Relationship Between Crude Oil And Natural Gas Prices Essay

Relationship Between Crude Oil And Natural Gas Prices - Essay Example Observing the pattern of crude oil and natural gas prices generally supports the economic theory and leads to the belief that both commodities do share a relationship. However, over the past few years, a decoupling of natural gas prices from crude oil prices has been observed (refer to graph 1.1 in appendix). This has led concerns over the strength of the relationship between crude and natural gas prices. Economic factors link crude oil and natural gas prices through supply and demand. There has been a strong conviction regarding the one-way relationship between the prices of crude oil and natural gas, whereby changes in crude figures influence natural gas prices and any changes in natural gas prices have no impact on crude. This is due to the relative size of each market. Prices of crude are determined on the world market whereas natural gas valuation takes place in regionally segmented markets. As a result, any adverse event or condition is unlikely to affect the global price of oil (Villar, Joutz) This paper attempts to signify the economic and statistical relationship between crude oil and natural gas prices. The period under review is from 1985 to 2005. ... Overview of Natural Gas Industry The structure of the natural gas industry has changed dramatically over the last 15 years. In the past, the structure of this industry was simple, with limited flexibility and few options for gas delivery. Exploration and production companies explored and drilled for natural gas, selling the product to transportation pipelines. These pipelines transported the natural gas, selling it to local distribution utilities, who in turn sold the product to its customers. Pricing at the exploration, production and transportation level was federally regulated whereas state regulation monitored the price at which local distribution companies sold natural gas to customers (naturalgas.org). Prior to deregulation, the structure of the natural gas industry was very straightforward, however, it suffered from shortages in the 1970s and surpluses in the 1980s. Since deregulation, the industry is much more open to competition and choice. Prices are no longer regulated and are determined by the demand-supply forces. One of the notable differences in the revised structure of the natural gas industry is the existence of natural gas marketers. They serve to facilitate the movement of natural gas from the producers to the end users. Marketers may either own the natural gas being transferred, or simply act as facilitators for the transportation. Source : NGSA The diagram above shows the pathway of natural gas from producer to end user in a regulated environment. The diagram below shows the pathway in a deregulated environment where marketers exist and can sell directly to end users. Source : NGSA Price of natural gas is simply a function of demand and supply. When demand for gas rises,

Think of an organization you have worked for or one with which you are Assignment

Think of an organization you have worked for or one with which you are very familiar. Diagnose the need for change and present a plan to transform the organization, utilizing Kotters 8-Step Approach - Assignment Example It is currently one of the leading luxury safari companies in the East Africa region. It is known for providing luxury tours specializing in Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. The company is family owned by the Dharamshi Bhimani family. They began the company in 1969 and boast over 40 years experience in the field of luxury tours (Simba Safaris). It has its head offices located in Arusha, Tanzania. It also has offices in Nairobi, Kenya and Zanzibar. The company has a staff of over 70 people working dedicatedly in the three offices which are staffed 365 days a year, day and night. Most of these employees have 12 years experience in the field and are efficient. The Simba Safaris are popular mainly for their luxury safaris but also the trekking trips on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya. A newly added product is the tailored beach holiday plan mostly on the Zanzibari Island. Simba Safaris has its own customized 4 x 4 Land Cruiser vehicles and the policy is to ensure that every customer gets a window seat. This is in keeping with the luxury theme of comfort and utility. Every customer is also given a pair of binoculars and other complimentary treats from the Simba Safaris office. The company is licensed in both Kenya and tanzia and operates under the East Africa laws. Simba Safaris over the years has been subject to various factors that have affected the performance of the company. A big factor that has hit the Simba Safaris are the growth in terror attacks along the east African shoreline. The rise of Al-Shabaab, which has links to Al-Qaeda, has proven a big threat to the tourism industry in coastal East Africa. There have been attacks on tourists who visited the coast, mainly along the Kenyan coastline (Davids, 2014). This has served to hurt the current set-up and Simba Safaris has also suffered. This affects revenue and unless changes in structure are implemented, it is an area in which

Canadas Policies on Early Childhood Education and Care

Canadas Policies on Early Childhood Education and Care Alex Miles Paper Title: National early childhood education and care as a policy debate in Canada Despite over 40 years elapsing since publication of the Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (RCSW), which called for a national childcare program as a necessary step towards gender equality, Canada still has no national program for early childhood education and care (ECEC). Despite taking on a larger, yet still modest, role of financing and shaping ECEC between 1966 and 1995 under the now-defunct Canada Assistance Plan (CAP), the federal government has now all but completely withdrawn, leaving the provinces and territories to manage ECEC nearly autonomously. As more and more women – the predominant childrearers in modern Canadian culture – enter the workforce without a corresponding decrease in the rates of fathers in the workforce, the Canadian provinces and territories are feeling great strains in an attempt to meet the ECEC needs of their populations. With the exception of Manitoba and Quebec, Canadian women in major cities spend between a quarter and a third (23 to 34%) of their income on full-time ECEC (Macdonald Friendly, 2014). In fact, those crippled by ECEC costs are the lucky ones: Outside of Quebec, eighty percent of Canadians see the lack of spaces as a serious problem (Environics Research Group Limited, 2008) with a shortage of available spaces nationwide (Anderssen, 2014). Some single mothers and two-parent families are able and comfortable to rely on relatives, friends, or unlicensed ECEC, but those in need of licensed daycare are often out of luck. After thirteen years of being in power and promises for a national program, the Liberal Party of Canada managed only to negotiate individual agreements with the various Canadian provinces in 2005. Harper’s Conservatives quickly replaced the Liberals and their promises in the wake of the sponsorship scandal, opting instead to pay families $1,200 per year for each child under the age of six. More recently, the Conservatives have proposed further financial tax reduction strategies for families, while the National Democratic Party (NDP) under Thomas Mulcair has unveiled plans for a national ECEC program. As Canadians and the politicians gear up for the 2015 federal election, one of the burning questions will be which is better for the Canadian economy, Harper’s subsidies or Mulcair’s national program? Thus far, the Conservatives have managed to control early childhood education and care their way, but an increasing number of voters are dissatisfied and looking for an actual national program that meets the needs Canadians coast to coast. This paper will navigate the tumultuous waters of Canadian early childhood education and care policy by identifying how the issue got on the agenda and progressed through the 5-stage policy model (Howlett, Ramesh, Perl, Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles Policy Subsystems, 2009), identifying and mapping the policy subsystem (Pross, 1986), identifying and discussing the positions of the Conservatives, the NDP, and ECEC pressure groups, and – finally – identifying who won the debate. The second-wave women’s movement in Canada included as a central pillar improved access to childcare, for which calls had been made since World War II (Collier, 2012). The 1970 RCSW reported stated on page xii that, â€Å"the care of children is a responsibility to be shared by the mother, the father and society. Unless this shared responsibility is acknowledged and assumed, women cannot be accorded true equality† (Canada, 1970). Feminist activists of the time succeed in bringing the issue of ECEC onto the formal government agenda through growing grassroots support, aligning with other likeminded groups, and use of campaigns, lobbying, legal challenges, and public education. This process constituted Outside Mobilisation (Howlett, Ramesh, Perl, Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles Policy Subsystems, 2009), which ultimately succeed in the government implementing the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) in 1966. The CAP was a cost sharing agreement between the federal government and the provinces and territories aimed at improving the lives of low-income earners, with a portion of the federal funds assigned to childcare services (Rauhala, et al., 2012). While limited in scope and effect, it did spark the development of ECEC in Canada. Many still campaigned for a national approach and the federal government did attempt this several times though was never had the clout to succeed: Trudeau’s Task Force on Child Care in 1984; Mulroney’s Special Committee on Child Care in 1986; Chrà ©tien’s Red Book in 1993. The revival of the women’s movement in the 1990s and the election of the Liberals in 1993 brought childcare back onto the public agenda. Chrà ©tien axed the CAP in favour of the Canada Health and Social Transfer, which decreased federal power in matters that were under provincial jurisdiction, such as social services. It also made the provinces less accountable in spending public funds. Having made strides forwards, hopes for a national strategy were quickly dashed as provincial programs disintegrated (Rauhala, et al., 2012). The Liberals developed the National Children’s Agenda in 1997. Two years later, they were successful in getting the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to agree to the Social Union Agreement. The agreement allowed the various jurisdictions to work together through the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Council on Social Policy Renewal to support the delivery of social programs and services (Cool, 2007). Thanks to the council, there have b een numerous policies for young children, including the National Child Benefit (1998), the Early Childhood Development Initiative (2000), the Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care (2003), the Bilateral Agreements with provinces (2005), as well as the 2006 Universal Childcare Benefit (UCCB). In the mid-2000s, a number of international reports were published, highlighting Canada’s stark underfunding and underdevelopment of ECEC. In 2004, the first major comparison of early childhood education and care across affluent countries noted that national and provincial policy was in its â€Å"initial† stages, that care and education were still treated separately, and that coverage was low compared to other wealthy countries (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2004). The report’s exposure of shortfalls in services for young children prompted the federal government back towards a national strategy (Rauhala, et al., 2012). In response to the OECD report, the Liberals announced in the 2004 Speech from the Throne that they would work with the provinces and territories to put in place a national ECEC program (Privy Council Office, 2004). In 2005, the Liberals signed individual, bilateral agreements with all provinces and territories that would provide federal funds for provincial childcare initiatives. Childcare advocates thought a national program was â€Å"closer than it had ever been before† (Friendly Prentice, 2009). Frustratingly, all this work was immediately undone when Harper was voted into office. Harper’s 2006 UCCB offered families a monthly rebate of $100 per child under the age of six but, importantly, no national childcare program. In the same year, the second installment of the 2004 OECD report found that Canada spent just 0.25% of its GDP on ECEC programs for children 0-6, placing it at the bottom of the table (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2006). There was little political will for change under the ruling Conservatives, and so there has been only stagnation on this issue over recent years. This was confirmed by a 2008 report that put Canada tied for last place on the Report Card, a table indicating whether economically advanced countries are meeting certain minimum standards for early childhood education and care (Adamson, 2008). Recently, the public has been becoming increasingly discontent with the Conservatives’ method of addressing ECEC. As costs of childcare has skyrocketed in all jurisdictions except the one that has strong funding and legislation (Quebec), the issue has come to the forefront of public discourse and is shaping to be a defining feature of the 2015 federal election. Indeed, one of the first proposed the policies the NDP released in its campaign was its solution to the ECEC question (Anderssen, 2014). In the 5-stage policy model, policy formulation marks the second stage. To follow the theory, the ECEC debate can be analysed from two perspectives. Firstly, new actors (namely, Thomas Mulcair) have increased the speed of change on an entirely recycled idea. Hence, the speed and mode of policy change is defined as rapid normal. Secondly, while there has been an entrance of new actors, the idea is not new. Therefore, policy instrument types determine the type of policy change. The third step in the policy cycle is decision making. Looking at the issue of national ECEC, there are few actors involved and all are contained within one setting. Simultaneously, the issue is clearly defined with plenty of information and time to act on and with. Therefore, this type of decision making would be classified as rational (Howlett, Ramesh, Perl, Public Policy Decision-Making, 2009). A historical analysis of the policy instruments – the policy cycle’s fourth stage – deployed over the life of the ECEC debate shows that, for the vast majority of the time, the various governments have used affirmative expenditures to promote the use of childcare and education. At present, the Harper government utilises monthly cash transfer in order to offset the cost of ECEC. It also offers tax breaks, a form of tax expenditure. Governments have left regulation up to the provinces, who license the various childcare centres within their own jurisdiction (Pal, 2010). The fifth and final stage of the policy cycle involves policy evaluation, which can be conducted either formally (e.g. by bureaucrats and politicians) or informally. The Harper government’s UCCB has been analysed by formal institutions to a small extent, but it has predominantly been critically evaluated by NGOs, in the form of interest groups, and the broader public. Recent polls have shown that lack of affordable ECEC is a serious problem to three-quarters (77%) of Canadians (Environics Research Group Limited, 2008). Academics have been evaluating the UCCB on performance and financial spectra. The consensus is that the Conservatives’ approach is not meeting the broader economic goals and fails to provide Canadians with the services they need (Friendly Prentice, 2009). Furthermore, academics argue that there is no value for money, with poor documentation of spending (Friendly M. , 2014). In conclusion, thus far the Harper government has been winning the policy debate on ECEC. They have been able to pass their desired bills, which are a far cry from what other parties are advocating for, and hardly even register on international measures of performance (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2006). However, recent newspaper and other mass media suggest that the issue may finally be important enough to Canadians that parties’ stances on this issue will greatly shape the next federal election. Whoever wins that vote will have their policy preferences met. Bibliography Adamson, P. (2008). The Child Care Transition: A league table of early childhood education and care in economically advanced countries. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. Anderssen, E. (2014, October 17). The NDP child care plan gives parents hope, but the details are fuzzy. Retrieved from The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/the-ndp-child-care-plan-gives-parents-hope-but-the-details-are-fuzzy/article21143936/ Canada. (1970). Royal Commission of the Status of Women. Ottawa: Information Canada. Collier, C. (2012). Feminist and Gender-Neutral Frames in Contemporary Child-Care and Anti-Violence Policy Debates in Canada. Politics Gender(3), 283-303. doi:10.1017/S1743923X12000323 Cool, J. (2007). Child Care in Canada: The Federal Role. Ottawa: Library of Parliament. Davis, C., Hoffer, K. (2012). Federalizing energy? Agenda change and the politics of fracking. Policy Sciences(45), 221-241. doi:10.1007/s11077-012-9156-8 Environics Research Group Limited. (2008). Attitudes Toward Child Care. Ottawa: Environics Research Group Limited. Friendly, M. (2014, October 17). The daycare debate: A look at the politics of affordable child care. (A. Chowdhry, Interviewer) Friendly, M., Prentice, S. (2009). About Canada: Childcare. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing. Howlett, M., Ramesh, M., Perl, A. (2009). Public Policy Decision-Making. In M. Howlett, M. Ramesh, A. Perl, Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles Policy Subsystems (3rd ed., pp. 139-159). Don Mills: Oxford University Press. Howlett, M., Ramesh, M., Perl, A. (2009). Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles Policy Subsystems (3rd ed.). Don Mills: Oxford University Press. Macdonald, D., Friendly, M. (2014). The Parent Trap: Child Care Fees in Canadas Big Cities. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2004). OECD thematic review of early childhood education and care: Canada country note. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2006). Starting strong 2. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Pal, L. (2010). Chapter 4: Policy Instruments And Design. In L. Pal, Beyond Policy Analysis: Public Issue Management in Turbulent Times (4th ed., pp. 129-173). Toronto: Nelson Education. Privy Council Office. (2004, October 5). Speech from the Throne to Open the First Session of the 38th Parliament of Canada. Retrieved from Privy Council Office: http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?lang=engpage=informationsub=publicationsdoc=aarchives/sft-ddt/2004_2-eng.htm Pross, P. (1986). Group politics and public policy. Toronto: Oxford University Press. Rauhala, A., Albanese, P., Ferns, C., Law, D., Haniff, A., Macdonald, L. (2012). What Says What: Election Coverage and Sourcing of Child Care in Four Canadian Dailies. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 21(1), 95-105. doi:10.1007/s10826-011-9481-0 1

