Drug Addiction - 1074 Words

Drug Addiction Drug abuse is an increasing epidemic in today’s society. There are so many types of drugs being abused today, both legal and illegal. These drugs affect the human body in many different ways. Drug abuse can lead to addiction. â€Å"Drug addiction involves the repeated and excessive use of a drug to produce pleasure or escape reality despite its destructive effects† (â€Å"Environmental Health Perspectives,† 2005). Drug addicts believe that drugs are necessary for them to have a feeling of well-being (â€Å"New Insight in to Drug Addiction and Self-Control,† 2008). People are addicted to all types of illegal and prescription drugs (â€Å"New Insight in to Drug Addiction and Self-Control,† 2008). Some people think that drug abuse is a†¦show more content†¦On the other hand, there is indirect pressure when someone sees everyone around them using drugs and thinks that there is nothing wrong with using drugs because they don’t see t he long term effects of the damage. The person might try drugs just to fit in and seem cool, even if the person has no intentions of using drugs. They usually do it just to be considered cool by their friends. Today drugs are considered to be acceptable by many teenagers. Drug addiction among adolescents usually leads to depression and suicide in many situations. It’s because they aren’t educated enough about them and we need more programs to show examples of the side effects. Maybe if they see the results first hand, it might change their mind of trying it for the first time. Columbia University s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) said about 2.3 million kids ages 12 to 17 took legal medications illegally in 2003 (Banta 2). According to the Anti-Drug Foundation, teens say they abuse prescription drugs because they are easy to get and they think they are a safe way to get high (Parenting of Teens† 1). Dr. Nicholas Pace, an internist at New York University Medical Center, clarified the sad truth when he said, â€Å"It’s a hidden epidemic† (Banta 2). To fix the rapidly growing issue, I will propose to support programs aimed at preventing drug abuse, to educate parents as well as children about the risks of misusing medicine, and, finally, to enforceShow MoreRelatedDrug Addiction : Drugs And Heroin Addiction1130 Words   |  5 PagesThe arguments for whether or not to prescribe heroin to treat heroin addictions are controversial. Henden and Baeroe (2015) state both sides of the arguments being that some bel ieve â€Å"it is in the nature of heroin addiction for individuals to lose their ability to resist their desire for heroin,† which knowing the nature of chemical dependency, heroin addicts would not refuse any heroin, so it still possibly an invalid consent to research participation as they did not have a free choice to reallyRead MoreDrug Addiction : Drugs And Drugs Essay744 Words   |  3 PagesWhen people first hear the word drug, they think of illicit drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine. They also think about the user and sometimes why they use. One thing that is overlooked by the public is the treatment programs that are available to drug users. There is a stigma in our society around drug use that is very negative. Many believe that people that do drugs do them just to do them and even if this is true in some cases, no one wakes up one morning and decides that today is the dayRead MoreDrug Addictions802 Words   |  4 Pagesof the states, is facing drug problems . This state is considered one of the deadliest drug epidemics in American history. There are two types of drugs mentioned in the article. One of them is opioid. An opioid is a substitute for morphine and widely used. According to the statistics, 500 people had died from an overdose in 2005. In 2013, the numbers soared from 500 deaths to 2,700. Another drug(s) is known as synthetic opioids. Fentanyl and Carfentanil are the two drugs mention by Phil Plummer,Read MoreDrug Addiction3845 Words   |  16 PagesDrug Addiction (Focus of the Study: â€Å"Shabungan† at Brgy. Victoria Reyes, Dasmarià ±as, Cavite) Group No. Cuenca, Ma. Kristina B. Enon, Jane Loraine S. Tuban, Julie An Pelisco, Marvelous Salcedo, Yvette Laganzo, Ma. Riellyn Mae Austria, Gerald Mateo, Alyssa INTRODUCTION: Drug Addiction is a chronic disease affecting the brain, and just about everyone is different. It was also a condition that characterized by compulsive drug intake, craving and seeking despite what majority of societyRead MoreAddiction : Drugs And Addiction947 Words   |  4 Pages Addiction is a problem that’s very prevalent in our society. Considering that drugs and alcohol are being introduced to kids in middle school, this isn’t that surprising. We as a society constantly bombarded with talks about the â€Å"war on drugs† and addiction. There are constant conversations about what should and shouldn’t be legal and what addiction really means. Is addiction in the head, or is it something a person chooses? Should we help or punish people with addictions. Everyone has opinion,Read MoreDrug Dependence And Addiction : Drugs1231 Words   |  5 Pagesobvious assumption that drugs have an effect on the mind, but what exactly goes on and how do these substanc es affect your brain and change your state of consciousness? This is the question that interested me and brought me to want to write about this certain topic. Drugs alter the way people think, feel, and behave by disrupting neurotransmission, the process of communication between brain cells. Over the past few decades, studies have established that drug dependence and addiction are features of anRead MoreDrug Addiction and Drugs1219 Words   |  5 PagesDrugs Addiction Miami Beach Senior High Ashley Gonzalez Ms. Cooper/Mr.Sussman English II-Period Three 06 March 2013 Drugs Addiction Topic and Thesis Statement Miami Beach Senior High Topic: Drugs Thesis Statement: In an examination of drugs I will discuss causes of this disease/or social dilemma. I will also discuss the effect of drugs on individuals, families and society. Read MoreDrug Dependence And Addiction : Drugs1231 Words   |  5 Pagesobvious assumption that drugs have an effect on the mind, but what exactly goes on and how do these substances affect your brain and change your state of consciousness? This is the question that interested me and brought me to want to write about this certain topic. Drugs alter the way people think, feel, and behave by disrupting neurotransmission, the process of communication between brain cells. Over the past few decades, studies have established that drug dependence and addiction are features of anRead MoreThe Drug Of Drug Addiction Essay1270 Words   |  6 Pagesmy older brother struggle with drug addiction has taught me more in my life than anything else. He was a smart kid with a good head on his shoulders.   As he grew older he made some unwise choices with regard to substance abuse that quickly turned into a full blown addiction lasting over five years and landed him in and out of four different rehabs.   He was striving to get clean, but every time he took one step forward he fell three steps back.   Taylor entered Drug Court, after finding himself inRead MoreDrug Addiction : Drugs And Drugs1017 Words   |  5 Pages In today’s society, it is now normal to know somebody who has a drug addiction especially to opiates. A dr ug addiction is a mental disorder that the person can no longer control their actions. The person addicted to the drug will no longer care about the outcome of their actions as long as they can get that high they are seeking. **from textbook pg. 303** â€Å"Opioids are classified as narcotics- strongly addictive drugs that have pain relieving and sleep-inducing properties. Opioids include both naturally

Physician-Assisted Suicide Essay - 2219 Words

Physician-Assisted Suicide In todays society, a very controversial issue is physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Many people feel that it is wrong for people, regardless of their health situation, to ask their doctor or attendant to end their life. Others feel it is their right to be able to choose how and when they die. When a doctor is asked to help a patient to their death, they have certain responsibilities that come along with it. Among these duties, they must prove valid information as to the terminal illness the patient is suffering. They also must educate the patient as to what their final options may be. When they make the decision of whether or not to help the patient into death, and should they†¦show more content†¦Kevorkian had created a machine, known as the suicide machine, which was made up of three glass bottles connected to an IV. In the three bottles were saline solution, a sedative, and potassium chloride. When the patients felt they were ready to begin the proces s, they turned the machine on themselves and were put to sleep by the sedative. After this, they were eventually killed by the potassium chloride. It has been said that when the people began hearing about Dr. Kevorkian and his suicide machine, many terminally ill patients began to fear their own physicians. The patients began to believe that all physicians were out to assist them to death or try to talk them into physician-assisted suicide (Thomas 14). Kevorkian claimed that he had, â€Å"caused no death; he just helped with his patients last civil rights.† He states that doctors that dont help assist their patients are like the â€Å"Nazi doctors during World War 2, those who used experiments on the Jewish people.† (50-51). For those people who believe that physician-assisted suicide should be their choice, they feel it should be legalized because: they dont want to go through the suffering caused by the terminal illness, they fear the loss of independence, becoming a burden to their family and/or friends, and they also fear dying alone. It was reported, in Richard L. Worsnops Assisted Suicide Controversy, that many people fear living a life in excruciatingShow MoreRelatedThe Treatment Of Physician Assisted Suicide1025 Words   |  5 Pagesprecious hour will give the loved ones a time to say goodbye just before they die with dignity in physician assisted suicide. Terminally ill patients have the right to end their own lives using physician assisted suicide (PAS) without repercussions of laws and people with opposing opinions. According to an article from CNN.com, there are currently five states in the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is currently legal. In order to be eligible legally for PAS the patient must have six months orRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide1418 Words   |  6 Pagesresult in patients giving up on life, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized in all fifty states for terminally ill patients with worsening or unbearable pain. What is physician-assisted suicide? â€Å"Suicide is the act of taking ones own life. In assisted suicide, the means to end a patient’s life is provided to the patient (i.e. medication or a weapon) with knowledge of the patients intention† (American Nurses Association). Physician-assisted suicide is known by many names such as deathRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide2301 Words   |  10 Pagesend-of-life decisions is â€Å"physician-assisted suicide† (PAS). This method of suicide involves a physician providing a patient, at his or her own request, with a lethal dose of medication, which the patient self-administers. The ethical acceptability and the desirability of legalization of this practice both continue to cause controversy (Raus, Sterckx, Mortier 1). Vaco v. Quill and Washington v. Glucksberg were landmark decisions on the issue of physician-assisted suicide and a supposed ConstitutionalRead MoreThe Ethics Of Physician Assisted Suicide926 Words   |   4 Pagesethics of physician assisted suicide since the late 18th century. According to medicinenet the definition of physician assisted suicide is â€Å"the voluntary termination of one s own life by administrating a lethal substance with the direct assistance of a physician.† This would typically come into play if/when a critically ill patient wants to end their suffering. Confirming with the State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide, 5 states have Paquin 2 Legalized physician assisted suicide. CaliforniaRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Essay1214 Words   |  5 Pagesrelentless pain and agony through physician assisted death? Physician-Assisted Suicide PAS is highly contentious because it induces conflict of several moral and ethical questions such as who is the true director of our lives. Is suicide an individual choice and should the highest priority to humans be alleviating pain or do we suffer for a purpose? Is suicide a purely individual choice? Having analyzed and even experience the effects of physician assisted suicide, I promote and fully support itsRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Is A Controversial Topic1929 Words   |  8 PagesOne may have heard of suicide, but not physician-assisted suicide. The two are very different in terms of the act of taking one’s own life. For instance, physician-assisted suicide is done with help from another person, usually a physician; where the doctor is willing to assist with e ither the means of how to take one’s own life or the actual act itself. This can either be by prescribing lethal doses of drugs to these patients who want to take their own life or by counseling these patients onRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide : A Controversial Subject1692 Words   |  7 PagesPhysician-assisted suicide is a controversial subject all around the world. Although it is legal in some countries and states, such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Oregon, Montana, Washington, and Vermont it is not yet legal in most (Finlay, 2011). People travel from all around the world to these locations to receive information. Physician-assisted suicide is when terminally ill and mentally capable patients perform the final act themselves after being provided with the required meansRead MoreEssay on Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide1871 Words   |  8 PagesPhysician-assisted suicide should be a legal option, if requested, for terminally ill patients. For deca des the question has been asked and a clear answer has yet to surface. It was formed out of a profound commitment to the idea that personal end-of-life decisions should be made solely between a patient and a physician. Can someones life be put into an answer? Shouldnt someones decision in life be just that; their decision? When someone has suffered from a car accident, or battled long enoughRead MoreThe Rights Of Physician Assisted Suicide1347 Words   |  6 PagesThe Right to Die By: Antony Makhlouf Antony Makhlouf PHR 102-006 Contemporary Moral Issues Final Paper The Right to Die Physician-assisted suicide, also known as euthanasia, has been a hot topic as of late. If you do not know what this is, physician-assisted suicide is the taking of ones life. This usually occurs when a patient is in a irreversible state, and must live through a tube. With multiple cases occurring in the past, current and the more to occur the in the future, this looksRead MorePhysician-Assisted Suicide Essay1038 Words   |  5 Pagesof their patients, or to assist them in ending their lives? Many people may believe that physicians would never perform the latter, but in actuality one practice does so. Physician assisted suicide is the intentional ending of one’s life brought on by lethal substances prescribed by a doctor. In the majority of cases, the patient is terminally ill and simply does not desire to live any longer. Their physician provides the medication necessary to end their life. Many supporters aver that this practice

