Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center

Career Choices in the Health Field Over the past few decades, medical professions have become increasingly more popular. The health system has evolved and health careers are at an all time high; creating several different paths and opportunities in the health field. It is no surprise many would want to choose a career with optimal advancement opportunities. Mark Sullivan, a famous author, once wrote, â€Å"To find a career to which you are adapted by nature, and then to work hard at it, is about as near to a formula for success and happiness as the world provides.One of the fortunate aspects of this formula is that, granted the right career has been found, the hard work takes care of itself. Then hard work is not hard work at all. † This quote exudes how even though the road in one’s career path may be tough, if one chooses a career one is passionate about, then the work load will be lightened by what one loves. When considering a career in health care, it is important to examine the different angles involved. For example, a career in physical therapy and naturopathic medicine can be compared and contrasted by income, education and responsibilities.At an early age, people begin thinking about their professions; as they grow, their calling often changes. Income becomes a key factor in the decision making process. Although bringing home a high income is sought after by many individuals, finance is a necessity in order to survive. According to Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center, â€Å"Physical therapists earned an annual average salary of $72,790. The lowest earned less than $50,350, the top earned $104,350 or more a year† (â€Å"Physical Therapist†). In reviewing naturopathic physician’s salaries, Dr. Melissa Bradwell says, â€Å"85,000 is an average annual salary for a naturopath.A naturopath just starting out might only make $45,000 a year. But an established naturopath with a successful practice might bring in $250,000 to $300,000 annually† (â€Å"Naturopath†). Despite the higher income potential for naturopaths who have a successful practice, it would appear that both of these careers have an abundance of wiggle room when it comes to salary. On average, one could earn a comfortable living in either career. Considering most professional careers in the health field involve the professional being held responsible for another person to some sort of varied magnitude, educational training is a requirement.Choices Explorer informs that, â€Å"Physical therapy deals with human anatomy and biology, physiology and physics† (â€Å"Physical Therapist†). When researching naturopaths, Ferguson’s Guidance Center reports a, â€Å"†¦program requiring courses in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and other basic medical sciences. Students must also take courses in nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathy, naturopathic obstetrics, physiological medicine, and minor surgeryâ €  (Naturopaths†). Whereas, both careers have rigorous training especially in the sciences, naturopaths would be required to take additional classes in order to complete their training.It is apparent these two particular careers command a stringent course outline that would entitle an academically committed student. In conjunction with income, and education, come responsibilities. It is more often than not, people choose a career with out knowing what is circumstantially expected of them. Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center conveys that, â€Å"Physical therapists, are health care specialist who restore mobility, alleviate pain and suffering, and work to prevent permanent disability for their patients† (â€Å"Physical Therapist†).Another element of importance is pointed out by Choices Explorer, â€Å"You may have to kneel, stoop, bend, lift, crouch and stand for very long periods of time (â€Å"Physical Therapist†). On the contrary, Fergusonâ€℠¢s Career Guidance Center informs that naturopaths â€Å"†¦provide complete diagnostic and therapeutic services. Patients consult naturopaths for a variety of health problems, including digestive disorder, chronic fatigue, asthma, depression, infections, obesity, colds, and flu† (â€Å"Naturopaths†). Both careers are aiding in ones health, but naturopaths are able to handle all aspects of health related problems.Out of the several career choices in the health field, both of these offer an adequate salary and call upon a vast amount of knowledge in the sciences. When making a decision between the two, it is the day-to-day interaction these two professionals have with their patient that makes a difference. Physical therapists are going to be working closely with a patient on overcoming a physical barrier, and they will need to bring their own physical attributes to the table in order to reach their progressed goal. This career is best suited for individuals who are physically fit, and do not mind standing for long periods of time.In contrast, naturopaths will be working with patients on a varied range of health problems, they will be doing this in a holistic manner. Choices Explorer puts forth, â€Å"They avoid treating symptoms alone. Instead they look for array of imbalances that might be causing the symptoms† (â€Å"Naturopath†). This career is best suited for individuals who have a broadened perspective on medicine and do not limit themselves to the traditional medical theories. Despite the different responsibilities, both of these careers share a common objective, and that is the opportunity to heal.

Explore the techniques used Essay

Explore the techniques used by Carol Ann Duffy to create contrasting â€Å"voices† by comparing two of the persona poems. In the poem â€Å"Fraud†, Duffy takes on the persona of an historical figure and creates a voice for it. She writes from the point of view of this character. In doing so, Duffy portrays the feelings and emotions of that character as she sees them. The character in â€Å"Fraud† is a Jewish man whose family were all killed in the Nazi holocaust. His name was Jon Ludwick Hoch, who later changes his name to Robert Maxwell. This was so that he could escape his past and what he left behind when he left Slovakia and to help him fit in when he moved to England. A way in which a â€Å"voice† is created in this poem is through use of the language, this marks it so you can tell it can only come from this specific character. The language is very direct and factual, giving no alternatives. â€Å"What was my aim? To change from a bum a To a billionaire. † The language exposes a lot about this persona. It shows that he was intelligent and cunning and knows what he is talking about. The character is not self pitying like that of the persona in Havisham,but condsending. The two characters through the use of different voices in each poem are portrayed as once being very vulnerable but now have become hardened by time. â€Å"Poverty’s dumb. Take it from me Sunny Jim. † This quote is from â€Å"Fraud† this shows how the voice is dominating and condescending. When looking at the poem you can immediately see that the line length is generally short, with no more than fourteen words per line and no less than two. This may be a method in which the personas thoughts are expressed, very rapid and direct thoughts. A lot of the lines end with â€Å"M†, for example â€Å"scum, slum. † This â€Å"M† sound is crude and suggests that the â€Å"voice† is similar to that of a whining and spoilt child. Which, in turn, when you research the real life character, says a lot about the person. He Lots of words in the poem are mono syables which gives a heavy beat to the end of the line. The character speaks in colloquial language, using a lot of slang words; this gives us an immediate opinion of the character. There is a frequent use of curse words this gives you the impression that the character is very direct not only in his conversations with people but with his whole out look to life. Words such as â€Å"Mother fucker† are swear words, but when used in this context in the play it gives a depth to the character. Through Duffy’s use of words we as readers can learn more about the character she is portraying/ A device that Duffy has used in this poem and with a lot of previous poems is the use of ellipsis. For example, the man speaks elliptically, his attitude towards things and he doesn’t explain himself. This shows that his character is â€Å"Shady â€Å", he elliptically refers to contemporary things. When he is talking about God, he talks elliptically about a lesbian sex show. â€Å"Then there’s Him- for whom I paid for a butch and femme To make him come. † To create the contrasting voice in this poem, Duffy uses the above techniques. But what techniques are used in another of her persona poems Havisham? Havisham is a character taken from literature and given a voice by Duffy. The woman in question is the tragic Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’s novel â€Å"Great Expectations. † Some history to the character in Havisham is; she was jilted at the alter by her lover whom she was due to marry. She never really recovered from that day. Inside her house she kept the wedding feast as it was, at this point rotting and rat infested. She wore her once beautiful wedding dress, now reduced to blackened rags. The point is, she wanted to keep everything exactly the way it was the day of her wedding, in hope that her lover would come back to her. Clearly from the outset there is still bitterness for the love she lost unsuspectedly. The first literary device used in this poem, in the first line is an oxymoron when referring to her lover. This suggests what she once felt for him, and what she thinks of him now. An oxymoron is a contradiction, so it begs the question, how can he be both of these things? â€Å"Beloved sweetheart bastard. † As in Fraud, there is a use of elliptical language which leaves the reader asking themselves questions about the character and what she is referring to. â€Å"Not a day since then I haven’t wished him dead . Prayed for it So hard I have dark green pebbles for eyes, Ropes on the back of my hand I could strangle with. † Who is he? When was â€Å"then†? To make this more effective and dramatic, Duffy uses a metaphor to try and convey what it feels like. What it feels like when she is saying how much she has longed for him to be dead. Her eyes are compared to â€Å"dark green pebbles†. This has all sorts of connotations, what does a dark green pebble feel like? The first thing that comes to my mind is that it is referring to how she has become cold and almost unhuman. This is what he has reduced her to. Another metaphor is employed in the same stanza when she talks about the ropes on her hands. Of course, she does not literally have ropes on her hands; its connotations are that of veins. The veins on her hands are bulging, through the stress she has been put through. This poem is full of rage and anguish, unlike Fraud where the main tone was demeaning of others. The woman in this poem is extremely self pitying and is completely self absorbed over what this man did to her. She is lonely and lost, grieving for her lost love. This poem is not normally structured; it does not flow as most poems do. In the first two stanzas there are two or three words, then a full stop. This method is to give that line a more dramatic and edgy feel, to set off the enigmas in the poem. â€Å"Spinster. I stink and remember. † â€Å"Beloved sweetheart bastard. † Both of the personas in these poems are not happy or jubilant in any way, they are depressing figures that eventually come to their end. The point is that similar methods are used to create the two contrasting voices. The way in which you use them and the language used is what really determines the creation of a contrasting voice and persona.

Consistently Developing Knowledge, Skills, and Values

Consistently Developing Knowledge, Skills and Values An integral part of human is his continual development and his productivity towards excellence. It is said that knowledge is power. Yes, it is; but it should go along with one’s abilities and attitude in his life-long endeavour. Each of us should be honed to become a better citizen of our society—a true asset and a good leader who contributes to the betterment of our nation, but how?The big question lies on how we could open our eyes to the big changing world as we advance ourselves in every aspect of our lives. We have to be aware of the call for self-sustainability that will bring about mutual benefits to others. Let us take the influence of our good leaders like Mahatma Ghandi and Jawaharlal Neru as peace leaders. How about Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln as America’s pride towards unification? Here, our national hero Dr.Jose Rizal exerted a lot of influence to us and they left an unwavering legacy. A ll these were a product of their consistent productivity that touched the lives of our people. Now you, as an ordinary citizen of our nation, could make a difference by stepping out to become a part of a successful country and by keeping yourself well directed and focused on your perceived goals towards continuous development for you and of what you could do to others.Remember that the hunger to learn, in varied levels, has always been part of your existence. The questions you encounter spring out from your intention and motivation to learn. With positive regard on every challenge thrown along your way, you must muster a needed degree of expertise and fuse it with an ample amount of experience to have the edge in acquiring and consistently developing knowledge, skills and values essential to progress in a rate that will quantify a person’s development.Therefore, whether you are teachers or students at schools, doctors or nurses in hospitals, and even organizers or judges in t his oratorical competition, 1) develop knowledge by welcoming and adding new pieces of information from all possible resources. Let it grow with an open yet analytical mind synthesizing old and new data along with current trends not allowing any room for stagnation. 2) Develop skills through constant practice aiming at accomplishing significant levels of precision and excellence. ) Align these ripening knowledge and advancing skills with values essential to the realities in life while keeping motivated. This is the very core of this subject. Without motivation that steers a person to achieve greater knowledge, information and ideas are insignificant. Guidance will point an individual to the right information, hence, feeding the soul strive to search for something of great essence to the society. His passion to learn and to grow makes him invest in developing knowledge, skills and values while harnessing his understanding on a culture that tends to evolve for greater good.One’ s thought process is the key factor followed by his interest in the subject on why and how he would retain information. An individual gathers ideas and confines the relevant and the ones with utmost value to their development. Once ideas have been proven effective in ways, he will deduct or resort to other processes in addressing future conflicts while tuning ways to consistently develop knowledge, skills and values.