Applying Stanislavski’s Principles to a Role in Volpone Essay -- Konst

Applying Stanislavski’s Principles to a Role in Volpone As founder of the first acting system, co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre, and an eminent practitioner of the naturalist school of thought, Konstantin Stanislavski challenged traditional notions of the dramatic process, establishing himself as one of the most pioneering thinkers of his time in modern theatre. His process of character development, the Stanislavski Method, was the catalyst for method acting- one of the most influential acting systems on the modern stage and screen. Such renowned schools of acting and directing as the Group Theatre and The Actors Studio are a legacy of Stanislavski's pioneering vision. Stanislavski developed this unique system of training to change the way that people saw their characters. The actors would research the situation created by the script, break down the text according to their character's motivations and recall their own experiences, therefore causing actions and reactions according to these motivations. The actor would ideally make his motivations for acting identical to those of the character in the script. He could then replay these emotions and experiences in the role of the character in order to achieve a more genuine performance. This was Stanislavski’s main aim to create a more genuine performance. ACTION â€Å"In every physical action, unless it is purely mechanical, there is concealed some inner action, some feelings. This is how the two levels of life in a part (dramatic role) are created, the inner and the outer. They are intertwined. A common purpose brings them together and reinforces the unbreakable bond.† - ‘Creating a role’ In Volpone, it would be most likely to happen in the market place. The busy market place would be played by a group of people that would need to show a complicity of lives that intermingle with other characters just as if they were a real community. This would be hard to show, as they are not a real community. Good methods of getting these groups of characters to resemble villagers would be to give them little scenarios to act out in which all the characters intermingle and have lines to say to each other. This would help them realise each other’s inner character and feeling and therefore are then able to react in the way their character would to that situation. Then use what they ... ...must find out all he can about the character and the situation. This helps to create an overall realistic reaction to that particular situation. To be able to use ‘Magic if’ the actor must know a lot about his character and his or her personality. Stanislavski teaches the actor to become the character by asking questions that are answered by action based on emotional response. For example, the actor that plays Volpone in the rape scene must ask before he plays the scene, ‘What if I am Volpone and I am just about to rape Celia and Benario jumps out from the cupboard? What will I do?’ Another good question from Celia’s point of view: "What if I'm Celia and I am being raped by an old dirty man and I have no one to help me would I give in or stand my ground? "Magic if" questions contain motivation and awareness of "the now." The questions are cast in the first person, in the present tense, and therefore they pull you into the character's major concerns. Very importantly, the questions suggest not one but two attitudes: The character toward her or him, and toward other characters. These types of questions help the actor figure out the action to take in response.

Human Activities Harming the Earth Essay

I. Introduction Thesis statement: There are many actions being implemented by humans that harm the earth and its climate, some of which are deforestation, the use of CFCs and the increase of greenhouse gas emissions. II. Body A. Deforestation and the increase of temperature. 1. Effect of plantation on the earth 2. What happens to the atmosphere 3. What happens to the temperature B. Greenhouse Gases cause global warming 1. Radiation absorbed by the earth 2. Greenhouse gases link with the radiation 3. Global warming and greenhouse gases C. Gases that deplete the ozone 1. What they are and their usage 2. CFC’s and the ozone 3. Ozone depletion and UV rays III. Conclusion A. Human activities that contribute to harming the earth such as deforestation, and use of harmful chemicals should be stopped. Human Activities Harming the Earth One of the most dangerous environmental hazards is global warming; it is causing a dramatic increase in the temperature around the globe. Some people don’t think that global warming is actually happening and assume that the sun, glaciers and oceans are the only factors that are responsible for regulating the earths temperature and that computer models are not reliable since they are â€Å"guessing† the temperature change that would occur later on and that is true. There are many actions being implemented by humans that  harm the earth and its climate, some of which are deforestation, the use of CFCs and the increase of greenhouse gas emissions. First, deforestation is the removal of trees and plants for building and creating space for development, an ignorant person would think that this is a normal thing while on the other hand removing trees will increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere because their removal would mean that there are le ss plants to photosynthesize. This process is like the breathing process of humans but it takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen anyone should at least know that this is a good thing because carbon dioxide is a harmful gas that also traps heat causing the earth’s temperature to increase because nothing is making a good use out of it. This is the cycle of how deforestation increases the temperature of the earth, Plants are removed, consequently Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increase and causes the temperature in that area and anywhere the carbon dioxide goes to to increase. In addition to deforestation, the use of CFC’s (Chlorofluorocarbons) is also extremely dangerous since they contribute to an increase of cancer casualties. CFCs are most commonly used in fire extinguishers, air conditioners and refrigerators. As El-Hinnawi explains in the book Global Environmental Issues, When these gases are used, they rise to the atmosphere because they are lighter than air and are later on are converted by UV radiation to ozone-destroying catalyst to add on to this issue these gases are extremely stable. (1982, P. 61-63). These gases have been banned of use except in cases of emergencies but they still exist and are being used and they cause the ozone in the earth to deplete. This is caused when CFCs are used these gases are lighter than air; so they travel up the earth reaching the atmosphere that consists of ozone making a chemical reaction that changes ozone to oxygen. The ozone is responsible for blocking UV radiation from entering the atmosphere, but now since we have a â€Å"hole† in the ozone more UV radiation enters the earth this means we are more vulnerable to radiation that is cancer causing. Finally, the emissions of greenhouse gases. These gases are responsible for keeping the earth’s temperature warm and life supporting by trapping heat, but what happens when these gases are being emitted by factories and daily human activities such as transportation, electricity and agriculture the amount of these gases in the atmosphere is increasing and the issue is that these gases trap in heat  radiated by the earth that should instead be reflected out causing the temperature to increase then as a consequence more water vapor that is also a heat trapping gas thus causing a change in rainfall patterns, sea level, temperature and ecological balance. These activities include burning fossil fuels, industrial emissions or industrial processes. This means the more the greenhouse gas emissions the more the temperature would rise. To sum up, the fact that the planet earth is being harmed has to be accepted. Some of the many harmful activities that include but are not limited to deforestation, the use of CFC’s and emissions of greenhouse gases. Many solutions have been given by environmentalists to stop this mayhem and damage some of these are for deforestation is banning the cutting down of trees in specific places, encouraging agriculture and reforestation. For chlorofluorocarbons it is really unfortunate that there is no way for them to be removed except when they degrade after a 100 years or so, a decision to ban them has been taken prior to that (Montrà ©al protocol). Also, for greenhouse gas emissions many solutions are being worked on such as cars that run using electricity and using nuclear power, hydroelectric power and solar power to provide electricity. Human activities nowadays are definitely hurting the earth’s environment and these rules and restrictions have to be implemented. References How we know global warming is real. (2008). Skeptic, 31-37 ,80. Aggarwal, A., & kumari. (2013). Depletion of the Ozone Layer and Its Consequences: A Review. American Journal of Plant Sciences. Archer, D., & Rahmstorf, S. (2010). The Climate Crisis. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. El-Hinnawi, E., & Hashmi, M.-U.-H. (1982). Global environmental issues. Dublin, Ireland: United Nations Environment Programme. Siddens, S. (2001, July). Rescuing the ozone. Specifying Engineer, 30(1).

