The Relatioship Between Mental Illness and Child Abuse Essay

Child abuse affects millions of children every year. Child abuse is defined as â€Å"the hurting or causing harm to a child† (Stewart, 2003, p. 6). Most people do not understand why a parent would want to hurt their children. â€Å"The general belief is that parents who maltreat their children are pathological and certainly not like us† (Polonko, 2005). It is not just parents that abuse the children it is also teachers, babysitters, and daycare workers (Stewart, 2003). Lingern (2008) reported the following: Child abuse was not recognized as a serious problem in the United States until the 1960s. The number of cases reported has increased each year since 1976, when statistics were first kept. In 2004 almost 1.9 million child abuse and†¦show more content†¦Many children that are physically abused have unexplained bruises, welts, burns, cuts, bite marks, or fractures. They may also have frequent injuries and may avoid personal contact. Children that are victims of neglect usually have dirty clothing, may be hungry, tired, and may seek affection from an adult, such as a teacher (Lingern, 2008). â€Å"Abuse and neglect of children occurs in all types of families regardless of race, culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or religious group† (Lingern, 2008). There is no single cause of child abuse. Instead it is the result of many forces, within the family, working towards the destruction of the child’s psyche. The most important thing to remember is that it is never the child’s fault. Three prevalent risk factors for those who abuse children are: parents who were abused as a child, parents that abuse drugs and alcohol, and parents with mental illnesses. Causes A common reason that parents abuse their children is because they were abused growing up. â€Å"They are the little ones we failed to protect a generation ago† (Polonko, 2005). Adults who were abused as children typically live with much anger and also tend to lack control. Beating and neglecting a child is normal to them and is the only way they know how to deal with children. They may have grown up in an â€Å"unhealthy environment, and it is likely that they never learned how to care for a child properly†

Martyrdom of Rizal - 1733 Words

Martyrdom at Bagumbayan During the last 24 hours of Rizal’s life, he was meeting visitors in his cell in fort Santiago, Where he is secretly finishing his farewell poem. He is also destined to die for his beloved country which he called â€Å"Pearl of the Orient Seas† in his poem and â€Å"Pearl of the Orient† in an article â€Å"Unfortunate Philippines† in The Hongkong Telegraph on September 24, 1892. Last Hours of Rizal At 6:00 A.M. of December 29, 1986, Captain Rafael Dominguez, read the death sentence to Rizal who would be shot at the back by a firing squad at 7:00 A.M. in Bagumbayan. At 7:00 A.M., Rizal was moved to the prison Chapel where he was visited by Father Miguel Saderra Mata and Father Luis Viza, a Jesuit teacher. At 7:15 A.M.,†¦show more content†¦Death March at Bagumbayan Bagumbayan is the place where Rizal’s execution happened. Rizal walked calmly with his defense council, Lt. Luis Taviel Andrade and two Jesuit priests Fathers March and Vilaclara. He was dressed up elegantly with his black suit, black derby hat, black shoes, white shirt, and black tie. Rizal’s arms were tied behind him elbow to elbow, but the rope was quite loose for him to move his arms. Several of the spectators lining the street from Fort Santiago to Plaza del Palacio in front of the Manila Cathedral. A vast crowd gathered at Bagumbayan to witness how a martyr dies. At the Bagumbayan field the spectators crowded a huge square formed by soldiers where the cavalcade entered the square, and Rizal walked serenely to the place where he was told to stand at a grassy lawn at the shore of Manila Bay, between two lamp posts. Martyrdom of a Hero Rizal indeed, firmly clasped his hands in parting despite the fact that his arms were tied. One of the priests blessed and offered him a crucifix to kiss. Then, he requested the commander of the firing squad to shoot him facing the squad, but it was denied for the captain ordered to shoot him at the back. Dr. Felipe Ruiz Castillo, a Spanish Military Physician was amazed when he found out that the pulse rate of Rizal was normal showing that he was not afraid to die. Exactly 7:03 in the morning when Rizal died in the bloom of manhood, he fell on the ground dead with face upward facing the morningShow MoreRelatedFilipino Nationalism : A Step Stone2608 Words   |  11 PagesThis act of martyrdom was later known as â€Å"Gomburza,† an acronym for the three friars’ last names; it was also one of the main influences of Jose Rizal’s act of martyrdom (Guerrero and Schumacher 15). Through this act of sacrifice, Filipinos saw how serious these nationalists were about the issue of Spain’s colonialism. Because of the martyrdom and sacrifices of the friars, Filipinos became aware of the effects of nationalism. Through the attainments of these little acts of martyrdom, the PropagandaRead MoreThe Rise of Filipino Nationalism1689 Words   |  7 Pagescolony and Spain. Its prominent members included Josà © Rizal, author of Noli Me Tangere (novel) and El Filibusterismo, Graciano Là ³pez Jaena, publisher of La Solidaridad, the movements principal organ, Mariano Ponce, the organizations secretary and Marcelo H. Del Pilar. Summary In February 17, 1872, Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, all Filipino priest, was executed by the Spanish colonizers on charges of subversion. The martyrdom of the three priests apparently helped to inspireRead MoreResearch Paper About Rizal2146 Words   |  9 PagesIs Rizal married to Josephine Braken? I. Introduction My intention is to give a basic outline of the lovelife story between Josephine Bracken and Jose P. Rizal. So for reasons of this outline and other constraints it will unfortunately be necessary omit some aspects of their story in this outline report. I ask of anyone who believes that anything is incorrect. Then, should it be necessary, it can be amended. I ask that any information that is offered is factually based rather than opinion orRead MoreRizal Park3291 Words   |  14 PagesTOUR 113: CASE STUDY OF RIZAL PARK Pacheco, Pauline Aubrey Pintucan, Minette Corazon Roberto, Jowelyn Tanafranca, Rowena Rae INTRODUCTION Luneta, or literally little moon, is a 58-hectare historical park overlooking the famous and stunning Manila bay, located at the zero kilometer mark in the midst of a busy and thriving city. For many decades, it was used by the Spaniards as execution grounds for Filipino rebels and mutineers. Through the years, it has bear witness to deaths injudiciously deliveredRead MoreStudents’ Views on Filipino Historians’ Articles About Jose Rizal as the National Hero of the Philippines6767 Words   |  28 PagesSTUDENTS’ VIEWS ON FILIPINO HISTORIANS’ ARTICLES ABOUT JOSE RIZAL AS THE NATIONAL HERO OF THE PHILIPPINES A Paper Submitted to: Dr. Minerva V. Apita In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in: Philippine History with Politics and Governance Laylo, Anelle Nica M. September 7, 2011 ABSTRACT The Filipinos have a rich archive of history, from the prehistoric era, to the Spaniards rule in the Philippines, followed by the Americans and the Japanese, followed by the Marcos regime, up to the presentRead MoreMonuments of Dr. Jose P. Rizal Around the World5518 Words   |  23 Pagesrequirements of the subject HIST 1023 Buhay, Mga Gawain at Sinulat ni Rizal Monuments of Dr. Jose P. Rizal Around the World Rizal Park (Luneta Park), Manila, Philippines Description: 12.7 m bronze and unpolished granite sculpture and obelisk. On one side of the Rizal Monument is a marble plaque marking the exact spot where the hero met his death by firing squad and on the other side is one of his poems. The central bronze figure is of Dr Rizal. The bronze figures around the sculpture were cast in SwitzerlandRead MoreWho Made Rizal Our Foremost National Hero, and Why?5235 Words   |  21 PagesWho Made Rizal Our Foremost National Hero, and Why? BY: ESTEBAN A. DE OCAMPO Dr. Jose Rizal Mercado y Alonso, or simply Jose Rizal (1861-1896), is unquestionably the greatest hero martyr of our nation. The day of his birth the day of his execution are fittingly commemorated by all classes of our people throughout the length breadth of this country even by Filipinos their friends abroad. His name is a byword in every Filipino home while his picture adorns the postage stamp paper moneyRead MoreRizal2524 Words   |  11 PagesChapter 2 : â€Å"CHILDHOOD MEMORIES IN CALAMBA† Our National Hero, Dr. Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realonda, has a lot of beautiful memories and wonderful experiences to reckon during his childhood days in Calamba – where he was born. He grew up in a happy home, ruled by good parents, bubbling with joy and contentment, sanctified by God’s blessings. His birthplace was an ideal place for individuals who want to gain inspiration and peacefulness. CALAMBA is really a perfect place to nurtureRead MoreNoli Me Tangere2438 Words   |  10 Pages150pxNoli me Tangere, original cover original cover Author Josà © Rizal Country Philippines (first printing in Berlin) Language Spanish Genre(s) novel Publisher Publication date 1887 Media type Print Followed by El filibusterismo Noli Me Tangere is a Spanish-language novel by Filipino writer and national hero Josà © Rizal, first published in 1887 in Berlin. The novel is commonly referred to by its shortened name Noli; the English translation was originally titled The Social Cancer, althoughRead MoreIntroduction to Rizal Course11998 Words   |  48 PagesLECTURE GUIDE IN SOC 6 WEEK 1—ORIENTATION / INTRODUCTION TO RIZAL COURSE WEEK 2 BACKGROUNDER OF RIZAL’S FAMILY / HISTORICAL BACGROUND OF RIZAL: A. ANCESTRY OF RIZAL. Rizal came from a mixture of races. From his father side, his great grandfather was a Chinese merchant from Amoy, China. In the closing year of the 17th century, Domingo Lamco who assumed the family surname â€Å" Mercado â€Å" in consonance with the decree of Governor General Narciso Claveria to free all Spanish subjects and their children