Relativism and Objectivism as Two Different Moral Principles Theory Essay

Relativism and Objectivism as Two Different Moral Principles Theory - Essay Example The main purpose of the research is to present that both Relativism and Objectivism have a different perspective on the principles of morality. In essence, relativism is pretty tolerant of other ideologies because it insists that different individuals hold different views. The present research has identified that what one defines as absurd might be viewed differently by another individual. There are no true boundaries of ethics in relativism since people come from vat backgrounds. Consequently, objectivism holds a different approach to these issues. Objectivism philosophy is a methodology that propagates reason and egoism. It is derived from the philosophy of Ayn Rand. The author has rightly presented that objectivism is unique in its way that it’s the antidote to the society we live in. In essence, existence and one’s self-consciousness become the vital points that influence our perception. Without existence and consciousness, no foundation of knowledge can be built. A ccording to the research findings, objectivism bases judgment on the notion of education rather than celebrating on the issue of diversity. Without knowledge, one is not able to truly identify themselves. Thus, it is safe to say existence and every action is executed should be based on knowledge. Hence, it is clear that relativism acknowledges that what seems to be real and what seems to be true will differ from culture to culture.

Write a critical review (2500 words) of a health or social care issue Essay - 2

Write a critical review (2500 words) of a health or social care issue currently facing East London - Essay Example The East End of London is the East London’s subset, which corresponds to the regions that are nearer to the ancient city. Nevertheless, the development of the city towards the east was as a result of the growth of industries that were lined or associated with River Themes like the docks and the building of the ships. Since these industries started declining during the later part of the twentieth century, now the area of East London is a region of regeneration. This has actually reached the advanced stages in the London Docklands, however, it is still continuing in the East London parts that fall within the Thames Gateway, like the Stratford’s redevelopment which is linked to the Summer Olympics of the year 2012 (Barts and East London, 2011). The areas that fall further east were developed during the Edwardian and Victorian periods as a result of the railways expansion during the nineteenth century. The development of the suburban residences for the purposes of private sale later came to be matched by the offering of social housing on large scale in the 1920s at Becontree and Harold Hill after World War I. Nevertheless, we find that the constraining of the urban footprint was done by the protection or preservation of the Epping Forest in the year 1878 and later the Metropolitan Green Belt’s implementation. The intensity of development rose in the period of interwar and new companies developed in Dagenham like Ford. The population in the Tower Hamlets reached its highest in the year 1891 and then the population growth was limited to the outer boroughs. The population had peaked in each borough and the whole region was experiencing a fall in the population growth. According to the census of the year 2011, this was s een to be reversed and each borough has seen some increase in the population. The region of East London evidently has a rich history but has not lacked some setbacks in many aspects

Gun Control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gun Control - Research Paper Example When it comes to gun control in America, the most important thing is to impose a background check on everyone who buys guns and to strictly impose this as a part of a new gun control bill. The reasons for this are multifold. However, one of the main reasons for the imposition of the gun control bill is to minimize killings, or even to altogether prevent them. The shootings at the opening of Batman Begins in Aurora, Colorado and the shootings of 20 schoolchildren in Connecticut both in 2012 must have certainly made American lawmakers question the effectiveness of the gun control situation in the United States. In fact, the Senate’ vote on the failed gun control bill was disappointing because it showed that the lawmakers were actually not responding to several calls from the public on the imposition of stricter background checks for gun owners and buyers. In fact, according to Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport, regardless of the Senate’s vote on the failed gun control bill, â€Å"It is clear that more Americans support the concept of a law expanding background checks for gun purchases than say the Senate should have passed such a law† (Metzler). Americans have definitely learned much from their experiences with failed gun control measures. ... In fact, gun control history in the United States was a â€Å"history of tragedy† in terms of legislative action (U.S. Gun Control). Gun control measures have actually been implemented but perhaps not strictly imposed. In 1934, the National Firearms Act was signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in order to heavily tax sales of guns. The Gun Control Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 in order to declare as illegal the mail-order purchases of guns. In 1993 and 1994, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and assault weapons ban was signed by President Clinton in order to conduct background checks on gun buyers and ban semi-automatic assault weapons. Moreover, President Barack Obama and his administration also kept pushing for â€Å"more restrictive† gun control measures and laws (U.S. Gun Control). The existing gun laws like the National Firearms Act of Roosevelt is already in conflict with tax measures for the sales of guns which are imposed in every state. Thus, guns may be sold at a relatively cheaper price in some states. An example of a store in America that sells affordable guns, which are not heavily taxed is Cheaper Than Dirt, where a high power carbine is worth only $526, a hand gun is priced at $199 and a long gun at $143 (Cheaper Than Dirt). The Gun Control Act by Johnson is almost obsolete as guns are not anymore sold and delivered in packages by mail. They may in fact be bought straight from a gun shop. An example of a popular walk-in gun shop in America is American Gun Works based in California, whose website is found at americangunworks.net. One rather interesting but unfortunate feature of the shop is that it does not need a permit or license to carry a firearm as the State of

Case study report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Report - Case Study Example Today organizations are emerging as diverse workforce in terms of gender race and civilization. Therefore, changes in the organization demographic condition and rapid advancement in technology lead to unresolved disputes in the workplace, which raises the issue of equal employment legislation. By definition, diversity refers to a variety of demographic features describing a company’s workforce, which comprises of race, sex, culture, religion etc. It signifies removing the difference among the people belonging to different cultures, gender, caste etc. In short, managing the diversity maximizes the diversities of company’s demographic characteristics and minimizing the potential barriers in the workforce, which can hamper the company’s growth and performance. By conducting diversity management programs in the organization, managers will be able to provide strong leadership in the diverse workgroup through which they can represent themselves as role models for exemp lifying their pro diversity behaviors and helping each individual in the workgroup to overcome from the different circumstances. Therefore, good management practices will help the organization to attract the best talents from different sources and in this way, the company will be able to save his time and money in recruitment and turnover costs. Today managing the diversity has become a biggest challenge for the organization to manage the generation X, generation Y, and baby boomers. These three generations in the workforce include unique characteristics that make them different from the members of the other workgroup. Therefore, one should care about managing the diversity because it will help the managers to gain the commitment from the employees and developing a better working force. In other way, it will help the organization to create a pleasant and healthy environment in order to attract the new generations and gaining the reputation in the market. For example, Singaporeâ€⠄¢s workforce focuses on creating culture diversity in their workforce by engaging employees from different generations, nationalities, caste etc that develops a sweet and pleasant environment in an organization. Hence, it has proved that managing diversity in the workforce is important because it helps the organization to assess the performance of the employees. In contrast, if the HR is not able to manage the diversity present in teams, the teams overall performance will lead to employee dissatisfaction in the working environment. Therefore, diversity within a team may strengthen the team’s external communication and its ability to interact and coordinate with the other teams (Kepner, Wysocki, Lopez & Green, 2012). Now days, the managers need to understand that mostly women impel the diversity in the organizations. Recruiting single mothers and increasing the participation level of the women will help the organization in building a reputation in the market and improving the quality of working life. While managing the diversity in the workplace managers need to understand that diversity not only indicates employees’ belonging from different nationalities but it is the different individuals who carry with themselves the

Which came first law or social change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Which came first law or social change - Essay Example (Calavita 45) discuses the factor of racial classification in the fourth chapter titled â€Å"The Color of Law† where she explains how the differences in race apply in the immigration law and racial profiling. Legal pluralism is the existence of different legal systems that operate together simultaneously. These systems operate on different levels of the society and usually they do not contradict each other in their provisions. An example of a pluralist legislative system interaction is the United States of America federal system where federal state and local laws operate together. The legal system works to come into consensus with some legal issues, the legal issues here include the death penalty, rights, and gun control, and minimum wage policies. The other form of legal pluralism accepted globally across multiple jurisdictions, which include female genital mutilation, human trafficking, and environmental provisions. (Calavita 27) on her sixth chapter talks about application of law across individuals in society, she elaborates the difference between â€Å"law on books and law in action† apply. According to her, there are laws that allow unequal treatment of individuals in society. The law in this instance does not discriminate on race, sex nor class but its resulting action in the application due to its structure. Discrimination in this case becomes evident in the application of the law in a way that it favors the privileged at the cost of the disadvantaged. The courts in their decisions make them in a way to favor the haves. There is also sexual discrimination where the system favors men, and the women marginalized. Political and class biases are evident. (Calavita 88) Legal pluralism exposes the tension between the law and society. When individual across the boundaries and the law applicable contradicts with the current law or law to be applied seen to be

