Religion, Spirituality, and Health Status in Geriatric Outpatients Essay

Daaleman, Perrera and Studenski wished to re-examine the effect of religiosity and spirituality on perceptions of older persons, operationalized as geriatric outpatients. The authors proceeded from two conceptual constructs.   The first is that self-reported health status is central to aging research.   The old know whereof they speak.   Self-ratings are valid because they correlate well with health status over time and, consequently, health service utilization.   The second construct is that, no matter how morally they lived as young adults, those in late middle age come to embrace religion and spirituality with more fervor. Prior research had scrutinized the relationship between religion and health perceptions.   Some results were inconclusive, an outcome that the authors attributed to failure to control for such covariates as spirituality. Definitions vary, the authors acknowledged, but they proposed defining â€Å"religiosity† as principally revolving on organized faith while â€Å"spirituality† has more to do with giving humans â€Å"meaning, purpose, or power either from within or from a transcendent source.†Ã‚   In turn, the dependent variable was measured by a single-item global health from the Years of Healthy Life (YOHL) scale, a self-assessment of general health (would you say your health in general is †¦) and a 5-item Likert response from excellent to poor. Fieldwork consisted of including a 5-item measure of religiosity15 and a 12-item spirituality instrument in a 36-month health service utilization, health status, and functional status study among 492 outpatients of a VA and HMO network, all residents of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The authors were remiss in not formally articulating their hypotheses for the study though one gleans that the alternative hypothesis could have stated, â€Å"Structured religion, a deep sense of spirituality, mental status and mobility, and personal and demographic variables materially influence measures of health status and physical functioning.† In the end, the data was subjected to univariate and multivariate best-fit statistics.   The key findings: Table 2. Predictors of Self-Reported Good Health          Status (N = 277)                Factor* Unadjusted OR (95% CL    Adjusted OR (95% CI)       Age 0.94 (0.89–0.99)†        Male 0.72 (0.41–1.25)†¡       White race 2.79 (1.51–5.17) § 3.32 (1.33–8.30) ¶ Grade school 0.1 (0.02–0.49) ¶       Some high school 0.28 (0.06–1.44)†¡       High school graduate 0.24 (0.05–1.14)†¡       Technical/business school 0.29 (0.06–1.43)†¡       Some college 0.31 (0.06–1.49)†¡       Not depressed (GDS) 32.4 (4.03–261) §       Physical functioning(SF36-PFI) 1.04 (1.03–1.05) § 1.03 (1.01–1.04) § Quality of life (EuroQol) 1.69 (1.41–2.01)†  1.36 (1.09–1.70)†  Religiosity (NORC) 0.93 (0.85–1.02)†¡       Spirituality (SIWB) 1.15 (1.10–1.21) § 1.09 (1.02–1.16)†  OR = odds ratio; CI = confi dence interval; GDS = Geriatric Depression Scale; SF36-PFI = Physical Functioning Index from SF-36; NORC = National Opinion Research Center; SIWB = Spirituality Index of Well-Being.          *Referent factors: age-1 year younger; female, nonwhite; college graduate; GDS score of 0-9; PFI-index of 1 less; EuroQol-score of 0.1 less; SIWB-score of 1 less. †  P = .01.                †¡ P = NS.                 § P

Film Analysis of The Lady Eve Essay

The Lady Eve is a film, which tells the love tale of unlikely couple who meet each other in one of their trip on a Luxury Liner. The movie was released way back 1941 in the United States, directed by a multi-talented Director â€Å"Preston Sturges† and was written by a great dramatist â€Å"Monckton Hoffe†. In general, the lady eve is a romantic comedy film, filled with different twists and turns, on which gives a picture of an extra ordinary love story of two individuals living in a totally different world. With the depicted differences in the storyline, the plot of the movie is definitely interesting and exciting. (Star Pulse) Although, the movie Lady Eve, by Preston Sturges, did not achieve major success to garner movie awards and honorable recognition in film festival, apart from the nomination for Academy Awards – Best Writing and Original Story. The film still receives a bunch of positive feedback from credible movie critic in different generation, on which the director, artists and the rest of the people responsible for the movie had received positive recognition from the viewers of almost every generation for the film â€Å"The Lady Eve†. (Star Pulse) In the year 1994, the movie Lady Eve was acknowledged as socially, aesthetically and historically significant by the â€Å"United States National Film Registry†, on which the movie was selected for preservation by the â€Å"Library of Congress† for its social and moral importance. Nevertheless, the Lady Eve film was a wonderful work of art, that gives a fair picture of romance and comedy love tale, which mirrors a true to life situation of love and journey. (Star Pulse) Talented actors and actresses, on the other hand, had been pivotal on the outcome of the movie. The cast of the movie is set with bunch of – talented, effective, actors and actresses. Reputable actress, â€Å"Barbara Stanwyck† had played the lead role as Jean Harrington and a multi-talented film and stage actor â€Å"Henry Fonda† portrayed the leading man role as Charles Pike. In the movie, Barbara Stanwyck and and Charles Pike had played great music, on which they complement each other with their role and make the movie more appealing and exciting to watch. Nonetheless, the movie Lady Eve is one of the most humorous film way back the World War II era, on which a survivor of ever changing taste of the movie critics and audiences. (Star Pulse) Moreover, the Lady Eve is a thematic romance and comedy film. It tells the tale of two strangers with different outlook in life, bind together of their fate when they meet at a Luxury Shipping Line in one of their travels. Jean Harrington is a con artist who lives with her father â€Å"Colonel Harrington†, on which she falls in love with a guy she met on her travel. Charles Pike, on the other hand, is a rich and decent man – a philologist, who stayed in Amazon for a long period of time for his study on snakes. The movie takes place in a ship, when Jean Harrington is on a travel with her father heading back to New York, sharing the same luxury ship with the unsophisticated guy Charles Pike, who is on his travel back to the United States after his long stay in Amazon for his studies. In the ship’s dinning, Jean Harrington had saw Charles who is at that time reading a book, entitled â€Å"Are Snakes Necessary†. This scene is really funny, as Jean showed up her attraction to Charles Pike, when she trips Charles on purpose to drive his attention. This scene had been the start of the romance and comedy, on which Jean and Charles had fall to each other. In the story, snakes had been the sexual symbol that is the start of romance scenes between the two lead characters. Truthfully in love as they are, Jean and Charles, had several misunderstanding and broke up with each other. The movie is filled with romance and comedy scenes where it depicts the journey of Jean and Charles as a lover that later on succeeds in pursuit of their love. Nonetheless, this movie is totally a thematic romance and comedy film that tells the difficulties and happiness of an extra ordinary love story. In the end, Jean Harrington and Charles Pike had survived the challenges of love, despite the many differences that threatens their relationship, they managed to surpass and live with each other in-love. After all, the movie has a great opening and ended as one of the superb romantic comedy love tale, the movie industry had. It can be argued that comedy is the true theme of the movie Lady Eve. The movie is amazingly funny, on which almost every scenes is a depiction of comedy acts that is definitely satisfying – it brings me to laughter. No doubt, the Lady Eve is a product of humorous mind that depicts funniest twists and turns in its story. Definitely, most of the scenes in the movie contribute to address properly the theme of the movie. One of those scenes is the opening scenario, on which Jean trips Charles on purpose when she broke her heel to attract the attention of Charles. It possibly funny, due to the fact that Barbara Stanwyck, had turned to be an effective comedy actress in her role in the movie. Another one is the scenes where snake serve as the sexual metaphor. It is many to mention specifically what scene, however, parts in the movie definitely contributes to address the true theme of the movie. The elements of the movie, on the other hand; which are divided into five, are effectively connected with each other to complete the theme. The narrative of the movie is chronological, on which the setting and plot of the film is according to the present time when it was produced. The movie depicts, the same era of the forties and is produced according on the order of time, during the 1940’s in the United States. Artist’s performance on the other hand showcases a superb portrayal of a role that is realistic and effectively funny. Major actors and actresses, mostly Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda had been real with their portrayal of their role, on which they have been effective to be funny mostly in critical scenes in the movie. Nonetheless, the casts of the movie acts accordingly with the progress of the movie. Also, cinematography plays a pivotal role in the whole essence of the movie. It is the defining factor of certain scene, on which proper lighting and appropriate camera angle adds more emotion on the scene. In the movie Lady Eve, the cinematography is amazingly brilliant that supported the emotional aura of every scene in the film. One of my personal choices of cinematography in the movie is the scenes which involves Charles and his snakes. The camera angles are perfect – I admire the detailed angle of the snakes, and the lighting definitely sets the mood of that specific scene. With the aspect of editing, the editors had their job well done, as they apply appropriate transition of every scene that depicts on the movie. Each scene is well expressive, with the help of correct transition of every camera shots, from one angle to another. Nevertheless, the editing of the movie was wonderful, I admire the way the editors used â€Å"fade in, fade out† technique for the appropriate transition of each scene, which particularly interesting of the whole editing of the movie. In the art direction and design are perfect, as the directors and the rest of the crew had used proper – locations, effects, props, costumes and make up in the movie. The locations of every scene are perfect, which make every scenario organized with the actual time. Effects, props and costumes, on the other hand, are effective to make the scenes realistic and effective to imply proper emotions. All the funny and comedy scenes in the movie, however, are the definition of the style and strategy of the director, on which these scenes are definitely filled with humorous mind of director Preston Sturges. I personally like this movie, because of two main reasons. First is â€Å"humor†, I personally like the film on its humorous scripts which every funny scene are depictions of superb humor that brings me to laughter. Secondly, I personally like the movie because of its profound portrayal of comedy, on which every scene is a depiction of humor that at any moment funny thoughts will pop out in the script. After all, the movie Lady Eve is film filled with clear scripts and funniest scenes, which is definitely one of the finest movie in forties. Works Cited Star Pulse (2008),The Lady Eve Review: Retrieved May 8, 2008 from http://www. starpulse. com/movie/The_Lady_Eve/V28051/0/5/