Financial Application Package Reckon in Australia

Question: Discuss about the Financial Application Package Reckon in Australia. Answer: Introduction The financial market in Australia is currently booming with lots of financial software competing among them featuring almost similar kinds of features and service. Reckon is one such type of financial software used for bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, invoicing among others. After numerous acquisitions, awards and recognitions, and innovative new features, it has differentiated itself from others and created a niche for itself. This literature review on the financial software Reckon discusses the history of the company from its inception in 1987 as a small scale business to acquiring some of the leading software in the market used for business process and bookkeeping like APS, and Shelco. This study also mentions the company's development by its major decision to migrate its application to the cloud, and the vast customer base it currently enjoys. Its current challenges mostly have to do with Payroll update and the problems are detailed. Reckon has many competitive advantages in the form of its products Reckon One and QuickBooks over its competitors like MYOB, Xero, Intuit, among others. Recommendations are made based on the challenges faced by the latest Payroll update, and user friendliness of the software. Literature Review History Going back all the way to 1987, Reckon was founded with a loan against an old Holden Commodore car and a credit card that was maxed out. It was the start of a small business. In 1993 personal financing software was released by Reckon dubbed as Reckon Quicken in Australia, and history was made. The Australian market saw business software being released in 1994 called Reckon QuickBooks. By 1998 Reckon expanded its business to Singapore and New Zealand. On 19th July 1999, the Australian Stock Exchange saw the stock price rise to 167% premium (Reckon Australia 2016). Reckon QuickBooks was selected by the PC Magazine as the Editors choice in 2000. In 2002 integration between Microsoft Office and Reckon QuickBooks was established through a strategic partnership with Microsoft. 2004 saw the acquisition of APS by Reckon. In the same year, Reckon QuickBooks was named Best Small Business Accounting Package by PC Users Top 100 products review. By 2006, Desktop Super, and Elite, which was tax so lution and small practice management was bought by Reckon. To start helping business with new company registration, Reckon bought Shelco. 2009 was a significant milestone for Reckon when it released Reckon Docs, used for business registration, and Reckon Billback, used by top law firms. The same year also saw a release of QuickBooks Hosted (Reckon Accounts Hosted as it is now called). In 2012 Reckon bought Virtual Cabinet online document management and Lindenhouse and renamed Quicken and QuickBooks. In 2013 Reckon SyncDirect was released. 2014 saw the end of the relationship of Reckon with Intuit Inc, USA, and the brand QuickBooks could no longer be reused (Allert 2015). 2016 saw the acquisition of SmartVault online document management; Reckon One Payroll module was released. The same year also saw the release of Reckon One online financial software launch in the UK. It has also launched Rocket Loans, in partnership with Prospa, a Deloitte Fast 50 winner. Development and Adoption Reckon One software has many happy customers in its testimonial. It provided customers the affordability to pay for the features they would use, which was quite useful for those running small businesses and wanted an easy way to watch financial report and the performance of their business. By utilizing the bank feed module and the built-in simple reporting, companies found huge cost savings in bookkeeping expenses (Reckon Australia 2016). When Reckon One adopted cloud computing, the companies saw taking more control over their finances. The invoices were emailed to the clients on the spot, they could run and view reports, and the dashboard view gave them a lot of control over their business, which increased productivity. As stated by Hossack (2015), Reckon was founded by Greg Wilkinson with a maxed-out credit card and a loan against an old Holden Commodore car 30 years ago. It currently employs over 500 people and is publicly listed on Australian Stock Exchange with good financial records. Even then, the company is still led by the entrepreneurial spirit and excitement that led to its inception. The company also employs futurists, designers and coders and a network of over 6000 partners in their active customer base (Fool.com.au 2016). Their aim is to move forward while doing continuous innovation. They have established themselves as the market leader in the following three core areas: Practice Management, Document Management and Business Solutions. Current Market Size Reckon APS, which is a practice management software after it has migrated to cloud it took a step ahead in the competition globe (Reckon Australia 2016). It is used for Practice Management and is used by 70% of the top 100 accounting firms and other leading legal firms across the. Reckons document management solutions like Reckon VirtualCabinet (for enterprises) and Reckon SmartVault (for professionals) have seen incredible growth (Smartvault.com 2016). Through this software over 560,000 documents were shared with users and used by more than 48,000 customers. Reckons software is utilized by thousands of businesses across the world. The company is also looking forward to their next-generation accounting software, which is Reckon One, and Reckon Loans for small business learning venture (Reckon Australia 2016). Present leaders in the market Currently, there are many financial software packages available in the Australian market for business managers to control their financial reports and records. There is free accounting software which requires no cost, but among paid options, there are some leading ones like MYOB, Intuit, Sage, Quicken/QuickBooks, Xero online, Cashflow Manager, Nominal, and Saasu. MYOB is battling for supremacy in the financial cloud market and confirmed details of its IPO in April. Intuit and Xero have opened their cloud services for the bookkeeping industry (Businessinsider.com.au 2016). Competitive advantage Every product of Reckon offers its set of benefits. Quickbooks, which is hosted by Reckon Online includes all the main functionalities with the ability to access data files of the company anytime and anywhere, resulting in improved productivity and efficiency. Other features that give it an edge ahead of its competition are Real-time BAS lodgement, automatic backup and disaster recovery, multi-company reporting, industry tailored solutions and more (cutcher.com.au 2016). Reckon One, the cloud accounting software can do far more than just business accounts. It provides flexibility by offering the modular approach, which means users can opt for any number of features they want and turn them off when they are not needed (Allert 2016).. Other features offered are invoice reminders for pending invoices, collaboration among users, mobility, syncing with bank feeds, has guaranteed compliance, better security with professional grade security technology and helps prevent fraud. Current Challenges Encountered and Literature Gap With the announcement that the 101 release of Payroll and enhancements to be delivered, it may come with not so good functionalities (Liburd et al. 2014). Payroll is one such feature where many small users struggle and the more user-friendly, the less complicated it gets. The current challenges are: It does not integrate Payroll values into the BAS reports. Navigation features of User Experience are still in need of more polish. General ledger posting accounts specification is very limited. Compared to MYOB Essentials, it used preset defaults without the need of any specification. The current process is quite complex when it comes to recording leave for employees and opening balances of pay. The Standard Pay Items are not preloaded and are to be setup from scratch (BIT 2016). Reckon One is lagging by two years behind Xero regarding add-ons and features and seven years in development hours, and by ten years behind Intuit regarding development time, but the gap is closing fast by releasing their updated payroll module (Growthpath.com.au 2016). Conclusion Reckon, the financial accounting software package company, may not be in the same league with MYOB, but it has certainly evolved a lot through acquisitions, a release of accounting products and re-brandings of its products over the years from its humble inception in 1987. The company still maintains the entrepreneurial spirit that led to its current success. Its development took an edge when it moved towards cloud computing with its product Reckon One, which offered some advantages of using cloud application and more. Its current market size explains itself with its Reckon SmartVault software used by 48,000 customers, and Reckon APS, which is by top 70 accounting firms across the globe. Its competitors are MYOB, Intuit, Xero, and more, but Reckon has been quite steady. It still has some payroll features to iron out which limits it from coming on to the top. Recommendations Reckon needs to focus on the userfriendliness of the Payroll system because small business depends on it as it is the only thing they struggle with. It needs to load preset defaults without the need of a specification like MYOB. Opening and closing balances must be quite simpler. References Allert, S. 2015.The accounting industry is changing - whether you're ready or not. [online] Accountantsdaily.com.au. Available at: https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/columns/8104-technology-driving-change-for-accountants [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Allert, S. 2016.15 Little Known Benefits of cloud Accounting Software. [online] Blog.reckon.com. Available at: https://blog.reckon.com/15-little-known-benefits-of-cloud-accounting-software [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. BIT. 2016.7 accounting packages for Australian small businesses compared: including MYOB, QuickBooks Online, Reckon, Xero. [online] Available at: https://www.bit.com.au/Review/344651,7-accounting-packages-for-australian-small-businesses-compared-including-myob-quickbooks-online-reckon-xero.aspx [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Businessinsider.com.au. 2016. [online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/charts-the-battle-for-supremacy-in-australias-cloud-accounting-market-2015-4 [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. cutcher.com.au.2016. [online] Available at: https://www.cutcher.com.au/files/docs/software%20flyers/reckon%20online%20for%20pc.pdf [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Liburd, J., Chitayat, S., Crawley, S. W., Munro, K., Miller, E., Denis, C. M., ... Smith, S. P. 2014. Structure of the small Dictyostelium discoideum myosin light chain MlcB provides insights into MyoB IQ motif recognition.Journal of Biological Chemistry,289(24), 17030-17042. Fool.com.au. 2016.ASX:RKN (Reckon Ltd.) | Motley Fool Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.fool.com.au/tickers/asx-rkn/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Growthpath.com.au. 2016.Review of Cloud Accounting (Xero, Saasu, MYOB Essentials, QuickBooks) | Business IT. [online] Available at: https://www.growthpath.com.au/Business-IT/review-of-myob-liveaccounts-and-xero-accounting-in-the-cloud.html [Accessed 3 Sep. 2016]. Hossack, S., 2015. Cloud-based accounting and productivity tools for practitioners and taxpayers.Taxation in Australia,50(5), p.265. Reckon Australia. 2016.About Us | Reckon. [online] Available at: https://www.reckon.com/au/about-us/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Reckon Australia. 2016.AP- Reckon Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.reckon.com/au/aps/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Reckon Australia. 2016.Timeline of our history | Reckon. [online] Available at: https://www.reckon.com/au/reckon-history/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016]. Smartvault.com. 2016.Reckon acquires SmartVault Corporation (USA). [online] Available at: https://www.smartvault.com/blog/2016/reckon-acquires-smartvault-corporation-usa/ [Accessed 31 Aug. 2016].

Wool Essay Example

Wool Essay Wool is derived from sheep or other animals Caprinae family. Sheep is the principal member of this animal family that produces wool. Wool has many uses and for this reason it is a very valuable business commodity. Most countries produce wool but the production is not enough to sustain their demand hence the need to import from other countries whose production supersedes what they need and thus have the capacity to export and still have enough for domestic use. Such countries include: Australia, China, New Zealand, Argentina, Uruguay, UK, and South Africa. The major wool export destinations include countries such as China, Italy, India, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Bulgaria, Japan and German. Some of the uses of wool include the manufacture of clothing and blankets, carpets, horse rags, and in upholstery. Most common use of wool is its use in the manufacture of diapers. Diapers are highly marketable because every mother will always need to cover her child with diapers e very day. This presents a high demand for wool for the purpose of manufacturing diapers among other things. Introduction Among the top ten wool exporters, Australia leads the list. The major importer of Australian wool is china among other countries. Actually, Australia produces 25% of the worlds total greasy wool production. The wool produced in Australia is one of the major revenue earners for the Australian people. In 2005/2006 financial year alone, the wool exported was worth $2.64 billion. China is a major Australian competitor in the wool industry. Despite the fact that China has the highest sheep population in the world, Australia still emerges as the world’s top wool producer. Australians 100 million sheep is mainly 88% Merino which is a sheep breed with very high wool productivity. Most of Australians wool is greasy making it have high demand especially fro China. Australians wool exports have been increasing from time to time. This means that most countries are now seeking to import wool from Australia. In the 2004/05 financial year, the exports raised mainly due to high demand for woo l especially the demand for fine and superfine wool (Kadolph , 2007). The rise was 10% more than the previous financial year. Australia is opening up its export to other countries as its production keeps on increasing and this paper seeks to explore the opportunity for the wool export from Australia to Canada. We will write a custom essay sample on Wool specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Wool specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Wool specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Strengths The Australian wool has been known to be of high quality. This is explained by the fact that most countries import wool from Australia. China, which is the major Australian wool destination, has maintained buying wool from Australia not only because Australia has the capacity to supply the gigantic amounts demanded by china but also because of the quality of its wool. Australians wool can be exported while in its greasy form or it can washed and refined sorted and graded before being exported. This treatment constitutes processed wool. These options are offered to take care of the importers specification. There are those countries who will prefer the Australian greasy wool whereas others will prefer the processed form of the Australian wool (Hitches B, 1998). Besides the quality of Australian wool, Australia has the capacity to produce enough wool to export and to retain enough for domestic uses. Australia is the world’s largest wool producer claiming 27% of the total world’s wool production followed by china which also claims dominance as the world’s largest Australian wool export destination. The graph below shows the top ten wool producers in the 2004/05 financial year. Top ten wool producing countries 2004/2005 Source: Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee, ABARE Weaknesses Almost 85% of Australian wool is sold by open cry auction or the sale by sample method in which a sample from each bale is presented for the buyer’s scrutiny before buying. This kind of selling encourages the appearance of middlemen thus making it expensive for foreign buyers. Even though other buying methods such as sale by tender still exist but the percentage of woo sold this way is minimal. Opportunities Australia exports sugar to Canada. This is a very important introductory business ties that can help expand the commodity profile that Canada imports from Australia. The fact that the sugar export process is a success then this is a marker that there is a possibility that the wool export can also be a success based on the stability of business ties between the two countries demonstrated by the Australian sugar export to Canada. Australia depends on the exports for its revenue. In fact, 20% of GDP is claimed by revenues fro exports. Recently, the Australian government has made efforts to liberalize the export market in its bid to maintain its glory in the international market as a major exporter. Important policy initiatives at the domestic level have been taken in favor of exports. There has been also been efforts to lower the export tariff barriers and the introduction of pro-competition policies to encourage exports. All these are good opportunities for wool exports to Canada. The increase in demand for wool in Canada also poses a possible opportunity for export of wool from Australia to Canada. Canada’s end use demand for wool hit an all time high in 2007. Even though Canada still produces wool, it is evident that the demand for wool beats its supply (Johneen, 2008) Threats China claims more than 64% of Australian’s wool exports with other countries such as India and other Middle East countries claiming some stake in the Australian wool. This means that just as much as Canada can still get some stake in the Australian wool exports, it can’t get enough for its production needs because china will always be given priority based on the fact that it has been importing wool from Australia since 1990. Source: Australian Wool Industries Secretariat The ABARE’s survey of 1999 showed that factors such as land degradation through weed infestation, soil erosion and wildlife and remnant vegetation protection affect the sheep and thus the wool industry in Australia. Any natural and environmental factors that adversely affect the sheep population will have a negative impact on wool production hindering any export opportunity. Therefore, for the wool production to keep increasing each year, such factors have to be anticipates and appropriate measures taken The relative low prices of wool and the marketing of wool challenges in Canada pose a formidable threat to Australian’s export of wool to Canada. If the price for wool in china and Canada are compared, it will be realizes that China has better prices than Canada despite the fact that china is even a bette3r wool producer than Canada. In fact it owns the world’s largest sheep population. Based on this, Australia is bound to export wool to China than to Canada. Canada has import prohibitions and restrictions on a number of commodities such as ammunition, used motor vehicles, alcohol and beverage etc. textile, wool and fur are also listed under the restricted commodities. These restrictions are likely to hinder the feasibility of wool export from Australia to Canada. (EIPA,2008 ) In conclusion, the opportunity for wool export to Canada from Australia can be workable because of the fact that the two countries are already business partners in that Australia exports sugar to Canada. Also the fact that Australia is the world’s largest wool producer gives it the capacity to supply wool to Canada. Regarding the wool import restrictions that Canada has in place, the two government can come together to deliberate the possible measures to be taken by both to make the doing of business with each other favorable. This is possible for example if Australia opens up its market for importation of a specific commodity while Canada on the other hand will move to drop the restrictions on wool. This way, the wool export to Canada will be a reality. However, with china in the scene, wool exports to Canada can be sustained by a subsequent increment in Australians wool production capacity. This can be achieved by increment in the number of sheep population by almost 50% so as to have a surplus of wool to Canada after China has taken its share. Such a wool export increment, will not only increase the share wool export contributes to the GDP but also will make Australia maintain it glory as the world’s largest wool producer.

