Horrors of War

|Explain how R. C Sherriff conveys the horrors of war to the audience of â€Å"Journey’s End† | | | |English | | | |2/28/2010 | | | |Chloe Archer | Explain how R. C Sheriff conveys the horrors of war to the audience of â€Å"Journey’s End† Journey’s End† is a play written by R. C Sheriff, who had fought during the First World War. This enabled him to bring his experiences into the play which adds to the realism of the French trenches in 1918. First premiered in the year 1928 (10 years after the end of WW1), the audience would have been sensitive to the play because there was a real possibility that they’d lost friends and family in the war. The entire action of â€Å"Journey’s End† does not leave the dugout where the men are based; which allows the audience an insight of how life was for British companies during WW1 and how they coped with war. Although Sheriff did not intend his play to be focused on the horrors of war, his depiction of a realistic setting and characters convey this. We are given information about the war and the men’s way of life by the setting. ‘Through the doorway can be seen the misty grey parapet of a trench and a narrow strip of starlit sky. ’ This shows that the dugout was claustrophobic and frightening since they were so close to no man’s land where so many lives were lost like Raleigh’s. During Raleigh’s death scene, R. C Sheriff uses the stage directions to metaphorically describe Raleigh’s gradual death. The solitary candle burns with a steady flame†¦.. The shock stabs out the candle flame. ’ The stage directions help to describe what is happening outside of the dugout such as ‘The shelling had risen to a great fury’. The writer has personified the shelling for the effect that war has a life of its own which cannot be contr olled by the men, ‘stretcher-bearers’ can be heard by the audience off stage, this shows that people are being injured by the ‘fury’ of the shelling. Hardy and Osborne’s handover lists facts to explain to the audience what happened previously when ‘a dug-out got blown up and came down in the men’s tea. They were frightfully annoyed. ’ R. C Sheriff has used dark humour to show how the men cope with the war. Also Hardy gives important information on the artillery â€Å"We’ve got a Lewis gun just here-â€Å". To deter away from the uncontrollable war the men would talk about the things that could be altered or controlled; for instance Trotter enjoys controlling what they eat ‘Keep ‘em and use ‘em for dumplings next time we ‘ave boiled beef. ’ This helps the men feel secure knowing that there are some things that are controllable and that they have a future albeit only in the short term. A few of the characters are deeply affected by the war; one of them being Hibbert who attempts to use ‘neuralgia’ as an excuse to be discharged from the frontline. This is deemed cowardice by the rest of the soldiers ‘Better die of the pain than be shot for deserting. ’ This is said by Stanhope when Hibbert tries to leave before the German attack. This quote also shows how cowardice was dealt with during the First World War and why it drove other men to cope with war in different ways. For example, Stanhope, turns to drink (alcohol) and soldiers are heard saying that he ’gets a reputation out here for drinking’. This quote shows that most of the men know Stanhope drinks and accept it even though he is a commanding officer. As an audience we are told that he didn’t drink before he joined the war. This is shown by the conversation Osborne has with Raleigh, in which he says Stanhope ‘caught some chaps in a study with a bottle of whisky. Lord! The roof nearly blew off. ’ This quote shows the irony of the situation because when Raleigh knew Stanhope he used to confiscate alcohol off of students but now he has found comfort in drinking it. However Raleigh himself realised the horror of war when Osborne was killed post raid, ‘How can I sit down and eat that-when-when†¦. -when Osborne’s†¦ ’ this quote shows that Raleigh does not know how to cope with Osborne’s death. As Stanhope hasn’t mentioned Osborne after the raid Raleigh thinks that he doesn’t care but he has ‘to forget’ so that he can bear to carry on fighting in the futile war. One of Journey’s End’s main themes is the futility of war; we are shown the uselessness of it when the raid-men returned 7 fewer than when they left. Including Osborne, the fallen men had sacrificed their lives for important information from a German officer which they never got as the German was only ‘a bare headed German boy†¦. ’ who told them what they already knew. So the raid was wasted as the only new information they discovered was that a German soldier carries a pocket knife as well as other ‘oddments’. Stanhope emphasizes this when he ‘speaks in a dead voice’ after the general celebrated ‘how awfully nice- if the brigadier’s pleased. ’ These quotes also indicate that the soldier’s actions are at the general’s whim. The audience saw the war transform Raleigh from a strong eager boy, who was clearly inexperienced as he was unsure of how to address other officers ‘Good evening (he notices Osborne’s grey hair and adds:)sir. ’ Another example of his inexperience is when he states ‘how frightfully quiet it is†¦.. i thought there would be an awful row here’ this shows that he has no concept of the reality of war. However, as time moves on and the play progresses we see Raleigh develops in maturity. We see this when Raleigh and Osborne are having their last drink before the raid; ‘I wonder what the Boche are doing over there now?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. I don’t know. D’you like Coffee†¦? ’ the author shows here that Raleigh is keen to know as much as possible about the raid whilst Osborne is trying to put it off for as long as possible as he is worried about the ‘millions of bullets’. We, as an audience, see Raleigh become deeply affected by the war, succeeding the raid, (when he had left Osborne dead, in no man’s land). His appearance is more rugged and dismal in comparison to his previous shining uniform this could be a reflection of his emotions as well as just war worn; this would be seen as a landmark in Raleigh’s life in the trenches. The audience is taken through Raleigh’s experience of war and his relationship with his fellow men and officers. He became a steadfast part of the story with which the audience could relate and he formed a connection between the characters and action taking place. It is therefore a loss when he dies that is felt by everyone absorbed in the play. His and the play’s final scene portrays a young man alone in a dark place, with a solitary candle burning for company but is extinguished in a raid that collapses the men’s shelter and snuffs out his life just like the candle. The men’s way of life in the trenches was isolated and boring, which left them to find ways of entertaining themselves: from the opening conversation between Hardy and Osborne we are told one of the ways that they amused themselves, ‘Ever had earwig races?†¦ We’ve had ‘em every evening. ’ Mason is seen as a main source of humour and light relief for the men a good example of this is when he has an ‘unpleasant surprise’ which is a tin of apricot chunks labelled pineapple chunks. This light humour helps the men to cope with the dire way of life; this is in contrast to the dark humour. The men have to live with ‘about two million’ rats which they have to shoot otherwise they ‘gnaw at your boots’ rats also carried many lice and fleas which then infected the men so personal hygiene was hard to maintain. Stanhope talks about imagination ‘He doesn’t see into the earth beyond – the worms wandering about round the stones and roots of trees’. This quote was about Trotter and his lack of imagination which ‘sharpens the mind’ the quote also adds to the claustrophobic living conditions knowing that they are at the same level as worms in the earth. The men also told stories to keep themselves occupied whether from war life or home life, ‘I spent all the time in the garden making a rockery. In the evenings I used to sit and smoke and read – and my wife used to knit socks and play the piano a bit. ’ This was said by Osborne who is known to be the ‘family man’. We are given several images of war throughout the play, Osborne the family man who passed his belongings onto Stanhope to give to his wife before the raid with the possibility that he mightn’t return. This shows his love for his family giving them his personal belongings as a reminder of him and his compassion. Raleigh is seen as stereotypical, eager to fight for his country, recruit. ‘full of guts’ which was one of the reasons why he was selected for the raid. Also he idolised Captain Stanhope from his school memories and was eager to meet him again. The audience are prepared for tragedy at the end of the play because a main character had already died, who was likeable so it showed that no matter how popular the character was he could still be killed. Also when R. C. Sheriff personified the stage directions to give the shelling a life of it’s own from ‘the lighter â€Å"crush† f the smaller shells, there comes the deep resounding â€Å"boom† of Minenwerfer. ’ The noise created from the booms and crushes would also create tension. In conclusion I believe that R. C. Sheriff best shows the horrors of war through the character Raleigh because i feel that he represents war because war starts with an innocence and as the play progresses it is slowly lost this his character could also be representitive of the human race starting with innocence and as the play pshows the affect war can have on a person and the gradual burden of it. The stage directions are a main factor as well because you can not see further than the dug-out, which isolates you away from the ‘front-line’ and the stage directions show war itself with the crashing and booming of bombs and bullets; they also tell the story and help set the scene. I personally feel that war is useless

