I need 1 page outlines for assignment topic (Effects of using

I need 1 page outlines for topic (Effects of using technology on the academic achievement and adaptive behaviour of students with intellectual disabilities in primary schools) - Assignment Example The qualitative data will be obtained and subjected to the statistical analysis in order to give more detailed inference. The qualitative data will include both primary and secondary data According to Hardman, Drew and Egan (2011, p. 23), assistive technology offers an opportunity for the disabled to demonstrate their mastery of skills and achievement of knowledge without unfair and limited restriction because of their disabilities just like their normal peers. Lane & Bundy (2012, p. 45) asserts that assistive technology also encourages the access of those with disability to the assessment programs and to the more challenging programs and courses. Paris (2008, p. 36) conjectures that assistive technology should not alter the learning of the intellectually impaired students. Donders and Hunter (2010, p. 67) asserts that the applicants of this assistive technology should not permit or intend to offer an unfair advantage to those with disabilities over those taking the tests and have standardized conditions. Turkington and Harris (2006, p. 43) claim that assistive technology should not invalidate results or alter the construct of the learning of the disabled students. The assistive technology should also not substitute the abilities or knowledge that the students have not received. According to Bley, Thornton and Bley (2007, p. 72), assistive technology is significant for students and are for flexibility and changes in method of response, timing, scheduling, method of response, and settings in the administration of the disabled student literacy assessments (Gargiulo and Metcalf 2013, p. 39). This assistive technology should be suitable and meet individual needs of the vulnerable students, used in a fair way, and offered in a given assessment situation. According to Knoff (2006, p. 32), large print or Braille version of test is appropriate for those with severe visual impairment or the blind. The