Violence and Teachers Perception of the Zero Tolerance Policy Essay

Violence and Teachers Perception of the Zero Tolerance Policy - Essay Example Further, the high profile incidents of school violence that culminate in death instigate fear and undermine various stakeholders’ belief in safety of schools and the children they accommodate. The worrying trend of heightened school violence, coupled with the acute need for students to learn in a secure environment, necessitates further analysis into the extant "get tough" disciplinary measures, their efficacy or lack thereof, teachers’ perception of the same and potential improvement strategies. Following the occurrence of serious cases of violence in schools over the past ten years, dealing with and preventing violence and consequent disruption of learning is a crucial and urgent concern for all parties involved. While these efforts are directed towards preventing deadly violence, they also aim at restoring security within learning environments. It is common knowledge that instructors cannot convey crucial lessons to learners and neither can the latter get adequately educated in a setting characterized by disruptive violence and insecurity. With the increase in fears of violence, children’s safety as well as education is put at risk and a chance for success in academia and later in professional fields is significantly jeopardized (Smith, 2000). This is because both students and teachers fear going to school. Further, the sole perception of violence is capable of causing physical and psychological harm to individuals, impeding them from reaching their optimal level o f social and academic potential. Currently, "Zero Tolerance" is the official disciplinary policy used in schools to counter cases of violence. At the policy’s inception, it constituted actions like expulsion and enforced suspension, as a response to possession or use of weapons, violent acts and drug possession or usage within school environs. The policy has progressively come

Optimum Distribution - Internet Based Socialization Essay

Optimum Distribution - Internet Based Socialization - Essay Example A recent question came to mind in which I asked myself, what all I could do if I was given five thousand dollars to invest. It was really confusing to me to choose the best from the variety of options around me. Profit is a beautiful imagination about every venture, but my concern is all about the orientation of socially organized activities basically meant for the betterment of classified members of the society. In case I had that amount to spend, I would spend it on a project that long cherished in my mind – a social networking system for the differently-abled children of special education schools that are deprived of socializing. â€Å"Socialization enables children to learn what they need to know in order to be integrated into the society in which they live† (Berns, 39). The major implication of this project will be around the mainstreaming of most of the uncared schools privately managed by individuals which are partially aided by non-profit organizations. My propo sal is maintaining a virtual socialization spectrum for the children, which gives them exposure to the world of internet and allied amenities of the present world. In order to meet this purpose, I would regularly meet affluent philanthropists for over six months of time and explain them everything about my plan. The plan would include the development of software with the help of computer professionals for social interaction with all the charitable organizations and the creamy layer members of the society among doctors, contractors or businessmen. This software would be introduced to all major websites and social networking sites through regular advertisements. In the meantime, I would arrange a team of special school education to take sample surveys of requirements of the target groups in various cultures and living standards. The focus would be given to the variables like their age, physical standards, areas of interest and degree of disability.  Based on the information of the surveys, I would design special windows for gaming, chatting and other activities of interaction in the software.     Ã‚  

Various topics in paper included 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Various topics in paper included 2 - Assignment Example There are certain ways through which an entrepreneur can come up with a business plan for an already existing businesses or a new venture (Jones & Jayawarna, 2013, p.1). For instance, an entrepreneur can consider using business simulation method to create its appropriate plan. One of the most common business simulations encompasses the SimVenture, which reflects reality and gives an entrepreneur the opportunity of the respective start up and how run own virtual business. SimVenture is commonly rampant among experienced entrepreneurs whereby it has proved to be extremely helpful to thousands of upcoming entrepreneurs (Jones & Jayawarna, 2013, p.148). In the assignment provided, it is evident that the Company mentioned is not successful; hence, using SimVenture to develop a new and appropriate business plan. In order to ensure the success of the Company, the most important issue that should be considered first is having the knowledge about the Finance, Marketing, Operations and HRM sectors of the Company. Through getting all the available information concerning these sections of the Company, then using SimVenture becomes much easier since one can now recognize the origin of the problem and where to put much focus. Looking at the financial sector of the company it is possible to note that there are high possibilities that the company is wasting away some of its finances. This is because, the Company is said to have had a regular sales income after trading for 8 months. This is evidence that the company is not making any considerable profit. Additionally, the Company has operated for the 8 months yet its sole employee still has no office. To mean, resources are not being well managed. Moreover, the Company’s cash that is available in the bank is around  £8,500. Considering the HRM factor, it is evident that the Company has only one employee who has the responsibility of managing the Company’s resources and the

Research Based Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Research Based Practice - Essay Example Health care providers also engage in experimental setups, which generate results and knowledge on the best means of providing health care. The findings from these experiments and the literature search are then used to make informed decisions and choices by nurses. Thus, decision-making process is based on the evidence, which is gathered from literature search and physical experiments. Health care providers also engage in questioning the decisions, which they make by evaluating the validity of the existing evidence. Such questions include â€Å"why† some methods and processes are in existences and not others. This creates foundation for the improvement of the research process in order to achieve the anticipated results of the research work. There is also partnership development at work with professional leaders. Such ensures that it is easier to disseminate and diffuse information on the best practice for the nursing. The partnerships also facilitate in end user adoption and im plementation of evidence-based

Contemporary Issues in Childhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Contemporary Issues in Childhood - Essay Example Donnelly et al (2000) detail the conditions associated with obesity such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes. According to Snorof et al (2004) obese children are physically at risk also for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer, orthopedic problems, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease and other debilitating diseases. These authors also suggest that obese children are prone to psychological and social discrimination. Being obese makes a child a target for taunts from peers and negative reactions from others, leaving the child with hurt feelings and possibly, low self-esteem and depression (Holmes, 1998). The negative effects of obesity can be detrimental to a child’s growth and development, thus, the problem of obesity needs to be confronted early in life and solutions provided. Clearly, overweight children have the potential to become overweight or obese adults and early intervention is needed to reverse this trend (Barnes, 2011). If childhood obesity is ign ored or tolerated because parents do not see the seriousness of its consequences, the health risks are more likely to affect these children, and as they grow into obese adults, the health problems will escalate. Parents need to realize that ignoring the problem of their overweight and obese children may have a great societal impact. This poses as a huge concern for NHS due to the burden that will befall them in terms of costs of caring for obese people with various health complications (NHS, 2011). This strengthens the need for more approaches in handling childhood obesity in order to reduce and prevent the problem from its onset. Before solutions and strategies for tackling obesity can be developed, it is important to know the causes of the problem so these causes are addressed and challenged through the different approaches. Apart from the proliferation of junk food and the media that endorses

The Food (Grocery) Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 11

The Food (Grocery) Industry - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that there is a wide spread economic recession that necessitates study of external factors affecting businesses as many of them are closing down due to this. As a management consultant, I will help the United Kingdom’s grocery industry to asses its current competitiveness and its macro environmental position so as to be able to assist in making decision about the possible strategies to be applied in future A lot of businesses are venturing in UK grocery industry, in the year 2001, the number of groceries was very high and their operative average value was estimated to be Around 103.4 billion pounds. The food industry has become the core business venture of many supermarkets and expenditure on food stuff in the UK; this growth has been constant since 1990. Analysts have ascertained that the food industry could be the only business that is recessive proof. None the less, the non food articles are responsible for the increasing share.According to the s tudy the supermarket especially the grocery industry is led by large supermarkets and groceries namely ASDA, Safeway, Tesco and Sainsbury. Waitrose is one of the leading groceries in the United Kingdom. It has shown considerable growth despite the economic recession that been affecting the industry since the year 2001. The industry has been doing very fine with Waitrose operating 137 stores, Tesco operates 146 stores, ASDA operates over 100 stores over UK and the trend is the same for other companies including Safeway and others. The PPG has made it very difficult to access out of town permission for planning. This has actually jeopardised the strategies by some of the businesses which wanted to open new food and home super-centres.