Babysitting for Sociology

Over the past seven years I have come to learn many different things about myself and about children due to babysitting. I first started babysitting when I was a about eleven years of age. I started off by watching my younger brothers when my parents went out at night. That affected my biological rhythm (274). My body was used to going to sleep around nine o’clock since I was still young, but I had to force myself to stay up so I could watch over my brothers while they slept. I sometimes found myself staying up till about midnight! Since I was so tired from staying up it seemed to have an affect on my sleeping also.It seemed like I would have more dreams that I could vividly remember the next morning (280). The next couple of nights after I babysat, it seemed like by body was on REM rebound due to the stages of REM sleep I would miss (276). Now that I am older I have trained my body to be able to stay awake and not feel like I had sleep derivation the next day (280). During th e duration of training my body to stay awake late, I learned a few things the hard way. I first thought that if I drank a lot of caffeine I would be able to stay awake longer and easier.Well that thought nearly ruined me! It wasn’t soon after I started relying on caffeine that my body became tolerant to it, and it seemed like I couldn’t go sleep without it or wake up without it (297)! At first it seemed like I was going through a withdrawal period (297). My body was craving the caffeine so badly that I felt sick without it. From that experience I have learned that doing homework or talking on the phone helps me stay awake while I am waiting on the children’s parents to get home. I am lucky that I have only suffered from addiction to caffeine and not drugs.A friend of mine became addicted to cocaine due to having to stay awake late for school. When she took that drug she said it made her feel like she could stay awake forever. To stay awake that is what a person wants to feel. Cocaine addiction is a fast track from euphoria to crash (301). Through my many years of experience in babysitting I have learned that most children fall under the category of associative learning. Associative learning is learning that certain events occur together (315). For example with most children after everything they do there is some sort of consequence.Younger kids have a tendency to get into things that they shouldn’t. Therefore, after they get into something that is off limits, they get in trouble. After watching kids fall under that category I also realized that many adults fall under it also. It seems like after every action there is a consequence. Here are some examples of kids actions and the responses they get. When a kid eats or drinks, automatically they have to use pee or poop afterwards. That is an example of unconditioned response (317). The substance the kid puts in their mouth is the unconditioned stimulus (317).A kid has to use the restro om soon after they eat because they haven’t quite learned how to control their urges. That is why they sometimes also go the bathroom in their pants. I learned a lot about babysitting through observational learning. Observational learning is observing and intimating others (341). When I was younger and I was unable to baby sit, a close family friend used to come over and watch my brothers and I. I learned a lot of from her. I learned many games from her that I now play with the kids I baby-sit. That comes in handy when I try to keep all of the kids occupied.Another thing that I learned from her that comes in handy when babysitting is patience. Patience plays a very big role. Kids repeat things over and over again, in other words they don’t know when to quit. That turns into getting on my nerves a lot. I have learned not to let it bother me as much. I have taught myself to take a deep breath when that happens and try to get the kids minds on something else. There are tw o different kinds of reinforcement I use with the kids while I baby-sit. They are positive and negative reinforcement (329).I use positive reinforcement when the kids do something that is good. For example, if they clean off their plates after they eat and get everything ready for bed, I will give them a good night treat. If the kids do something bad or if they go against what I tell them to do, I use negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement may be they do not get a good night treat, they have to go to bed a half an hour early, or I may even give a bad report to their parents. I only give a bad report to the parents if they didn’t listen to me at all, or if they continued to back talk me.I find a lot that latent learning occurs a lot with the kids also (334). While I am baby-sitting I try to teach the kids something new every time. Sometimes they pick it right up other times it takes a while. For example, I try to teach the kids to always wash their hands before and aft er they eat. I teach them by making a point to let them know what I am doing when I wash my hands. Soon after, I will catch one of the kids trying to reach the facet to turn it on so they can wash their hands. When it comes to the kids memory, its not very long.It seems like to me that kids only remember things if they really want it. Other than that, they have short term memory. Short term memory is when you learn something but shortly afterwards you forget what it is (362). For example, when I am helping the kids clean up their room I try to tell them where stuff goes so that they can do it on their own. Well every time it comes to clean up time, they don’t remember where anything goes. When ever the kids do remember what I have said or taught them, they are retrieving memories from storage. Storage is the heart of memory (361).Through all of my years of baby-sitting and experiences, I have learned many things about myself and about the kids I watch. I am now able to predic t what certain kids are going to do or say at a certain time. I have gotten to know each of their personalities and became familiar with they things they like and the things they don’t like. I am also familiar with the things they know and what things they do not know. Through everything the kids put me through and taught me, I have learned a very important thing about myself. I love working with kids and that is what I hope to do in life regardless of what field it is in.

Strategic Initiative

If the strategic plan is properly prepared and understood, then the company will continue to grow and thrive. Wall-Mart is a multimillion dollar empire that provides goods and services to communities all over the world. They are able to do this is because they are constantly looking for new ways to keep their business growing while keeping their customers satisfied and coming back for more. In this paper, Team C has developed a strategic planning initiative that will help Wall-Mart appeal In the local community.The strategic plan will help readers understand how financial planning plays a large part in the success and failure of a business by looking at costs and sales in the community, and finally ascribing the risks that are associated with the strategic planning initiative and financial effects they may have on the company. Strategic Planning Initiative Financial planning is about finding out how the business is going to financially in the future. This means that reports from acco unting and other departments have to be correct or else the forecasting will not be accurate.When a business is working on their financial planning they need to prepare a cash budget. Financial planning helps a business to know how the profits will look in the future which In turn will help them plan on other things. This is where the strategic planning comes Into play. The company can plan how much merchandise to receive for parts of ten year. I nee can also Tugged Tort Dulling expansions, malfeasance, Ana toner necessary things. By knowing how much they can spend on certain projects with the amount they have received from the financial forecasting they can budget properly.They can take the time to plan smart and know what they can do for the company and what they cannot do. Wall-Mart is planning on getting their supplies and merchandise from responsible sources. They want to make sure that the products that they sell to their nonusers are safe to eat and that with our busy lives t hey want the products to stand the wear and tear. With the help of the safer and stronger merchandise, Wall- Mart is planning on increasing sales and make sure that they are making the importance of their values known.With this said from the annual report, Wall-Mart is also working with Michelle Obama to make their food products healthier and their produce cheaper. (womb. Anytime. Com) Mrs.. Obama is helping to reduce obesity in children and trying to make foods healthier. Wall-Mart has been meeting with the first dad and are going to take their brand, Great Value, and make it to where it has less fats, sugars, and unhealthy salts. They are going to come out with healthier soups, salad dressings, rice and snacks.Wall-Mart is also trying to get Kraft to follow their examples and produces healthier products. Initiative Affects on Costs The new initiative will not have a major effect on cost for Wall-Mart. Wall-Mart will continue to use its current manufacturers to be able to provide t heir consumers with the most economical prices. Some things that have caused a change in cost for Wall- Mart would be the improvement of labor productivity and also organizational changes that have been made.There may be several changes that may occur in the upcoming year, but with their past experience Wall-Mart is fully prepared to embrace the changes in the most efficient way possible. They will continue to provide better health benefits to their employees and will be more strategic in their advertising. Also, with the Wall-Mart website they are cutting cost by not having so many items to ship and stock in their stores. It also provides their consumers to have easy access to he products which will expand their clientele.Initiative Affects on Sales Wall-Mart's two initiatives that our team focused on are not only driven by expectations of rising sales, but are thoughtful of improving society in small ways. The initiatives focus on improving the health of consumers, helping them to make smarter choices when doing the food shopping. Very aware of the effects of the economy, Wall-Mart is also finding ways to make these healthy choices affordable and realistic. Quality and values are what they are aiming to reveal, being responsible ND thoughtful so that buying Wall-Mart products is an easy and smart solution for better everyday living.With such a strong platform, these initiatives should easily lure American's into one of their 3,804 stores, targeting the common need to live smart and healthy lives on a budget, in order to accommodate the current state of ten economy. â€Å"We are expanding our assortment, re-allocating selling space Ana enhancing productivity initiatives to reduce costs† (Wall-Mart, 2011). By working with suppliers Wall-Mart is aiming to expand assortment in all categories and make the assortment more relevant. We continue to implement productivity initiatives throughout the stores, supply chain and logistics to improve returns. As we s ee top- line sales increase through our focus on IDLE (everyday low prices) and from operational and merchandising improvements, we can further enhance our ability to drive expense leverage† (Wall-Mart, 2011). With cost reduction and commitment to the focus at the core of the Wall-Mart organization, everyday low prices, sales will continue to rise, and the trust and loyalty consumers already show will grow even trotter.Risks Associated with Initiative and Financial Effects As with any business it is important to assess the risks and the financial affects of a business initiative. For Wall-Mart, three initiatives have been identified. The first is purchasing supplies from a responsible supplier. The second is to produce healthier food products in conjunction with the support of Michelle Obama. The third is to promote cheaper produce which will encourage families to eat healthier. The identified associated risks are the possibility of limited resources from so-called expansible suppliers causing Wall-Mart to limit goods that they sell.In addition, there is the possibility of higher cost associated with responsible supplier which will then be trickled down to consumers. Lastly, there is definite risk of botulism or reduced sales associated with purchasing lower quality produce in order to meet their initiative of cheaper produce. With any risk there are also potential financial affects which are the effect of the associated risks. For Wall-Mart they may find that they have to pay more for goods that are form responsible manufacturers and appliers which in turn which trickle down to the consumers causing them to pay more for goods.In turn, causes Wall-Mart to lose customers due to higher pricing. On the other hand if Wall-Mart is able to budget for the absorption of the additional costs and see no price rise to their consumers then they may actually see a financial benefit. Wall-Mart envisions cheaper produce as a potential benefit to its customers and it ca n be but the key to this success will be purchasing cheaper produce that is still quality produce and offering it at an everyday low price to consumers.On the other hand if Wall-Mart offers cheap produce that is not quality produce they may see a reduction in revenue and a loss of customers in this area. Conclusion Wall-mart has over 3,804 stores worldwide, and is the largest leader in retail sales. Wall-mart is able to do this by expanding their business into other countries and providing great quality items to their customers at low prices. The best way for Wall-mart to grow even bigger than they already are is to create a strategic initiative plan that is firm and reliable.