Toyota free essay sample

Abstract Purpose: the main purpose of this study is to find out about the recalls of Toyota vehicles which lead to the death of some innocent lives. The recall was due to unintended acceleration. Toyota ultimately recalled millions of its cars for floor mat issues, brake problems and sticky gas pedals. Methodology: Data was collected online, by the help of some selected search engines. Information was collected from Toyota’s national website as well as other private sites. Findings/results: Most organization should seek for customers or consumer’s satisfaction rather than targeting of making high profit. Arrogance and choosing to ignore quality warnings when failures begin to happen is also a problem facing most organization. Implications: Companies or organizations should design and manufacturing information and traceability data that can be shared with suppliers for effective root cause analysis. Paper type: case study Keywords: recall, unintended acceleration, floor mat, sticky gas pedals. Introduction Toyota has long been recognized as seventh largest company in the world and the second largest manufacturer of automobiles, with production facilities in 28 nations around the world (Toyota Assembly and part, 2011). As been the world third largest manufacturer of automobiles in unit sales and in net sales, Toyota has also created good customer relationship and provides customers with the products they need. Toyota Motor Company Ltd. was established in Koromo Town, Japan in 1937 by Mr. Kiichiro Toyoda. Koromo was a major producer of silk and before the founding of the automobile company, the Toyoda family was involved in the manufacture of automatic looms (a device use to weave cloth) used by the silk and cotton industry (Toyota Motto Corporation, 2011). During the 1930s the textile industry suffered and orders for new looms from the Toyoda familys factory were slow. Looking for new growth markets and to hand the company over to his son, Sakichi Toyoda. Sakichi Toyoda invested in his research and development of an automobile in 1930. As the work was progressing, he established the first Automobile Department, within his existing Toyoda Automatic Loom Works company in September 1933. He later changed the name â€Å"Toyoda† to â€Å"Toyota† since he wanted to bridge the gap between his family name and the Company name. That is, making a clear distinction between his family (private life) and his company (public life). Toyoda completed the first prototype of an engine named the type A successfully which leads to the establishment of Toyota Motor Corporation. Soon after, he launched its first small car known as the SA Model in 1974. Over and above manufacturing, Toyota also has a global network of design and Research and Development facilities, embracing the three major car markets of Japan, North America and Europe. Across the world, Toyota participates enthusiastically in community activities ranging from the sponsorship of educational and cultural programmes to international exchange and research. The company never encountered a problem or any bad history until there was recalls of some automobiles by the Toyota Motor Corporation which occurred at the end of 2009 and commerce of 2010. Although the Toyota Company is best known today for its cars, it is still in the textile business and still makes automatic looms, which are now computerized and electric sewing machines which are available worldwide. Toyota Case Toyota recalled some of it automobiles due to unintended acceleration leading to the death of innocent people. Toyota ultimately recalled millions of its cars for floor mat issues, brake problems and sticky gas pedals. Sticky gas pedals/stuck gas pedal Toyota case was due to potential problems with the gas pedal mechanism that can cause the accelerator to become stuck regardless of whether the vehicle contains a floor mat. Toyota said in certain rare cases, the gas pedal mechanism wears down, causing the accelerator to become harder to press, slower to return or, in some cases, stuck. The gas pedals was too long and there is a little space between it and the floor mat. In all, there was a poorly designed floor mat Toyota began a massive recall last year worldwide to fix the problems that were attributed to faulty accelerators, floor mats getting stuck in gas pedals and brake problems in Prius hybrids. More than 8.5 million Toyota cars and trucks have been recalled. Drivers have complained of cars careering out of control at 65mph while overtaking, and negotiating roundabouts so fast that it felt like their car was on two wheels. A mechanical fault, caused by a combination of wear and cold and wet weather, Toyota believes, means that the accelerator pedal sometimes sticks down. Around 10,000 Toyota owners have so far contacted a hotline to air concerns. Toyota was overwhelmed by massive product recalls and damage to its reputation after questions over the safety of its cars and allegations that the company did not act quickly enough once problems had been identified. The problem commenced when one duty police officer and his family back in August 2009 after their car, a Toyota Lexus, unexpectedly accelerated, crashed into another vehicle, tumbled over an embankment and burst into flames lead to the death of the man. Initial company reports identified that the car may have been fitted with the wrong floor mats, which could have slipped and entrapped the accelerator pedal. The problems began to increase for Toyota. Critics attacked the company for allegedly covering up defects and not taking safety issues seriously enough. By February earlier this year, Toyota had issued recalls for about 10 million vehicles and company president Akio Toyoda was summoned to appear  before a U.S. congressional committee to respond to questions over Toyota’s handling of the recalls and safety issues. Even if a company tries to cope with a crisis, it often happens that the company faces a secondary crisis, which could be more threatening than the original one when it fails to communicate with society and causes misunderstanding (Nakata, 2010). Methodology Data was collected from online by the help of some selected search engines (Bing, Google and Yahoo) and browsers (Google chrome, Opera and Mozilla Fox). An achieved Data containing the figures of recall vehicles were used. Information was collected from Toyota’s national website as well as other private sites. Quotes, citations and other relevant document leading to the completion of this case study were also taken from some this site. Recall by Toyota was first initiated with the assistance of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). Recall Data Toyota had announced recalls of approximately 5.2 million vehicles for the pedal entrapment/floor mat problem, and an additional 2.3 million vehicles for the accelerator pedal problem. Approximately 1.7 million vehicles are subject to both. Certain related Lexus and Pontiac models were also affected. The next day, Toyota widened the recall to include 1.8 million vehicles in Europe and 75,000 in China. By then, the worldwide total number of cars recalled by Toyota stood at 9 million. Sales of multiple recalled models were suspended for several weeks as a result of the accelerator pedal recall, with the vehicles awaiting replacement parts. Toyota did recall almost 8 million vehicles worldwide to correct issues with ill-fitting floor mats that could trap the accelerator pedal, and for adjustments to throttle pedals that had a tendency to stick or were slow to return to idle. Some of the cars affected by the recall are listed below. RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia, Lexus, Pontiac Investigations Toyota Company Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate the software in Toyota engine computers to see if a programming error could command the throttles to open without input from the drivers. Such unintended acceleration was blamed for a number of accidents and deaths over several years, culminating in the recalls. NHTSA confirmed that the cause of unintended acceleration was not due to mechanical defect with the pedals and floor mat systems (Allen, 2010). According to NHTSA previous investigation, the defect has resulted in a total of 16 accidents with three deaths and seven injuries. Therefore, why didn’t Toyota use this as an alert to call for recall but rather delayed in announcing. occur on vehicles sold in the States because American driving cycles are significantly different from those in Japan. Once the company received 54 complaints on the issue, it supposedly alerted NHTSA of the problem within the five days allowed under the law. The NHTSA recently charged Toyota with a $16.4 million fine for failing to notify the government of the infamous unintended acceleration issue within the allotted time. Since then, Toyota has been more forthcoming with information about what it claims the company knew and when, but so far theres no been official word from the automaker about this latest investigation. Meanwhile, Toyota’s crisis has created an opening for other carmakers. GM, Ford, and Hyundai have all scrambled to claim some of Toyota’s slipping market share. (Haq, 2010). The question of unintended acceleration involving Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been repeatedly and thoroughly investigated by NHTSA, without any finding of defect other than the risk from an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat. (Toyota-Newsroom, 2009). Also, Toyota Company commissioned NASA to investigate on the problem. NASA investigated many possible avenues that might increase engine RPM (Resolutions per minutes). Congressional decisions Congress in February 2010 began a series of hearings on the issue of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia has laid out possible steps for Congress and the DOT, including taking a fresh look at the TREAD Act, requiring brake override technology on all new automobiles, requiring auto makers to provide the necessary equipment for investigators to read electronic data recorders and forcing senior executives of auto companies to personally certify that information their firms provide to NHTSA is complete and accurate.(Rockefeller, 2010). Consumer advocates have suggested broader changes including new standards for accelerators and electronics testing; mandatory installation of event data recorders and the collection of more information. Toyota’s Reaction/Response Toyota, however, took the result as cold comfort, since the damage to its reputation has been done. The mechanical issues with its pedals and floor mats, after all, remain as the root factor in what eventually became a record recall of over 12 million vehicles around the world and over 5 million here in the U.S. Toyota was eventually fined $48.8 million for its treatment of the recalls. Toyota said drivers in the recalled vehicles whose gas pedals become stuck should firmly apply their brakes, drive the car to a safe location, shut off the engine and contact the nearest Toyota dealer. Drivers who experience the problem should not pump their brakes, Toyota said. (ValdesDapena, 2010). At least in that short term, it was not easy for Toyota to erase the negative Image of its products, he said. (Nakata, 2010) Solutions from Toyota to fix the problems Toyotas engineers have developed and rigorously tested a solution that is both effective and simple. A precision-cut steel reinforcement bar will be installed into the accelerator pedal assembly, thereby eliminating the excess friction that has caused pedals to stick in rare instances. (Griffin, 2011) Lessons from organization Most organization should seek for customers or consumer’s satisfaction rather than targeting of making high profit. Arrogance and choosing to ignore quality warnings when failures started to happen is also a problem facing most organization. Toyota did not act until the number of cases and the media outcry became loud enough to get through their in-defiance skulls. May be it is not too much of quality that has lead Toyota in to this crisis but rather they should look at their quality of leadership which may sometimes include selecting technology and keeping ears to the ground. Companies or organization should design and manufacturing information and traceability data that can be shared with suppliers for effective root cause analysis. Lesson from research. Research can go further to examine the actual number of vehicles related by models to see which of these models were affected badly or most. Also, extend the research to see if the design or structure of those models is the main cause of the unintended acceleration.