Malcolm Baldrige and the Evolution of Total Quality Management Essay

Quality and productivity can be considered mutually inclusive. An organization that aims for quality will eventually results to better productivity in the concept of services, goods being produced, personnel and human resources development, not to mention capital gain, increase in competitiveness, and increase in investment opportunities. Though it may be a good concept, a governing body should be present to determine the necessary criteria and set for definitive standards to follow. In the United States, the two governing body in quality standard award are the Ron Brown Award and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Malcolm Baldrige, a U. S. Secretary of Commerce during the era of the Reagan Administration, is the one responsible for organizing a conference on productivity in the White House. Apparently, he initiated the conception and blueprint in 1987 of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award: which focuses on quality. The award, through the National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-107), gives emphasis on quality services being given by different sectors such as education, health care, business, and non-profit organizations (Marion p. 1). These quality services are based on the practices of the Total Quality Management System (TQM) principles and contain seven criteria to determine the awardees: Leadership, Strategic Planning, Market and Customer Focus; Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management, Focus on Workforce, Process Management, and Results. These criteria are considered significant to U. S. competitiveness in terms of improving the capabilities, practices, and results of an organization; sharing and facilitating the most excellent practice among the different sectors; and to serve as a working tool guide for planning and managing. Most of these criteria are taken from the principles and techniques in quality management developed by Philip Crosby, W. Demings, Armand Feigenbaum, and Joseph Juran. Moreover, the award aims to promote significant level of quality consciousness; to be able to distinguish the achievements of U. S. companies in the context of quality; and to make available to the public the thriving strategies on quality. The process of selecting the winner involves an assessment of the written examination submitted by the applicant, a site visit on the company (provided that the company achieved a high score), and a final evaluation. Since the Malcolm Award is based on the principle of Total Quality Management, the system have evolved or developed in terms of the factors in performance measurement that includes the following: operating or in service measures, employee relationship, satisfaction of customers, and performance on financial aspects. For instance, based on the data of the 12 Companies that submitted their respective pertinent data for evaluation, on an annual basis product reliability increased by around 11. 3 %; the time of processing the order is reduced annually by 12% on the six companies; product errors and defects decreased by 10. 3% on the seven companies; and around five companies have reduced cost by 9%. This created a savings of around $1 Million to $115 Million. Aside from the improvement on the factors on performance measurement, indicators of employee relationship also improved. Employee satisfaction improved by 1. 4%, employee turnover (voluntary request for separation) decreased by around 6%, health and safety measures improved by 1. 8%, and the accumulated total-quality suggestions made by the employees increased by 16. 6%. The total customer satisfaction also increased by 2. 5% with complaints coming from the customer being reduced by 11. 6% and retention of customers also improved by 1%. Market share is increased by 13. 7% and the return of assets by 1. 3% (Shetty p. 4-6). Thus, Total Quality Management had eventually improved in terms of quality, customer satisfaction, and reduction in cost. Furthermore, the Total Quality Management System had an affirmative impact on all of the significant areas of concerns: improvement in product reliability, increased in customer satisfaction and responsiveness, and reduction in cost. Apparently related to these are the increase in job satisfaction, improvement of health and safety measures, and reduction in employee turnover. This improvement and reduction on specific areas will eventually yield to increase in the market share, profitability, and quality. The result of such will also produced a certain degree of competitive advantage, which is eventually acquired as a result of committing to quality. A firm competitive position will give the company a unique place in the market wherein the consumers are willing to pay for the product, and the established quality will become difficult to surmount by the competing companies. Another factor to consider in achieving a competitive advantage is through the reduction of cost by improving quality. Reducing cost is synonymous to reduction of the in-process work inventory, handling of materials, capitals on equipment and maintenance, thus reducing claims on liability. The reduced costs will in-turn lead to a higher profit margin, increase in the sales, and lower prices of the product. Therefore, cost and quality are the most important factors to achieve a competitive advantage and these can be realized through the implementation of Total Quality Management System. The implementation of the Total Quality Management depends on the need and the nature of the business. Companies that adopted a TQM, and subsequently succeeded on all areas described above still have to continue on developing the system. It is considered a continuous process and development. Different sectors of the industry such as in the health care, manufacturing, services, and small businesses are becoming more aware of the positive impact of adopting TQM, and the aspiration of being recognized as one of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awardees set forth the scene to a strong commitment towards excellence in management quality and company performance. The Award started at 1988 and after 20 years, around 79 companies are recognized. The impact of adopting the criteria of Malcolm Baldrige through the implementation of TQM had significantly produced quality and productivity to several companies such as: The ADAC Laboratories, Custom Research Inc. , Dana Commercial Credit Corp. , and Trident Position Manufacturing Inc. (Malcolm Baldrige recipients of 1996). Of these four, Trident and Custom Research belongs to the small business category, ADAC in the manufacturing sector, and Dana Commercial on services. The ADAC Laboratories, founded in 1970, have its product line in the design, manufacturing, marketing, and support intended for customers belonging in the health care sector such as in radiation therapy, information system in health care, and nuclear medicines. These services and products are sold to universities, hospitals, and clinics worldwide. The impact of adopting the criteria of Malcolm Baldrige has significantly improved the company’s market share (12% in 1990 to 50% in 1996), and customer satisfaction (no. 1 ranking). Before, the company was only focused on short-term financial goals, and not totally oriented towards attaining a quality firm for investors and customer’s satisfaction, and employee development. Determined to over-turn the current situation, the company adopted the criteria of Malcolm Baldrige. In 1994, ADAC applied for the Malcolm Baldrige getting up to the 2nd level (site visit). The site visit consequently gave the company a feedback assessment with around 148 areas of concerns that needs improvement. The company then utilized the feedback report as an external resource to eliminate the gaps. The management team attended the Center for Quality of Management, a consortium of experts in the field of Total Quality Management. The intensive two-day training made all employees understands the four relevant thoughts: shared learning, total involvement, focus on customer, and continuous development. Consequently, the turn-around of the company to focus on customer satisfaction had lead to a strong rate of retention with 94% as compared to the previous 50%; market share increased by 50% as compared to 12% six years ago; and the revenue per worker increased by around 75% (Marion p. 1). The results by adopting the criteria verified the kind of quality management the company had developed with emphasis on quality and excellence. Dana Commercial Credit Corporation, a subsidiary of Dana Corp. , provides financing and leasing services to a wide range of businesses and specific markets. Located at different offices such as in Canada, United Kingdom, and Ohio; the company have activities that includes management of assets services, combined-venture leasing consortium, and leasing of equipment for manufacturers and dealers. The company decided to apply for the Malcolm Baldrige Award for two compelling reasons: after receiving the Dana Quality Leadership award, the company intended to benchmark it alongside the Malcolm Baldrige; and the challenge of pursuing the Baldrige award will provide a significant â€Å"push† towards a fast improvement in quality for the company. Making through the process of the Baldrige criteria eventually created a strong culture with emphasis on service quality and customer satisfaction. In return, the morale of the employees is high as well as the profit. Custom Research Inc. is one of the small firms that received the Baldrige Award that clearly shows that no matter what the size of the company, better quality management can also be achieved just like those of multinational companies. Established in 1974 by Jeff Pope and Corson, CRI caters big companies in designing and conducting projects that can provide relevant information to make effective decisions in business. The main office is located at Minneapolis with several offices in Ridgewood and San Francisco, and New Jersey. In 1998, the company had reduced its client from 138 to 67, primarily to provide better service as well as establish partnership with their biggest clients. From 1992 to 1994, the company had applied for an assessment to Baldrige and reached the site visit level three times. After receiving the Minnesota Award for Quality in 1995, CRI decided to re-apply again for the Baldrige since the award was patterned to it. Winning the state award had helped the company achieving its goal to be awarded by Baldrige in 1996. Since the employees are less, all took part during the application and assessment process wherein each employee knows the whole process, the criteria, and how it is should be implemented in their respective field of work. Thus, the Baldrige Award had greatly influenced all employees towards achieving quality and productivity creating a positive atmosphere to the company. In return, the employees are all motivated that results to better business opportunities and results. Trident Precision Manufacturing Inc. is a private company that manufactures various components of sheet metal (precision), customized products, and assemblies (electromechanical). With its lone manufacturing plant in New York, the Company developed processes and tooling to manufacture and assemble components intended for the different sectors of the industry such as in equipment used in office, banks, health care, and even defense. Trident began to exploit the criteria of Baldrige in their quest for quality in 1989. The criteria had served as an open window to know the areas of weaknesses and strength of the company. April Lusk, Trident’s administrator for quality, emphasized that the biggest significant asset of the Baldrige Quality Award process was the feedback report, which stands for an unbiased assessment of a company’s strength and weaknesses. Trident then utilized those feedback reports to narrow the gaps and eventually achieved better results: due to a strong focus in customer satisfaction, the company has been able to maintain its position as the main supplier to chief customers even though it reduced their supplier percentage to 65%; the focus on employee involvement also played a major role achieving a 100% employee participation on departmental occupation team, around 95% of the improvement on processes have been established, the recognitions and rewards for the employees increased, employee turnover decreased, and the company have invested 4. 6% of the payroll towards education and training (Marion p. 1). The continuous improvement of the employee, their commitment to the internal and external clientele, and the eventual â€Å"control† of their processes have made Trident to stand out and establish a dedication towards excellence and quality. More so, Trident’s strong affirmation towards an environment that is family oriented, continuous effort for improvement, and teamwork are the main factors the Baldrige Award considered. Responsibilities are shared, suggestions considered and implemented so as to create an environment where the employees are satisfied and their morale is high, resulting to a stronger and a healthier business. The background discussed on the four companies clearly illustrated the impact of implementing the principles of Total Quality Management System through the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Awards. These companies aspired to achieve the Baldrige Award and the results improved the company’s overall quality and productivity program, as well as their business status and competitiveness. By analyzing the stories behind each success of a company towards achieving the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Awards, several key pointers should be emphasize such as the following: Leadership also plays an important role towards attaining quality. Top management should exert effort in terms of leadership and support since the adherence to quality usually accompanies changes in the company’s operating systems or philosophy. Clear goals should be determined as well as a positive atmosphere or culture to encourage the employees to attain such goals. The presence of a highly motivated staff or employees also has significant contributions towards attaining quality. Quality depends on the employee’s efficiency, and subsequently to the employees work motivation. It also encompasses all the aspect of human resources such as employee training and recruitment program, job descriptions, and rewarding as well as empowering employees. Employee involvement are considered an important aspect, and also the encouragement of a corporate vision towards quality-related improvement activities and programs may require several major adjustments or changes the way the employees are being managed (Shetty p. 6) Another factor that is significant is the aim for a total customer satisfaction. Realizing this vision will create an effort towards improving quality. Exceptional external and internal systems are necessary to supervise customer satisfaction through the use of surveys, evaluation of services and products, and investigation of complaints (Reiman p.11) Analysis of information is also critical since this will serve as a basis on making corporate decisions and adjustments. Efficient and complete data gathering serves as a powerful tool for the company since these will reflect the strengths, weaknesses, goals, quality, and service standards, to name a few. Suppliers also have a significant role in the pursuit of quality. Usually, successful companies develop long-lasting relationships with suppliers having a vision for quality. The company relatively engages the suppliers to become an integral part of the firm’s TQM. Consultations, trainings, and continuing contracts are some of the ways the company engages the suppliers on its TQM program. Thus, the suppliers become a partner in administering quality efforts, which in turn have major effects on how the suppliers are conventionally managed. The commitment to quality is a boundless process; therefore, a continuous program for improvement and development should be implemented. The results on the companies that implemented the Total Quality Management System in pursuit of achieving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards proved to be a success. The end-results created better customers satisfaction, high morale of employees, reduced cost, decreased on employee turn-over, good competitive advantage, improved health and safety measures, better production processes, increased in market share and profits, quality and productivity. The Malcolm Baldrige Award provides a vast range of quality concerns. The feedbacks made by the Award committee can be use by the company to narrow the relevant gaps, which are based on the findings. The award served as an effective guide with respect on streamlining the business and management practices. The criteria set forth by Baldrige, based on the principles of Total Quality Management, provided the significant standards of excellence to achieve quality and productivity.The award served as an effective catalyst to strengthen and improve the company’s competitiveness. Works Cited Shetty, Y. K. â€Å"The Quest for Quality Excellence: Lessons from the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award†. Sam Advanced Management Journal. 22 March 1993: 1-14 Harmon, Marion. www. qualitydigest. com. Jan. 1997. Retrieved April 23, 2009. http://www. qualitydigest. com/jan97/baldrige. html Reiman, Curt W. â€Å"Winning Strategies for the Malcolm Baldrige Award,† Journal of Quality Management, July 1990, pp. 9-25.