The solutions to the body and mind problem Essay

The solutions to the body and mind problem - Essay Example The solutions to the body and mind problem The problem of the body and the mind is description of the different opinions of different scholars on the level of interactions between the body and their collective and individual roles in the development of an individual. How exactly could the mind initiate an interaction with some parts of the body that results into movements and actions like asking questions in class? How exactly could individual sensation in other parts of the body stimulate the mind while their natures were identical and different based on Descartes’ dualism? Different philosophers have made different desperate attempts and sociologists to solve the body and mind problem and this paper will discuss the various attempts that have been made so far and how they attempted to give a conclusive answer to these questions (Taylor 33). Descartes believed that the body and the mind were two independent faculties and only one substance existed which was united and that was god. The existence of finite substance therefore depended on the mercies of God to exist and to function well. The mind is however nonphysical occupies no space and is only manifested by the behaviors of the individual who owns it. The body also has a three-dimensional view making it possible to divide into three symmetrical parts, which are the mind, does not occupy any space and lacks a basis for division.The concept of dualism as advanced by Descartes however have a number of problems as its notion that the mind is non-physical and immaterial makes the notion of zombies and mutants immaterial.

A Silurian placoderm with osteichthyan Research Paper

A Silurian placoderm with osteichthyan - Research Paper Example In this regard, the Chondrichthyes are deficient of the huge cutaneous bones that typify the Osteichthyes. The Chondrichthyes are regarded as the cartilaginous fish while the Osteichthyes are regarded as the bony fish. The mutual opposition of these distinctions and the body structure of the last common ancestor of gnathostomes have continued to be a topic of consensus among scientists (Zhu et al, 2013). In this paper, Zhu and colleagues (2013) identify and delineate a three-multidimensional well-maintained placoderm fish from Silurian of China with combined features of a placoderm-like cutaneous skull roof, shoulder girdle and braincase with osteichthyan-like cutaneous bones of the mandibular and hyoid arches, and a palatoquadrate sharing obtained attributes with crown gnathostomes. This is a thing that had not been seen before. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the skull roof is level and sturdily curved horizontally. Most of the braincase of the fish was covered with rounded , central and nape plates, winged by corresponding postorbital, peripheral and frontal and subsequent paranuchal plates along the route of the arterial intraorbital and primary lateral line grooves. Additionally, the petite and thin proboscis constitutes a snout, a premedian and premaxillary those seem to be attached mesially. The Dermal cheek comprised the jugal, maxilla and a quadrajugal with a sensory channel pattern. The trunk armour comprised of attributes similar to those of the early arthrodires such as phlyctaeniid. On the other hand, the analysis revealed that the braincase was wide and flattened, replicating that of the ancient arthrodires (Zhu et al, 2013). This review was executed to identify the phylogenetic position of Entelognathus and the effect of its typescripts on gnathostome organic evolution. The evaluation was carried out using a modified version of the data. Entelognathus was placed with arthrodires, crown gnathostomes and ptyctodonts by the severe accord of 1 17 most frugal trees. The results of the analysis put several acanthodians under the gnathostome and osteichthyan stem clusters. The phonetic resemblances between the chondrichthyans and acanthodians were translated as symplesiomorphies. Zhu et al’s (2003) results portrayed that the resemblances represent synapomorphies of the chondrichthyan entire cluster. The classification of all acanthodians in the chondrichthyan stem cluster indicates that macronery in the preceding mutual ancestor of crown gnathostomes. The results of the analysis also indicated that Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes had macromeric cutaneous bones and offered a new theoretical account for reviewing crown gnathostome variance. Personal Response This paper clearly brings out a comparison of the four groups of the jawed vertebrate. It makes it clear to me, as a reader, by indicating that two of the groups are still in existent while two are extinct. Additionally, from my observation, similarities and differe nces between the groups are well articulated through diagrams through the article. The article explains each of the body structures and skeletons before comparing them. For instance, the article shows that Osteichthyans and Placoderms have macromeric cutaneous skeletons dominated by a huge body plates while Chondrichthyans and Acanthodians have micromeric cutaneous skeletons that primarily consist of scales. The article has brought me at

Personal Definition of Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Definition of Innovation - Essay Example In this regard, the essay aims to propose a personal definition of innovation taking into consideration a comparative analysis of the concepts of innovation, invention, and creativity. Likewise, a description of the relationship between technical or traditional problem solving and creative or intuitive problem solving would be proffered. An explanation of the importance of innovation to the success of individuals, organizational leaders, organizations, and nations would also be presented. Finally, a determination of the importance of management systems and styles to creating an organization where innovation is enabled would be discussed. Innovation is a process of creative change with a clearly defined purpose of improving a current system or operating process to attain maximized potentials of resources towards a higher level of growth. As a process, innovation needs the application of effective strategies for improved performance. It accurately defines specific aspects to be addressed: a weakness, a threat, a gap in an organization’s current operating system or structure and outlines alternative courses of action that presents possible and viable solutions to the identified dilemma. Innovation, as a change process, is designed with the vision to increase the satisfaction of the organizations’ target market and thereby contribute to the maximization of organizational goals. Innovation is the â€Å"process by which an idea or invention is translated into a good or service for which people will pay. In business, innovation results often from the application of a scientific or technical idea in decreasing the gap between the needs or expectations of the customers and the performance of a firms products† (Business Dictionary, 1). vaccine against market slowdowns and an elixir that rejuvenates growth† (Rigby, et.al, 79). The authors compared innovation to evolving changes in a fashion industry requiring continuous reinvention of product line,

What are the main differences between Monopolistic Competition and Essay

What are the main differences between Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly market structuresWhich of these market structures best serves the interests of the consumer and why - Essay Example In this type of market structure the firm takes the price charged by the competitors as given and does not take into consideration the impact of its price on that of competitors. In the short run the firms operating in monopolistic market can act as monopolies but in the long run the other firms enter into the market and the gains of differentiation takes the downward sloping curve with competition. Oligopoly is regarded as the market structure where there are large firms operating in the market with significant barriers to entry. The oligopolists are aware of the conditions prevailing in the market as the market is dominated by only few sellers. The decision undertaken by one firm will influence the other firms operating in the market as well as the market as a whole. The decision or the responses of the market participants should be taken into account in the planning process. The prevailing competition in the market structure can give rise different outcomes. An operating firm in the oligopolistic firm can maximise the profit by operating at the level where marginal revenue is same as marginal costs. Differences The primary differences between the two types of market structures are in terms of relative size and control of the market of each firm on the basis of the number of competitors in the existing market structure. It is difficult to find clear cut evidences that cite the differences between the two market structures. Some industries can posses the characteristics of both oligopoly and monopolistic firm. With decrease in the level of competition the firms tend to behave more likely to that of oligopoly and less likely to that of monopolistic competition. The monopolistic market structure offers differentiated products. The suppliers are aware of the price system existing in the market i.e. they are the price makers. The barriers to entry are not stringent in the short run but in the long run the firms can enter or leave the industry. The sellers can act in independent fashion within the market. The demand curve slopes downward and is more elastic than that of monopolists (Economics, 2012). The firms operating in the oligopolistic market structure are interdependent. The products offered can be homogeneous as well as can be differentiated across producers. The interdependence among the firms is correlated with the homogeneity of the products. A huge amount of investment is usually associated with entry in the oligopolistic market. In this market structure the firms can collude and impose some restricted trade practices with the aim to raise prices. The profit of the industry is maximized with the collusion of firms. If one firm believes that the other firm will keep the output level constant it can raise the productivity so as to gain maximum revenue. In a situation characterised by cartel the firms can recognize the significance of joint profits from producing each unit of output. However if one firm believes that the other firm will increase the level of productivity, then the other firm will try to increase the productivity faster to gain the first mover advantage (Central Washington University, 2003, p. 3). In this situation the cartel will broke. The significance of market structures on interests of consumers As long as the consumers are happy in demanding one product regardless of the prices of other products the seller o f the product will be acting as a

Insurance Claim Follow-Up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Insurance Claim Follow-Up - Essay Example The follow-up process of insurance claims is essential, especially when such claims are unpaid. It is important to follow up unpaid insurance claims in order to ensure that relevant authorizations are made, and that the underlying payment will actually be made. Without follow-ups, claims that are not authorized are hard to detect (Padfield, 2012). This may lead to the clinics or hospitals realizing deteriorating financial well-being. Following up insurance claims especially those that are not paid confirms whether or not claim records are available to the insurer. This facilitates timely reimbursements by ensuring that claims are correctly and timely filed. Finally, the follow-up informs the claiming party of the claims that have been approved, those that have been denied, and those that are likely to be underpaid. In so doing, mistakes related to insurance claims are easy to detect and correct. Therefore, insurance follow-up ensures that the insured-insurer dealings do not jeopardize the normal operations and performance of

What were the major reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union in Essay

