as we are used to tears doing; instead, every time we blink, our eyelids spread the basal solution out over the surface of our eyeballs(1). Basal tears keep our eyes lubricated, important in preventing damage by air currents and bits of floating debris(2), (3).

Memory Keepers Daughter Literary Analysis Essay

Kim Edwards shows through the whole book that we are only human, the themes that life is beyond our control and through the connection between suffering and joy. Edwards uses plot to set up a sort of life schedule. It goes in order into the future but occasionally skips years ahead. She also cleverly sets the book up so that each year, or â€Å"chapter† has both sides of the story, that of Caroline who is raising Phoebe and then the life of Norah and David raising their son Paul. As the book starts off it is that of a happy tone with Norah giving birth and then leading to a depressing and melancholy tone as Dr. Henry lies to his wife telling her that their daughter has died, to save her from the pain of their daughter having down syndrome. Norah gains more and more depression as the years go on, always wondering â€Å"what if†. With all the depression going on in the story line of Norah there is a gain of strength in Caroline’s story line as she raises Phoebe. This shows the theme of suffering and joy. The idea that even though the character is suffering they are the one with the most joy. Norah Henry has it all: the doctor husband, money and a healthy son but still wants what she never had; her daughter. Caroline has struggled with at first the decision to keep Phoebe and raise her as her own, then struggling with actually raising this baby girl with down syndrome alone and with no one, but she is joyful in the book never having the depression that plagues Norah and her marriage with David Henry. When Caroline finally sees David 18 years later, she says: â€Å"You missed a lot of heartache, sure. But David, you missed a lot of joy†. In the theme that life is beyond our control the author Kim Edwards has the book move through the years rapidly and at a fast pace in order to demonstrate how life flys by. Throughout the book Edwards uses photography as a metaphor showing the character David’s growing obsession with taking photographs as a desperate attempt to make time stand still: â€Å"Photo after photo, as if he could stop time or make an image powerful nough to obscure the moment when he turned and handed his daughter to Caroline Gill†. Life may also feel as it is out of their control with there being a constant aura of uncertainty or â€Å"what if† quality. That being said, the characters in the end will always wonder what life would have been like if David had never given his daughter away, but find it exhausting to wonder once they are brought together in the end after the death of David. As Paul reflects at the end of the novel: â€Å"His mother was right; he could never know what might have happened. All he had were the facts†. Life was also seeming to be out of anyone’s control with the struggle of the melancholy tone through the novel with Norah becoming more and more depressed becoming that of a drinker in Paul’s young life and then being so unhappy with her marriage with David for him being so distant that she has an affair with a man while she is on a trip to Aruba with her job. Even with the tone the author seems to have it progress in a rapid fashion just as the years fly by in the story line. Life is inevitable, people make mistakes, and the mistakes people make have great impact and effect not only them, but the people around them; just as David Henry’s mistake haunted his life and tormented that of his wife’s. In day to day life there are always the people that make mistakes with good intentions. The authors point wasn’t to completely make David the antagonist in the story but yet he was that one person who’s mistake was made with half hearted good intentions, he wanted to spare his doting wife the pain of having to raise one child with down syndrome, he didn’t want her to think that it was her fault in anyway. David just wanted the problem to go away not fully realizing that the problem wasn’t his daughter it was him having to deal with his own past. David Henry’s sister died at the young age of twelve and she had down syndrome as well, it is really sad that this character couldn’t deal with his own past so much that he ruined his present and his future. He knew the pain that his sister having down syndrome had left on him and her death that not only was he trying to spare his wife the pain of having a daughter with down syndrome but yet the author was trying to convey to the reader that he also did it to protect his son from it as well. Norah becomes the character you feel bad for not a protagonist but yet just that good character who’s life unfolding before her is the result of decisions from those around her. She is constantly depressed from thinking she lost her daughter, then she is also gaining more and more eternal sadness with her husband not letting her gain any sort of closure with this or even to simply tell her the truth of his actions and what he had done. The relationship between Norah and David grows further and further apart with him setting himself more distant from her as time goes on due to his guilty conscious eating away at him. Then on a happy note you have Caroline, she turned her whole life around for the life choices of David and that of herself. She raises Phoebe alone at first always fighting for more advanced learning abilities for down syndrome, she gains a man in her life named Al who helped her in the very beginning get to shelter when she had decided to keep the baby but then her car wont start in the middle of a blizzard, he becomes her knight in shining armor. Al becomes a big character having sought out Caroline after years and years of that first encounter with her and stays in her life loving and caring for both her and Phoebe, he becomes the father figure Phoebe never got to have. Kim Edwards set up all the right kind of characters for this plot and in every right way to develop the novel. In the end the themes of life being out of our control and the connection between suffering and joy are evident throughout the story. Kim Edwards used immense characterization that helped to develop those following themes with having the right selection of types of characters. The plot definitely has to do with developing the story, for it ties in with the life is out of our control theme having time go by so rapidly demonstrating that life is always constant and never stopping or standing still like a photograph for anyone or anything. Photos represent memories in life, David became enthralled with taking photographs in an effort to make time stop, maybe capture the memory he had when he made the decision to give his daughter away. The metaphor of David and his taking pictures ties into the Title â€Å"the memory keeper’s daughter† for he was the memory keeper, the keeper of the biggest life secret and lie. Kim Edwards made everything tie together with literary elements of metaphor, characterization, and Plot.