Integrated Marketing Communications of Transcom Beverage Bangladesh Essays

Integrated Marketing Communications of Transcom Beverage Bangladesh Essays Integrated Marketing Communications of Transcom Beverage Bangladesh Essay Integrated Marketing Communications of Transcom Beverage Bangladesh Essay Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together. At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, as well call it, means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony. Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. Promotions have their own mix of communications tools. All of these communications tools work better if they work together in harmony rather than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts providing they speak consistently with one voice all the time, every time. This is a management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation. About Transcom Originated with tea plantations in 1885, TRANSCOM today is one of the leading and fastest growing diversified business houses in the country employing over 10000 people. Not many industrial groups in Bangladesh can claim a history of continuous business pursuits stretching back over 125 years! Initially tea and later jute formed the backbone of the family business. Although these are still part of   the activities and contributing marginally to the overall group turnover. Presently those early industrial ventures have moved over to businesses involving high-tech manufacturing, international trading and distribution, forming strong ties with a host of blue chip multinational companies. In recent years, TRANSCOM has emerged as the largest media house in Bangladesh. Transcom Beverages Ltd Transcom Beverage Ltd (TBL) is the exclusive PepsiCo Franchisee for Bangladesh. TBL owns and operates modern plants in Dhaka and Chittagong for bottling the renowned soft drink brands such as, Pepsi, 7UP, Mirinda, Slice, Mountain Dew, Pepsi Diet and 7UP Light. The company is emerging with the motto to deliver sustained growth in Bangladesh and move towards dominant Beverage Company, delighting ; nourishing every Bangladeshi, by best eeting their everyday beverages needs ; stakeholders by delivering performance with purpose, through talented people. 2009 has been an amazing year for TBL, winning several spectacular awards as PepsiCos exclusive bottling partner in Bangladesh. For its extraordinary and outstanding venture through excellence TBL has been rewarded with several prestigious national and international recognitions. Pic: Products of Transcom Beverage The basic tools used to accomplish an organization’s communication objectives are often referred to as the promotional mix. These tools include: * Advertising – any paid form of non personal communication about an organization, product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor * Direct marketing – communication directly with target customers to generate a response and/or transaction * Interactive/Internet marketing – communication through interactive media such as the Internet, CD-ROMS and kiosks. Sales promotion – marketing activities that provide extra value or incentives to sales force, distributors, or consumers to stimulate immediate sales * Publicity/Public Relations – Publicity is a form of non-personal communication not directly paid for or run under identified sponsorship. Public relations is a management function which executes programs of action to earn public understanding and acceptance an enhance the image of the company. * Per sonal Selling – person-to-person communication between a seller and buyer. Transcom Beverage’s Promotional mix: Advertising Transcom use both Television Commercials and print ads for their advertisement. They also use billboard and radio as a tool of advertising. Transcom beverage advertise its most two renowned brands in Bangladesh – Pepsi and Seven Up. Mountain dew is also used in advertisement, but no such ad is particularly made for Bangladeshi target people only. But Advertisement of Pepsi and Seven Up is prepared targeting Bangladeshi people and by Bangladeshi IMC agencies. Currently, Asiatic 360 is the agency doing the advertisement for Transcom Beverage. TVC 7-Up: The TVC shown below is for 7up. The ad is promoting the newly launched go pack at that time of advertisement campaign. They also has TVC of 7 up with the tagline †Give freshness of life to your mood†: Pepsi: Pepsi endorse two famous Bangladeshi Cricketer Mashrafe bin Mortoza and Sakib Al Hasan for TVC. One TVC campaign has the tagline â€Å"If there is thrist everything is available† and the other one focus on Sakib’s special shot super scoop. Print Ad: Transcom only publish print ad when there is some special event like Eid aor World Cup (Where they partner) or when there is some promotional offer is going on. Pic: 7-up print ad Interactive/Internet marketing Transcom do participate in interactive promotional campaign. During world cup cricket 2011, they had a dedicated website to communicate with its customers who are cricket fan. There the fan could post their comment as well. The website was made with wallpapers and other stuffs of its endorsed celebrity Mashrafe, Sakib and Tamim Iqbal. The website domain is www. pepsichangethe gamebd. com. Pepsi is also using Facebook as a tool of interactive communication recently: Sales promotion Transcom has organized huge promotional campaign during World Cup Cricket 2011. By consuming Pepsi consumers got the chance to visit final match of World Cup. Apart from that they won many attractive prizes through that proportional campaign. The campaign was held by providing a hidden number inside the cap of the bottle. The number then has to be text messaged to a certain number. Then the group of highest ssm sender got the chance to participate in a cricket game competition. Through that competition they got the chance to win nattractive prizes. Pic: Winner of Final match ticket Pic: Other prize winner of the world cup campaign Pic: Collection Card for all consumer Transcom also arrange university based adventurous promotional campaign for its Mountain Dew Brand. Transcom’s team goes to different universities an involve students in that promotional campaigns where participants have to show some adventurous skills. Pic: News on Promotional campaign at DU Transcom Beverage provide free cutouts to its distributors to promote the retail sellers shop as well their brand. For example, here is a enhanced board of 7-up in a retail shop: Public Relation Transcom spent a lot for public relation. Global Pepsi became the drinks partner of World Cup Cricket this year and thus Transcm also took part in public relation in this regard. Pepsi is also the official beverage partner of Bangladesh National Cricket team. Pic: Transcom and BCB signing Ceremony Transcom beverage also sponsor some local cricket events. Transcom provided the opportunity to its consumer to take photographs with WC trophy. Mountain Dew of Transcom was the proud sponsor of Muhit- the second person of Bangladesh to reach the peak of Mount Everest. Pic: Mountain Dew Sponsoring Muhit- the Everest winenr

Creating Good Emergency Lesson Plans

Creating Good Emergency Lesson Plans Teachers are required to have a set of emergency lesson plans so that in the event of an emergency there is no interruption in the delivery of instruction. There can be any number of reasons to need emergency plans: a death in the family, an accident, or a sudden illness. Since these types of emergencies can arise at any time, emergency lesson plans should be not be associated with lessons that are part of a sequence. Instead, emergency lesson plans should be related to topics covered in your classroom, but not part of core instruction.    Regardless of the  reason for your absence, your substitute plans should always include information critical to the operation of the classroom. This information should be duplicated in the emergency lesson folder. For each class period, there should be class lists (with parent phone numbers/e-mail), seating charts, times for a variety of schedules (full day, half-day, specials, etc) and a general comment on your procedures. The fire drill procedure and a copy of the student handbook should be included in the folder as well as any special school procedures. While still keeping a students right to privacy in mind, you may also leave general notes to prepare the substitute for any special needs students. You may also provide the names and teaching assignments of those educators near the classroom in the event your substitute might need immediate assistance. Finally, if your school has a substitute log-in for computer use, you may leave that information or a contact for the substitute to request a log-in. Criteria for Emergency Lesson Plans The criteria that should be used in developing a good emergency lesson is similar to what you might leave for a scheduled absence. The plans include: Type of learning: emergency lesson plans should not include new learning, but rather work with concepts or principles that students already understand in your  subject area.  Timelessness: Because emergencies  can occur anytime  during the school year, these plans should address concepts important to the discipline, but not tied to a specific  unit. These plans should also be revisited during the school year and adjusted based on what topics students have covered.Length: In many school  districts, the recommendation is that emergency lesson plans should support a substitute for a minimum of three days.  Accessibility: The materials in emergency lesson plans should be prepared so that students of all levels of ability will be able to complete the work. If the plans call for group work, you  should leave recommendations on how to organize students. Substitute plans should be contain translated materials for English Language Learners if there is a need.  Resources: All materials for the  emergency lesson plans should be prepared and, if possible,   left in the folder. All papers should be copied in advance, and a few extra copies added in the event the classroom numbers have changed. There should be directions as to where other materials (books, media, supplies, etc) can be located.   While you want to make sure that your students are engaged in meaningful activities, you also should anticipate the amount of work you will receive when you return. Your first reaction may be to stuff the folder with many different worksheets to keep students occupied. Returning to school to face a folder filled with busy work does not benefit you or your students.   A better way to help the substitute is to provide materials and activities that engage students and can extend over a period of time.    Suggested Emergency Lesson Plans Ideas Here are some ideas that you can use as you create your own emergency lesson plans: There are always extended questions from chapters in your textbook that you may never get to during the school year.   The extended response  questions (sometimes titled further study...) sometimes take more time than a class period or they may be more challenging and involve  applying skills students already have  in solving authentic or real-world problems. There may be scenarios for students to try. A model of what is expected should be provided to the substitute.There may be articles that are related to your discipline with questions that students can answer. If there are no questions with the reading, you can use these four close reading questions that meet the Common Core Literacy Standards. You should leave an example to model for students so that they should know to provide evidence from the text for each question.What is the author telling me?  Any hard or important words? What do they mean?  What does the author want me to understand?How does the author play wit h language to add to meaning? Depending on the media available in your school, you may want to use short videos (TED-ED Talks, Discovery Ed, etc. ) that are often followed by questions. If questions are not available, the same questions used for an article (see above) can be used in responding to media. Again, you may want to leave a model response for students to see.If your students are capable to do writing enrichment activities independently, and depending on the student access to research tools, you could leave a visual (painting, photo, or graphic) that is related to your discipline and have the substitute use the Question Formulation Technique. The visual can be a current event photo, an infographic for math, or a painting of a landscape for a storys setting.This technique allows students to ask their own questions and build off their peers’ questions. In this activity, the substitute would ask students to formulate as many questions as they can about the visual. Have the students  write down ever y question exactly as it is stated; then have the students  determine which questions can be answered and which need more research. The substitute can lead the class in  prioritizing the questions. Then, the students can choose one (or more), and do the research in order to respond. Leaving the Plans While emergency lesson plans will not cover material you are currently working on in your class, you should use this opportunity to extend their knowledge about your discipline.   It is always a good idea to mark the location of your emergency lesson plans in a place different than your regular  substitute folder.   Many schools ask for the emergency lesson plans be left in the main office. Regardless, you might not want to include them in the folder so as to avoid confusion.   When emergencies come up and remove you from the classroom unexpectedly, it is good to be prepared. Knowing that you have left plans that will engage your students will also minimize inappropriate student behavior, and returning to deal with discipline problems will make your return to the classroom more difficult. These emergency lesson plans may take time to prepare, but knowing that your students have meaningful lessons while you are not available can take the stress out of the emergency and make your return to school more smooth.

Describe three important reforms that occurred during the Progressive Essay - 2

Describe three important reforms that occurred during the Progressive Era in American history. Describe what each one of them was, and why each one was an important reform - Essay Example Government reform encompasses one of the major changes that occurred in the reform era. Robert LaFollette who was a republican governor in Wisconsin (Mintz 2014) championed reforms in this sector. It was termed as the â€Å"Wisconsin idea† and it included changes such as a development of a railroad commission to control taxes, direct primaries to choose party nominees for public offices, as well as initiative and recall opportunities for the public (Fishback 289). These reforms were important since they increased the efficiency of the government (Fishback 289). The direct primaries gave the public an opportunity to participate in the political process and also limited the influence of city bosses in selecting there favourable personnel. The initiative device enabled the public participate in passing proposed laws through voting and recall device gave the public the power to remove elected officials from their position. These reforms put government officials on their toes and e nsured they did their work with efficiency and transparency. Civil rights reforms in the progressive era are very critical and their benefits curently felt. These reforms occurred following the publication of W.E.B. Du Bois. His publication highlighted the plight of African Americans and the disparaging racism effects. Du Bois condemned the belief that African Americans could not work as manual laborers and nothing more. This publication led to the establishment of the first national civil rights movement known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Mintz, 2014). This organization boasted of 6,000 members by 1914 whereby it extended to establishing offices in fifty cities. These reforms in civil rights were very important since they ensured that the rights of the colored minority were protected. Initially, the minority endured hard and forced labor, coupled with low wages as well as denial of certain necessities.