Rules for Sharing a College Bathroom

Rules for Sharing a College Bathroom Whether youre living in the residence halls or in an off-campus apartment, youll still have to deal with the inevitable: the college bathroom. If youre sharing a bathroom with one or more people, chances are theres going to be some funkiness before too long. So just what can you do to prevent a place no one wants to think about from turning into the issue everyone needs to talk about? Below is a list of topics that should be covered in a discussion with people you share a bathroom with. And while some suggested rules are included, its important to make sure everyones on board and adjust, add, or eliminate rules as necessary. Because with everything else you have going on in college, who wants to be dealing with the bathroom all the time? 4 Issues WhenSharing a College Bathroom Issue 1: Time. Just like all other areas of your college life, time management can be a problem when it comes to the bathroom. Sometimes, theres high demand for the bathroom; other times, no one uses it for hours. Figuring out how to allocate time in the bathroom can be one of the most important issues. After all, if everyone wants to take a shower at 9:00 in the morning, things are going to get ugly. Make sure to discuss what time people want to use the bathroom to shower at night or in the morning, how long each person wants or needs, if its okay to have other people in the bathroom while its being used by someone else, and how other people can know when someone else is officially done. Ideal Time Rules: Create a schedule during the busiest times for when each person can shower, etc.Realistic Time Rules: Have a general understanding - e.g., Marcos usually gets done by 8, Octavio usually gets done by 8:30 - of when people come in and out and plan accordingly. Issue 2: Cleaning. There is nothing grosser than a nasty bathroom. Well, maybe a ... no. Nothing grosser. And while its inevitable that a bathroom is going to get dirty, its not inevitable that it will get gross. Try to think about ​cleaning the bathroom in three different ways. First, the daily yuck: Do people need to rinse the sink out (from toothpaste, say, or from bits of hair from shaving) after they use it? Do people need to clean their hair out of the drain every time they shower? Second, think about the short-term yuck: If you live off campus and dont have cleaning services coming every week, how often does the bathroom need to get cleaned? Who is going to do it? What happens if they dont? Is cleaning it once per week not enough? Third, think about the longer-term yuck: Who washes things like bath mats and hand towels? What about cleaning the shower curtain? How often do all of these things need to be cleaned, and by whom? Ideal Cleaning Rules: Have a schedule of who cleans the bathroom, when, and what specifically needs to be done. Also, have general rules for things like cleaning up hair and rinsing out the sink. Have each person assigned to take a shift doing a quick 15-minute clean-up every other day.Realistic Cleaning Rules: Ask people to leave the bathroom like they found it and generally clean up after themselves. Have an agreement in place that when the bathroom reaches critical nastiness, someone puts on crazy music and everyone cleans it at once so that many hands make light work. Issue 3: Guests.  Most people dont mind guests all that much ... within reason, of course. But its no fun to go wandering into your own bathroom, half asleep, only to find a stranger - particularly one of a different gender - there unexpectedly. Having a conversation and agreement about guests is especially important to do in advance of any trouble. Talk with your roommate(s) about a guest policy of sorts. Clearly, if someone has a guest over, that guest is going to need to use the bathroom at some point, so get some rules in order. If a guest is in the bathroom, how should other people be notified? Is it okay for a guest not just to use the bathroom but to do other things, like use the shower? What if someone has a frequent guest; can they leave their things in the bathroom? What if the person who has the guest isnt in the apartment or room? Is the guest allowed to just stay and hang out (and, consequently, use the bathroom)? Ideal Guest Rules: Always notify roommates in advance when a guest is coming over. Talk about when theyre coming, how long theyll stay, and if/when they need to use the bathroom for things like the shower. Make sure everyones on the same page before the guest arrives.Realistic Guest Rules: Have a way to indicate that a guest is using the bathroom, whether its a casual hook-up guest or someones parent. Dont let guests just hang out (and have access to the bathroom) if their host isnt home. And no being alone with a romantic guest in the bathroom. Thats not just gross - its tacky in a shared environment. Issue 4: Sharing.  Darnit, you ran out of toothpaste again. Will your roommate even notice if you just take a little squirt this morning? What about a little shampoo? And conditioner? And moisturizer? And shaving cream? And maybe sharing a little mascara, too? Sharing here and there can be part of having a healthy relationship with the people you live with, but it can also lead to major problems. Be clear with your roommates about when and if its okay to share. Do you want to be asked in advance first? Are some things okay to share from time to time, only in an emergency, or never? Make sure to be clear, too; you may not even consider the idea that your roommate would share your deodorant one day, but they may not think twice before doing it. Make sure to talk, too, about general use items - like the hand soap, toilet paper, and bathroom cleaners - and how and when those should be replaced (as well as by whom). Ideal Sharing Rules: Its okay to borrow things like toothpaste and shampoo in an emergency. Always ask in advance and never assume its okay unless someone says so. Create a small bathroom budget for replacing things like toilet paper and hand soap so that when things run out, they can quickly and easily be replaced.Realistic Sharing Rules: Its okay to use my toothpaste or shampoo if you really need some, but replace your own as soon as possible. And its only okay if your sharing doesnt leave my own supply empty. Keep replacements of things like toilet paper and hand soap around so that they are always available; when the replacement is used, buy another one when everyone next goes shopping for household items.