Recycling Essays (3681 words) - Waste Management, Babycare

Recycling Recycling, Making a Difference To recycle or not to recycle that is an important question that we all need to ask ourselves. As the population continues to grow and the earth gets more and more crowded with people and their waste it becomes a major issue of whether there will be enough space on the planet earth for future generations and their waste (trash) too. When first beginning to collect trash and and counting the trash my attitude was - what influence could my family make? But as I began to research recycling and how some wastes pollute the environment my attitude took a change. The attitude turned more toward concern than what or how much my waste contributed to the big picture. Below is a chart reflecting the amount of trash that was counted and weighted during a four-week period beginning the week of Monday, April 24, 2000 and ending on Sunday, May 21, 2000. These weights were rounded up to the nearest pound. Week Aluminum Other Metals Glass Plastics Newspaper White Paper Other Paper Food Prducts and Lftovrs 1- Apr 24-30 10 5 4 5 2- May 1-7 3- May 8-14 4- May 15-21 Totals The Orrs household consists of my wife and three children, ages 9, 5 and 2 (3 boys and 2 girls). During the first week of my collection the oldest child was visiting her grandparents, which I thought would have made a difference in the amount of trash that the Orrs would accumulate. There was a major surprise to the household of how much food waste accumulated over a week, and how the numbers of plastic and glass were almost equivalent. The food waste can probably be attributed to the fact that Mrs. Orr still cooks for five people and the children never really eat all their food. When raising three children you get into a pattern and it has been hard for my wife to change that pattern as far as the amount of food that is bought and the amount of food she cooks at any one time. The newspaper was not a great surprise because each week the household receives the same number of papers, the OFallon journal daily, the Sunday Post Dispatch, two journals and some weeks the papers varied in size. Depending on the media. The large amount of other paper came as a major shock, This consisted of some color paper and disposable diapers that the youngest child uses. A lot of this was various bits of junk mail that is received weekly that was not be counted as white paper or in the newspaper catogory. Paper napkins and towels also added to the grand total, as well. There was a lot of white paper that was collected, but this was during the time when the computer was being used a lot due to the youngest daughter and her book report and most of the mail was in the form of junk. The first week I weighed two pounds of plastic. This pound consisted of two Pepsi bottles and water bottles. After the first couple of days, it became more aware of how much water that was being used and the solution to this was reusing the same bottles instead of throwing the empty ones out, which also saved money. The researching period of recycling and learning what all the waste is doing to the our Planet, was when the biggest concerns became aware of the amount of other trash that was counted. Because this is the type of trash that cannot be recycled easily. The disposable diapers and the sanitary products are a major concern because this type of waste goes directly into a landfill. When further research on the disposable diapers, it was surprising to find that the disposal of the diapers is not causing the controversy, that it did several years ago. According to one study it was found that disposable diapers cause more trash but cloth diapers use more energy (Samuelson 143 - 144). This would mean that no matter what you use that you are still causing some damage to the environment in one way or another (The Orr family goes throught about four diapers a day).

Letters to the President free essay sample

â€Å"Letters to the President† is Hawk Nelson’s debut album. This group is so new to the scene you might be asking, â€Å"Who the heck is Hawk Nelson, anyway?† Well, they are a Christian punk-rock band that has hit it big! With their chart-topping hits â€Å"Take Me† and â€Å"Right Here,† you can’t help but fall head-over-heels in love with them. Their punk-rock music styling, mixed with Christian lyrics, has created an ,ber-genre which will attract teens from all over. Every song has an underlying message that basically says to follow God. Most punk rockers complain about how hard life was, is, or will be, but Hawk Nelson takes a different approach. Instead of complaining, they teach you to follow God. Hawk Nelson’s style is mostly punk rock, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t branch out: â€Å"From Underneath† and â€Å"36 Days† are both soft-rock songs that teach you to cherish every minute since you never really know what will happen. We will write a custom essay sample on Letters to the President or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page And then there is â€Å"Like a Race Car,† which is sort of like Linkin Park minus the rapping. Hawk Nelson is probably going to end up in the hands of not only Christian music listeners, but punk rock listeners, too. Their music is universal. Buy the album, listen to it, and have your friends listen, too. Trust me, the word will spread. .

Astro-Hoaxes You Shouldnt Take Seriously

Astro-Hoaxes You Shouldnt Take Seriously Every year we see stories about how Earth is going to be hit by an asteroid, or that Mars will be as big as the full Moon, or a NASA probe has found evidence of life on Mars. In fact, the list of astronomy hoaxes is never-ending. One way to find out whats really happening is to check out the debunking site Snopes. Their writers are usually on top of the latest stories, and not just in weird science. Earth as a Target: Maybe, but Not the Way You Think The recurring story about Earth and an incoming asteroid  usually shows up in the supermarket press, often with a projected date, but few other details. It almost always cites NASA, but doesnt name a scientist who is making the prediction. In addition, the story rarely mentions amateur astronomers and their observations. There are thousands of these people around the world watching the skies, and if an incoming asteroid were to be on a collision course with Earth, theyd see it (unless it was really quite small). It is true that NASA and a world-wide group of both professional and amateur observers are monitoring the space near Earth for any possible Earth-crossing asteroids. Those would be the most likely types of objects to pose a threat to our planet. Announcements of Earth-crossing or Earth-approaching asteroids would show up at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Near Earth Object Program web page. And  such objects are usually spotted pretty far in advance. The known Potentially Hazardous asteroids have very, very small chances of colliding with Earth in the next 100 years; its less than one tenth of one percent of a chance.  So, the answer to whether or not theres an asteroid homing in on Earth is No. Just no. And, for the record, supermarket tabloids are not scientific journals. Mars Will Be as Big as the Full Moon!   Of all the astronomy hoaxes to circulate on the web, the idea that Mars will look as big as the full Moon on some given date is one of the most inaccurate. The Moon lies 238,000 miles away from us; Mars never gets closer than 36 million miles. Theres no way they can look the same size, not unless Mars wants to get a lot closer to us, and if it did, it would be pretty catastrophic. The hoax began with a poorly worded email announcing that  Mars - as seen through a 75-power telescope - would look as big as the full Moon would look to the naked eye. This was supposed to occur in 2003, when Mars and Earth were closest to each other in their orbits (but still more than 34 million miles apart). Now, the same rumor comes around every year. No matter where we are in our orbits with respect to each other, Mars will look like a small point of light from Earth and the Moon will look big and lovely. NASA Is (Not) Hiding Life on Mars The red planet Mars currently has two working rovers on its surface:  Opportunity and Curiosity. They are sending back images of rocks, mountains, valleys, and craters. Those images are taken during daylight hours under all kinds of lighting conditions. Occasionally an image shows a rock in the shadows. Due to our propensity to see faces in rocks and clouds (a phenomenon called pareidolia), its sometimes easy to see a shadowy rock as a form, a crab, or a statue of a debutante. The infamous Face on Mars turned out to be a rocky bluff with shadows that looked like eyes and a mouth. It was a trick of light and shadow playing across rock outcrops and cliffs. Its like the Old Man of the Mountain in New Hampshire in the United States. It was a rock overhang that, from one angle, looked like an old mans profile. If you looked at it from another direction, it was just a rocky cliff. Now, because it cracked and crashed to the ground, its a pile of rock. There are already some pretty interesting things on Mars that science can tell us about, so theres no need to imagine fantastic creatures where only rocks exist. And, just because Mars scientists debunk the existence of a face or a rock that looks like a crab does not mean theyre hiding life on Mars. If they had found any shred of evidence of living beings on the red planet now (or in the past), it would be huge news. At least, thats what common sense tells us. And common sense is an important factor in doing science as well as exploring the universe.

Current Challenges Facing IT & Recommendations Essay

Current Challenges Facing IT & Recommendations - Essay Example Failure of a business organization may as well arise due to problems caused by IT failures. These organizations can be used as cases to learn more concerning Information Technology (IT). Failure always comes because of challenges affecting a particular organization. One of the companies in the US that has been facing challenges is Otisline, a company that specialized in the distribution and provision of elevators. The essay will look into details, the overview of Otisline, challenges facing it, as well as, the recommendations required to make Otisline better. Case overview Otisline Company improved the performance of different business organizations. The company, other than the supply and provision of elevators, also provided regional, district and NAO management with the required amount of quality information. When a problem arose, the management was the first to know from the customer complaints. Different managements responded differently to the clients’ callbacks. This dep ended on the number of callback, for instance, district managers handled three or more callbacks in a month. The company made corrections using these callbacks. Otisline had many impacts on NAO’s business including customer service, information service, dispatching, and controlling of mechanics. Otisline had several impacts in NAO in different sectors such as information service, which involved the use of sms database with an IBM 3083 computer (Stoddad & Harvard University 198). This was meant to make response to the clients as fast as possible. An example of a place where the Otisline was applied was in the customer service whereby it recognized buildings in four distinct ways: telephone number, building identification number, building address as well as the building name, state and city. The Otisline service center was also organized in a way that it easily promoted dispatcher efficiency. Otisline software was applied in other areas such as marketing services, and control a nd dispatching of service mechanics. The following describes the factors that brought about the problem in Oisline. The factors explain succinctly the challenges that the IT controlled company is undergoing. The factors are unsatisfactory consumer services, lack of enough human resource, obsolescence, IT complexities, poor marketing and public relations, poor data storage and retrieval methods, and poor budgeting. Challenges Facing IT Customer service: IT is affected by bad reputation when taking customer need satisfaction. As evidenced by the Otisline, there is a high chance of doing the work incorrectly according to the customer’s requirements (Stoddad & Harvard University 218). This is what leads to several callbacks. This is the same in the corporate field. The customer normally wants and expects to be told what they want. The automated recommendation tone always seems arrogant. This may always lead to infusion of negative mentalities and attitudes towards the IT. This ch allenge can be corrected or recommended by listening to customer needs and making them the number one priority; not allowing them to be controlled by the IT system or software like that of Otisline, in this case. It leads to lose of human resource. There is always a normal trend of worker lay off when a new program or software that can replace the employees and do the work efficiently is discovered. The same has affected Otis Corporation whereby six workers were laid off after the realization of the company’

ENVIRONMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ENVIRONMENT - Essay Example This brings us to the first reason which highlights the notion of the existence of environmental racism – that of social inequality; the one that exists and widens the margin between the upper and middle white class and the lowly minorities; hence the formulation of a basic criticism which looked at how the low income and the minority Americans had to face the clearly disproportionate burden of environmental issues. These comprised of the existence of basic landfill which were located near their residence as well as the unsafe and risky environments in which these individuals held jobs (Bullard, 2000) Studies conducted on the placement of hazardous toxic waste sites went to show that the primary locations selected for the dumping of unsafe agents were mostly in the South. It showed how the hazardous waste sites were located primarily in the communities where the black resided. This brings us to the second reason that contributes to environmental inequality, that which pertains to racial inequality and discrimination being a major reason why it is mainly residential areas in which the low income black reside are primary locations for the dumping and disposal of hazardous toxic wastes (Gaventa, John and Willingham, 1990). The aspect of residential segregation along with racial income inequality falls to be the key reasons as to why environmental inequality in societies prevails. Even since 1987, research has focused on these aspects looking at the reasons behind why it was that the minorities were at higher risk as compared to whites to be living in areas which had more pollution, health risks, and unsafe environmental aspects. They were able to chalk down residential segregation as one of the top reasons as to why societies showed such disparity when it come to the allocation of environmentally unsafe locations being near the minority or African-American residential areas. GIS based socio-spatial analysis is just one way that we can see the