Marketing Plan: Donor Recognition and Stewardship

Marketing Plan: Donor Recognition and Stewardship INTRODUCTION Economic recession has had its impact on the number of donors. As the economy is recovering, the trends indicate that non-profit organizations continue to lose donors faster than they gain them even if the giving amounts are increasing. The results are troubling because were seeing a trend of charities relying on fewer donors giving larger gifts, said Elizabeth Boris, director of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute. Charities need to work harder on reaching out to new and different groups of donors. More important, however, is keeping donors for longer than a year, since its much cheaper to retain existing donors than it is to continually find new ones. Non-profit sector is undergoing changes. Maybe its the already-begun exodus of Baby Boomers in nonprofit leadership positions. Maybe its the scramble to understand shifting giving habits as younger donors enter the philanthropic discussion in greater numbers. Whatever it is, it makes us rethink donor relat ions, which is undergoing a metamorphosis in both thinking and approach. background Market Analysis. Childrens Health Foundation is an independent incorporated non-profit organization dedicated to raising and granting funds to supportChildrens Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, Thames Valley Childrens Centre and Childrens Health Research Institute. Since 1922, funds raised have helped deliver exceptional care and support for children and their families by providing specialized pediatric care, equipment, education programs, therapy, rehabilitation services and research. Childrens Health Foundation is regional pediatric referral center for South Western and North Western Ontario. Childrens Health Foundation is operating in an extremely competitive industry. Canadas charitable and nonprofit sector is the 2nd largest in the world with 170,000 non-profit organizations. Ontarios 46,000+ NFP organizations employ about one million people, 15% of Ontarios total workforce, and have an economic impact of nearly $50 billion. This represents more than 7.1% of Ontarios GD P- greater than the automobile and construction industries combined. More than 5 million Ontarians donate over 820 million hours of their time volunteering every year, valued at the equivalent of 400,000 full-time jobs. Health care is the second largest recipient of donations in Canada (behind religious organizations) and makes up approximately 13% of all donations received from Canadians. Large philanthropic donations from individuals or corporations are becoming increasingly important sources of donations. At the same time, in both urban and rural communities, donor fatigue is becoming a real concern. As residents continue to be asked to contribute to charitable organizations, there comes a point at which their willingness or ability to donate is exhausted. This is of particular concern in large urban areas like the GTA, where there is fierce competition for donor dollars, according to Anthony Dale, CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association. Philanthropy in Canada is highly dependen t on oil and gold prices. Looking back within Canadas philanthropic history, it is noticeable that a year after a recession there was a significant decrease in fundraising contributions. And with Canadas health care system becoming increasingly dependent on philanthropy, its capital planning may become increasingly vulnerable to fluctuations in Canadas resource economy. Philanthropy is essential to the wellbeing of the health care system, allowing hospitals to improve and develop their infrastructure and conduct innovative medical research. This is the reality for Childrens Health Foundation as well, whose infrastructure, hydro, water and salaries only are funded by government. All the specialized programs the foundation provide and equipment is covered with donor dollars. But as we enter the era of plunging oil prices and economic uncertainty, hospital foundations are likely to face harder times fundraising, and this may make any disparities in access to capital projects among comm unities worse. In addition to that, Canadians are becoming less generous and giving fewer donations to charity than they did a decade ago, according to the 2016 Generosity Index published by the Fraser Institute, a think tank. Acquisition of the gift today has become a measuring stick for performance for many non-profits. The fact that 15% of Canadian population makes over 80% of all charitable contributions is evidence of how important stewardship became. Brand Analysis. The brand identity of Childrens Health Foundation which comprises the logo and the tagline is very clear and concise. Their mission to mobilize the community to support excellence in health care, rehabilitation and research for children and their families is fully backed up by all the programs and support they offer (innovative research, world-class hospital facilities and equipment; wide range of financial, legal and moral support to families with sick children). They are very consistent in updating their online s ocial blog, website, Facebook page, as well as uploading not only visuals but also the documentaries on regular basis to strengthen the impact of the message they are trying to convey. Childrens Health Foundation constantly conduct different campaigns to increase their reach and revenue. For the time being they cover South West Ontario, some parts of North West Ontario and have established good relationships with Thunder Bay hospitals. Childrens Health Foundation is promoting their brand on their website by using stories, visuals and documentaries for people to see the harsh reality of ill children and understand the difference they can make with their donations. The foundation also uses the social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to increase their reach as well as newsletters. They are raising funds and increase awareness of the cause by running campaigns, accepting donations on different levels andorganizing fundraising events. Childrens Health Foundations bra nd IDEA (integrity, Democracy, Ethics, Affinity) is very effective which increases its credibility. Childrens Health Foundation focuses on providing full range aid to the sick children and their families by providing high quality support on various levels (treatment, rehabilitation, financial, legal, moral), which is something unique and is the base of their positioning in the market against other non-profit organizations like Sunshine, Save the Children or World Vision. All of these organizations cover different needs of children make their dreams come true, provide financial support or food supplies to malnurished kids. Childrens Health Foundations brand evolve around the most vulnerable part of our society sick children. Because children are our future, donors are very willing to support this cause and it does attract significant amounts of funds. Childrens Health Foundation has raised $8mln. last year. In terms of donations Childrens Health foundation is targeting corporation s and people with various income levels that are not indifferent to the cause as every dollar that comes in is important. The donor segmentation is as follows: individuals, corporations, lifetime giving, legacy, community fundraising. Varied demographics is one of the challenges the foundation is facing when trying to build their donor recognition and stewardship programs because every demographic group depending on level of donations is expecting different things. Looking at the ways to donate, however, it is clear, that the foundation fails to address and engage in their efforts the generation of millennials. The objective of the Childrens Health Foundation is to come up with a plan on how they can recognize and steward all different demographics and customize these programs according to different levels of donations by remaining inclusive. SWOT Analysis Childrens Health Foundation Strengths Brand associated with children. People like to help children. Affiliation with Childrens hospital, Childrens Research Institute and Thames Valley Childrens Centre, so donor dollars are kept under one umbrella. The third largest children health research institute in Canada. Offer various specialized programs to sick children. Strong community event partnerships. Childrens Health Research Institute leverages the seed funding from Childrens Health foundation 10 times over, with external and peer-reviewed grant success. Tax exemption Family Centered care environment through programs as: fund specialized equipment, comfort sick children, establish a new simulation, support families in need, fund pro-bono legal services for patient families. Weaknesses Limited budget. Hospital policy limitations. Limited staff. Targeting a wide range of demographics without particular focus. Website is not very graphic. Opportunities Tap into the market of Millennials and encourage involvement in the cause Cause Related Marketing Innovative donor recognition stewardship programs Having limited resources to focus their efforts towards actions that would bring the biggest return Threats Vulnerable to economic crisis. Charitable giving is one of the first cash outflows that consumers cut back on when money is tight. Since they depend on contributions, they need to avoid the perception of impropriety. Even a small scandal can be damaging. Donor engagements are difficult in hospitals due to health, safety privacy issues Giving trends are changing, its important to adjust competitive evaluation Childrens Health Foundation is competing with every cause being promoted by other more than 60 not-for-profit organizations in London, Ontario. The advantage of Childrens Health Foundation is that their mantra evolves around sick children, which is more likely to win donors hearts than any other cause. On regional and national level Childrens Health foundation is facing more fierce competition. We will look closer at 3 of 13 Children Hospital Foundations in Canada Childrens Health Foundations, Sick Kids and McMaster Children Hospital Foundation, as they are all competing in exactly same field and are part of Childrens Miracle Network. The point of parity is that all these organizations are Hospital Foundations and provide help to children with severe health problems. Competitive Evaluation Childrens Health Foundation Sick kids foundation McMaster Children Hospital Foundation Simple, clear landing page. Appealing video on the landing page of their website. Simple landing page. No specific partners mentioned. Partners are not listed. Partnerships with well-known companies. Not very pictorial when it comes to kids. Very creative in terms of content and use of graphics. Impactful. Good content. Easy way to donate whatever amount you wish to. Different approaches to donate for specific programs. Easy way to donate. There is a donor recognition page on the website. Donor wall shows how the foundation have recognized their donors. No donor wall to identify donors. Conducts bowling competition to save lives of children. Have kids lottery system to raise funds. No upcoming specific programs to raise funds. Does not target millennials. Has a page on their website which allows to create own fundraising campaign and customize it for birthday etc. Does not target millennials. Has an extensive specialized program variety for family support (financial, legal etc.) Deals with a large variety of serious diseases and has a long history and solid reputation as an establishment offering word class programs like Motherisk. Focus on cancer, mental health and eating disorders for children. Sick Kids is very established foundation with long history, strong website and variety of programs they offer. They do target millennials offering them to customize their fundraising activity on Sick Kids website. Childrens Health Foundation should look into this market as well as to enhance their website for a stronger impact. opportunity identification Childrens Health foundation is very similar to competitors in terms of services, target audiences and fundraising activities. The opportunity lies in differentiation. The organization could do that by implementing innovative donor recognition and stewardship program, segment their donors more efficiently to focus their efforts in order to maximize the return and tap into market of young donors. goal statement In this marketing plan, we will focus on developing Donor Recognition Stewardship strategies for several donor segments: Planned giving as one of the sources of large donations to ensure future gifts. The planned giving component can promote long-term endowment building as well as assisting support over time as an inflation hedge. Lifetime giving to ensure loyalty and repeat gifts to support steady funds. Individual giving by millennials to ensure we engage the young generation in philanthropic activities. marketing objectives To increase planned giving by 10% by the end of the year. To maintain ongoing relationship with long time loyal donors. To increase millennial giving by 20% with engaging recognition and stewardship program by the end of the year. communication objectives   Ã‚   Planned Giving: Raise awareness about planned giving opportunities for a good cause -Childrens Health Foundation Lifetime Giving: Increase engagement with lifetime donors to strengthen the relationship. Individual Giving: Raise awareness about giving opportunities among millennials and engage them in such activities. creative objective planned giving Our basic creative strategy is to position planned giving as the most meaningful way to leave a legacy. creative strategy planned giving Target audience for this campaign are people of 60 and above (70% women as they are more likely to donate to health-related charities), who will be soon retiring or already retired with a significant amount of funds or estate at their disposal in South West and North West Ontario. Some of them have already started will /estate planning. They are single with small or no family, married with no children, or married couples with successful children. They have been donating to charities regularly or are connected to charitable giving in other ways, like volunteering. They are quite conservative and relationship is very important to them. This audience is into traditional media and listen to classic radio. They search online for real estate or auctions, could use twitter, but mobile phone is regarded as a practical tool rather than entertainment device. This audience are big fans of both water and motor sports. They have high rates for going to community theatres, baseball games and golf events. And personal finance appears to be one of their favorite indoor hobbies. We have chosen this segment because Childrens Health Foundation finds it challenging to steward this type of donors and often, some of the greatest and most transformational gifts to an organization come through bequests and other planned gifts. In Canada, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce estimates that Canadian boomers are about to inherit approximately $750 billion from their aging relatives over the next decade. Now the baby boomer generation is entering retirement and many are willing to pass on their inheritance to charities rather than to their children. Regional disparities should be taken into consideration as well. Ontario residents expect to get the bigger bequests: 6.4 % look to receive more than $500,000, almost half as many as the 4.4 % across Canada who anticipate receiving such a large inheritance. As the boomer generation ages, it is increasingly crucial for all health care foundations to establish a planned giving strategy, giving donors even more ways to fulfi ll their philanthropic goals and touch the lives of others. The population of people of 55 years of old and over is continuously increasing in London and make up around 35% of its population. Seniors are most likely to donate to health-related charities. Positioning For lifetime Philanthropists, the Childrens Health Foundation is the ultimate way for leaving legacy by providing long lasting value to the most vulnerable part of our society sick children and contribute to our future. Childrens Health Foundation commits to full support for these kids and their families including treatment, rehabilitation, innovative research, financial and legal assistance. Recognition and Stewardship Conventional donor recognition and stewardship model does not work for this type of giving. As planned gifts are revocable, deferred and can be changed by the donor at any time, it is very important that these donors are recognized and thanked systematically. Proposals for planned giving could be shared with the current donor database. Planned gifts can be an important part of most major gift proposals to donors who pledge a specific amount while alive to purchase equipment or help pay for construction. A deferred planned gift can supplement this support by creating a permanent endowment that will provide perpetual support for the same program or building. Planned gift proposal could be incorporated into all charitys fundraising efforts. Donors who establish life income arrangements (charitable trusts, gift annuities), arrange for retained life estates, or donate life insurance policies (all irrevocable) as well as those providing for bequests or naming your charity as a beneficiary of their retirement plans or life insurance policies (revocable) should be nominated for Guardian Circle. The common theme of these donors is their belief that providing for the future of the organization is important and that their funds will be used for a noble cause to help those in need when they will no longer be with us. Donors are becoming philanthropists and investors, and will require different types of information, greater transparency and access to leadership. Which means legacy donors should be provided with Inside Reports on a regular basis or perhaps a personal perspective on something happening at the charity. These should be from someone high in the organization and could be sent on society letterhead to reinforce the feeling of belonging to a community of special donors. It is important to meet them face to face and as often as a donor deems necessary. Small tokens of appreciation could be sent on regular basis: crafts made by kids, maybe some tickets to a classical music concert given by sponsor or other type of gift received on the basis of partnership with for profit organizations. There is no cost involved and shows that these donors are being though off. Planned gift donors should be invited into every fundraising event to make sure Childrens Health Foundation has as many touch points with these donors without forcing unnatural interactions like compulsory monthly calls. To keep a database of their birthdays or anniversaries, their children or grandchildren birthdays or other events (exotic holiday, wedding, someone is sick) to make sure that these donors and their families receive a card or follow up phone call (with no ask) on these occasions. Greeting cards could be prepared by kids. It is a very personalized attention, that shows the donor that you care and remember. In this way, it is possible to involve all the family in philanthropic activities and potentially increase donations from other sources. Board members could organize a yearly lunch or dinner evening only for this type of donors to discuss in more detail the struggles and plans of the foundations. The cost of such a dinner could as well be a gift from a restaurant to the Childrens Health Foundation if arranged. Every planned gift donor should have an opportunity to have a tour of the facilities, to speak with researchers and employees of the hospitals at least once, so they would get a feeling of how they can contribute to the cause rather than just see the numbers on the paper. This would help them to feel more involved. Planned gift donors may as well become monthly donors to assist in covering some immediate needs or vice versa, so while maintaining an ongoing relationship it is important to leverage different opportunities and to offer them to the donor as an option. Planned gift donors should have contact details of their main contact in the foundation should he have any questions. All their problems should be resolved in a timely and effective manner. Donors should be publicly recognized to the greatest extent theyll allow, which, would help make planned giving more accessible to other potential contributors. It would be nice to name a building, garden of the hospital or some other place of the facilities after the name of the legacy leader and honor a person with the largest contribution this way. Media Channels Ad on Classic Radio, TV and magazines, brochures to be handed out at theatre, art galleries, golf events, fundraising events; Twitter, announcements on website, face to face, telephone. creative objective lifetime giving Our basic creative strategy is to position lifetime giving as a vital source of income, enabling Childrens Health Foundation continue making difference for many families lives. creative strategy lifetime giving Target Market INDIVIDUALS Target audience is 40+ years old persons (men and women) with advanced degrees and minimum $100,000 + income per household who have already made at least 3 donations in their lifetime. They are either empty nesters or married couples with university-aged children They have high rates for going to the theatre, symphony, art galleries and the ballet. At home, they read lots of books, listen to classical music radio stations and subscribe to business, news and travel magazines. They are politically active, rank high for working on community projects, serving as volunteers and writing letters to public officials. They also support a long list of philanthropic causes, exercising their well-developed social conscience with both their time and money. They read business and travel publications, watch TV golf shows and jazz festivals. This audience is one of the top clusters for buying financial products. These savvy Canadians invest in virtually every kind of mutual fund available. Positioning For philanthropists, the Childrens Health Foundation is an investment that makes a real difference and offers a priceless return a tremendously improved quality of life of children with severe health issues. Childrens Health Foundation commits to full support for these kids and their families including treatment, rehabilitation, innovative research, financial and legal assistance. CORPORATE Target audience consists of large and mid-size businesses Childrens Health foundation have not cooperated with. These businesses are looking to incorporate philanthropic activities into their brand and culture to raise awareness and increase their brand equity as well as to contribute to their communities. Positioning For socially responsible businesses, investment in Childrens Health Foundation is a most efficient way to make a difference in the lives of their communities, by helping the most vulnerable part of our society children to lead a quality life recovering from life threatening diseases. Childrens Health Foundation commits to full support for these kids and their families including treatment, rehabilitation, innovative research, financial and legal assistance. We have chosen these target markets because middle class is declining and it is increasingly important to retain the loyalty of the donors to ensure steady revenue flow. Corporations is as well an important source of continuous revenue for charities for smooth daily operations. Childrens Health Foundation is currently working on the recognition and stewardship plan and came up with the below thresholds for lifetime giving. Individual $25,000 $99,999 Individual $100,000 $499,999 Individual $500,000 + Corporations $250,000 + Recognition and Stewardship Donor recognition and stewardship program should be aimed to form deep and lasting relationships with the donors, by adopting a long term ongoing mindset rather than to check off a box on a checklist. Conversation should be dynamic and ongoing rather than static. Ideally every level should have a name of the circle who would enjoy the benefits of a specific level of donation. INDIVIDUALS Individual $25,000 $99,999 Give donor a photo frame of the children being helped. To thank them in person if feasible to strengthen the relationship. Develop a stewardship section on the website where all new memberships of the circle are being announced acknowledging the loyalty and support of the new member. A pin of the circle. Invitations to all fundraising events Individual $100,000 $499,999 A painting with colorful handstamps of children of the hospital as an authentic way to say THANK YOU. It should be given in person. Send cards or make a phone call during these birthdays, anniversaries, etc. That way, your donor will know that theyre on the top of your mind. Invitations to all fundraising events. A pin of the circle. Tickets to an art show or complimentary golf rounds received from sponsor so it would not cost anything and donors would feel appreciated. Individual $500,000 + A necklace made by children in the hospital as a thank you gift. A yearly dinner with board members to discuss issues and make the donors feel they are part of the family and get a feeling of what is happening behind the scene. A pin of the circle. Invitations to exclusive events received from sponsors. Send cards or make a phone call during these birthdays, anniversaries, etc. That way, your donor will know that theyre on the top of your mind. Invitations to all fundraising events. A public announcement (if donor agrees). Media Channels Brochures to be handed out in art galleries, theatres, symphonies, fundraising events; ads in business and travel magazines; TV golf shows or jazz festivals; email, face to face, website, Twitter, LinkedIn. CORPORATIONS $250,000 + At the completion of a project or campaign, provide them with a small photo book that showcases the project from inception to completion. A photo book is tangible evidence of how their dollars were spent and serves as a constant reminder of the organization. When creating the photo book, we should be certain to select results-oriented pictures that are tied to your cause and show the impact our organization makes. Highlight a donor on the website or with newsletter. Include why they are such an important part of your organizations family. Honor major donors that stand out with a personalized plaque. A 2 to 5 minute thank you video to publicly recognize them through social media and promote your organization to other potential supporters. Use social media provide the chance to recognize donors in a regular and ongoing way. Media Channels Face to Face, telephone, brochures, email. creative objective individual giving/millennials Our creative strategy is to position Childrens Health Foundation as a cause that invites our young generation to participate and therefore, make a difference. creative strategy individual giving/millennials Target Audience is men and women from 18 to 30 years old singles or young families. Their income is not very high as they are still in college/university or working in entry level jobs that do not bring high income. These young, tech-savvy consumers find their entertainment online. They are doing volunteer work in an effort to improve their community. They tend to donate to whatever inspired them at the moment and are looking for causes with social value and alignment to a higher purpose. They want to participate and co-create products as well as for disruption of the status quo in ways that appeal to their sensibilities. This group is very influenced by their peers. < Rainforest Deforestation | Essay Rainforest Deforestation | Essay There are many reasons why the rainforests are disappearing right before our eyes. There are two main causes total deforestation, agriculture and fuel wood collection in dry areas. The main cause of the disappearing forests are logging, mining, industrial development and large dams. Tourism is also a large threat in deforestation. They all play a major part in the degradation of all forests. What is logging? Many may ask that question to a forest expert. Logging is simply the cutting down of mature trees for their timber. Large areas of the forest are destroyed only to remove a few of its logs. The heavy equipment used to break through the forest causes even more damage. As the soil is compacted and the trees are cut down by the heavy machines, the chance for the regeneration of the forest decreases significantly. The tracks made by the heavy machinery are a site foe extreme soil disturbance which will eventually erode in heavy rains. Now the lives of all the forests inhabitants are disrupted by the removal of only a few logs. The International Tropical Trade Organization (ITTO), was established in 1988 to regulate the trade of tropical timber, but the amount of logging was insignificant on a world wide scale. Most rainforest timber on the international market is exported to rich countries. There, it is then sold hundreds of times the original price paid to the indigenou s people whose forest have been plundered. The timber is then used for the production of doors, wood frames, crates, house hold utensils, and other items. The next cause of deforestation is agriculture, the shifted cultivators, cash crops, and cattle ranching. The term shifted cultivators is commonly used for the people who have moved into the rainforest and established small scale farms. These people are landless peasants who followed roads into the damaged areas of the forests. Shifted cultivators are being blamed for 60% of tropical forest lost. The reason they are called shifted cultivators is that they are forced to move off of their own land and move into the forest which they had no knowledge in order to sustain themselves and their families. After a time these farmers encounter the same problems as the cash crop farmers do. The foil does not stay fertile for a long time, so they are forced to move or shift again to a new area in the forest destroying it more and more. Its evident that shifted cultivators have become part of the destruction of the rainforests but not the cause. Undisturbed areas of the rainforests are being clea red in order to provide land for food crops and grazing cattle. Much of these crops are grown to be exported to rich industrialized countries, which leaves the poor population to go hungry and fend for their selves. Because of the delicate nature of the rainforest soil the productivity of cash crops grown declines after a few years. Mono-culture plantations are those that produce only one species of tree or type of food. The reason they are referred to as cash crops is that the only reason they are planted is simply to make money and make it fast, with very little concern about the environmental damage they are causing. Most cases involve cattle damage, the cattle damage the land to such an extent where the ranchers have no use for it anymore, they move on destroying more and more of the rainforest. The forest is not the only thing being destroyed; cattle ranchers have exploited the land leaving it barren and stripped of nutrients not being able to sustain any life at all. The third cause of deforestation is fuel wood, fuel wood is used for heating and cooking. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 1.5 to 2 billion worldwide rely on fuel wood for many purposes. The problem is worse in drier regions of the tropics. A solution will probably mean the return of the forest to local people who know how to control it. Another cause is the production of large dams, in India and South America millions of acres of forests are being destroyed by the building of these large hydro-electric dams. It was a dominant view that hydro-electric dams had to be built or these countries would suffer from am energy crisis. The construction of the dams not only destroys the forests but also displaces the tens of thousands of families, not only destroying their land, but also their culture. The rates of waterborne diseases increase significantly. The downstream ecosystems are destroyed by the dams which trap the silt, trapping many valuable nutrients. The irrigation and industrial projects that are powered by these dams lead to extensive environmental damage in the future. The irrigation leads to destruction of soils and the industry leads to pollution. Mining and industry is the fifth cause of rainforest destruction. Mining and Industrial development lead to direct forest loss due to the clearing out of land to establish projects. Roads are built through unattainable land, which then opens up the rainforest. This later causes sever water, air, and land pollution. One more being the Colonization Schemes, government and international aid agencies for a time believed that by encouraging the colonization and the trans-migration schemes into the rainforest, they could improve the poverty felt by the people of the financially poor countries. It has become obvious that such schemes have failed numerous times, hurting the indigenous people and the environment. These schemes involved the relocation of millions of families into over populated parts or the forest. For example, in Indonesia, the Transmigration program begun in 1974. it is believed to be the greatest forest lost in Indonesia, directly causing an average loss of 200,000 hectares. These people suffered the same problem as the shifted cultivators did. The soil was not fertile enough, which made them move into another part of the forest destroying more land that was originally intended. The last cause is tourism, the creation of national parks has unquestionably protects rainforests. Though national parks are open to the public, the tourism is damaging most if these areas. National Parks are often advertised to vacationers before sufficient management plans have been developed. Insufficient financial support is to be paid for the preservation of forests by government departments. These government departments see tourism as an easy way to make money, therefore tourism is highly encouraged. Ecotourism or environmentally friendly tourism should educate the tourists to be more environmentally aware. Unfortunately many companies and resorts that advertise themselves as being ecotourist establishments are only exploiting the land for a profit. In conclusion we all have a part in destroying the rainforests; whether it be by logging, mining, industrial development, agriculture, or tourism. In order to make the world a better place for everyone to live in we all must come together and protect what we are destroying. Without the rainforests there wouldnt be oxygen and without oxygen there will be no way for any for of life to survive. So I ask how important are the rainforests to you?