Teenage Binge Drinking Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Teenage Binge Drinking - Term Paper Example An average teenager comes across a range of advertisements almost on a daily basis. Thereby teenage binge drinking has a media associated angle. This book explains as to how teenagers pick bad habits after being influenced by media. This book will help in broadening the scope of the intended paper. Second Paper Teenage Binge Drinking There is no denying the fact that binge drinking is a phenomenon that is continually on the rise. Today teenagers get exposed to alcohol and substance abuse at quiet an early range, going by the fact that the parents today are less accessible to teenagers owing to their busy schedules and thereby many teenagers lack access to the requisite adult opinion that could warn them about the adverse effects of binge drinking (Barrie, 2011). Teenage binge drinking is getting very common in the light of the fact that the teenagers today are exposed to a plethora of consumerist and life style associated stresses, which make them more vulnerable to alcohol abuse, th ereby, giving way to a plethora of negative impacts on their health and social and academic life. As already said, the teenagers get attracted to alcohol, motivated by a wide range of sociological pulls and pressures. In that context it is really insightful to delve on the fact as to why and how the teenagers get to binge drinking? Teenagers owing to their age happen to be curious and many a times they are driven to drinking motivated by their sense of curiosity (Boyd, 1995). They simply want to know as to what it is like to drink alcohol. The other thing is that owing to the very nature of the contemporary society, the teenagers today are vulnerable to a range of pressures associated with their studies, career, relationships and friend circle. Hence, many teenagers do... Teenagers simply do not understand the facts that binge drinking tend to have a range of negative impacts on all the facets of their life. Binge drinking not only has bad and serious consequences for the health of teenagers, but it could also restrict their physical and emotional growth . The other thing is that a habit of alcohol abuse interferes negatively with the academic life of teenagers and badly influences their grades and career prospects . Binge drinking certainly has dire consequences imminent on the social life of the teenagers. A habit of alcohol abuse jeopardizes the social image and persona of the teenagers and hampers their capacity for pursuing a normal social life. Thereby the parents and the adult family members should make it a point to help and explain to teenagers that alcohol abuse could ruin their life. Schools and teachers could also play a positive role in helping teenagers understand the serious consequences of alcohol abuse. The media should also act respo nsible and the private companies must be restricted from launching ads that target teenagers and encourage them to indulge in bad habits.

Criminology 11 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Criminology 11 - Research Paper Example Certainly to a victim of crime the sentencing phase is the most critical part of the justice system. The Canadian system incorporates the input of the victim whenever practical to do so. In this way the sentencing process focuses on addressing the damage inflicted by the offender’s actions and its impact on the victim and to society, instead of focusing exclusively on the punishment aspect. If the person accused of a crime either pleads or is found guilty, the court has many options. Prior to sentencing the judge generally requests a pre-sentencing report which provides information regarding the accused party’s realistic prospects for rehabilitation. It also assesses the potential threat to the community they present. While preparing the report, the parole officer usually contacts the victim to establish the nature and significance of the physical, psychological, financial and material harms they suffered. (â€Å"Victims,† 2011). The Canadian government reformed the Criminal Code in September 1996. Included in these comprehensive reforms is sentencing guidelines that promote reparations for the various injuries inflicted on victims and the community. In addition, the sentencing guidelines are meant to teach the offender a sense of responsibility and appreciation of the hurt caused to the victim(s) and to society. Both of these objectives demonstrate the restorative nature of the sentencing phase in the Canadian system of justice. However, this rethinking of sentencing procedures does not replace but adds to the traditional objectives of sentencing such as deterrence, denunciation and rehabilitation. The addition of restorative sentencing in 1996 was referred to as a â€Å"watershed marking the most significant reform to the law of sentencing in Canada’s history† by the Supreme Court of Canada when considering the Gladue decision. (â€Å"Making,† 2012). The high court

Problems and Benefits of Privatization of Public Sector Organizations in China Essay Example for Free

Problems and Benefits of Privatization of Public Sector Organizations in China Essay Privatization as an important role of economy , has great contribution for all over the world. So what is privatization? Privatization means transfer of assets of economic activity from public sector to private sector, it has been seen by many governments as a means of revitalizing inefficient industries and as an opportunity to raise revenues to ease budgetary problems; however, privatization in China is very complicated. When reform started in 1978, almost of the productive assets were state-owned in China. But reforms since then have not included privatization. Today, there is more than 70 per cent of Chinese productive wealth which belongs to Chinese government. During the first 20 years of reform, the government concentrated the country’s assets with a great purpose of development which helped to achieve the creation of infrastructure and expansion of industrial capacity. We can image, if the state assets had been privatized, it would become a big trouble for China to mobilize resources during the tremendous industrialization between 1980s and 1990s.That’s why the initial marketization-without-privatization approach has been successful. Also because of that, China has emerged a robust infrastructure and become an industrialized economy. However, this industry-first, government-investment-driven and export-oriented growth model which has been highly resource intensive has run its course. China has expanded export almost of the world, not only the developed countries, also Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. But this growth model is limiting the speed of export. China has to turn towards growth driven by domestic demand, not exports, and one led by service not industry to shift its economy. So what can help to stimulate the transformation? The answer is privatization. Privatization remains a thorny issue in a country where private property became a constitutional right only in 2004 and where the right to own productive assets remains unclear. Many vibrant, purely private companies have sprung up despite this uncertainty, but take care to stay out of the limelight. For example, the most famous Chinese private company is Legend Holdings Ltd, is Chinese investment holding company in IT, investment, and real estate formed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences- the best-known of which is the Lenovo Group in which Legend is the controlling shareholder. In 2006, the volume of its business was 4,033,096 million RMB. Another famous private company is Huawei which makes and sales telecommunication equipment. It is biggest supplier who provides the solution of telecommunication network. Until 2011, the whole company had 146,000 employees, and the annual sales volume was 203.9 billion RMB. Obviously the kinds of private companies become a main power to improve C hinese economy and increase national income. Proverbially, privatization can help to reduce the government financial and administrative burden. The best example is Legend Holdings Ltd. Legend Holdings Ltd was based on the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Chinese government only invested 200 thousands to organize the company. However, until now, the company has developed to an international holding company with the influence from all over the world. The Chinese government doesn’t manage the company directly but it controls a part of stock of the company. According to an analysis suggests that privatization of China’s state-owned enterprises is achieved with limited compromise on the social welfare responsibilities, and much of the improvement in the firm performance comes from the reduction in the agency cost at the management level. The state-owned enterprises generally have bloated management structure with excessive amount of managerial expenses. It is because the State Assets Agency has multiple objectives, and so long as the management meets those objectives it is neither motivated nor disciplined for profit maximization. On the contrary, private companies have their own management systems, they don’t have so much social welfare duties as state-owned enterprises. Rapid development of privatization also can help government to increase their financial income. According to the data suggests, in 2004, mainly to the private economy of small and medium-sized enterprises created 58.8 per cents of GDP, 68.3 per cents of exports and 48.2 per cents of revenue in China. Also we can see the data from Legend Holdings Ltd. Until 2003, this private company handed over to the national tax 5.45 billion RMB. As the state-owned enterprises, the government has to invest by themselves to get profit; however, as private company, government can get revenue without investing or management. Increasing efficiency and productivity in certain public sector is the third advantage of privatization in China. Some state-owned enterprises sale to specific purchasers through MBO(Management Buy-Outs). The managers cooperate with foreign companies which can help to import high technology equipment and improve the manufacturing technology. Obviously, this can increase the efficiency and productivity of company. The most famous example in China is Haier. Haier as a global electrical appliances brand, cooperate with 28 companies from difficult countries like America, Japan and Germany. As of 2008, Haier has surpassed rival Whirlpool as the worlds top refrigerator producer in terms of sales, according to Euromonitor, an independent business intelligence provider. Haier said it sold 12 million refrigerators worldwide last year, up 20% over the previous year. Its market share reached 6.3% globally. On the other hand, with the development of privatization in China, there are many problems which disturb the road of privatization. As I talked before, MBO is a kind of form of state-owned enterprises privatization. The government selling the state-owned enterprises to private organization or individual is another form. The biggest problem for this form is the individual will change the enterprise to family business. The Chinese Social Science Center had a research about Chinese private economy. The data showed 61.82 per cent companies admit that they are family business. Only 27.4 per cent of enterprises’ stock was controlled by family under 90 per cent. In China, family business enterprises’ average life is only 2.8 years. Why? Many bosses of private companies provide management job to their family. However, with the development of enterprise, importing the skills of manufacture and the experience of management become more and more important. Family members are not en ough for the development of business. The crisis of stock is another problem for privatization in China. A while back Huawei company was in trouble of old employees demanded the stock of enterprise. According to this event, we can notice there is more stock crisis in privatization of China. The owners of enterprises want to control the whole company; however, when the state-owned enterprises change to private enterprises, the distribution of stock is very confused. The lack of clear strategy of cooperation and the lack of coordination system make the partner scramble for stock, which can make the management layer into disarray. The developing of enterprise is seriously for entrepreneur. However, the growth of enterprise is not only expanding the company or increasing the number of employees, it appears in many aspects. Chinese entrepreneur always want to control their companies, this means they do not want to decrease their stock of the company. This phenomenon result to the lack of investment. For example, we can connect to family business. The lack of investment and management skills make the enterprises’ average life only 2.8 years. How to affect foreign investment and increase the capital is big challenge for Chinese entrepreneur because when the enterprises become private, the government cannot control or manage or invest to the companies directly. China’s privatization has developed more than 20 years, the private company increase the government financial income and develop Chinese economics. However the privatization in China is still not mature. A state-owned enterprise which changes to private enterprise has to face many problems. In general, the trend of Chinese privatization is optimistic. This also can help to develop the world economics.