Human Resource Accounting

â€Å"Research Proposal† Topic : Human Resource Accounting as a Measurement Tool: Asian Perspective Submitted By: M. Rizwan Arshad. Lecturer Department of Management Sciences The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. PhD Research Proposal of Mr Rizwan Arshad Human Resource Accounting as a Measurement Tool: An Asian Perspective Attempts to account the Human Resource are not new it was Rensis Likert (1963), who initiated research into HR accounting in the 60’s. He stressed the importance of long term planning of Human Resource qualitative variables that results in greater benefits in the long run. The resource theory considered that the competitive position of an organization depends on its specific asset, which is the HR. This explains why some firms are more productive and successful than others under almost similar conditions and similar industry. It is the HR that makes all the difference. Following a less fruitful research period (Grojer and Johanson, 1998: 495) one could have expected interest in the area to wane but on the contrary, it has experienced something of a revival. When anyone wants to know the history of HR accounting, most reviewers such as Grojer and Johanson (1998) agreed that during the first half of the 1970s it was one of the most researched subject within accounting, consuming a vast amount of academic Endeavour. Human Resource is not just the number of pairs of hands engaged in any organization. HR is above the simple number game. HR may be though of as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talents and aptitudes of an organization’s work force. It is the sum total of inherent abilities, acquired knowledge and skills of the employees. Why HR accounting is considered as important and who is the focus of this research? HR accounting is a term that has both a narrow and more generic focus in the literature with respect to the understanding of the value of people in the contemporary workplace and the contribution of the HR function. Defined narrowly â€Å"It is the process of identifying and measuring data about HR and communicating this information to interested parties†(American Accounting Association, 1973, as cited in Flamholtz, 1999: xii). This definition suggests that HR accounting is a tool that can be used for reporting people as organizational resources in both financial and managerial accounting terms (Flamholtz, 1999) The objective is to quantify the economic value of people (Sackman et al, 1989:235). According to Sveiby (1997) attempts to convert people or competencies into financial figures, although theoretically interesting, have not proved entirely useful to managers. The use of both financial and non-financial approaches is now a more common theme when discussion focuses on the nature of HR accounting. The reason for this is that HR accounting should be thought of as a set of techniques that provide a more balanced perspective, encouraging as much concern about the long-term drivers of financial success as about current performance and value. Consequently, the literature has adopted a wider brief when describing its nature. Some writers (Lester, 1996; Sheedy-Gohil, 1996; Skittle, 1995) claim that the level of knowledge-based assets of an organisation gives a clearer indication of the potential for future profitability than do traditional historical accounting measures. Therefore, the rate of change in knowledge-based and other intangible assets must be included in any meaningful measure of profits. However, a review by Scarbrough and Elias (2002) suggests that, as an asset, human capital is precarious in terms of its potential mobility and difficult in terms of its measurement. So narrowly defining HR accounting has distinct limitations because the measurement of HR in whatever guise then becomes reliant on a purely financial metric that invariably involves debate about asset models and cost-benefit analysis. Here, we adopt this broader notion, embracing both a range of financial and non-financial measurements associated with Human Resource Management. MEASUREMENT PITFALLS AND THE ACCOUNTING IDEOLOGY Measuring human resources has been viewed as proceeding rather slowly because its advocates always seem to be in the minority (Turner, 1996). Despite this, research has, over the past decade, been substantially measurement-oriented (Johanson and Larsen, 2000). Numerous studies report advances in measurement approaches, case studies of developing practice and the growing support for techniques such as the balanced score-card (eg Boudreau, 1998; Fitz-enz, 2000; Flamholtz, 1999; Flamholtz and Main, 1999). These achievements may have been somewhat overshadowed by research that has, quite necessarily, been preoccupied with debating a range of measurement concerns including the old arguments that will continue to be debated long into the future. The first of these arguments concerns the capitalization of HR and the debate surrounding whether human resources qualify or can appropriately be labeled as assets notwithstanding the competing view that there may be little substantial difference between intangible and tangible assets with no reason to treat one differently from the other (Boudreau, 1998; Johanson and Larsen, 2000; Mirvis and Macy, 1976; Turner, 1996). There has also been the need to discuss what Human Resource measurement system should be designed to achieve, bearing in mind that measurement is not neutral and the choice of metrics conveys values, priorities and a strategic framework (Boudreau, 1998: 24). The dangerous liaison between human resources and accounting and the pitfalls of measurement requires a delicate balancing act juggling the multiplicity of often unlinked measures with the need to provide information that is oing to be effective in guiding and managing behavior (Pfeffer, 1997). Similarly there has also been a need to debate whether the accounting paradigm has been re-conceptualized (Mayo, 2000) to account for the new economic transformation (Flamholtz and Main, 1999: 11). This involves accounting requirements that move beyond the accepted role of custodial and financial accountability into the realms of fiscal, social and environmental accountability. (Turner, 1996: 71). This involves a shift in thinking from human asset to human worth (Roslender, 1997) emphasizing a more holistic approach which embraces a broader range of social scientists thinking (Roslender and Dyson, 1992: 312) and allows for exploration in the realms of soft accounting numbers (Roslender, 1997: 22). Complying with orthodox management accounting conventions runs the risk, argues Armstrong (1989, 1995), of not only challenging the role but having to justify all HR activity in cost-effectiveness terms, thereby handing to others outside the function the decision as to what initiatives be given priority. This strategy cedes too much to the dominant accounting culture and may also, in the end, achieve little security for the personnel function (Armstrong, 1989: 160). What is needed, suggests Armstrong (1989: 160), is for HR practitioners to master the accounting approach to the point where they can clearly identify its shortcomings, thereby putting themselves in a position to focus on the inadequacies of accounting projections as an exclusive basis for managerial decision-making, especially where HR are concerned. By exploiting such shortcomings, HR practitioners can, suggests Armstrong (1989), further their cause by offering alternative strategies that emphasis that traditional accounting valuations are only one of a number of ways of establishing the value of HR. It is the politics of measurement and its likely impact on the HR function that dwarfs all others argues Pfeffer (1997). Shrewd HR leaders are already training their people in a range of measurement strategies in order to prepare them to do battle on more favorable terms with the number of people in the firm. All of these debates, including the ethics of even attempting to measure the worth of HR have one goal in mind: to develop a means of valuing that captures the very nature of the worth of people and reports it in a way that not only allows for the development of the people themselves but the added value (worth) that they contribute to the organisation. Consequently, understanding why HR accounting is important, to whom it is important and its links with organizational and HR strategies will provide a context for benchmarking the level of support for measuring HR and how far that support has been integrated into the thinking of different managerial groups and organizational strategies. This is what we set out to achieve. Methodology & Data Collection The sample will be drawn from the organizations in Pakistan from the top industries working in local economy. Questionnaires will sent to a random sample of 20 members from each organization. For the purpose of gathering data survey-questionnaire approach will be used. The research will carried out in three phases. Phase 1 involved item generation, for that section of the questionnaire concerned with the importance and measurement of HR. A focus group of 50 people from different organizations will ask to discuss a number of questions. The content analysis of this information is use in developing the important measure of the questionnaire. In the second phase the draft questionnaire will sent to a group of 20 HR managers organized through a network of one of the senior managers who was part of the original focus group. Each participant will asked to go through the questionnaire and write any comments relating to any particular question or questions in the right-hand margin available in the copy of the questionnaire. The emphasis in this phase will, as explained to participants, to find out whether they thought any of the questions are ambiguous or whether parts of the questionnaire could be improved. All the comments received related to the background information of the questions and a number of modifications will made to this section. In third phase the questionnaire will distributed to the sample groups described above. Research Questions †¢Why it is important to evaluate HR? †¢Why organizations are not measuring HR? †¢How HR can be measured? †¢How often are measures taken and reviewed? †¢Who develops and collects HR information? †¢Whether human resources qualify or can appropriately be labeled as assets? Does the level of Knowledge-based assets of an organization give a clearer indication of the potential for future profitability than do traditional accounting measures? †¢Does it is possible to develop a means of valuing that captures the very nature of the worth of people? †¢Does it can be used for the development of the peoples in the organization? †¢Does HR accounting add value (worth) that HR contributes to the organization? Pot ential Outcomes †¢If the firm can effectively calculate the value of HR and add their value to firm’s assets, it will increase the book value of the firm’s shares. An index can be prepared for different industries and firms can compare their HR value to the industry standard and with the other firms present in the same industry. †¢The budget for the Training and Development can be justified. †¢Firms can evaluate the results of Training and Development by comparing the value of HR before and after training and development session. REFERENCES Armstrong, P. (1989). Limits and possibilities for HRM in an age of management accounting’ in New perspectives on Human Resource Management. J. Storey (ed). London: Routledge. Dasgupta. N. â€Å"Human Resources Accounting† Sultan Chand & Sons New Delhi 1980. Flamholtz, E. G. and Main, E. D. (1999). `Current issues, recent advancements and future directions in human resource accounting’. Journal of Human Resource Costing and Accounting, 4: 1, 11-20. Johanson, U. (1999). `Why the concept of human resource costing and accounting does not work’. Personnel Review, 28: 1/2, 91-107. Lester, T. (1996). `Measuring human capital’. Human Resources, 24, 54 . Mayo, A. (2000). The Human Value of the Enterprise, London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Mirvis, P. H. and Macy, B. A. (1976). `Human resource accounting: a measurement perspective’. Academy of Management Review, 1, 74-83. Pfeffer, J. (1997). `Pitfalls on the road to measurement: the dangerous liaison of human resources with the ideas of accounting and finance’. Human Resource Management, 36: 3, 357-365. Prabhakara Rao D, â€Å"Human Resources Accounting† Inter-India. Publications New Delhi. 1986 Sveiby, K. E. (1997). The New Organizational Wealth: Managing and Measuring Knowledge-based Assets, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc. Turner, G. (1996). `Human resource accounting wisdom? ’ Journal of Human Resource Costing and Accounting, 1, 63-73.

Minerals That Live on the Earths Surface

Minerals That Live on the Earth's Surface Geologists know about thousands of different minerals locked in rocks, but when rocks are exposed at the Earths surface and fall victim to weathering, just a handful of minerals remain. They are the ingredients of sediment, which over geologic time returns to sedimentary rock. Where the Minerals Go When the mountains crumble to the sea, all of their rocks, whether igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic, break down. Physical or mechanical weathering reduces the rocks to small particles. These break down further by chemical weathering in water and oxygen. Only a few minerals can resist weathering indefinitely: zircon is one and native gold is another. Quartz resists for a very long time, which is why sand, being nearly pure quartz, is so persistent. Given enough time even quartz dissolves into silicic acid, H4SiO4. But most of the silicate minerals that compose rocks turn into solid residues after chemical weathering. These silicate residues are what make up the minerals of the Earths land surface. The olivine, pyroxenes, and amphiboles of igneous or metamorphic rocks react with water and leave behind rusty iron oxides, mostly the minerals goethite and hematite. These are important ingredients in soils, but theyre less common as solid minerals. They also add brown and red colors to sedimentary rocks. Feldspar, the most common silicate mineral group and the main home of aluminum in minerals, reacts with water too. Water pulls out silicon and other cations (CAT-eye-ons), or ions of positive charge, except for aluminum. The feldspar minerals thus turn into hydrated aluminosilicates that are clays. Amazing Clays Clay minerals are not much to look at, but life on Earth depends on them. At the microscopic level, clays are tiny flakes, like mica but infinitely smaller. At the molecular level, clay is a sandwich made of sheets of silica tetrahedra (SiO4) and sheets of magnesium or aluminum hydroxide (Mg(OH)2 and Al(OH)3). Some clays are a proper three-layer sandwich, a Mg/Al layer between two silica layers, while others are open-face sandwiches of two layers. What makes clays so valuable for life is that with their tiny particle size and open-faced construction, they have very large surface areas and can readily accept many substitute cations for their Si, Al and Mg atoms. Oxygen and hydrogen are available in abundance. From the viewpoint of living cells, clay minerals are like machine shops full of tools and power hookups. Indeed, even the building blocks of life- amino acids and other organic molecules- are enlivened by the energetic, catalytic environment of clays. The Makings of Clastic Rocks But back to sediments. With the overwhelming majority of surface minerals consisting of quartz, iron oxides and clay minerals, we have the ingredients of mud. Mud is the geological name of a sediment that is a mixture of particle sizes ranging from sand size (visible) to clay size (invisible), and the worlds rivers steadily deliver mud to the sea and to large lakes and inland basins. That is where the clastic sedimentary rocks are born, sandstone and mudstone and shale in all their variety. The Chemical Precipitates When the mountains are crumbling, much of their mineral content dissolves. This material reenters the rock cycle in other ways than clay, precipitating out of solution to form other surface minerals. Calcium is an important cation in igneous rock minerals, but it plays little part in the clay cycle. Instead, calcium remains in the water, where it affiliates with carbonate ion (CO3). When it becomes concentrated enough in seawater, calcium carbonate comes out of solution as calcite. Living organisms can extract it to build their calcite shells, which also become sediment. Where sulfur is abundant, calcium combines with it as the mineral gypsum. In other settings, sulfur captures dissolved iron and precipitates as pyrite. There is also sodium left over from the breakdown of the silicate minerals. That lingers in the sea until circumstances dry up the brine to a high concentration, when sodium joins chloride to yield solid salt or halite. And what of the dissolved silicic acid? That too is extracted by living organisms to form their microscopic silica skeletons. These rain down upon the seafloor and gradually become chert. Thus every part of the mountains finds a new place in the Earth.