What were the major reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 - Essay Example To begin with, the collapse of the Soviet Union was much a consequential effect of poor managerial aspects of the political system inexistence. Established in 1922 under Vladimir Lenin, Soviet Union was built on terror upon the larger citizenry, orchestrated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) machinery engineered by Joseph Stalin, the party’s first General Secretary. Intolerant to any form of criticism, Stalin basically murdered millions opposed to his authoritarian nature of leadership; a style of leadership that would set the tone of communism for several decades, in effect, forcefully actualizing the acceptance of the Soviet Union’s governance with all the ills without questioning. In addition to his firm grip on the government machinery, his policy of dà ©tente basically cut off the Soviets from the world. His leadership was one of a kind that non-would have wanted to follow. Accordingly, long before Gorbachev’s assumed power in 1985, successi ve leadership beginning with Nikita Khrushchev-the immediate Stalin’s successor, made numerous changes; gradually losing the very fundamental facets of the Stalinist control (Dallin and Lapidise 675). As ideas from the west, spread in part by academics, begun reaching the masses, commitments to the Soviet Orthodoxy begun a fast downward trend; the exposure to the superior living standards in the west in addition to the political freedoms resulted in widespread jitters in the late seventies through to the Eighties ultimately forcing the introduction of Gorbachev’s ‘glasnost’ (Dallin and Lapidise 681). Instead of rectifying the hitherto growing dissatisfaction, the ‘glasnost’ unveiled the ills of the past regimes, further bringing into question the ideals of communism and legitimacy of the regime in power then. In reality, ideologies advanced by Gorbachev and his

The Purpose of Determining the Main and the Basic Problems of the Unit Essay - 3

The Purpose of Determining the Main and the Basic Problems of the United States of America - Essay Example Obviously, the intensity and the mode of the practice of racism has been changed and evolved but it has not been eliminated from the society. This evolution can be explained with the help of an easy example. When a person starts to give extra privileges to a man of African American descent and treats him different from others, this is where racism kicks in. The mode of racism has been changed from ‘treat them like hell’ to ‘treat them different from others, be it in a good sense so that they feel that they are not one of us’. But the fact cannot be denied that there have been made certain efforts by the public as a whole including the state in which this element has been tried to be eliminated. For instance, let us take the example of the Boston busing desegregation. Although it was a very hard time for the administration and the people as a whole when the people of South Boston turned on the Blacks, it was an effort by the government nonetheless. It was not only the busing desegregation but Boston had even prior to this made their intentions clear in the riots and protests against the racial imbalance act. The children that were brought to South Boston suffered deep emotional stress but they laid some of the building stones in the development of eliminating the racial discrimination. The president Ronald Regan, however, had some policies which can be said to be not so much in conformity with the interests of all the races, especially the African American ones. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration if one said that the policies of Mr. Regan suggested that he had no care for the blacks of his country. For instance, let us take the example of his support of Bob Jone’s university. The university was denied the tax exemptions from the IRS. The IRS basically denied the tax exemptions to the colleges and universities which had the policy of segregation on the basis  of races.  

Understand the role of the Social Care Worker Essay Example for Free

Understand the role of the Social Care Worker Essay Ai: Three differences between a working relationship and a personal relationship are: A working relationship is a relationship that remains professional within the workplace where as a personal relationship you may spend time with someone out of work hours. A personal relationship is a relationship in which information sharing is unlimited yet a working relationship information sharing is on a need to know basis with colleagues, residents and other professionals. A personal relationship is one of choice with someone you like and share common interests where as a working relationship may be with someone you may not usually be friends with but have to form a team with that person and work under certain rules. Aii: One example of a working relationship in an adult social care setting is the relationship between carer and resident. This relationship is important as you need to maintain a professional duty of care. Another example would be between the senior in charge and the G.P. When a G.P comes to see a resident that is poorly they are relying on the carers and the senior in charge to inform them of any changes in that resident so they need to be professional at all times. Aiii: It is important that social care workers work in partnership with individuals using the service and their families because we all have a common interest in doing whats best for the individual and keeping them from harm. The service user is there because they may not have someone that can look after them the way they need therefore involving families and help to improve the way you care for them. For example, you might think that â€Å"Doris† may like going to bed at 10pm every night but is always very tired during the day after getting up at 7am. The family can tell you that in fact â€Å"Doris† used to go to bed at 9pm and likes getting up at 8am when she was at home. It is  essential to establish and maintain a good working relationship with family as they can also help to overcome any communication issues you may have with that service user and also find out their preferences for food choices. It’s all about person centered care. The resident is less open to abuse as there are clear boundaries and expectations of the social care workers relationship. Aiv: Three ways of working that can help improve partnership working are: Involve the resident in all decision making regarding their care plans for example what time they like to go bed, whether they prefer a bath or shower and if they like to go out on planned outings Give them a choice at meal times and what they would like to wear that day Try to promote their independence by giving them as much do to by themselves as possible for them without allowing them to struggle and that someone is there if they need a hand. Av: When people with different views, skills and expertise work together there may be disagreements about the best way forward. Here is five different skills or approaches that may help resolve conflict. 1.By listening to each side may help you and others see that your way may or not be the best way 2.By compromising you can figure out the best outcome by thinking about all possible solutions 3.Stay calm. If you start to lose your temper than the problem isnt going to get resolved 4.Communication is key. By talking it through you all may come up with a suitable solution as a team 5.By using a person centered approach everyone has the residents best interests at heart. Avi: Two ways in which you could obtain support and advice about working in partnership and resolving conflicts are by talking to colleagues and senior members of staff. They may have more experience and knowledge when dealing with conflicts or partnership working. The manager can help you by offering a professional solution to conflicts and follow the complaints procedure. If necessary the manager will enable you to access conflict management training or any other training that may be relevant. Task B Bi: Agreed ways of working means: That you should keep up to date with legislation Follow policies and procedures Work within your job description Work within your code of conduct Work in line with care standards Bii: Its important to have up to date details regarding the agreed ways of working because if a piece of legislation changes, as they do quite regularly, you need to know what is expected of you. When I was pregnant in order to keep myself, my colleagues and the residents safe my job description changed slightly and my new agreed ways of working were updated regularly. These changed back when I returned to work after having the baby. Biii: Where I am not trained in giving medication if I was to carry out this task I would be liable if something was to go wrong. I do not carry out tasks that are not within my job description and that i have not been trained in as these are not within my agreed ways of working. Its important to follow these guidelines so that I do not cause harm to myself, my colleagues or the residents.

English literature exam paper Essay Example for Free

English literature exam paper Essay †¢How does the writer present her thoughts and feeling about the struggle for identity? †¢How far is the extract similar to and different from your wider reading about the struggle for identity in modern literature? You should consider the writers’ choices of form, structure and language as well as subject matter. Betty Friedan has started her speech with two rhetorical questions, â€Å"Am I saying that women have to be liberated from men? That men are the enemy?† She is encouraging her audience to think about what her feelings are exactly. She quickly answers her own question, â€Å"No.† Within the first two sentences she has already got her audience to think about her views and their response to that. This was a good way to get her audience intrigued about the content of the rest of her speech. Her first paragraph is a basic overview of her feelings on the modern’s women’s movement. This way she can develop her points further in the rest of her speech. Throughout her speech, Friedan uses very negative language to describe men and their actions. For example, forced, suppressed, brutal etc. This shows that she has very negative views towards men and isn’t afraid to share this. She uses this pessimistic language to show how men have been holding back women and their struggle for identity. She says â€Å"men are going to bear the guilty burden of the passive destiny they have forced upon women,† The word forced is quite a harsh and aggressive word and this shows how she feel women have been treated by the other sex. She uses the metaphor of men and women being half human because of certain things holding them aback. For example, â€Å"Men are not allowed to cry.† And â€Å"as women are only half-human, until we can go this next step forward.† This shows that women can’t feel whole or complete until she is equal with men. The metaphor is carried on in the last paragraph but that when women are finally â€Å"allowed to become full people† that the next generations will live in a better wo rld. The word â€Å"allowed† suggest that she feels women are being suppressed by men or another controlling factor. Friedan says in the last paragraph â€Å"relate to each other in terms of all of the possible dimensions of our personalities – male and female, as comrades, as colleagues, as friends, as lovers.† Firstly she shows that they are separate as she disconnects by separating the genders, â€Å"male and female†. However, she then describes both the male and female population together â€Å"as comrades†. The word â€Å"comrades† have military connotations. This shows that men and women could work together in something that is seen as so masculine as the army. She then describes them â€Å"as colleagues†. This follows on from being comrades. If they can work together efficiently together in the military then they can handle working together in everyday jobs as equals. The effect of the whole list is that they are different (different genders) but are equal. She shows the struggle that women face in everyday life, â€Å"hate and jealousy and buried resentment and hypocrisies,† These words all help to show how negatively the way women are being treated is seen. Friedan then goes on to explain what life will be after men have learnt to except that women are people to, â€Å"there will be a whole new sense of love that will make what we call love on Valentine’s Day look very pallid.† There is two ways to look at this. Firstly, Valentine’s Day is meant to be the one day in the year where you show how much you love someone, this can show how much gaining an identity means to the women and what it will do to the world. However, one could argue that Valentine’s Day is only one day a year and so the changes could only be semi permanent. The whole speech from Betty Friedan is all about women’s struggle for identity. In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, there are subtle hints about the same issue. For example, at the end of Act One Biff and Happy are talking to Willy about getting some money and starting up a business together, Linda is also in the room. Linda tries to speak, â€Å"Maybe things are beginning to –â€Å" and Will ironically interrupts her and says â€Å"Stop interrupting,† Throughout the play Willy is putting Linda down even though she is the only person in the family that is really concerned about Willy’s health. However, we can see that in the play Willy represents the older generations views on women and Biff has the more modern and just outlook on it which represents the younger generation. This is shown again at the end of Act One. Linda starts to speak again and Willy interrupts her as he has done previously however this time Biff tells Willy â€Å"Don’t yell at her pop, will ya?† this shows how the women’s battle for identity has been paying off as the younger generations are starting to accept that this isn’t right. Betty Friedan foreshadows this in her speech when she says â€Å"children be born and brought up with more love and responsibility than today,† this shows what the modern population is going to grow up around. However, in Death of a Salesman we get the impression that Linda is essentially a housewife and is there to look after her family, mainly Willy, and to do domestic jobs around the house. This is fundamentally a typical role of women of the time. However, Betty Friedan seems to be saying that women are being active about changing the oppression that they are under. This difference in attitudes however could be to do with the age of the women and the modernity of them. For example the struggle for identity in the modern era can be different for different people. Because Linda is part of the older, less modern generation she is less likely to want to bring about change whereas Betty Friedan and the women she is talking about have more modern and equal views.