Hard and Soft System Methodology

Hard and Soft System Methodology Introduction There are two systems thinking namely hard and soft which are used to solve the problems. Peter Checkland (1981) suggested that Hard system thinking which is identified in system engineering and system analysis has the starting point in structured problems and assumes that the objectives of the system are clear and stable. This system thinking has a formulated way to solve the real world problems. On the other hand, Soft system thinking which attempts to structure a debate about actions in problem solving has the start point in unstructured problems within social activity systems.      Ã‚   Fixitup Toys limited is a manufacturer of toys which produces outdoor and indoor games, self-assembly models and toy soldiers. There has been some concern about their rising cost of manufacture and consideration has been given to the outsourcing of some or part of the production. The vision of the Fixitup senior management team is to optimize manufacture processing to produce the highest quality and most advanced products by using E-business conforming to the lean manufacturing principles and integrating into their established QAD Application. In order to achieve these goals, we need to apply the principles of lean manufacturing. There are several key lean manufacturing principles including: Understand value in the eyes of the customer. Achieve perfect first-time quality. Continue improvement. Respect for humanity. Create pull. (Asefeso, 2011) After Gathering information from all aspects of the company the following steps will be taken: As can be seen, the Rich Picture is an unstructured way of capturing information flows, communication and human activity to represent complex problems and identify possible routes through to their solution (Berg, 2013). Avison and Fitzgerald (2003) stated that the Rich Picture is helpful since: 1. Lack of space on the paper forces decisions on what is really important. 2. It helps people to visualize and discuss their own role in the organization. 3. It helps defining the aspects of the organization which are intended to be covered by the information system. 4. It helps showing up the worries of individuals, potential conflicts, and political issues. (Avison Fitzgerald, 2003) With reference to the Rich Picture, there are following problems in Fixitup. Since about 74% of customers saw the service and quality as moderate or worse, the issue of quality of products must be considered. Further, a powerful information system helps different level managements for planning, decision making, target setting and their implementations (Stephanou, 1982).Therefore, quality control system and information management system are important and they will be discussed. Resource Resource Investment Requirement: Comments: VOC was not heard because there was no effective communication between the company and its customers. Remarks: By establishing a design department and integrating this department with the marketing department the customer feedback can be incorporated into the design. Comments: Lack of checklists caused the absence of the systematic process of QC hence, the chances of defects being ignored is considerably high. Actions: The design department and the quality team will be integrated to prepare checklists according to the quality required. Comments: Since there was no analysis of the defective products, the defects were being ignored therefore they were persistent. Actions: Train a quality control team who will be responsible for doing analysis, recording data and providing feedback. Comments: There was no coherence between the departments to respond to the quality issues. Actions: Develop communication channels between the supervisors and the technical, procurement and design departments in order to create coherence towards quality improvement. Comments: There was no system for controlling and monitoring the Quality Control Process. Actions: Train the factory manager on the QC process and how he should intervene in terms of analysing quality data and controlling the system. He will seek technical advice from technical, procurement and design department for a better monitoring of the system. Comments: Monitoring and evaluation of the information system are missing. Actions: Helen who is responsible for Internal Affairs and George can be trained for the information system and perform monitoring the system. Conclusion There are different problems in Fixitup which resulted in dissatisfaction of the customers. Due to having permanently relevance and also being expected to map on to an organizational boundary, the transformation from inefficient manufacturing to efficient manufacturing which has marketable products is assumed as the primary task process (Wilson and Van Haperen, 2015). Although discrimination between primary task- based and issue-based is often debatable, it seems quality control and information management systems are issue-based which help the primary task to be carried out (Waring, 1996). The current strategy of Fixitup is to optimize manufacture processing to produce the highest quality and most advanced products by using E-business conforming to the lean manufacturing principles and integrating into their established QAD Application. After drawing the rich picture the main problems of the organization were revealed. The strategic construct which was used was classification schemes of issues which helped to identify the differentiating characteristics necessary to improve quality control and information management systems (Verma and Boyer, 2000). Further, the system construct used for quality control was input and output; modelling of such system involves modelling of each process separately considering the connection between them (Apolloni, Howlett and Jain, 2007). In addition, the system construct used for information management system was integrated elements; in which different elements including communication, information and resources were integrated for the suc cess of the system (Khan and Burn, 2013). Otley and Berry (1980) argued that four conditions must be satisfied before any process can be said to be controlled. In the existing situation there was no one responsible for monitoring the systems and consequently, there was no capacity to take corrective actions (Emmanuel, Otley and Merchant, 2013).However, in the proposed systems, George and Helen were nominated to monitor the systems. To sum up, the details of the two systems will be discussed in the following tables. System name and type Quality Control Process; The input and output system construct. Role of information Due to lack of information about the requirements of customers and standard criteria set by the management, the products were just inspected for the appearance by the operators. Therefore, the application of information which was vital to improve the quality of products was missing and consequently the reputation of the factory was being worsening. Information needed to develop In order to use the information to improve the quality of products we need to know: Quality Criteria: After hearing the voice of customers and considering the strategy of the company the criteria for quality of products such as weight, shape and material should be prepared in a simple format. Training of Workers: There was no information about the training of operators and even management in terms of quality control. Historic quality data: The historic quality data including survey reports, the number of different products produced, the number of return items should be available for better assessment of the quality of products. Coherence between QC and departments: There was no information as any department is dealing with quality matters. Further, there was no information about communication between operators and departments, if any, in terms of quality of products. More information is needed to evaluate the possibility of automating the QC department. Intervention In order to solve the problem of quality of products the following actions are suggested: Develop a design department and integrate this department with the marketing department so that the customer feedback can be incorporated into the design. The design department and the quality team should be integrated to prepare a checklist according to the quality required. The quality control team will be responsible for doing analysis, record data and providing feedback. Develop a communication channel between the supervisor and the relevant technical departments in order to create coherence towards quality improvement. Factory manager should intervene in terms of analysing quality data and control the system. Risks Even after the intervention, the following risk associated with quality of products exist: Even after the successful QC audit, there is a chance that the toys will break while transferring/ packing. The Technical and procurement departments might not react to the QC feedback. There might be a friction between the Factory manager and the design team in terms of accepting innovative designs. There might be dissatisfaction of factory workers due to job enrichment without a pay increase. Cost Benefit Analysis In order to assign a monetary value to the benefits, we need more information to predict the revenue accurately as well as intangible benefits (Mindtools.com, 2016). Having good quality products will result in increasing the loyalty of existing customers and acquisition of new customers and consequently, it will increase the revenue. In contrast, the firm may incur some costs to apply the changes. In this case, we do not have enough information about the existing departments and the expertise of employees. Assuming that none of the employees