Discrimination and Equal Pay Essay

Discrimination and Equal Pay Essay Discrimination and Equal Pay Essay Discrimination is seen everywhere, especially in the business organizations. A lot of people are discriminated by their sex, race, and appearance. Everyone knows that Public Relations agencies are often overwhelmingly staffed by women. The women do most of the business work, but sometimes it looks as if men are more commonly found in the corner offices at agencies and on the client side, where all the power is. And, of course, PR is one of those industries like entertainment, broadcasting and food service where people are often hired based on their appearance. Sex or gender discrimination involves treating people unfairly strictly because the individuals are man or woman. Women are one of the most groups being discriminated against today. They try very hard to fit in and be successful in their careers. Discrimination against women is found in many workplaces. Many studies in the past and present have shown that women do not get promoted as fast as men and do not get the equal pay for the same kind of jobs as men. Many women feel as if they have been cheated, robbed of what they deserve. In my opinion, female workers in the U.S. should be treated equally at work as their male coworkers. Women should be paid the same wages for the same skills they have and jobs they do as men are being paid. If a woman is capable of doing the work and has the right skills and education, she should be hired just like a man would be. According to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 the employer is required to pay equal wages within the establishment to men and women doing equal work on jobs requiring equal skills, effort, and responsibility, which are performed under similar working conditions. As you can see this act is rarely put to use, millions of women are discriminated against daily and most of the time nothing is ever done about it. It is very common you hear about discrimination in the work place with women but rarely with a man. Male discrimination in the workplace is becoming more and more common. It’s not as popular but it happens every now and the. Discrimination on male in the work place are usually with jobs that women would normally work like a caregiver. Another one of many aspects that discrimination has had an impact on is jobs. This is not just a black and white issue, but any nationality that differs from the employers preferences. Many times when someone puts an ethnic-sounding name on an application, the employer will pick another applicant with a name that sounds more â€Å"American† over the more ethnic name. This happens even if the two people have the same qualifications. This specific issue also happens among the same race; it is not just race against race. Discrimination within jobs does not only occur with the start of names, but also with positions within a job. Many times you can go into a workplace where you see majority of one race doing blue-collard work and majority of another race doing white-collard, business jobs. With the economy today, everyone, no matter what race is looking for jobs. Discrimination against a person because of their weight, body art, their style of dress, and even their hairstyle is a far too common practice in the American workplace. Companies who use such discriminatory practices as hiring and promoting

Slang Words Ending in O

Slang Words Ending in O Slang Words Ending in O Slang Words Ending in O By Mark Nichol Among the more curious classes of slang words is that of terms ending in the letter o, the topic of this post. Several categories exist in which informal words end in o. Among the oldest are those consisting of words to which an extraneous o has been added, such as cheerio (from cheer or cheery), which in British English is used as a greeting or a farewell, and boyo, an extension of boy, just as kiddo is derived from kid. Sometimes, a word ending in o is simply a truncation of a word in which o is naturally the last letter of the abbreviation, such as condo, for condominium, which originally meant â€Å"joint rule or sovereignty† but in the mid-twentieth century came to refer to a privately owned apartment. (The word to which the element con-, meaning â€Å"with,† has been attached is cognate with domain.) Another example is demo, short for demonstration, in the sense of a presentation of a product or a rough version of a music recording. Sometimes the o is attached to a truncated word after the first syllable regardless of which vowel follows in the full form of the word, as in aggro, for aggressive (generally to describe a hostile person or hostile behavior); ammo, for ammunition; combo, for combination (usually in the sense of a small ensemble of musicians, especially those who play jazz); convo, for conversation; and journo, for journalist. Australia is fertile ground for word formation of this type (as well as other diminutive forms, such as applying -ie, as in alkie, for alcoholic, and barbie, for barbecue). Some more obscure abbreviations from Australia include arvo, for afternoon; doggo (in the expression â€Å"lie doggo,† meaning â€Å"lay low†); and muso, for musician. One slightly truncated word in American English is rando, from random; several decades ago, the latter word was first employed as a noun to describe a peculiar person, and from there it acquired the sense of someone who is sketchy or undesirable. Rando inherited that connotation, usually in the context of a stranger who unexpectedly tries to make contact with another person, either in person or through social media. An older, synonymic term is weirdo, which sports an o attached to weird. On this model was beardo formed to refer to someone sporting a trendy-looking full, bushy beard, especially one who might also be tagged a rando or a weirdo. Occasionally, a word ending in o is adopted from another language. In the case of mondo, which denotes excessiveness or outrageousness, it derives ultimately from the Italian word for world; the context is Mondo Cane, the title of an Italian documentary about human eccentricity. (The loose English translation of the title is A Dog’s Life; cane is cognate with canine.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business EmailsExcited ABOUT, not "for" 150 Foreign Expressions to Inspire You

APN Leader Interview Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

APN Leader Interview - Research Paper Example Morris A. Magnan. Dr. Morris is an advanced practice nurse in the field of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and the recipient of the clinical nurse specialist research award of the year 2009. The purpose of the interview would stimulate the interest of the student nurses as well as nurse practitioners on the significance of advanced nurse practitioner. The interview is equally purposed to pinpoint the influence nursing has on health sector delivery coupled with the necessity of research in nursing as a means of improvement in the standards of nursing care delivery. Through an interview with an advanced specialist in nursing, other upcoming nurses can learn through the experience and accumulation in knowledge of other fellow nurses (Varkey, Reller, & Resar, 2007). An interview held with Dr. Morris A. Magnan in his office at the college of nursing research center at Wayne state university revealed a composition of nine core competencies in advanced nurse practice that are important in his specialty as a clinical nurse specialty. Below is part of the documented interview that highlighted the significance of the core competencies in his specialty. (At 9:00am in Dr. Morris A. Magnan’s office in Wayne state university department of nursing sciences. The office is visibly organized with a couple of paperwork sorted in different trays on the table. On the wall hang three charts with the one behind Dr. Morris demonstrating mechanisms with which pressure sores can be prevented especially in the geriatric patients. Dr. Morris formally invites me to his office signifying the need to begin the interview.) Dr. Morris: Nursing is undeniably a significant profession in health care delivery. With the improvement in technology and changing in lifestyle, there is continuous diagnosis of new infections and conditions. The future of nursing will thus depend on the

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Anterior Cruciate Ligament - Essay Example The tearing of the ACL usually occurs due to a sudden direction change, or when a deceleration force crosses the knee. "The patient often feels or hears a popping sensation, has the rapid onset of swelling, and develops a buckling sensation in the knee when attempting to change direction." (The Center for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, 2003).In order to properly diagnose an ACL injury, there must be a thorough examination, which would include: determining the mechanism of injury, examining the knee, determining the presence or absence of blood within the joint, and performing diagnostic studies. Once a tear of the ACL has been confirmed through clinical evaluation and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), the unstable knee can now be repaired. "This is only possible if the ACL is of good quality and if the ligament can be passed posterior to the PCL, both of which are determined in surgeryacutely (recently) torn ligaments are typically of better quality and therefore have a greater chan ce of being repaired as opposed to the chronically torn ligaments." (Stone, Walgenbach, and Mullin, n.d.).There are many methods which are used to reconstruct an ACL, the most common one of which in the past some have referred to as the 'Gold Standard'.