Anthropology of Social Networking Websites Research Paper

Anthropology of Social Networking Websites - Research Paper Example Social networking websites provide many benefits to people, such as, developing kinship and other relationships, information sharing, social interaction with people from different societies, and facility to find old friends. Along with these considerable benefits, there also exist some big concerns regarding these websites. In this paper, we will talk about how social network websites influence privacy and relationships from anthropological point of view. What is Anthropology of Kinship? Talking from anthropological perspective, one can say that the system of kinship includes people who have blood relationship between them or those who are living as a family. People usually create their own definitions of family. They can make a decision on adding or not adding people to their social networks depending on whether they trust them or not. In this way, they usually do not define kinship as blood relationships and add such relationships to the definition of family that may influence thei r lives at some point of time without having any blood relationship with them. Therefore, we can say that social networking websites have changed the dimensions of actual anthropology of kinship in today’s world of digital media. People have forgotten that real life is different from what we feel it in internet’s social networks (Acar 63). ... For example, some people, especially children, make excessive use of social networking websites, which results in less face-to-face interactions between them and their family members living under the same roof. People usually send comments and messages to friends and ignore their actual relations. Such changes in behaviors of people decrease affection and care that people normally have for their closest family members living under the same roof. Anthropologists have a concern over this issue, as they believe that such behaviors harm the actual family structure and give rise to social isolation in an unobservable way. Privacy Concern Socio-cultural anthropologists seem to be worried about the social change that includes excessive and improper use of social networking websites. They believe that such websites harm the privacy of individuals and cause many problems for the society. If we observe people who make excessive use of such websites, we can find that some of them reveal very pe rsonal information to their internet friends with whom they do not have any direct relationship. We have also seen such cases in which people have cheated others to get their personal information pretending to be their relatives or close friends. The fact is that such websites are open to everyone and not every person is well skilled in setting highest level of privacy for his/her account. â€Å"Users of social network sites (SNS) often state that they are concerned about their privacy, yet they often disclose detailed personal information on their profiles† (Utz and Kramer 1). Even if someone has ensured maximum privacy, he/she can be deceived by someone who pretends to be his/her lover or a true friend. Adolescents are the main users of social websites (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield

Management Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management Communication - Essay Example Good managers must also act as good leaders. The leadership role that is played by the manager is one of the most important functions that have to be performed by the management. In playing the role of a leader, the manager is involved in various activities that relate to lead the organization to function in a particular direction. The management works to provide direction for the organization on various issues. Great managers are also great leaders. Therefore they play the role of leading others who are under their influence. There have been raging debates on the issue of whether leaders are born or they are made. But one of the most important thing to realize here is that the role of leadership is based on some important skills that an individual posses and some which an individual learns in the process. This is because to be a good leader one does not require one attribute but is made up of specific array of attributes. A good leader must have the confidence to stand in front of other and provide them with direction. A good leader must be able to think in the sense that they must be able to gather, sort and structures information before passing it on to others. They must be able to develop a vision for the organization. ... However the most important aspect of any leader is that they must be able to communication effectively with others. This has been considered as the watershed capacity in leadership. This is because the leader plays the role of informing others, convincing others, uniting others, motivating others and directing others. These things require the leader to have effective communication skill in order to show others where the organization is heading. The effectiveness of a leader lies in their power to inform and persuade others which helps them to win battles for the hearts and the minds of the employees. (Baldoni, 2007) Good leaders are effecting because they have the power to convince others. They use a variety of strategies in order to convince others to follow them. Good managers ensure that they are good listeners and they other time to express themselves. They also ensure that they don't rush to make judgments. They will also ensure that there is an effective feedback mechanism in the organization. For example a good leader will ensure that they talk directly with their workers instead of using mediators. In this way they are able to learn the mood and response of the workers. Strategic organization communication Communication in an organization is very strategic in the sense that is one of the strategic factors that determine the viability of the performance of the organization. It is one of the components of organization strategy and it helps an organization to function even in difficult situations. It is strategic in the sense that it requires to be planned in advance as a part of the overall growth strategy of the organization. It is also strategic in the sense that it will have to be changed on the process of

Social development Essay Example for Free

Social development Essay Inclusion is viewed as a social development connected to a history of social policy reform in the United States beginning in the mid-1950s. Inclusion involves the processes of increasing the participation of students in, and reducing their exclusion from, mainstream curricula, cultures and communities. There has been a vigorous, ongoing academic debate between those who support and those who oppose the inclusion of special education students in general education classes. Much of this debate has taken the form of argument about the appropriateness of instructing special education students in classrooms with their general education peers or in separate, exclusionary spaces. When special education students are included in general education classrooms, they are expected to adhere to a modified version of the standard curriculum and are graded according to alternative standards. This work considers inclusion in the classrooms of Longview Public Schools. An overview of the national and local contexts for inclusion is presented, and then a high school theater arts class is portrayed from data collected over a fifteen-week period. The work concludes with a synthesis of the issues raised by the case-study and their implications for continued progress toward the goal of inclusion in American society and its impact on special needs students. Literature Review The idea of inclusive education was given impetus by two conferences set up under the auspices of the United Nations. The first of these, held in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990, promoted the idea of education for all; this was followed in 1994 by a UNESCO conference in Salamanca, Spain, which led to a Statement that is being used in many countries to review their education policies. The Salamanca Statement proposes that the development of schools with an inclusive orientation is the most effective means of improving the efficiency and ultimately the cost-effectiveness of the entire education system. The International Journal of Inclusive Education, established in 1997, encourages the same broad conception of inclusive education as ourselves, involving an examination of all the processes of inclusion and exclusion in education. Among those who anticipated the failure of mainstreaming during the 1980s, many challenged the institutional practice of special education, calling for widespread reform (see Reynolds, Wang, and Walberg 1987; Sarason and Doris 1982; Skrtic 1986; Will 1986). The radical restructuring of special education urged by Skrtic (1986) has yet to occur, although some states have attempted special education reform, often in concert with general education reform (Ferguson 1995; Thousand and Villa 1995). However, so-called â€Å"systemic reform† of special education is far from the norm in the United States (Roach 1995). Skrtics (1995) theoretical analysis of the field of special education aims for excellence, equity, and adhocracy through a deconstruction and reconstruction of both general and special education for a post-industrial economy in the twenty-first century. He maintains that an alternative paradigm, that of critical pragmatism, is necessary to reconstruct special education and disability. Without it, the current inclusion debate will not â€Å"resolve the special education problems of the twentieth century†¦ [but] will simply reproduce them in the twenty-first century† (p. 80). He argues that critical pragmatism enables individuals to continually evaluate and reappraise the â€Å"political consequences of a professions knowledge, practices, and discourses by critically assessing them and the assumptions, theories, and metatheories in which they are grounded† (p. 91). The authors of the book From Them to Us: An International Study of Inclusion in Education (Ainscow Booth 1998) used the terms special educational needs or just special needs to categorize pupils with learning difficulties, physical impairments and behaviour disorders. Such terminology implies that there is a division to be drawn between â€Å"normal† and â€Å"less than normal† learners. It implies exclusion, as pointed out by Booth (1995, p. 99). The term integration is still in use among teachers although officially, at least, it has been replaced. When referring to integration, teachers mean the presence in ordinary schools of those children who used to be transferred to special schools or special classes. One of the writers on normalization (Solum 1991) has tried to replace integration with the term anti-segregation. This has a more positive connotation in that it takes for granted that nobody is segregated at the beginning and, therefore, the challenge is to see that everybody remains within the regular school. For many involved in the current debate on inclusion, it is evident that the questions raised by Sarason and Doris over a decade ago remain unanswered, diluted by concerns that locate this endeavor within an educational rather than a societal discourse. The current literature on inclusion in the United States documents the way the practical realities related to inclusion continue to obscure the â€Å"charity† needed to frame the moral issue (Zigmond et al. 1995). This literature, in combination with the concerns of Sarason and Doris and the warnings issued by Skrtic, challenge the success of inclusion. And yet, at this particular moment schools continue to grapple with inclusion: an ill-defined, and yet, ever-increasingly accepted and widely practiced reform.