Unstructured Free Time for School Age Children

Unstructured Free Time for School Age Children How Important is Unstructured Free Time for School Age Children? It has been said that children do their best learning when they do not believe they are doing so. We most often see this trend with kindergarteners, of whom find themselves playing games to learn to count, and singing songs to learn their ABCs. While the classroom has been an efficient location for the learning of academics, the playgrounds have been spheres of critical social skill development. These periods of unstructured free time, also known as recess, are essential for the childs development. The skills they learn during these periods of constant personalized play and imagination provide benefits that extend far beyond sharing and friendship making. There isnt one single reason as to why recess has been eliminated from many schools by their local school boards; there are a combination of factors of which have catalysed this motion. The most influential being a concern for safety and adequate supervision during the childrens recess periods. Some parents and administrators have felt that letting kids roam free for even 20 minutes during the school day is a safety hazard for the child. They fear that the child could get lost, or injure themselves from the unstructured and guiding free environment. This is the reason why many schools have banned dangerous games and activities, which further constricts what the child can and cannot do. Additionally parents also express concerns for the number of staff, meaning teachers or aids, available to supervise their children. Every parent wants their child to be the center of attention, and many carry with them the fear of their child being forgotten or ignored if something were to happen. Mor e often than not the issue rises to a greater level in the schools which lack an excess of funding to be able to hire extra aids in order to fill the teacher to student ratio requirement; most frequently the urban schools which lack much of the property taxes that fund rural schools. Additionally the past few decades have seen a larger push for academic success within our schools. States have pushed for schools to educate children where it matters, forcing the children to sit still and be quiet (Adams, Caralee). We can link this trend to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It was created with the aims to even the playing field for disadvantaged students, but it instead lead to many controversial reactions and effects. Schools were required to test the students annually, and were required to show progress and success both as a whole district and on the individual student level. Those who failed to meet the acts requirements were penalized; meaning the school could be shut down or t he leadership team within the school could be changed entirely. (Lee, Andrew) The constant pressure to succeed in the classroom lead many schools to restrict recess for the children, and increase the amount of classroom focused time. It is unfortunate to see that when recess is concerned, the hazards outweigh the countless advantages which can be brought unto the childs mind and body. On the forefront of a childs development we most often find their social and emotional skills at an immediate influence. School is a large jump for many students, and their periods of recess activity have been found to be even more influential than their time in their classrooms. Socially, the free time provided during recess can facilitate the cultivation of new relationships by the children with their classmates. These relationships lead to the development of valuable communication skills and coping mechanisms. Take for example a group of children trying to organize a kickball game. First they must decide between themselves which people will be the captains, hence the development of their negotiation skills. Then they must choose which children will be on each team; creating the foundation of their cooperation skills, and problem solving abilities. Taking turns between kickers and outfielders is a prime example of sharing, as well as perseverance when someone gets tagged out and se lf control when someone gets upset about a decision. It has been seen that these skills, which can be perfected over the duration of the childs schooling, last for years past their graduation into higher education levels as well as the outside world. Learning to cope with problems and communicate when an issue arises are two social skills which can be continuously put into action throughout ones lifetime. Recess is a period of time wherein a child is given the freedom to choose; and even when the child doesnt participate in large group games they are still able to develop emotionally and socially. They can hopscotch and hula hoop; forming smaller and closer friendships with their counterparts. They have the ability to watch the kickball game; all due to the fact that recess gives the child the ability to chose to be themselves freely unlike in a classroom where the teacher makes most of the decisions. (Murray, Robert et.al) It is not to say that social and emotional skill arent deve loped in the classroom; we see children learn to understand authority through the teacher as well as when and where play is appropriate. Instead it can be said that the skills learned through free play create the foundation upon all other skills can be based. Where some have argued that recess is a waste of crucial school time, others have been able to recognize the cognitive and academic benefits unstructured free time provides for children. Through their own imaginative actions and experiences, children construct their own individual understanding mechanisms. The periods of recess create what is referred to as optimal processing; meaning a period of unstructured interruption after structured cognitive work. In order to effectively learn, the children need recess to subconsciously process all that has gone into their brains during the preceding classroom time. While they freely play, the childs brain files all of their newly acquired knowledge into new files and sections of their brain for future use. It has also been observed that recess serves as a means for children to become more attentive. When they burn off excess energy and are able to let their imaginations run free, returning into their classroom settings allows them to produce more attentive and productive work (Murray, Robert et.al). Not only is their work more productive, but their brains are then rewired to be better. The complex environment on the playground leads to the complex rewiring of the childs prefrontal cortex. This is alternately known as the executive control center; where emotional, planning, and problem solving skills develop. Complex situations become easier to navigate for the child, as circuits construct themselves through the free play recess allows them to have. If recess is used in the manner by which it was designated, then we could see new generations better prepared for life, love, and higher education (Hamilton, Jon). Children must learn to be children, and all else can fall behind this simple fact. Just as it is essential for a child to go to school, it is also vital for them to learn how to use their imaginations. We can not as a society force children into all work and no play environments; it would be hypocritical seeing as our previous generations have always had recess and some had even had it twice a school day (Adams, Caralee). As it has been said, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Recess provides the essential periods of play for the childs development into a creative and productive adult. We must remember as a society that we are raising our future generations, not crafting mindless robots always focused on work. Our ancestors didnt create new inventions with rigid minds. They were innovative and creative to forge a new path forward for their futures, and our today. Thus, it is imperative that instead of following societys trend of fear and worry, we weight recesss benefits mor e heavily. It isnt about play; but about childhood and the betterment of our futures. Works Cited Adams, Caralee. Recess Makes Kids Smarter. Instructor 120.5 (2011): 55-59. ERIC. Web. 23  Dec. 2016. Hamilton, Jon. Scientists Say Childs Play Helps Build A Better Brain. NPR. NPR, 6 Aug.  2014. Web. 22 Dec. 2016. . Lee, Andrew M.I. No Child Left Behind (NCLB): What You Need to Know. Understood.org.  Understood, n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2017. Murray, Robert, MD, and Catherine Ramstetter Catherine Ramstetter, PhD, et al. The Crucial  Role of Recess in School. The Crucial Role of Recess in School | From the American Academy of Pediatrics | Pediatrics. American Academy of Pediatrics, Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Dec. 2016.

Children and Gangs Essay -- Gang Essays

The problem of gangs is growing, and not only in major city centers. The Justice Department says there are now 30,000 gangs with more than 800,000 members. The National Youth Gang Centre (NYGC), which conducts an annual survey that is funded by the Justice Department, concedes that every town of 250,000 people now has a gang problem. Many young adults who join gangs may do it for the following reasons: - Gangs may offer kids a powerful group identity and a kind of recognition they cannot get at home or elsewhere. - Protection - If there are many gangs in an area, joining one of them may offer protection from rival gangs. - Feeling of Belonging - Gang activity may offer a feeling of being a part of a "family" that is missing in the child's home. The child becomes loyal to the gang's values, rather than those of the home. - Intimidation - Threats and violent beatings may be used to force youths to join. - Excitement - Gang activity may seem attractive to kids who are bored, lack interests and direction, or do not feel good about themselves. The media has glamorized gangs in music, movies, and video games. This adds to the excitement associated with them. - Peer Pressure - Kids are pressured to join gangs if others around them are gang members. - Financial Benefit - Kids see being in a gang as an easy way to gain money and new possessions. - Lack of Knowledge - Kids, especially young ones, do not realize the true dangers of being in a gang. So how d...

Struggles for Release Essay -- Comparative, Kate Chopin, Nathaniel Haw

The two American short stories, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne both portrays a similar theme. The two protagonists in both short stories suffer mental or emotional torture and was trap in a literary cage. In addition, both characters in the stories meet death in the end, and that death symbolizes their freedom from the world and society that was grasping on to them. A main topic of American short stories that constantly shows up since the earlier years, and is presented throughout history is the emphasis on society and how it creates emotional and mental tortures in an individual, and imparts them with a different perspective of the world. The society that people live in has an enormous effect on them, and the way they live their lives. The protagonist in â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, Louise Mallard, suffers from the society she lives in because of its expectations of marriage. After her husband’s supposed death, ironically, Louise feels relief and joy, for she has found a way to escape society’s restraints, â€Å"A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination† (Chopin 316). The society in which Mrs. Mallard belongs to forces her to lose her freedom, a freedom she yearned for in the years she was trapped in the marriage. By being confined in a marriage and losing her freedom, Mrs. Mallard reacts in an untypical way when she’s notified of her husband’s supposed death. When Louise is told by her sister, Josephine, that her husband is gone, she cries for a second but ironically rejoices and looks forward to the years ahead and hopes that she will live a long life, â€Å"She breathed a quick ... ...in character who were trapped in the cage, finally gets released and escapes through death. Both Louise Mallard and Goodman Brown suffer from emotional or mental torture that is exerted by their society and their expectations. Also, both main characters in Chopin’s and Hawthorne’s writing was similar in that they both seek for a better life than what the society they live in offer them. Louise Mallard yearned for freedom when her society limits independence for women through the expectations of conjoining in marriage. At the same time, Goodman Brown seeks for a society where mankind has no evil wills and all are innocent, but society is inherently sinful since the time of Adam and Eve. The protagonists suffer in their time and era, but in the end they both free their souls from the clutch of society and liberate themselves from their emotional and mental tortures.

A Comparison of Vistor Frankenstein and Henry Jekyll Essay -- Papers C

A Comparison of Vistor Frankenstein and Henry Jekyll Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two horrific tales of science gone terribly wrong. Shelley?s novel eloquently tells the story of a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who creates a living monster out of decomposed body parts, while Stevenson?s novel describes the account of one, Henry Jekyll, who creates a potion to bring out the pure evil side to himself. Although the two scientists differ in their initial response and action to their creations, there are strong similarities between their raging curiosity to surpass human limitation, as well as their lack of responsibility concerning their actions. These similarities raise an awareness of human limitation in the realm of science: the further the two scientists go in their experiments, the more trouble and pain they cause to themselves and to others. In Frankenstein, Victor is extremely excited about his creation, but once the monster becomes animated with life, he is horrified and abandons his work. Dr. Frankenstein, upon seeing the reality of what he had created, had a moment of realization, ? . . . when those muscles were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as Dante could not have conceived? (Shelley 57). In the previous quotation, we, the reader, see Victor?s utter shock and abandonment of the project. When Victor notices the creature?s muscles twitching, his eyes are opened to what he has really done: ?Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance? (Shelley 57). He had not thought about the consequences of creating a being, only the actual task. Unlike Dr. Frankenstein?s abandonment, Dr. Jekyll finds his experiment intriguing eve... ...ankenstein is horrified of what he is done, whereas Jekyll seems to be virtually proud of his scientific accomplishment and murderous ruse. Both scientists discover that all of their pride and knowledge cannot conquer the unknown and unimaginable. For this and other reasons, despite their differences, Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll are both captivating literary characters that attempt to create and conquer the human mind. By investigating their similarities, we, as readers, critics, and scholars, can more fully understand the mode of scientific thinking and rationale in the nineteenth century. We also observe the consequences of two characters that overstep the bounds of reality and human conscience. Bibliography: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Penguin, 1983. Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York, Penguin, 1978.