TV Advertising Strategy for Teenage Makeup Research Paper

TV Advertising Strategy for Teenage Makeup - Research Paper Example Therefore, it would be most logical to tie the makeup advertisement with the television programs that are highly popular among the target audience – teenagers. Contrary to the common belief that conventional advertising doesn’t resonate attract teenagers, it has been observed that â€Å"once an ad breaks through the clutter, teens are much more likely to ‘like’ an advertisement than their older counterparts† (Nielsen, 2009, â€Å"Messaging to Teens†). It has been reported that the most popular networks among American teenagers include â€Å"MTV, Disney ®, Cartoon Network ®, Fox, ABC Family, Nickelodeon/Nick at Night ®, Comedy Central ®, and MTV2† (Malinowski, 2010, â€Å"Television†); however, it is worth mentioning on a more particular note that younger female teenagers have more liking for Disney ®, and their older counterparts favor MTV. Hence, these channels should be chosen for the purpose of advertising teenage makeup, due to their obvious popularity among female teenagers in America. It has been observed that the television shows which enjoy maximum popularity among the American teenagers comprise â€Å"Full House, Family Guy, and Hannah Montana. One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, and Greys Anatomy† – more importantly, these are also the programs that are liked the most by older female teenagers. Apart from these, it has been found that non-white teenagers prefer â€Å"Degrassi, Charmed, and Friends† (Malinowski, 2010, â€Å"Television†). It has been reported that advertisements pertaining to hair products and cosmetics are among those that â€Å"did the best job of breaking through the clutter to teen viewers† (Nielsen, 2009, â€Å"Advertising†). Therefore, the most logical strategy will be to tie the advertisements with these programs in order to enhance the impact on the teenagers. Owing to the fact that the world is transforming into a global

Canada Risk Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Canada Risk Analysis - Essay Example In the last decade party leaders have sought to remedy this situation. To remain an attractive partner in multilateral economic arrangements, Canada must struggle to stay competitive (Zimmerman, 2008). Legal environment is favorable for international companies, thus Canada is a US oriented companies with strong cultural and economic relations with the USA partners. Among the major federated states, Canada is the most loosely organized. Constitutionally, the provinces have jurisdiction over matters related to education, culture, and natural resources, and so they have a voice in foreign policies affecting these concerns. Because Canada lacks the equivalent of the "interstate commerce" provision of the U.S. Constitution, even trade between the provinces is not entirely free of encumbrances; thus in trade matters, also, Ottawa is somewhat fettered in dealing with other governments. Furthermore, because Canada lacks the equivalent of the principle that treaties override other domestic legislation (embodied in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Missouri vs. Holland, 1920) Ottawa's diplomatic authority is weak (Zimmerman, 2008). Exchange and repatriation of funds risks In Canada there is no currency restrictions placed on the repatriation of funds. Thus, in some cases, the repatriation may have tax consequences. In Canada, exchange rates are stable, so a foreign company will avoid these risks. Competitive risk assessment In Canada, the international and domestic competition is fierce. Canada has gained from the succession of tariff-cutting rounds, but with its fairly high tariffs has had to make large concessions in return. Furthermore it can be the subject of actions taken against it for allegedly breaking a GATT rule. GATT has no sanctions, but an injured state can impose countervailing duties in retaliation for the offense or take some other action for compensation if a specially-appointed panel rules that a GATT provision has been violated (Zimmerman, 2008). Taxation and double taxation risks The main legal regulations for international companies are Tax rate for resident companies and tax rate on long-term capital gains. VAT rates are based on standardized procedures: 'there is a Goods and Services sales tax (GST) which rate varies depending on the states between 6 and 14%" (FITA 2008). In some cases the threat has been enough to induce the Canadian government to change its regulation. Although Canadians share the U.S. preference for the freest possible global trading system, and indeed cooperate with the United States in GATT and elsewhere in pressing for policies favoring openness, Canada's much smaller economy is especially vulnerable to U.S. moves. Canada's trade is overwhelmingly with the United States; its imports from and its exports to the United States amount to well over 70 percent of the respective totals ()FITA 2008. Market Risks (4 Ps) Canada is also the largest foreign market for U.S. trade, even though U.S. exports to Canada account for no more than 25 percent of total U.S. exports. In fact, the two economies are so integrated that if one country tries to retaliate for a perceived trade injury to some segment, another segment is likely to be harmed in return. Product - Canada is the

Diagnosis and Assessment week 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Diagnosis and Assessment week 1 - Essay Example As an example, in statistics, an abnormality may be the deviation from the average or the majority of other distributions. Intelligence is another area where there is a normal distribution of IQ scores, and then there are standard deviations that are higher or lower than the norm which can show an individual as genius (higher) or mentally retarded (lower). (Dewey, 2010). Society is structured with certain rules and controls that give people an understanding of normal. Normal in this situation is what the majority sees or does. People are expected to follow the rules and those who do not follow these rules are seen as abnormal. In other words, anything that goes against what is considered to be normal by the majority is considered abnormal. The DSM-IV-TR (2000) describes mental disorders rather than saying what is abnormal. They make a distinction between mental disorders and general medical conditions. The general medical condition is defined as any condition that is not a mental condition (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2000). They suggest that "no definition adequately specifies precise boundaries for the concept of mental disorder" (p. xxx). The APA also defines a mental disorder as a "clinically significant behavior or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress" (APA, p. xxxi). The challenge in using these definitions as a way to assess clients is that clients are labeled by these definitions. For insurance purpose, the counselor must be able to make some sort of diagnosis, but in giving an abnormal diagnosis, the client receives a label that may stay with them the rest of their lives. Designating a client as normal can also create problems because the idea of normal is different for different people. Culture brings another issue to this discussion because cultures have traditions and/or customs

Stakeholders and their role in(selected organisation) Essay

Stakeholders and their role in(selected organisation) - Essay Example Tesco is highly performance driven company and this is reflected in their outstanding financial performance with a reported growth of over 15% growth in its revenue reaching  £ 34 billion in year 2005 and a widely publicised operating profit of  £ 2 billion. Organisations differ in their key aims and this can be noted by contrasting the key aims of Tesco Plc. with another organisation. Hilton Group Plc is a widely diversified UK based multinational. Its operations include Hilton & Scandic Hotels, LivingWell Fitness Centers and the Landbrokes & Vernon betting & gaming operations. In contrast to Tesco Plc., the Hilton Group Plc. is a widely diversified operation with several core operations instead of the single core operation of Tesco, which is retailing. Hilton Group Plc.’s key aims are split across its three core business areas and includes: Comparing the two company’s key aims, it can be seen that depending on different industry conditions as well as company structures and operations, their key objectives will vary. If the industry outlook is bright and offer high potential for growth as in the case of retailing, then the firm may have key aims of aggressive expansion and market share increasing. However if market outlook is dull with sluggish growth conditions as in the current case of hotel and leisure industry, then key aim will be to consolidate and sustain while divesting some of the unprofitable operations. In conducting its operations, companies cater to the needs of many stakeholder groups. An organisation’s Stakeholders are persons, groups or institutions with an interest on the company’s operations and are affected by its operations. These key stakeholders include company, suppliers, competitors, marketing intermediaries and the Publics (Armstrong & Kotler 2000). The company comprises of its shareholders, employees as well as the top management. Objectives of these stakeholders

Diagnosis and Assessment week 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Diagnosis and Assessment week 1 - Essay Example As an example, in statistics, an abnormality may be the deviation from the average or the majority of other distributions. Intelligence is another area where there is a normal distribution of IQ scores, and then there are standard deviations that are higher or lower than the norm which can show an individual as genius (higher) or mentally retarded (lower). (Dewey, 2010). Society is structured with certain rules and controls that give people an understanding of normal. Normal in this situation is what the majority sees or does. People are expected to follow the rules and those who do not follow these rules are seen as abnormal. In other words, anything that goes against what is considered to be normal by the majority is considered abnormal. The DSM-IV-TR (2000) describes mental disorders rather than saying what is abnormal. They make a distinction between mental disorders and general medical conditions. The general medical condition is defined as any condition that is not a mental condition (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2000). They suggest that "no definition adequately specifies precise boundaries for the concept of mental disorder" (p. xxx). The APA also defines a mental disorder as a "clinically significant behavior or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress" (APA, p. xxxi). The challenge in using these definitions as a way to assess clients is that clients are labeled by these definitions. For insurance purpose, the counselor must be able to make some sort of diagnosis, but in giving an abnormal diagnosis, the client receives a label that may stay with them the rest of their lives. Designating a client as normal can also create problems because the idea of normal is different for different people. Culture brings another issue to this discussion because cultures have traditions and/or customs