Reading summaries Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reading summaries - Assignment Example 3. What Is The Difference Between The Udhr And The ICESCR? UDHR is popularly known as Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After World War II in 1948 the UDHR came into force. The purpose of developing such universal organization was to bring back peace to every countries of world. The main aim of establishing the UDHR is to remove the slave system, creating equality among the people and providing birth right to the people (United Nations, â€Å"Universal Declaration of Human Rights†). Conversely, ICESCR is generally popular as International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to the world. ICESCR is the part of UDHR. As the name suggests it describes the key responsibilities of work. ICESCR’s main commitment is to work for socioeconomic and traditional rights, health and educational rights and the labor rights. The work of ICESCR is similar to UDHR. The Economic and the Social is leading the ICESCR for developing the society (United Nations Human Rights, â€Å"Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights†). 4. What Are Some Of The Ways In Which Human Rights Doctrine Differs From Mainstream Economic Approaches In Both Goals And Methodology? Human Rights mainly contain two aspects, one is legal and another is ethical. The legal aspects shows the human rights with a justified attributes and the ethical aspects maintain the obligations or duties and humanity towards the people involved (Vasilevich and Jaaskelainen 387-405). Another way economics mainly differs in its goal and methodology from human right doctrine with an aim of protecting interests regarding welfarism, compensation and utilization of resources (Vasilevich and Jaaskelainen 387-405). 1. What is the right to an adequate standard of living? What does it include? Are there any exclusion? The right of adequate standard of living refers that one person should have sufficient amount of food, clothes and

Resume Revision Essay Example for Free

Resume Revision Essay FINANCIAL ANALYST Goal-oriented, Financial / Business Analyst with experience in Residential and Commercial Lending. Quickly learns new tasks and adapts to a changing environment. Solid leadership skills, pursuing a career with a well-established company in the commercial lending industry. Earned a solid reputation for being diligent, hard-working, and detail-oriented. Excellent verbal and written communication skills; solid command of the English language. Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of banking systems and providing clientele with business expertise in specialized loan application processing, booking, and servicing systems. Functional Areas of Expertise Personal Assets Records Document Management Credit Analysis Contract Administration Financial Revenue Residential Mortgages Real Estate Financial Analysis Report Management Loan Processing Commercial Lending Office Management Customer Service Excellence   Highly Organized Detail-Oriented Efficient / Creative Hard Working / Reliable Self-Motivated Team Player / Positive Attitude Results Oriented Excellent Time Management Skills Excellent Communication Skills Crisis/Problem Resolution Skills Excellent Interpersonal Skills Fluent in English Spanish PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Bank of America, Waltham, MA 2006-Present Collateral Loan Administrator II / Booking Coordinator Conducts credit and financial analysis and prepares summaries to determine credit-worthiness for commercial loan customers. Reviews loan documentation and determines if loan transactions are ready for AFS processing. Effectively resolves issues arising from the loan packages and ensures all transactions are prepared for funding. Expedite any loan disbursements and advances such as wire transfers, debits or credits to DDA accounts. Process check requisitions for recording fees. Accurately files Collateral Lien documentation including UCC’s, Mortgages or Deed of Trusts, Life Insurance Assignments, Vehicle Titles through Ilien submission of UCC-1. F. Forwards documents directly to the pertinent Registry of Deeds for recording. Implements exception tracking and standardization of collateral files, maintaining control of bank collateral. Inputs loans on the banks system of record, ACTION and AFS. Responsible for data accuracy and timely completion of the booking and the collateral process. Performs research and collaborates with line partners regarding loans. Maintains Real Estate, Letters of Credit, Business Banking and Commercial Banking deals. Leader Mortgage Company, Arlington, MA 2004-2006 Senior Loan Processor Reviewed and underwrote first and second mortgage loans approved by DU. Complied with Investor’s Underwriting Guidelines by assigning and signing off on conditions. Prepared 20 to 30 loans for closing from the company’s monthly pipeline adhering to company deadlines. Researched and gathered required information to process and complete loan files. Analyzed documents to ensure accuracy and compliance with existing underwriting guidelines. Continue†¦page 1 of 2 YENNIFERT ADRIANZA Page Two PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (Continued) Leader Mortgage Company, continued†¦ Prepared loan application packages, including Truth in Lending, Good Faith Estimate, and all necessary disclosures. Ordered and reviewed appraisals to ensure compliance with DU and Investor’s requirements. Conducted credit analysis and DU’s for loan applications. Citizens Mortgage Corporation, Woburn, MA 2003-2004 Assistant Loan Officer Identified and assisted prospective clients in the loan application process. Verified applications and approved loans utilizing Loan Soft in collaboration with clients during and face-to-face interviews. Prepared pre-approval letters and loan packages for qualified candidates for Residential Mortgages with products such as Soft-Second, FHA, MFHA, Conventional 30, 15, and 20 year Mortgages, Acorn, Aurora (Adjustable Mortgages), and all programs ruled by Fannie Mae Guidelines. Boston Federal Savings Bank, Burlington, MA 2001-2002 Investor Loan Specialist Maintained and serviced Investor Loans such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and other outside Banks, and internal Home Loans. Performed excellent customer service and prepared monthly reconciliation of investor accounts. Trained new employees, and prepared daily reports required by Freddie Mac. State Street Bank, Boston, MA 2000 Loan Administrator Maintained collateral records for bank loans and performed system to system and cash reconciliation on a daily basis. Calculated clients’ monthly payments to match the custodian bank’s records and company records. EDUCATION BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Boston, MA Master of Science in Administrative Studies, 2004 Concentration: Financial Markets Institutions NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, Boston, MA Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration, 2001 Concentration: Finance COMPUTER PROFICIENCIES Microsoft Office†¢ Outlook Email †¢ ACTION †¢AFS †¢ Internet FDES †¢ BA Direct†¢ Ilien†¢ Calyx Point †¢ DU †¢ Empower Datalink †¢ Bankers Window†¢ Mortgage Links (for Fannie Mae Loans)†¢ Microsoft Project Midanet (for Freddie Mac Loans) †¢ AS 400 †¢ Project 2000

Fate of the Passionate in Virgils Aeneid Essay -- Literature

Virgil’s The Aeneid, to this day, remains one of the most influential epics to ever grace the merciless limitations of manuscript, inspiring, in pop culture as well as literature, an onslaught of themes, mythology, values, and the general sense of what a hero must be-or do- in order to overcome the obstacles of the gods and man. Written somewhere between 29 and 19 BC, consisting of twelve books (although never completely finished), The Aeneid takes us through the turbulent journeys and prophesied triumphs of Aeneas, a warrior and man bound by piety and destiny. Like usual, in every great epic, there are many battles: heads gashed open and gore galore; however, to say that this master piece is just for men would be atrocious, considering that Venus, Aeneas’s mother (the goddess of hunt, extremely beautiful), plays a major role in the book from beginning to end, but, although women are portrayed as a symbol of strength (most of the time, at least), one cannot ignore the invocation to the muse at the very beginning: â€Å"I sing of arms and of the man† (3). Through the wars, travels, monsters, and grief that awaits our protagonist, I feel that the relationship between Aeneas and Dido, the queen of Carthage, holds special relevance in my life, for I have loved and lost as well, but one thing may surprise you, I have seen it through the eyes of Dido, not Aeneas. Fortunately, for me, I didn’t have to sacrifice myself, but I did learn to love, relish it, and then, sadly, let it go. Early in the beginning of the poem we see Aeneas, surrounded by blood thirsty Greeks, trying to save his family-fighting as well-and, after an apparition of Hector pleas with him to leave, eve... ...er allowing his life to interfere with his destiny, if indeed he truly believed in it, for judging by his master piece, I must simply believe that he, in all of his expert wisdom on battle and virtue, failed to understand the complications of love and passion. As a man who has lost much, constantly pondering the ambiguity of love, I cannot deny that the road to happiness is a long, uncertain path, but, just like my loss of companionship, I can’t help but to think what would have happened if Aeneas would have just forsaken his path and cradled Dido until the grave, yet one cannot deny the fate of passion, in all of its uncertainties and unseen truths. Works Cited Virgil. The Aeneid. London: Penguin, 1991.

Noram Foods

Noram Foods Noram Foods is considering changing their current policy on package weight standards. The current policy states that 95% of packages are to be greater than the stated net weight. However, management believes a more accurate control policy could reduce costs for Noram foods while insuring net weight does not fall below the stated amount. Current issues: Specifically regarding the pre-cooked cereal line Noram Foods has initiated the 95% weight policy to ensure stated weight specifications are met.This relatively high percentage is due to increased regulations, undeveloped technology, and negative consumer response towards under weighted packages. This has motivated Norman to establish reputability by choosing this control policy. Additional considerations include: * Addressing flexibility of a 95% standard * Updated, precise technology is expensive – What is the ROI? Is there on marginal value added? * Keeping norms within government specifications * Preservation of positive company reputation Lower product deviation without falling under stated weight * Overweight packages creates higher cost and decreased profit margin * Underweight packages leads to consumer and governmental reaction and inefficiency due to under-utilization of capacity Current Policy Analysis Option 1: Keep Current Control Policy(=95%) With Option 1, Norman Foods will be able to maintain the 95% weight policy and seek cost reduction in another area to increase their profit margin. Potential Cost Reducing Opportunities: * Reduce the rotation schedule of control operators – i. . rotate every ? day instead of every ? hour * Leads to improvement in efficiency due to less shifting of human resources * Increased total output * Mid-shift change could assist control operators dealing with redundancy * Seek possible technological improvements with the weighing instruments * Decrease inefficiency Potential Consequential Issues: * Probable high turnover rate to due mundane * Co uld led to an increase in HR costs due to recruiting and training new people Option 2: Reduce current standard (< 95%) Graph 1 Retrieved from: www. ublicecon. com With Option 2, Noram Foods would be required to test and analyze various percentage points below the current 95% standard and, as Graph 1 demonstrates, doing so until an equilibrium is achieved between costs incurred and control not falling below LCL. Possible Consequential Issues: * Reducing the current standard would result in a decrease in standard deviation * Increased risk of falling below the lower control limit * Additional problems may be created * Additional value through cost reduction is added through the rectification of arising issues.Our Analysis Moreover, the company shuts down the operation when outliers fall below the LCL. However, when the process produces outliers that are above the UCL, the machine continues to operate. Noram Foods should develop a cost/benefit analysis to conclude at what level of uppe r outliers creates excessive costs. Based on Exhibit 4 that concerns the Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act, Noram Foods should have a warning system that signifies that the package has exceeded its required tolerance level of ~7. 5 grams. This will reduce unnecessary cost.The operator working at a particular station should be in charge of making sure the weight is within control limits. The company should create incentives to keep control operators motivated while performing these mind numbing tasks. We propose that for every year that a control operator completes their processes while staying in the specified range, they receive personal recognition from the company. This could take the form of an award or plaque offered by the manager. The added incentive can increase employee productivity and moral, thereby reducing turnover.

Laser corrective vision surgery

Clarity of vision depends upon how well cornea and lens permit rays to fall on to the retina on cones and rods. Light rays refract and bend on to focus on to the retina to form a clear image. There are two photoreceptors cones (which color sensitive) and rods (which is dim light sensitive). These send signals to brain though optic nerve. If the shape of the cornea is abnormal light does not fall properly or proper image is not formed on the back of cornea. (Fletcher, 2007) This is called refractive error. This can be corrected by refractive surgery. Refractive errors include myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism (an irregularly shaped cornea which causes blurring), and presbyopia (similar to hyperopia, a condition which causes the lens to harden). Refractive eye surgery helps to reduce or eliminate a person's dependency on eyeglasses or contact lenses. (NYP, 2007) There are several types of refractive surgery; proper diagnostics can only determine which is needed by whom. It can well be stated that â€Å"compared with surface ablation, LASIK results in earlier and faster improvement of uncorrected visual acuity, and has less (or almost no) postoperative discomfort, improved stability, and predictability.† (Agingeye, 2007) At the same note it can also be stated that â€Å"with LASIK, however, the risks of flap-related complications (wrinkles, debris, folds, buttonhole, and diffuse lamellar keratitis) may be associated with the creation of the lamellar flap.† (Agingeye, 2007) Precautions of laser correction surgeries are 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Eyes should be healthy 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Patient should be adult 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stable vision for a year or so. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If pregnant surgery should be performed on after evaluating the shape of corneas. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Should not have Degenerative or autoimmune diseases. (Allaboutvision, 2007) Some of risks in LASIK are 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some patients lose vision 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some patients develop debilitating visual symptoms. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   irregular astigmatism, which can decrease the corrected vision 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   corneal haze or glare 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   overcorrected or undercorrected vision 6)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   inability to wear contact lenses in the future 7)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   loss of the corneal flap, requiring a corneal graft 8)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   scarring 9)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   infection (Roberts, 2007) 10) vision loss 11) develop severe dry eye syndrome 12) Irregular Astigmatism 13) Keratectasia 14) Night Vision Problems or Night Glare and Halos 15) Central Islands 16) Epithelial Ingrowth Diffuse Lamellar Keratitis (DLK) (Banerjee, 2005) Lasik has its benefits too. It is performed under a protective layer of corneal tissue. As a result, there is less surface area to heal, less risk of scarring, less risk of corneal haze, less postoperative discomfort, less postoperative need for medications, and vision returns more rapidly, often within a day or so. It can an also treat a higher range of vision errors. (Grochmaleye, 2007) One testimony to this is available from the US military. It is stated that â€Å"the U.S. military also has adopted widespread use of refractive surgery including LASIK to decrease reliance of troops on artificial lenses or eyewear as evidenced by the more than 16,000 U.S. Army personnel who underwent refractive surgery from 2000 through 2003. Studies of these outcomes showed that 86% achieved 20/20 or better uncorrected vision and 98% achieved 20/40 or better, which legally is considered good enough for driving without eyewear or contact lenses.† (Allaboutvision, 2007) Some Statistics are in this context can be stated as follows: Patient Results Three Months After Treatment Procedure 20/20 or Better 20/40 or Better LASIK for myopia 42.0% to 84.8% 76.8% to 99.4% LASIK for hyperopia 48.8% to 58.3% 93.4% to 98.3% PRK for myopia and hyperopia* 67% (approximate) 95% (approximate) (AAO, 2007) In conclusion it can be stated that the method has both positive and negative aspects. It should be remembered that the use of laser was approved by the FDA’s Medical Devices Advisory Committee in the context of the Ophthalmic Devices Panel and the effectiveness and safety was proved with the help of various clinical studies. (FDA, 2007) The FDA evaluated several case studies on the method and after analysis of 1,013 eyes LASIK performances that was carried out in thirteen centers of medicine over the period of half year it was found that â€Å"of the 1,013 eyes treated, 92 percent were corrected to 20/40 or better and 47 percent were corrected to 20/20 or better without glasses or contact lenses.† (FDA, 2007) However, in accordance to FDA it could be stated that â€Å"short-term side effects included pain (for 24 to 48 hours), corneal swelling, double vision and light sensitivity. In some patients these effects lasted for several weeks.†(FDA, 2007) Thus this could be termed as a well tested process but it needs more time and application to become a complete water-tight method. It could be stated that more work on the subject is necessary. References: American Academy of Ophthalmology; (2007); Ophthalmology Report 2007; Sydney: Allied Publications Allaboutvision; (2007); Lasik Criteria; allaboutvision.com; retrieved on 10.02.2008 from http://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/lasik-criteria.htm Allaboutvision; (2007); Lasik complication; allaboutvision.com; retrieved on 10.02.2008 from http://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/lasik_complication_1.htm Banerjee, D; (2007); Details from Medical Journals of AIIMS; New Delhi: AIIMS Fletcher, R; (2007); Medical Principals: Beliefs and Knowledge; Believing and Knowing; Dunedin: Howard ; Price Grochmaleye; (2007); Lasik benefits; grochmaleye.com; retrieved on 10.02.2008 from http://www.grochmaleye.com/lasik_benefits.html

The Modern Rules of the Memo (With Examples)

The Modern Rules of the Memo (With Examples) Whether its called a business memorandum, memoranda, or memo, it is a common form of business communication when the information to be disseminated is informal and not private. According to Business Etiquette for Dummies, 2nd Edition, If you have something confidential to communicate, dont do it in a memo.The purpose of your memoMemos are the typical form of communication used within companies and organizations. Most will be limited to a few paragraphs, but some memos may be longer, depending on their purpose and messaging.In general, a memo is used:to inform others within the company on changes in policies, directives, or procedures.to announce changes in leadership, management structure, team divisions, or workflow.to disseminate information pertaining to meetings and events held within the organization.to introduce new employees, divisions, clients, etc.The format of your memoThe most typical format of interoffice memos is as follows:Heading: (usually MEMORANDUM or MEMO in all cap s, centered, although this format is not required and can vary based on organizational style guides.)To: (Who or which department gets it)From: (Who or which department sent it)Date: (When it was sent)Subject: (Briefly, what its about)(A line generally separates the header from the content, as shown above.)Your introductory paragraph should quickly orient the reader to what the memo is about and how it pertains to them or their department. It should be written succinctly, with as few words as possible to convey the needed message. The rule of thumb is tight, informative sentences.For the body, here are a few pointers:If there are tasks that need to be completed related to the subject of the memo, those can be detailed in the body of the memo.Keep in mind that bullet points are a great way to present most information in a way that can be easily scanned and understood by the reader.Its easier for the human eye to read bullet points than long, overly complicated paragraphs.Include the important details but if there are complex details involved, direct readers to another document (a memo is not really the place for that).Memo example 1MEMORANDUMTo: All departmentsFrom: Dan Lumberg, CEODate: October 1, 2018Subject: Internet use on company timeThis is to remind all employees that Internet use on company time is prohibited. Please refrain from checking your personal email, social media accounts, or messaging platforms while on the clock, unless it is on your break time or lunch time.As noted in the employee handbook, section 2.4., all employees are responsible for:Using on-the-clock hours for company projects only.Limiting their online interactions while on the clock to clients and fellow employees within the company.Applying their break or lunch-time hours to any time spent reading personal email, personal social media accounts, or messages sent for personal use.As always, we appreciate the time and effort you put into all that you do at XYZ Corp and trust that our employees will maintain professional standards at all times while on the clock. If you have questions or concerns about these company policies, please direct them to Megan Smith at ext. 1208.Best regards,Dan Lumberg, CEOMemo example 2MEMORANDUMTo: Executive assistants, all departmentsFrom: Jon BeakerDate: October 1, 2018Subject: Attaching cover sheets to all outgoing faxesIm sending this memo to inform you of recent changes in company procedure related to faxes sent out. We have a new standard cover sheet (Form 12E) that should be used in all outgoing fax transmissions and the old one (Form 12D) should be recycled or discarded.The new cover sheet includes our new company address, along with a legal statement that is required to be attached to all outgoing fax transmissions. Without the use of this new cover sheet, we run the risk of falling out of compliance with our legal directives.This might seem like a small matter but I assure you, it is extremely important. I suggest that you immediately recycle or discard all the old fax cover sheets to avoid confusion. If there are any questions, please contact me at extension 101.Best regards,Jon Beaker

Whom Can I Pay to Write My Research Paper Online

Whom Can I Pay to Write My Research Paper Online Whom Can I Pay to Write My Research Paper Online? Crafting research papers can be monotonous especially if you are a college or university student. At times, one can easily get bored with doing the same routine on the regular basis. Apart from boredom, there are also other reasons why students may require paper writing assistance during their academic career. Whom can I pay to write my research paper online? students ask themselves this question when they are stuck with homework and need a viable option to meet the strict paper deadlines. There is a glory hour of online paper writing agencies. You need to be careful when selecting a paper writing agency and find one that is capable of assisting you with the needed writing assignment. How to Choose? A reliable paper writing organization is one that delivers papers to its clients on time. This all depends on the writers at a paper writing company. Our writers start working on your task as soon as they are assigned to it so that they can finish the order on time and have some spare time in case the customer needs a revision. To make sure the service is not going to fool you, open the website, overlook all the important points for you and see yourself that everything is clear and you do not have to worry that you will only waste your money. What about the Price? Research paper writing consists of collecting relevant data both from the field and from secondary sources. Students who study on a part-time basis have little time to commit to all these requirements hence can resort to expert writers to assist them with their researches. charges reasonably per paper their writers complete for students. The charges depend on the urgency of the paper, the academic level, and the number pages to be written. The company will also provide you with a free title and bibliography page. Don’t hesitate to make use of such services and try out the high-quality products. And if you are still not fully satisfied with the outcome, the writer assigned to your order will revise the delivered paper for free (if your revision instructions do not contradict the Revision Policy). How NOT to be Mistaken? You have to be careful choosing an online writing service, as it is quite easy to fall for frauds. Illegitimate paper writing websites are also a part of the online writing schemes. They pretend to offer cheap services. has been in the business for a long time having a lot of returning customers who have shared their experience in the testimonials section of our website. They will do everything possible to assist you in the best manner possible. Gaining experience in paper writing is a gradual process, and will provide you with original and plagiarism-free sample papers to help you with this tough process. Writers who have been in the business for a long time offer high-quality example papers at reasonable prices. ‘Who can write my research paper for me?’ you may ask yourself. Feel free to contact to hire a highly qualified research paper expert.

Web-Based Distance Learning Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Web-Based Distance Learning Project - Assignment Example 29 Oct 2007 A Business Model with ERD and normalization. 5 November 2007 Design logical database design & development. 19 November 2007 Testing business rules and data integrity. 10 December 2007 Interim Report 8 January 2007 Interface Design and form development. 22 January 2007 Trigger design and implementation. 4 February 2007 Testing and validating the trigger codes of different units. 18 February 2007 Report requirements and design. 4 March 2007 Physical database design 18 March 2007 Final system documentation & user manual. 4 April 2007 Margin for any contingency 5 April 2007 - 15 April 2007 Final Report 24 April 2007 Live demonstration. The presentation should demonstrate the most interesting and attractive implementation features and functions of University Information System. 5 May 2007 RESOURCE REQUIREMENT: Following are the resource requirement for this project: Hardware Requirements: The hardware requirements for this project are as follows: Processor (atleast Pentium III, 733 MHz) RAM (the minimum RAM requirement is 128 MB. However, the RAM of 512 is recommended) Hard Disk (The required capacity of hard disk depends on the amount of data to be saved. But on minimum side 40 GB hard disk is required) LAN Card or Modem is also required. Besides, the general accessories of a standard PC will also be required. The university will not be required to arrange for these requirements. Software Requirements: The softwares required for this project are: MS Access - this is required for the actual development of the database. MS Visio - this is required to develop the logical diagram / model for the structure of the database MS Word - this is required for the documentation purposes Macromedia Dreamweaver - this is...The concept of distance learning was still there even before the intervention of technology in the field of education, but it gained momentum, when technology was applied to make the system of distance learning more effective. As a result of this intervention, distance learning has now become one of the most prominent areas of education and learning, where the application of the technology is at its peak. Furthermore, the more technology is applied in right direction, the more distance learning will get popular. This project would be yet another step into that progress. The outcome of this project would be an MS-Access based Tutorial database. As tutorials are major source of learning for distance learners, thus this product will be helpful to them to a great extent. The aim of this project is to develop a database of tutorials for the distant learners. This database tutorial is a web-based tutorial. The user of this database will be provided with the user interface in order to fetch the information through queries and add, edit or delete the tutorials. A reporting module will also be added into the database. Besides, there are some other technical requirements too. Such requirements include the internet connectivity, the relevant drivers required for the database and its cross platform interaction with the web based front end.

Impact Of Social Media On Samsung Literature review

Impact Of Social Media On Samsung - Literature review Example This study will try to uncover the impact of social media on Samsung. In other words, the study will try to reveal how Samsung gets benefitted from social media. Now before getting into deeper a brief overview of Samsung is presented below. Samsung has its roots back to 70 years when the company was founded by Lee Byung-chill in the Daegu city in the year 1938 (Samsung, n.d.). It started as a small trading company with only forty employees, but with the passage, the company went on to become one of the largest companies in the world. Presently the company is involved in manufacturing and selling consumer electronic goods. The product portfolio of the company include mobiles, laptops, television, air condition, home theatre, microwave oven, camera, refrigerator, and washing machine among numerous others (Yahoo Finance, 2012). The company also has a substantial amount of presence in the social world, which allows them to remain connected with the customers 24*7. According to Qualman (2010), social media on a global platform and enables the world to remain connected. From the business perspective, social media has actually changed the way business has been done. The author also stated that social media helps a company to save its promotional time, stress and cost thereby making it more productive. Along the same line, Sterne (2010) stated that social media is a profit booster, as it lowers the cost drastically. This allows the companies to sell their products at a lower price and can offer value to the customers. Hence, indirectly it helps to satisfy the customers of the company. Noor Al-Deen and Hendricks (2011) in their study found that social media such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and YouTube among others are growing at an incredible rate. Moreover, the adoption rate of the companies is also high.

Two Requirements of Mental State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Two Requirements of Mental State - Essay Example In order to understand such concepts, this paper will use the case of a friend who was recently involved in an accident and cannot be allowed to leave hospital since the doctors are unsure of the student’s mental state. Doctors claim that her brain is not normal whereas she has a clear memory of the accident and behaves in the same way as before. In my opinion of whether the hospitalized friend ha mental states or not, I believe that one can have a mental state even without an organic brain. Moreover, behaving like a human being does not prove that one has a mental state. The hospitalized friend does not show a normal range of mental states, but she shows some mental states. All the doctors in the cases have different perspectives on mental state. Their arguments represent different philosophical theories. The first doctor claims that mental states are type-identical to states of the human brain and since the patient in our case lacks a normal brain, he cannot have mental states. Doctor two said that the patient had some mental states since he could behave exactly like others but insisted that the patient did not have all of mental states. Thus in doctor two’s view, right behavior is only a necessary condition of mental states. Doctor three believes that mental states required a Cartesian soul. Dr. four disagrees and claims that same behavior is sufficient for mental states. Dr. Five rejected that human brain is necessary for mental states. In addition, he claims that if what in the patient’s head is a digital computer, then he cannot have mental states. All doctors are represent some philosophical theories. Dr. #1 is an identity theorist, #2 believes functionalism and Dr. #3 is a Cartesian. Dr. #4 is behaviorist and #5 represents parts of John Searle’s view that against machine can possibly think. This paper will focus on discuss Dr #1 and Dr #5. It is important to understand what a mental

Forensic Case Study: The Murder of James Bulger

Forensic Case Study: The Murder of James Bulger James Patrick Bulger was murdered on the 12th of February 1993 at the age of two. He was abducted, tortured, and killed by two ten-year-old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. Bulger was led away from his mother when she was in A.R. Tyms butcher shop in the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, England. Jamies mother contacted security as soon as she realised her son was missing and the police were called. While reviewing the shopping centres CCTV footage, they saw that Thompson and Venables had approached Bulger before taking him by the hand and leading him out of the shopping centre at 15:42. Thomson and Venables then lead Bulger from there to a railway track 2.5 miles away in Walton, Liverpool. This would later be confirmed by witness statements who saw the three boys together and, at the time, assumed they were family. Once arriving at the railway track, Thomson and Venables threw paint into Bulgers face, some of which went into his left eye. The two boys threw stones at him, kicked him, and beat him with bricks. They then hit him with an iron bar, a partially rusted railway fishplate that was 20ins long and weighed 22lbs. Before leaving the body, Thomson and Venables laid Bulger across the railway tracks and placed rubble over his head, in the hope that a train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident. After they left the scene, Bulgers dead body was cut in half by a train. His mutilated body was found on the railway line two days later, on February 14th 1993. The first breakthrough in finding Jamess killers occurred when a woman called the police after she recognised CCTV images of the two boys, Thompson and Venables, on national television. She had seen the two boys the day James Bulger went missing and knew that they were skipping school. The police responded to the womans call and the two boys were arrested. The forensic evidence that was found and submitted to the jury was vital to the prosecution. One piece of evidence that put Thomson and Venables at the scene of the crime was the blood found on the right shoe of one of the accused. A home office forensic scientist, Graham Jackson, said that there was only a one in a billion chance of error. DNA testing would have been used to match the blood found on the shoe to that of the victims. Forensic DNA testing is a process that begins with the DNA being isolated from the cells in this case, blood cells -and then is duplicated by a process called polymerase chain reaction. This process copies a specific stretch of DNA over and over, making it easier to analyse. The genetic code is split into separate chunks and then analysed to create a genetic fingerprint. Unlike actual fingerprints, there is a small chance that two different people could have the same genetic markers, especially if they are related to one another. To minimize this risk of error, scientists will test more than one genetic marker from a strand of DNA. Bulgers blood was also found on several bricks and on the 22lb iron bar. A forensic pathologist, Dr Allan Williams, counted 22 wounds on Jamess head and face and another 20 on his body. The wounds were so numerous that a final killing blow could not be established. Dr Williams determined that James would have already been dead by the time the train hit him as he had been stuck at least 30 times and would have endured a short period of survival after the attack began. The deep bruising on Jamess head, along with a cut that went down to the skull and the extensive damage to the back of his head, suggested that bricks and the iron bar had been used. Bulger sustained extensive head injuries, including a haemorrhage at the centre of his brain. Dr Williams also noted a severe blow to Jamess face that left a large bruise and grooved mark on the area around the right cheek and ear. A forensic scientist named Philip Rydeard was able to match the markings left on Jamess right cheek with a shoe worn by one of the boys. The shoe had an unusual arrangement of lacing rings as well as a distinctive stitching pattern. Paint found at the crime scene and on James Bulgers body was also found on the clothes of Thompson and Venables. Paint can be analysed in a few different ways to find a match: solvent tests, gas chromatography, and infrared spectrometry. Solvent tests involve exposing the paint samples to different chemicals and examining any changes that might take place (ie, a change in colour). Gas chromatography is used as a means of telling the difference between two paints that have the same colour, but have a different chemical composition. The paint sample is heated until it breaks down and is then separated into its components. Infrared spectrometry makes use of infrared light to determine the type of paint by examining the way that the paints various components absorb or reflect infrared light. Over the course of the trial, thirty-eight witnesses took the stand and said they had seen Bulger walking with Thompson and Venables, none of which could have ever foreseen the events that unfolded later that day. In addition, the 27 bricks, stones, and the 22lb iron rod used as weapons by Thompson and Venables were all presented to in court to eliminate any idea that the boys may be innocent. To conclude, the forensic evidence provided during the trial of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables was crucial to their prosecution. The DNA evidence from the traces of blood found on their clothes, as well as the shoe mark left on James Bulgers cheek, and the paint found on both the victim and the perpetrators clothing, provided absolute proof that Thompson and Venables had been at the scene of the crime. Backed up by CCTV footage and witness statements, this evidence lead to the prosecution of the youngest murderers in UK history. Sources Used   http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/james-bulger/trial https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger http://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/dna/how.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/james-bulger-suffered-multiple-fractures-pathologist-reveals-twoyearold-had-42-injuries-including-fractured-skull-jonathan-foster-reports-1503297.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/james-bulger-suffered-multiple-fractures-pathologist-reveals-two-year-old-had-42-injuries-including-1503297.html http://www.murderuk.com/child_killers_thompson_venables.html http://science.howstuffworks.com/forensic-lab-technique3.htm Comparing Leaders: Desamanya Ken Balendra and Sarath Fonseka Comparing Leaders: Desamanya Ken Balendra and Sarath Fonseka This particular assignment concentrates on comparing on two individual leaders, where one individual is a leader at present and the other has been a great leader in his time. This assignment is not only based on to understand about the particular individuals leadership traits and styles but also to gain knowledge and experience on how they have developed themselves to their positions in life and society they are in today. According to Dubrin, Dalgish Miller (2006, p.3) leadership is the principal dynamic force that motivates and coordinates the organization in the accomplishment of its objectives. Appannaiah Reddy (2006, p.261) says that leadership is an influence process of inducing a subordinate to behave in a desired manner. Therefore in order for us to practically understand the reality of the leadership theory, we have analyzed the leadership qualities of two different leaders that are in the fields of Business and military/politics. The first leader that we selected was Desamanya Ken Balendra. He was the first Sri Lankan Chairman of John Keells Holdings Ltd. (JKH), a highly diversified blue chip company and the only Sri Lankan Company to be listed amongst the worlds best 200 small companies by Forbes Global magazine. In year 2000, on reaching the age of 60, he retired from his position. Our next choice was a simple and more popular choice, which was General (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka. The former general of the Sri Lankan army who lead the armed forces of Sri Lanka to victory over the war against the Tamil rebels which dragged on for over 2 decades. A detailed analysis on each individual leader is included in the report, as well as a comparison of their leadership traits and styles through a theoretical background. BRIEF INTRODUCTION ON MR. KEN BALENDRA The major reason for choosing Mr. Ken Balendran for this assignment is because he is one of the most successful chairmans of Sri Lanka to ever be successful in a blue chip company like John Keells Holdings. He turned around things for JKH to reach higher objectives and become a well known people oriented company. And he indeed succeeded. After retirement his ways and pace of business is still been conducted at JKH. The present Chairman is also following the ways and footsteps of Mr. Balendra to bring out the best in John Keells. The reason why we selected him as the current leader is because he is still the Chairman of various other companies. He still runs his companies the same way he used to run JKH. With his experience and his visionary ways he is the most respected man in the corporate world today. He is also the holds the current positions of, Chairman of Brandix Lanka Ltd. A leading manufacturer and exporter of apparel. Director of chevron Lubricants Lanka Ltd., a subsidiary of Chevron Texaco. Chairman of the investment committee of Aureos South Asia fund Honorary Consul-General for Poland Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Council for Mental Health. Trustee of the Royal College Union HOW DID HE EMERGE AS A LEADER? Deshamanya Ken Balendra was always a Team player. At the interview with him, these were the first words he spoke to us. Saying Im a Team Player. When analyzing his history he was a good sportsman playing sports like Rugby. He was the vice captain of his team in royal college. Also he was in charge of the most important aspects of running a rugby team. Although he never became a Captain, he was determined to lead the team in to greater heights. He also played for the Ceylon Barbarians and captained the team for four years. He also received colors in doing so and is a very successful sportsman as well. When Mr. Ken Balendra was immerged to be a leader in the future, the question of role models and inspirations came in to considerations. Mr. Ken Balendra did not quite have his role models or Inspirations like most of us do, but he would recall his role models to be his bosses when he started his working career. He started his carrier with Tea. His family was in to planting and so into planting he went. Having finished creeping at Halgolla estate near Avissawella, he was transferred to Hapugastanne Group. Where he worked for the most part under the late Sepala Ilangakoon. He still reckons Ilangakoon to be Sri Lankas best ever planter. Mr. Balendra learnt readily by Illangakoons account, he was a model planter. Through this he gave Mr. Balendra experience of both tea and rubber planting. This would stand him in a good stead during his early years at John Keells. Illangakoon later put him in charge of welfare and social activities such as the annual sports meet, a sizeable responsibility considering how many families were employed and housed at Hapugastenne. He continued to play rugby as he had at school, turning out for the Ceylon Rugby Football Club as well as for the national team, the Ceylon Barbarians. Mr. Balendra then moved to the capital and started his work as a fairly senior executive in the tea department of John Keells. He did as well at Keells as he had at planting. Mr. Sepala Illangakoon was gratified to learn from Mark Bostock that the new recruit had graduated to auctioneering in a record time of three months, when most others took at least six. Because of his bosses visionary thinking of diversifying ones ability to handle business, Mark Bostock assigned Mr. Balendra in to touring operator companies and also gem miners and merchants. Here Ken Balendra discovered his true vocation. With all the problems with the JVP and at the height of the war Mr. Ken Balendra was finally appointed Chairman of John Keells. He was on set on a course to chair JKH for the next 10 years. As chairman of JKH he worked hard to strengthen and disseminate the values that had built John Keells. Management meetings were opportunities to pass along some of the old spirit, Which Balendra did in extrovert fashion, using humor, irrelevance and a listening ear to encourage people to speak their minds with eh frankness and lack of formality Keells demanded. His main technique however remained that of handing people more responsibility that they thought they could handle and persuading them that they could handle it. HOW DID MR. KEN BALENDRAN DEVELOP HIS LEADERSHIP SKILLS? Mr. Ken Balendra when answering a question of what a leader should be a person who is down to earth and knows exactly what goes in peoples minds. His leadership skills are still respected today because he knew how to handle people and most of all how listen to his followers. He was also able to motivate his followers and guide them in their journey without discouragement. But a leader would not be existent if there were no followers. Mr. Ken Balendra suggested that ones followers should be courages and able to take risks and believe in something that may not look colorful now but if thought correctly it would be in time to come. Therefore to enhance his followers to become the leaders in the future he developed a team called the 2020 Team. Whose members were outstanding young executives deemed likely to be among those running the group in the year 2020. Gatherings of the 2020 team were the most informal of all. As I quote, I used to encourage them to speak up, criticize the board and so on, and that brought out a whole lot of good ideas. Two of the groups are now Chairman and Deputy Chairman: Susantha Ratnayake and Ajit Gunawardene. They were in the 2020 Team in the early nineties and jumped over several heads to join the board at such a young age Even at his time he made it a point to attend every seminar possible and was heavy reader in various books and magazines published both here in Sri Lanka and internationally. And later his art of management came in play of handing responsibility and being accountable for ones actions. This is one of the ways he was able to get his results. But he would never sack someone due to not meeting targets, but would do so if the norms and ethics were breached by anyone. Therefore he was a visionary person who was very much People oriented as oppose to Task Oriented. He was more interested in the welfare of people more than the company itself. After all the companies existence is because of the people who work for it. Mr. Balendras efforts, combined with those of his colleagues, were effective at preserving the Keells Spirit. BRIEF INTRODUCTION ON GENERAL (RTD.) SARATH FONSEKA Named Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka born on the 18th of December 1950 is a former commander of the Sri Lanka Army and a former Chief of Defense Staff of Sri Lanka. As the Commander of the Army General (Rtd.) Fonseka played an instrumental role in ending the two decade Civil War Sri Lanka, in 2009. Thereafter he became the first serving officer to be promoted to a four star rank in the Sri Lanka Army. (Sarath Fonseka the future leader, n.d.) Gen. (Rtd.) Fonseka joined the Sri Lanka Army way back in 1970 and witnessed all action throughout the 26 year civil war, culminating in a term as commander from December 2005 to July 2009. As commander, he oversaw the final phase of the civil war of Sri Lanka which end resulted in the defeat of the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam organization (LTTE). Gen. (Rtd.) Fonseka has been described and viewed as Sri Lankas most successful army commander by local and foreign nationals alike, and his run of significant military victories against the LTTE during Eelam War IV led the Indian National Security Advisor Mayankote Kelath Narayanan to describe him as the best army commander in the world. (Sri Lanka Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, n.d.) After having chosen a career in the Army in 1970 to serve this great nation, Sarath Fonseka met his life partner Ms. Anoma in 1972. They entered wedded life in 1979 and thereafter have had two daughters named Apsara and Aparna. While a career in the Army meant that Gen. Fonseka had to spend time away from his family, he always made sure that he was a devoted husband to his wife and a loving and caring father to his daughters. (Sarath Fonseka the future leader, n.d.) In mid April, 2006 Gen. (Rtd.) Fonseka survived an assassination attempt when an LTTE suicide bomber attacked his motorcade, where he suffered critical abdominal injuries. Following the end of the war he was appointed Chief of Defense Staff, a post from which he retired on November 16th, 2009. (Sri Lanka Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, n.d.) General Foneskas experience in military matters made him a very popular figure amongst all Sri Lankan citizens. Many statesmen admired his courage, stance on military matters, and his astute policy insights into governance and strengthening democracy. As a moderate he has been able to achieve what was once thought the unthinkable in Sri Lankas political history. Due to his determination and commitment to put his country before himself, he has been able to unite major political parties and ethnic communities to work with him to guide our beloved motherland to a prosperous future; a place where every citizen regardless of their ethnicity, religion and identity can live freely with pride and dignity. (Sarath Fonseka the future leader, n.d.) HOW DID HE EMERGE AS A LEADER According to Mr. Fonseka there are many characteristics of a good leader. One is that he/she needs to be very transparent should be unbiased and be able to provide good strategic direction to his followers. And Gen. (Rtd.) Fonseka is a strong believer of discipline and abiding conduct. These are some of the main qualities which influenced Gen. (Rtd.) Fonseka to be a good leader. Another element of his characteristics is that he was able to clearly handle the pressures of political influence and his own leadership demands and act accordingly; people were called effective leaders because they had followers who trusted them and would go that extra mile for them. An important quality he possesses is the ability to understand his subordinates and realized that influencing others alone is not sufficient in order to be a good leader. In most incidents he tried to lead by example and create a role model of himself to others. However it is a must to influence others, when and where it is required. Gen. (Rtd.) Fonseka portrays a high degree of legitimate power as a Commander of the Sri Lankan armed forces. However a point which he mentioned was that some of his leadership qualities were hindered because, according to his position; he is under obligation to the president and he doesnt have the full authority to handle things his own way. (I Survived To Do My Duty by My Country, 2009) Therefore we can say that situation also plays a vital role in bringing about leadership qualities. Another quality that he possesses is that he has a high level of motivation. He doesnt believe in isolating his team and he delegates power and authority to them. Delegation and follow up is his method of working. Following up is how he attempted to keep his control, where as delegation is how he empowered his team in order to take challenges and complete their tasks. However, in an interview with Gen. (Rtd.) Fonseka, it was evident that he was a courageous person. We can say this clearly because when we confronted him about his strengths and weaknesses he said that his only weakness is that he doesnt wait for the opportunity to come to him. He goes behind the opportunity or tries to create an opportunity himself. It would appear to work at times but also vice versa, at times it doesnt. (I Survived To Do My Duty by My Country, 2009) Gen. (Rtd.) Fonseka also maintains positive work life balance though it is tough to keep up with the different changes in his life. Hence, we view it as, a leader should also know how to strike that type of work-life balance even when their engaged in long, gruesome and tireless line of employment. 3.2 COGNITIVE FACTORS OF HIS LEADERSHIP Problem solving and intellectual skills could be identified as cognitive factors. In order to be a successful leader, the leader must have the mental ability to inspire people, bring about constructive changes and problem solving creativity. The cognitive factors of a leader can be classified in to several parts, and these are a few identified with regard to Gen. Fonseka. Knowledge of business In order to establish a relationship with group members, the leader must have knowledge of the business and technical and professional competence related to the business. Considering the army commander, who has been working with fellow comrades before he was appointed to the position of General, it is obvious that Gen. Fonseka has the relevant technical capabilities, professional competence on operations and more than enough experience. Insight into people and situations This simply means that the leader should have the required level of intuition and common sense to make wise choices in selecting people for key assignments, enabling the leader to make the assignment work better and a better dob training and development. When appointing senior military officers to different areas, the commander acted in a way that is expected by a leader who has that required level of intuition and common sense needed. As an example, the Brigadier Walagama who previously acted as the chief of Diyathalawa army academy was identified by the commander to have brilliant experience regarding Trincomalee area and he was immediately appointed as the commander of the Trincomalee area. (I Survived To Do My Duty by My Country, 2009) Farsightedness In order to establish a corporate strategy and vision, the leader must have the farsightedness and understanding of the implications in the long run. With regard to the commander, was known to be a thinker and an extremely farsighted individual. For example when the commander had the opportunity to clear the Kilinochchi town are before clearing the Poonarin area, he restrained himself from doing so, because he knew that if he did that the army forces would be undoubtedly ambushed by the LTTE. (I Survived To Do My Duty by My Country, 2009) Openness to experience The commander admits that he still learns something new every day from his subordinates. And this statement was made of national television. LEADERSHIP TRAITS COMPARISON 4.1 GENERAL PERSONAL TRAITS Self confidence Mr. Ken Balendran: Self Confidence through the analysis of the interview has outlined that the fact of climbing the ladder to being the Chairman of John Keells requires more self confidence than any other factor. Being a Leader would be mostly based on how confident you are in your actions and opinions. Therefore through analysis Mr. Ken Balendra indeed is the most self confident Chairman Sri Lanka has ever experienced. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka Gen. Fonseka is a self assured personality without being bombastic or overbearing, he instills confidence in his team members. He always states that it is possible for the army to reach a position of strength not only to achieve its objectives according to a well conceived plan but also to retain the areas cleared. Trust worthiness Mr. Ken Balendra: Mr. Ken Balendra always believed in his visions. He was able to foresee the future because of the exposure his bosses put him through. He was always the faithful and trust worthy character in John Keells right from the start. This is why he became the chairman of John Keells. He still remains chairman of many other companies due to the fact that he is able to take up responsibility and is trust worthy in his actions to making the company succeeds. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka: In Riviresa operations General Fonseka had to face many accusations on fraud due to over use of a satellite phone. The bill was raised up to 10 million rupees. However ultimately the court recovered the reason behind this to be; that the commander had given his phone to soldiers to contact their parents. (I Survived To Do My Duty by My Country, 2009) Assertiveness Mr. Ken Balendra: Mr. Ken Balendra always wanted to know what each employee in the company thought about. He even would see the worker of factory at anytime he can. He was always assertive and didnt quite hold his head up high because he was the chairman of John Keells. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka: In a television interview Gen. Fonseka once stated that it is his task to eliminated terrorism as practiced by the LTTE leader while the Sri Lanka Government will resolve the political problem with a political solution, which statement sows the assertiveness and of his mind. (I Survived To Do My Duty by My Country, 2009) High Tolerance For Frustration Mr. Ken Balendra: Although he was able to be calm at any stage, he mentioned that he would have any person accountable for their actions. He was also lenient on the other side of encouraging them to take up responsibility. Through this he was quite tolerant and knew how to take up problems or anything that could frustrate the company. He handled them quite well. Because of these aspects he is the most respected man in Sri Lanka today. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka: The major factor which enabled the LTTE to increase its strength and influence was because the Government during the earlier periods did not act accordingly and they were undecided whether to fight or not to fight. This gave the terrorists time to motivate and build a nexus. Gen. Fonseka observed and frustrated that due to the lack of a strategy to defeat the LTTE areas which were cleared would soon be lost due to the absence of direction and commitment. However he tolerated that. He thought that the day would eventually come when he would lead the defeat of the LTTE. (Sri Lanka Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, n.d.) 4.2 TASK ORIENTED TRAITS Passion for the work and people Mr. Ken Balendra: In developing the 2020 team as mentioned above, he was quite visionary and interested in the small man. He was interested to educate young recruits in to being the future leaders of the company. And is still motivating young employees of Brandix Ltd. to enhance the future leaders of the company. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka: Extremely passionate for his work and for his country. The commander identified group members, their interests and attitudes and the way which can use to reach and to best communicate with and influence them. When the time where he was engaging in operations he would let his personal phone be given to his subordinate to contact their families. Emotional intelligence Mr. Ken Balendra: His emotional level was quite down to earth, sharing his experience and passion often motivated his followers and the young executives at his time. When suggesting his ways of doing things it was clear that his position in the people and task grid was on the far right suggesting that he is indeed a people oriented person. He is definitely interested in the people who make things happen for the company rather than the tasks which are done for the company. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka: His staff members and followers always observed his emotions. He always used his emotions to persuade his followers. Flexibility and adoptability Mr.Ken Balendra: Since the 2020 team was quite informal it is clear that he was flexible in his thoughts and tasks. With his adoptability to conflicts in Sri Lanka at his time at JKH he is able to handle any situation when necessary. He is now handling the recession with Brandix very well produces the same output. Therefore his adoptability is no doubt at the best of standards and is flexible because of the fact that his ego levels and his demand of respect are extremely low. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka: Considering the behavior of the commander, who changed the structure of the army and established a clear coordination among different forces such as the army, navy and the air force to match with the modern and required level of specifications one could say that Gen. Fonseka was indeed flexible and very much adaptable to new technology and other. Furthermore he went out for new technology and aircrafts such as M27 to battle against the terrorist when the terrorist went for air attacks. These can be identified as evidence of flexibility in his leadership. Locus of control Mr.Ken Balendra: Mr. Balendra is a person with a high internal Locus of control. His ways and decision were based on what he believes in and is based on what his followers want need. His art of obtaining followers were automatic. Followers who were his needed to be able to take up responsibility for their actions and is able to be confident in what they believe. Therefore Mr. Balendra always exhibited his faiths and would allow his followers to make their own decisions. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka: The commander once said in a television program, I am confident that once the Tamil youth in the East see the advantages of peace they will not go back to join the terrorists. All communication in the East is cooperating with the security forces and the Government as they can visualize a bright and peaceful future for all communities.Hence this would realize Gen. Fonseka to have an internal locus of control. Courage Mr.Ken Balendra: Mr. Ken Balendra definitely is courages in turning around John Keells. And is also still making things brighter for the companies he is chairman to. Therefore is quite clear that his level of courage to make those changes going through various critics certainly has rewarded him in being the most successful chairmans of Sri Lanka. Gen. (Rtd.) Sarath Fonseka: He can be identified as a courages person. He had to face many barriers in reaching to his position but he never gave up his vision and his target of peace to his mother land. LEADERSHIP STYLE COMPARISON The basic leadership styles can be categorized in to three main stages. And they are; Autocratic: All the decisions of the group are made unilaterally by the leader. The leader does not give any aut hority to subordinates to make any decision. Participative: The leader gives considerable amount of autonomy and authority to take part in the decision making and the leader applies being participative. Laissez Faire The leader has gives full autonomy to subordinates for decision making and to initiate whatever decision they see fit. The leadership style of Gen. Fonsek a could be categorized into the participative style, because he shares the decision making process with the other members of his group and after the decision was made by the subordinates the general would give his consensus, if the decision is at a considerable condition. The Leadership style of Deshamanya Ken Balendra could be categorized as a participative style. He is a down to earth person who likes to delegate work to subordinates and young people to help them gain experience for their future endeavors. His leadership style also reflected that he is quite charm and would listen to anyone and their ideas in any position. His change management is successful and visionary and has made sure everyone was happy in the company. He has been the most suitable man to any company to occupy the chairmanship position. He is still the most respected man in the country and is looked up upon by anyone. CONCLUSION In analyzing of this two great individuals who have made it big in their respective careers, it is evident that these two possess different leadership styles, but whereas the essence to it are almost the same. Though various scholars have explained it in their own respective way, the question still remains; are leaders born or made? Looking at these two highly respected individuals it is quite hard to fathom of how a leader can be made, in fact if it is possible can another Ken Balendra or Sarath Fonseka made? Can you or I become one? It is sometimes too good to be true but if we look into the characteristics and traits of all leaders we tend find common ground. Some may have a bit more on certain traits or characteristics and some less. But it isnt about how good or bad these characteristics and traits are but rather how effective He/she is. Nurturing of these traits and characteristics can possibly make us a leader in our own field too and its quite sure it doesnt happen overnight. REFERENCE LIST Appannaiah, H.R., Reddy, P.N. (2006). Business management (2nd Ed.).Bangalore, India: Himalaya Publishing House ( p 260- 300) De Janasz., Wood., Gottschalk., Dowd., Schneider. (2007). Interpersonal skills in Organizations, NSW: McGraw Hill Dubrin, A., Dalgish, C., Miller, C (2006). Leadership (2nd ed.). Queensland, Australia: John Wiley Sons Australia, Ltd ( p 26 -95) Hosking, D. M. (1988). Organizing, leadership, and skilful process. Journal of Management Studies, 25, pp. 147-166. I Survived To Do My Duty by My Country. (December 13th 2009), The Sunday Leader, p.2. Internet Referencing Sarath Fonseka the future leader. [n.d.] Retrieved January, 2010 from http://www.sarathfonseka.com/about.html Sri Lanka Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka. [n.d.] Retrieved January, 2010 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/11514520/Sri-Lanka-Army-Comander-General-Sarath-Fonseka Anti-Discrimination Laws in the UK | Analysis Anti-Discrimination Laws in the UK | Analysis In recent years the Government has been attempting a massive review of the UK’s anti-discrimination laws. The impetus behind this, amongst other things is the influence from Europe. There have been several European Directives which have required implementing and there is becoming a plethora of confusing anti-discrimination laws. More recently we have seen the introduction of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, The Equality Act 2006 and there is also a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights[1] which replaces the Equal Opportunities Commission, Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission. In light of recent changes in the law and with the decision that more changes were necessary, the Discrimination Law Review was set up in 2005 with the purpose of considering the: â€Å"opportunities for creating a clearer and more streamlined discrimination legislative framework which produces better outcomes for those who currently experience disadvantage†.[2] A Consultation Paper was then published in June 2007 which establishes the Government’s proposal of a Single Equality Bill. Only a few months earlier, in February 2007 was Trevor Phillip’s Equalities Review published. Whilst the consultation paper and the Equalities Review considered the same topic, they have worked in parallel and looked at different angles. The consultation paper considered the legislative framework whilst the Equalities Review looked at the wider issues surrounding the topic of inequality.[3] This essay will consider these reviews and consultation paper, and discuss the Government’s proposals for a new anti-discrimination law in the UK. We will firstly examine the history behind the proposed changes in the law before turning to discuss what exactly the Government is proposing. We will then look to responses to the Government’s proposals, including analysing criticisms that the planned changes fail to address issues of enforcement and access to justice concerns. A fresh look at the anti-discrimination laws of the UK was deemed necessary after the much publicized Stephen Lawrence enquiry.[4] The Macpherson Report concluded that there was â€Å"institutional racism† both within the Metropolitan Police and the Police generally. The report made no less than 70 recommendations and the Government has been keen to implement them. The Race Relations Act 1976 has now been expanded so that it covers public bodies and authorities, and changes to double jeopardy laws have been implemented.[5] The proposed changes in anti-discrimination are intended to be an extension of the review of racism and other discriminatory practices and to move the UK forward into a 21st Century where such discrimination is a thing of the past. The changes in the law brought about by this report are more than likely to be mirrored and taken across so that they do not only apply to racial discrimination but also age, gender, religion and so forth. There is no denying that the Macpherson report has had a resounding effect but how successful the Government’s proposals will be remains to be seen. Trevor Phillips in his Equalities Review provides a definition of an equal society: â€Å"An equal society protects and promotes equal, real freedom and substantive opportunity to live in the ways people value and would choose, so that everyone can flourish. An equal society recognises people’s different needs, situations and goals and removes the barriers that limit what people can do and can be.†[6] He set out 10 recommendations in his review, which were focused on setting definitions and goals for equality and setting up a simpler legal framework with a better enforcement regime. The review recommends that the Government’s proposed Single Equality Act covers all bases of inequality, for example it should cover age, gender, sexual orientation and racist discrimination amongst others all under the same legislation. The act should also be â€Å"simpler, more coherent†.[7] Phillip’s review places a large emphasis and role, to the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights. He suggests that the Commission should â€Å"play a more dynamic role in enforcement†, which would involve inspections of known equality gaps and transparency should be encouraged. Public and private bodies should also be made to measure and publish their equality performance. The Equalities Review clearly has ambitious and far reaching aims, but it does not provide very clear explanations for how these changes are to happen. It appears as if most of the regulatory and enforcement work it attributes to the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, as is also recommended by the consultation paper, although seeing as the Commission was not up and running at the time these reports were written, no feedback was possible from them themselves. The majority of Trevor Phillip’s review is concerned with the history of inequality in the UK and its effect and what the future would look like without discrimination. Very little is focused upon definite ideas and practices which could be implemented to ensure that this vision is a success. It works well as a tandem document, providing a background into the necessity for a change in law and for providing an ideal to aspire to. The Consultation Paper, a Framework for Fairness however is supposed to be more concrete and provide definite, workable proposals for discussion. The paper is split into three parts, each of which we will consider in turn. There is also a more recent publication on the single Equality Bill is from the Government Equalities Office – Framework for a Fairer Future: The Equality Bill, which was published in June 2008 which also provides some clarification on some of the issues raised in the consultation paper. Part one of the consultation paper relates to harmonising and simplifying the law. This we will see is essential, not least because of the recent flurry of case law and legislation on discrimination laws. Employers and public bodies need to know the current law and this is easier if it is codified into one document. The proposal is that the Commission for Equality and Human Rights will be pivotal in this aspect, publishing practice notes and guidance and working together with public, private and volunteer organisations. This section also includes proposals on equal pay provisions, meaning that truly, everything relating to discrimination is brought under the umbrella of this one act. It is hoped that this codification procedure will make the law more readily accessible and easier to understand and create a â€Å"culture of compliance with the law†.[8] Ensuring that the law is simple and easy to comprehend is vital in enforcing the law, as people are more likely to adhere to a law that they are aware of an fully understand. Greater transparency will also increase access to justice, as citizens will be more aware of their rights and the means of resolving a discrimination grievance. Part two of the consultation paper concerns making the law more effective. This is a large concern where anti-discrimination law is concerned, as it is often felt that it is not the law that is the problem, but rather the fact that enforcing the law is difficult. It is this section of the consultation paper that is the weakest. The proposals include simplifying and extending public sector duties and improving the practice of equality in the private sector and outside the workplace. There are very little concrete ideas or tools which are suggested to ensure that the new laws are adhered to. The proposals mention encouraging the use of alternative dispute resolution outside of workplaces situations and giving an increasing role to the Ombudsman but these are measures that are used after an alleged discrimination has taken place. Whilst access to justice issues are clearly important, surely the primary aim should be to prevent the discrimination in the first place? Preventative measures discussed in the consultation paper are a ‘light touch’ equality check tool and a voluntary equality standard. These provisions are insufficient. They may be all well and good for those businesses that may be discriminating unknowingly, but where are the enforcement procedures for those who wantonly breach anti-discrimination laws? Part three relates to modernising the law. This reflects the proposals in Trevor Phillip’s review. The paper states that whilst part of the aim is a codification of the current law, it wants to go beyond this: â€Å"Rather than just consolidating the current legislation, we want to take this opportunity to review it, and decide whether we can improve it, to make it fit for the 21st century.†[9] This report recognises that the law does need to be streamlined, but also modernised. For example, the proposed single Equality Act will codify the recent changes to the law regarding public bodies and racism and gender and disability discrimination, but it will go further than this and include â€Å"gender reassignment, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief.†[10] Further than this the new Act is proposed to include some altogether new laws regarding age discrimination. There is already new legislation in force protecting from age discrimination in the workplace and the plan is to extend this to the supply of goods and services: â€Å"The Equality Bill will enable us to make it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of their age when providing goods, facilities and services or carrying out public functions.†[11] This is a contentious claim on the part of the consultation paper, as we will see later. There may well be new protections provided but many critics argue that the proposals do not go far enough. Clearly, therefore the new Act proposal promises the world, but can it deliver? There have been several responses to the consultation paper, and many of them negative. We will turn to discuss a selection of these now. We have seen how the Racial Equalities Commission produced a damning response, which is interesting, especially as the Racial Equalities Commission has now merged into the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights. If an organisation that is to be at the centre of the new proposals is not entirely supportive of them, it would seem that the Government is on the back foot already. The Citizen’s Advice Bureau’s response is less overt in its criticism but still feels that the proposals for a single Equality Act do not go far enough.[12] The Citizen’s Advice Bureau’s response comments that there appears to be no correlation between the new Equality Act and existing Human Rights legislation. They are of the opinion that the human rights framework should not only be a consideration in the new legislation but that they should be in some way integrated: â€Å"Not to do so seems to us to be a missed opportunity to establish a new, more integrated and effective system of human rights and discrimination law which will be fit for purpose for decades to come.†[13] Amongst other things, the Citizen’s Advice Bureau also believes that the proposals are weak in the areas of public authority duties, and that there is no parity between strands of discrimination. Of particular concern to them is that there seems to be less provided for the elderly, comparably to other strands, specifically regarding to access to goods and services. Predictably also, their response is critical of the lack of enforcement measures in the new proposals. The general consensus of this organisation’s report is that the proposals do not go far enough and they want the new law to go further than simply codifying what exists already. They are of the opinion that the proposals need an urgent review: â€Å"We would therefore urge the Government to look again at the challenge of how to achieve a workable, fair, straightforward and effective single equality law, and to address our concerns about compliance, enforcement and sanctions and the changing context of discrimination.†[14] Another key organisation which has responded to the new proposals is Age Concern.[15] Their report seems to also suggest that they do not think that the new proposals are sufficient. They are fully supportive and understanding of the need for codification and simplification but they also view the proposed Act as a wasted opportunity. They agree with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau concerning the duties of public bodies and feel that by only requiring them to focus on a limited number of equality requirements the law is actually taking a step back. They are again critical of the proposed enforcement methods and show concern about access to justice. They believe that there is still a poor awareness of legal rights under anti-discrimination law and that there is very little legal aid available which will hinder people’s access to justice. They are concerned that the proposals do little to address these issues: â€Å"Low public awareness of legal rights under discrimination law, together with the severe limitations in availability of legal aid for advice and representation in this field, represent serious barriers to effective access to justice. The idea of allowing representative claims, with an appropriate filter stage, should be revisited. This would allow bodies such as the CEHR, trades unions and consumer organisations act on behalf of groups of claimants.†[16] In fact, looking generally at some of the responses to the consultation paper and there is a striking theme. Many organisations have the same concerns on the same areas and while being supportive of the ideology of a single Equality Act are disappointed that it is not more revolutionary.[17] The question of whether the Government should rethink it’s plans for reform is a tricky one. There is definitely a general consensus that reform is necessary, despite the current criticisms of the proposed reforms. There is no doubt that the law needs simplifying and thus making it more transparent. However, there is clearly little point in implementing yet more legislation which is not far reaching enough and will require further legislation in the not too distant future to bring it more up to date. This will only result in adding more legislation to the plethora we already have. The government has an ideal opportunity here to really make a difference and take a stand against discrimination and it is very important that they make the most of it. Nevertheless, whilst the review of the law is clearly necessary, the government definitely need to review the responses to the consultation paper and take them very seriously into account. There are several common points of contention which must be addressed. There are clearly issues that need resolving regarding duties of public authorities and the new proposals for limiting the amount of equality requirements is a concern to both the Citizens Advice Bureau and Age Concern. There is a worry that if the government is too cautious with the new legislation, then anti-discrimination law will be taking a step back and will retreat from the ideas and motivation provided by the Macpherson report. The government will also need to review the numerous concerns regarding the enforcement of these new laws. Additionally, there is little consideration of how to make it easier for people to have access to justice in these proposals. The National Union of Students even comments in their review that they feel that the government has overlooked the role of education and that it can play a vital part, not only in educating about inequality but also about the law and access to justice through it.[18] It is essential that nothing is overlooked in creating such a potentially great piece of legislation, and clearly education can play a vital part, not least in attempting to rid our society of the prejudices that have resulted in the need for such legislation. If the government addresses the issues contained in many of the responses to the consultation paper they should consider bringing out a wider, more expansive and more complete proposal. The current proposals have good intentions but have not been entirely thoroughly thought out. There is also not enough correlation between Trevor Phillip’s review and the consultation paper. Many of the issues raised are covered, but not always to a satisfactory standard. For example, it would probably greatly impress the organisation’s whose reviews we have looked at here if there was some indication of Phillip’s recommendations of measured equality performance and regular and involved action by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights in the proposals, both which would aid enforcement of these laws. Overall therefore, the Government do not need to rethink its plans for reform, just the content of the reform so that the new legislation brings the UK to the forefront of the legal world in the field of human rights and anti-discrimination, which is the position we want to be in. Bibliography ADCS consultation response A framework for fairness: The Government’s ideas for a law about equality. Ideas from the Discrimination Law Review, found online at http://www.adcs.org.uk/ (as accessed on 1st December 2008) Age Concern, Summary: Age Concern’s response to a Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain, September 2007 Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Discrimination Law Review A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain Citizens Advice Response, September 2007 Discrimination Law Review, Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain, June 2007 Equalities Review, Fairness and Freedom: The Final Report of the Equalities Review, Trevor Phillips, February 2007 Government Equalities Office, Framework for a Fairer Future: The Equality Bill, June 2008 Local Government Association Response to Consultation paper, September 2007, found online at http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/103575 (as accessed on 1st December 2008) Lockton, Deborah, Employment Law, Palgrave Macmillan: London, 2008 Lord Lester of Herne Hill Kate Beattie, The New Commission for Equality and Human Rights, P.L. 2006, Sum, 197-208 McColgan, Aileen, Reconfiguring discrimination law, P.L. 2007, Spr, 74-94 McCrudden, Christopher, Equality legislation and reflexive regulation: a response to the Discrimination Law Reviews consultative paper, I.L.J. 2007, 36(3), 255-266 National Union of Students, A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain: NUS Response, September 2007 Smith, Ian Gareth Thomas, Smith Woods Employment Law, Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2008 The Equality Bill, Government Response to the Consultation, July 2008 The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Report of an Inquiry by Sir William MacPherson of Cluny, The Stationary Office, February 1999 www.equalities.gov.uk (as accessed on 1st December 2008) www.westlaw.co.uk (as accessed on 1st December 2008) 1 Footnotes [1] Established in October 2007 [2] Consultation Paper, Discrimination Law Review, Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain, June 2007, p.3 [3] See McCrudden, Christopher, Equality legislation and reflexive regulation: a response to the Discrimination Law Reviews consultative paper, I.L.J. 2007, 36(3), 255-266 [4] The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Report of an Inquiry by Sir William MacPherson of Clunt, The Stationary Office, February 1999 [5] See Criminal Justice Act 2003 [6] Equalities Review, Fairness and Freedom: The Final Report of the Equalities Review, Trevor Phillips, February 2007 [7] Ibid [8] Consultation Paper op cit (fn 2) p.16 [9] Consultation Paper Op cit (fn 2) p.12 [10] Government Equalities Office, Framework for a Fairer Future: The Equality Bill, June 2008 p. 13 [11] Government Equalities Office, Framework for a Fairer Future: The Equality Bill, June 2008 p. 16 [12] Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Discrimination Law Review A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain Citizens Advice Response, September 2007 [13] Ibid, p. 4 [14] Ibid, p. 5 [15] Age Concern, Summary: Age Concern’s response to a Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain, September 2007 [16] Ibid, p. 5 [17] Local Government Association Response to Consultation paper, September 2007, found online at http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/103575 (as accessed on 1st December 2008); ADCS consultation response A framework for fairness: The Government’s ideas for a law about equality. Ideas from the Discrimination Law Review, found online at http://www.adcs.org.uk/ (as accessed on 1st December 2008) and National Union of Students, A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain: NUS Response, September 2007 [18] See National Union of Students, A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain: NUS Response, September 2007