Absorption and Marginal Costing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Absorption and Marginal Costing - Assignment Example This technique of costing is also known as the full-cost technique (Sikdar, 2008). In reality, the technique of marginal costing takes into consideration the behavioral features of costs by segregating the costs into fixed and variable elements. The segregation is done because per unit variable cost is fixed and total costs are variable in nature but actually total fixed costs are fixed and per unit fixed cost is variable in nature. In addition, variable costs are handy in nature, whereas total fixed costs are unmanageable in nature. Short term planning makes use of the Marginal costing technique. Control and decision making in particular reference to the production of multi-products also uses marginal costing (Sikdar, 2008). The contribution in marginal costing technique is computed after taking away variable costs from sales value. This is the way in which the total share of all products/services incurred towards the total fixed costs by the business is also taken into account. Since the fixed costs are dealt with as period costs they are subtracted from total share to compute net profit (Sikdar, 2008). From the perspective of cost for a product/service, an absorption costing regards a share of all costs incurred by a business with regard to each of its products/services. Costs are segregated based on their functions under absorption costing technique. Apart from this costs which are incurred with reference to other business functions are subtracted to compute the net profit. Thus we can infer that absorption costing is a better info give to price products since it takes into account both variable and fixed costs (Sikdar, 2008). The costs that fluctuate with a resolution should only be included in decision analysis. For many decisions that engage comparatively small fluctuations from accessible practice and/or are for comparatively restricted periods of time, fixed costs are not applicable to the decision.  

Limitations In Social Work Practice Social Work Essay

Limitations In Social Work Practice Social Work Essay There are many competing pressures to direct the service in ways that may not be consistent with Social Work principles towards greater penal and correctional models. It is therefore essential to have a clear understanding of the policy and legal framework that creates the remit and legitimacy for the operation of Social Work in the Criminal Justice process (Whyte, 2001, p.7). As Whytes views indicate, to practise effectively, it is necessary to have a critical understanding of the law and to recognise limitations as well as strengths in Social Work. The law can lack clarity and can be open to interpretation. This essay aims to discuss Social Work roles and responsibilities in Criminal Justice settings in relation to the increasing number of women involved in the Scottish Criminal Justice system. The law can make the Social Work task complex and issues related to assessment, decision-making, accountability, discrimination and oppression will be considered and the impact on services users, their families and the community. Social Work involves working with marginalised and disadvantaged service users who can be both vulnerable to crime and susceptible to criminalisation and subsequently, practice involves work with victims or offenders. Local Authorities (LAs) have a statutory responsibility to provide Criminal Justice Social Work Services to support the Criminal Justice process through assessment of individuals, information to the Courts and supervision of offenders. Scotland differs from the rest of the UK in that there is a unique cultural and political heritage and a separate legal system. Social Work therefore, has a central role within the Criminal Justice process in Scotland which is in contrast to England and Wales. As McAra (2005) suggests a more welfare orientated approach has been adopted due to Scotlands legal culture and political history. The legal framework outlining powers and duties of Criminal Justice Social Work is the Social Work Scotland Act 1968 (as amended). Section 27 of this Act outlines the duty by LAs to provide specific Criminal Justice services (for example social background reports, supervision of offenders on an Order or Licence) in respect of central government funding however, it does not explain the objectives of these services or provide guidance on their exercise. Section 12 gives LAs discretion to provide additional services for example to victims, as part of the general responsibility to promote social welfare. Probation or offender services became the responsibility of the LA Social Work Departments in 1968 and had a general duty to promote social welfare in their locality (S12, Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968). This was due to the Kilbrandon Committee (Kilbrandon, 1964) being appointed to investigate increasing juvenile crime. The Kilbrandon Report recommended a new approach to childrens services with children who offend being treated the same as children requiring care and protection. Kilbrandon also suggested diversion and early voluntary intervention as crime prevention and one department for children and adults. This merge of work with adult offenders was pivotal in recognising work with offenders as having a welfare component admittedly with a level of control. The Kilbrandon philosophy advocated rehabilitation and treatment of offenders and an awareness of the social causes of crime which is still relevant to todays practice. From the 1980s onwards Criminal Justice in Scotland has undergone major legislative and policy change. As there was concern for public protection and community disposal effectiveness in 1991, 100 per cent central government funding was introduced and the National Objectives and Standards (NOS) were published which set out core objectives, service provision and guidance on their delivery (Social Work Group, 1991). This resulted in the government committing to Social Work delivering this role. Due to recent rising prison populations, there has been growing political concern that custody rates need to decrease and should be replaced with community based alternatives. Women are only a minority of the prison population but their imprisonment is increasing more than that of men (McIvor, 2007), although their offending is less serious and less frequent. Prison sentences are inappropriate for female offenders, with the exception of serious or violent female offenders as their fragile situation in the community can be exacerbated and this can have a long-term negative impact on women and their families (Corston, 2007). Social Work with offenders should aim to address and reduce offending behaviour. Whilst the law provides a framework for practice, effective work with offenders requires skills such as communication, therapeutic relationships in supervision, assessment and risk management. The task is varied and complex as Social Workers have the power to control the individuals who are referred via the Courts and enforce Court Orders but must also work with an offender in a holistic, inclusive way to have a positive impact on their offending behaviour (Scottish Executive, 2004a). This can be through support and assistance in relation to personal and social problems but also the individual taking responsibility for their actions. Effective and ethical practice is therefore, about considering and managing the needs and rights of the Courts, the general public, victims and offenders. Although Social Workers have statutory duties and powers to intervene in peoples lives this is not always welcome but is necessary in promoting public safety. Under the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) Code of Practice, Social Workers have an obligation to uphold public trust and confidence and the Criminal Justice Authorities (CJAs) are required by Scottish Executive guidance to develop a strategy to address this (Scottish Executive, 2006b). This strategy includes both offenders and their families and Social Workers should engage these individuals and recognise their views in the development of services. Both Criminal Law and Social Work recognise the autonomy of individuals choices on how they lead their lives and with this capacity is criminal responsibility. Those who lack capacity e.g. children and the mentally disordered, are not culpable in the eyes of the law and may be treated differently. It is therefore recognised that criminal behaviour is not just a choice but may be about social circumstances to which they have minimal control. Social Workers should assist in allowing individuals to improve their capacity for making choices together with consequences to their actions (ADSW, 1996a). Although Social Workers are obliged to protect the rights and interests of service users there is a belief amongst the general public that they have forfeited these rights when they have offended. All Criminal Justice agencies must comply with the Human Rights Act 1988 which incorporates into domestic law the fundamental rights set out in the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). Public Authorities are required to respect all of the provisions however, the two articles with particular relevance to Criminal Law and Social Work are the right to liberty and security (Article 5. ECHR) and the right to a fair trial (Article 6, ECHR). However, restrictions can be imposed on those who breach criminal law or are a threat to public safety as long as the detention is authorised by law and there is balance between the individual, their victims and the general public. The Social Worker must assess this balance through rigorous assessment and analysis of risk. The role requires respect to o ffenders as individuals and ensure that the offenders ability and right to function as a member of society is not impaired to a greater extent than is necessary in the interests of justice (ADSW, 1996a). Criminal Justice Social Work services are delivered in partnership with various statutory and non-statutory agencies and this presents challenges due to conflicting professional values and aims. The Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 was introduced to improve joint working and co-ordinate the management of offenders in the transition from custody to community supervision and places a duty on Criminal Justice Authorities (CJAs) to have an information sharing process in order that relevant information is shared between agencies (s.3 (5)(g)) for improving offender and risk management. However, sensitive personal information must be handled carefully and be under the principles of the Data Protection Act 1988 and local agency protocols. Practitioners must ensure that any information sharing decisions are fully explained and understood by the offender even when their consent to disclosure is not required. Organisations who deliver public services have general duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote equality of opportunity on the grounds of race (Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000), sex (Equality Act 2006), and disability (Disability Discrimination Act 2005). Individuals who are involved with Criminal Justice organisations are entitled to the protection of discrimination laws which relate to sex, race, disability, religious beliefs and sexual orientation, with exception to exercising judicial functions or carrying out Court orders. In these circumstances, it may be within Article 14 of the ECHR which prevents to the right to liberty and security of the individual or the right to a fair trial being interfered with on a wide range of discriminatory grounds. Criminal Justice is still influenced by prejudicial and discriminatory views. Research carried out by both the Social Work and Prisons Inspectorate for Scotland (1998) highlighted concerns about the treatment of female offenders in the Criminal Justice process. In addition, several inquiries in England and Wales in relation to racial discrimination by the police and prison services have subsequently raised public awareness (Macpherson, 1999; Keith, 2006). The Scottish Government has a duty to publish information of discrimination of any unlawful grounds (s.306 (1)(b) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995) and therefore, all workers need to practise in an anti-discriminatory way. The law outlines the limits of Social