Cyber-Bullying and aTeenage Suicide Essay Example for Free

Cyber-Bullying and aTeenage Suicide Essay A study done by Pew Research Center from 2007-2010 stated that 95% of all teens use the internet and 80% of them use social networking sites (www. Edgewave. com). One in three teens is cyber-bullied (The Guardian, Tues, Aug 6, 2013). One in 13 teens face persistence abuse online (The Guardian. ). Cyber-bullies do not see the harm they cause or the consequences of their actions which minimizes any feelings of remorse. This gives the kids more advantage to say crude and hurtful things they would not do in person. Cyber-bullying is devastating when nasty things are verbalized, but when someone sends pictures of one that is not meant for the world to see this type of damage is more detrimental than the nastiness of words. The betrayal one must feel to know someone close to them would hurt them by exposing such material. The aftermath, for that experience is destructive for one’s self-image and self-esteem. When a teen is subjected to such negativity, it may push them over the edge. The damage cyber-bullying causes can be deep and long lasting. The damage that cyber-bullying can cause is low self-esteem, withdrawal, poor grades, school absences, self- harm, depression, risks for addictive behaviors such as drinking and using drugs and in the worst cases one take their own life, because they can no longer take the never ending pain that is being caused by the bullying. Cyber-bullying has been the final cause in the teens mentioned in this report as to why they committed suicide. Although, this was not the only underlining factor, many of these teens suffered from depression and other mental illnesses (WebMD, 2007). I have found several articles about teen suicides that were connected to cyber-bullying. The first such case of teen suicide connected to cyber-bullying was reported on October 7, 2003 in Essex Jct. , Vermont. Ryan Halligan was a 13 year old and he was bullied for numerous years. His parents thought the bullying was done and over with until his suicide. His father went into his computer and found that Ryan was being severely harassed. The person who bullied him years before, but became friends with later bullied Ryan. His parent has warned Ryan not to trust this person, because he betrayed him before. Ryan told his friend stories and eventually his friend turned on him unknowingly to Ryan and he was being bullied over social media sites and at school. Ryan’s father was not aware of this until after Ryan’s death and he was trying to make sense of why he son took his own life. He soon figured it out. Ryan’s parents were devastated. John Halligan has been totally dedicated in honoring the memory of his son. As well as to raise awareness on the issues, that led to Ryan’s death. John spearheaded the Vermont’s Bully Prevention bill that was signed into law (ACT 117) in May 2004 just a few months after Ryan’s death (RyanPatrickHalligan. Mr. Halligan has also successfully led the passage of the law pertaining to mandatory suicide prevention education in public schools (ACT 114) signed in April 2006 (RyanPatrickHalligan. Org). John Halligan has been recognized with five award for his outstanding community service, hard work and outreach he has done in his sons memory and his dedication to educate others on these issues (RyanPatrickHalligan. Org). Prior to their suicides, some of these teens did cry out for help by posting heartbreaking videos and updates on their sites. The examples I would like to use to support this statement are as follows: â€Å"My Story: struggling, bullying, suicide, and self-harm’ Amanda’s YouTube Video. Watching this video of Amanda was heartbreaking. To see any children go through that kind of pain and they feel they have nowhere to turn just breaks my heart. I have a teenage daughter who has been bullied in every way imaginable. I know what problems being bullied and harassed can create. She cried out for help with the Facebook posts, the flashcards, cutting and other behaviors. As I stated earlier, cyber-bullying is not the only problem that causes one to commit suicide there are other factors involved. I can relate to an extent with the parents who have lost their children to suicide. My daughter has attempted suicide and almost succeeded. It has been the worst experience to go through. She has refused all the help that was always there for her until the last attempt where she has been placed in a residential facility that I feel has saved my daughter’s life. Tyler Clementi was a quiet 18-year-old talented violinist. He started his first year at Rutgers University in 2010. Tyler â€Å"came out of the closet† with his family before leaving for college his brother James said in a statement where he discussed what a wonder person Tyler was, the suicide of his brother, what life is like without him and the close bond they shared growing up and that they both are â€Å"gay†. (James Clementi, www. queerty. com). Tyler discovered his roommate used his webcam to stream intimate moments with his boyfriend over the internet (New York Times, March 16, 2012). Tyler sent and e-mail requesting a single room, because of the webcam spying issue on September 21, 2010 about 4 a.m. (New York Times, March 16, 2012). Dharun Ravi whom was the roommate of Tyler apparently searched the internet prior to starting Rutgers and discovered Tyler’s sexuality. Dharum was not pleased to have a â€Å"gay† roommate and sent several texts to friend about keeping gays out (New York Times, March 16, 2012). Tyler asked his roommate for some privacy one evening to spend time with his companion. This second attempt to use his webcam to mainstream activity between Tyler and his companion was halted, because Tyler found the camera pointed at his bed (New York Times, March 16, 2012). Dharum tweeted â€Å"that he seen his roommate making out with a dude† and invited others via text to watch the live stream action (New York Times, March 16, 2012). From all the information, I have read on this case the final message from Tyler that was discovered after his death in a gay chat room was how to deal with the invasion of his privacy in such intimate moments and facing the people who were ignorant enough to watch it. I am going to assume that he felt he would have been bullied and harassed constantly, because of the webcam video. On September 22, 2010 at 8:42 P. M. Tyler Clementi posted on Facebook â€Å"Jumping off the GW bridge, sorry†. Tyler’s body was not recovered, but the police did pull an unidentified male body from the Hudson River north of the river where he jumped. Tyler’s wallet with his freshman identification was at the scene (ABC News, Sept 29, 2010). Dharum Ravi was charged with several charged and served a jail sentence. The other person involve exchange her testimony for reduced charges (New York Times, March 16, 2012). A huge problem with cyber-bullying is that is can be done with complete anonymity. Teenage years are tough enough to experience. When a teenager is being cyber-bullied and humiliated in front of the millions of people, it is like having a brown bag over your head in the social media world many can take a jabs instantaneously. When they feel like â€Å"everyone† is against them their self-esteem is non-existent and they slowly fall into a depressive type state. Not knowing who is saying or doing the harsh content makes it worse and makes it easier for the teenager to withdrawal. With the research I have done for this project, the experiences I have experienced as a parent and help from my teenagers, I have found many social networking sites that allow anonymity postings. A few examples of these social networking sites are www. pencourage. com, www. youmitter. com , Tumblr. com and formspring. me. The one that I found the most information on was the social networking site Ask. fm. All of these sites mentioned are question and answer social networking sites that allow anonymous participation. Ask. fm has been in the national headlines involving several teenage suicides. Ask. fm has 30 million participators who minors (Huffington Post, August 30, 2013). With the research I have done on Ask.fm, I came across the story of Hannah Smith a beautiful, 14 year old who committed suicide due to being subjected to cruel taunts and insults on Ask. fm (The Huffington Post, Aug 30, 2013). David Smith, Hannah’s father stated in the Huffington Post on August 30, 2013, â€Å"These sick people are just able to go online and hide behind a mask of anonymity while they abuse vulnerable teenagers†¦ When they’re sitting behind a computer screen you can say whatever you want and there no comebacks, but these trolls need to realize that they are affecting people’s lives in the most horrific way imaginable† (Huffington Post, Aug 30, 2013). In my opinion, Mr. Smith stated this perfect. I have wondered if any of the people involved in the cyber-bullying that finally pushed Hannah and other teens over the edge to end their lives if they have a conscience. I wonder if they are able to sleep at night knowing they are some of the reason another person ending their life. Interesting, with more investigating for this report I found on a website called www. cyberbullyingresearchcenter. us . The information that is in investigation on the case with Ask.fm and the cyber-bullying case of Hannah Smith has been founded that 98% of the messages sent to Hannah were from the same IP address as Hannah was using which indicates she was sending the hateful, threatening messages to herself (www. cyberbullyingresearchcenter. org). IP is short for Internet Protocol Address. IP addresses are assigned to every computer on an Ethernet Network (www. dummies. com). The IP address is similar to your home address. No two computers can have the same IP address on the same network (www. dummies.com). Ask. fm has identified four messages that were sent to Hannah from different IP addresses and has agreed to turn the information over to the police (The Telegraph August 11, 2013). There is no guaranteed proved that Hannah sent these messages to herself. There are other possibilities of how the messages were sent from the same IP address such as Wi-Fi connection or a school network. Mr. Smith does not deny Hannah may have sent herself some of these messages, but feels Ask. fm are trying to cover their butts. Mr. Smith has the name of one of the trolls that was harassing his daughter and the authorities do not seem interested in the information. In my opinion, there is much more to this suicide story than we the public will ever know about. Due to the recent suicides that involved Ask. fm on August 19, 2013 the social networking website agreed to make some changes (www. heavy. com). Ask. fm has implicated a report bullying or harassment button that would compel the website to investigate reported comments (www. heavy. com). This feature is expected to go live in September 2013. Ask.fm stated â€Å"they wanted their users to be able to have fun, share information and make friends freely they want their younger users to be able to do this in a safe environment† (www. heavy. com) Finally, the teen suicide rate has increased over the last 15 years (WebMD 2007). In my opinion, this has a lot to do with the advanced technology that teens have constant access to today. The ole bullying has transpired into a more severe problem called cyber-bullying. This is done through social networks, instant messages, e-mails and text messages. Electronic bullying is instant. Bullying is no longer the traditional note passing in the halls at schools. Bullying and cyber-bullying does not stop at the end of the school day as it did prior to the internet and other advanced technology we have today. Cyber-bullying triples suicide risks in teens (Sherry Boschert, Pediatric News. Digital Network). Girls are often the target of being cyber-bullied than boys. Usually by a 9% difference in studies, I came across. Being victimized by a bully can happen at any given time of the day, by anybody and regardless of what stance in authority they may hold. I was completely shocked to have come across the Andrew Cain story. Andrew Cain was a 19 year old from Pullman, Washington, whom had a criminal history since he was a minor. Most recently, Andrew failed to appear for a court hearing for charges he received in March 2013 for a probation violation (Huffington Post, June 27, 2013). Not appearing for the court hearing, warrants were issued for his arrest. The deputy posted on the Sheriff’s Facebook page that included a wanted poster and this statement â€Å"We have decided that Andrew Cain is no longer the wanted person of the week. He is the wanted person of the month of June Congratulations! † (www. heavy. com). Andrew had received texts, Facebook messages, e-mails and instant messages about this post on the Sheriff’s Facebook page about what a horrible person he was. It was not long until bogus rumors started about the charges Andrew had. According to his sister, Alise Smith she received a text from Andrew about how this has bothered him and feels that it was just too much for him to handle. Andrew Cain was in the process of turning his life around. Unfortunately, due to heartless people we will never see how Andrew Cain’s life could have turned out. On June 13, 2013, Andrew Cain committed suicide. Indeed, while I do feel the advanced technology we have today are very beneficial in many aspects of everyone’s lives. I feel that the advanced technologies that we have become accustomed to should be used with responsibility and integrity. Cyber-bullying in a nutshell is a deadly game to play. Cyber-bullies do not see what harm it causes their victim by harassing them via social media sites unless something drastic happens to their victim due to them being bullied. I really would like to ask some of the teens that have been charged in connection to these suicides if they are able to sleep at night. How the teens involved are going to feel knowing they have been a reason, why another human being took their life? They may not think about it now, because they were able to be that cruel to someone, but what about when they are older and realize what their actions caused? I would like to ask the parents of the cyber-bullies who have been charged in the suicide cases if â€Å"they† had any issues growing up or any un-resolved issues that would cause them to be so hateful to another human being. What is your opinion? I am hopeful one day that the internet world will become a safe place for all children to enjoy. Where a child can go for fun and not become depressed to the point they want to take their own life, because they have no idea how to handle all the pain and pressure of being bullied and being a teenager. I do feel so much sadness in my heart with all the young lives lost to the cruel, senseless act of other humans.