kodak history :: essays research papers

On July 12, 1854 in the village of Waterville Maria Kilbourn and George Washington Eastman had a child that would change the way the world took pictures forever, and that child was George Eastman. When George was five his father sold the family nursery business and moved to Rochester where he founded the Eastman Commercial College. Shortly thereafter George’s father died and the College failed leaving George and his mother in financial despair. So because of family circumstances George had to drop out of school at the age of fourteen and find a job. His first job was as a messenger boy with an insurance firm, which paid three dollars a week. A year later George got a job as an office boy for a different insurance firm. There through his own hard work, dedication, and initiative he soon took charge of filing policies and even began to write them. With these new responsibilities his pay rose to five dollars a week. After four years of working at the insurance firm he was hired as a junior clerk at Rochester Savings Bank where his current salary of five dollars a week tripled to more than fifteen dollars a week. Four years later George had planned to take a vacation to Santo Domingo. When a colleague of his suggested that he make a record of the trip George went out and purchased a photographic outfit with all the paraphernalia of the wet plate days. This was to be his first endeavor into the photographic world. At the time cameras were as big as today’s microwave ovens and needed a heavy tripod to support them. He also had purchased a tent to develop the pictures before the glass plates dried out. The supplies needed consisted of glass tanks, a heavy plate holder and a jug of water the entire outfit â€Å"was a pack-horse load† as George described it. Learning how to use his new equipment cost him five dollars. After all this George never made his Santo Domingo trip but became completely engrossed in photography and seeking out ways to simpl ify the process. George had heard that British photographers were using their own gelatin emulsions that remained sensitive after they were dry and could be exposed at your leisure. Using a formula he got from a British magazine for emulsions, George began making his own. He continued to work at the bank during the day while experimenting in his mother’s kitchen in the evenings.