Work intervention and knowledge of the law is essential to anti-oppressive practice. The only legitimacy for intervening in the life of the individual within the criminal justice process is the individuals offending behaviour†¦if individuals have social needs which require to be met but are not crime related or crime producing, or if the offence is not sufficiently serious to fall within the criteria of the twin-track approach, services should be offered, as far as possible, through voluntary provision†¦No-one should be drawn into the criminal justice processes in order to receive social work help (Moore and Whyte, 1998, p.24). Risk assessment and offence based practice is an ethical approach. It aims to ensure that the most intensive and potentially most intrusive services are focused on those service users who pose the greatest risk of causing harm to others'(ADSW, 2003) and prevent socially disadvantaged individuals being taken further into criminal justice control which can result in further social exclusion. There is often a complex relationship between social exclusion and offending behaviour and often the Criminal Justice process displays existing injustices within society. It is important that issues in relation to class, age and social context should be recognised together with vulnerability to discrimination. The Social Workers role should be to address issues of social exclusion and empower individuals to lead law abiding lives by addressing their offending behaviour. Social Work can help offenders develop capacity to make informed choices by actively encouraging engagement with improving their current situation and their participation in the supervision and change process (McCulloch, 2005; McNeill, 2004). Assisting offenders to focus on their strengths as opposed to their risk and needs can have a positive impact as they learn to recognise the value in their own lives and respect the value of others. The sentencing stage in the criminal justice process generates the majority of Criminal Justice Social Work through provision of information to the Court in the form of Social Enquiry Reports (SERs) and the administration of community disposals, with the exception of liberty orders (tagging). SERs have no legal basis but there is a statutory duty on criminal justice social work to provide reports to the Court for disposal of a case (s.27(1)(a) SWSA 1968. Reports provide the court with the information and advice they need in deciding on the most appropriate way to deal with offenders. They include information and advice about the feasibility of community based disposals, particularly those involving local authority supervision. In the case of every offender under 21 and any offender facing custody for the first time, the court must obtain information and advice about whether a community based disposal is available and appropriate. In the event of custody, the court requires advice abo ut the possible need for a Supervised Release order or Extended Sentence Supervision on release. (Scottish Executive, 2004d, para. 1.5) The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 sets out when the court can or must obtain an SER. Failure to request a report, where required by law, can result in a sentence being quashed on appeal. The Court is not obliged to follow recommendations or opinions in the SER however, Social Workers can have a direct influence on the sentence passed. Preparing SERs demands a high standard of professional practice. It requires skilled interviewing, the ability to collect and assess information from different sources, and the art of writing a report which is dependable, constructive, impartial and brief (Social Work Services Inspectorate (SWSI), 1996). The law imposes time limits in compiling reports, which in practice creates more demands on a workers time and places increased pressure in the preparation of SERs especially if there are high numbers of worker absence or whether the offender is known to the worker and their individual circumstances. Whilst conducting interviews the worker must ensure that the offender understands the purpose of the report, the relevance of questions (health, addiction issues, and personal relationships) and the limits to confidentiality of this information. Social workers must balance between an informed recommendation and an awareness of the severity of the offence. The report author should be impartial and not minimise the seriousness of the offence and its impact (NOS, Scottish Executive, 2004d, para 5.5) and phrases that imply moral judgements, label or stereotype offenders should not be used (para. 5.1). When compiling an SER workers are required to consider the suitability of disposals in relation to the risk posed by an offender and to target appropriate resources which are most appropriate and successful in addressing offending behaviour. Risk assessment is complex and there has been a shift from concern for the offender and their needs to concern about public safety and the offender being a potential source of risk to others. Although the legislation is not explicit about offending behaviour, NOS state that SERs should provide information and advice which will help the Court decide the available sentencing options†¦by assessing the risk of reoffending, and†¦the possible harm to others. This requires an investigation of offending behaviour and of the offenders circumstances, attitudes and motivation to change (Scottish Executive, 2004d, 1.6). The most widely used assessment tools are The Level of Service Inventory Revised (LSI-R) to assess risk of re-offending and the Risk Assessment Guidance Framework (RAGF) to assess risk of harm. However, workers vary in their use of risk of harm assessment tools, with some workers using the Risk Assessment 1-4 (RA1-4) due to lack of training on the RAGF assessment tool, lack of confidence or personal choice and in personal experience some workers fail to address the risk of harm in SERs for fear of being questioned about the validity and reliability of the assessment. LA Criminal Justice Services have opted for one or other, or a combination of both approaches in their offender management. However, the national implementation of a common tool is now planned, with the proposals for The Level of Service Case Management Inventory (LSCMI) (Scottish Government, 2007). These risk assessment tools are inappropriate for women offenders, as their development is based predominantly on populations of men (McIvor and Kemshall, 2002: Maurutto and Hannah-Moffat, 2006), tend to over predict the risk of re-offending and fail to identify health and other needs that are of particular relevance to women. Even where needs are identified it is unclear whether or how they relate to womens offending. Actuarial calculations can result in inappropriate and harsh responses from the Courts but can also deny that a woman is in the process of desisting from crime or that her offending is a symptom as opposed to a cause of other additional problems in her life. It could be argued that focus should be more about needs which stablise an individuals lifestyle than on offending, which results from that lifestyle, and could be seen as a better way to inform both sentencer and practitioner decision making. Professional judgement also varies widely depending on the assessor. Differences can emerge due to workers age, length of service and experience and some use their professional judgement more than actuarial methods (Barry, 2007a). Risk assessments are standardised tools which fail to take into account how appropriate interventions are or the availability of services but form the basis on which the need for and access to interventions is determined. These differing needs and circumstances mean that available interventions are not appropriate for a lot of women. The assessed needs of women are not always taken into account in the sentence they receive. Women predominantly, are given harsher sentences that are disproportionate to the offence in comparison to the treatment of male offenders. Community Service is a high-tariff disposal which is legislated to serve as an alternative to custody. However, research carried out in Scotland concluded that women were more likely to receive a Community Service Order in their involvement in the Criminal Justice system than men (McIvor, 1998; McIvor and Barry, 1998). Community Service is traditionally male dominated, is mainly heavy manual duties such as painting, landscaping and joinery and many women struggle with this disposal for several reasons. Firstly, in terms of child care arrangements whilst undertaking their placement, women can be wary due to past experiences with Children and Families Social Workers even although they have no access to childcare through their own social networks and therefore, organising childcare facilities becomes the responsibility of the Social Work Department. Additionally, there is lack of female supervisors to oversee Community Service placements for women and many women are reluctant to be supervised by a man and this greatly reduces the number of placements appropriate to their skills and capabilities. The use of effective and appropriate sanctions for female offenders presents some challenges. Interventions and services are typically developed for male offenders but are unlikely to meet female offenders needs and there is increasing recognition that gender appropriate provision is required. As argued by Sheehan et al. (2007) gender specific responses may encourage a reduction in imprisonment for this vulnerable group as women tend to offend through necessity than choice (Barry, 2007b; Home Office, 2004). Support from Social Workers should be given to reduce involvement in offending, but underlying problems must also be addressed such as low self-esteem, mental and physical health, financial restraints and limited educational and employment opportunities. A study of probation with female offenders in Scotland, found that practitioners recognised that interventions with women need to be more informal, less structured and more focused on issues other than offending behaviour. Community sanctions work more effectively if there is flexibility as women tend to breach orders as a result of non-compliance as opposed to further offending (Scottish Government, 2007). Probation can be seen as access to a package of welfare measures which might not otherwise be available to women who need support as opposed to punishment (McIvor and Barry, 1998). An ongoing challenge for practitioners is the absence of alternative welfare orientated disposals and that some women view probation negatively based on previous episodes of supervision or involvement in relation to child care issues and may not embrace support made available. Probation Orders vary in length and this can cause difficulties in client motivation over a long period of time and increases the risk of non-compliance resulting in Breach. Although the law is crucial in framing Social Work practice in the Criminal Justice process it is equally important that Social Work skills and values are central to effective interventions. Crime has become increasingly prominent both in the public and political agenda and therefore, Social Work has become more prominent and complex. Social Workers have a professional responsibility towards victims, the Court, community and offenders however, community based resources are scarce for women as their offending rarely presents a significant public risk (Scottish Office, 1998). The needs presented by women appear to be less about offending and more about the underlying problems in their lives such as former or current abuse, poverty, parenting difficulties, mental health and addiction issues and this can increase the likelihood of offending (Carless, 2006). These problems due to their nature and complexity often make it difficult for professionals to work effectively within the confines of the Criminal Justice system. Priority should be given to offering practical and emotional support to women rather than focusing on their offending behaviour and their ability to comply with strict requirements. The Criminal Justice system cannot solely provide effective responses to vulnerable women leading often chaotic and damaged lives within an increasingly risk averse and punitive environment however, Social Workers need to have a critical understanding of the law to practice effectively and to recognise its limitations as well as strengths.