Immigration Status In Access to Health Care And Insurance Among the Research Proposal

Immigration Status In Access to Health Care And Insurance Among the Polish Immigrants In the USA - Research Proposal Example The suggested study relates to legal and illegal polish immigrants and their access to health care and insurance services in the United States of America. The study attempts to determine the effects of immigration status (Legal v/s illegal) on the access to health care and related services in America. This study deals with immigrants, who might not know English, therefore, to ensure reliability of scores obtained, the questionnaire will be provided in their language as well. Similarly, the researcher will have to provide the briefing form and the informed consent forms in Polish language also. Immigration status acts as a barrier to seeking and getting access to health care and insurance facility in the USA. There has been considerable research on the topic and there are theories that support both sides of the case. The literature review has revealed contradictory information on the issue. This study is needed to find out the truth about access to healthcare and insurance available to immigrants in the USA. This study will prove to be very helpful in the field of social services. It will provide an insight into the issues faced by illegal polish immigrants in access to healthcare and will point new directions for further research in the field. This study is personally important to me since it will enhance my research skills; give me more insight into the causes of psychological deprivations among immigrants and will make me more sensitive as a counselor towards the health needs of immigrants.

The rate of enzyme reactions Essay Example for Free

The rate of enzyme reactions Essay Concentration- This affects the rate of this reaction because if there is more pepsin molecules within the mixture then there is more chance of collisions between pepsin and albumen molecules, which in turn increases the chance of the active site slotting on to the enzyme. Temperature- this affects the rate of reaction because different enzymes work best at different temperatures with the usual temperature being37. 2i c. If the temperature varies too much then the enzyme will not work to its full potential. As the temperature rises the enzymes begin to denature (deform so active site does not fit enzyme). The changes caused by denaturing are usually reversible but if they are too extreme then the changes are irreversible. pH- the pH affects the rate of reaction because the enzymes all work best at specific pHs depending on where they are used. Prediction- I predict that as the concentration increases so will the rate of reaction, I believe this because as the concentration increases the number of pepsin particles will increase making the chance of a collision and the active site slotting on to the enzyme. Scientific Theory- In this experiment our aim is to test the rate of reaction under certain conditions. Enzymes are biological catalysts, i. e. they speed up a reaction without being used up. Enzymes work best at specific temperature and pHs. They work best at 37. 2i c and depending on where the enzymes work different pHs. Pepsin the enzyme we are testing works best at pH 2. Each enzyme uses a lock and key system meaning they fit on the substance they are meant to break down and only that substance. Some examples of enzymes and its substrate are: Proteins- Protease Carbohydrates- Carbohydrase. Where the enzyme latches onto its substrate the area is called the active site. Safety- For safety in our experiment we will put goggles on when pouring acid so we do not get acid in our eyes. Fair Test- In our test the independent (changeable) variable we chose was the concentration of the acid. Our dependant (measured) variable is the time taken for the pepsin to break down the albumen. Therefore each time we must use the same amount of acid to keep the conditions the same. We must also keep the total volume of liquid the same, along with the amount of albumen each concentration is reacting on. Equipment- Test tube rack Hydrochloric acid Pepsin Albumen Water Boiling tube. Measuring Cylinder Stopwatch Water Bath Range Repeat- In our experiment we will use different concentrations to get a wide spread of results showing the difference in the rate of reaction with different concentrations. Here are the concentrations we will use and ho we made them- Concentration (%) Water (ml) Pepsin (ml) Albumen (ml) Hydrochloric Acid (ml)Â   In the experiment because there is a high chance of error we will repeat each concentration three times and take an average. Method- 1. Gather specified equipment, 2. Put 12 test tubes in test tube rack. 3. First put the required amount of acid in test tube, then put in the pepsin, then the water and when in a water bath bringing the temperature to 35i c then finally add the albumen. 4. Time how long it takes for the solution to clear completely. 5. Repeat each experiment three times. Results- Concentration Pepsin (%) Time for albumen to clear (secs) Rate of reaction (secs) Analysis- From my results and graph I can see a pattern, as the concentration increases so does the rate of reaction. My graph shows a curved line of best fit, which in the case of my results shows that as the concentration increases the rate of reaction does increase but the rate between each concentration gets lower as the concentrations rise. This pattern happens because although they may be a larger amount of pepsin molecules only one pepsin molecule can break each albumen molecule down. Eventually if the concentration is increased too much then it would have an adverse effect on the rate of reaction because they would be too many pepsin molecules colliding, reducing the amount latching onto albumen molecules so the rate would decrease. To work out the rate of reaction I did 1/t. In this equation t is the average time and then I multiplied it by 100 because the numbers were too small (0. 0s). My prediction was correct as the rate of reaction increases when the concentration is increased. Evaluation- In our experiment I believe I did quite well, because we have a nice curve on our graph and my prediction was justified. In our experiment the point which looks most like an anomaly is at 30%. I think this as it looks to be a bit low to go with our line of best fit. In our experiment I think that some of our results are wrong because we did not have the enzymes at the right temperature. To improve our experiment we could use light gates to see exactly when the albumen goes clear and we could keep all the enzymes and acids in a water bath so they are all at the same temperature. Our anomaly is about 0. 25secs from the line of best fit, which would make it around 6. 25secs. Extension In an extension I would test the effect of temperature on the rate of reaction. I predict that the enzyme will work best at around 40i c and as you move away from that temperature the reaction would slow. Range and Repeat- I will repeat each temperature three times and find the average just in case of a mistake. I will measure the temperature from 10i 50i in 10i intervals. Method- 1. Gather Chemicals etc. 2. Put each chemical in a water bath at specified temperature (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) 3. Get 15 test tubes. 4. When at specified temperature first put the required amount of acid in test tube, then put in the pepsin, then the water and finally the albumen. 5. Start timer. 6. When cleared stop timer. 7. Repeat three times. Karl Long Biology Coursework 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section. r

Lord Of The Flies - Primitive :: essays research papers

"He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger†¦ He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling†¦ The face of red and white and black swung through the air†¦" In the novel Lord of the Flies, an account of primitive religion is evident in the behavior of the hunting party. Initially, we will explore chant and uniform action and it’s spiritual effects on the human mind and soul. Secondly, it will be discussed how primitive peoples gain satisfaction from conducting the act of sacrifice. Moreover, this research will go into depth about the transformation into a higher being and development of a new identity through ritualistic actions. Finally, primitive society’s emphasis on fear-provoking, irrational behavior in comparison to modern society’s insistence on rationality will be addressed. In a primitive society, chanting is designed to provide a group with benefits such as the acquiring of material possessions, health, and monopoly over one’s personal circumstances or those of another person. This ritual is performed until one feels satisfied, and/or has been led into spiritual contact with another realm. Another purpose of the chant is for one to feel a powerful being emerge within one’s soul, resulting in a god-like sensation for a short amount of time. In the novel, one can perceive that the hunting party’s vigorous chant ("Kill the beast! Spill her blood!") is one of their final retrogressions into savagery. Its repetitious, invigorating verse elates them, and when the procession finally ends, they behave in a trance-like, mystified demeanor. They begin speaking immediately in excited tones, feeling amazed at the feat they had accomplished. It is written that "the boys chattered and danced", obviously enthralled with their victory. It would be wise to conclude that the boys have derived a sense of power through performing the chant, and they are satisfied with their newfound strength and uniformity. For Jack, chanting is another means of manipulating others. Like one of its benefits to primitive cultures, the chant awards him ultimate control over his entire group. The ritual of the sacrifice is a fundamental element of primitive culture. Primarily, blood sacrifice of an animal is the usual means of atonement for a primitive group. Other reasons behind this sacred ritual were to bow down to power, or to declare one’s adoration of a god or deity. The ideas behind the gift sacrifice, which existed in the early formation of religion, were thanksgiving and redemption.