Mcdonalds Competition Against Burger King

Mcdonalds Competition Against Burger King McDonalds is one of the best global foodservice retailer which has more than 32,000 local restaurants serving more than 60 million people in 117 countries each day. More than 75% of McDonalds restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local public. The Company serves the world some of its favourite foods World Famous Fries, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets and Egg McMuffin. The history began with our founder, Ray Kroc. The strong foundation that he established continues today with McDonalds vision and the commitment of our talented executives to keep the shine on McDonalds Arches for years to come. . Its head office is located in Oak Brook United States. McDonalds Corporation is the worlds largest chain of fast food restaurants, working worldwide in 117 countries with 400000 workers. It has 60 Million customers with 32000 restaurants worldwide. A franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself operates every McDonalds restaurant. The corporations reve nues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. Its net operating income for the year ended 2010 is $7.673 Billion. The type of the company is public. Time Line: 1940: Dick and Mac McDonalds open MacDonalds Bar-B-Que restaurant on Fourteenth and E streets in San Bernardino, California 1948: Dick and Mac McDonalds opened the 1st drive thru restaurant in San Bernardino, California. 1949: French Fries replace potato chips on MacDonalds menu 1954: Ray Kroc becomes the first agent of franchise for the McDonalds brothers. 1955: Ray Kroc opens 1st McDonalds in Illinois. 1957: McDonalds started knowing for the motto QSC. 1959: McDonalds started billboard advertising. 1961: Ray Kroc acquires McDonald brothers for $2.7Million. 1963: Ronald McDonald made his debut in a way to attract more children and families. 1965: Television network advertising begins. 1969: The new design for the restaurants roof introduced to replace the red and white design. 1984: Training started providing for every level of McDonalds management worldwide for quality assurance. 1995: The new advertising theme have you had your break today? debuts. 2004: ISO 14000. 2005: 50th Anniversary. 2008: introduces the most broad global packaging design in the brands industry Burger King: Burger King is the 2nd largest fast-food chain, behind only McDonalds. The company franchises more than 10,400 restaurants and owns about 1,000 for a chain wide total exceeding 11,455, with locations in all 50 states and 56 countries. The company serves 15.7 million customers each day and over 2.4 billion Burger King hamburgers are sold each year across the world. In the late 1990s and into the new millennium, Burger King was plagued by falling sales and deteriorating franchisee relationships. Burger Kings parent, Diageo Plc, sold the company to a group of investors led by Texas Pacific Group in 2002. Miami entrepreneurs James McLamore and David Edgerton founded Burger King Corporation in 1954. Five years later, they were ready to get bigger their five Florida Burger Kings into a all over the country chain. By the time they sold their company to Pillsbury in 1967, Burger King had become the third largest fast-food chain in the country and was on its way to second place, after industry leader McDonalds. Time Line: 1954: James McLamore and David Edgerton establish Burger King Corporation. 1957: The Whopper is launched. 1959: The company begins to expand through franchising. 1963: First Burger King outside the U.S. in Puerto Rico 1967: Burger King is sold to Pillsbury. 1975: Burger King introduces the drive-through window 1977: Donald Smith is hired to restructure the firms franchise system. 1978: BKC introduces new line-up of sandwiches (fish, steak, chicken and ham) 1979: BKC introduce breakfast menu 1982: Burger King claims its grilled burgers are better than competitors McDonalds and Wendys fried burgers. 1983: BKC introduce The CroissanWich 1988: BKC launches We do it like youd do it add campaign 1989: Grand Metropolitan plc acquires Pillsbury. 1997: The firm launches a $70 million French fry advertising campaign; Grand Metropolitan merges with Guinness to form Diageo plc. 2002: A group of investors led by Texas Pacific Group acquire Burger King 2004:Subservient Chicken is launched 2005: BK Chicken Fries are introduced 2006: BK goes public limited company 2007: 50th anniversary of the WHOPPER SANDWICH Main Topic This report consists of different operations, research development of products, innovation, changes, and competitiveness of McDonalds and Burger King according to the requirement of this course work. How they do research and developing new products, how they manage their product and service quality, how they taking competitive priority on each others, and which systems and approaches they following to make their businesses successful in this competitive environment and satisfy their customers where expectations of the customers are very high and changing their needs rapidly. Compare and Contrast of Operations How They Cook The main difference can be seen in the kitchen of these two restaurants. How they prepare their burgers for customer like McDonalds cooks their burger by a batch process where as Burger king make their burger by a machine paced assembly process. McDonalds Batch Process McDonalds fries their burgers on a big platen in batches of up to twelve. Two ore more than two batches can be on platen at same time in different stages of cooking. When a worker in the back says Quarter Pounders Up a complete batch is ready at the same time Burger King Broiler Process Burger king cook their burger on continuous chain broiler. Semi prepared burgers are put on one end 80 second later they bring out the other end its cooked. This sort of machine paced assembly process is very common in industrial manufacturing processes. Teamwork VS Assembly Line As both of these companies following two different strategies of operations like Mcdonalds batch process and King Burger assembly line. As in McDonald 12 hamburger are prepared in same time. They are hand seared after 20 seconds on the grill, turned at sixty seconds and pulled at hundred seconds. When they come off workers over there must fastly add condiments wrap and shelve them. If there are two batches going there in different stages of cooking then its mean that speed is more essential part to keep production on going. So its mean the staff must be motivated or the process gums up. Staff must be cooperative and willing to help in another area in case of help required. Burger King Here in Burger King there is no matter at what speed burger are prepared once they are cooked the rate limiting step is the cooking itself. One burger in a time comes off the chain broiler at the rate of 8 per minute, maximum. The machine makes the process fast. As long as you can do your job of assembly process in seven and half seconds per burger that all which is required. Fast and Quick Service(Just In Time) How McDonald can stay on top? The answer id that when it is running good, the batch process allows for much greater throughput and faster speed of services. Speed plays an important role in the popularity of food store. The batch process of McDonald can prepared 300 burger in one hour where as 200 for the continuous chain broiler of Burger king. There are standard given by each restaurant for speed like McDonalds is faster than Burger king because prepared burger for 3 minutes where as McDonalds delivered only in 90 seconds. Capacity Planning McDonald McDonalds has a very strict standard for food preparation and its their goal to facilitate their customer as fast as they can. To meet this goal they set a plan of inventory of food production to meet surges in demand. There are strict limits how long the food can remain in inventory limits the amount of inventory can be made this food limit allow to McDonald create a level between its production and the workforce required. This sort of strategy is called level production. Burger King Burger king is using another sort of strategy. They once promoted their burger using a have it your way philosophy because Burger assemble burger when they receive an order, because product is made when the demand appears. So Burger King has variation in labour need and this is the reason for customer to have wait. They nevertheless provide a product geared according to the requirement of customer. This sort of strategy is known as chase demand. Quality Control Burger King: uses the customer and market oriented surveys to manage the quality of service on regular basis. HSSP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) program is the execution of strict operation and sanitation procedures. Our food safety program employs a broiler design and meat cooking procedures that fully cook products, killing any potentially harmful bacteria. McDonalds: Q.S.C. V. Provide good quality, services to customer. Uses a cleanliness environment when customer enjoys their meal. The value of food product makes every customer is smiling. Price: Burger King uses affordable prices for quality food strategy so that its prices are less than its competitors. McDonalds came up with very high prices. The Company has certain value pricing and bundling strategies such as happy meal, combo meal family meal etc to increase overall sales volumes. Product: McDonalds doesnt offer just burgers their well-diversified menu is also one of the key success factors. Burger King: Burger King is offered flame-grilled burgers and offering a variety of food and other products those fulfilling the demands of all segments of society. Layout of Restaurants: McDonalds: Restaurants have included a playground for children and advertising geared toward children. The new strategy of re-designing of layout of the braches create natural style with a particular emphasis on comfort introducing lounge areas and fireplaces and eliminating hard plastic chairs and tables. These facilities give comfort to customers and create satisfaction. Burger King: The lay out of the restaurants are very wide and people could comfortably spend time with their food. Branding: McDonalds: Has partnership globally with Coca Cola to sell their drink with their menu Burger King: Has also co branding contracts with Coca Cola worldwide. Innovation: Innovation is the lifeblood of any successful business. In modern times, demand and expectations of customers are high and looking for change. The companies have to act accordingly to beat the competition and their survival. McDonalds has continuously introduced new products. The introduction is time such that the new product does not cannibalize the product already in the maturity or growth stage. A perfect example of renewing a product in decline phase French Fries have been an important part of the McDonalds menu worldwide. In an attempt to revive the Fries, Macdonalds amend and re-launch it with new name and style Shake Fries. This is being served with spicy spice mix, which has resulted in increase in the sales of French Fries and has elevated it from to the decline stage. The company is also focusing on nutrition and healthy food options for their customers. Burger King innovations in nutrition, quality, value and taste are all important attributes that can help our guests and their children make choices that promote healthy living. In July 2007, BKC identified two cooking oils with zero trans-fat that passed our rigorous operational, supply and consumer criteria; allowing us to start providing all of our restaurants in the U.S. and Canada with zero trans-fat oils. In 2008, we initiated a limit of 600 milligrams or less of sodium in all of our Kids Meals advertised to children under 12 years old. In May 2009, we introduced lower sodium CHICKEN TENDERSÂ ®, reducing sodium by 36 percent. BKC has joined the American Heart Associations (AHA) Industry Nutrition Advisory Panel (INAP), a partnership between the AHA Nutrition Committee and food industry leaders. INAP brings together representatives from the food industry and science to share information and plan cooperative programs in the areas of diet and nutrition and cardiovascular disease. Maintain Quality, Value and Taste: Nutritionally balanced products should still taste good. If our foods are nutritious and taste great, parents will order, it and kids will eat it. The Burger King always searching new ways to develop new product not only for variety in term of quality of food and nutrition for health of their customers. The are some latest innovations from Burger King BK BURGER SHOTSÂ ®, with BKTM Fresh Apple Fries, MINUTE MAIDÂ ® apple juice, CHICKEN TENDERSÂ ® with BKTM Fresh Apple Fries, Hamburger with BKTM Fresh Apple Fries, Philosophy of McDonalds: McDonalds consider People its philosophy. They provide the best employment experience for our employees to achieve their goals of providing our valued customers with the worlds best quick-service restaurant experience. They strive to recruit the best, hire the best, and provide the best place to work. People: The Company is the well aware of value of both its employees and customers. It knows the reality that a happy employee can work well with conclude as a happy customer. Human resources continuously working on finding new ways to motivate their customers (employees). The company focuses on critical hiring, best training and motivating employees through best pay structure and benefits. Philosophy of Burger King: Philosophy of Burger King to give option to customer to choose the food and we innovate. Burger Kings goals seemed quite clear. They want to individualize each customers order and provide the fastest service possible. Burger King gives the customer many choices and to accurately and quickly provide whatever the customer chooses. This policy is reflected in their slogan, your way, right away. Operating under this policy makes it very easy to achieve their goals. To facilitate fast service Burger King takes customer orders on a continual basis. One employee takes the customers order, the customer then moves down the line where another employee is preparing the order. Customers also get their own drinks while they are waiting for their meal. Burger King providing the innovative and healthy food options to their customers. Problems: Burger King Corporation is the second largest fast food restaurant chain in the world and growing their franchise network through globally. The company needs to do a lot to sustain the performance in this competitive environment. Burger King has good operational systems designed to provide customers with efficient and responsive services. The success of the operational system of Burger King is directly related to the degree of co-operation and co-ordination among these three subsystems. Any attempt to improve the efficiency, quality and responsiveness of the operational system must focus on these subsystems and their interactions. On the other hand increasing customers demand and expectations are challenges. Burger King is facing the following some problems in operations which affecting the quality services as compare with competitors: Staff motivation Inventory systems Equipment upgrade Customer accessibility Recommendations: Based on the analysis we can conclude that The Company should start by solving their internal issues so that they could perform batter and could achieve their objectives: Staff Motivation: The turnover rate is high employee are not staying long due to lack of motivation. The company should focus on retaining their staff. The company should plan an internal marketing so that they could address these issues. For this the company should give their employees tailored made training to serve the customers and coordination between them. The structure of the pay should be revised as per market based and give them incentives and benefits on their best performance. They should organize the team building activities to create team bonding within the teams. Inventory Management Systems: The company is using inventory and supply chain systems those are not latest and affecting the efficiency of the company, due to this company is facing the inventory wastage and storage expenses. If the company do focus on improving, inventory systems that could reduce the cost of materials handling and waste. Equipment: The company is the second largest company and need to update about the technology and equipment those are using within the operations. The company is spending huge amount of money on marketing, innovation and employee but if the food processing equipments not giving desired out could lead to loss of revenue, service and resources. The company should up-grade the systems that will help the company to perform better. Customer Accessibility: Burger King is facing very fierce competition. The company has less accessible to their customers as compare with the competitors like MacDonalds that why company is losing the business. Although it could, addresses in long term but very necessary because if you spend on product development, sourcing material and advertisement globally then you need to reach the customers accordingly. In this contest, you are not getting the right business due to fewer stores geographically. Conclusion Burger King: This age is competition and innovation with better management of the resources. It is a very strong chain of fast food restaurants all over the world. Being in maturity stage it has high opportunities of introducing its new products and growth. In future, it will be expanding its chain by introducing more outlets in more countries. Although in McDonalds there may be more problems than Burger King but the fact is there cannot be a perfect one in the world. Every organization has its internal problems but Burger King is what it should not be. Because people rely on it hugely. Burger King should serve people with true spirit of the company vision. Personal Reflection: Personal Description and Expectation I would like to describe myself as a very pleasant, diverse, energetic and committed person. I think one of my most distinguishing characteristic is my professional experiences and the business degree I am carrying under my belt. Along with my business education, my experience with the contact centre industry, peoples management that provides me sufficient exposure to manage a team, focuses on the performance and peoples management and delivering quality services. The visionaries place the customer at the core of their organizations business systems. In fact, it takes a visionary to see the mass market, assemble the financial and human resources and be the winner at the market place. My previous experience of management and leadership push me to learn advance techniques of business from the best business school in London. I have known about the practical processes of the business but not have idea about the philosophies of the business and culture of the multinational organization around the world.. Learning Outcomes: When I have started this module in the college and start reading books and other readings found this a real practical course. The theory of quality services and operational strategies I have read were those we were practising in the office in routine. Then I start associating these theories and knowledge with my previous experience that helped me to learn and understand the practices in real world. Learning and Development: With the help of previous practical management experience and latest operational techniques up to date practices I feel very clear changes in my perception about operations. In the past, I was following the pattern, which was designed by the top management to implement the policies. I never challenged those policies and practices due to lack of knowledge and expertise. After completing these multinational corporations operational management approaches I feel very comfortable and confident to take new challenges and responsibilities in future. It gives me in-depth knowledge and practical exposure about the subjects, which help me to start analytical and critical thinking about the projects.