Move N Store Inc.:”Pack and exhale”

Mission Statement: â€Å"Pack and exhale† – Offer peace of mind to customers by providing most efficient and reliable moving and storage services available. We strive to exceed customer’s expectations by building relationships between you and our team to consistently meet your needs. By utilizing the highest standards of design, development and management, we will provide facilities that consistently deliver satisfaction, value and peace of mind for our customers. Company Description: Establish a self-storage business in the US and India that offers portable moving solutions, packing services and off-site storage solutions for residential and commercial customers. Move N Store Inc. offers long and short term storage in a warehouse type of facility with climate controlled and non –climate controlled floors. Some of the key features at each facility are: * On-site managers who reside at the facility and operate from the office from 9AM – 5PM. * Automated / Controlled gate access to the facility so the facility is accessible 24/7. Loading bay with large garage doors accessing the loading dock, so that vehicles can be parked directly outside the elevator lobby for ease of loading and unloading. * Surveillance cameras on each floor in several areas for customer safety. * Individual door alarm for each unit. * Well lit aisles and lobby areas. * Completely fenced facility. * Boat, RV or Car parking in some facilities based on geographic al location and customer. A good marketing plan should focus on three objectives: increasing occupancy, increasing tenant value to the facility, and improving marketing efficiency. It should also be based on results and flexible. It will clearly outline specific activities to accomplish those three objectives, with deadlines. The marketing plan will provide strict guidelines for logo usage, copy creation and offers so that the plan has a consistent and recognizable look and feel. The plan will also discuss how the marketing is going to be tracked for effectiveness and what constitutes â€Å"effective† so that quick, smart decisions can be made throughout the year. The marketing plan will be comprehensive and focused on the target markets that produce the best results. It will be a combination of building relationships in the community, customer referral, key influencer referrals, search-engine marketing, social networking, Yellow Pages ads, and niche marketing specific to the local community. The marketing plan will be implemented on a consistent basis with tracking and measuring to make ongoing improvements. Online marketing will become an important part of the marketing plan as it attracts new customers and allows existing customers to maintain their accounts. As stated in an article by Carr, June 8, 2010: When was the last time you opened a phone book? Do you remember what ad was on the last billboard you saw? You have probably thrown away or recycled all of the bulk mail unopened that you’ve received in at least the last year. I think there’s an important reason for all of this. All of these forms of advertising are relatively invasive and, at the moment the potential customer is receiving the message, they’re not actively in need of or searching out your product or service. On the other hand, internet marketing – more specifically, search engine marketing – is a different story. The potential customer is actively seeking out a solution to their problem. They’re hoping that they will find your product or service to solve one of their problems. This means, as a business owner, it is critically important to the sustained growth of your business that you pay close attention to your online presence and aggressively try to improve it. Start a social media campaign, set up an email auto-responder, and, most importantly, discover which keywords you should be targeting and go after them with whatever resources you have. The top three tactics that will be used are: Internet marketing, database marketing, and community-network creation and maintenance. The plan will include having an effective search-engine marketing program. Second, there will be a comprehensive program to target key influencers in the area surrounding the facility; these key influencers can be real estate agents, chambers of commerce, business-networking organizations, apartment communities, housing communities, etc. Lastly, will be a program to reach out to the community and become a credible organization that helps others. Through helping others the business will become known throughout the community which can help improve business. A brief outline of the marketing plan is as follows – On a Daily basis, do the following: * Track all incoming calls to determine their sources. Keep track of the total number of calls, sources of the calls and the percentage of calls that turned into visits. * Speak with the store manager once a day to see if he needs any help. Supporting the manager keeps him/her motivated. Make at least five to 10 outbound calls each day to drum up business from commercial accounts. All managers should have a quota of outbound calls to make. * Send out postcards to those people who called during off hours. Use a caller ID device to record the phone numbers of people who call when the office is closed. Use an online reverse directory to get their addresses. Then mail them a postcard with a time-sensitive offer. On a weekly basis, the marketing plan is: * Call all the â€Å"centers of influence† in town to remind them of the facility’s presence (i. e. call the real estate offices, truck-rental places and all of the other businesses who have the potential to send you business. * Play ’Mystery Shopper† by getting the District Manager’s to call the facility and disguise their voice to hear how your employees really handle themselves when they talk with customers. * Look for opportunities to get coverage by the local media. There are countless opportunities to piggy-back storage onto a current-events news story. Find one angle each week and send out a press release. * Consider running specials to rent slow-moving units. Look at the units that aren't moving and make weekly adjustments if necessary. Waiting until the end of the month may not give the management enough time to properly react to competition or the changing market in the local area. On a monthly basis the facility shall perform the following activities: * Call and/or visit competition to see what they're up to. This is an activity that needs to be done at least once a month. * Conduct regular training sessions with managers to keep them up-to-date. Conducting monthly meetings for managers and other employees makes a lot of sense. Read industry trade magazines to keep abreast of current issues. Owners and managers must be committed to staying up-to-date with the latest industry information. * Schedule a monthly coaching session by phone with an outside self-storage expert, employees and managers like to listen to experts above owners. Using an outside expert to give basic feedback is a great idea. * Go to monthly networking events, such as at the chamber of commerce. Managers and owners should make an effort to get out into the community to network. Review occupancy rates by unit size to make necessary price adjustments. * Hold a contest for store managers, and vary them from month to month. Give them some realistic goals to shoot for and then reward them for meeting those goals. This strategy is inexpensive and effective. On a quarterly basis, marketing plan for the store shall include: * Hold unannounced, random events for customers to thank them for their business. For example, wash the car of each one of your tenants who comes into the facility on a given day. * Create seasonal fliers. Fliers are inexpensive and effective and can be created for any or all services at the facility. In addition to handing those out off-site, fliers can be designed to be placed under people's unit doors to announce various promotions. * Direct mail can be tested on a targeted group within five miles of the facility. Direct mail and Value-Pak mailers can be effective. * Find an additional item to sell at the office based on customer feedback. * Play â€Å"Undercover Boss† by working at the facility one day each quarter to find out how things really work. Owners sometimes never even see their storage facilities. Working at the facility is the single most-effective means for owners to understand what really goes on in their businesses. On a yearly basis, marketing plan for the store shall include * Attending the annual self-storage conference and expo in Las Vegas and taking store managers along. * Having a qualified consultant do an external marketing audit of the facility. * Review financial numbers with a qualified expert to see what areas of business can be improved. Some ways to measure the effectiveness of advertising are : Using website stats – using a website counter to figure out how many visitors have viewed the website. As stated in an article by Kathleen, â€Å"At the very least you should be aware of what keywords are bringing traffic to your site, how many are coming directly by typing in your domain name, and other referring pages. More detailed info such as bounce rates, visitor paths, landing and exit pages will all give you additional information to assess what marketing value your website is providing. Use Direct Mailed Surveys – Mail surveys to current customers and customers who have made enquiries to figure out which areas need to be improved and work on those areas. Ask people how they found about the business – If a cold call is placed and if it is not known where the person came from, it is good to figure to where the person came from. Was it the sign in the yard? An ad that was placed in the paper? Crai gslist? Check the response on ads – When ads are run continuously, stop the ads to figure out if it has made a change in revenue. If there are no changes, then there is no point in spending dollars on the ad campaign and it would be better to divert the funds to other options. Call reporting – this is a methodology to ensure if incoming calls were being handled appropriately and in the most effective manner to hook more tenants. This system tracks how many calls were received from print and internet advertising, a report usually provides details such as time of day you receive the most calls, where the calls originate and the length of the call. It can also be helpful in measuring how many after-hours calls are being missed. Call-tracking and recording programs – These programs help management play back calls whenever they choose to without the employees’ knowledge. If all call recordings are reviewed for the exact nature of conversations and how they are being handled, the management can begin working on refining the sales process. Other strategies that can be used in addition to advertising are: * Participating with the local community in hosting events such as food drives, charity auctions, provide storage for boy/girl scouts, provide assistance during natural epidemics such as storage for people who have lost homes during a storm or flood. Sponsor cookouts for a local fire or police station. * Partner with local baseball or football teams and provide tickets to customers based on a raffle each month. * Advertise on Valpak, Craigslist, GroupOn (for coupon discounts) and other local magazines. * Use social media network such as Facebook or Twitter for promotion. * Build LEED or environmen t friendly facilities to show responsibility towards the community and world as a whole. * Provide an online payment system for customers to pay their monthly rental fees. Some ways to measure customer satisfaction are as follows: 1. Survey Customers This is probably the only way to get customer feedback, surveys can be provided in several ways (through mail, email, or over the phone). In order to get the best information, customers should be allowed to answer questions on a weighted scale (as in â€Å"Rate your experience on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 indicating complete dissatisfaction and 5 indicating complete satisfaction†). Repeat customers may have to survey again to see how their experience changes over time. . Understand Expectations The business must make an effort to discover the expectations of customers in terms of both service and products in order to ensure that their needs are met. 3. Find Out Where You’re Failing If customer requirements are not being met, the management needs to find out where the failure is occurring. Are the products less than what is advertised? Are employees making promises that cannot be met? Are custo mer service representatives dropping the ball on dispelling customer concerns and managing their complaints? Whatever the case, it is important to know where the lines of communication are breaking down so that relationships with customers can be mended. 4. Pinpoint Specifics Whether a customer is satisfied or not, the data collected will need to accurately assess what is working and what isn’t. So inquiries into level of satisfaction should include more than just the overall experience. The business needs to determine the products or services they purchased, what they liked or disliked about their sales interaction, how the actual purchase compared to their expectations, and any suggestions they have for mprovement. 5. Assess the Competition As part of the survey process, the business may want to consider inviting customers to compare and contrast similar products or companies to find out what they are offering. This helps in understanding what is lacking in the business. As stated in an article by Kevin Cacioppo, â€Å"Customer satisfaction is the state of mind that customers have about a company when their expectations have been met or exceeded over the lifetime of the product or service. The achievement of customer satisfaction leads to company loyalty and product repurchase. † He also states that: In addition to a clear statement defining customer satisfaction, any successful surveying program must have a clear set of objectives that, once met, will lead to improved performance. The most basic objectives that should be met by any surveying program include the following: * Understanding the expectations and requirements of all your customers. Determining how well your company and its competitors are satisfying these expectations and requirements. * Developing service and/or product standards based on your findings. * Examining trends over time in order to take action on a timely basis. * Establishing priorities and standards to judge how well you've met these goals. Gap Analysis is a popular assessment tool to find out the ‘gap' between what exists verses what is needed or desired. The steps involved in this are – * Identification of customer expectations, Identification of customer experiences, * Identification of management perceptions, * Evaluation of service standards, * Evaluation of customers’ communications. Gap analysis generally refers to the activity of studying the differences between standards and the delivery of those standards. For example, it would be useful for a firm to document differences between customer expectation and actual customer experiences in the delivery of medical care. The differences could be used to explain satisfaction and to document areas in need of improvement. Other tools to bridge gap in customer expectations and experiences could be by sending mail-in surveys to customer to get feedback on the service received, going out of the way to make sure a customer’s needs are addressed, providing top notch customer service are also ways to bridge gaps. Bottom line for any small business such as Self Storage is getting to know customers, listening to their concerns, making customers feel appreciated and personal touches such a learning their names might be important in retaining business and building relationships.