Unions Essay -- essays research papers fc

Michael Paul 099 66 3949 History 316z Trade unionism, industrial unionism, and socialism were the main forms of organized labor in the late nineteenth century early twentieth century, yet rarely did these shifting currents flow in complementary ways that might appeal to the vast majority of struggling workers. The three most important formal organizations were the American Federation of Labor (AFL), the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the Socialist Party of America. All three of these organizations had there own strengths but the many weaknesses and divisions combined with outside influences caused the retardation of their radical, left wing ideas. The American Federation of Labor was founded with the intention of building the class conscioussness and economic power of workers by organizing them on occupational lines. It pursued policies to win short term, concrete, economic gains (Cashman,206.) The AFL was first established as the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor U nions of the United States and Canada from several independent national trade unions in 1881 and it took its definitive form and new name in 1886.The AFL was decentralized and organized as a loose coalition of almost autonomous national unions (Cashman,205.) The advantage to this was that decisions were made in each union where the leaders understood the situation. However, the AFL retreated from its Marxian origins to become a profoundly conservative organization restricted to the ranks of skilled, white males. This restrictive policy was a major flaw of the AFL and kept them from gaining the numbers and strength that it may have attained. These policies came directly from the ideas of the AFL’s longtime leader Samuel Gompers. Gompers believed that labor should accept the existing capitalist economy but try and get a larger share for labor by way of higher wages, shorter hours and better conditions of work. He believed that the idealistic goal of a fundamental economic refor m was an illusion (Cashman,221.) His conservative approach included negotiation and conciliation in labor disputes and in resort to strikes only after other methods had failed. He opposed alliances with political parties and the formation of a labor political party. His prime concern was the status of the skilled worker, which under his leadership attained greater stability than ever before. In concentratin... ...s. By contrast the IWW led by Bill Haywood was the most radical and controversial of all American labor movements. Haywood’s unconventional methods and uncompromising stands frequently put him at odds with allies and opponents alike. And the Socialist Party of America led by Eugene Debs had potential to improve the lives of workers everywhere but do to internal conflicts was unable to truly make a difference. Had these three organizations been able to play off one another they may have been able to realize their ultimate goals. The AFL containing the skilled workers was the most powerful, the IWW took what the AFL did not want giving the unskilled worker a voice and the Socialist Party went in to politics, using political offices to gain power for the working class. Ultimately because of the different outlooks of these three groups the American labor movement, though it gained some ground, was a loss. Bibliography Works cited Cashman, Sean. America in the age of titans. New York university press, NY ,1988 Laurie, Bruce. Artisans into Workers university of illinois press, illinois 1997 Leuchtenberg, William. The Perils of Prosperity. The university of chicago press, london, 1958

Airline Regulations

AIRLINE REGULATIONS Research Paper AVSC 1220 TREVOR CARTER ID # 10524707 *The airline industry operates like the veins of the United States by pumping precious cargo throughout the country. Most *people don’t realize how different the airlines were a few decades ago. The entire industry was regulated by the government. Regulation is usually considered a more socialistic liberal idea that is opposed by conservative capitalists. Although I personally believe in a government with a small limited *role* in our daily lives, I have come to the conclusion that the airline industry is a rare exception that needs to return to regulation which would benefit the airlines and the consumers in numerous ways. In the days of regulation the government had total control of routes, fares, gates and almost anything necessary to operate an airline. It also created many barriers to entry which would prevent any new start up airline. All the government would have to do is not allow them at any airports or not approve of any route application. Economists complained that regulation was inefficient so in 1978 the Airline Deregulation Act was passed allowing the free market to dictate airline prices and schedules. The following thirty years have proved this to be a terrible mistake. There are a wide range of facts when looking for the change in price of a ticket today compared to the airlines under regulation. Some say the tickets are 15* % cheaper. Others claim there is hardly a difference because one must account for the 10% travel agent fee that is avoided with today’s online booking. So there is clearly no great ticket price benefit due to deregulation. However in the past tickets were fully refundable and you could change your destination without numerous penalties. Today people scour the internet for a discounted ticket which will usually mean a few stops along the way that may not be in the general direction of their destination. Some passengers may have to fly into alternative airports to receive a discount. Southwest airlines now flies into most major airports just as the legacy airlines do, however, in Southwest’s early days they broke into the freshly deregulated industry by basing their operation out of LUV field Dallas (not Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport) and flying to locations such as Burbank, CA. The reason for this was because it is much cheaper to operate out of these airports to avoid paying high prices for gates and other airport fees. Southwest also undercut the pay scales across the board. They were the first low cost carrier. By *saving all this money they would be able to provide cheaper tickets to customers and the free market was beginning its control on the industry. This started the domino effect of airlines entering the market. *With a few major airlines doing most of the long haul flights many commuter airlines have started business with 100 seat type jets. Most people will see US Airways Express and think it is a division of US Airways; however that airplane might be one of 4 or 5 airlines that fly under the US Airways paint scheme. The air is absolutely saturated with all of these small jets. The air traffic control system *needs to be upgraded because of this. Instead of having 737’s make two or three flights a day on a short haul trip say from Philly to Buffalo, they will have these 100 seat regional jets make 5 or 6 flights a day. With fuel prices soaring this does not seem efficient. Safety of the consumer is also being endangered. For the last year or so many small regional airlines were hiring a large amount of pilots due to a shortage. The minimum flight time qualifications were dropped lower than they have ever been before. Some new hires are getting in the cockpit with as little as 300 hours. The average airline pilot has several thousand hours. With flight training declining every year due to the high cost, commercial pilots are becoming scarcer. When you add more airplanes while fewer pilots are being trained it creates a huge shortage. The Federal Aviation Administration pushed the mandatory retirement age to 65 adding 5 more years to a pilots career if he chooses to stay which many aren’t and won’t, due to the terrible state of the industry and conditions they have been working in. This is just a temporary fix that might stave off the shortage for a few years but hiring will start again and there won’t be enough pilots let alone enough experience pilots to fly all of these airplanes. Under regulation when oil quadrupled in the 70’s, the price was passed onto the consumer by raising ticket prices. This is unfortunate but it is a part of the way our economy works. Today with prices rising, the airlines will not raise prices and instead try to run other companies into the ground by lowering prices. This is not healthy competition. The airline industry lost 25 billion dollars from 2000*-2005. During that period a*irfares dropped 10* percent while 20 airlines went bankrupt. US Airways and Northwest Airlines have removed their obligation to their pension funds by pleading in *bankruptcy court that they couldn’t operate *without* do*ing so. This wiped out over 8,5*00 pilots retirement funds between the two of them. Over 7000 Delta pilots have also since lost their retirements. * Pilots have conceded roughly 25-35*% pay cuts along with losing their retirements in order to keep these airlines afloat and ensure the passenger gets a good deal on their ticket. Within the past few weeks Aloha Airlines joined the ranks and went out of business continuing the downward spiral of the airline industry specifically over the last 10 years. Delta and Northwest announced on April 14th a plan to merge which would create the largest airline in the world. There is also speculation of many more mergers and or bankruptcies to come. Mergers are a sign of these companies being better off w orking together than separate. That is certainly not the healthy competition the lawmakers of the 60’s and 70’s envisioned while forming this plan. Deregulation has lent instability to an industry which serves to make the world flatter. Maybe it would be in the broader interest if this industry went back to the era of regulation. Not that the system was flawless but at least with a guaranteed return on capital, airlines wouldn’t be forced to cut corners and compromise safety *. * There has been recent talk of law makers on Capitol Hill revisiting the regulation idea due to the horrible state of the industry. Hopefully they will work quickly and save the sinking ship before it’s too late*. SOURCES L. Smith Jr. , Fred. â€Å"Airline Deregulation. Library of Economics and Liberty 25 Nov 2008 http://www. econlib. org/library/Enc/AirlineDeregulation. html. *Barnum, John. â€Å"What Prompted Airline Deregulation 20 Years Ago? What Were the Objectives of That Deregulation and How Were They Achieved. *† Find Law Library 08/15/1998 25 Nov 2008 http://library. findlaw. com/1988/Sep/1/129304. html. *Bailey, Elizabeth E. â€Å"Airline Deregulation Confronting the Paradoxes. † Regulation: The Cato Review of Business and Government* 15, no. 3. Available online at: *http://www. cato. org/pubs/regulation/regv15n3/reg15n3-bailey. html*. *Transportation Security Administration*