Employee retention methods in fast food

Employee retention methods in fast food This paper discusses employee retention methods that are used in the fast food industry, where the majority of employees are under 21 and in full time education. There are several large players that compete for these potential employees, this paper focuses on McDonalds. This paper concludes that McDonalds retention strategies are successful in some of their branches, although this level of retention is not uniform across the whole organisation. Therefore their strategies require closer monitoring, to successfully implement them. 2.0 Introduction The human resource is increasingly viewed as being the most important resource in contributing to an organisations overall success in achieving corporate goals. Therefore human resource management is a vital component of the strategic decision making. Managing human resources comprises a range of issues such as recruitment and retention, employee development, reward schemes and promoting good relations. The first process is recruitment, to employ suitably qualified employees to contribute to the achievement of the corporate goals, in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The important factor after recruitment is ensuring the right employees are trained and retained. This has both external and internal forces which can affect the retention rate of an organisation. There is a direct link between corporate strategy and people management, and the policy of strategic recruitment and retention. The fast food industry has historically been viewed as low-skilled and low paid work leading to a high rate of employee turnover. The fast food giant Mc Donalds has improved their pay and career prospects, this policy is aimed at both recruitment and retention of employees. The changing UK labour market has seen a higher educated workforce with individuals concerns of career development. Fast food organisations have had to adapt their HR strategies in order to compete in new global and national contexts effectively. This paper will investigate the features of recruitment and retention strategies by McDonalds; as a response to the new challenges. Globalisation has led to the rapid expansion of multinational fast food companies, for example McDonalds and KFC have entered the UK market. The integrated and interdependent global marketplace has led to fierce competition between fast food firms. Therefore multinational fast food companies should balance the various interests, needs, preferences and external conditions when implementing their HR strategies. Identifying these relevant factors is an important element of assessing the effectiveness of retention strategies. McDonalds has expanded rapidly into new markets, these have challenged the organisations HR strategies. Each new country brings cultural and employment legislation differences from the home country. All these issues must be addressed before the expansion takes place. The organisation trades on standardisation of their products. Whichever restaurant anywhere in the world that a customer visits the product and the service will be uniform. This has been referred to as McDonaldlisation; therefore all employees are trained to give the expected service no matter what the location. This training is a vital component of McDonalds global HR Strategy. This is used as a tool for employee retention; although other methods such as reward and recognition are used. This paper will discuss all the relevant issues surrounding the topic of employee retention in the fast food industry, focusing on McDonalds. 2.1 Aims and objectives This research aims to examine and evaluate McDonalds employee retention policies such as employee development programs and reward schemes. It will discuss how the organisation has responded to the challenges. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The first objective of this work is to identify and explore the main challenges faced by retention strategies for employees in general, and focus on the fast food industry. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The second objective of this work is to examine specific retention strategies exploited by a fast food company This will examined how they compete for staff within the UK labour market with other fast food companies. The principal outcomes of this research will be an assessment of the effectiveness of McDonalds employee retention schemes from the perspectives of those directly involved in the implementation of these schemes. Additional outcomes of the research include a detailed overview of general trends within the industry in relation to employee retention and development and a comparative analysis of McDonalds policies in relation. 3.0 Methodology This chapter discusses the research methods used for the project and the rationale for their choice. It discusses methods that were not used, with justification of why they were not included. Included is a critique of methods selected, and with hindsight identifies any changes that would have enhanced the research. This paper critically evaluates the retention methods used by McDonalds in their restaurants. McDonalds was selected as being the industry leader in its strategies for both marketing and the attracting and retaining of staff. A case study approach was chosen to link the theory with research; this can generate rich amounts of data relevant to particular organisational contexts. From the case study questions were generated to be used in further primary research (Yin, R 1994). Selection of the topic was stimulated and formed out of increased publicity on the practices of HR that McDonalds utilise. The nature of the research was discussed with colleagues and fellow students this not only added practical ideas and suggestions, it opened new avenues of thought. This was the discussed with lecturers sounding out ideas, gauging opinions and clarifying the question. Focusing in on the question was obtained by employing relevance trees, narrowing the research area. This gave direction to the research, although with reviewing the literature this changed several times (Buzan, J. 1995). Next, a research proposal was compiled, with the benefit of organising ideas and setting a time-scale for research. Theoretically, the proposal would highlight any difficulties with the research question and access to data. Creating a time-scale would focus on targets and meet deadlines in the completion of the paper. The literature review, discussing theories and ideas that exist on the topic formed the foundation of the paper. The findings from the research are then tested on theories for validity (Saunders, M. et al 1997). The literature review was challenging, there is very little academic research on the topic area. Most of the literature focuses on operational issues, although a few focused on HR policies. There are a lot of articles in the Newspapers on the organisation; these were rejected due to the biased content, they appeared to sensationalised articles. Journal articles discussed the organisation in terms of its strategy and policies in HR practices. These journals articles, together with well documented theory were not only the back bone of the Literature review it constructed a theoretical framework. Tertiary data sources, such as library catalogues and indexes were used to scan for secondary data. This produced journals and newspaper articles, and Internet addresses. With the amount of literature, it took time to sort out relevant material to the research. Narrowing down the search Bells (1993) six points parameters was applied. Applying key words that were identified in the first search produced relevant and up-to-date material (Bell, J.1993). A limitation on the literature search was the amount of time to read all articles and books on the subject. Whilst reviewing the literature references to other publications were followed and reviewed. Bells checklist on identifying the relevance of literature found was a practical method to reduce the amount of reading (Bell, J. 1993). Ethical considerations in research fall into three categories, during design, collection, and reporting of the data. These areas were carefully considered at all stages of the research. The person privacy must not be evaded during interviewing Oppenheim (1996) referred to this stating respecting the respondents right to privacy, as the right to refuse to answer certain or all questions (Oppenheim, A.1996:84). By participating in the research, no harm should fall on the participant. It was decided not to interview employees, through the logistics of the method. Employees would have to give their time, plus a venue was required of site to maintain privacy (Saunders, M. et al 1997). Consent must be obtained from both the organisation and individuals before commencement of research. The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders et al 1997). Questionnaires were selected to obtain the overall picture of recruitment, and retention from employees. The results will be compared to the literature review, which will validate the theory and the case study, to form an overall picture retention policy and practices. Before the questionnaires were distributed a letter was delivered given to all employees explaining the purpose of the research, and how the information was to be used. The letter contained a contact number for the researcher, and gave a guarantee of anonymity of the information. An advantage of communicating to respondents before the questionnaire was that it increased the response rate, and addressed ethical concerns (Saunders et al 1997). Fellow students were used to pilot the questionnaires; to test the information gained from the questions and the time take to complete it. From this, adjustments were made on the wording, removing technical jargon (Bell 1993). From the closeness of the relationship between researcher and the respondent, a problem arose that individuals could be recognised from their handwriting. This was addressed by using a tick box format, with no coding to recognise individual responses, maintaining anonymity of the respondent (Saunders et al 1997). A benefit from using this format was the data collected was quantitative. Closed questions maintained the anonymity of the participants, but had the disadvantage of limiting the data that could be collected (Cresswell 1994). Other methods of data collection were considered and rejected. Focus groups would have offered free flowing information. This could have been facilitated with discussion led by the researcher. The idea was rejected due to the limited contacts within the organisations. This would also be unethical to place pressure on their goodwill. The methods that were used to collect data followed in a logical order. Each method validated the findings from another method, triangulating the results therefore reducing bias. 4.0 Literature Review This section of the paper discusses the relevant theory on the topic. Starting with HR and focusing in on retention and the strategies employed to increase the organisations level. 4.1 Human Resource Management The concept of human resource management has emerged from the 1980s into a core consideration of corporate strategy in the 1990s, (Legge, L 1995). There is no single definition of HRM in the literature yet the emphasis has to a large extent been on the strategic role of human resource management in organisations. Some research has identified HRM with strategic aspects of best-fit or aligning people to the needs of the organisation as expressed in corporate strategy and others have examined HRM as a means of gaining enhanced organisational performance, (Golding, N (2004) cited in Beardwell, I. et al 2004). However the contribution that human resource may make to an organisations performance and effectiveness has been linked closely to the changes in different business environments including macro and micro contexts. Recognition of the importance of HR has increased in recent years; this is a result of competition from overseas economies. In countries for example Japan, Germany and Sweden investment in employee development is higher that the UK. This has led to some organisations reviewing their policies on training introducing continuous investment in their employees Although when multinational organisations have entered the UK, they have introduced their global HR policies (Beardwell, I. et al 2004). For HR to succeed it must take on a proactive role within the organisation. Strategic HR creates value by providing opportunities for organic learning, development of intellectual capital and enhances core competencies. This value is crucial to the organisations future success (Treen, D. 2000). Employers are increasing extorting the best possible performance from employees. Best practice will increase the skills of the current workforce, and with recruiting it will reinforce the culture of a highly skilled work force (Mullins, L. 2005). Strategic HRM has gained both credibility and popularity over the past decade, specifically with respect to its impact on organisational performance (Paauwe, J Boselie P. 2003). 4.2 Human Resource Strategy To fully exploit the wealth of knowledge contained within an organisation, it must be realised that it is in human resource management that the most significant advances will be made. As a result, the human resource department must be made a central figure in an organisations strategy to establish a knowledge basis for its operations (Mullins, L. 2005). There are fundamental differences in the approach to HR. Storey (1987) discussed these as hard and `soft versions of HRM. The hard version places little emphasis on workers concerns and, therefore, within its concept, any judgments of the effectiveness of HRM would be based on business performance criteria only. In contrast, soft HRM, while also having business performance as its primary concern, would be more likely to advocate a parallel concern for workers outcomes (Storey cited in Guest, D. 1999). These models of HR theory, will justify why there has been an increase in this management practice. Walton (1985) defined HR as mutual goals, mutual influence, mutual respect, mutual rewards, and mutual responsibility Walton further added that the psychological contract under this unitarist, high commitment model is one of mutuality, but it is a mutuality strictly bounded by the need to operate within an essentially unitary framework (Walton cited in Beardwell, l. et al 2004) The image of training and development has changed and can be used a key driver for delivering shareholder value (Rogers 2004:25). This increase in training priority has been supported by a rise in Human Resource Management. This practice emphasises that increased growth can only be maintained in the long run; by equipping the work force with the skills they need to complete their tasks (Mullins, L. 2005). 