Joint Family is Better Than a Nuclear Family

Now days we rarely see joint family. But I believe that Joint family have more advantages than nuclear family. Basically we have to understand what a joint family means, our father says, his siblings and their families living together can be considered a joint family. In joint families all the family members sit together and discuss their own promblems with the family members. In nuclear families there are only the parents and the children. The advantage is that you can spends more time with your children and you become a person of your own will. And the disadvantage is that you do not have the guidance or the experience of the elders to help us in the difficult times. In joint family if any one person in the house is facing any kind of problem, all the people will come together to help him and will try to find the solution for that problem and will solve it. While in nuclear family we have to solve it own and no one is there to help us. Joint family is definitely a boon always. We learn so many things which help a person to build up his personality In the current scenario, both the couples have to work to run a family in that case, if there is some elder to take care of the kids at home, then the parents could work without much of stress. In urban areas like chennai you hardly get to see any joint family. We lose many valuable experiences when we grow in a nuclear family. But if you grow up in a joint family you naturally tend to be more adjusive and caring. You will be attached to your family members ,i am not saying people growing in nuclear family are not attached but they do not know how to express it. In joint family their is lot of love and affection for each and every member of the family, while in nuclear family love and affection is not as much which is their in joint family because everyone is busy in their own life and no one has time for each other. On the other hand joint family has some harmful effects also like In joint family their weaker person will always be weaker because He/she believe that other are their to help him out in problem, while in nuclear family the weaker will try to become strong as he/she knows that their is no one to help him out in the problem. .

Hard Work Leads to Success Essay

Hard work is the key to success. Nothing can be achieved without hard work. Work, work, ever work, is a great panacea. Edison worked for twenty-one hours a day. He slept only for two or three hours on the laboratory tables with his books as his pillow. Our beloved Prime Minister late Pt. Nehru, worked for seventeen hours a day and seven days a week. There were no holidays in his calendar. Mahatma Gandhi worked ceaselessly day and night and won freedom for his country. Hard work is the price that we pay for success and all the gifts of life. It has been-well said, Heights by great man reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight, They while their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night. † Constant vigilance and preparedness to work is the price we have to pay for success in life. Work is a privilege and a pleasure; idleness is a luxury that none can afford. Man is born to work and prosper in life. He like steel, shines in use and rusts in rest. Work is worship. It exalts man if it is done honestly. Those who toll are, sooner or later, rewarded with luck and success. A man of action acts in the living present. There is no tomorrow for him. He makes the best of his time. Life is full of strife. Life is action. Activity is the law of Nature. A life of idleness is a life of shame and disgrace. Idle men are intruders on society. We are endowed with brain and limbs, which are meant to be properly exercised. Failure in life is very often due to idleness. Industry is the key to success. Industry makes and idleness mars a nation. Greatness can be achieved by great labour only. What a man earns by the sweat of his brow gives him a greater degree of satisfaction than what he gets by a stroke of fortune. Man wishes to have many things in life. Some of, them may be bestowed upon him by fortune, but to have the others he will have to work and toil; for he cannot have them for mere wish. These latter things acquired by hard toil are much sweeter than those he gets by accident. When a man earns by dint of toil; he enjoys a pleasurable sensation which is equivalent to the joy of having won a victory. Of this pleasurable sensation, the man who has been born with a silver spoon in his mouth knows nothing. A self made man is certainly happier and more esteemed, than the man who owes his fortune to the accident of his birth. If a man regularly exercises his physical and mental organs, he, enjoys sound health which is the only wealth a man can boast of. He also builds a moral character which is too strong to yield to any temptation. During his life-time such a man is admired by all for the activities of his body and mind, and after his death, he lives in the minds of men in the deeds he did. Nobody on earth leaves a name to posterity without real work. Surely one must live a life that inspires others and gives the man impetus. A man of action and iron will carries everything before him and, instead of being controlled by circumstances, he himself will control them. What does it matter if a man lives for ninety years, and it is all a story of idleness and wasted opportunities? Jesus Christ died when he was hardly thirty, Swami Vivekananda died before he was forty, Napoleon did not live to be fifty, Lenin died before he was sixty. And yet they have their impress on human history that no octogenarian can claim. Not poverty but idleness is a great curse. If we waste time, time shall waste us. A life crammed with work is a life bubbling with the joy of success. Great men of the world were born in cottages but they died in palaces. America’s famous President Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in the forest. He could not afford a lamp and read borrowed books with the light of the fire in the hearth. And yet by dint of hard work, he rose to be the greatest man of his time. Stalin, the late Prime Minister of Russia, was the son of a mere cobbler.

Early Childhood Managers †Early Childhood Development Essay

Early Childhood Managers – Early Childhood Development Essay Free Online Research Papers Early Childhood Managers Early Childhood Development Essay Management in early childhood is a very important aspect that professionals have to deal with everyday. Samson and Daft (2000, p9) define management as ‘the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, leading and controlling organizational resources’. Whereas Light (1968, p.10) describes management as ‘the body of knowledge about managing and the process of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling men, materials, machines and money so as to secure the optimum achievement of objectives’. Both concepts of management agree that it has to do with planning and organizing but Light describes it a bit further by saying that it also includes controlling men, materials and machines. Samson and Daft talk about how they have to lead and control organizational resources and that is what management is; it is concerned with the present and the future of the organization. There are five levels of hierarchy of competencies for early childhood managers as Hayden (1996 as cited in Ebbeck and Waniganayake, 2003, p.9) describes. Level 1 is Technical functions, Level 2 – staffing functions, Level 3 – client oriented functions, Level 4 – public relations functions and Level 5 – cultural and symbolic functions and Hayden (1996 as cited in Ebbeck and Waniganayake, 2003, p.10) also points out ‘to be a good manager one has first to be able to perform the technical tasks that are placed at the base of the hierarchy. Only then can one focus on the staffing asp ects including mentoring and inspiring staff and building a team based work environment’. Therefore, any manager that takes care of the management of the service has to deal with the technical aspects like ‘the operations, including purchasing, budgeting, record keeping, hiring and firing staff†¦.’(Ebbeck and Waniganayake, 2003,p.9). Light has described management in detail and even put in the fact that money is also needed to have a good management. However, both concepts do not discuss how management is to monitor quality and improvement and also do not say anything about the people that will be involved in the organization and what part they will play in the management. Management in early childhood is quite different because children that attend the centre might suffer as a result of bad management skills and a developmentally appropriate curriculum is also to be designed for the children and you have to deal with families as well, whereas in other organ izations such as business management, you would not have to deal with these aspects. Managing means to take care of, to run, to supervise, to manage a particular task or organization and both concepts have described ways in which you can do that; planning, organizing, leading, controlling, coordinating. Light also describes that ‘†¦.optimum achievement of objectives’ and recognizes that in management you have to manage in a way so that you can get the best possible results from the objectives. Both concepts agree that managements has to have a set of goals or objectives that you have to achieve and you have to do that in the most convenient and effective way. Research Papers on Early Childhood Managers - Early Childhood Development EssayThe Project Managment Office SystemBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfOpen Architechture a white paperInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesDefinition of Export QuotasMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductResearch Process Part OneLifes What IfsThree Concepts of PsychodynamicPETSTEL analysis of India

Marketing Essays - Marketing, Business, Free Essays, Term Papers

Marketing Essays - Marketing, Business, Free Essays, Term Papers Marketing * Evaluate her strategy planning for her new business. >From her love to stay in Petosky; she started the carpet cleaning service by her saving money, and based on her experience when she worked part-time for Joel Bullard. Mr. Bullard has a very successful business at this small town, dominates this carpet cleaning service, and so far no one able to compete to him in quality, strong relationship with many loyalty clients. Jane Galloway try so hard in advertising, taking care of her customer?s work but she still unable to reach her goal, $60,000/year. * Why was not she able to reach her goal of $60,000/year? The most important problem of Jane is she did not do any marketing research in potential need of customers, she tries to sell the service she has rather the customer need. First, she should do marketing to know this business saturated at this town or not?. It seems to me that this small town just needs some extra works in the peak seasons as summers and winters. Second, she should study to know her competitions and what she should do to compete with them in quality, prices, customer?s relationship?. Third, from lack of marketing the potential need of customer; she set her goal is too high and spends too much energy to reach her target. * What should she do now? Explain. I think she can have two choices: - First, if she wants to stay in Petosky; she should set her goal more reasonable. She can maintain her good work as quality and advertising; but she should have a more competing price with Mr. Bullard, builds up a strong relationship with customers. She will have a larger share with Mr. Bullard, and able to compete with him in the future. - Second, she should do marketing study at another town for these matters: Potential need of customer, price, service and quality of current competitions. She will carefully check her ability to compete with them; then based on those conclusions, she will choose a right place to move her business, and have a successful business.

Size Matters

Size Matters â€Å"Size† Matters â€Å"Size† Matters By Mark Nichol How do you treat the word size (or is it sized?) when it’s used in combination with other words as an adjective? Here’s a rundown of the options, with judgments about the best bets. The combination of mid with size is treated in various combinations: as midsize, mid-size, midsized, and mid-sized. The most prevalent form, logically following the tendency to omit hyphens after prefixes and because omitting the second d is simpler than retaining it is midsize. Medium-sized, however, prevails over medium-size; the hyphen is to be expected, because medium is an entire word, not just a prefix, like mid, but the retention of the final d is puzzling. Midsize is the adjective of choice for vehicles, while medium-sized is much more likely to apply not only to entities such as businesses and organizations but also to most other products and objects. And how should references to comparatively small or large phenomena be styled? Some people would follow the pattern by writing small-size or small-sized, or large-size or large-sized, but -size or -sized is redundant because small and large provide a frame of reference to the quality being discussed, whereas medium is vague enough to require the contextual clue of -sized, even when small and/or large are also employed in the passage. (A range should be rendered as follows: â€Å"Small to midsize cars were tested† or â€Å"The survey applied to small to medium-sized businesses.†) Words for bed sizes are expressed as, for example, king-size or king-sized. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, probably the most widely consulted dictionary in the publishing industry, notes that king-size is prevalent, which is consistent with its entries for similarly constructed words, include bite-size, legal-size, life-size, man-size, plus-size, pocket-size, in which the -sized form is regarded as a variant. Similar terms, such as those in the sentences as â€Å"We watched a car-size boulder tumbling down the slope† or â€Å"A house-size depression appeared in the field,† can be created as needed. However, writers should take care in producing such constructions with less common references. â€Å"He approached the brick-size object as it hovered in front of him† is reasonable, because although bricks vary in size, most readers will probably think of the typical red clay building material. But â€Å"a dog-size creature† is vague because of the disparity of size among dog breeds, and â€Å"a cell phone–size device† may seem awkwardly constructed. (Try â€Å"a device the size of a cell phone† instead.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Examples of Passive Voice (And How To Fix Them)8 Proofreading Tips And TechniquesHyphenation in Compound Nouns

Racism in Yoshiko Uchidas Desert Exile and Anne Moodys Coming of Age Essay

Racism in Yoshiko Uchidas Desert Exile and Anne Moodys Coming of Age in Mississippi - Essay Example In Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi, the author presents experiences of racism as not limited to a white to black affair, but also a black-to-black affair. According to the author, whites discriminate blacks in Mississippi. To add salt to the injury, the author also points out that some blacks who are light skinned also look down upon fellow blacks that are not light skinned. Dark-skinned blacks suffer more compared to light-skinned blacks in a complex scenario of blacks discriminating against fellow blacks. For instance, Miss Pearl looks down upon Toosweet, as she is much darker than the Raymond’s family. Ann observes that â€Å"Miss Pearl and Raymond’s older sister would pass right by her without saying anything and Mama would be so hurt (Moody 49)†. Anne’s perception of the lighter skinned blacks also comes out that they see themselves as of a socially higher class than the rest of their fellow blacks. Legally, they enjoy to privileges that a re in any way different from the rest of the black community. That points out to some sort of disunity at that particular historical time. Some children innocently respond to racism with an attempt too physically examine the claimed superiority from white children with whom they play. Children are subjected to racial discrimination despite the fact that they do not know anything. The author mentions heard public arguments that blacks were inferior to whites genetically. Innocently, Anne had the white children remove their clothes so that she would examine them to confirm or disconfirm the claim (Moody 34). The incident demonstrates the racial institutionalization and indoctrinated into children’s minds. From a very young age, children are already growing up with negative connotations of race. Mrs. Burke comes out as an example of whites who discriminated against blacks including making false allegations against blacks. Anne responds by

Analysis of a Business Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of a Business Narrative - Essay Example Both, Baidu and Google history describes the story of their origins. However, narrative style adapted to describe their history of origination by both companies, is quite different (Reissman, 1993). It is very important for any narrative to have a plot, a central idea, theme on which the entire construction of narration relies. The plot for business narratives can change according to the customer’s response and needs for that particular company. For example, if a company wants to build an emotional connection with its customers, it will try to make the narrative empathetic and would demonstrate the understanding of emotional, social and cultural values. Similarly, if a company emphasizes on the product, it will focus on its product development procedure and how that product can help provide the consumers with the solutions they want (Fritz, 2008). By keeping the above mentioned key point. Baidu search engine narrative and Google timeline is analyzed. Baidu narrative chooses an emotional plot. It shows cultural connection through one of the poem of the Song Dynasty. Then it further describes, as to how this search engine is best suited to the Chinese people as it is sensitive to the various nuances of the Chinese language. Consequently, Google narrative also builds an emotional connection with its consumers, but the style varies. ... The way the story of Google’s initial years is written, it develops a sense of familiarity for American youth. Almost every university student and graduate in America can identify the sentiments for aims, fears, and unleashed zeal to achieve targets and to find a person who shares the same dream as yours and who works along to fulfill those dreams. The story for Google tells the consumer how this conglomerate was started as a university project by two students, who were no different than the average student today. Thus, it develops a relation of similarity with it users by describing the originators as average students. The timeline mentions every person who has been associated with Google in its initial years, even the cook. This shows the emphasis on the element of respect and contribution for even the smallest participation by people who chose to believe in the company at a time when there was no guarantee of success. By telling the story of its inception in a simple manner and recognizing the input of every person, Google conveys the idea of valuing its employees and their contribution even if it’s of a meager kind. Thus, Google considers its employees as an asset, which are important enough to be mentioned in its history. The company conveys the idea of following one’s dream, even if there are numerous hardships and obstacles along the way. The story of Google is a perfect example of how a small startup, which started in a garage, has now become the world’s largest search engine. The company went against the odds, and even though there was competition present in the form of Yahoo and MSN, Google still managed to create a place for itself. Google’s startup and its values represent American culture from which

Accounting research summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Accounting research summary - Essay Example It is necessary to study effectively of how the roles of managerial accounting information affecting the behavior of individuals who form the organizations. Organizations make judgments and decisions that focus on the amount of information given to employees. In spite of perfectly rationalized assumptions that govern models of economic behaviors, it has been noted that the judgments and decision of producers and users are not effective. Research in managerial accounting is essential to help evaluate the quality of the judgment within any organization. This research provides useful insights in the benefit ad cost of managerial accounting practices that support decision making within the organization. An organizations managerial accounting system is a factor utilized to motivate employees. Research managerial accounting helps to determine the extent which the practices motivate individuals in organizations and helps them mitigate their differences in interest. Research managerial accounting helps individuals to determine the extent of social motives, and they have a chance of embarking on actions that have the best of interest of the firm. It has been determined that the utility of effectively designed experiments is effective for the study of cause-effect relationship under irregular conditions. They manage threats that have valid inferences and this enables researchers to come up with conclusions concerning both the independent and dependent variables of interests. The decision-influencing managerial accounting role refers to the use of information with an aim of motivating employees. The role of managerial accounting is viewed as the minimization of post decisions and it entails of scorekeeping information. The utility of managerial accounting information for decision influencing purposes influences the behavior of employees. This usually occurs through a close monitoring, evaluation and rewarding of competent actions and performance. For

Whole Body Scanner Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Whole Body Scanner - Term Paper Example This paper looks to discuss these new machines and their impact and repercussions. Whole Body Scanner Airplane passenger screening had not changed for a long time but the events that occurred on 11th of September 2001 caused a drastic change in the airplane security planning. In the past screening were more focused on passengers entering the lounges and so on with detectors specified to detect metallic objects and x-ray machines used to scan the items for carry-on purposes (Elias, 2010). After the terrorist attacks taking place from time to time and after the recent attack in the Russian airport there has been a growing need to improve security. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) under the U.S Department of Homeland Security has had to face a number of barriers in order to make their screening process more effective. Airport traffic has been on the increase for a long time and screening processes make it cumbersome for the passengers. There also needs to be a balance be tween the needs of the passengers and the security. Scares continue to take place even now as with the happening on 25th December 2009 when a Nigerian man attempted to ignite an explosive device while on board a plane heading to Detroit (O’Connor & Schmitt, 2009). Airports across the world are looking towards new technology to help security staff catch suspicious people and detect object deemed illegal on flights now. The problems that arise out of these technological advancements in airports are many such as privacy concerns, health concerns and subjection of minors to the scanning. On the other hand such technology can prove helpful in foiling terrorist plans, so there needs to be a weighing of the harms and benefits. Imaging technology has been bought and installed in the various airports all across the United States. According to the TSA there are two types of imaging technology that is being used, the millimeter wave and the backscatter x-ray. As of now, according to the TSA, there are 486 of these imaging devices that are being used across 78 airports in the United States (Transportation Security Administration). The millimeter wave scanner is used to scan the whole body and is used in the detection of objects that may be concealed in or under a person’s clothing. The millimeter scanner is cylindrical in shape with panels which contain scanners in them that rotate around the individual and produces an image of the individual. The scanner emits radio waves that pass through an individuals clothing’s and then returns an image of what is beneath the clothes. The scanner comes back with a picture of the human body which is generally what the security personnel hope to see, however, if other items are seem on the scanner then this may well be a reason for unease. The scanner does not take up too much time to do its job. The millimeter scanner produces a 3D image of the person being scanned that can be rotated and zoomed if the need be. Th e other scanner in use is the backscatter scanner which is what passengers in the United States will see more often. This scanner consists of two boxes opposite to each other with enough space for a person to stand in between them. These boxes take x-rays of the person in a time of about twenty seconds. The electromagnetic waves that are being emitted by the boxes are absorbed by the body but if there are any foreign bodies present on the person then these will show on the scans. There are some concerns that the waves being emitted are a form of radiation and may be dangerous for a person. This scanner takes a 2D image of the scanned person (Cynthia, 2010). The use of

Leading and Controlling SLP Part One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leading and Controlling SLP Part One - Essay Example Bill Gates has encouraged his employees by giving them heavy salaries, incentives, bonuses and perks which is something that has inspired the people working at Microsoft over the years. Bill Gates never went the authoritative route because it was something against his personality. As far as his communication realms were concerned, he liked to convey his point of view in a sedate manner because he believed that this was the best mannerism that he could have brought forward. The authoritarian role seems to be a missing link within his character which is somewhat of a positive sign without a doubt (Fridson, 2001). Bill Gates has been a leader who has inspired others around him as well as in different corners of the world. His name has always sparked leadership of the highest value. This is the reason why he is hailed not only within the technological world but also in other industries across the board (Hyde, 2000). His personality is such that he can easily be regarded as a transformational leader, one who was able to enhance the motivation levels of the people working with him as well as under the aegis of Microsoft. He raised their morale and the performance that came along with such a positive nuance which the employees had within their entireties. As a leader, he has fulfilled his functions in a very satisfying manner. This has been showcased by the numerous decisions that he has taken over a period of time. The release of the Windows from time to time is one step that he took towards calling the shots, which was received in a very good stead by the people all over the world (Hillis, 2000). The functions of a leader have therefore been fulfilled amicably well by Bill Gates who knew that since his name meant a great deal of value, he could only use it in a positive manner all the same. The vision that Bill Gates brought forward focused a great deal on how well Microsoft as an organization was willing to move forward

Commnuincation skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Commnuincation skills - Essay Example Passive listening is one directional communication whereby the receiver does not give feedback or make inquiries and probably may or may not comprehend the message of the sender. Passive listening is known to lead to mistakes that are costly, employees being unhappy and customer dissatisfaction. Some passive listening examples include listening to radio and television. Passive listening is one of the most common forms of listening in today’s world. While active listening is a two directional communication where both sides are contributing, as well as engaging in conversation. Furthermore, in order to become a better active listener, studying and training are necessary (Shwom and Snyder 36). Therefore, it is safe to utter that the listening skill that would enhance better communication would be active listening. In order to develop better active listening skills as well as bring success within a workplace of which every employer seeks, they are three main categories that need e mphasis, namely; accurate hearing, comprehension and interpretation, and lastly response. For example, distractions from the environment like noise from vehicles or ongoing construction sites can be considered a hindrance to accurate hearing while for comprehension and interpretation, which would include the language factor. An example to this would be if someone speaks in a different language, like say Spanish it is impossible to comprehend and interpret what has been said if the person does not know Spanish. In order to combat this, one needs to be multi-lingual, and this is where employers’ of multinational companies invest in, as well. In addition to being a more effective listener in comprehension and interpretation, the in cooperation of non-verbal communication and verification of personal understanding through queries and paraphrasing is necessary. Some examples of non-verbal communication would include voice of tone, facial expression, body language, as

Leading and Controlling SLP Part One Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leading and Controlling SLP Part One - Essay Example Bill Gates has encouraged his employees by giving them heavy salaries, incentives, bonuses and perks which is something that has inspired the people working at Microsoft over the years. Bill Gates never went the authoritative route because it was something against his personality. As far as his communication realms were concerned, he liked to convey his point of view in a sedate manner because he believed that this was the best mannerism that he could have brought forward. The authoritarian role seems to be a missing link within his character which is somewhat of a positive sign without a doubt (Fridson, 2001). Bill Gates has been a leader who has inspired others around him as well as in different corners of the world. His name has always sparked leadership of the highest value. This is the reason why he is hailed not only within the technological world but also in other industries across the board (Hyde, 2000). His personality is such that he can easily be regarded as a transformational leader, one who was able to enhance the motivation levels of the people working with him as well as under the aegis of Microsoft. He raised their morale and the performance that came along with such a positive nuance which the employees had within their entireties. As a leader, he has fulfilled his functions in a very satisfying manner. This has been showcased by the numerous decisions that he has taken over a period of time. The release of the Windows from time to time is one step that he took towards calling the shots, which was received in a very good stead by the people all over the world (Hillis, 2000). The functions of a leader have therefore been fulfilled amicably well by Bill Gates who knew that since his name meant a great deal of value, he could only use it in a positive manner all the same. The vision that Bill Gates brought forward focused a great deal on how well Microsoft as an organization was willing to move forward

Learning and Development Provision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Learning and Development Provision - Essay Example Returns on such investments are often not clear and measurement of outcome is generally not possible in tangible formats. It is also observed in various studies that organizations, especially small and medium scale organizations, are vary of training programs due to non-clarity of its outcome. This has led to different hypothesis in the field of employee training and various training methodologies have been formulated to overcome the shortcomings of traditional training programs and meet the growing market challenges. Following discussion analyses structured training process approach to the analysis, design, delivery, and evaluation of learning and development provision. It uses the McDonald's training program as an example case to illustrate how a structured training program influence the productivity of employees and performance of business as a whole. McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving 52 million people in more than 100 countries each day. It has an ongoing commitment to employee learning and development, recognizing the importance of helping to build the skills base of their employees and the benefits this can bring to their business with better staff productivity. The company's recruitment policy is opt to its name 'hire and smile'. McDonald's hires people with a diverse range of qualifications, from highly skilled managers to college dropouts and focuses more on human qualities instead of educational qualifications. Its employee training programs are highly structured and are based on the company's core principles of quality, service, cleanliness, and value. McDonald's has also initiated its new employee training program known as 'Skills for Life' to provide an effective training to its employees, in association with the Learning and Skills Council. As a part o f its structured training program, McDonald's has also started Hamburger University that acts like a cushion for a highly skilled human resource development initiatives of the company. Structured Training Process Structured training process is setting and controlling the various training activities that facilitate a proper analysis, design, delivery, and evaluation of training that leads to development of human resources. Structured training is defined as a training activity with specific content that has a predefined objective and predetermined format, and whose progress can be monitored and/or evaluated. On-the-job training, on the other hand, is informal and does not necessarily have a predetermined format. It is generally conducted in the workplace itself (Guide to the Analysis of the Workplace and Employee Survey, 2001, Statistics Canada). It often relies on simulations of real time events. Structured training programs consist of certain predefined simulated organizational tasks that require a prompt response from trainees. It also incorporates a structured approach for feedbacks to improve performance of employees and the training process itself. Structured training programs have several advantages over traditional training. Some of the major benefits of structured training process are as follows: Focus on objectives Limiting the tasks and focusing on the

Gym Cultures Prominence In Society Cultural Studies Essay

Gym Cultures Prominence In Society Cultural Studies Essay Gym culture holds a prominent place in contemporary society. Studies1 focused on the physical dimensions of self-concept document the significance placed on physical appearance in evaluations of self-worth. The inconsistency between the real and ideal self is an important trigger within gym culture and this relationship is comprehensively and covertly exploited through media narratives and advertising images. Roland Barthes asserts that an imitated object makes something appear which remained invisible, or if one prefers, unintelligible in the natural object. Structural man takes the real, decomposes it, then recomposes it.2 Unravelling the means by which texts and images recomposed the original is at the centre of structuralist analysis. Concepts of semiology developed by Ferdinand de Saussure form the basis for structuralist methodology. Saussure rejected the conventional view of the linguistic sign as a name attached to an object in favour of the notion of the linguistic sign as a two-sided psychological entity.3 The word sign is used to describe the whole created through the combination of the signified (signifie) and the signifier (signifiant). The signifier is the materially perceptible component such as a sound, picture or written mark whilst the signified is the conceptual meaning. The relationship between the two, according to Saussure is arbitrary, founded entirely on social convention. Signs employed in the discourse of gym culture habitually focus on bodies. Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 all contain images of young, slim, and attractive 1 Maguire, J. and L. Mansfield, No-bodys perfect: women, aerobics, and the body beautiful Sociology of Sport Journal 5, 2 (1998): 109-137. 2 Critical Terms for Literary Study. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1995. 3 The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Chris Baldick. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press bodies. The relationship between the photographic images, the signifier, and the concept of youth, health and attractiveness, the signified, combine to create the sign. Roland Barthes however noted that this model focuses extensively on denotation to the detriment of connotation. In his initial investigations Barthes distinguishes between two forms of reference: denotation and connotation. Conventionally denotation is referred to as the literal, primary sense or straightforward dictionary meaning, whilst connotation refers to the range of further associations that a word evokes in addition to its denotation. The connotations of a particular word are a formulated sequence of qualities, contexts, and emotional responses commonly associated with that to which it refers. The context in which the word or phrase is used and the individual inclinations of the audience determine which connotations will be initiated. Initially Barthes suggested that analytically connotation can be distinguished from denotation4 in the same way that a photographic image represents the denotation of what is photographed, the connotation is exposed through how it is photographed. Barthes however later concluded that: denotation is not the first meaning, but pretends to be so; under this illusion, it is ultimately no more than the last of the connotations (the one which seems both to establish and close the reading), the superior myth by which the text pretends to return to the nature of language, to language as nature. The two women in Figure 1 and the woman in Figure 3 are all pictured wearing long pants. The same particular item of clothing is denoted in both advertisements, namely pants. However in Figure 1 the 4 Chandler, Daniel:  Semiotics for Beginners  (1994) pants are cargo pants whilst in Figure 3 the model wears jeans. Cargo pants connote youth, hip-hop and dance culture whilst jeans are associated with the everyday down-to-earth, girl-next-door. The style of pants selected reflect a range of connotations, the denoted image is inherently connotative. Barthes perspective exposes denotation as being no more natural than connotation but rather as stemming from a process of naturalization. Denotation is thus proved to be a product of ideology. Images prevalent in gym culture discourse documents this well. Note the similarity between the models selected in Figures 4, 5 and 6. They are all slim, tanned and tall with long blond hair and have been selected to portray a specific image of femininity influenced by historical attitudes and social convention, which conforms to contemporary westernized ideology. Similar images are presented to both male and female consumers. Fitness magazine (Figure 5) features an image of American television host K elly Ripa, with a byline suggesting that the magazine contains the secrets to how she got this buff, whilst the cover of Mens Fitness (Figure 6) has a byline suggesting that the magazine contains the secrets of how to gain hard abs, strong enough for a night with the featured Carmen Electra, glamour model and actress. Connotatively men should be fit and muscular to attract their ideal woman, and women should strive to be that ideal- attractive, slim, tanned and blond. The selection of celebrities this physical represented ideal suggests that fame, success and wealth accompany the ideal. These associations formed by groups of signs create a cultural paradigm. In the same way the Zumba advertisement in figure 1 is designed to immediately invoke connotations of a gym culture paradigm. The images are of one male and two female bodies. Little of their faces, apart from smiles suggesting fun and happiness, can be seen reinforcing a focus on moving bodies and physicality. Naked midriffs whilst emphasize muscled, slim bodies also invokes sexual connotations. Through metonymy the graphic representation of a speaker emphasizes the role of music and its associations with parties, social interaction. Strong colours are used and orange, the adverts predominant colour believed to be invigorating as it increases oxygen supply to the brain is used to reflect joy, enthusiasm, creativity, attraction, success and stimulation. It is also used to attract attention as it is high visibility. The line Ditch the workout, join the party! aligns working out with having a party. The word join is repeated four times reinforcing the idea of belonging, identifying wit h and being part of a particular group. The language choice is deliberately relaxed and informal, to emphasize fun. The paradigm created is one of youth, music, party, fun, sexual attraction, dancing and fitness, with a focus on belonging. Figure 2 is an advertisement for a Sony water resistant walk-man. Sony employ an approach common to brand-name product advertising, one whereby their product is aligned with culturally desirable paradigms, in this case fitness and health, thus advancing a connotative association between their product and other values their audience might hold. A young man is pictured, dressed in a vest he appears to have been running. The aim is to establish paradigmatic relationships between exercise and fitness and Sonys brand. In so doing Sony hope to include their product in a fitness paradigm and through this inclusion their brand comes to connote all that characterizes gym culture. Whilst Paradigmatic relations rely on familiar cultural associations to create meaning, syntagmatic relations create meaning through the sequence in which the signs are displayed. In Figure 1 the line Ditch the workout, join the party! aligns working out with having a party. In figures 3 and 4 both advertisements rely on an alternative semiotic structure in addition to paradigmatic relations to communicate their message. Both advertisements offer promises of transformation, figure one blatantly telling us before and after. A syntagmatic relation can be represented by the connotative narrative, a sequence of associated events: She joined the gym, exercised regularly, ate the right food, lost weight, and was thereby transformed. Because this is such a familiar narrative to us, the advertisement can invoke it and all its associations by just showing us a single image, the mirrored but subtly altered image of the women that represents the start and finish of the narrative. Our understand ing of figure 4 relies on previously learnt and accepted conventions. Barthes identified these previously learnt and recognised conventions as cultural codes which could be utilized in structural analysis of texts. 5 In contrast to the conventional definition of myth as a traditional or customary story Claude Levi-Strauss and Roland Barthes shifted the emphasis of myth as a plot to myth as a way of thinking akin to a kind of ideology. Roland Barthes 1957 Mythologies brought to light how myths are part of everyday modern life. Barthes demonstrates an idea of myth as a further sign, its foundations in language, but to which further implication is added. To make a myth, the sign itself is used as a signifier, and a new meaning is added, which is the signified. This additional meaning is not arbitrarily, even if the reader is not aware of it. Historically determined circumstances are presented as natural. Predominantly media driven modern myths are created to disseminate an impression of society that is 5 Leak, Andrew N. Barthes, Mythologies. London: Grant Cutler, 1994. compliant with current ideologies. The earlier discussion of the models chosen in figures 4, 5 and 6 is an example of how pervasive myth can be. Barthes characterizes myth as ubiguitous6 being or seeming to be everywhere at once. The tall, slim, blond woman is unanimously presented to male and female consumers alike as the ideal women. In addition myth is axiomatic operating as a sort of fusion of fact and value, it is assertive. Axiological language presenting a theory as a fact is frequently found in advertising narratives. Figure 4 contains a good example: inside everybody is a better body. Myths are not just narratives, but narratives mixed with other signs: Figure 3 suggests, through a combination of images, graphic representation and narrative, that joining their gym will make you younger. Gym culture serves as a good example of how myth permeates consumer driven society. According to Barthes uncovering of the Ideological abuse hidden in the display of what goes without saying lies at the centre of structuralist analysis and serves to warn that since the theft of language perpetrated by myth is so subtle that nothing appears to have been taken8 consumers are affected by it without even recognising its existence. 6 Leak, Andrew N. Barthes, Mythologies. London: Grant Cutler, 1994. 7 Ibid., 8 Ibid., p57

Internet Censorship Essay - Internet Spamming and Censorship

Internet Spamming and Censorship      Ã‚  Ã‚   Not long ago, a manager of a giant Texas-based company wanted to sell his boat. In the old days, he would have posted a notice and a snapshot on the bulletin board in the employee lounge. This being the Nineties, he e-mailed everyone in the company a description of his boat's features and attached, of course, a few full-color images of the boat. As a result, his company's e-mail network crashed.    Incidents like this occur because massive e-mailings, especially with high-quality graphics, employ more bandwidth than the network allows. The fact is that a 15-second transmission of a high-quality video on the web (the multimedia aspect of the Internet) takes as much bandwidth as it would take to transmit the text of War and Peace.    The boat-marketing disaster is an example of what is known as internal spamming. The etymology of this new verb, to spam, is unclear. Most experts say its namesake is the canned lunchmeat. Others attribute it to the Monty Python routine about mindless offerings. In either case, spamming is the act of sending unsolicited, mass-distributed junk e-mail.    Spamming has arisen spontaneously as an outgrowth of the fact that transmission costs on the web have been reduced to almost zero. When spammers hit users with thousands of copies of the same message, havoc is wreaked. When massive e-mailing clogs users' incoming mail, the affected ones are not only the targeted users but also everyone else on their network. Frequent delays can cause deadlines to be missed, and businesses to go under.    Within an organization, abuse of technology is controllable by establishing explicit company policy and enforcing it with strict sanctions. How... ...a) introduced a complex bill called The Unsolicited Commercial E-mail Choice Act, and Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.) has proposed a simple amendment to the existing law pertaining to junk faxes. The problem is that legislation only addresses the symptoms; it does not cure the disease. The observance of rules of conduct is effective only when there is common agreement in a society.    The Internet business has the unique characteristic of having no resource monopoly power; hence, it poses no threat to users' choices and freedom. Any attempt to regulate the Internet market through censorship of its pornographic tendencies will be met with considerable anti-christian sentiment, and it faces an uphill fight.    WORKS CITED: "C.N. Enterprises"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.jmls.edu/cyber/cases/flowers1.html "Communications Decency Act"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.epic.org/cda/

Essays --

In this paper I will be discussing the topic of if being a Leader is natural or if a Leader can be made. If leadership can be taught, there are several ideas that have to be done. First there would have to be leadership teachers, or people who have some sort of knowledge of leading and can teach this to others. Second, someone would need to want to learn and believe that leadership education can help them become a leader. In my opinion I believe a leader is born and is someone who just has the instincts to lead others or take charge of a situation. I believe that there are classes that can help people become more secure in interacting with others and working in certain situations that can help them manage, But when the going gets tough I think that someone that has just been taught certain traits will not be able to handle the heat. A Leader in my opinion just has the instincts to adapt to all situations and deal with it the best way possible. Some ideas that someone can become or be taught how to be a leader are that you just need the proper teachers or strategy, for example the U...

Who benefits from take over resistance tactics

Who benefits from take over resistance tactics? According to the finance literature, a takeover is a process whereby a firm acquires another firm, resulting in a change of the controlling interest of the acquired firm. Takeovers can occur through acquisitions, proxy contests and going-private transactions. They can be friendly when the management of the target firm is receptive to the bidder offer or they can be hostile when target firm managers resist takeover attempts by using defensive tactics. According to Ross et al (2010), takeovers can result in change of firm policies, layoffs, terminations, or overhaul of business operations.To analyze who benefits from a takeover resistance tactic, we should first examine the reasons or motivations of the defensive tactic by target firm managers. According to Ruback (1987), managers resist takeovers for the following reasons: Managers believe that firm has hidden values, this is due to the private information they have about the firms futur e prospects that is not available to the public and when managers assess the takeover bid by comparing the offer price with what they believe is the fair value of the firm (incorporating the private information) and the offer price turns out to be less, managers will oppose the offer.Managers believe the resistance will increase offer price, therefore, their attempt to resist slows the bid and create opportunity to an increase of the tender offer as the bidder after an initial unsuccessful friend offer, tries to buy through a tender offer and if not successful, try the auction for the firm. According to Ruback (1983) cited in Ruback (1987), the final offer price exceeded the initial offer price by 23% in 48 competitive tender offers between 1962-81.Managers may want to preserve their Jobs and positions, especially when they are ware that the bidder intends to replace the target firm's management. Target firm managers use a variety of defensive tactics to avoid takeovers, from alteri ng the terms of directors where managers amend charters of the firm to make takeovers more difficult; golden parachutes related to severance packages payable to managers in the event of takeover, increasing the cost of acquisition; poison pills provision that are deterrent to the acquirer diluting for example the acquirers share in the firm.Other tactics after the company in in play include greenmail and standstill agreement, white knight and white squire, recapitalization and repurchases where managers issue debt to repurchase shares aising the market share price, making it less attractive to the bidder; exclusionary self-tenders and asset restructuring. These tactics are built by management for self- protection reasons, being severe, (blocking takeovers) or soft tactics with no substantial impact on the offer price.However, empirical evidence shows that although manager's defensive tactics may sometime rarely shareholders by increasing wealth, in general, these tactics do not have a positive impact in the share price of the target firm. According to DeAnglelo and Rice (1983) cited in Ruback (1987. p56-57), they found no evidence of share price reaction to adoption of orporate charters amendment when analyzing 53 firms using staggered boards as well as the ettect ot super majority provision. Ho ( 6) cited in Ruback 7), tound no evidence of existence of abnormal return for a sample of 23 poison pills.This conclusion is also consistent with findings of Kidder, Peabody and Company for a sample of 167 poison pills where no stock price change was observed. Evidence by Dann and DeAngelo (1983) proves that there is a negative stock price reaction with the use of standstill agreements by -4% whereas, greenmails, cause a negative stock reaction of -3%. Dann and DeAngelo (1986) cited in Ruback (1987), analyzed 20 transactions where they found that acquisitions and divestitures, reduce by 2% the share price of the target firm. In general, empirical evidence supports the idea that manager's defensive tactics are harmful to the target firm value.For example, Bates et al (2012) reported that Microsoft Corporation offered USD 47 billion to Yahoo in 2008, a premium above 60% however; this offer was rejected by Yahoo executives. Following Microsoft's withdrawal of the acquisition bid, Yahoo's shares dropped by 1 5%; the CEO of Yahoo was later replaced for this costly and selfish behavior. According to Bradley et al (1988) cited in Devos (2009), companies merge to benefit from synergies. For a sample of 236 successful tender offers from 1963-1884, they noted that the equity value for the combined firms increased by 7,4% in average.Synergy is when the combined firm value exceeds the value of the acquirer and acquired firm before the acquisition. Therefore, synergy is attached to the incremental cash flows, coming from revenue enhancement, cost reduction, tax gains and reduced capital requirements. According to Brealey (2003), acquisitions can happen in th ree basic forms, merger or consolidation, acquisition of stock and cquisition of assets. The merger is the incorporation of assets and liabilities of one firm by another and the acquirer maintains its name whereas the acquired firm ceases to exist.The main advantage of this method over others rely on the minimum costs incurred on mergers as they do not require the transfer of title deed of individual assets of the acquired firm to the acquiring firm which is costly provided that the merger is approved. In addition, in the transfer of assets form according to Ross et al (2010), minority shareholders often cause problems to the majority shareholders. The acquisition of stock as we saw above, can be costly to the bidder because of the defensive tactics used by the target firm managers as an attempt to avoid the takeover.Therefore, the outcome aimed by the acquiring firm may not be achieved as the tender price may be pushed us, above the real market value of the acquired firm.

Achilles & Hector Essay

The art in the vase painting in Harvard’s collection depicts an anguish-stricken King Priam pleading to a triumphant and irreverent Achilles for the return of the already desecrated body of his son, the Crown Prince of Troy, Hector. The artist of the vase painting wants to illustrate an image of nullifying status, even more so, it characterized a reversal of stature — a King kneeling and pleading to a common warrior and the body of a prince dishonored. In Book 24 of Homer’s Iliad, it narrated the weeping King Priam virtually throwing himself at Achilles’ feet beseeching the latter to release the body of his dead son. In the text, it did not state however, that the body of Hector was in the same room as King Priam and Achilles. It is noteworthy to mention at this point however that the primary reason that Hector is dead is because Achilles avenged the death of Patroclus whom Hector killed mistaking him for Achilles. Moreover, in Book 22 of the narrative, Achilles threatened Hector of the situation he will be in if he suffered death in Achilles’ hands, to wit, â€Å"dogs and vultures shall work their will upon yourself†. Achilles’ grief for the death of Patroclus has fueled his wrath towards Hector and that as an ultimate insult to Hector’s person, Achilles have left the body untended outside his tent to make good on his word of â€Å"dogs and vultures shall eat you utterly up†. Furthermore, the text speaks of Achilles â€Å"taking it [Hector’s body] to a place where Priam should not see it†. In the vase painting, we see Hector’s body below Achilles, who is holding a knife and apparently eating raw meat with blood dripping from the knife’s blade unto the dead body below. This scene can be gleaned from a prior heated exchange of words between Achilles and Hector. In Book 22 of the Iliad, Hector in his last breath spoke: â€Å"I beg you, Achilles, by your own soul and by your parents, do not allow the dogs to mutilate my body. By the Greek ships, accept the gold and bronze ransom my father and mother will give you and send my body back home to be burned in honor by the Trojans and their wives†. To which Achilles angrily uttered: â€Å"Don’t whine to me about my parents, You dog! I wish my stomach would let me cut off your flesh in strips and eat it raw for what you’ve done to me. There is no one and no way to keep the dogs off your head, not even if they bring ten or twenty ransoms, pile them up here and promise more not even if Dardanian Priam weighs your body out in gold, not even then will your mother ever get to mourn you laid out on a bier. † The vase painting seems to draw out from this war of words between Achilles and Hector and displays the aftermath and the realization of Achilles’ enraged threats. It depicted also an arrogant Achilles eating meat over a dead body — an act way beyond being rational. Whereas in the text, upon hearing Priam’s heart-wrenching plea, Achilles displayed empathy and even went as far as telling Priam that he, Achilles himself, is also in sorrow for the death of Patroclus and showed endearing sentiment when he mentioned that Priam reminded him of his own father. Moreover, in the text, Achilles even admired Priam for his candor in going defenseless and alone amidst the enemy’s lair. One of the major themes of Homer’s Iliad deals with revenge, reparation, and compensation. In portraying Priam’s plea to Achilles, the vase painting essentially captured these three themes. Achilles’ disrespect for Hector’s body speaks of revenge. Achilles, blinded by deep sorrow, did what he thought would best vindicate Patroclus. Hector’s legs were bound at the ankles as in the ultimate act of deliverance, Achilles dragged Hector’s lifeless body around the tomb of Patroclus. Hector’s death itself is the reparation for the death of Patroclus — the proverbial â€Å"an eye for an eye†. Whereas, Priam’s ransom is the compensation for and in exchange for the possession of Hector’s body. Works Cited Homer, and Stanley Lombardo. Iliad. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 1997. Wilson, D. F. Ransom, Revenge and Heroic Identity in the Iliad. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2002.