Financing of Home Care Essay

In United States of America, health is an interesting topic in the society that does not only influence the well being of millions of Americans, but also influences the strength of Americas’ economy. This nation spends more on health care per person than any other nations. America is said to be having the highest infant mortality rates and a relatively low average lifespan. (Baer, 1989) For many families, lack of Health care is the source of vulnerability for the household’s economic status, as sickness or injury without health care can be a financial burden pushing families to poverty. According to the Census Bureau, the number of Americans having Private health coverage has fallen by one percent in the recent years. Home care is a term that is used to refer to the services that are usually provided in the home. They include giving patients professional services from physiotherapist, social workers and nurses. There is also the use of supplies, inclusion of therapies and incorporation of durable medical equipment. (Baer, 1989) The government has set the rules that have to be followed by each and every home care. In the home care, a range of services are therefore provided to the patients. The services include home making services, medication administration, blood transfusions, physical and occupational therapists among other services. Medicare on the other hand covers the home care services for the patients that have the following characteristics; †¢ They receive services from a Medicare †¢ They are under the physician’s care plan †¢ Those that are homebound †¢ Those that need nursing care that is very much skilled or physical therapy There are various ways through which homecare is financed. They include the following; †¢ Government funds †¢ Volunteers †¢ Commercial insurers †¢ Donations or charities †¢ Patients These are the major ways that home care systems are financed. Research reveals that systems are not for making profits. Looking at the various sources of finance for home care, there are different percentages of income that comes from each source. The government in most cases gives the highest percentage of income to the home care. This is approximately sixty percent of the total amount sourced. Donations then follow next with twenty percent. (Ehrenreich, 1970) Commercial insurers give approximately ten percent of the total amount of money that is used in the homecare systems. Patients are normally charged a small fee when they visit the home system and this amount to approximately five percent of the total revenue. There are normally volunteers who help out in providing some of the services free of charge and this helps to ease the burden of the costs that are incurred. Research reveals that there exists a very good relationship between the financiers and the homecare system. There is no one who ever wants to give his or her money without wanting to know how it has been used. Taking an example of the government as the main source of finance for homecare systems, it is always concerned with the faring on of the home care. (Ehrenreich, 1970) The government is normally very concerned with issues that affect home care especially in relation to the finances therein. The administrators of the home cares normally have the responsibility of giving account of how the finances have been spent in the home care. Looking at it from the administrator’s point of view, they normally wish that the government would do more than just send the finances to them but actually be more concerned with the whole project or the issues taking place in the home care system. To the administrators, the finances that are given by the government are not sufficient to cater for everything in the system and therefore planning becomes very hard in such a situation. The patients on the other hand are very grateful that the government decided to cater partly for their services given in the homecare because they don’t pay a lot of money. Research carried out in the year 2006 May in the United States amongst various patients reveal that patients come from different social status. There are those from affluent families, middle and then low income families. (Schaeffer, 2002) For the low income patients, the amount of funds that are given by the government are not enough because this compels the system administrators to charge them a fee which to them is a lot comparing it to their level of income. The patients who have middle income think that the government’s support is fair and they as patients can now afford it. For the affluent, they do not even feel the pinch of giving the little cash for getting services in the homecare but nevertheless acknowledge that the government is of great help. Donations and charities in form of funds given to the home care are given by organizations and individuals. There are various non-governmental organizations that give their donations to home care systems. According to the administrators in home care systems, donations and charities help a great deal in the smooth running of the systems. They concur that without the help of these non-governmental organizations, and then they could not have managed to do so many things in the home care systems. Patients also as stakeholders are grateful to the invaluable help of non-governmental organizations and individuals for this has enabled very many of them to access services that they could have otherwise not been able to. According to the administrators, the help given by no-governmental organizations though it helps it is not sufficient and therefore much still needs to be done. Looking at the relationship of the non-governmental organizations with the home care systems, one can say that there exists good relationship as the NGOs normally try to catch up on how the home cares are faring on. Research reveals that the relationship of the financier with the homecare is very important. A part from the financial help, there needs to be a mutual relationship between these two parties so that they can understand each other well. Looking at the provider or the financiers’ point of view, there is so much expectation from the home care system. From the government’s point of view, home cares expect so much from the government and there is the tendency to think that the government has got a lot of money lying idle which can be used in the home care system. According to the officials in the government of United States, the administrators have to know that the government is doing its best to see to it that these systems are run smoothly without financial strain. This is done so that every citizen benefits from these services and especially those from low income families per say. (Warren, 2005) Conclusion In home care, mostly the medical services are given in the home. In this case the patients are given professional services by nurses, social workers and home care assistants. These services include physiotherapy. Each and every home care system has to follow the rules that are set up by the government. (Strunk and Gabel, 2002) Home care systems are financed by various stakeholders. They include the following; the government, donations from individuals and from non-governmental organizations, small fee paid by the patients and from commercial insurers. Among these sources the government gives the highest percentage of finances to the home care systems. This is sixty percent of the total finances in the home care systems. According to the administrators in home cares, this amount is not sufficient to cater for all the needs in home cares. They say that the government needs to add more funds. According to the patients, the government is really playing a big role in enabling them to access these important services. (Strunk, and Gabel, 2002) To the low income patients, the funds are not enough and they should be increased so that they (patients) pay much lesser than what they are currently paying. The relationship that exists between financers and the home care systems is good. The administrators however say that the financiers need to be more concerned with all the activities that take place in the home care. Government officials say that home care administrators expect so much from them but they are doing their best to see to it that the home care systems do not strain financially at all. Reference Baer, H. (1989): The American Dominative Medical System as Reflection of Social elations in the Larger Society. Social Science and Medicine, 28(11):1103-1112 Ehrenreich, J. (1970): The American Health Empire: Power, Profits and Politics; NY Random House, Schaeffer, S. (2002): Rising Health-Care Expenses Outpace U. S. GDP Growth, HealthCare costs rose 9. 3% in 2002 PP 207-217 Strunk, B. and Gabel, J. (2002): Tracking health care costs- Growth accelerates again In 2001; Health affairs; Pp 45-67 Warren, E. (2005): Sick and Broke; New York; Melbourne Press

Economic growth

Spending by the government on all nal goods and services. e. g. ages for government employees, the upkeep of military bases, the maintenance of Air Force One, the maintenance of roads and bridges This category includes government investments such as the maintenance/construction of roads. Does NOT include transfers of wealth such as Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment bene ts as they are already accounted for in Consumption. 14/ 31 Net exports: The di erence between total exports (to all other countries) and total imports (from all countries) to the U.S.. If this number is negative, the U. S. is importing more value than it is exporting, in what is called a trade de cit. If this number is positive, the U. S. is experiencing a trade surplus. Note that these values are in terms of the subject country's currency (U. S. dollars). We only consider net exports because 1) we do not want to double ount goods in the GDPs of other countries and 2) GDP is supposed to measure production i n the U. S.Splitting GDP – Factor Income Approach We can equivalently express this value in terms of how much agents in the U. S. receive for their goods or work. You can think of rms collecting revenue from the spending described in the national spending approach, and distributing it in the following way: Wages: Firms pay employees for their work Rent: Firms pay landowners and property owners rent Interest: Firms pay interest to the owners of the capital they are using Pro t: Any revenue that is left after the above payments are considered protThe sum of these yields GDP, as calculated using the factor income approach: Y = Wages + Rent + Interest + Prot 16/31 Equivalence of National Spending and Factor Income Approaches The sum of all the spending in the U. S. doesn't quite equal the sum of all payments to factors of production, so we need to make a few adjustments: Sales taxes aren't re ected in the factor income approach, so we need to add that The national spending approa ch considers production that occurs before the depreciation of capital (i. e. machines wearing down), so this must be considered when using the factor income approach. 17/31 Economic growth Spending by the government on all nal goods and services. e. g. ages for government employees, the upkeep of military bases, the maintenance of Air Force One, the maintenance of roads and bridges This category includes government investments such as the maintenance/construction of roads. Does NOT include transfers of wealth such as Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment bene ts as they are already accounted for in Consumption. 14/ 31 Net exports: The di erence between total exports (to all other countries) and total imports (from all countries) to the U.S.. If this number is negative, the U. S. is importing more value than it is exporting, in what is called a trade de cit. If this number is positive, the U. S. is experiencing a trade surplus. Note that these values are in terms of the subject country's currency (U. S. dollars). We only consider net exports because 1) we do not want to double ount goods in the GDPs of other countries and 2) GDP is supposed to measure production i n the U. S.Splitting GDP – Factor Income Approach We can equivalently express this value in terms of how much agents in the U. S. receive for their goods or work. You can think of rms collecting revenue from the spending described in the national spending approach, and distributing it in the following way: Wages: Firms pay employees for their work Rent: Firms pay landowners and property owners rent Interest: Firms pay interest to the owners of the capital they are using Pro t: Any revenue that is left after the above payments are considered protThe sum of these yields GDP, as calculated using the factor income approach: Y = Wages + Rent + Interest + Prot 16/31 Equivalence of National Spending and Factor Income Approaches The sum of all the spending in the U. S. doesn't quite equal the sum of all payments to factors of production, so we need to make a few adjustments: Sales taxes aren't re ected in the factor income approach, so we need to add that The national spending approa ch considers production that occurs before the depreciation of capital (i. e. machines wearing down), so this must be considered when using the factor income approach. 17/31