4.3 Human resource as a Control System There is a need for a higher value to be placed on employees. And therefore get the best performance from the employees. According to Delany (2001) successful organisations keep people issues at the fore front of their thinking and at the core of their decision making and planning. Delany adds organisations that get the people things right are the organisations likely to be around in the future (Delany (2001) cited in Mullins, L. 2005:748). Although some commentators have argued that the role of human resource explicitly views employees as another resource for managers to exploit. In the past, managements had failed to align their human resource systems with business strategy and therefore failed to exploit or utilise their human resources to the full. The force to take on HRM is therefore, based on the business case of a need to respond to an external threat from increasing competition (Guest, D 1999). This view reflects a longstanding capitalist tradition in which the worker is viewed as a commodity. The consequential exploitation may be paternalist and benevolent; but, equally, it may operate against the interests of workers. Essentially, workers are simply resources to be squeezed and disposed of as business requirements dictate. More importantly, the interests of workers and their well-being are of no significance in themselves. As John Monks (1998) stated In the wrong hands HRM becomes both a sharp weapon to prise workers apart from their union and a blunt instrument to bully workers (Monks (1998) cited in Guest, D 1999:258). There are conflicting views on the justification behind implementing HR practices; one extreme views the practice as a control mechanism. The employee is central to any strategy, and should feel a valued part of the organisation. 4.4 Human Resource Function The role of HR should not be administrative based; it should be a part of the long term strategy of the organisation. Appointed an HR manager to the board is the only way this can happen (Beardwell et al 2004).Rogers (2004) discussed the role of developing human capital strategies that HR has a real opportunity to shine. There are numerous HR departments are failing to deliver the goods (Rogers 2004:25). 4.5 Retention There are hidden costs involved when there is a high turnover of employees, but each organisation deferrers in what is the normal level of retention. It is not just a low retention rate that can cause problems to an organisation, if this is too high it can lead to a stagnant workforce. There is no overall right level, and this is dependent on a number of factors, both internal and external. Pizza Hut has a staff turnover of more than 50% per year; this figure takes into account the vast number of casual and student workers the company employs. The technology company, 3M, whose has a wide range of career opportunities for employees, retains a high proportion of its staff (Rigby, R. 2003). When there is high retention this introduces new problems for the organisation. High retention levels, rather than being a company-wide problem, will often occur in pockets within businesses. For instance, an employee or a team may have become so good at their job(s), that their boss cannot bear too lose them or even promote them, which can lead to stagnation and de-motivation of their employees (Rigby, R. 2003). If retention levels are in line with the norm for the type of organisation, then the productive employees should be encouraged to stay and the poor performers encouraged to leave. If this were measurable the then organisations would retain employees whose contribution produces a positive risk adjusted profit for the firm. These employees would have a positive influence on the firm (Sigler, K.1999). 4.6 Cost to the organisation A major factor of a high level of employee turnover that impinges on an organisation is the cost. The costs can be broken down into the costs of leaving, replacements, transition and indirect. The leaving costs are the payroll and the personnel administration of the employee leaving. The replacement costs are spent on recruitment of potential employees, the money and time spent on interviewing and any placement fees involved. Transition costs for a company include the training costs of new employees the unproductive time while the new employee is learning the skills required and any induction costs for the new employee. The indirect cost to a company is the potential loss of revenue because of decreased levels of customer service The cost of replacing workers who have left can amount to two and half times a workers annual salary. These costs are rarely specifically identified in any accounting records. Therefore turnover cost data should be used to demonstrate the success of retention strategies over time (Risher, H. and Stopper, W. 2002). Apart from the significant economic impact with an organisation losing any of its critical employees, there is also the knowledge that is lost with the employees departure. This is the knowledge that is used to meet the needs and expectations of the customers (Bassi (1997) cited in Ramlall, S. 2004:54). Organisations cannot take a passive attitude toward knowledge management, Instead they should seek to sustain the competitive advantage and develop systems to control the value of knowledge (Stewart, (1997) cited in Ramlall, S. 2004:54). The Human capital theory suggests that some labour is more productive than other labour simply because more resources have been invested into the training of that labour, in the same manner that a machine that has had more resources invested into it is apt to be more productive (Ramlall, S. 2004). Employers need to review all the costs involved with employee turnover, not all cost are financial, hidden costs include the reduction in knowledge. These are not tangible, and will not show on the companies accounts, but through a lack of skills this can reduce the long term profit. 4.7 Recruitment Key to retaining the right employees is recruiting them in the first place. This process must given consideration to their long term value to the organisation. The attraction and retention of key talent, is increasingly pivotal to organisational success. The ability to achieve competitive advantage through people depends in large part on the composition of the work force. This, is the function of who is hired, and how they are developed, these factors will lead to who is retained (Sturman, M 2003). Retention begins at recruitment time, so it is important to select for organisational and cultural fit, not merely against the technical and skills requirements of a given job. Best practice companies have known this for a long time, and ensure that the selection process allows a full assessment of candidates abilities, interests, aspirations, and values, and a deliberate review of how well these match their organisational culture (Risher, H. and Stopper, W. 2002). Organisations are under increasing pressure to recruit the right people for the right job. The economic cost of getting this wrong can be vast, with the resources that have been ploughed into the process. Numerous factors are to be considered during this process including the culture of the organisation, legal implications, attracting and employing the correct candidate and the cost in time and resources. Therefore it is paramount that the process is fair, reliable and valid (Armstrong, M. 2001). Hacker, C.A. (1996) discussed the process of recruitment and advises that employers should consider three areas when they are preparing to employee, these are the cost per hire of an employee; turnover rate; and productivity. The recruiting of an employee contains hidden costs; these include advertising and the time that is employed on screening and interviewing the prospective employee. Therefore, if the recruitment of people is not cost effective option, then high turnover of employees must be avoided. Retention of the current workforce is the most economic solution to an organisation (Hacker, C.A. 1996). The employers requirements relate to the labour process that is the supply side of the labour market. This is simply employing suitable people for the roles that are required. While this is described as the human capital, this is a sterile and limited interpretation of a variety of personal characteristics and dispositions which employees bring to the workplace (Alcorso, C. 2003). As Beardwell and Holden (1994) emphasise essential to a good HRM practice is recruitment and selection, which must consider correct fit between personnel and job in order to maximise efficiency in terms of retention and HRM strategic planning. The organisation can use the recruitment process to continue, enhance or even change the organisational culture. When a change of strategic direction is required, recruiting the right candidates is a important factor to increase the chance of success (Beardwell, I. Holden, L. 1994:225). There are various recruiting sources, but their success rates are not equal. For example, employee referrals will yield higher quality workers than do sources such as newspaper ads or employment agencies. In a survey the top three sources of successful candidates are employee referrals, college recruiting and executive search firms. All these methods should be considered for effective recruitment. Although the best recruiting sources are still dependant on the type of industry and the job skills required by the organisation (Terpstra, D. 1996). Recruitment of the right candidate is problematic, the skill of the recruiter is vital to appointing a successful candidate. Insufficient information about employees performance can result in adverse selection by Managers. This arises from where the manager does not know the information h to ask from the candidate and the candidate does not know what to provide. Therefore, productive workers cannot distinguish themselves from non productive candidates (Sigler, K. 1999). Reviewing and monitoring recruitment practices can lead to a reduction in key employees leaving. If the first stage of retention is recruitment, then best practice will lead to the correct candidate being selected. In the long term this will increase the retention levels of key employees within the organisation. 4.8 Human Resource Development The principal function of any organisation is to increase the value of the business and therefore enhance the wealth of its Owner(s). This is obtained by efficient use of the limited resources available to them (Blackwood, T 1995). Garrick (1998) discussed that HRD is inextricably linked to market economics, that knowledge is prized in so far as it can generate a market advantage(Garrick, J 1998:5). Leading to the assumption that HRD can give the organisation advantage aiding the ability to increase profit. Therefore using that theory HRD should be viewed as a vital function of all organisations, and not just there to satisfy training issues, a proactive role. Garavan et al (2000) discusses the emergence of strategic HRD practices, which are directly linked to the organisations strategies, with profit maximising paramount, HRD is a tool that should be employed to obtain and support this (Garavan et al, 2000). HR and training literatures highlights the organisational benefits to be gained from adopting a systematic approach to HRD, therefore the ongoing development of employees skills underpins the wider business objectives (Keep, E 1989). This systematic approach to training often includes models that identifying needs, planning, delivery and evaluation. Harrison developed an eight stage model to identify monitor and evaluate training. The evaluation stage is possibly the most problematic part of the training process (Reid, M.and Barrington, H. 1997). 4.9 Training Training can be defined as a planned process to change attitudes, knowledge or skills and behaviour through a range of activities to achieve effective performance. When this training is in the work situation, it develops the employee to satisfy current or future needs of the organisation (Beardwell, I et al 2004) It is generally accepted that methods of training can usually be separated into two categories: on-the-job, and, off-the-job. On-the-job training is implemented at the trainees workplace, while off-the-job training is conducted away from the trainees workplace and takes them outside of their work environment (Mullins, L. 2005). Training can be used as a change agent, to change the culture of an organisation. It is also a tool to improve organisational effectiveness, especially in fiercely competitive markets. All too often organisations that are facing financial problems will cut back the training program, where as they could be used to increase overall performance. The training budget is viewed too often as an expendable, and the first to cut or even go in crises (Rogers 2004). 4.10 Reward systems Amongst the theorist there a several key areas of management, which affects the retention of key employees, this includes motivation, job satisfaction, reward systems and the psychological contract. The first area reviewed is reward systems; these can be both intrinsic and extrinsic. Reward systems are one of the four key policies within strategic HR. the organisation can use this tool to raise commitment, competence, and congruence and it is cost effective. With individuals having more control on their reward, at a basic level this can motivate, at a higher level can introduce self esteem and self worth. These values are congruent to the organisations values and principles (Beardwell, I et al 2004). PRP is an individualised form of payment which reflects individuals performance. These increases may determine the rate of progression through an organisation (Farnham, D. 2002). The problem of attempting to keep talented members of the work force is further complicated because of bounded rationality. This leaves colleagues who cannot improve their positions within the hierarchy more likely to remain with the organisation. This is often due to inadequate information on outstanding performance, therefore it is not recognises financially. Non-productive and productive workers end up receiving the same or nearly the same compensation and package of perks because of managements inability to distinguish talented employees from the rest of the labour force in the organisation (Sigler, K. 1999:2) Incentive pay can be used for employees, setting targets and when they are met rewarding with cash bonuses. Share ownership by the employee is another type of pay incentive. It in essence makes the employee a shareholder of the organisation aligning the interests of the employee with the owners. Employee share ownership can come through restricted share plans where ownership of the share is not transferred to the employee until after a specific period of time has passed or a specific goal has been achieved. This not only provides the employee with the incentive to drive the share price higher through their work effort, but also remain with the organisation until maturity of the plan (Sigler, K. 1999:3) 4.11 Motivation There are four main categories that the theories of motivation are classified (1) Economic needs of man, money motivates, Taylorism (2) Social concept of motivation, from the Hawthorne studies (3) Self actualisation this took the findings from the Hawthorne studies further, psychological issues were studied (4) the contingency approach, large number of variables that influence a persons motivation. These theories all have factors that relate to the work place (Mullins L. 2005). Motivation is an individuals perception of their worth, role and work environment within an organisation. There are common motivational factors that employees share, although when satisfied will lead to different levels of motivation. Both Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards add to the motivation level of employees, if managed correctly. Although the perceived equitable reward varies amongst employees, those who receive less than their perceived value will feel undervalued, and not motivated. This will impinge on job satisfaction, with employees feeling dissatisfied with their award (Mullins, L. 2005). Mitchell (1982) described motivation as the psychological process that cause the arousal, direction, and persistence of voluntary actions that are goal oriented (Mitchell (1982) cited in Ramlall, S. 2004:55). Motivation defined by Robbins (1993):55) is the willingness to exe