Employee rewards Essay

Employee reward is about how people are rewarded in accordance with their value to an organization (Armstrong, 2001). It is concerned with both financial and non financial rewards and embraces the philosophies, strategies, policies, plans and processes used by organization to development maintain reward systems. An employee reward system consist of an organizations integrated policies, processes, practice, structures and procedures which will provide and maintain appropriate type and levels of pays benefits and other forms of rewards. The main components of a reward system include processes for measuring the value of jobs, the contribution of individuals’ in those jobs and the range and level of employee benefit to be provided, these processes consist of job evaluation, market rate analyses and performance management (Armstrong,2004). Practice for motivating people by use of financial and non-financial rewards, the financial reward rewards consist of base and variable pay and employee benefits and allowances and non-financial rewards are provided through effective leadership, the work itself and the opportunities given to employees to develop their skills and careers. Structures for relating pay and benefit levels to the value of positions in the organization and for providing scope for rewarding people according to their performance, competence, skill and experience (Gephart&Caroll, 1998). Employee rewards are an effective way to drive performance and reinforce the behavior that helps a company meets its objectives. Pay bands are profiled in terms of the level of required competence, which describe the typical or minimum requirements of the roles allocated to each band. Individual roles are then slotted into the appropriate band by the company their profile with the band profiles. The purpose of pay structure is to organize and demonstrate organizations compensation philosophy and to reflect and support the advancement of the company culture. An effective pay structure allows employees to attract and retain the people who can help achieve our business goals (Jones, 1991). Broad banded pay structure is one in which the range of pay is significantly higher than convectional graded structures. The progression is appropriate because they provide for more flexibility in making and administrating pay decision. Broad banded structure recognizes that in flat organizations career are more likely to develop within more broadly homogenous areas of responsibilities rather than progressing up a number of steps in a clearly defined hierarchy. This structure has few broad bands which reduces the problem of grade drift. More authority is developed to managers to manager rewards in their departments which they can view them as their kingdom. The broad banded pay structure posses a problem of controlling pay decision so that a fair degree of equity and consistency is achieved. Broad banded pay structure requires that the line managers are literate on the issues of pay otherwise the process will be badly managed and complains will arise in the organizational of discrimination in pay. Broad banded pay structure can only succeed in sophisticated organizations with a tradition of good pay practices if this is not adhered to misunderstanding may occur due to irregularities in pay of employees doing the same job. Broad banded pay structure enable line mangers the freedom to manage the pay of their staff within their budget but this can become disadvantageous especially if the managers create their own kingdoms in these departments. Also too much scope for pay progression. The control mechanism in broad banded pay structure can be provided but can be difficult to mange and costly as job evaluation of no longer drive grading decisions (White&Drunken, 2000). Broad banded may pay structure create unrealistic expectation or scope for pay rise as it seems to restrict the scope for promotions making if difficult to understand equal pay progress. All these issues can cause potential problems in an organization that operates a traditional narrow banded structure. Narrow banded structure has ten or more graded and progression is expected to occur in small but relatively frequent steps. Progression is usually linked to performance. It is more appropriate in an organization when the organization is large and bureaucratic with well defined and extended hierarchies. In narrow banded structure pay progression is expected to occur in small but relatively frequent steps (Thrope&Homan, 2000). The culture in the organization having narrow banded structure is one in which mass significance is attached to status as indicated by grindings. This pay structure is appropriate when same little scope of pay is wanted as it facilitates control and clearly indicating relativities. In a narrow banded structure the hierarchy is tall as all the jobs are allocated into a salary grade within the structure on the basis of an assessment of their internal and external value hence it will be difficult for a broad banded pay structure when being introduced in the organization as it is mostly appropriate for flat organization not all hierarchy organization. Each salary grade consists of a salary range in narrow banded structure which can be 10 or more grades while in a broad banded pay structure. It is more flexible and can consist of five to six broad bans. In a narrow banded structure the rate of salary progressive is determined by performance as well as length of service while the broad banded pay structure progression is linked to contribution and competency of the employee. In narrow banded pay structure the number of salary ranges required depends on the lower and upper salary level of the jobs in the structure of an organization, the differentiate between the ranges, and the number of distinct levels of responsibility in the hierarchy which need to be catered for by separate grades. This will create many pay grade which if a broad banded pay structure is introduced in the organization implementation will be difficult as it will be possible to design and differentiate them more accurately as an aid to better precision when grading jobs.

Rehabilitation Paper Essay

As I am told to write this rehabilitation paper and to quote a definition, I understand that rehabilitation basically is a word of hope in the prisoner life not only for prisoners but as well for the selected individuals that strive to make prisoners better members of society. So, with that being said, my definition for rehabilitation is as follows: the idea or concept of making a prisoner better. The purpose of rehabilitation is almost with no form. It’s supposed to correct or bring an end to criminals’ wrong doing so that criminal offenders can emerge as useful members of society. The basic idea derived from the idea that a person who has been incarcerated will never want to be sent back to prison after they have been set free. Well, as we can see that is not the case. Most prisoners go through these rehabilitation programs and are released and just as soon as they are released go back to the way they were before and become criminal offenders and prisoners again. The origins of rehabilitation focused on forcing an inmate to consider both the error of his or her ways, the gravity of the crime committed, and why good conduct and further avoidance of crime would be beneficial. The initial origins of the penitentiary were created by the Quakers, and reinforced by religious fervor for a ‘black and white’ application of the law. â€Å"What the Quakers believed in was penance, the suffering of punishment inducing the prisoner to express sorrow for his sins and to promise to do good to make up for his evil acts-social change based on the religious transformation that took place within the penitentiary. The penitentiary was a place for penitents to do penance. This was intended to take place in isolation, as one might meditate alone in one’s room (Foster, 2006).† Rehabilitation affects the prisoners as well as general society because it’s supposed to make prisoners more acceptable in society. These programs strive to make criminals better citizens with this being said,   criminals as less likely to be an oppose threat to other citizens’ or members of the general society. I think that you can improve rehabilitation by starting rehabilitation as soon as a prisoners become a prisoner and making better choices on what types of programs that will help prisoners personally and individual ly. I think that rehabilitation can make a big difference in prison as well as having prisoners go through rehabilitation when they are released too. References Foster, B. (2006) Corrections: The fundamentals. Upper Saddle River.NJ: Prentice Hall.

Writing Special Educational Needs Essay

Writing Special Educational Needs Essay Writing: Special Educational Needs Essay The effectiveness of leadership and management of the early years provision The leadership team have demonstrated a very high standard of leadership and management through careful analysis of the pre-school’s needs and the implementation of improvements. This enables the children to access an exciting range of stimulating and imaginative activities that contribute significantly to their all round excellent progress and development. Detailed planning that takes account of the six areas of learning as well as children’s individual interests ensures that they are well motivated and are developing into confident young learners. The manager has developed a strong team, who along with the committee, and taking account of parents’ views, are closely involved in evaluating in detail the provision’s strengths and areas for development very thoroughly. Over the last year they have incorporated the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, by ensuring all staff have received training in the new framework and through extensive revisio n of their planning and assessments procedures. Regular staff meetings are held to evaluate practice and for further planning to ensure the individual needs of all children are being met effectively through the provision of challenging and interesting activities. The key person organisation enables staff to monitor progress closely and to communicate regularly with parents how well their children are doing. All staff have access to further training to regularly update their skills, especially in first aid, food hygiene, special educational needs, managing behaviour and child protection matters. Annual appraisals ensure that staff maintain high standards and that any training needs are identified and met. Parents are seen as very important partners and their views are closely canvassed through questionnaires, newsletters and discussions. The optional lunch club was implemented following a suggestion from a parent. Home booklets enable parents to record activities and achievements mad e by children at home, sometimes using photographic evidence, which is then shared with pre-school and included in their assessment information. Parents describe the provision as ‘brilliant’ because of the good level of care provided and because their children enjoy attending so much. Parents are particularly pleased with the excellent transitional arrangements made with the school which allows many visits for children to get to know the staff and other children through joining in a range of activities like plays, assemblies, and story time. Parents are

Plato The Allegory of the Cave Essays

Plato The Allegory of the Cave Essays Plato The Allegory of the Cave Paper Plato The Allegory of the Cave Paper Plato was a Philosopher who used a story based on people imprisoned in a cave to explain the way in which he thought humans formed ideas based on their senses. The story is known as the Allegory of the Cave and is one of Platos most famous passages. The allegory has different meanings at different levels; therefore there is not just a single moral in this story. Plato believed that there were two worlds, the world of appearance, the world we are in, and another world known as reality a world we were all in before we entered the world of appearance, however we cant remember it. Plato suggests that the body is a kind of prison in which the soul is trapped. The allegory begins with several prisoners tied up and trapped in a cave with little light. Plato uses this to show how he feels the soul is trapped in the body, as if it were imprisoned. The only light comes from a small fire, which is also used as a projector to show images of puppets on a wall in front of where the prisoners are positioned. The prisoners are only aware of one thing in the cave, the shadows created by the puppets. They believe that the shadows are a form of real life; to them they are real images but according to Plato they are very mistaken. The prisoners have lived in the cave all their lives and know no different. Plato uses this to show how we build up knowledge based on what we see. As the prisoners have never know any other form of life or even another world they are forced into thinking that there experience is normal, because that is all that their senses have ever experienced. Furthermore, Plato claims that the prisoners would assume that the echoes made by the people came from the shadows of the puppets, and that these echoes would also be taken as reality. As is now evident, the shadows are highly (and deliberately) analogous to everyday beliefs held to be true by the majority of people, which in reality are no more than mere illusions. Plato is here demonstrating, by use of the shadows, what he believes to be the lower level of intellect, i.e. belief, as opposed to the higher level of intellect, i.e. knowledge {or dialect}. On what grounds might Platos understanding of human knowledge be criticised? Platos understanding of human knowledge may be criticised on a number of grounds, the first and most fundamental of which in my opinion, would be the abstractness of his theory of knowledge, specifically, the theory of the forms. Many may argue that the idea of having a non-temporal, non-spatial, universally perfect form for every object in the phenomenal world is, quite plainly, ridiculous, on the grounds that perfect form is only relative to the person or standard judging that form. Take for example, Platos perfect form of beauty. We see numerous examples in everyday life of peoples perceptions, and differences of opinion in matters of beauty; in relation to art, sexual partners, cars, in fact almost anything. The idea that the amount of beauty in the above things can be agreed upon by every single person seems absurd enough, never mind the absurdity of a universal form of beauty being agreed upon. The elitism of Platos understanding may also be criticised, as it may seem immoral to some because of the arrogance portrayed by him. What Plato is actually claiming is that only a tiny minority of people like himself have true understanding, and that the rest are ignorant and wrong. Platos attitude is summed up by his quotation of Homer, to illustrate his point, effectively saying how he would rather be a surf in the house of some landless man than live and think as they do. A further criticism would be that Platos understanding of knowledge has no practical relevance, as it gives no indication or guide as to how to achieve the higher levels of intellect or, more importantly, how to apply his theory to the moral field of making everyday decisions.