The Role of FDI of Economic Growth of The Host Economy The WritePass Journal

The Role of FDI of Economic Growth of The Host Economy The Role of FDI of Economic Growth of The Host Economy } De Mello, L.R., 1999. FDI-led growth: evidence from time series and panel data, Oxford Economic Papers, 51: 133-151. De Mello, L.R. and K. Fukasaku, 2000. â€Å"Trade and FDI in Latin America and Southeast Asia: temporal causality analysis†, Journal of International Development, 7: 903-924. Djankov, S. and B. Hoekman, 1999. â€Å"Foreign investment and productivity growth in Czech enterprises†, World Bank Economic Review, 14: 49-64. Eden, L., 1998. Taxing multinationals: transfer pricing and corporate income taxation in North America. University of Toronto press. Fortanier, F., 2007. â€Å"Foreign direct investment and host country economic growth: does the investors country of origin play a role?† Transnational corporations, Vol. 16 (2). Available from unctad.org/en/docs/iteiit20072a2_en.pdf { Accessed 2nd January 2012} Gopinath, M., and W. Chen, 2003. â€Å"Foreign Direct Investment and Wages: a Cross-CountryAnalysis†, Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, 12(3):285-309. Ikiara, M.M., 2003. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Technology Transfer, and Poverty Alleviation: Africa’s Hopes and Dilemma. African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) Special Paper Series No. 16. IMF, 1993. Balance of Payments Manual, Fifth Edition, Washington, DC, International Monetary Fund Kawai, H., 1994. â€Å"International comparative analysis of economic growth: trade liberalization and productivity†,In: The Developing Economies, 17(4): 373-397. McIntyre, J., R. Narula, and L. Trevino, 1996. â€Å"The role of export processing zones for host countries and multinationals: a mutually beneficial relationship?† The International Trade Journal, 10(4): 435-466. Mencinger, J., 2003. â€Å"Does foreign direct investment always enhance economic growth?† Kyklos, 56(4): 491-508. Nunnenkamp, P., 2002. â€Å"FDI and Economic Growth in developing Countries†. Journal of world Investment, Vol. 3, in print OECD, 1998. Open Markets Matter: The benefits of trade and investment liberalization, Paris: OECD. Pavlinek, P., 2004. â€Å"Regional development implications of foreign direct investment in Central Europe†. In: European Urban and Regional Studies. Vol. 11 (1). pp. 47-70. Safarian, A.E, 1999. Host country policies towards inward foreign investment in the 1950s and 1990s, Transnational Corporations ¸.8 (2). Sjà ¶holm, F., 1997b. â€Å"Productivity growth in Indonesia: the role of regional characteristics and direct foreign investment†. In: Economic Development and Cultural Changes, 47: 559-584. Velde, D.W., 2001. Policies towards foreign direct investment in developing countries: emerging best-practices and outstanding issues. London: Overseas Development Institute Xu, B., 2000. â€Å"Multinational enterprises, technology diffusion, and host country productivity growth†, Journal of Development Economics, 62: 477-493.

Building A Fence Around August English Literature Essay

Building A Fence Around August English Literature Essay Family life of the 1950’s was different from any other time in America’s history. Many soldiers returned home from war and married young, in hopes to create simpler lives for their families. For so many, this was the white American Dream. For African Americans, this dream was much harder to attain. For Troy Maxson, the tragic hero in August Wilson’s Fences, this was no exception. In her essay, â€Å"Baseball as History and Myth in August Wilson’s Fences† Susan Koprince notes that for Troy, â€Å"the American dreamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦turned into a prolonged nightmare† (1104). Racism, segregation, and poverty ran amuck and many blacks found it difficult to find success in this white man’s world. However, at the heart of all of Wilson’s classic and timeless works, are what he refers to as â€Å"the Big Themes†, â€Å"love, honor, duty, [and] betrayal† (Miles, 1096). These universal themes are integral and allow readers to understand the plight that black families in the fifties had to endure, in order to get by. Troy Maxson, above all else, takes to heart his duties as a sole provider for his family. However, Troy often finds himself torn between a desire for more personal liberties in his own life and a sense of commitment to care for his family. These duties to his family are not without fault. Although Troy is a wonderful financial provider for the family, he still feels he does not need to show affection to any of his children. This rings particularly true for his youngest son, Cory. While they work to erect a fence around their yard, Cory asks his father, â€Å"‘How come you ain’t never liked me?'† Troy, furious at this inquiry, tells Cory, â€Å"‘it’s my duty to take care of you. I owe a responsibility to youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Not cause I like you! Cause you my son'† (Wilson, 1049-50). As breadwinner for the family, Troy necessitates himself to deliver food and shelter, but he makes it clear to Cory, as sole provider, that is all he is required to give. Furthermore, Troy’s remarks show readers just how defeated he is of the never-ending task of caring for his family. Troy, however, is not the only member of the household that has an obligation to the family. After Troy confesses to Rose about his affair and the child that Alberta is carrying, Rose chides, â€Å"‘I gave everything I had to try and erase the doubt that you wasn’t the finest man in the world†¦Cause you was my husband'† (1067). These remarks allow readers to grasp the role Rose undertakes as Troy’s loving and faithful wife. Harry J. Elam Jr. notes in his essay, â€Å"August Wilson† that, â€Å"Troy’s adulteryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ propels Rose, to reassess her situation, to gain a greater self-awareness, to change (1102). Rose is a powerful representative of steadfast loyalty; she remains committed to Troy and her duties to hi m, despite his unfaithfulness to her. Even as she undertakes the role of caring for Troy’s lovechild, Rose evokes a powerful sense of sympathy from readers. Despite the infidelity, Rose decides to stay with Troy for the sake of the family. This act additionally solidifies her duty as a wife and mother. In the argument with Rose, following his confession, Troy exclaims that he has spent his whole life trying to live a â€Å"‘decent†¦cleanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦hardà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦useful life'† (Wilson, 1066). This remark illustrates how Troy has always been the provider of the home they shared for many years, even though the affair may have only recently started. It appears to readers that through this comment, Troy justifies his own reasons for the infidelity. In his essay â€Å"Fiery Fences,† Clive Barnes remarks how Troy eventually â€Å"sees himself as a man fenced in with responsibilities† (1085). Ironically, the fence Troy erects around his home, i mprisons him from achieving the independence he so desperately craves.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) - Essay Example It is governed by ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act). A stock option gives an employees of an organisation the right to buy shares at a price fixed (usually the market price, but sometimes lower) for a defined number of years into the future. Several options such as those based on the percentage of pay basis, a merit formula, an equal basis, or any other formula the company chooses might be granted (NCEO, 2005). According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission "an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a retirement plan in which the company contributes its stock to the plan for the benefit of the company's employees" (SEC). ESOPs were given a specific statutory framework in 1974. (NCEO, 2005) and through the plan employees are allowed to own stock in their companies without having to purchase shares (Employee Stock). ESOPs are generally more common among closely held companies and are usually created when a retiring owner wants to transfer ownership of the company to one or more employees (Employee Stock). Similar to other quali fied deferred compensation plans, a company's ESOPs must not discriminate in their operations in favour of highly compensated employees, officers, or owners (NCEO, 2005). To achieve this, companies are required by law to appoint a trustee to act as the ESOP's plan fiduciary. This fiduciary could be anyone, while larger companies tend to appoint external trust institutions; smaller companies typically appoint a manager or create an ESOP trust committee. (NCEO, 2005) In setting up an ESOP, a company first approaches a lender to borrow money; this is known as a "leveraged" ESOP. In this approach, the company first sets up a trust, which then borrows money from a lending institution. The company then repays the loan by making tax-deductible contributions to the trust, which the trust gives to the lender. The loan however must and can only be used by the trust to acquire stock in the company. Benefits of ESOP's. The objective of most stock option plans is providing a kind of investment for employees so they also can become part owners of a company. It has been observed that companies with employee-owners often boast higher productivity and increased employee loyalty, longevity and satisfaction. This is due to the fact that the employees are indeed co-owners of the companies and this is translated into benefits such as: efficiency and productivity. According to management experts the best way to make employees owners is to give them shares in the company rather than asking them to pay for their shares. Another advantage of the ESOP is that it costs the employees nothing to co-own the company and after employees leave the company or retire, the company distributes to them the stock purchased on their behalf, or its cash value (NCEO, 2005). In return for agreeing to funnel the loan through the ESOP, the company can save money through a number tax is deferments until the employee retires (Employee Stock). This is done in a number of ways: First, the company can deduct the entire loan contribution it makes to the ESOP, within certain payroll-based limits as allowed by law. This means that a company can in effect deduct both interest and principal on the loan, not just interest. Secondly, the company can also deduct dividends paid on the shares acquired with the proceeds of the loan that are used to repay the loan itself (in other words, the earnings of the stock

Theories in Criminal Justice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Theories in Criminal Justice - Research Paper Example Since these studies started a long time ago, there has been the development of several theories among the criminologists to answer these questions. On the other hand, there are likely to be multidisciplinary causes of criminal behavior (Lawrence, 2011). Criminology theory gives a scientific explanation of the reasons why people commit crimes. Although criminology theory has different elements, which try to stand alone to expound on criminal behavior, there has to be an interrelation of factors to give the true explanation. Among the four different elements of criminology theory are biological factors, psychological factors, sociological factors, and rational choice. It is necessary to understand each element for better understanding on a true explanation of criminal behavior (Strider, 2011). Conversely, the theories depend on logic to explain whether the criminal act is the result of a rational decision, internal predisposition or external aspects and why a person commits a crime. Co nsequently, it is through these theories that the judicial and law system is structured (Divico, 2011). The study of the relationships between societal influences and crime depicts sociological Positivism. A study of social structures within an offenders environment, for example, peer groups, socioeconomic status, subculture, family and education level that cause his criminality is under sociological theory. Moreover, the theory tries to explain how an offender sticks to his environs, becoming a product of his environment and social learning. According to this concept, under certain circumstances like strain including poverty, a breakdown in the family or moral values and family.

Family Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Family Law - Essay Example Thus, the clause most applicable in this case is one of â€Å"unreasonable behaviour† on part of James. (Family Law Act 1996) It is important to note that the reason for divorce has very little bearing on how the court decides the award of maintenance amount, property ownership/share, etc (Cook 2006). Similarly, decisions regarding the children are made independent of property issues and spouse maintenance issues. Even though the Victorian house is inherited by James, there is no guarantee that he will retain his complete ownership of the house after divorce. Though Susan has not contributed financially to the home or the bills during the marriage, she still has a right to make a claim, for she has â€Å"contributed in kind†. Her complete care for the children allowed James to concentrate on his career. Thus, Susan has a â€Å"beneficial interest† on the property and the court will consider the house as â€Å"Matrimonial Property† (www.dca.gov.uk). The court even has the power to transfer ownership, if need be. Before deciding on how to share the property, the court will take into account the length of the marriage, the parties’ age, their lifestyle needs, their earning capacity and the children’s needs. (Family Law Act 1996) Essentially, when a couple seek divorce, a court can, and quite often does, divide up the matrimonial assets, his, hers and theirs, in any way it sees fit. The resolution of financial disputes in a divorce case is also known as â€Å"ancillary relief†. Regardless of who owns the property, the court may have it transferred to the other and this applies to all property owned either by James or Susan as well as the jointly owned ones. (Watson-Lee 2006) Ownership and Tenancy are two different things. Susan had indicated her wish to continue living in the house along with the children. Susan is being reasonable in making this claim. Given the previous case histories of divorce cases, it could be