Right to Own an Architecture

Right to own an architecture (by Wolfgang Koehler, Meaning, Germany 10/2008) The social issue I would like to discuss here is: â€Å"Suppose a computer manufacturer develops a new machine architecture. To what extent should the company be allowed to own that architecture? What policy would be best for society? † To develop a new machine architecture would require many recourses. Manpower, research laboratories, manufacturing equipment and last but not least a lot of money.Since companies are in business to make money for themselves as well as heir shareholders the answer to the first question to me is clear: 100%. Now we'll take a look at the pros and cons of such a policy on different levels of society. Any policy of course will have a direct impact on the people that are directly involved with this company. They are the shareholders on one side and the employees on the other. If the company has the right to own this architecture the value of the company's shares will go up.A lso it will secure the employees workplaces or even add additional Jobs. This leads us to the next level of society to be taken in consideration, the city where this company is located. Not only will it receive more tax revenue as the company becomes more profitable it also might be able to attract more qualified people. The growing demand for components also might lead to additional companies opening businesses in town. All of this will create a better economy for the city and the people living there.One might argue that owning a certain technology will lead to a monopoly. The past forever showed that most companies are not able to supply the growing demand for their product and therefore they will license out the technology to others to capture a bigger portion of the market. At this point the prices for the product will also go down and the architecture will become affordable for more and more people The right of companies to own their developments actually leads to further devel opment, because nobody wants to be outdone by the competition.A good example is the Apple pod as well as the phone. At the beginning Apple was the only company with such products on sale. Today Just about every major electronics manufacturer has similar or even better products in their portfolio. Since not everybody will have an immediate need for the product right at the point of its introduction to the market it can be summarized that a policy of 100% owner ship of the architecture has mostly positive impact on the society as such. The few perceived disadvantages are mostly based on wants rather then needs.

Energy Drinks Essay

The strategically relevant components for the global and U. S. beverage industry macro-environment are market growth rate, market size, segmentation and scope of rivalry. Economic characteristics of alternative beverage segment differ from other beverage categories in several ways. The market size for alternative beverage was $40. 2 billion globally and $17 billion in the United States, while the market size for other beverages was $ 1,548. 3 and $28. 9 billion globally. Market growth rate for alternative beverages between 2005 and 2009 was 9. 8 percent while for other beverages it was 2. 6 percent. Question two The competition in the alternative beverage market was strong. Pepsi and Coca-Cola were competing for the top spot in the production and distribution of their beverages. The strongest competitive force was bargaining power and leverage of buyers. Most stores were negotiating for lower prices since they bought the beverages in large quantities. Since Pepsi and Coke had an established brand, their alternative beverages found automatic shelf space in most stores and wholesale clubs. The weakest of the five competitive forces was the bargaining power and leverage of suppliers. The reason is that the packaging from different suppliers was similar, thus it was easy to substitute the packaging from most suppliers, and thus they had weak bargaining power. The competitive force that seems to have the greatest effect on industry attractiveness is competition from substitutes. This is why there were many substitutes to alternative beverages that were sold at lower prices. The competitive force with the greatest effect on profitability of new entrants is a threat of entry. Question three The market for energy drinks, sports drinks and vitamin-enhanced drinks is changing in several ways. There is innovation of products with the rise of drinks containing additional nutrients and introduction of energy shots. Furthermore, the industry is also considering consolidation options in an attempt of reducing distribution costs, for example Coca-Cola distributed Hansen’s Monster energy drink. The drivers of change are changes in the long-term growth rate, industry consolidation and introduction of new innovative products into the industry. The forces individually or collectively may not cause big changes in the attractiveness of the industry. The reason for that is there is no evidence that the big companies of alternative beverages will practice unhealthy and aggressive competition for market dominance. Question Four My strategic group map of energy drinks, sports drink and vitamin enhanced beverage industry is categorized by considering the scope of geographic distribution of producers and brand portfolio. Pepsi and Coca-Cola are positioned favorably since they compete internationally and have a strong brand portfolio. Hansen Natural is a dominant brand company since Monster energy drink accounts for 90 percent of its sales. The success of this company is mainly contributed by strong supply chain due to its partnership with Coca-Cola and Anheurser-Busch distributions. Rockstar Inc is also successful in this map since it has a strong distribution chain offered by Pepsi. However, Dream Water and Living Essentials are positioned poorly in this map since their distributions are only regionally located and they only offer a single brand. Question five Several key success factors determine the success of alternative beverage producers. One of these factors is the brand image. Producers with a strong brand image created by extensive advertisement campaigns and endorsement from celebrity athletes enjoyed big sales. Furthermore, products with strong supply chain and distribution network, for example Coca-Cola and Pepsi, had bigger market share. Companies with good innovative skills due to extensive research and product development had more sales since they developed new categories such as energy shots. Companies with huge sales volume enjoyed economies of scale and thus they were able to cover their sales and distribution costs. Question six Coca-Cola should adopt several recommendations to improve its competitiveness in the alternative beverage industry. It should consider increasing its sales in Europe and Asia by conducting extensive market campaigns in these regions. Moreover, it should consider increasing its innovation efforts in order to regain its market share in energy drinks. Another recommendation is considering 5-Hour energy in an attempt of increasing its overall brand portfolio. Pepsi should consider adopting image building campaigns brands such as Amp and Double Shot since their overall market share in Europe has been declining. The company should also consider developing its own energy shot brand in order to diversify its brand portfolio; It would be a good idea to consider introducing energy shots to Europe, Middle East and Austria, since these markets are feasible. Red Bull GmbH should increase its innovation efforts in an attempt to increase its market share in Europe and United States. It should also improve its performance in the new energy shots it introduced in the market.

Newspapers and Books outdated? Essay

Newspaper and books have long been a medium for information transfer and dissemination. The printing press and the printing industry have been around for centuries, and have become the major tool for communication and information. They have been the most popular medium for shaping public opinion. Their credibility, knowledge, values and information-gathering skills remain a formidable force on the high street, and with titles now separated into sections with more lifestyle content, their potential for brands has increased further – online and offline. The success of newspapers largely boils down to a single truth: they are effective in shaping opinion. They possess a large amount of power when it comes to public perception. For many, newspapers are the most reliable form of news and information, backing up this information with credible opinion and insight. It is this level of trust that leads to readers spending a huge amount of time reading their newspaper with two thirds of readers at least three quarters of the content, impacting millions of people. Technology has many great functional purposes, which aid in our daily lives. As more and more people start embracing these functions, books are slowly being replaced. A total of 2,267,233,742 people use the Internet alone that constitutes 32.7% of the world’s population. New technology is thought to be very empowering. We live in an information society where the leading role has been given to new technologies, especially those devoted to information. This is a very threatening prospect for books and newspapers. As we try to understand information, to separate it from judgement, to establish fact, we find ourselves in a free fall: we bring to information, to judgement, to ‘fact’, our opinions and views which are in part created by the very manifestations of information, news and opinion that we consume. The Internet and other forms of the new media shape this very information. Also, more and more people are using technology. Whether they want it or not, technology is not only becoming a mandatory part of their jobs, but their children are bringing it into their homes. The increased sophistication of operating systems (e.g.Windows) and of the applications written for them lower the barriers to learning how to use technology. The catchword of these new tools is intuitive (as in, â€Å"this new application has a number of intuitive, easy-to-use features . . .†). The plain fact is that people are  using more technology because it enables them to do more with less. Compare the process of performing manual research using books with the process of using a computer. Computer-assisted research usually takes a fraction of the time and, consequently, money. Thus with the aforementioned points, one could argue that books and newspapers are a thing of the past as we move into the twenty first century. However, one could argue that books and newspapers are in fact creating something new, blurring the lines of old and new media. Perhaps one cannot judge a book by its cover, but there is a wealth of information to be gleaned from its interior. As we embrace the Internet and other new technologies, newspapers and books are beginning to blur the line between old and new media. The new media is not here to replace the old media; in fact, there are possibilities of linking the new media to form a † whole new art form â€Å". Books and newspapers possess the enduring role in shaping habits of thoughts, conduct, and expression. At the same time, it draws attention to the ways in which the social, economic, and material coordinates of books have been changing in relation to other media, denser forms of industrial organization, shifting patterns of work and leisure. These two forms of media seek a broad audience for a typically narrow (and often biased) message that’s typically embedded in entertainment or useful information/opinion. Mass media communication is expensive, so it’s funded through participant admissions/subscriptions and contributions, or through sponsorships and advertising (or a combination of these funding sources). It thus must provide something sufficiently valuable to its potential audience to gain that necessary financial support. Emotional arousal created by these media drives attention, which drives learning and conscious behavior – so it’s important for media programmers to understand and present content that will emotionally arouse potential participants. The media thus exploit areas of strong emotional arousal to help shape our knowledge and opinions. The content covered in these two forms of media potentially shape our thought and opinions. Newspapers and books may exist physically as old media but the content within lets newspapers and books coexist as new media. Therefore, with the aforementioned points, books and newspapers are not deemed as outdated. Books are artifacts with a deep and abiding history that belong in and to our own age-no more and no less so than flat-screen televisions, MP3 players, computers, and other so-called cutting-edge technologies, they keep us in tune with the rest of the world. Janice A. Radway, an American literary and cultural studies scholar, quoted that; printed books and newspapers â€Å"do not appear miraculously† in people’s hands. â€Å"They are, rather, the end product of a much-mediated, highly complex, material and social process.† (Radway 93) Integral to this process, is distribution. Developments in this perhaps more arcane aspect of the circuit of culture have paralleled transformations in the more closely scrutinized domains of book production and consumption. The everydayness of books belies a long, complicated, and still unfinished history, one intimately bound up with all of the following: a changed and changing mode of production; new technological products and processes; shifts in law and jurisprudence; the proliferation of culture and the rise of cultural politics; and a host of sociological transformations, among many other factors. The history of books go further beyond than just writing down a story, it consists of much more and people should learn to cherish that fact. Thus with the aforementioned points, books and newspapers are not outdated. The normative role of newspapers-setting a community agenda-remains essential, but the ways in which the newspapers fulfill this function are in constant transition. All media are about relationships. We are connected with community by means of our contact with media, including other people, who also are a form of media after all. Communication scholar Keith Stamm argues that â€Å"children are a [medium of connection] between families and the school system.† (Stamm 100). Similarly, news media connect us to the communities to which we belong, or want to belong. Likewise, the World Wide Web is not just a medium about information but about relationships-a way for individuals to connect with other individuals. Audiences have historically connected with their community by means of newspaper agendas. Audiences, who collectively or individually adopt the newspaper agenda of issues as their own, meld with their local community. Sharing media agendas means that different types of people-men versus women, old versus young, rich versus  poor-become more focused on the same public issues, suggesting that one function of news media is to draw disparate individuals around selected public issues. That role has been important for the newspapers since our colonial beginning and is likely to remain so in the twenty-first century. In modern times, newspapers have proven important platforms to examine the performance of contemporary institutions, such as the _Washington Post_ investigations of the incidents surrounding the Watergate break-in during the administration of President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s. Newspapers reflect the community dynamic, and the future of newspapers is linked to the future of communities. Therefore, with the aforementioned points, books and newspapers are necessary in society and are not outdated. In conclusion, books and newspapers have many deep hidden qualities that people cannot see from the surface, they provide us with essential information, they have a deep abiding history, they blur the lines between old and new media. Although it may seem as though technology is replacing newspaper and books, it is not necessarily true as newspapers and books are needed in society and they cannot be outdated. BIBLIOGRAPHY Keller, Bill. â€Å"Disrupters and Adapters, Continued: Will the Internet Save Newspapers?† _Bill Keller’s Blog_. N.p., 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 13 July 2012. . Porter, Eduardo. â€Å"EDITORIAL | EDITORIAL OBSERVER; What Newspapers Do, Have Done and Will Do.† _The New York Times_. The New York Times, 14 Feb. 2009. Web. 10 July 2012. . Striphas, Theodore G. The Late Age of Print: Everyday Book Culture from Consumerism to Control. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. Print. â€Å"World Internet Usage Statistics News and World PopulationStats.† World Internet Usage Statistics News and World PopulationStats. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Aug. 2012. . Griffith, Cary. â€Å"Multimedia and the Importance of Books: Does Greater Use of Nonprint Research Sources Herald the Book’s Demise?† _Information Today_ 1 Jan. 1997: n. pag. Print. Sylwester, Robert. â€Å"BrainConnection.com – How Mass Media Affect Our Perception of Reality — Part 1 – Page 1.† _BrainConnection.com – How Mass Media Affect Our Perception of Reality — Part 1 – Page 1_. N.p., Dec. 2001. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. .

How the art in london effects london economy Essay

How the art in london effects london economy - Essay Example Needless to say, London art drives the economy of London in its own way. Not only are millions of funds generated in art sales every year, the art market also creates scope for new jobs, media spend and regeneration. Approximately 10,000 people are employed in the over 120 art galleries of London alone. Finally various other industries also benefit in the process. Underlined are more details on the London art market and how it drives the economy of the nation. UK is the world market leader when it comes to auction sales by volume, and demonstrates an approximate 30% in the world market share. With London holding an important position in the UK art market, it is needless to add that its various auctions form the art market of UK. The London art market is strongly driven by its Frieze art fair, collector Charles Saatchi and finally the approximately fifty new galleries that have opened up at East End. Three main auction houses mainly operate the art markets of London. Statistics reveal that put together, $353 million worth of art changes hands in these markets, that too in the off season. Christie's conducted their biggest ever sales in the year 2006 and reported sales of approximately 78%. Sotheby profits heavily too. It indicates that the art market of London functions through many micro markets, which revolve around specific artists or genres. Among these micro markets, those of old Masters, Impressionist and Modern Art have seen the gre atest rise. The post war and contemporary market have also shown a rise of over 45% over 2006. As the financial markets represent the economy of the nation, the art market reflects the willingness of the rich to spend disposable amounts of money on works of art. However along with this market, there are also some pieces of art that have not sold at all. One glaring example is the sale of Basquiats which were reported to sell at the $5 million range in the 1988 time period. As people expected the prices to go up several notches to touch the $10 million mark, many were surprised when the pieces did not sell over the last few years. While some say that this indicates a fall of economy in the London art market, many others state that this issue is just a matter of quality, which was presented through signature elements in the earlier Basquiats, but absent now. So discerning customers are not overspending but are choosing to spend their money on certain micro markets, which are present a nd growing and taking the economy to a new high. Tourism booster Tourism is an important economy generator in London accounting for one tenth of the city's economy. The various art galleries of London serve as a major attraction to tourists and international visitors who come from diverse parts of the world for the various art fairs. These tourists not only enhance the economy by spending on pieces of art in London, they do much more. They provide the much needed boost to local economies through their spending during their stay, which is approximately 2.3 million locally. A study conducted in 2005 by MEW Research at the National Gallery, on their 2004-2005 exhibition on Raphael: From Ubrino to Rome, indicated similar results. The exhibition attracted 47% people from UK and 17% tourists from abroad. Studies also revealed that 47% tourists came specifically for the exhibition.