IFRS ( international financial reporting standards) Essay

IFRS ( international financial reporting standards) - Essay Example Resulting from this difference, IFRS gives the management flexibility and discretion in preparing the financial statements of a company. In the recent past, most nations have moved towards adopting a common globalized accounting standard. As such, use of IFRS in many parts of the world has gained widespread prominence and popularity. Regions such as the European Union, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Russia, and other countries have adopted the use of IFRS. In January 2011, Canada adopted the use of IFRS officially; consequently, many countries switched from their accounting standards and adopted the IFRS standard of Canada. The widespread acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards portrays a fundamental change in the accounting profession. This stems from the fact that the use of IFRS has become a common phenomenon in the accounting profession (Nandakumar et al 2011, p. 3). About 100 countries either allow or require publicly held companies to use IFRS while preparing their financial statements. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in America has considered setting a date in order to allow U.S. public companies to adopt the use of IFRS. The process of setting international standards started several decades back. Industrialized nations saw the need to devise standards, which could be adopted by small and developing nations unable to come up with their own standards for accounting. With the globalization of business, investors, regulators, auditing firms and large companies realized the vitality of adopting common standards that could apply in all aspects of financial reporting (Kirk 2008, p. 2). The adoption of IFRS has some considerable benefits to the company and the investors who adopt these standards. The adoption of international standards allows the governments, and investors and organizations to have a comparison of the financial statements

Negotiations And Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Negotiations And Business Strategy - Essay Example This will require the negotiator to prepare effectively before engaging into any negotiation (Van Heerden & Barter, 2008). During the preparation, the negotiator should learn the goals and objectives of the company for use in the negotiation. Preparation will also equip the negotiator with useful skills and tactics that are required during the negotiation. Negotiations are not competitions although they appear to be. An effective negotiator should utilize the negotiation meeting to discover the values, beliefs, and interests of their partners. This will help them improve their negotiation strategies and prepare for future negotiation meetings. A good negotiator should be proactive. This requires the negotiator to raise issues of contention, rather than supporting or criticizing their partner’s views. Been proactive enables the negotiator to develop opportunities and additional value for themselves and their organizations. A good negotiator should be in a position to separate p ersonal issues from negotiating issues. This is of particular importance since most failed negotiation result from mixing personal and business issues. Separating personal issues from negotiating issues enables the negotiator to overcome potential barriers that might affect the agreement (Van Heerden & Barter, 2008). ... Lastly, a good negotiator should have the capacity to close a deal. Closing a deal is the most significant aspect of negotiation. Your company is about to take a team into Beijing China to negotiate a 3-year supply contract. What should you know about advantages and disadvantages of negotiating terms of a contract in China? Cross-cultural negotiations require thorough groundwork on cultural disparities. In particular, when dealing with the Chinese community cross-cultural understanding becomes essential. It is a well-known fact that most negotiations fail not because of a common ground but because of ignorance and lack of cross-cultural understanding. Unlike Westerners, the Chinese consider themselves superior in many ways and therefore an effective negotiator should be concerned about cultural difference (Marin, Ruiz, & Rubio, 2009). Negotiating with the Chinese is advantageous and it enhances development of negotiation skills. Firstly, the Chinese are confident and they are not qui ck to sign contracts as westerners do. The team will acquire this essential negotiation skill. The second advantage of negotiating contracts in China is the two-phase negotiation process. In China negotiation are conducted through a technical and a commercial phase. The technical phase contains most of the terms of the contract and it usually comes before the commercial phase (Marin, Ruiz, & Rubio, 2009). The Chinese consider a contract to be a commercial document rather than a legal document. This is of particular importance since most negotiation fail to distinguish between commercial and legal aspects of negotiations. Lastly, the Chinese community has a centralized leadership system. This applies to most of their

Question 2,6,7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Question 2,6,7 - Essay Example Firm diversification is a central issue of importance to managers. The research literature on the subject of diversification affirms that over the past two decades the growth in the globalization of markets and products by firms has been tremendous. Globalization as a concept is used often to imply a condition of increased mutual interdependence among nations. The given condition depends on a number of factors. First, there is decreased governmental policy on trade barriers. Second, free international movement of capital across borders. Third, there is high volume of foreign direct investment. Fourth, there is migration of the workforce across the borders. Finally, there is exchange of services and goods among the nations involved in trade. However, despite the recorded increase in diversification by firms, the definite factors that contribute to diversification remain debatable among firm managers. The drivers of a firm’s diversification decision-making process can be explained with the aid of two theoretical frameworks. Namely, the Resource Based View and the Transaction Cost Theory. The resource-based view theory offers an understanding of the choice of industries into which a firm diversifies. According to the theory, a firm is best viewed as a collection of resources that enable it to compete against other firms. The theory suggests that the potential of a firm to gain and maintain a sustained competitive advantage relies on its defined resources (Wierseme, 2008). Firms that have the ability to develop unique and difficult to imitate resources, are more likely to engage in diversification compared to other firms with no such unique and inimitable resources. The transaction cost theory of strategic management also offers an understanding of firms drivers for diversification. The theory holds that firms diversify when the firms’ activities can be performed cheaply within the company,

Computer - Aided Instruction Essay Example for Free

Computer Aided Instruction Essay A self-learning technique, usually offline/online, involving interaction of the student with programmed instructional materials. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is an interactive instructional technique whereby a computer is used to present the instructional material and monitor the learning that takes place. CAI uses a combination of text, graphics, sound and video in enhancing the learning process. The computer has many purposes in the classroom, and it can be utilized to help a student in all areas of the curriculum. CAI refers to the use of the computer as a tool to facilitate and improve instruction. CAI programs use tutorials, drill and practice, simulation, and problem solving approaches to present topics, and they test the students understanding. Typical CAI provides 1. text or multimedia content 2. multiple-choice questions 3. problems 4. immediate feedback 5. notes on incorrect responses 6. summarizes students performance 7. exercises for practice 8. Worksheets and tests. Types of Computer Assisted Instruction 1. Drill-and-practice Drill and practice provide opportunities or students to repeatedly practice the skills that have previously been presented and that further practice is necessary for mastery. 2. Tutorial Tutorial activity includes both the presentation of information and its extension into different forms of work, including drill and practice, games and simulation. 3. Games Game software often creates a contest to achieve the highest score and either beat others or beat the computer. 4. Simulation Simulation software can provide an approximation of reality that does not require the expense of real life or its risks. 5. Discovery Discovery approach provides a large database of information specific to a course or content area and challenges the learner to analyze, compare, infer and evaluate based on their explorations of the data. 6. Problem Solving This approach helps children develop specific problem solving skills and strategies. Advantages of CAI †¢ one-to-one interaction †¢ great motivator †¢ freedom to experiment with different options †¢ instantaneous response/immediate feedback to the answers elicited †¢ Self pacing allow students to proceed at their own pace †¢ Helps teacher can devote more time to individual students †¢ Privacy helps the shy and slow learner to learns †¢ Individual attention †¢ learn more and more rapidly †¢ multimedia helps to understand difficult concepts through multi sensory approach †¢ self directed learning – students can decide when, where, and what to learn

Hamlet :: essays research papers

Hamlet’s delay in seeking revenge directly correlates to the age in which the play was written along with the notion that Hamlet is brilliant but impatient, these are the reasons for Hamlet’s procrastination. His impatience leads to his death in the end. In Elizabethan times, a ghost was generally believed to be a devil that had assumed the form of a dead person. These ghosts wanted to put into danger the souls of those nearest themselves through lies and other questionable behavior. In Hamlet, when the ghost first appears on the palace guard’s watch, no one affirms that it is the spirit of Hamlet's father, only that it looks like him. Hamlet waits to be convinced that the ghost is indeed the spirit of his late father. When Hamlet decides to present â€Å"The Murder of Gonzago† before the king, he states as his motive: The spirit that I have seen May be the devil; and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea and perhaps Abuses me to damn me. However, once he is convinced that the ghost is truly his father, Hamlet still appears to hesitate. Some critics have explained this by analyzing his situation. Because the murder of the late king took place secretly, the Danish court doesn’t suspect Claudius. His reaction to â€Å"The Murder of Gonzago† is significant only to Hamlet and Horatio, and Hamlet cannot kill the king before publicly proving him a murderer (as he is dying, Hamlet's main concern is that Denmark know his reasons for killing Claudius). Also, if Hamlet kills the king without supporters present to uphold the act, he himself might be immediately killed as a regicide. This shows is brilliance in the grand scheme of things. When Hamlet rushes at the king in the last scene, the whole court with one voice shouts, â€Å"Treason! Treason!† although Laertes has already exposed Claudius's bad character. Like the Oedipus of Sophocles, Hamlet is a tragic hero and thus largely determines his own fate. Shakespeare portrays him as an extraordinarily complex young man—brilliant, sensitive, noble, philosophic, and reckless.

Blake Recalls Innocence and Experience Essay

When attempting to penetrate into the deeper themes of William Blake’s cycle of poems â€Å"Songs of Innocence and Experience† it can be useful to recognize that the title of the poems, as well as the subsequent division into sections of innocence and experience carries ironic connotations. Blake’s intention in this cycle of poems, which he subtitled â€Å"Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul† (Ostriker, 1977, p. 104) was to posit the relationship of individual freedom and self-determination as being at one with Divine Will. Therefore, the state of innocence which is referred to in the cycle’s title as well as in the division of poems itself is meant to suggest — not ignorance which leads to innocence — but the innocence which is gained (or reclaimed) by the experience of the Divine. In fact the first poem in the â€Å"innocence† cycle, â€Å"Introduction† makes plainly manifest, Blake’s ironic use of the titular connotations of innocence and experience. The poem’s second stanza reads: Pipe a song about a Lamb; So I piped with merry chear, Piper pipe that song again— So I piped, he wept to hear (Ostriker, 1977, p. 104) The subtlety of Blake’s theme here is so accomplished as to be almost invisible when one reads the lines without carefully probing each word for its connotations. Special attention must be given to each word-choice to extract from the sing-song pleasantness of the poem, the resounding and profound thematic ideas which lay beneath the poem’s surface. The word â€Å"Lamb† for example is capitalized not only to emphasize the mythic and religious ideas which are an intimate part of Christian symbolism, but to inform the reader that â€Å"Lamb† is, indeed, the theme of the entire poem. The repeating of the word â€Å"piped† is intended to show that the Divine voice is always trying to break through to humanity; the line â€Å"So I piped, he wept to hear† reveals that this song of â€Å"innocence† is, in fact, a song of experience: the knowledge that humanity is blind to, or in this case, deaf to, the Divine voice. While Blake emphasizes a state of idealism in his â€Å"Songs of Innocence and Experience† nowhere does he proffer the idea of passive acceptance of the world’s injustices or pain. In fact, passivity to the world’s suffering is defined not in the poems of â€Å"innocence† but in a poem of â€Å"experience† where Blake’s verdict on the lack of empathy in the modern world could be made no more certain or clear. His poem â€Å"London† is a lament for precisely this idea of passive acceptance of world injustice and suffering: In ever cry of every man, In every Infants cry f fear, In very voice; in every ban, The mind-forg’d manacles I hear (Ostriker, 1977, 128). In these lines, the capitalized word â€Å"Infants† denotes a connection to the â€Å"Lamb† of th other poems: in Blake’s â€Å"Songs of Innocence and Experience† the lamb and the child are both symbols of the individuated self, and also of the Divine Will, which Blake, as mentioned, attempts to unify in his poetry. (Ostriker). The phrase â€Å"mind-forg’d manacles† is important because it shows how a lack of empathy and compassion or even concern for the world’s troubles is a function of ignorance, of a bad kind of â€Å"innocence† a worldly oblivion, which stands in sharp contrast to Blake’s idealized state of Divine innocence which is often frustrated by the materiality of ignorance of the world, but is nevertheless, an inheritance, according to Blake, which is due to every living individual on earth. The attainment of a state of ideal innocence in Blake denotes a state of self-awareness and self-identity which steps outside of the concerns of material wealth and social standing and relies purely upon the human heart as its gauge of success and its proximity to the Divine as a measure of its truth. Reference Ostriker, Alicia. 1977. â€Å"William Blake: The Complete Poems†. Penguin Books, New York.