Willa Seldon case study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Willa Seldon case study - Assignment Example During her initial few months as the executive director, Seldon had to deliberately and at a fast pace roll out several initiatives in order to ensure that Tides Center could become a customer-centric organization that was capable of delivering an exceptional form of fiscal sponsorship services along with steady organizational growth. There were many features in the leadership style of Willa Seldon that she exhibited while her tenure at Tides Centre (A). They incorporated the modern and a few traditional methods of leadership. These are explained below: a. Changing the organization’s mission and goals- it sometimes becomes necessary to modify or completely change the mission statement of an organization. This may be required to keep pace with the competitors or align with the customers’ needs. Changes also become necessary when there are similar companies coming up in the same industry which can threat an organization to shut itself down. So in order to avoid such situa tions it is necessary to change the missions and goals for the organization concerned (Chew, Cheng & Lazarevic, 2006, p.63). From the given case study we can see that there were many places where Tides Centre needed immediate changes. Seldon had endured to utilize her strength to re-module the missions that were expected by the founder of the organization Drummond Pike. According to her version, Tides Centre was in need for an extensive modification in its cultures, its management, its operational approaches, perceptions, and its business related orientation. The entity had to change to a corporate identity instead of its non-profit orientation. This had compelled Seldon to impose time restrictions on many of the new projects. Timely changes often help to refocus on organizations and implementing new operational trends which could help to add several competitive advantages. Also mentioned in the case study is the fact that there were many companies which had collaborated with the fi nancial aid industry and so it became imperative for Seldon to bring in changes in the hospital’s organizational goals so as to keep in pace with the growing changes. b. Working closely with the entire staff - Seldon had made it a point that every single member in the organization would have to contribute for the prospective changes to be made. A leader should always incorporate his/her fellow mates in the organization’s growth programs since it would require equal contributions in order to realize its goals. As a leader, Seldon had assembled a general meeting inviting the entire workforce in Tides in order to discuss the various organizational missions and the visionary prospects. The move was carried out to include the entire workforce into her prospected changes. Critically, Seldon compelled every employee or worker to think of himself as a change agent who had to play an important role to save Tides. This was done to create a sense of belonging in the employees. A leader should always aim at bringing the entire workforce of an organization together before it executes its planned changes. This would then curb the probable chances of resistance and any conservativeness that are evident among the staff member. Seldon was also working closely with several of the colleagues irrespective of their job ranks and implementing new strategic linkages between the organizational departments (Grant, 2005, p.469). Promoting interdepartmental relationships is an important feature that needs to be followed going by the changing markets conditions and the corporate demands. This was done by Seldon when she introduced interactions between the HR department and the finance offices to ensure that the employee related matters received immediate attention. This would also ensure the recruitment,

Why Sport Sponsorship is important for a company marketing strategy Dissertation

Why Sport Sponsorship is important for a company marketing strategy - Dissertation Example In addition to this, the research work also aims at understanding the influence of sports sponsorship on target audience. In this study, the researcher has selected a mixed research approach for this study, which includes both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Following this approach, the study includes interview with manager of Nike and survey of Manchester United fans. The interview responses are analyzed on the basis of thematic analysis approach, whereas responses from survey are analysed statistically, which include descriptive and regression analysis of the responses. The study has concluded that sports sponsorship has a significant importance for business entities, particularly Nike, which has been considered in this study. The findings of the study have concluded marketers regard sponsorship as a significant marketing tool. In addition to this, an overall positive impact of sports sponsorship of Nike has been observed on its brand identity. In today’s b usiness world, marketers are in continuous search of new avenues which can be used to promote their products and services and therefore gain new customer bases or retain existing ones (Kotler & Armstrong, 2008; Farris et al., 2010). Sports sponsorship is a modern marketing tool, which is nowadays used extensively by a number of large business enterprises (Ferrand et al., 2007). Sports are today regarded as global events and when bearing sponsors they possess the potential to promote brands all over the world. Sponsorship is often viewed as an entirely different activity in comparison with promotion. This difference in viewing these two mediums of marketing is based on the fact that promotions are considered and used as a direct marketing tool which targets specific customer bases, whereas sponsorships are regarded as part of a company’s corporate social responsibility activities. As for instance, in sporting events sponsors pay significant amounts of money to help organizers to successfully arrange the event and entertain general public (Boyle & Haynes, 2009). However, notwithstanding the direct and indirect nature of promotions and sponsorships, corporate entities are always keen to gain from anything they do. Keeping aside the less direct nature of sponsorship, the underlying objectives are purely based on marketing principles. Building brand’s identity, equity, awareness, values, etc. is all what marketers seek through any channel of marketing (Ferrand et al., 2007). Moreover, with fierce competition all over the globe and increase in globalization and its effects, marketers have turned sports sponsorship activities into large scale marketing campaigns (Boyle & Haynes, 2009). 1.2. Research Aim The broad aim of this research work is to determine the

Personality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Personality - Essay Example The MBTI indicates Steve Jobs to be an Introvert who preferred to think for the betterment and was sensitive for the people around him. Steve Jobs used his inclinations towards technology for the development of advanced technological innovations to make the people enjoy their lifestyle with convenience. He gathered data which were needed for the projects he dealt with and also criticized it. He was at times insensitive in the initial years which were working against him and made him lose his power. Nonetheless, with his hard work and perseverance he learnt to be flexible and impulsive in his approach towards work. He perceived to what he wanted and how to achieve it with a dynamic and charismatic attitude. This indicates that Steve Jobs showcased the ISTP type which is Introversion, Sensing, Thinking and Perception as he worked hard and knew what he wanted. He as a leader focused on innovation and efficiency throughout his career in Apple. His dynamism in his work and his attitude ca n be observed through the use of the products of Apple. The brand image and the market presence for the company were possible due to risk taken by Steve Jobs. He had the ability to take risks based on his strong perception and thinking capability towards the success of the business. He was sensitive towards the employees and the people around him in order to derive the best results from the employees due to his strong leadership skill. He through his personality and sensitivity made the people motivated and made them work for the benefit of the company. He was disciplined in his approach hence was able to maintain the cost efficiency with quality products for the customers. He was introvert yet had a strong sense of thinking, dynamism and thrived in terms of risk taking approach; which are the synonymous for the people with ISTP type of personality. He was

Capabilities and competencies.The scope of capabilities is not only Essay

Capabilities and competencies.The scope of capabilities is not only specific but its horizon is also quite vast - Essay Example SWOT Analysis 12 5.1 Strengths 13 5.2 Weaknesses 13 5.3 Opportunities 13 5.4 Threats 13 6. The Balanced Scorecard 14 6.1 Balanced Scorecard as a Measure of Strategic Capabilities 14 6.1.1 Translating the Vision 15 6.1.2 Communicating and Linking   15 6.1.3 Business Planning 15 6.1.4 Feedback and Learning 15 7. Resource Based View (RBV) 15 Appendices 17 Appendix-I: Tour Operator Market Share in Europe 17 Appendix-II: Four Perspectives of Balanced Scorecard 18 Bibliography 19 1. Capabilities and its Importance Generally capabilities and competencies are used interchangeably in literature, however in terms of business and organizational culture, the scope of capabilities is not only specific but its horizon is also quite vast. A capability is a fairly large scale unit of analysis which makes the organization and individual to recognize its purpose with respect to substantial outcomes (Dosi et al, 2000). According to Leonard (1992), â€Å"capability is the knowledge set that distingui shes and provides competitive advantage†. ... Therefore, organizational capabilities play a key role between human resource and the business strategy, thus making it a proactive source of competitive advantage (Ulrick and Lake 1991). (b) Organizational capabilities raise the competency level of individuals and reinforce positive values in the organization. (c) Organizational capabilities help the managing staff to formulate the business strategies basing on the strengths and weaknesses of the available manpower (Barney 1991). (d) These capabilities derive the required consequences like satisfaction of both the stakeholders and customers (Ulrich and Lake 1991; Yeung and Berman 1997). 2. Resources and Capabilities of TUI 2.1 Background TUI, abbreviated for Touristik Union International, was established in 1968 with headquarters located at Berlin, Germany. TUI is the largest integrated tourism group in Europe, lagging far behind its competitors with a turnover of about â‚ ¬ 21,866 million in 2008. Initially, it worked as Preussa g AG and gained a renowned fame in the field of transportation and industrial sector till 2001. This year, it became a 100% subsidiary of Preussag AG. In next year, Preussag AG was transformed into TUI AG (http://www.tui.com). During next few years, TUI developed and changed its production from industrial segment to a modern tourism and shipping company. The general credibility of the TUI is quite excellent and strategically today TUI is the largest and leading tourism and shipping organization of the world, operationally active mainly in Central, Northern and Western Europe while it has the networks across the Europe as well. The inventory of TUI