The Native American Experience as Portrayed Through the Essay Titled, A

The Native Land Imagine living in a place where you feel free, and safe all of your life, and then one day it’s all taken away from you. Native Americans have always depended on the land to take care of them. Had the Great Spirit forsaken them? These are the thoughts that pondered the mind of Seattle as he answered to the Governor of Washington, in the essay titled â€Å"Address†. What was the purpose or message behind Albert Bierstadt’s painting titled â€Å"Among the Sierra Nevada†? How are these two separate works associated? To understand the relationship that these two works share we must look at them from today’s perspective. The Address is a Political Science/ History piece that addresses problems, and states facts about the way of life for Native Americans the beauty of the land and how Americans were to take that away from them, while Bierstadt’s painting is able to show us the piece and serenity to the earth and within ourselves. Although the text and painting have different backgrounds, they are both similar a different in many ways. Both the text and the painting challenge the relationship between land uses, background of ancestors, and power. The painting and essay display similar expressions of darkness to light. The mountains represent the downfall of Native Americans fore fathers being forced westward out of their land (Seattle, 55). Bierstadt’s painting depicts the freedom of Native Americans being driven out of their homes and lands, interrupting their peace. â€Å"Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appear challenges and eternal, may change† (Seattle, 55). This statement illustrates even though they are the same people inside their way of thinking about wha... ...sion Native Americans made a connection with the earth that was an ongoing affirmation to be close to nature. To witness the beauty of the land and all it had to offer them. Seattle’s address took a strong and powerful stance against the Americans, not only did he stand up for his people but he showed the wrong in the Americans. The essay and art work have affected the progress and solidity of the Native American culture in the past and the present. Each piece possess vitality, power and a drive to move forward, they also coincide on different levels where as to the message, that they bring forth understanding the environment and relationship between land, and man.† At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled and still love this beautiful land† (Seattle, 57).

Brain Structures: The Effects on Males and Females Essay examples --

Brain is the most powerful and complicated structure of human organ. Human brain is totally spectacular and is the most valuable gift towards the people. Actually, there are subtle differences in the way male’s and female’s brains are structured and in the way they react to a particular event and stimuli. Men‘s brains on average is ten percent bigger than women’s and have four percent more cells. Somehow, women’s brains consist of more nerve cells and cellular connections, which make their brains more compact and smaller to be more effective and efficient. The differences in the brain structures that effect on male and female are most in their thinking ability, the communication skill, as well as the abilities in certain fields are our areas of research. The main differences in brain structures that influenced male and female are their thinking ability. It most likely impacts on how they process and amass all the information. Firstly, according to Lin (2008), men think separately and women think globally. In short, men tend to store details much like file-cabinet-drawer system. Meanwhile, women tend to connect all things up. For example, a man will close the ‘wife drawer’ and open the ‘work drawer’, leave behind all thought of disagreement with his wife and stay focused on work. However, his wife has been simmering all day about the disagreement. It is because she is thinking globally and intertwining details. Next, according to Gray (2011), men always execute assignments on the rational side of the brain substantially, which is left-side of the brain. He also notes men achieved better on tests requiring mental rotation, a thought to indicate direction. On the other hand, women are undoubtedly superior at t hinking, based on G... ...hese differences. By knowing all these differences, at least, we can gain a better appreciation for the unique strength and qualities towards the opposite sex. Although both men and women as population tend to do better at certain areas, the margin of difference is slightly small. The more men and women understand their differences, the further they will value each other. Works Cited Gray, J (2011). The Male vs. the Female Brain. Retrieved 2011, December 12, from http://www.thirdage.com. Hensley, A (2009). 10 Big Differences Between Men’s and Women’s Brains. Retrieved, December 12, from http://www.mastersofhealthcare.com. Lin (2008). Why Are Women So Strange and Men So Weird?. Retrieved 2011, December 12 from http://www.tellinitlikeitis.net. Why Do Men And Women Think Differently?. (n.d.). Retrieved 2011, December 12, from http://www.healthlady.

Essay --

Hopelessness is an intense emotion every person feels at one point in their life, a feeling closely interlinked with depression and suicide. In the poems â€Å"It was not Death, for I stood up,† and â€Å"I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,† by Emily Dickinson and â€Å"No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief,† by Gerard Manley Hopkins, the theme of the poems is hopelessness, but the authors approach the theme differently in each poem. In the poem, â€Å"It was not Death, for I stood up,† Dickinson uses words to describe the sense of hopelessness she feels as she tries to pinpoint the source of her anguish. In the first two stanzas, she uses specific sensory details to convey her chaotic feelings to tell the reader what her condition cannot be. A repetition of â€Å"it was not† (1) is then followed by a reason of why she eliminated the possibility, using the senses of sound or touch. She merges together the conditions she had eradicated and through her chaotic state, her thoughts turn toward funerals. This causes her to think about her death and her current state of mind. She feels her â€Å"life were shaven† (13), so that the only emotions left were despair and terror with the feeling of hope lost. She also â€Å"could not breathe without a key† (15); terror does not directly affect a person’s breathing, but it sometimes causes a person to feel as if he were suffocating, unable t o breathe. Her â€Å"key† that she needs is to understand what she is feeling, but she cannot figure it out (15). The last stanza in the poem expresses an overwhelming feeling of bleakness, there is no opportunity for rescue, â€Å"like Chaos— Stopless— †¦ / Without a Chance†¦ / Or even a Report of Land—† (21-23). In the last line, there is a paradox, that since there was no possibility of hop... ...er already confused and chaotic mind, her thought process leads her to thinking about death and hopelessness of being healed. Hopkins’s poem starts out differently, with him thinking that there was nothing that could be worse than what he was going through, but in the process of searching for relief, he discovers there is no relief with death. His poem comes to the same conclusion as Dickinson’s, the hopelessness of having no cure to save them. The ending to Dickinson’s second poem is similar to this that after her descent into insanity, there is no hope for her of ever going back to reality. In these three poems, imagery plays a large part with helping the author describe their thoughts and situations, which increases the feeling the reader has because it seems more lifelike. The three poems begin at various places, but end with the revolving theme of hopelessness.

Describe the Potential Effects of Discrimination

Applied Business Unit 8: Business Planning Task 6 Worksheet Task Six: Financial Planning YOU CANNOT START AND/OR COMPLETE THIS WITHOUT A FINAL SALES FORECAST AND A LIST OF ALL YOUR OPERATIONAL COSTS ————————————————- Lesson breakdown ————————————————- Lesson 1: †¢Introduction to Financial Planning and how do we create an integrated plan: Focus on cash flow forecast using operations plan ————————————————-Lesson 2+3: Cash flow analysis and develop aims and objectives; ————————————————- Introduce ‘ILP-time-off’ work to do  Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- Lesson 4: Cash flow revisions, Problem spotting based on cash flow and develop aims and objectives ————————————————- Lesson 5: Profit and loss account and Financial Ratio Analysis and developing aims and objectives ————————————————- Lesson 6: Break Even analysis and then develop aims and objectives ————————————————-Lesson 7: Final Amendments to Financial Planning; Problem spotting based on P&L, ratio analysis, break-even and develop plan Task 6 Brief Overview * In this section, you are going to produce financial documents for yo ur business proposal. You will need to use the sales forecasts and operations plan that you produced earlier. This section is important as you are attracting investment and assessing the viability of your plan * Calculate, analyse and evaluate the following; Use these subheadings in your report * Size and duration of budget * Start-up costs Running costs * Cash flow forecast * Break even analysis * Financial ratios * Profit and loss * Analyse all your financial documents showing detailed consideration for the Aims and Objectives: * Are they achieved? * If not what are the possible problems this can cause your business? * Can you think of any solutions to help you to overcome these problems so that you could achieve your aims? SUBMISSION OF TASK 6 The following is to be submitted as a Word document Use the following headings for your submission of your Financial Plan 1st submission.Copy and paste these into your final document: Submit all work on moodle for deadline 3rd December 2010 (4:15PM) 1. Financial Planning (main heading) 2. Cash Flow Forecasting Table (MB4 students need to submit 2 (+? )CFF Tables) a. Cash Flow Forecasting analysis (of each CFF produced) 3. Profit and Loss statement and Financial Ratios Table (MB4 students need to submit 2 (+? )P&L and F/R Tables) b. Profit and Loss statement and Financial Ratios analysis (of each P&L and F/R produced) 4. Breakeven Table (MB4 students need to submit 2 (+? )Breakeven Tables) . Breakeven analysis (of each Breakeven produced) TASK 6 FINANCIAL PLANNING CONTENT/ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST CRITERIA CASH FLOW FORECASTING| 1. Start-up budget: | a) 12 monthly graph (Cut and paste information from your cash flow forecast for your first graph)| b) Analysis needs to consider:| I. You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could achieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | II. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| III. Research used to underpin an d develop business idea| IV.Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| V. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | 2. Running costs: | a) 12 monthly graph (Cut and paste information from your cash flow forecast for your first graph)| b) Analysis needs to consider:| I. You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could achieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | II. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| III.Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IV. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| V. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | 3. 12 monthly Cash Forecast: 1 : Your initial forecast used to help identify problems| a) Analysis needs to consider:| I. You must have an in-depth explanati on of how these could achieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | II. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| III.Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IV. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| V. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | 4. MB4 12 Monthly Cash Forecast: 2: A working example of your solutions to your identified problems in CFF1| a) Analysis needs to consider:| I. You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could achieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | II.Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| III. Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IV. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| V. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to co nsider in light of this new data? | PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT| 5. Profit and Loss Account 1 : Your initial forecast used to help identify problems| a) Analysis needs to consider:| I. You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could achieve the ims and objectives of your business proposal. | II. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| III. Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IV. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| V. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | 6. MB4 Profit and Loss Account 2: A worked example of your solutions to your identified problems in P&L1| b) Analysis needs to consider:| VI.You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could achieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | VII. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| VII I. Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IX. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| X. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | FINANCIAL RATIOS| 7. Financial Ratios: Gross and Net Profit for P&L account 1| a) Analysis needs to consider:|I. You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could achieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | II. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| III. Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IV. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| V. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | 8. MB4 Financial Ratios: Gross and Net Profit for P&L account 2| a) Analysis needs to consider:| I.You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could a chieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | II. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| III. Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IV. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| V. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | BREAKEVEN| 9. Breakeven table and calculation:1 : Your initial forecast used to help identify problems| a) Analysis needs to consider:| I.You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could achieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | II. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| III. Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IV. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| V. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | 10. MB4 Breakeven table and calculation:2: A working example of your solutions to your identified problems| b) Analysis needs to consider:|VI. You must have an in-depth explanation of how these could achieve the aims and objectives of your business proposal. | VII. Research used to underpin and develop aims and objectives/ownership/key personnel| VIII. Research used to underpin and develop business idea| IX. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also your aims and objectives:| X. What changes to your original idea/USP/aims do you have to consider in light of this new data? | TASK 6 ASSESSMENT GUIDE: HOW TO ACHIEVE THE BEST RESULTS? * You are assessed in Task 6 for BOTH AO2 and AO3 marks AO2 is marked out of 22 marks and all learners should be aiming for a minimum of MB4 which is 17/22 marks * AO3 is marked out of 14 and at this stage all learners should be aiming for a minimum of MB4 which is 11-14 marks. * We will award high marks for those learne rs who can: * Purposefully select data from a wide range of sources, * Analyse the problem and possible solutions * Develop their plan based upon research. * Give an in-depth explanation of how the marketing plan could achieve the aims and objectives of the business proposal. AO2 ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES MB1| MB2| MB3| MB4| 2 3 4 5| 6 7 8 9 10| 11 12 13 14 15 16| 17 18 19 20 21 22| A business plan which includes aspects of the marketing plan. A description of how this supports the aims and objectives of the business proposal. | A business plan which contains the marketingPlan. A basic explanation of how this contributes to achieving the aims and objectives of the business proposal. | A business plan which contains a developed marketing plan. An explanation of how this could achieve the aims and objectives of the business proposal. | A business plan which contains comprehensive marketing plan.An in-depth explanation of how this could achieve the aims and objectives of the business propo sal. | * Aspects of the components are produced * Superficial coverage of aims and objective| * The components are complete * Aims and objectives are broadly considered| * The components are complete and developed * Beginning to target particular aims and objectives, but lacks precision| * The components are complete, developed and address the key parts of the problem * Targeting particular aims and objectives with precision| AO3 ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES MB1| MB2| MB3| MB4| 2 3| 4 5 6| 7 8 9 10| 11 12 13 14| Collects some up-to-date data from a limited range of sources. Uses numerical and/or non-numerical techniqueson the collected data to provide a partial analysisof the requirements of:†¢ the marketing plan†¢ the operations plan†¢ the financial plan. Uses the results of the analysis to identify some relevant elements of the business plan. | Selects some up-to-date data from a limited range of sources. Uses numerical and/or non-numerical techniques on selected data to p rovide a partial analysis of therequirements of:†¢ the marketing plan†¢ the operations plan†¢ the financial plan.Uses the results of the analysis to outline a relevant business plan. | Selects relevant and up-to-date data from a range of sources. Uses appropriate numerical and/or non-numericaltechniques on selected data to provide a partial analysisof the requirements of:†¢ the marketing plan†¢ the operations plan†¢ the financial plan. Uses the results of the analysis to develop a relevant business plan, which considers the aims and objectives, form of ownership and key personnel required. Selects relevant and up-to-date data from a wide range of sources. Uses appropriate numerical and/or non-numericaltechniques on selected data to analyse the requirementsof:†¢ the marketing plan†¢ the operations plan†¢ the financial plan. Uses the results of the analysis to develop a consistentand integrated business plan, showing detailedconsideration o f the aims and objectives, form of ownership and key personnel required. | MB1| MB2| MB3| MB4| 1 2 3| 4 5 6| 7 8 9 10| 11 12 13 14|Collects data from a limited range of sourcesProcesses dataIdentifies some elements of the plans components| Selects data from a limited range of sourcesProcesses selected dataOutlines components of the plan| Purposefully selects dataAnalyses key parts of the problem or practical solutionsDevelops components of the plan| Purposeful selects data from a wide range of sourcesAnalyses key parts of the problem AND practical solutionsDevelops integrated components of the plan| Follow the below detailed overview of each task for advice and help on how to achieve MB4 for Task 6Task 6 MB4 Detailed Overview CASH FLOW FORECAST, ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT Lesson 1: Task 1 1. Download cash flow forecast from moodle 2. Complete pre start up budget (SEE CASE STUDY!! ) 3. Complete pre start-up costs calculated from T5 4. Insert monthly sales figures from final sales forec ast 5. Insert monthly fixed costs calculated from T5 6. Insert monthly variable costs from T5 Lesson 2+3: Task 2 Analysis * All marks gained with this task is from your analysis of your financial data; not from your reports themselves. ————————————————-Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also how your aims and objectives can/can’t be achieved Learners can achieve MB4 in A02/A03 by following the Financial Planning Assessment Objectives which requires them to identify problem areas and developing practical solutions to consider alternative perspectives. What you will need to include will depend on your individual business proposal. You need to identify areas of weakness such as high fixed costs, start up costs? * Perhaps you need a cash injection by selling equity to help you pay for start up costs? It could be you source alternative suppli ers for your variable costs or project that you will pay 30 days later which is to improve your working capital. * What is happening to the figures in the net cash flow cells, are you losing money each week? * This is a cash flow negative situation. * Or are you cash flow positive? * How long before you are cash flow positive? * Why is this so long? Lesson 3+4: Task 3 MB4- Revised cash flow forecast * MB4- You need to produce a refined Cash Flow forecast based upon the analysis of the key issues identified in T6 task 2. This is to include the developments you have made. Label this Cash Flow Forecast 2. * You need to analyse CFF2: * Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also if your aims and objectives can be met- How/Why? PROFIT AND LOSS and FINANCIAL RATIOS Lesson 4: Task 1 1. Download Profit and loss template from moodle 2. Insert sales for year 1 from your final sales forecast 3. What is the total cost of these sales? How much were the total variable cos ts related to the output. These are costs such as ingredients, packaging or price of the club. Put this figure in Direct costs/cost of materials sold 4.Calculate A-B to = C which is the identification of Gross Profit 5. Insert all other costs for the year in the respective headings, adding headings where needed. 6. Add up all your total overheads and insert this figure in D 7. Calculate C-D to identify Net Profit or Loss Figure 8. Calculate your Gross Profit MB4- Task 1 b Revised PROFIT AND LOSS and FINANCIAL RATIOS You must now repeat this action again for the second cash flow forecast figures * You need to analyse P&L2 AND F/R2: * Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also if your aims and objectives can be met- How/Why?Task 2= Financial Ratios Overview Profitability ratios are a key source of information for both investors and business planners. They provide a clear image of the business both in terms of your costs and profit. A strong ratio can be t he difference between investment and failure. Task A 1. Use the figures in your first profit and loss account to calculate Gross Profit Ratio. ————————————————- Gross Profit margin: ————————————————- A measurement of how much profit the business has made on its buying and selling activities. ———————————————— How good a business is at trading. ————————————————- Gross Profit margin= Gross Profit/turnover (Sales Revenue) X 100 (%) ——————————————†”—- The higher the % the better, e. g. ————————————————- A GPM of 45% means that for every ? 1 of sales, the firm makes 45p in gross profit 2. Use the figures in your first profit and loss account to calculate Net Profit Ratio. ————————————————- Net Profit margin: ———————————————— It is a measure of how much overall profit the business has made after taking into account all relevant costs that have been incurred. ————————————————- Net profit margin= net profit/turnover (sales revenue) X 100 —————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- The higher the % the better, e. g. ————————————————- A NPM of 45% means that for every ? 1 of sales, the firm makes 45p in pure profit Task B MB4 Complete for 2nd profit and loss account if constructed CFF2 Task 3= Analysis You must now undertake a critical analysis of each profit and loss account with clear reference and commentary related to the key issues such as profit or loss, gross profit, overhead costs, GPM, NPM etc * Clearly relate back to the businesses achievement of its aims and objectives (explain HOW AND WHY THEY ARE ACHIEVED), developing or revising your aims where necessary in your business plan. * Make clear reference to the FIGURES from your profit or loss, gross profit, overhead costs etc * You must undertake a critical analysis of each financial ratio * Identify and pr oblems and/or solutions: Are you profitable? If so†¦ by how much? * Can you grow? * Which costs are too high? * How can you improve your profitability? * What are the possible knock-on effects of these solutions for your business> * Which costs could be reduced? If so what would the possible impact of this be on your business idea? * Which costs cannot be reduced further? Why? What problems does this bring up? * How does a cash injection help or hinder the financial ratios/P&L? BREAK EVEN Task 1 1. Download the Breakeven table from Moodle 2.Input into the table your Annual Revenue (TR), annual FC and VC (with total FC and VC), and total costs. 3. You must then divide the total variable costs by the number of units you are selling in a year ( units can be the bottles/ no of clubbers you expect/ etc in a year) 4. This will give you the variable cost /unit 5. You must now calculate the break even OUTPUT point using the formula: 6. MB4 Calculate Break Even 2 from your revise d financial documents 7. All marks gained with this task is from your analysis of your financial data; not from your reports themselves. Identify problems and solutions with your plan (develop it) and also if your aims and objectives can/cant be achieved * Do you break even? * If so at what output? * Work out from your sales forecast when you will reach this breakeven output level * What aims can be achieved? How? Why? * If you don’t breakeven; why not? * You need to identify areas of weakness such as high fixed costs, start up costs, raw materials, low selling price? * What aims cant be achieved? How? Why? * What could you do to solve this breakeven problem? (hint: see changing B/E variables section) 8.MB4 analyse the effect of changing variables (FC, VC and/or Price) on the break even figure. * Calculate the effect of changing variables (FC, VC and/or Price) on the break even figure: * Analyse these break even scenarios and link to your aims and objectives. * What is the ef fect on breakeven level? * What are the potential problems you have identified with your break even? * Are there any solutions you can recommend to the business? * Such as reducing selling price? * Increasing selling price? * Increase advertising to increase sales? Reducing fixed or variable costs further? etc