Element & Performance Criteria Essay

1. What documentation could you expect to receive when you are asked to undertake a project? Apart from the written documentation, you might need to obtain additional information. What could this be? Why is it important to get all this information before you start your project? Your Answer: You could expect to receive a copy of the contract or agreement, the project brief and project plans. You will also need to know who your stakeholders are and what outcomes are expected, the reporting requirements, inclusions and exclusions, timeframe for milestones, quality standards and resources available to you. You need to understand completely what is expected, what time frame and the resources available and ensure nothing has been left out as you may not be able to ask for extra time or resources once the project has commenced. 2. Why is it important to check out the relationship of your project to both your organisation’s objectives and to other projects? What could be the outcomes if you don’t check these out? Your Answer: You need to ensure your project is in line with your company’s overall objectives to ensure other departments you are working with have ample time to respond to any requests from your team and ensure less disruption to work flow. As you may have some part time staff on your team you also need to ensure project work does not take away them away from their daily duties. You need to make sure that anything you develop works into the established procedures and can easily be adapted to work straight away. Your project wouldn’t be successful if you cannot integrate the end product easily into the company functions. QUESTION 2 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria1.2 1. In any project, there are the direct or formal stakeholders as well as informal stakeholders. How would you go about determining these? Why would you need to know who the informal stakeholders are? Your Answer: You are undertaking a project on behalf of stakeholders so you need to be aware of who they are. You must remember the project mantra is â€Å"satisfying the stakeholders†. Depending on the project you need to work out if it is being undertaken for a customer, a department, funding body, management, sponsor or key personnel to establish their vested interest and better understand the outcomes required for them. As you will need to supply progress reports, you will need to understand who the stakeholder is and what information you can be disclosed to them. Knowing who your stakeholders are can also work in your favour as you can use their vested interest to gain the assets you need. QUESTION 3 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria1.3, 1.6 1. When you are asked to take on a project, you need to know the project brief, but there are many other details you need to have, including items such as legislative requirements, risks, resources and so on. What items should be on your checklist to make sure you are clear on the project, its parameters and the resources available to you? Your Answer: You will need to know the following: Legislative and quality standards – government regulations Physical, human and technical resources available – full / part time staff and how much of their time is available to you. Procurement requirements – limits of authority for sign off and purchase regulations Risks – Physical, financial, technological – a full risk assessment should be undertaken prior to commencement and a comprehensive budget developed. Reporting requirements – who to report to, what needs to be covered and how often reports are expected. How the project integrates into the company QUESTION 4 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria2.1, 2.3 1. If you are setting up a detailed project plan for your project, why must you also set up a risk management plan? How would you go about making sure your two plans are synchronised? Your Answer: Your project plan should work around any identified risks. You should undertake a risk assessment before beginning the project and identify any acceptable risks, ways to avoid or mitigate these risks and if necessary transfer the risk to a third party. You need to work the results from your risk assessment into your project plan eg outsourcing some of the risk or changing strategies to lessen the risks to the project. 2. As you set up your project plan, one of the key components is your timeline. What factors must you consider when determining the timeline? Your Answer: It is best to use a software package for accurate setup. Decide on a schedule that covers from the beginning to the end of the project and list all tasks involved. Sort which tasks can be done in parallel with others and include tasks by outside resources like subcontractors, vendors and other departments. Work out how long each task may take by using past experiences or work out how long it would take you to undertake the task and add 20% for any unseen problems. Be sure to include time for meetings, reports and documentation development. Look at the manpower available for completing the project and schedule times for part time members who also perform work for other departments. This document needs to be flexible with some slack time built into the schedule at various points. QUESTION 5 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria2.2 1.There are many project management tools available to you. Choose five  from the following list and describe the pros and cons of each of the five: †¢cost schedule control system †¢Critical Path Method †¢Gantt and bar charts †¢life cycle cost analysis †¢logistics support analysis †¢PERT charts †¢project management software †¢spreadsheets †¢WHS management system tools Your Answer: Project Management Software Helps schedule the project Assigns tasks Finds the critical path Tracks progress against the time line plan Creates you Gnatt charts for you and automatically updates these charts with adjustments in your plan Gnatt & Bar Charts Shows scheduling information about a project Shows tasks that are part of the critical path Identifies who tasks are assigned to and which tasks are to be completed by people outside of your team Shows the current status of tasks Spreadsheets These are useful for charts of data that need to be created Charts can be created in word processing documents Preforms calculations on data inserted into a document Embedded formulas allows calculations to be in real time and adjusts to any changes made Logistics Support Analysis Shows an analysis of all logistical elements required for each activity Integrates the logistics and supply chain into a seamless operation Reduces costs Increases responsiveness Life Cycle Cost Analysis This is a system of cost evaluation Shows costs throughout the expected life Used to make cost determinations between different systems proposed for a particular need QUESTION 6 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria2.5, 3.1, 3.2 1. What are the advantages of consulting your team members when setting up your project plan? What are the risks if you do not consult them? Your Answer: You can use the expertise of your team to develop a list of tasks, estimate the time needed to undertake these tasks and develop a list of equipment & materials required. As you finalise the project plan communicate with your team members their part in the project and present your plan to them prior to presentation to management. Let them help identify potential problems and suggest any solutions. If your members feel they are part of creating the plan then they will have a greater commitment to completing the project on time and within budget. Involving your staff will get them to buy into the project and will eliminate the idea that it is your plan and giving them an excuse for not meeting timelines or budgets. You want your team to work as a team with enthusiasm to the project for a successful outcome. 2.Describe the techniques you could use to make sure: †¢at the beginning of your project that team members are clear about their responsibilities †¢as the project progresses that all team members continue to be clear about their responsibilities Your Answer: Ensure each team member understands clearly the scope of the project and their individual responsibility. If you have involved the team in the planning and setting up  of the project plan they will understand the aims of the project and what you require from them and the time constraints in place. To keep them on track whilst the project progresses, be proactive and display posters reminding them of the project scope and goals, have weekly status meetings and get everyone to give an update, send a weekly project update email or motivational email and talk to your team members to see where they are up to and help them to get around any obstacles they encounter. Follow up with your team and help guide them in the right direction. You need to have your finger on the pulse a nd know what each member is doing to ensure they stay on track. 3.Some suggested techniques for supporting your project team members are: †¢encouragement †¢feedback †¢learning and development †¢regular project team meetings †¢supervision, mentoring and coaching What are at least five of the key activities you would consider when undertaking these techniques and supporting your project team members? Explain why you would choose these particular five. What communication skills would each activity require? Your Answer: Encouragement – Support your team members and recognise them for their contributions to the project. Help them to get the necessary assistance and guidance to ensure they can perform their tasks. Listening, empathy, understanding are the communication skills required. Provide feedback to members to show what tasks have been achieved and where the budget and timelines are being achieved or missed. Discussion, reporting and presenting of reports and charts to show achievements Provide learning and development opportunities to team members. Get help and guidance from outside the team to help members to get past any problems or road blocks. Coordination, discussion, problem solving and team work would be required in this instance. Conduct regular team meetings and discuss where each member is up to with their required tasks and reward and recognise high performing team members with simple gifts and acknowledgment. Presentation, coordination and discussion will be required during meetings. Supervise,  mentor and coach your team. Your job is to manage the team not do all the work. Your team are the experts in each area and you just need to support them and help them to make everything come together Mentoring, watching, looking and talking would be required when mentoring your team. QUESTION 7 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria1.5, 3.4 1. Projects often start to run over budget, milestones slip, resources don’t reach you on schedule or a key person gets ill. What do you need to have in place to manage these problems? Who might you consult when you hit a problem that you are having difficulty resolving? Your Answer: You need to have identified the potential risks at the project planning stage and factored in some time to deal with these obstacles. You need to deal with each target that is not achieved and establish a plan that can be implemented to get the project back on track. Resources need to be looked at that can be added to the project team or new ways to undertake work need to be thought of. To think outside the box is necessary to establish better ways to achieve outcomes as the traditional company way may be to time consuming when working on a project. The usual company way could be used when full production is undertaken but isn’t necessary during a project. You can approach the stakeholders when you are hit with a problem you can’t easily resolve. They have a vested interest in the outcome and may be able to assist with extra resources or ideas on where items can be procured or sub-contractors that could be engaged. QUESTION 8 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria5.1 1. It is the nature of most projects that there will be mistakes, problems with resources or people, changes in both the internal or external  environments, or even changes in the project scope or brief. Understanding how these happened and how they were managed can become learning experiences, but if they are not documented in some way, they become lost. How could you go about making sure the lessons learnt are not lost? Your: Accurate notes and documentation will ensure lessons learnt are not lost and can be used by future project teams who can learn from your successes and mistakes. Identifying problems encountered and the process used to find a solution and accurate documentation of the solution and the techniques or methods tried is important to have for the company to use in future work or trials. Accurately record what problems occurred, its effects, what you did to rectify the problem and the impact of the changes you made. This will help in the future to improve processes or procedures of the company and may assist future project managers when faced with obstacles.