Hedging Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hedging - Essay Example There are various ways in hedge oneself from exchange rate risk by the use of financial derivative products, and a combination of strategies using these products. The three top runners for hedging purposes in exchange rates are Forward Contracts, Futures Contracts and Options. We’ll discuss the strategies which can be formed in each case, and then conclude which strategy would be most suitable for our current scenario. A forward contract or simply a forward is a non-standardized contract between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified future time at a price agreed today. The most advantageous feature of a forward contract is that it costs nothing to enter into such an agreement. The difference between the spot and the forward price is the forward premium or forward discount, depending on the swap points of the currency pair involved. Forward contracts are traded over the counter, and are more customized for individual customers. Another feature of a forward contract is that there is no specific margin call mechanism. Since there is no cost of entering into this agreement, margin calls are non-existent in this type of trade. Moreover, it is not regulated by an exchange or clearing house, thus it does not involve the hassles which occur in such cases. However, a forward contract obligates the customer to deliver or take delivery of the underlying asset at the time of maturity. Failure to do so would result in a breach of contractual obligations and can lead to litigation. But we have to keep in mind that there is no guarantee that a customer will honor the contract. In our case, the Virtual Books can enter in to a forward contract to fix a forward price for its imports as well as repatriated profits. In the case of its import, if the forward price is less than the prevalent spot rate on the day of taking up that contract, he will be losing money on the contract. If the spot rate is lower than the agreed forward rate, then it will be gaining on t he contract. In case it’s relatively the same, Virtual Books will no gain nor lose. The reverse case applies for its repatriated profits in which he is selling Euros and receiving GBP. The next alternative in line is Futures Contracts. A futures contract is a standardized contract between two parties to buy or sell a specified asset of standardized quantity and quality at a specified future date at a price agreed today known as the futures price. A futures contract operates in ways similar to a forward contract; however, there are a few differences which make the two distinguishable. First of all, a futures contract is traded on an exchange. They are highly standardized and are backed by a clearing house. Unlike forwards, an initial margin must be put up with the clearing house as a form of collateral. Fluctuations in the price of the underlying asset will reduce or increase the outstanding initial margin of the buyer/seller. Once a minimum threshold has been hit, margin call s are made so as to deposit funds to meet the minimum margin levels. Futures are backed by the clearing house, so in case any party defaults, the other party will still be able to deliver/take delivery of the underlying asset. In the case of Virtual Books, if they enter into a futures agreement, they will go long in Euro Futures which will obligate them to buy EUR against the GBP. In the case of their repatriated profit

Battle of Midway Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Battle of Midway - Research Paper Example Led by Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Americans were set for a counter attack. Admiral Chester was the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S Pacific Fleet. His assistants included Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher who was the senior tactical commander and in charge of the task force 17. Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance was in charge of the task force 16. Lieutenant Commander Joseph Rochefort was also among the officers who helped Admiral Chester to attack and invade the Japanese. The Japanese were led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. His assistant was Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo who was in charge of the First Air Fleet.Just before the battle begun it was natural for both the Japanese and the American soldiers, to prepare for war. According to Yamamoto, Japan would have an access and control over the Pacific after fighting with the American Armed Forces. In his plan, he was sure of defeating the Americans, despite being well aware that Admiral Chester would not accept defeat easily without putting up a solid fight. His attack relied on decidedly accurate timing and employing tactics that would tamper with Americans attention and divert them from the main battle fleet.This fleet was among the biggest in the world, and it carried many cruisers and destroyers. As complex as Yamamoto's plan was, it failed in two areas. He underestimated the impact and damage that an aircraft was capable of causing to a battleship. His staunch belief in how supreme a battleship could be was overshadowed.... Led by Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Americans were set for a counter attack. Admiral Chester was the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S Pacific Fleet. His assistants included Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher who was the senior tactical commander and in charge of the task force 17. Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance was in charge of the task force 16. Lieutenant Commander Joseph Rochefort was also among the officers who helped Admiral Chester to attack and invade the Japanese. The Japanese were led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. His assistant was Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo who was in charge of the First Air Fleet. Just before the battle begun it was natural for both the Japanese and the American soldiers, to prepare for war. According to Yamamoto, Japan would have an access and control over the Pacific after fighting with the American Armed Forces. In his plan, he was sure of defeating the Americans, despite being well aware that Admiral Chester would not accept defeat easily without putting up a solid fight. His attack relied on decidedly accurate timing and employing tactics that would tamper with Americans attention and divert them from the main battle fleet (White et al. 96). This fleet was among the biggest in the world, and it carried many cruisers and destroyers. As complex as Yamamoto's plan was, it failed in two areas. He underestimated the impact and damage that an aircraft was capable of causing to a battleship. His staunch belief in how supreme a battleship could be was overshadowed. To him, an aircraft was supposed to support a battleship instead of the other way around. The second factor that was a limitation to his plan was that the Americans knew what Yamamoto had been

Family Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Family Law - Essay Example Thus, the clause most applicable in this case is one of â€Å"unreasonable behaviour† on part of James. (Family Law Act 1996) It is important to note that the reason for divorce has very little bearing on how the court decides the award of maintenance amount, property ownership/share, etc (Cook 2006). Similarly, decisions regarding the children are made independent of property issues and spouse maintenance issues. Even though the Victorian house is inherited by James, there is no guarantee that he will retain his complete ownership of the house after divorce. Though Susan has not contributed financially to the home or the bills during the marriage, she still has a right to make a claim, for she has â€Å"contributed in kind†. Her complete care for the children allowed James to concentrate on his career. Thus, Susan has a â€Å"beneficial interest† on the property and the court will consider the house as â€Å"Matrimonial Property† (www.dca.gov.uk). The court even has the power to transfer ownership, if need be. Before deciding on how to share the property, the court will take into account the length of the marriage, the parties’ age, their lifestyle needs, their earning capacity and the children’s needs. (Family Law Act 1996) Essentially, when a couple seek divorce, a court can, and quite often does, divide up the matrimonial assets, his, hers and theirs, in any way it sees fit. The resolution of financial disputes in a divorce case is also known as â€Å"ancillary relief†. Regardless of who owns the property, the court may have it transferred to the other and this applies to all property owned either by James or Susan as well as the jointly owned ones. (Watson-Lee 2006) Ownership and Tenancy are two different things. Susan had indicated her wish to continue living in the house along with the children. Susan is being reasonable in making this claim. Given the previous case histories of divorce cases, it could be

Battle of Midway Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Battle of Midway - Research Paper Example Led by Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Americans were set for a counter attack. Admiral Chester was the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S Pacific Fleet. His assistants included Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher who was the senior tactical commander and in charge of the task force 17. Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance was in charge of the task force 16. Lieutenant Commander Joseph Rochefort was also among the officers who helped Admiral Chester to attack and invade the Japanese. The Japanese were led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. His assistant was Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo who was in charge of the First Air Fleet.Just before the battle begun it was natural for both the Japanese and the American soldiers, to prepare for war. According to Yamamoto, Japan would have an access and control over the Pacific after fighting with the American Armed Forces. In his plan, he was sure of defeating the Americans, despite being well aware that Admiral Chester would not accept defeat easily without putting up a solid fight. His attack relied on decidedly accurate timing and employing tactics that would tamper with Americans attention and divert them from the main battle fleet.This fleet was among the biggest in the world, and it carried many cruisers and destroyers. As complex as Yamamoto's plan was, it failed in two areas. He underestimated the impact and damage that an aircraft was capable of causing to a battleship. His staunch belief in how supreme a battleship could be was overshadowed.... Led by Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Americans were set for a counter attack. Admiral Chester was the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S Pacific Fleet. His assistants included Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher who was the senior tactical commander and in charge of the task force 17. Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance was in charge of the task force 16. Lieutenant Commander Joseph Rochefort was also among the officers who helped Admiral Chester to attack and invade the Japanese. The Japanese were led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. His assistant was Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo who was in charge of the First Air Fleet. Just before the battle begun it was natural for both the Japanese and the American soldiers, to prepare for war. According to Yamamoto, Japan would have an access and control over the Pacific after fighting with the American Armed Forces. In his plan, he was sure of defeating the Americans, despite being well aware that Admiral Chester would not accept defeat easily without putting up a solid fight. His attack relied on decidedly accurate timing and employing tactics that would tamper with Americans attention and divert them from the main battle fleet (White et al. 96). This fleet was among the biggest in the world, and it carried many cruisers and destroyers. As complex as Yamamoto's plan was, it failed in two areas. He underestimated the impact and damage that an aircraft was capable of causing to a battleship. His staunch belief in how supreme a battleship could be was overshadowed. To him, an aircraft was supposed to support a battleship instead of the other way around. The second factor that was a limitation to his plan was that the Americans knew what Yamamoto had been