The Author To Her Book :: essays research papers

Writing poetry can be a deeply personal (and sometimes painful) process. If talent and luck prevails, the poet will actually produce a something that reflects the inner workings that first motivated their pen to meet paper. Through struggle and sweat a poem is born, and for better or for worse the creator is responsible for the subsequent journey that it will take throughout it’s poetic life. In it’s infancy, it might seem a miracle of creation, but like most parents the writer will work at maturing the verse and rhyme so that it can defend itself when it eventually leaves home. The world that it will one day enter is a cold and critical one, and few will understand the true meaning and depth of the poem’s soul like it’s parent does. Anne Bradstreet beautifully demonstrates the intimate relationship that exists between an artist and her work in the poem The Author to Her Book. In the poem she directly addresses the book that was published without her consent, referring to it as her child, kidnapped and exploited in a world of criticism. By exposing the her work to the world, she feels that her own inadequacies are revealed as well, thus creating an internal struggle between pride and shame. This paper will take a detailed look at the poem line by line, and draw out the deeper meanings that Bradstreet injected in regard to the book The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, her illegitimate brainchild. In the first line Bradstreet refers to the book as an â€Å"ill formed offspring of [her] feeble brain.† This not only expresses her opinion of the work, but also that of her own abilities as a poet. She seems to feel no confidence, and says so upfront, as if to apologize to anyone who might have encountered her work. Although its flaws embarrass and shame her, she understands that her book is the offspring of her own "feeble brain", and the lamentable errors it displays are therefore her own. In lines two through four she shows that her ‘child’, once safely kept close to her side, suddenly â€Å"snatched† away by friends â€Å"less wise than true,† and then â€Å"exposed to public view† before it had a chance to mature in her care. It’s in Bradstreet’s strong descriptive language that she is able to express her feelings of betrayal. Though she doesn’t outright say it, she obviously felt deceived, and suffered the same exposure that the book had.

Essay examples --

Minority entrepreneurs have many barriers they have to overcome in order to be successful. Some typical problems they face are limited access to capital, lower equity investments, and less exposure to entrepreneurship. Minority entrepreneurs are twice as likely to be turned down for traditional lending, which can discourage them from even applying for a loan. Not only that but they are less likely to be considered by traditional or angel investors. They also generally live in run down areas, with poor schooling and less access to successful people. One entrepreneur who has hurdled over all the barriers and became extremely successful is Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Records. Biography of Russell Simmons Russell Simmons was born in Queens, New York, on October 4, 1957. Growing up in Queens, he spent part of his adolescent years as a street hustler. During his middle school years, he sold marijuana and was even a member of a local gang. He was arrested twice on other charges and was given probation. At eighteen he began taking college classes in the New York area and started working at an Oranje Julius, but financed his clubbing lifestyle by selling fake cocaine. One night in 1977 while at a club he saw the clubbers going crazy over a song from Eddie Cheeba, an early rapper and DJ, he decided that it was the sound of the future. Simmons quit selling fake drugs and left college to begin promoting concerts and forming his own management company for artists. He called his company Rush Management. He managed Kurtis Blow, and Run-D.M.C.. In 1884 he partnered with Rick Ruban and founded Def Jam Recordings and starting the cultural revolution known as hip-hop. Businesses & Industries  ¬Ã‚ ¬Russell Simmons has his fingers in a ... ...nced everything from music to finance and philanthropy. He has been the architect in creating the trends in current pop culture. A majority of Simmons’ endeavors would fall into the venture opportunity school of thought, and he took an integrative approach. My Thoughts Simmons built an entertainment empire, with hip-hop at the foundation. By fighting for hip-hop, even when everyone said it was a fad Simmons taught me that, even if everyone doubts something, all it will take is one person to believe and to fight for what they believe in. I also learned that if one person starts to work towards a goal, it would pave the way for others to follow. Simmons often said that â€Å"Black culture or urban culture is for all people who buy into it and not just for black people. Whether it’s film or TV or records or advertisement or clothing, I don’t accept the box they put me in.†

99 Cent Store Case Study Essay -- essays research papers

99 Cent Only Business Strategy v. The Competition David Gold, founder and CEO says the 99 Cent strategy is â€Å"to create the shortest path possible between the customer and the sale† (Rae-Dupree, 2004). This is important in deep discount retail in order to purchase close-out and other special-situation merchandise at prices substantially below wholesale that sell at prices significantly below regular retail (Symplicity, 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Over the past two years, the company has suffered a $17.00/share loss on its stock (from $30 to $13.00) mainly due to declining operating margins (Domash, 2004) caused by over-optimism in the Texas market. Competitors were more deeply entrenched than their research had shown, and reduced earnings forecasts combined with declining operating margins were the sell signal for many investors in the company. Also, the need to upgrade their IT infrastructure to support expansion in its California base market was the second company downfall. The following is a summary of the company strategy: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Focus on brand name consumables. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Broad selection of regularly available merchandise. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Attractive and well-maintained stores. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strong supplier relationships. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Focus on larger stores and wider demographic of value-conscious customers. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Welcoming and Flexible ...

Cornel West’s contribution to African/Amercian Philosophy Essay

Cornel West, born June 02, 1953, is an American philosopher, author, actor (some of you may know him from Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions), civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America. West, commonly known for his blend of political and moral insight and criticism and his contribution to the post-1960s civil rights movement, focuses primarily on the roles of race, class and gender in America. West pulls scholarly contributions from such varied traditions as the African American Baptist Church, pragmatism and transcendentalism. West’s father was a civilian U. S. Air Force administrator and his mother an elementary school teacher and eventually a principal. During West’s childhood the family settled in an African American working-class neighbourhood in Sacramento, California. There West regularly attended services at the local Baptist church, where he listened to moving testimonials of privation, struggle, and faith from parishioners whose grandparents had been slaves. Another influence on West during this time was the Black Panther Party, whose Sacramento offices were near the church he attended. The Panthers impressed upon him the importance of political activism at the local level and introduced him to the writings of Karl Marx. In 1970, at age 17, West entered Harvard University on a scholarship, did graduate school in philosophy at Princeton University, where he was influenced by the American pragmatist philosopher Richard Rorty, and after receiving his doctoral degree in 1980, West taught philosophy, religion, and African American studies at several colleges and universities, including Yale University, the University of Paris, Princeton University, and Harvard University. His books generally combines Christian moral sensibility with a form of philosophical tradtition influenced by American pragmatism. For example, his book Race Matters, West, who resolutely participated in several demonstrations, was always a political activist and an academic, and this created a conflict which led to him resigning from his post at Harvard. His best-known work, Race Matters, a collection of essays, was published exactly one year after the start of riots in Los Angeles that were sparked by the acquittal of four white policemen on charges of aggravated assault in the beating of Rodney King, an African American motorist. The book discussed the general hopelessness and â€Å"nihilism† of African Americans in poverty and condemned African-American leaders for pursuing policies that West believed were thoughtless, narrow-minded, or self-serving. West refers to the United States as a ‘racist patriarchal’ society in which everyday life is classified based on the notion of ‘white supremacy’. He criticizes the whites as being weak in the struggle to gain acceptance for blacks, and thus he argues the 9 11 attack gave the whites an indication into what it means to be a black persons living in the US – feeling unsafe, unprotected, hated, and subjected to random violence.

Legislation affecting schools Essay

Linked to the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Under this Act individuals in the UK have particular rights and freedoms however these have to balance against the rights and freedoms of others. Some articles which have a direct link to education/schools are: Article 2: The first protocol – the right to education (however this does not mean the right to a particular school). Article 8: The right to respect for private and family life. Article 10: The right to freedom of expression. Restraints of pupils are permitted under the Act however each school has their own policy and procedure for this. All children have a right to an education. Pupils have a freedom of expression. Data Protection Act 1998 Means that schools need to keep and use information only for the purpose it was intended. It also needs to be kept securely on site, either locked away in a filing cabinet or on a password protected computer. If required to update and pupil information this should be done on site and not be taken off site to complete. All information about pupils should be considered confidential and must not be shared with others without parental consent. When discussing pupils with other members of staff you should make sure that only necessary information is shared The school is protected over personal information it holds The school should issue a letter informing parents of how pupil data is protected. Schools must follow the act over how they handle data (password computers, locked cabinets). Staff need to be aware of this and reminded. Freedom of Information Act 2000 Introduced in 2005 to promote transparency and accountability in the public sector. It is retrospective and information can be sought from any time in  the past. Any person can request information for a school however this must be done in writing. Schools have a duty to provide assistance and advice to anyone who requests information but on the other hand they must evaluate the situation if they need to protect the information for confidentiality. The DCFS has produced guidance for schools and governing bodies to give advice about requesting information. Parents/students have the right to request information held by schools and local authorities. Information for information must be done in writing. Equality of Opportunity Sex Discrimination The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 makes it unlawful for education establishments to directly or indirectly discriminate pupils based on their sex, gender or sexual orientation. Admissions policies are available to be seen at hand. Local authorities are also under general duty to ensure that educational facilities and services are provided without sex discrimination. Many bodies can be held responsible for discrimination under the SDA. Race Discrimination The law states that all schools or colleges must not discriminate against people on the grounds of race in any of its policies or practices including admissions policies. All local educational authorities also have a legal duty not to discriminate. Local educational authorities have a duty to have a race equality policy and should take steps to discourage racial attacks. All schools should follow the local authority policies. Disability Discrimination Act To protect disable people from discrimination in the workplace and in the provisions. All schools have a duty to make adjustments that may be needed to ensure that the child is made welcome and is supported at all times. Schools must adhere to the Equality Act 2010. Schools cannot discriminate against pupils because of their sex, sexual orientation or gender. Children are taught about equality and diversity. No sexist book or exams. Toys that are accessible must be accessible to all. Ensure they have a Racial Discrimination Act. Have a duty to protect pupils against abuse or violence. Must no discriminate against anyone because of their race Relates to class rooms as well- all work displayed not discriminating. Schools must adhere to inclusive education. They cannot exclude on the grounds of disability or special needs. The head teacher must seek advice if needed from local authorities. Schools must have accessible resources. Staff training days to update knowledge. Special Educational Needs Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act Special educational need also known as SENDA. It is unlawful for educational providers to treat disabled children â€Å"less favorably† than they would other children. institutions are required to make â€Å"adjustments† for example providing aids like ramps. LEAs and schools plan together to make the access easier for disabled children. All registered early years providers must have a written SEN policy and a SENCO. They should also make arrangements for staff to participate in any relevant training. All pupils must not be excluded from any aspects of school due to the disability. Legislation will affect how the schools are run as they will need to comply fully with legal requirements. Schools may need to ask advice and guidance if and when needed this will usually be through the governing bodies. Special Educational Needs Code of Practice SEN code of practice, parents and SEN children have an increased right to a mainstream education. This may have an impact on the number of children who have SEN being included in mainstream schools and on the number of individual support assistants who will support them. Training and implications have been put in to place in order to support individuals and schools must now manage pupils with a more diverse range of need. Schools need to ensure they make reasonable provisions to ensure people with SEN are provided with the same opportunities as those who are not disabled. Could be through 1:1 support or building adaptions e.g. disabled toilets, ramps and sensory rooms. The school must make the best decisions to provide best values for the child with special needs. For example: a child may receive a considerable amount of IPS (Individual pupil funding) and the school must decide the best way to use this support for the child’s needs. Sources: www.yourrights.org.uk www.adviseguide.org.uk www.kingston.gov.uk

Essay about abortion Essay

It is true that abortion may be the death of an innocent being. If that is correct, any woman who has had an abortion should be subject to the consequences of a premeditative first degree murderer, which could possibly be the death penalty. However, the question that truly forms the debate is this: Is the zygote really a human being? Surely there are signs that show life, but is it developed enough to function as a human? I contend that the fetus is not a right-possessing individual, until the point of birth. It cannot claim any rights, while it is still part of the mother. Being part of the mother, it is the mother’s. What happens to her body through the course of her pregnancy is her choice. Therefore, abortion is solely the mother’s choice, and outsiders should not block, or even oppose, her rights as an American. Certainly today’s society needs to clean up it’s act. In most young adults, good morals aren’t commonly used. But they do use their common sense. Young adults are fully aware of what they are getting into, they just aren’t sure of all the consequences. Education plays a big role in this issue. Being taught about birth control and planned parenting statistically helps the number of accidents that can cause abortion. Nevertheless, accidents will happen. Rape will still occur, there will be the rebels, the careless, and the clueless. People make mistakes every day. There should be something to fall back on in a case of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. Abortion can be for the well-being of both the mother and the potential child. A woman needs to take full responsibility of her actions. For instance, in a pregnancy, this can come in different forms. It can be when the woman decides to carry to term and be the child’s mother, or when she gives it up for adoption. She can also pay for her own abortion. As a result, the mother will be doing what she truly believes is morally right for the being growing inside of her. Of course the possibility of putting an innocent being to death, is seemingly absurd, and though one may not believe that the being is actually living, there is the possibility. Also, the child the woman is carrying may have the cure for cancer or AIDS. Or it could be the next serial killer. The being might very well deserve a chance at life. On the contrary, there are women  who truly aren’t ready to have a child. This is not only mentally, but physically and emotionally also. I admit that I will never get an abortion, but I strongly believe that it is a necessary option. Also if the child is impaired, has birth defects, Downs Syndrome, or any deadly or life-threatening disease that can be detected before birth, should it live? A woman needs to have the choice of how she wants her potential child’s life to be lived. A woman needs the options to be open. If she does not want to give the baby up for adoption, should she be forced to if she doesn’t have enough money to care for it? So, the mother should be entitled to any decision concerning the being living inside of her, because the chances are that the choice the mother makes will be beneficial. Surely there are people who will get into a pregnancy that have no idea what they are doing. They may get scared and decide to just have an abortion because they aren’t ready to have a child. A woman may feel that this will end all of her hopes and dreams for the future. They may or may not realize that there are other options such as adoption. However, what the woman decides to do, in my opinion, is completely her choice. The being that is growing inside of her body, is hers. Wendy McElroy says, â€Å"Everything beneath the skin is me; this is the line which no one has the right to cross without permission.†Say the world comes to where you can take one pill which would murder the growing being. Could she not have the right to swallow? Can a woman claim the right to her own body when she can’t even control what goes into it? People do not have contracts with their neighbors, friends, and relatives saying that they will not steal from one another or kill each other. Everyone’s body and property is theirs by right. If a fetus is granted individual rights, the contract is superfluous to those rights’ protection. If these rights are not being claimed, there is no possibility for contracts, because a contract is voluntary. So, giving rights to a fetus is useless because of the fact that it will be living inside of the woman, and if she has the right to rid it from her body and wants to do so, the being cannot even fend for itself in the argument at all, and will end up not having it’s way. Admittedly, the number of diseases that are passed genetically has slightly  decreased. Scientists have also been decoding human DNA. This can lead to pin-pointing the exact spot of birth defects and life-threatening diseases and fixing them. On the other hand, we have not yet reached that point in technology. Today testing is available for mothers to see if their potential child has any defects or disease. This greatly influences her decisions on whether to have the baby or not. There are so many factors that can affect the fragile time of pregnancy. There are endless possibilities of things that can be harmful to the growth and development of the baby. If the woman decides to go through with the pregnancy there are things that she can change about herself that can lessen the risk of defects. Such as smoking, drinking, drugs. The problem is that those things can mold the woman into being dependent on. If she chooses to continue to drink while she is pregnant, that is her choice, but she is not the only one who will be affected. If the woman feels that she would not want to have the possibility of her child being defected or doesn’t believe that she could make it with out drinking, she should have the option of abortion. In short, there are many ways that what the pregnant woman does that can change the outcome of her child, and she should be able to make her own decisions concerning the well-being of both herself and the unborn child. Obviously there’s the good side and the bad side to abortion. What seems to be happening today is that people are getting too worked up about something that may never be solved. Both sides of the issue are sketchy, and are very controversial. We may never actually come to a conclusion. On the contrary, we need to look at the laws and see if it is legally possible to ban abortion, or let it freely take place. The question is if the zygote or fetus should be considered a live being or not. Finally, what you believe is your choice. Think a little about what other people may be going through and if a forced pregnancy is even a possibility. Whether you side with me, or are against abortion, always be open-minded.

Obesity And Urban Food

Individual characteristics and IBM data were adjusted to two – kilometer Addis food retail stores, with each supermarket reducing obesity odds, and convenience stores predicting higher obesity Odds for each respondent. Obesity rates in New Orleans are among the highest in the country and virtually no research has been conducted to study the associations between obesity and neighboring food retailers in the urban environment. This article appealed to me because a well balanced diet via healthier food retail access is pivotal to promote health in vulnerable groups within communities limited to unhealthy food options.Previous studies on Northeastern communities, mound mostly positive correlations between the presence of convenient stores and increased rates of obesity. Apropos, a correlation was found between supermarket access and reduced obesity rates. Other research has found neither correlation between these variables. Limited, frequent non- consistent research findings, have examined the relationship between food access and body weight in disproportionate fashion amongst the United States. In comparison, fewer studies were conducted in the urban South, which tend to have some the highest obesity rates in the country.New Orleans has high obesity prevalence, which is why some of its Leslie Mar, SCAN 195. 7731, 01. 1415 communities were a choice of study. Other conditions, such as the lack of a household car, make the city an appropriate setting for this study. This study hypothesizes, â€Å"†¦ That greater supermarket access would be associated with a lower odds for obesity while greater convenience store and fast food access would be associated with higher obesity odds Since supermarkets offer a wider selection of affordable healthy food, and fast food establishments offer inexpensive energy-dense foods, these associations were predicted accordingly.METHODS Participants A 2004-2005 survey from the New Orleans Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Syst em (BARFS), was the local version of the national telephone survey coordinated by the IIS Centers Of Disease Control and Prevention. Participants were enrolled via a random digital dial method: a single random individual aged 18 or older. The final analytic sample, after various exclusions, consisted of 3,925 subjects with reported IBM information, physical activity levels, household income information, collected demographic data, and 167 census tracts in New Orleans.The majority of participants were female (66%), 35. 5% White (n=l ,394), 58% African American 3. % Latino (n=11 6), and 3. 6% Other (n=141). 40% (n=l ,585) of respondents lived at or below the poverty line. 16% (n=628) were ages 18-30 years, and 47. 4% were above 50 years. A majority of 38% attained college graduate or higher education. Measures Food stores and fast food restaurant sites open between 2004-2005 were provided by the Louisiana Office of Public Health food retailer database.They were categorized as either f ull time or part time based on percentage on food item sales (60% cutoff) and total annual sales. They fall into five categories: small food Stores, medium food Stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, ND general merchandise stores. Fast food restaurants were categorized as regional, national, or local chain. A 2 – km buffer around a center point of each respondent census tract, measured using Arctic 9. 2 (SERIES, Redheads, CA), was used to define their neighborhood food environment, because multiple forms of transport are commonplace in New Orleans.Food store/ fast food geographic access was formed by summing the number of each food retailers in each category within the 2-km radius. For IBM measurements, individuals reported their heights and weights with 30 keg/mm as the cutoff between obese and non obese. There were independent variables to account for the results: race/ethnicity, a Poverty index ratio was calculated based on a comparison between household income with the Census Bureau's poverty threshold for a household size. They were divided into three categories of less than 1. 00 (below poverty line), 1. 0-185, and greater than 1. 85. 15. 4% of respondents refused to provide this information, so their poverty index was adjusted using a â€Å"hot deck' imputation technique based on race/ethnicity and education level (less than high school, high school graduate, some college, college graduate). Moderate and vigorous activities were used as the physical activity indicators, and Leslie Mar, SCAN 195. 7731, 01. 14. 15 television viewing (2 hours or more classified as high) was calculated as well. For multivariate analyses, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HELM), with the extolling procedure in Stats/SE 9. (Staccatos, College Station, TX) was used to simultaneously assess the influence of group-level and individual-level predictors on dependent variables. A series of models to produce a regression equation for each food retailer type access measure was created. RESULTS Within the 2-km of respondents' census tract centers, there was an average of . 49 supermarkets. There were no supermarkets among 26% of the respondents within this buffer, and households had more food retail and convenience stores than supermarkets; with fast food restaurants at a higher average than supermarkets.Of the sample, the overall prevalence of obesity was 26. 5% with highest ranking at 35. 1% (African Americans), females at 29. 2%, older respondents at 29. 9%, and individuals with poorer household incomes and less education. With a high average of small food stores (25. 18%), convenience stores (1 1 . 28%), and fast food restaurants (9. 7%), there as a relationship between obesity odds and food retailer count. There was no significant association between small, medium, and general merchandise store access.