Personnel to Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

Personnel to Human Resource Management Essay Personnel management refers to a set of functions or activities including recruitment, training, pay and industrial relations performed effectively but often in isolation from each other or with overall organisation objectives. In 1991, Hilmer noted that the Australian tradition of many sub-specialities or functions (industrial relations, compensation, training and pay) was out of date. The early 1990s was an are of great speculation on the future of the functions in managing people. The concept Human Resource Management (HRM) began to influence the practice of integrating functions with each other and organisation objectives. Coppleston (1991) explained the HR function within any enterprise must first of all serve the organisation†¦ an investment area rather than a cost to the organisation. Reinforced by other writers, human resources should be viewed as human capital, and that HR managers should strive to use them as investment creating an environment where the appropriate strategy is likely to emerge. (Williams, 1991) Alternate perspectives of HRM emphasise either the effective management of employees through greater accountability and control, the greater involvement in decision making processes, or both of these. (Nankervis, Compton McCarthy, 1993) In countries such as Australia, the personnel management function arrived more slowly than its USA counterparts and came from a number of avenues. The orientation of personnel management was not entirely managerial. In the UK, its origins were traced to welfare officers where it became evident that there was an inherent conflict between their activities and those of line managers. There were not seen to have a philosophy compatible with the view of senior managers. The welfare officer orientation placed personnel management as a buffer between the business and the employees. In terms of organisational politics this was not a viable position for those wishing to further their careers, increase their status, earn high salaries or influence organisation performance. Industrial relations further compounded the distinction through their intermediary role between unions and line management. (Price, 2005) However, during the 1970s, many Australian organisations found themselves in turbulent business and economic climates with major competition from the USA, Europe and Asian markets. Concurrently, the Institute for Personnel Management (IPMA) and training institutions such as TAFE and universities were becoming more sophisticated in their approaches incorporating more  recent approaches such as Excellence and Total Quality Management. During this period the IPMA held national and international conferences, initiated relationships with the Asia-Pacific region, developed an accreditation process and the now titled Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. (Nankervis et al, 1993)By the 1980s, personnel had become a well-defined but low status area of management. Traditional personnel managers were accused of having a narrow, functional outlook. Storey (1989) comment that personnel management †¦has long been dogged by problems of credibility, marginality, ambiguity and a trash-can labelling which has relegated it to a relatively disconnected set of duties many of them tainted with a low status welfare connotation. In practice, the background and training of many personnel managers left them speaking a different language from other managers and unable to comprehend wider business issues such as business strategy, market competition, labour economics and the role of other organisational functions. (Price, 2005) This set the scene to integrate personnel management with wider trends in management thinking. In 1999 (cited in Gollan 2005), Hunt suggested, the key link to the success of the function lies in the struggle to acquire more influence, something that is being carried out in a climate of downsizing and outsourcing. Even the change of name from personnel to HR is indicative that the way people view and perform this role is changing with the new name communicating a desire to break with the past and to throw off an image that was limp and limiting†¦ The future of the HR function may be far from certain †¦ [however] †¦ In situations of uncertainty, it is the confident who win through †¦ I know of no organisation whose senior managers believe their company will operate, in the future, without any human beings. Whether ensuring the supply of those human beings resides in a function called HR or not is rather irrelevant. Such themes included human capital theory and human resource accounting, however, HRM gained further ground and prominence once introduced to the Harvard Business School MBA course in 1981. The four main approaches founded during the 1980s were: The strategic matching theories from the Michigan and  New York Schools; Multiple Stakeholders theory from the Harvard School; Political and Change Process Theory from the Warwick School and a Behavioural Transformation Theory from the Schuler School. (Price, 2005) Each theory expressed models that stress people as human resources which are a resource different to any other the organisation may have and therefore require to be managed differently. This could be conceived as rather confusing, however Townley (1994) argued that much of the confusion over the role of human resource managers is due to two factors: 1. The conflict between the welfare tradition of personnel management and the strategic orientation of more modern HRM and; 2. A gender divide between female or soft personnel management at lower management and administrative levels and male, hard nosed human resource managers within upper management. Benchmarking and best practice have become widely used terms in the past decade. HRM benchmarking is a process which provides knowledge of the key HR levers which are important to business outcomes; comparison with other businesses with better performance and ways of using that information to improve HR processes. This allows HR processes and outcomes to be quantified so that objectives can be set meaningfully and realistically. This was a revolutionary approach for many HR professionals who were used to subjective job descriptions and values with a focus on process rather than outcome which did not gain much credibility with other business units who were used to objective and quantifiable measures of performance. (Nankervis et al, 1993; Price, 2005) Vilinas and Harper (2005) explored the impact of performance management on staff, the organisation and the business. Performance management was found to be useful in improving role clarity, identifying and standardising performance objectives,, increasing performance feedback and assisting in the development of more useful and meaningful performance measures. The authors found that how performance management was viewed depended on the performance of the team. That is, if the team were performing well, it was viewed positively, if the team were not performing well, it was viewed negatively. Furthermore, Vilinas and Harper (2005), found difficulty in evaluating the impact of performance management systems in organisations. There fore it is difficult to determine the impact this human resource strategy on organisation performance in a  quantitative sense. Royal and ODonnell (2005), argue that qualitative human capital analysis would assist in predicting organisation sustainability and future financial performance by providing substantial evidence indicating the link between particular HR practices and organisation performance. These practices included learning and development, flexible work policies and performance management. The focus on long term relationships between the organisation and staff was the impact on organisation performance rather than an economic exchange. Exploring the impacts of downsizing on organisation performance, Farrell and Mavondo (2005) reported on the contradictory evidence in the literature about this relationship and surveyed manufacturing companies in order to test the impact. The findings concluded that when redesign of organisations drive downsizing the impact on the business is positive, but it is negative when the organisation redesign is driven by downsizing. This indicated that good HR practice linking with the organisation strategic plan is more likely to provide a positive business outcome. According to McGrath-Champ and Baird (2005), HRM practices and the role of HR and employee relations practitioners have been undergoing major changes since the 1980s. Particular changes include the shift to enterprise bargaining. The authors used data from numerous surveys aimed at exploring the changing role of HR practitioners and the implications on the skills required in order to fulfil the changed role. This, in turn, impacts on the capability of the HR area in its ability to support and influence organisational performance. Given that small business is a significant employer in Australia, Bartram (2005) found they are not as likely to use participative management techniques, invest in training in the area of employee relations or develop organisation strategy. However, without the use of HRM practices, small business can be effected detrimentally particularly in a global economic climate. The evidence suggests that organisation performance will usually benefit from the integration of human resource management and product and market strategies, improved understanding of the needs of employees at the workplace, and better use of their skill and ingenuity. Strategies designed to achieve a more comprehensive use of employees human potential, desire to learn, flexibility and personal responsibility would appear capable of delivering higher levels of performance (Gollan Davis, 1998). This is at the heart of the argument for more attention to HRM. Other things being equal, it will assist improve profitability through changing employee attitudes, overcoming resistance to change. (Gollan Davis, 1998) Moreover, there will be experience of mutual advantage. Management can benefit from improved performance and reduced levels of turnover and absenteeism and being an employer of choice in the current labour tight market. As a result employees may enjoy more job security, development opportunities, autonomy and incentives to take ownership and responsibility for quality outcomes. (West Patterson, 1998) While HRM approaches are worthwhile in terms of improving organisation performance, it can be difficult to measure the link between the improvement and the HR practice. The length of time can be fraught with problems when considering the impact of HRM on organisation performance. A short term consultation with staff could pay off years ahead in performance. The most difficult obstacle is in the change of organisation culture for both managers and employees in terms of leadership skills, strategy and resources for development. Based on research statistics of over 30 000 HR professionals, Brockbank (2005), stated the HR field is outstanding at doing what it says it will do, in terms of delivering the basic HR infrastructure activity †¦is an intersection of HR competencies and agendas that have to do with managing the culture, contributing to strategic decision making, managing change and creating process of information flows that continually integrate the organisation†¦ HR professionals are mediocre at this set of activities†¦ the logic of HRs role in bringing critical information about the external business world into the firm, disseminating it and using that information on  a broad scale within the organisation as the basis for integration, unity and ultimately organisational responsiveness. Brockbank (2005) further identified that HRs market driven connectivity rates at 17 per cent of strategic contributions impact on organisation performance. The direct impact of HR on business performance has increased about 300 per cent since 1992. This is factored around the shift from focusing on traditional personnel functions and moving towards strategic input into the organisations development coupled with technological change and a global economy. In other words, this indicates that in order to make an impact, HR needs to understand the business their organisation is in including the customers, shareholders and stakeholders. To surmise, the evidence suggests there is a great deal of participation taking place in Australia, (Morehead, Steele, Alexander, Stephen Duffin, 1997) however, findings from the research highlight the quality of many HRM practices need to be appropriate measured and reported in order to continue to develop the link between HR practices and organisation performance. From the research synthesised in this paper, it is evident that some human resource practices can contribute to high levels of organisational performance. Explored from a range of perspectives, the problems in demonstrating this relationship are highlighted. The number of dimensions to the problems making study comparisons difficult include: definitions used as a basis for the research; the ability to draw a relationship between human resource practices and organisational performance; methodological issues and; differences and variable measurement. There is further interest in identifying and demonstrating the impact HRM has on organisation performance none more highlighted than through the importance of people in the knowledge economy and organisation sustainability in a global market. References: Bartram, Timothy 2005, Small firms, big ideas: The adoption of human resource management in Australian small firms, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Brockbank, Wayne 2005, Turning Inside Out, HR Monthly, April. Coppleston Peter 1991, Present issues and future trends, HR Monthly, April p8-9Farrell, Mark A., Mavondo, Felix 2005, The effect of downsizing-redesign strategies on business performance: Evidence from Australia, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Gollan, Paul 2005, High involvement management and human resource sustainability: The challenges and opportunities, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Gollan, P. Davis, E. 1998, High involvement management and organisational change: Beyond rhetoric. Macquarie Graduate School of ManagementHilmer F 1991, Hilmer discusses the future for Australians at work, HR Monthly, August p9. McGrath-Champ, Susan Baird, Marian 2005, The mercurial nature of Australian HRM under enterprise bargaining, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Morehead, A., Steele, M., Alexander, M., Stephen, K. Duffin, L. 1997, Change at Work: The 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. Melbourne: LongmanNankervis, Alan R., Compton, Robert L. McCarthy, Terence E. 1993, Strategic Human Resource Management, Thomson Nelson Australia. Price Alan 2005, Human Resource Management in a Business Context, 2nd ednRoyal, Carol ODonnell, Loretta 2005, Embedding human capital analysis in the investment process: A human resources challenge, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Storey, J. 1989, Human Resource Management: A Critical Text. Thomson Learning, 2nd ednTownley B. 1994, Reframing Human Resource Management: Power, Ethics and the Subject of Work, Sage. West, M. Patterson, M 1998. People Power: The link between job satisfaction and productivity. Centrepiece, Autumn, p2-5Williams Ross 1991, Transformation or chaos? HR in the 1990s, HR Monthly, November, p10. Vilinas, Tricia Harper, Sarah (2005), Determining the impact of an organisations performance management system, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43

Learning Skills for Open and Distance Learners

Learning Skills for Open and Distance Learners 1.0 INTRODUCTION Online learning is new type of further studies offer by higher academic learning around the world. Before higher academic learning institution offer this style of learning method, traditional learning such as class room meeting or face to face learning, part time learning and distance learning was successfully born professional worker and great management leader. The demanding of the professional skill worker increase severely every years and the awareness about further studies by people specially adult make higher academic learning institution think the new way to support and give a opportunity to adult people to upgrade their academic qualification and upgrade their living. The academic professional every day burn their midnight oil to think the new kind of learning to fulfill this adult people need and perform the best practice of learning to suit with adult people lifestyle mostly working and having own family. These academic professional lastly come out a brilliant ideas to support new learning method for adult people. The Online Learning was introduced to the open market and the result is sufficiently encouraging adult people to further their study. According to Tham (2004), learner who evolved from distance learning and traditional face to face classroom now change to online learning method. Although this new learning method is design to suit adult learners, adult learners still have a problem especially in the first year of beginning the online learners. In this paper we will discuss about the problem faced by beginning online learners and typically try to solve it accordingly support from professional thinker facts. 2.0 BACKGROUND OF LEARNING ONLINE In this Information Era, Computers and Internet is very important media for channeling information. Its means Online Learning method use this type of media for learning process. Academic institution use computers and internet and adding this media to create a study environmental class for their online students. This situation is look like an invisible classroom to the online student (Tham, 2004). According to Chen Sun (2008) to develop an integrate online learning module, it involve six dimension criteria. To develop online method criteria, Learners, Instructors, Design, Technology, Environment and Course mix together to fulfill Online Learning methodology. Now we want to focusing one of six criteria that will be discussed with deeper and examine. Although the all six criteria important in online learning, students capability itself to separate the five criteria that need to be prioritized. Be a beginner in online learners is a challenging because learners are compulsory to learn by itself. According to Ash (2010), online learner only spends 2 (two) hours and 15 minutes for lesson in a classroom per week and spends almost the rest of lesson virtually from home. It make sense from Tham (2004) statement invisible classroom. Make your own learning classroom at home using the technology and educational material provide from academic institution. 3.0 FINDING PROBLEM VERSUS SOLVE PROBLEM Be a beginners of online learners is very challenging decision. Mostly online learners are adult working and own family person. They must add more burden thing in their live. The flexible time is the major fact adult people attract to use online learning to fulfill their dream to grab degree or master scroll, but as online learners you must deduct time for learning, working, social, family and resting yourself. Someone said financial and working condition also the problem faced by beginner online learners. These problems are happen actually before becoming online learners. These people will think and doing some research before choose online learning as their learning study method for further their education. They must settle all financial and working condition matter before enrolls with academic institution. Now we will discuss about the problem after student enroll to academic institution and becoming online learners. The most important problem faced by beginning online learners is their mentality issue. According to Combes,(2006). The major issue in mentality problem of beginning in online learners is lack of mentality. He find out is four (4) issues on mental problems which occurred to online learners namely most isolation and lack of identity, lack of motivation, lack of confidence and anxiety. 3.1 Isolation and lack of identity This mental issue about this mentality problem is the feeling inside when online student start enroll as online learners. When online learners start their learning process at home, actually their friend only books and personal computer in front it. What feeling inside online learners thats time is loneliness. According to Pond (1998) loneliness define as an enduring condition of emotional distress that arises when a person feels estranged from, misunderstood, or rejected by others and or lacks appropriate social patterns for desired activities, particularly activities that provide a sense of social integration and opportunities for emotional intimacy. Online learners will not have immediate and fast access to lectures and peers when learning activities begin. No fast respond about their difficulty make online learners unhappy and the social time with their colleague also reduce due to increase time for spending in learning make loneliness or feel of isolation becoming worst. Now we l earn how to overcome this problem related to online learners. According to Rosenblit, (2005) Academic institution must providing good interaction between online learners and tutor. Active peer greatly needed to always contact with online learners to help among themselves. What is most important once is every online learner should give information on this problem and understand that state and knowledge to resolve. Online learners also be encouraged to hold grouped discussion once in a while with peer to share knowledge and their problem and dont keep your problem alone. 3.2 Lack of motivation Motivation is important mental support to achieve high quality as online learners. Motivation is consist of psychological, biological, social and cognitive cause direct behavior (Fulmer 2009). Motivation is spirit hidden inside a person. Online learner with week motivation will cause him unenterprising, often absent from class and no planning in manage self learning. Lack of motivation is a serious problem for online learners and the percentage to fail is highest. How to overcome this problem? To motivate online learners is not same with traditional learners. It because Online learners almost an adult person. They have be different approach or strategy to motivate them. They are five step to motivate learners. 3.2.1. Reward myself People always get motivated by rewarding something. Setup a goal for yourself and reward yourself. Example, if I can finish this semester, My family and I will take a vacation to Manchester, England. 3.2.2. Make sure my course has real value Before you start learning, make sure you choose course can reward you something very valuable. Example, if Im get P.H.D, all my article and books will be recognize and the publishing company will offer me as a Chief Editor. 3.2.3. Help me perform better You must relate what you learn with your working environment. If you choose course similarly with your real working environment, it make you perform better in your studies and your job. 3.2.4. Set clear expectation for the course You must setup your mind, the course that you learn will give you new information and you will use that information later. These tips also need help by a tutor to explain what you will learn and achieves after finish it. 3.2.5. Tell me if Im wrong These tips also need tutor fully cooperation. You may ask your tutor to tell you if you do something wrong with your quiz, assignment or in learning process. Sometimes adult learners also need a little attention to keep them continually motivate. They technique and method to criticize online learner must be suitable. Offences criticize online learner will probably become worst. 3.3 Lack of confidence Lack of confidence also an issue for online learners. 47.5% citing lack of confidence when they use internet for their study (Combes 2006). This student actually want more practical assistance when enroll to the academic institution. Confident means full trusts, believe in one self, abilities and reliability to think. People always said, if we have confidents, we have ability to success. How to drive up confident? They have five (5) tips to overcome this problem. 3.3.1. Find support You have your own family and you need them now to support and understand you as online learners. Your also can find support around your peer and friend. All this combination of support can drive up your confidence back. 3.3.2. Apply your skill You are online learners because you are working person. Try apply your working skill to your learning environment. If you working as a shift hours, it means you can work in the morning, afternoon and night. So you can take this working environment to your learning environment. You can do learning process in the morning, afternoon or at night. That is your advantage! 3.3.3. Set reasonable goal You must set a goal for what u doing. If you now as online learners, you must set a goal to get a diploma, degree, master or P.H.D. whatever happen. Write your goal in a white board, working table or else where that easy to you to see. 3.3.4 Develop a routine You must develop your own time management planner to arrange your study time, working time, family and resting hour. If you set a daily planner to manage your activities, please stick on it. Try to arrange activities at the same time everyday, because if you do the same thing and the same time everyday, lastly it become your routine. 3.3.5 Never stop dreaming Dreaming is not a good thinker but sometime dreaming is good depends on the situation. Dreaming to be success is good thinker but it must follow with effort. With a high passion and never stop effort is the key to success. Online learning must dream to grab a scroll of their certificate on the stage of the high profile convocation event everyday. 3.4 Anxiety Anxiety is feeling inside online learners if they dont well prepare. 51% experiencing anxiety when using the internet for study (combes 2006). The impact of anxiety always happen at younger online learners. According to wikipedia, Anxiety define as psychological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive and behavioral components either the absence or presence of psychological stress, feeling of fear, worry, uneasiness and dread. In learner concept Anxiety is define as psychological and physical response to treat a self concept characterized by subjective, consciously perceived feelings of tension( Vitasari 2010). According to Mauri (1992), the major problem of anxiety is panic situation. How to overcome panic situation? According to Gard (1999), panic must be handles carefully before it become panic attack. These is are three (3) tips to overcome this problem. 3.4.1 Know first before deal That mean learners must know randomly about the course and the syllabus before attending to face to face meeting. Example, work seeker also must know about the company history first before attend an interview. 3.4.2 Always relax Learn to relax yourself when panic situation appear. Take a deep breath and exhale with your mouth slowly. Try to calm down and try to think creatively to overcome that situation. Get help if you cannot handle that situation by yourself. 3.4.3 Believe yours religious Always pray to avoid you from panic situation. We believe all religious have their own way to overcome this panic situation. 4.0 CONCLUSION They are many problem faced by beginner online learners. Financial and Working matter are not relevant problem by beginner online learners. The major problem is mentality issue. Isolation and lack of identity, lack of motivation, lack of confidence and anxiety are the major problem will faced all beginner online learners. To overcome isolation and lack of identity, academic institution must providing good interaction between online learners and tutors and active peer. Five (5) tips like reward myself, make sure my course has real value, help me perform better, set clear expectation for the course and tell me if Im wrong are the tips to overcome lack of motivation problem. They have also five (5) tips to overcome lack of confidence. Find support, apply your skill, set reasonable goal, develop a routine and never stop dreaming is the key to avoid lack of confidence. Anxiety are similarly to panic situation. Three (3) tips to overcome this problem are know first before deal, always relax and believe yours religious. 5.0 REFERENCES Kim, K.J. (2009). Motivational challenges of adult learners in self-directed E-Learning.  Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 20(3), 317. Retrieved from  proquest.com (OUM Digital Library) Ash, K. (2010). Blended learning seeks the right mix: School combine virtual and face-to-face teachers to meet student needs. Education Week, 30(4), 8. Retrieved from  Proquest.com. (OUM Digital Library) Tham, C.M, Werner, J.M. (2004). Designing and evaluating E-learning in higher  education: A review and recommendations. Journal of Leadership   Organizational Studies, 11(2), 15. Retrieved from proquest.com (OUM Digital  Library) Combes, B., Anderson, K. (2006). Supporting first year E-learners in courses for the  information professions. Journal of Education for Library and Information  Science, 47(4), 259. Retrieved from proquest.com (OUM Digital Library) Pond, S.S.C. (1998). Acceptance and belonging the promotion of acceptance and  belonging within group art therapy: A study of two lonely third grade students.  American Journal of Art Therapy, 36(3), 81. Retrieved from proquest.com  (OUM Digital Library) Rosenblit, S.G. (2005). Eight paradoxes in the implementation process of E-learning in  higher education. Higher Education Policy, 18(1), 5. Retrieved from  Proquest.com (OUM Digital Library) Fulmer S.M., Frijters, J.C. (2009). A review of self-report and alternative approaches in  measurement of student motivation. Educational Psychology Review, 21(3), 219.  Retrieved from proquest.com (OUM Digital Library) Vitasari. P., Wahab, M.N.A., Othman, A., Awang, M.G. (2010). A research for  identifying study anxiety sources among university students. International  Education Studies, 3(2), 189. Retrieved from proquest.com ( OUM Digital  Library) Mauri, M., Sarno, N., Rossi, V. M., Armani, A., Zambotto, S., Cassano, G. B., Akiskal,  H.S. (1992). Personality disorder associated with generalized anxiety, panic, and  Recurrent depressive disorders. Journal of Personality Disorders, 6(2), 162.  Retrieved from proquest.com (OUM Digital Library) Gard, C.J. (1999, coping with the fear of fear. Current Health 2, 25(5), 22.Retrieved from  Proquest.com (OUM Digital Library) Pei-Chen Sun, Ray J. Tsai, Glenn Finger, Yueh-Yang Chen, Dowmin Yeh (2008).  Computers Education 50(4) 1183-1202. Retrieved from www. Sciencedirect.com The Rapid e learning blog. Retrieved from www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/motivate-your-learners-with-these-5-simple-tips/ Anxiety. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety