Work in a Team and its Problematic Considering Assignment

Work in a Team and its Problematic Considering - Assignment Example This will help know if the participant really deserved admission into the group. To help address the concern of the participant, I will inquire if he/she understands reasons for admission into the group. If he/she does not know the reasons for joining the group, I will ask her/him state any suspicion on the part of the person who organized his/her joining the group that could warrant plan for his/her admission into the group. If the life challenges of the participant and suspicion ought to have triggered someone into planning his/her admission into the group coheres with the purpose of the group, I will employ persuasion techniques to help the member realize how he/she is in need of counseling and related services. One of the challenging issues that might arise in the Grief Recovery Group is religious preference. There might be attempts by certain members of the group to align along religious affiliations, which may discriminate and isolate others (Core, Corey & Corey, 2010). This might prove a big challenge to the whole group considering that members will have different beliefs and views that will make it difficult to harmonize ideas. To handle religious preference, I will ask the partnering members demonstrate how their religious affiliation affected their performance in the group. I will also ask the members aligning along common religion to describe their feelings towards others when they align along religious lines. I will also ask the members about how they would feel if they were the victims of the consequences of religious preferences and the actions they would like taken to ensure that members enjoy unity despite the differences Another challenging situation likely to occur in the Grief Recovery Group involves aged persons using illegal drugs. Some members of the group  may decide to begin the use of illegal drugs in bid neutralize their stresses and perhaps help them out of their problems. As a group leader, I will tackle such a problem by initiating a special session with the victim member. I will ask the member narrate reason for joining the group and objectives or achievements expected out of the group sessions.  Ã‚  

Social work practice with small system Case Study - 1

Social work practice with small system - Case Study Example Critical analysis of the two parties to the dispute gives Khailia Richards advantage on the case. In line with the ethical principles of social workers, Social Justice must take precedence in resolving this case. Khaila is the biological mother of Isaiah and became a victim of the circumstance from existing socio-economic gap which landed her in crack addiction. It is therefore important to give fair judgment in favor of her without the possibility of social discrimination based on her race, poverty, class, ethnicity among others. In that regard, my client is Khailia Richards. This is due to her vulnerability to unfair judgment based on socio-economic discrimination (Dolgoff, Loewenberg & Harrington, 2009). Multicultural assessment may be carried out through oral interview with individual family members of the parties to this dispute. The obtained data would be taken for analysis to establish the existing differences in the two system patterns. Sound intervention plan would require application of strength perspective versus pathological viewpoint. It is evident that despite crack addiction and abandonment of the baby, Khailia Richards made efforts to come back and find him out. This is the point that her strength of parental feeling and emotional attachment with Isaiah can be built on to draw plans for her in recovering over the incidence. This aspect of emphasizing on strength rather than focusing on problem constitutes strength perspective which very relevant to the case under question. On the other hand, pathological perspective asses the genetic or racial connection with criminal activities. Since Khailia is an African America with significant predisposition to criminal activities, it is important to put in place strategic plan that will help her engage in a serious commitment. The plan for Margaret Lewin’s family would include providing a guidance and counseling session with them on how to

Examining the importance of cost allocation

Examining the importance of cost allocation Cost allocation is the process of identifying and assigning the costs of services necessary for the operation of a business or other type of entity. Unlike a cost rating, the allocation is less concerned with the actual amount of the cost, and more concerned with allocating or assigning the cost to the correct unit within the organization. From this perspective, cost allocation can be seen as a tool that helps track all costs associated with the ongoing operation more efficiently, since each cost is associated with specific departments or groups of departments within the organization. A simple example of cost allocation would be the wages or salary of an employee assigned to work in a specific department. In a hospital, a nurse is normally assigned to a specific wing or floor, with the costs allocated to the general operation of that unit. As long as the nurse continues to work his or her assigned shift within that unit, the salary and benefits accrued are associated with that unit. However, if the nurse is called upon to fill in on another floor or unit, such as spending an entire shift working in the emergency room, the salary and benefits earned for that period of time may very well be allocated to the unit where the nurse worked, instead of his or her permanent wing or floor. There are several reasons why cost allocation is important. One has to do with accurately assigning costs within an organization, so that it is possible to know exactly what types of costs were incurred in the operation of a given area in the organization. This is not only important information to consider when creating an operating budget, but is also key in calculating taxes that must be paid to local, state, and federal tax agencies. In a number of countries around the world, the way that costs are allocated can have an impact on how much the organization pays in taxes, making it necessary to comply with any government regulations that have to do with the allocation of costs within the organization. Another benefit of cost allocation has to do with simply keeping track of expenses for internal planning purposes. While some expenses are indirect costs and benefit more than one area of the operation, there is still a need to allocate direct costs in a manner that is logical and accurate. Even when the costs are incremental, meaning they are stretched out over several accounting periods, making sure the costs are assigned properly can make a big difference in how well each unit within the business or other entity works within their share of the overall budget. When it is apparent that one unit will exceed its assigned budget, steps can be taken to implement cutbacks on non-essential service costs, while finding ways to adjust the overall budget to allow for the continuing support of essential functions. Organizations of all types and sizes engage in the task of cost allocation. Businesses use this strategy as a tool for planning and keeping within a budget. Non-profit entities utilize the tool as a way of providing as many services to its members as possible, while still making the most effective use of its resources. Even households can make use of the concept of cost allocation when planning the operating budget for the family. As a means of identifying and properly assigning costs, this approach to allocation helps to provide focus and structure to financial planning in a way that would be extremely difficult otherwise. Direct Costs In finance, direct costs are those costs that are associated with a specific project, department, or activity. Sometimes referred to as hard costs, expenses of this type are found with just about every type of business activity, beginning with research and development, moving through sales and marketing campaigns, and into the production of different types of goods and services. A direct cost is often some type of fixed expense, but there are some situations where a variable expense may also fall into this category. The key to understanding what does and does not constitute direct costs is to identify costs that apply only to a specific project, and have nothing to do with any other activity that is taking place concurrently. In order to be a true hard cost, the expense must be for resources that benefit that one project. For example, if the project is to construct a telephone, the costs for the handset casing, internal circuit boards, and the wiring would all fall into the category of direct costs. In addition, the wages paid in exchange for the labour to build the telephone would also be a direct cost. In situations where expenses do not go to benefit a specific task or project, the cost would be considered indirect. Utilities, such as electricity, used to operate a facility that houses several different product lines or other activities would not be considered direct costs, since those utilities benefit more than one specific project. Expenses of this type would be shared among the different projects, rather than be tied directly to any one activity. Not every business operation will evaluate direct costs in exactly the same way. Depending on the structure of the company, something that is considered a hard cost in one business culture may be classified as an indirect cost in a different culture. As long as the internal guidelines for determining what is and is not a direct cost remain consistent, it is still possible to properly determine the historical cost or the cost of goods sold with a high degree of accuracy. That same consistency makes it possible to compare the absorption costing from one period to the next, and determine if there has been an increase in direct costs associated with a particular function or project. Indirect costs Indirect costs are business expenses that are not directly related to a particular product or function within the general operation. Costs of this type tend to have an impact on the overall operation of the business, making it very difficult to charge the costs to a specific department or associate them with one function. Costs of this type are sometimes referred to as overhead, a term that helps to describe the broad application of these costs. There are many examples of indirect costs that occur in both small and large businesses. A general supply for the administration of the business is one example. Items such as paper, pens, and other essentials that are utilized in the record keeping and general clerical functions of each department are often classified as an indirect cost. In like manner, services such as auditing the accounting books or the preparation of legal documents are expenses that impact the entire operation and are usually considered indirect in nature. Several of the expenses related to the upkeep and maintenance of business facilities are considered indirect costs. Utilities such as electricity, water, and Internet access are expenses that benefit the business in general and thus are classified as overhead expenses. In like manner, the cost of renting or leasing business space is also part of the overhead, making it an indirect cost. There are examples of what may appear to be an indirect cost actually being a direct cost. One example has to do with employee salaries. When the employees are performing their usual functions, they are benefiting the business as a whole; their wages and salaries are considered indirect costs. However, if those same employees are assigned to a specific project that is the sole focus of their workday for a period of several days or weeks, their wages or salaries can be considered a direct cost, with that cost directly applied to that project. Overhead Costs A business may take in one sum of money, but it is not likely that all of it can be considered profit. This is because a business is generally required to pay expenses. Those expenses are commonly referred to as overhead costs. Examples of an overhead cost include salaries, maintenance, and production expenses. It is common for businesses to track their net and gross income. This is important because these figures represent two different values. Gross income refers to all of the money that a business takes in. This figure may be very large. Some businesses have a wide variety of expenses to pay, while others only have a few expenses. In either case, almost every business will have at least some overhead costs. Net income refers to the amount of money that remains once overhead costs have been deducted. This amount can be significantly lower and may not exist at all. This is because it is possible for a company to have overhead costs that consume all of its income. In some instances, a companys expenses can even cause them to be in debt. Without calculating overhead costs, a business cannot know exactly how much money it is making. If ABC Toys buys its merchandise from a factory, some of the money that it receives from the merchandise must be used to not only buy more merchandise but also to pay for items such as electricity, transportation, and salaries. Even if ABC Toys manufactures its own merchandise, there will still be costs such as purchasing machinery and raw materials. How overhead costs are categorized depends on a companys accounting methods. Some businesses are very basic in the figuring of their expenses. Other businesses, however, have very complex methods that may require various departments to individually access their overhead costs. Some businesses access their overhead cost by category. For example, manufacturers may calculate their manufacturing expenses and their non-manufacturing expenses separately. COST ALLOCATION A cost is generally understood to be that sacrifice incurred in an economic activity to achieve a specific objective, such as to consume, exchange, or produce. All types of organizations- businesses, not-for-profits, governmental- incur costs. To achieve missions and objectives, an organization acquires resources, transforms them in some manner, and delivers units of product or service to its customers or clients. Costs are incurred to perform these activities. For planning and control, decisions are made about areas such as pricing, program evaluation, product costing, outsourcing, and investment. Different costs are needed for different purposes. In each instance, costs are determined to help management make better decisions. When incurred, costs are initially reviewed and accumulated by some classification system. Costs with one or more characteristics in common may be accumulated into cost pools. Costs are then reassigned, differently for specified purposes, from these cost pools to one or more cost objects. A cost object is an activity, a unit of product or service, a customer, another cost pool, or a segment of an organization for which management needs a separate measurement and accumulation of costs. Costs assigned to a cost object are either direct or indirect. A direct cost can be traced and assigned to the cost object in an unbiased, cost-effective manner. The incurrence of an indirect cost cannot be so easily traced. Without such a direct relationship to the cost object, an indirect cost requires an in-between activity to help establish a formula relationship. When the indirect cost is assigned through the use of this formula, the cost is considered allocated. The activity used to establish the in-between linkage is called the basis of allocation. TYPES OF ALLOCATIONS Cost allocations can be made both within and across time periods. If two or more cost objects share a common facility or program, the cost pool of the shared unit is a common cost to the users and must be divided or allocated to them. Bases of allocation typically are based on one of the following criteria: cause-and-effect, benefits derived, fairness, or ability to bear. The selection of a criterion can affect the selection of a basis. For example, the allocation of the costs of a common service activity across product lines or programs based on relative amounts of revenue is an ability to bear basis, whereas the same allocation based on the relative number of service units consumed by each product line or program would reflect either the benefits derived or the cause-and-effect criteria. Cost allocation then is the assignment of an indirect cost to one or more cost objects according to some formula. Because this process is not a direct assignment and results in different amounts al located depending on either the basis of allocation or the method (formula) selected, some consider cost allocation to be of an arbitrary nature, to some extent. Costs of long-lived assets are allocated and reclassified as an expense across two or more time periods. For anything other than land, which is not allocated, the reclassification of tangible assets is called depreciation (for anything other than natural resources) or depletion (for natural resources) expense. The bases for these allocations are normally either time or volume of activity. Different methods of depreciation and depletion are available. The costs of long-lived intangible assets, such as patents, are allocated across time periods and reclassified as amortization expense. The basis for these allocations is normally time. Cost allocations within a time period are typically across either organizational segments known as responsibility centers or across units of product or service or programs for which a full cost is needed. Allocations may differ depending on whether a product or program is being costed for financial reporting, government contract reimbursement, reporting to governmental agencies, target pricing or costing, or life-cycle profitability analysis. Allocations to responsibility centers are made to motivate the centers managers to be more goal-congruent in their decisions and to assign to each center an amount of cost reflective of all the sacrifices made by the overall organization on behalf of the center. These allocations can be part of a price or transfers of cost pools from one department to another. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS Allocations can involve ethical issues. Often the federal government issues contracts to the private sector on a cost-plus basis; that is, all the actual costs incurred to complete a contract plus a percentage of profit is reimbursed to the contractor performing the contract. A contractor completing both governmental and private-sector contracts may select a formula that tends to allocate more indirect costs to governmental contracts than to nongovernmental ones. A contractor may also try to include in reimbursement requests costs that are not allowable by the governmental agency. A contractor may even try to double-count a cost item by including it as a direct cost of the contract and as a part of an indirect cost pool allocated to the contract. Lastly, a contractor may attempt to have a reimbursement cover some of the costs of unused capacity. Audits are made of costs of government contracts to identify inappropriate costs. SERVICE FIRMS, NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, AND MERCHANDISERS Service and not-for-profit organizations allocate costs, too. The cost object can be a unit of service, an individual client, or a cluster (category) of clients. The costs of a service firm are typically professional labor and indirect costs in support of the labor. The basis for allocating these indirect costs is often professional labor hours (either billable or total) or the cost of such, reflective of either cause-and-effect or benefits-received criteria. For not-for-profit organizations, the proportions to be allocated are best figured in terms of units of the resource on hand, such as the number of full-time equivalents, amount of square footage, or number of telephone lines. An important point to remember is that the principles of allocation are the same for for-profit and not-for profit organizations. The only difference is that the cost objects will be dissimilar. Merchandisers, unlike most service and not for-profit organizations, have inventory that must be costed for external and internal reporting purposes. In these cases, the cost object is a unit of inventory. Incidental costs associated with the acquisition and carrying of the inventory are mostly direct costs easily traceable clearly assignable to the entire inventory, if not to individual units. MANUFACTURERS Manufacturers need to cost the resources required to complete their products. In costing a unit of product for inventory valuation, costs of production are assigned. With the unit of product as the cost object, production costs are either direct costs (traceable usage of materials and labor) or indirect costs (all of the other production costs, referred to as overhead). The indirect production costs are allocated. Traditionally, manufacturers using labor-intensive technologies used a single basis of allocation based on labor, either in hours or in cost, associated with a single indirect cost pool. A manufacturer using a more capital intensive technology might use a non labor basis such as machine hours. Today many firms produce a varied set of products, using varied technologies with many levels of complexity. Such firms need a more refined cost assignment system that uses multiple bases of allocation with multiple indirect cost pools, such as activity based costing. While for product costing a unit of output remains the final cost object, the technology a producer uses can require a cost assignment to an intermediate cost pool (object) prior to an assignment to a unit of output. For instance, a batch technology has a cost assignment first to an individual job order (batch); the total cost assigned to the job order is then unitized over the units in the batch to determine cost of one unit of output. Alternatively, for a given period in a process technology, costs are accumulated by (assigned to) each production process; the total cost assigned is then unitized across the total number of (equivalent) units produced by that process to cost-out a unit of output. Manufacturers also incur service department costs (such as computer center costs) in support of production departments. These service department costs are indirect to a unit of production and for full costing must be allocated, first to respective production areas and then to the units of output. Such allocations are called service department allocations, and the basis of allocation is normally an activity reflective of the nature of demands made on the service department by other departments, both service and production. JOINT PRODUCTION ALLOCATIONS Allocations are also required in a joint production process. When two or more separately identifiable final products initially share a common joint production process, the products are called joint products. The point at which they become separately identifiable is referred to as the split-off point. Manufacturing costs incurred prior to this split-off point are referred to as joint costs and need to be allocated across the different joint products for product costing purposes. The bases for allocating the joint costs typically include (1) relative sales value at split-off, (2) net realizable value at split-off (as an approximation of the sales value at split-off), (3) final sales value at the completion of the production process, and (4) the number of physical units of the joint products at split-off. Many would consider this list of bases to be in an order of descending preference of use. Normally there are additional production costs beyond the split-off point. These additional costs are incurred in order to complete each joint product. For a given joint product, the net realizable value at split-off is calculated by subtracting the additional costs to complete from the final sales value of the finished joint product. SERVICE DEPARTMENT (RE) ALLOCATIONS There are three basic methods to allocate service department costs to production departments or programs in a not-for-profit: (1) the direct method; (2) the step method; and (3) the reciprocal method. The basis for allocation of service area costs should ideally be causally related to the demands made on that area by other areas. Both cause-and-effect and benefits-received criteria are taken into account. If the service areas provide service to each other (referred to as reciprocal services), the reciprocal method is the most accurate, the step method next, and the direct method the least accurate. With different service and production departments as cost objects, costs are initially accumulated on a department-by-department basis. Departments working directly on programs or units of product or service are production departments. The other departments are service departments. The allocation problem then is to reassign service department costs to production departments or programs for both performance evaluation and product or program costing. Within a production department, these allocated service costs are then reallocated to units of service or product according to the bases of allocation that each respective production department uses for its indirect costs. The direct method ignores reciprocal services. A service departments costs are allocated to the production departments according to the extent to which each production department uses (or, for budgeting purposes, intends to use) the services of the service department. This extent is determined on a percentage basis by either the amount of services actually provided by the service department to all the production departments or by the amount of services the service department is capable of providing at normal or full capacity. Variable and fixed costs may be allocated separately, resulting in a dual allocation process (for example, variable costs based on actual usage and fixed costs based on budgeted usage). The step method partially takes reciprocal services into account by allocating service department costs to production departments on a sequential basis. The service department that provides the greatest amount of service to the other service departments is allocated first; the one providing the second greatest amount of service to the other service departments is allocated second; and so forth. The absolute dollar amounts of costs incurred within service departments can be used to break a tie in usage, the larger amount allocated first. Once a service department has been allocated, it is ignored for all subsequent allocations. The reciprocal method takes into account all the reciprocal services by setting up a set of simultaneous equations, one equation per service department. For any given service department, its equation is: Total allocable cost direct costs of the service department costs allocated from each of the other service departments based on this departments use of the other service departments. Once these equations are solved, the resultant allocable cost (sometimes referred to as the reciprocal or artificial cost) is reallocated across all the other departments, service and production, according to the original percentage usages. Two additional issues, fairness and acquiring the service from the inside or from the outside, concern the allocation of a common cost. The amount of common service cost allocated to a using department may be greater that what it would cost that department to obtain the same service from the outside. A variation of the reciprocal method provides an analysis to help the manager of a using department decide whether to obtain the service from another department within the organization or to contract outside for the service from another organization. The amount of a particular service departments cost allocated to a using department may be dependent on the extent to which other departments also use this service department. This does not seem to be fair.

Ethics Of Cheating Essay -- essays research papers

Cheaters Never Win, Oh wait they do†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦they’re Cheaters Cheating is defined in the dictionary as, to deceive by trickery; swindle, however the dictionary fails to tell you if it is right or wrong to cheat. People have many different beliefs when it comes to cheating; some think its fine to do while others completely disapprove. I intend to show the different beliefs, from different perspectives of people, and also intend on proving which beliefs have the strongest and weakest arguments. An ethical egoist could argue that we have an obligation to cheat. Ethical egoists maintain the belief that we should act selfishly. We should do things that we believe in our self-interest, which is our own genuine interest. Egoist would cheat to benefit themselves, they believe that their own interest receives much more weight than everyone else’s interest. Egoist realize that we are solely responsible for their own lives, therefore if cheating would benefit their lives then cheating is acceptable. If we did not cheat it would bring possible misfortune to our lives. However, it could also be argued by ethical egoist that we do not have an obligation to cheat. Egoist would agree that morality is about overcoming our selfishness and living our life with positive concern for the well being of others. Cheating is not looking at the well being of others, but rather doing the complete opposite. Unless everyone in the country had the answers to the test, then it would be considered good to ch...

Nupath Foods Inc Essay

James Ornath read the latest sales figures with a great deal of satisfaction. The vice president of marketing at Nupath Foods, Inc., was pleased to see that the marketing campaign to improve sagging sales of Prowess cat food was working. Sales volume of the product had increased 20 percent in the past quarter compared with the previous year and market share was up. The improved sales of Prowess could be credited to Denise Washington, the brand manager responsible for cat foods at Nupath. Washington had joined Nupath less than two years ago as an assistant brand manager after leaving a similar job at a consumer products firm. She was one of the few women in marketing management at Nupath and had a promising career with the company. Ornath was pleased with Washington’s work and tried to let her know this in the annual performance reviews. He now had an excellent opportunity to reward her by offering the recently vacated position of market research coordinator. Although technically only a lateral research was not the route to top management in most organizations, Washington thought. She had been sidelined. After a long silence, Washington managed a weak â€Å"Than you Mr. Ornath.† She was too bewildered to protest. She wanted to collect her thoughts and reflect on what she had done wrong. Also, she did not know her boss well enough to be openly critical. Ornath recognized Washington’s surprise, which he naturally assumed was her positive response to hearing of this wonderful career opportunity. He, too, had been delighted several years earlier about his temporary transfer to marketing research to round out his marketing experience. â€Å"this move will be good for both you and Nupath,† said Ornath as he escorted Washington from his office. Washington had several tasks to complete that afternoon but was able to consider the day’s events that evening. She was one of the top women in brand management at Nupath and feared that she was being sidelined because the company didn’t want women in top management. Her previous employer had made it quite transfer with a modest salary increase, the marketing research coordinator job would give Washington broader experience in some high-profile work, which would enhance her career with Nupath. Few people were aware that Ornath’s own career had been boosted by working as marketing research coordinator at Nupath several years before. Denise Washington had also seen the latest sales figures on Prowess cat food and was expecting Ornath’s call to meet with her that morning. Oranth began the conversation by briefly mentioning the favorable sales figures, and then explained that he wanted Washington to take the marketing research coordinator job. Washington was shocked by the news. She enjoyed brand management and particularly the challenge involved with controlling a product that directly affected the company’s profitability. Marketing research coordinator was a technical support position—a â€Å"backroom† job—far removed from the company’s bottom-line activities. Marketing clear that women â€Å"couldn’t take the heat† in marketing management and tended to place women in technical support position after a brief term in lower brand management jobs. Obviously, Nupath was following the same game plan. Ornath’s comments that the coordinator job would be good for her was just a nice way of saying that Washington couldn’t go any further in brand management at Nupath. Washington was now faced with the difficult decision of confronting Ornath and trying to change Nupath’s sexist practices or submitting her resignation. Discussion Question : 1. What symptom(s) exist in this case to suggest that something has gone wrong? 2. Diagnose the underlying problems that have led to these symptoms. 3. What actions should the organization take to correct these problems?

Love at First Sight Essay

Love at First Sight Writing Sample Once upon a time there was a girl. One day she saw a boy she’d never met across a crowded room. Their eyes locked: she froze in her tracks, her face stuck in awe. Her blood ran cold; her fingers began to tingle as a shiver ran through her entire body. 8.2 seconds later the boy flashed her a beaming smile. His expression injected a flood of warmth into her fragile heart and her mouth involuntarily turned up to return the gesture. She didn’t know how or why but she knew at that moment that this boy was the one. This is the true and universal story of a phenomenon known as love at first sight. When I was a child I used to shamble after my mom around the house asking her â€Å"Mommy, what’s it like to be in love?† she always sat me down and answered â€Å"It’s nothing I can explain, sweetie, you’ll know it when you feel it†. How could this be? How could an experience be so complex it can’t be described in words? How on earth could this happen with one look? Science says it’s simple: it’s all in our biological makeup. In a recent article published in Psychology Today; John R. Buri, Ph.D. describes that when we experience an â€Å"instant attraction† neurotransmitter chemicals are released into our nervous system stimulating a powerful â€Å"physiological arousal†. But how far does this stimulant take us? We all know what it’s like to encounter a â€Å"hot† boy or girl on any regular day but this exciting meeting is usually easily forgotten and rarely affects us in any way besides providing topic of conversation among friends (â€Å"Have you seen that new cashier? He is fine! And he totally checked me out today†). Some may say that this brief glitch of pleasure is all that will ever result from a first meeting, but stories all around us attest to something greater. A submission to the PBS segment â€Å"American Love Stories† reads â€Å"I met my husband in an emergency room while he was doing a medical school rotation. I was being  treated for a migraine headache. From twenty-five feet away and despite numerous interruptions, including my pain, our eyes locked, and we married a little over a year later.† This is just one of the tales that pop-up all around us converting the emotionally willing to hopeless romance. The question we must ask, though, is how much of this phenomenon is rooted in fairytales and how much is it rooted in science? In an experiment recently conducted by Cornell University on a sample of fruit flies, female fruit flies were able to sense, upon first encounter, males of the same species that were genetically capable of producing more offspring with them than other males that weren’t. The scientists explained this result by concluding that the female flies were innately â€Å"wired for love† and â€Å"the chemicals and proteins needed for their response [were] already in place, without the need for new genes to be activated†. Though there are differences between the genetics in humans and fruit flies, the same principles may apply. Clara Moskowitz, author of the article â€Å"Love at First Sight Might be Genetic†, refers to an experiment where humans were more attracted to the scents emitted from T-shirts that were not of those who were genetically related to them, proving that human bodies have a natural instinct that prevents inbreeding and is able to â€Å"senseâ₠¬  their better match. It’s hard to imagine the amazing complexity of the human mind and feelings but a lot of people put all of their faith or belief into something they can’t even see or understand. In the article â€Å"Love at First sight† Psychology today reveals that approximately 60% of Americans believe in love at first sight. This might be due to the fact that over 50% said they have experienced it. Whether or not one â€Å"believes† in love at first sight, it’s no question that humans are scientifically capable of it. Our culture is surrounded by the magical idea of true love and impossibly romantic fairytales that seem too good to be true; but maybe the reason these stories seem so out of reach is because they have an outrageous take on relationships and the circumstances in which they develop. So what is love? A romantic duet in a pond under a star-sprinkled sky? A brave, handsome prince rescuing a gorgeous, innocent damsel in distress from a fire-breathing dragon? A happily ever after? Most would have a hard time defining something as mysterious as love, but with the burst of technology in the last decade, scientists have uncovered explanations for more than ever thought possible. Judith Newman investigates her heart out in the Parade Article â€Å"The Science of Love†, breaking down the concept into three chemicals in the brain that each contribute to a different piece of the love puzzle. The first, dopamine, is connected to the addictive feeling of pleasure one may feel around someone they love. Norepinphrine, the second neurotransmitter released, causes the jitters and nerves that result from being in love. The third, Serotonin, balances out the norepinphrine by releasing a calming chemical into the brain. These three transmitters release enough â€Å"mix of emotions† into the body to cause the sensation we know as love. As scientists discover more and more about humans, more and more is revealed about how we were biologically constructed to find a life-long partner. And if love really is just a release of fancy brain chemicals, it’s likely that they can work fast enough to be triggered at first sight; we are pretty smart after all. To make the claim that love is all mental is, well, plain mental; yet to say it is scientifically impossible is just as crazy. It’s plain to see that love happens all around us and most importantly when we’re not expecting it. Not everything can be explained by science, even when it comes to biological instinct, but sometimes a simple meeting of the eyes or a flash of a genuine smile explains it all. Works Cited 1. Love, Home /. â€Å"Love at First Sight, Blind to the Future.† PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. . 2. Moskowitz, Clara. â€Å"Love at First Sight Might Be Genetic | LiveScience.† Live Science. 08 Apr. 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. . 3. Buri, Ph.D, John R. â€Å"Love At First Sight.† Psychology Today. 16 Feb. 2010. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. . 4. Newman, Judith. â€Å"The Science of Love.† Parade 12 Feb. 2012: 9+. Print

Bluetooth Overview essays

Bluetooth Overview essays Bluetooth What it is: Bluetooth is a technology that incorporates advanced microchips and radio transceivers to create a wireless network between electronic devices. What it does: Allow users to connect to wide range of computing and telecommunication devices without cables. Allows users of the Bluetooth technology to synchronously organize their every day processing. Facilitates data image and voice transfer between multi-Bluetooth technology enhanced devices. Advantages: Removes the burden of cables. No need for line of sight positioning in order to transmit data. Can transmit through solid non-metal objects. Disadvantages: Radio band (2.4Ghz) is shared by several common household devices. Allows eavesdroppers to listen in on digital exchange of information. Connection speed is ten times slower than that of other Ethernet connections. Battery life is seriously degraded in hand held devices. What Technology is it replacing: Infrared Data Access (IrDA) aimed to serve as a replacement for peripheral cables Bluetooth will aim at serving as a replacement for both of these technologies Application in Business: Multi-phone functions, which include fixed line charge (at home), cellular charge (on the go), and walkie-talkie functions with multi Bluetooth functions (no charge). Allows business users to surf the Internet while mobile. Instant document transfers between devices enhanced with Bluetooth. Automatic synchronization of all document updates (i.e. calendar, memo, phonebook). Costs and Benefits: Approximately $190 US for the PC card. Costs for manufacturers of Bluetooth technology products will increase by approximately $50 per unit. Maximizes portability of information. Affects on IS activities: MIS departments must manage the frequencies within their facilit...

How to Write a Philosophy of Science Essay

How to Write a Philosophy of Science Essay Philosophy of Science Starting your essay How to create an outline Outline sample How to write a thesis for an philosophy of science essay How to write your introductionn How to construct body paragraphs Finishing your essay Revising your essay A philosophy of science essay sample Writing an essay on the philosophy of science is not hard as it may seem. Just like any other essay, you just have to follow the basic format and arrangement of ideas to be able to provide the message you want the readers to know. It needs to have the common features of an essay – introduction, body, and conclusion. The difference will only be in the content and how you are going to correlate all the ideas and thoughts into one single masterpiece. So, to help you in writing a perfect essay, here are some provided guidelines on how to start and finish the best paper about philosophy of science: Starting your essay Before a writer can properly start writing their essay, they will have to make an outline and a thesis statement first. The best way to efficiently create a paper regarding this topic, or any other topic for that matter, is to lay down first all the topics that he would want to discuss and combine them in one simple yet detailed sentence. How to create an outline In writing an outline, one just has to list down every possible issue that he may think of that is related to the specific philosophy of science he/she is writing about. So for example, the philosophy of science topic is about the battle between religion and science, and the author can provide information on both separately, and then include some mixed ideas such as comparing and contrasting both the subject matter to each other. Here is an example of an outline for this specific topic: Outline sample I. Introduction Common misconceptions about religion and science. Why religion and science should not be confused with each other. II. Body Definition and explanation of religion Definition and explanation of science Difference and similarities between science and religion What most scholars and philosophers say about the misconceptions on religion and science III. Conclusion Summary points on why religion and science should not be intertwined What people need to know about religion and science as individual and combined entities How to write a thesis for an philosophy of science essay After creating the outline, the writer may now write their thesis statement. For some people, however, it is easier for them to write the thesis statement first and then break it down into parts and come up with an outline. Whichever way the writer may choose, these guidelines still can be helpful in making the thesis statement: If one chooses to make the thesis statement first before the outline, he/she must try to be very particular on the issue that he wants to talk about. After that, he can now break it down into parts so he can make an outline. If one chooses otherwise, she just has to combine all the ideas in the outline and select the most important one and make it his thesis statement. Usually, the things that a writer would like to emphasize and the topic which is related to almost every thought in the essay is the most important one. A writer should not make long thesis statements. A one-liner sentence would suffice, but it should be detailed and specific. She/he shall make it comprehensive and understandable enough to make the readers realize his stand. How to write your introduction After having written the thesis statement and the outline, the writer may now start to write his introduction. It must be noted that introductions are really important because it is the first thing that is read in an essay. Therefore, it is in the introduction where the reader shall decide whether he will continue reading the paper or not. In making the introduction, here are some tips that might help: One must create a catchy and captivating introduction. Some writers use quotes from great philosophers and some use their own quotes to make their point. One must keep in mind that the introduction must already make his viewpoints obvious. Introduction should not be written in long sentences. It is the body’s duty to explain the writer’s opinion and thoughts. The introduction will only provide the things that are to be learned by the readers in the succeeding pages. The introduction should be related to the body of the paragraph itself. No reader would like to be confused on what she is reading. Having different thoughts on the introduction and the body will surely make the reader lose his interest to continue reading. Thus, there must be a connection between the introduction and the body. How to construct body paragraphs For most writers, writing the body is easier than actually writing the introduction and the conclusion. The reason is that because in the body, they just actually need to provide all the information that they want their readers to know. However, such is not the case for all people. So here are some strategies that might help in writing the body paragraphs: Align the paragraphs based on the thesis statement and the outline. After all, the latter was made beforehand as guidelines for the writer to be able to write his/her essay easily and smoothly. Unnecessary information is immaterial, so it should be kept simple but still informative. One should practice excluding facts which are not really relative and significant to the main point of the paper. Avoid using complex and obscure languages. The essay aims to provide information. Therefore, the usage of words should be kept simple and understandable. The paragraphs should be interconnected with each other. If not, then the readers would be confused on what the writer is trying to point out. The preceding paragraph should have a relation to the next one, strengthening the main point of the author. Do not make it boring. A philosophy of science essay is usually an informative one. Hence, there would be a lot of uninteresting facts and data. And to engage the readers, the paper should be written in an exciting and fun way. Finishing your essay While the introduction and the body should already have explained the main point, the conclusion must still show the strength of the argument. There must be a reiteration of the points, if needed, to toughen the opinions of the writer. To be able to do this, here are some tips that may be followed: Conclude your paper by making a brief summary of all the points and thoughts made throughout the essay. It does not have to be long. Just like the thesis statement, it should be concise and comprehensive. The writer should use his/her own words to strengthen his argument. The conclusion should provide a great impact on the readers. Whether the essay is an informative, an argumentative, or a persuasive one, the conclusion needs to be conclusive and certain. Make the readers realize what they should know. It is not enough to just provide a summary and a strong argument. One must convince his readers that his point is material and substantial in relation to the topic he chose to explain. Revising your essay It is not enough, of course, to pass or publish the paper once the writer finishes writing. It should be reviewed and proofread so the best out of it will come out. Here are some tips on how to revise a philosophical essay on science: Do not reread and edit immediately after writing. The best time for revisions is the day after. One shall need to have a clear and refreshed mind before he can actually see the mistakes that he has committed to writing the essay. Avoid being biased. It is actually best to have another person revise it, however, if there is no one available, the writer may do the revision on his own. Since it is his own work, he should be able to edit and revise it without being biased. A one-time revision is not enough. One must try reviewing and rereading it a lot of times before she may be able to come up with a well-written essay. You see, writing an essay about any philosophy of science is not difficult. It is just the same as writing a simple essay talking about other topics. All you have to do is believe that you can produce one. You may follow the guidelines stated above. Writing does not have to be hard. You just have to believe that you can. A philosophy of science essay sample Science comprises of natural and physical sciences. Sciences include biology, physics, chemistry, space science and earth science. The basic of sciences is making hypothesis which can be true or falls. From the hypothesis, scientific methods can be used to verify the hypothesis. In verifying the hypothesis, some assumptions can be made to validate the results; this assumption is mostly theoretical. For a long time scientific results, methods, assumptions, and hypothesis have not been verified as true or falls. To determine the truth in science, philosophy of science was introduced. Philosophy of science was introduced by philosophers to try and understand the actions of the scientists and the scientific theories. The philosophers were trying to link scientific evidence with what people could observe in nature; that is, the philosophers wanted to verify to the public the truth in scientific work. The philosophers were interested in elaborating the methods scientists use in their work. The philosophers also wanted to verify the truth in scientific theories. Also, philosophy of science is concerned with how science affects activities of nonscientists and nonscientific institutions. Philosophy of science is important in explaining what science cannot explain. Philosophy explains the basics of science to help people understand science better. For example, in mathematics, mathematicians use numbers on their daily basis, and no mathematician has ever dared to explain the meaning of numbers. Lack of knowing the definition of numbers can make ordinary people take mathematics as a tough course. Therefore, it’s the work of the philosophers to explain the meaning of numbers. In other circumstances, physicist use time in their working but they cannot explain what time is; this is also left for philosophers to explain. Philosophy of science, therefore, makes scientists and the general public understand some basics in science that cannot be answered by science facts alone. Philosophy of science is essential in the field of medicine. In the past, before the introduction of the philosophy of science, the medics believed that people were only sick at the point of visiting health facilities. The medics did not take medical history into perspective while dealing with their clients. Also, the medics did not have governing ethics in dealing with their clients. The introduction of the philosophy of science in medicine has so far changed how the medics operate. Philosophy makes medicine personnel understand the cause of a disease and the medical history of the clients. Philosophy has made it possible for medical personnel to view patients as humans and not ‘sick organs’; this has made it possible for the introduction of medical ethics. Through philosophy, medics can now predict and understand the cause of diseases. Philosophy of science is also crucial in explaining the origin of the world. For example, science can only explain what happened during the big bang and post big bang events but cannot explain what took place before the initialization of big bang. The fact that science cannot explain some events makes people lack understanding of their world. With the introduction of philosophy, it is now possible for scientists to explain what happened before the big bang. Also, other things like the origin of man can be explained easily because of philosophy. In conclusion, philosophy of science is essential in understanding our world. Philosophy addresses the questions of what, how and why in the science field.

Betsy Ross Made Me Love Reading

Im not sure why I chose the story of Betsy Ross. It may have been because she was female, or it may have been my curiosity about how a woman was chosen to sew the flag of our nation. The author took me back to the sasss, and made me feel like I was right there alongside Betsy. The story told of Betsy Grooms childhood raised with her sixteen siblings In the Quaker Church. Although Betsy knew she would be expelled from the Church and split from her family for marrying outside her faith, she married John Ross when she was 21 years old.The courage It took for Betsy to go against her familys wishes was Inspirational. I could not comprehend how she was able to leave everything she had ever known. The story went on to tell how the two of them began an upholstery business together since Betsy had excellent sewing skills. John and Betsy attended the First Christ Church in Philadelphia, and sat across the aisle from George and Martha Washington. I couldnt imagine how it would feel personally knowing the man who was soon to become President of the United States.Betsy recently embroidered ruffles for George Washingtons shirts and cuffs. In June of 1776, she was asked to sew the American Flag by George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross. The author was able to tell Bets story in such a way that I was fascinated and mesmerisms. I learned that books didnt have to be boring. I discovered that not only can you learn from books, you can be entertained. I remember that I read a lot of the biographies In the library that year. I read about George and Martha Washington, Abraham and Mary Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, JohnAdams, and Dooley Madison. Their stories took me back in time. They taught me how people lived in the past and about all the hardships they had to endure and overcome. Reading opened my eyes to other worlds and experiences. It improved my reading ability and comprehension skills which helped me in school. As I grew older, I continued to read. In middle school and high school I made friends with other girls who also enjoyed reading. Some of the other kids would make fun of me because I was often reading.Since was a chubby child, I was frequently picked on and bullied y the other students. Reading gave me an escape from this abuse. In books I could be someone else, someplace else, and not have to deal with the bad behavior of the other children. I would never have Imagined all those years ago that a simple school assignment would have started me on a life-long Journey with books. I love to disappear into the world of a novel, fall in love with its characters, and lose myself in sure neither she nor Betsy Ross would have ever imagined the impact they would have in my life.

Geographic Information Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Geographic Information Systems - Research Paper Example This computerized system would ease the timely calculation of the organization’s payroll and with very little chance of any errors in those calculations. If witnessed on a larger scale, there is a number of information handling requirements of organizations. Every organizational level within a business needs certain information in order to execute the set of processes at that level. Managers at the higher management level need to make decisions for which they need results of reports and data analysis. This enables them to successfully embed the processed information into their decision making procedures. Likewise, managers at the middle managerial level would need more simplified information that would enable them to keep an eye over the day to day ongoing business activities. Thus, it may well be said that the execution of a full day of business processes running within an organization requires the operating of a number of information systems simultaneously each of which woul d cater to the specific requirements at each organizational level. Following is a narration of a specific type of information systems termed as the Geographical Information Systems. The narration has been done in first person. GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) My name is Geographical Information System. I am a perfect example of practically implemented Information systems. WHY AM I IMPORTANT (WHY IS A GIS IMPORTANT?) The geography of land on which human beings live is of immense importance to them. Ever since the ancient times of the human society these living beings have looked up locations of areas to analyze the possibility of presence of prey in that particular area. The early hunters based their living on moving from one location to the other. Geographical importance of land and the details of its terrain have been of integral importance to man since centuries ago. Maps, spatial information have been the source of discovery and planning since times unknown. Geographical ma pping is the most integral use of the geographical information at hand. Looking up the route to a particular location is among the most basic ways in which geographical information helps. Spatial information, on the other hand, affects the most basics of human society such as the growing up of crops, the production of energy, the making of clothes worn by man. With the discovery of computing technology all the geographical and spatial information was put to even better use. It was possible only after the integration of computing technology that my creation was planned. My development was aimed as the making of a tool that would be able to assist human beings with the geographic knowledge associated with themselves and their belongings. I am designed to help in the gathering and use of spatial data. I embed within myself certain technological features such as advanced networking abilities for establishing effective and timely communication, space age data collectors for maintaining a ny data collection in massive databases for future use and other highly sophisticated and intricate computing features. My capabilities and features continue to evolve with the passing of time since technological advancements are rising on a very rapid rate. These ever-developing technological changes are making my systems more enhanced with every passing unit time. The basic

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 11

Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example The author achieves this by employing superior common ground, detached diction, and an academic tone to place the reader on a scholarly level observing an ancient disciplinary measures practice. The author in his book wrote about the Panopticon under the title â€Å"Panopticism† where he metaphorically alludes to the way authority takes charge and control of the people. He uses the seventeenth century order and case scenario to show the reader how people’s respect for the ones in power comes from their fear of the authority as opposed to the authority’s actual strength. The order was formulated at a time when the plague rose, and it functioned to separate people one by one from the eldest to the youngest, in terms of towns, classes, as well as individuals. This in terms of rule and authority was the ideal method of running a city. Having isolated everyone to quarters and giving orders to be followed, which the people feared to break for the consequences that would follow. The common ground for â€Å"Panopticism† is surveillance or the watchful eye of the law or authority instilling conditional obedience in its subjects through rule of fear. Theoretically speaking, the Panopticon is a building constructed in the shape of a circle with holding cells in multiple rings, built in a storey form. A tower is erected in the center of the rings in order to observe the prisoner’s activity. Each cell has sufficient room for holding one person and is partitioned by a wall from the next to deter prisoners from seeing each other as well as eliminate chances for mob action. The front side is blocked with bars while the back has a window to let in light so that the prisoner cannot hide. The author uses this model/theory to prove the effect of using fear to quarantine people and make them very submissive to authority. The people in the text were ordered to stay indoors, and none was to leave on pain of death. The syndics were given authority over

My history as a reader and writer in Russian and in English Essay

My history as a reader and writer in Russian and in English - Essay Example Writing is an art that requires one to have passion and willingness to counter the challenges that relate to the rules of good writing. My experience in reading and Writing in college is quite different from that of high school. In high school, most of the writing involved simple compositions and summaries. In college reading and writing requires deep analysis of the contents and the interpretation of those contents. Learning a new language is quite challenging but I am determined to perfect my new skills within the shortest time possible. My strengths in this new language are the commitment I have in my studies through regular practice to enhance my speaking and writing skills. I am also good at recalling facts and materials learned which enhances my performance in English and Russian languages. My weakness is the poor mastery of new phrases, especially in the new language. To counter this weakness, I am working hard by reading many articles and noting everything that I read in my notebook. The main goals for this course are to improve my analytical skills, which will enable me to be an excellent creative writer in the future. I also want to improve my usage of verbs especially the correct use of verb tenses, which will enable me to write the high-quality grammar. I also want to organize my work very well and compete with some of the world’s renowned writers in creative and imaginative writing. Reading and writing in the two different languages will help me communicate with more people and make many friends who have similar interests.

Race, Politics, and Reconstruction, 1865-1875 Assignment

Race, Politics, and Reconstruction, 1865-1875 - Assignment Example Thompson worked at the radical end of the party. He was against the conservative compromises involved. He wanted the national government to reject it because it was coated with ethnicity and discrimination. Ruby was the first Black to be chosen into the state council. This became possible only because fewer Whites contested in the elections than Blacks. George ensured all races were treated with equivalence. He advocated for the fortification of civil constitutional rights of the Blacks. As the president of Texas Colored Labor Convention, he was able to assemble Republican electors in Texas. George built a foundation for black power and governances in Galveston. He cleverly advocated for their civil and party-political civil liberties. He worked cautiously with the hostile White politicians. This way, he opened more occasions for the Blacks through â€Å"compromise† politics. In the post-civil war period, Thompson had significant political power (Rabinowitz 265). He had to ensure he gratified both his goals and that of the wider social order. Through his political dispositions, Ruby compromised to ensure that his race was at least prosperous. In his efforts to safeguard the welfares of the Blacks, Ruby made some compromises in the aim of satiating later goals. In 1874, the Democrats efficaciously reclaimed power. He did not seek re-election because the Whites were prevalent in the assembly. The White politicians exhaled hostility, and Ruby had to tread carefully to guarantee his interest, and that of the Black community received the preferred

Occupational Therapy for Dementia Patients Assignment

Occupational Therapy for Dementia Patients - Assignment Example A patient may display abrupt mood swings, become aggressive and angry due to chemical changes in the brain. The patient may develop fear and frustration as he feels that he is gradually losing knowledge and understanding of his surroundings (Scout News, 2006). A person with AD may live anywhere from three to twenty years after diagnosis. On the final phase of AD, a patient becomes increasingly immobile and dysfunctional, totally incontinent that he cannot control his urine or bowel movement; may become bedridden that bed sores and suffers from muscle pain; may lose the ability to swallow and may not be able to eat or drink properly. At the stage of end of life care, the patient may require feeding tubes, respirator, antibiotics and hospitalization. Occupational therapy is recommended by physicians to help the patient improve the ability to perform daily activities and reduce the pressure on their caregivers (Griffith, 2007). Occupational therapy can improve the daily performance, communication, sense of competence and quality of life of an AD patient. The therapist applies a combination of education, setting feasible goals, using adaptations in physical environment, training compensatory skills, training supervision skills, and changing dysfunctional cognitions on patient behavior. The occupational therapist can help the patient's caregiver to understand the impact of AD ona person's day-to-day function (Scout News, 2006). ... the occupational therapist based on Canada's Occupational Therapy Resource Site (2009): 1) minimize distractions in the environment by reducing excess noise at mealtime and decrease confusion by eating regularly, maintaining same table setting, use plain dishes and minimal cutlery; 2) provide opportunities for independence and personal control by dressing, lay out the clothes in the order that they will be put on by the patient and allow the patient with AD to do as much as he can for himself together with verbal cues and encouragement. When eating, use tableware with enlarged handles, plates with rims, and non-slip placemat to help the patient maintain coordination and be independent; 3) ensure consistency in routines by preparing a schedule of regular daily activities for personal care, medication, meals, leisure, walking, and retiring to bed; 4) maintain a safe and secure environment for the patient by providing grab-bars, non-slip bathmat, bathbench and hand-held shower with ther mostatic shower control in the bathroom; 5) manage stress by developing coping skills, providing support, and counseling; 6) learning about the disease, its effects, and future care. II. Diagnostic procedures and Prognosis of OT Intervention Physicians usually do not tell the patient that he has AD. Only in the case than the patient expresses the need to know the truth that the doctor discloses his condition. The doctor will prescribe drugs to slowdown progression of AD. Drug trials are performed in early stages of AD. Most of the doctors dealing with AD will recommend Occupational Therapy to help the patient improve his capability to perform daily activities and speech therapy to maintain verbal skills of patients with mild symptoms of AD. Another type of therapy developed is

Urban Outfitters Continuing Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Urban Outfitters Continuing Case Study - Essay Example However, small businesses are an asset to any country and really enhance the overall GDP. Limited funds are a challenge as they have a direct effect on the growth of the business because there is pressure to pay off debts and concentration on growth is low. Even once the initial investment is made, there might not be enough cash to carry on with the daily operations, and hence, capital is always the main concern. The location is of utmost importance especially in the case of the retailer. In the case study Urban Outfitters decided to focus their store openings near colleges so that the students seeking for funky designs and used clothes can easily purchase in close proximity. Location in terms of clusters and target market are factors to be considered. The proximity and unique distribution creates exclusivity and helps companies with their niche marketing tactics. Employing efficient human resource is vital for creating an impact on consumers. In the case study, Richard and Belair, h ad entrepreuniral skills and a genuine interest in running their business, therefore they did a good job. Q2) Define what a "niche" product is. Give at least three examples of niche products.   A) A niche product is the one made and marketed for a small but profitable market. It is made for a high potential market which is small in size but profitable to cater. The specific product features designed are aimed to satisfy a specific market (Advantages of Niche Marketing 2009). In order to tap this sort of a potential market, the gap in the market has to be identified. These can be customized items too for example a cake shop customizing cakes for every individual according to their choice. Occasions are always brightened with some delicacy and catering to a customized market can be profitable. Catering to the elite by exclusively creating something can also be called a niche product for example a Rolls Royce. Catering to a particular demographics, class and personality all create ni ches. A case in point can be websites that provide services for specific categories for example finding your perfect match online, relationships and dating. Such services fulfill the needs of thousands of people but are very limited in its service and not mass marketed. Q3) Explain why a niche company might have an advantage in a market. Would price necessarily be an advantage? Explain why or why not.   A) Customization and exclusivity creates the importance of a niche market. Besides these factors, satisfying the needs of specific demographics in itself is an advantage because the customer feels his/her specific wants are been catered too. In the case study, the stores were located near colleges and the college students were being targeted, therefore, the sale of used clothes was identified as the missing gap for college students that have an economical budget. Therefore, the niche market allows the company to exert out energy on reaching out to the right people. resources are no t wasted in mass marketing but are instead focused on serving the small segment of loyal customers. Price may not necessarily be an advantage as seen clearly in this case study. Richard and Belair identified the needs of college students and then further increased their product line in order to synchronize the unique feel and look of each store. Many businesses in the world that operate in niche markets do have an advantage over price such as Lexus that produces limited cars and earns

Occupational Therapy for Dementia Patients Assignment

Occupational Therapy for Dementia Patients - Assignment Example A patient may display abrupt mood swings, become aggressive and angry due to chemical changes in the brain. The patient may develop fear and frustration as he feels that he is gradually losing knowledge and understanding of his surroundings (Scout News, 2006). A person with AD may live anywhere from three to twenty years after diagnosis. On the final phase of AD, a patient becomes increasingly immobile and dysfunctional, totally incontinent that he cannot control his urine or bowel movement; may become bedridden that bed sores and suffers from muscle pain; may lose the ability to swallow and may not be able to eat or drink properly. At the stage of end of life care, the patient may require feeding tubes, respirator, antibiotics and hospitalization. Occupational therapy is recommended by physicians to help the patient improve the ability to perform daily activities and reduce the pressure on their caregivers (Griffith, 2007). Occupational therapy can improve the daily performance, communication, sense of competence and quality of life of an AD patient. The therapist applies a combination of education, setting feasible goals, using adaptations in physical environment, training compensatory skills, training supervision skills, and changing dysfunctional cognitions on patient behavior. The occupational therapist can help the patient's caregiver to understand the impact of AD ona person's day-to-day function (Scout News, 2006). ... the occupational therapist based on Canada's Occupational Therapy Resource Site (2009): 1) minimize distractions in the environment by reducing excess noise at mealtime and decrease confusion by eating regularly, maintaining same table setting, use plain dishes and minimal cutlery; 2) provide opportunities for independence and personal control by dressing, lay out the clothes in the order that they will be put on by the patient and allow the patient with AD to do as much as he can for himself together with verbal cues and encouragement. When eating, use tableware with enlarged handles, plates with rims, and non-slip placemat to help the patient maintain coordination and be independent; 3) ensure consistency in routines by preparing a schedule of regular daily activities for personal care, medication, meals, leisure, walking, and retiring to bed; 4) maintain a safe and secure environment for the patient by providing grab-bars, non-slip bathmat, bathbench and hand-held shower with ther mostatic shower control in the bathroom; 5) manage stress by developing coping skills, providing support, and counseling; 6) learning about the disease, its effects, and future care. II. Diagnostic procedures and Prognosis of OT Intervention Physicians usually do not tell the patient that he has AD. Only in the case than the patient expresses the need to know the truth that the doctor discloses his condition. The doctor will prescribe drugs to slowdown progression of AD. Drug trials are performed in early stages of AD. Most of the doctors dealing with AD will recommend Occupational Therapy to help the patient improve his capability to perform daily activities and speech therapy to maintain verbal skills of patients with mild symptoms of AD. Another type of therapy developed is

The Kite Runner Essay Example for Free

The Kite Runner Essay I will be doing my book review on the book called ‘kite runner’, by Khalid Hosseini. The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a young boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who befriends Hassan, the son of his fathers Hazara servant. The story is set against a background of upcoming events, from the fall of Afghanistans monarchy through the Soviet invasion, the large number of refugees sent to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise of the Taliban regime. I am doing my book review on the Kite Runner because I think it is a marvellous and very interesting book. The author also describes the settings very well. Khalid Hosseini was born on 4th March 1965; he is an American novelist and physician from Afghanistan and he is an ethnic Tajik. Amir, a wealthy Pashtun boy, and Hassan, a Hazara who is the son of Ali, Amirs fathers servant, spend their days in the peaceful city of Kabul, kite fighting and roaming through the streets. Amirs father, a wealthy merchant, whom Amir affectionately refers to as ‘Baba’, loves both boys, but seems critical of Amir for not being manly enough. However, he has a kinder father figure in the form of Rahim Khan, Babas friend, who understands Amir better, and supports his interest in writing. Hassan and Amir are great friends. Hassan is also a very good kite runner. Five years later, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Amir and Baba escape to Peshawar, Pakistan and then to Fremont, California, where Amir and Baba, who lived in luxury in an expensive mansion in Afghanistan, settle in a run-down apartment and Baba begins work at a gas station. Amir eventually takes classes at a local community college to develop his writing skills after graduating from high school at age twenty. Every Sunday, Baba and Amir make extra money selling used goods at a flea market in San Jose. Hassan is killed but his son is in trouble, so Amir goes back to Afghanistan to save him. The genre of this novel is action and adventure. Most of the action takes place in Afghanistan. The author described the place where Amir lived; you could almost picture his house in your mind. When you chose an adventure book people expect the story to be interesting, fascinating and settings to be described very well also. The novel fits the genre because they play all around Kabul, running away from the bullies and also it is about the life of Hassan and Amir, it has the up and downs of their lives. One triumphant day, Amir wins the local tournament, and finally Babas praise. Hassan runs for the last cut kite, a great trophy, saying to Amir, For you, a thousand times over. Unfortunately, Hassan encounters Assef. Hassan refuses to give up Amirs kite. Assef decides to teach Hassan a lesson by beating him half to death and then raping him. Amir witnesses the act but convinced himself that he is too scared to intervene; though its actually the fact that he needs the kite for Babas praise and approval and he knows if he does intervene, then he wont get the kite and he returns home ashamed, guilty for not being able to help his best friend. He feels that his cowardice in Hassans rape would destroy any hopes for Babas affections, so he says nothing. Afterward, Hassan and Amir keep a distance from each other. Amir reacts indifferently because he feels ashamed, and is frustrated by Hassans saint-like behavior. Already jealous of Babas love for Hassan, he worries that if Baba knew of Hassans bravery and his own cowardice, that Babas love for Hassan would grow even more. This part of the story showed how loyal and brave Hassan was. Amir like reading stories and is a storyteller. He and Hassan play with kites all the time. He is a little bit afraid of the other boys like Assef. I have enjoyed this book a lot it has been interesting, I felt sorry for Hassan because he was so loyal and his loyalty had cost his life. The novel was a great adventure story. It is one of the best books I have ever read. By Nima Tajali.

Employee Development Plan: Importance and Applications

Employee Development Plan: Importance and Applications Employee Development Plan Running Head: EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PLAN Abstract With the nation’s economic turmoil still lingering it is more important than ever to develop plans that will encourage employees to remain with the company. Employee turnover is a crucial issue when it comes to the current economic standing of America. Each time an employee leaves the company the company loses the money it spent training and developing that employee for the future with the company. The training, classes, and cross skills the company has invested in the employee then benefit the new company. Because this situation costs the company money, a new employee development plan has been designed in the hopes of improving employee retention rates in the future. Employee development allows for the development of the employee so that they can better equip themselves for their career choices. It is important to support their desire to develop more fully at work, while at the same time not investing money that walks out the door and to the competition. This design allows the company to support and assist the employee desire to develop in career skills and to feel that the company supports the loyalty he or she has shown by years of service while encouraging education as well as cross training. The organizational consultant, per the research information and plan, challenges the organization to embrace the detailed plan to further develop each valuable employee. No matter what, organizational leaders must see the value in employee development and be willing to make the effort to show loyalty to its employees. Employee Development Plan With the nation’s economic turmoil still lingering it is more important than ever to develop plans that will encourage employees to remain with the company. Each time an employee leaves the company the company loses the money it spent training and developing that employee for the future with the company. The training, classes, and cross skills the company has invested in the employee are then benefiting the new company. Because this situation costs the company money, a new employee development plan has been designed in the hopes of improving employee retention rates in the future. Ebbert Hubbard, the prominent American philosopher and writer, once said, â€Å"One machine can do the work of 50 ordinary men, but no machine can do the work of one extraordinary man† (Goldstein, 2003). His statement seems to be more pertinent than ever in the contemporary context of commuting from organizations focused on tangible assets like land or property to organizations relying on intangible assets such as creativity, knowledge, or problem solving. Statistics show that more than 50% of the Gross Domestic Product generated by developed economies is based on knowledge—information technology (IT), education, and pharmaceuticals being the key sectors that account for the impressive percentage (www.yourpeoplemanager.com). This means that humans have become the major resource for modern companies. Consequently, their development and education are the major levers conditioning the organizational growth. For that, leaders must understand the value of their employees and develop them for organizational and employee benefit. This research defines employee development and addresses why organizational leaders need it. The research proves the link between employee development and company growth while sharing the benefits of employee training and development. Then the research outlines a plan that addresses hiring, training, development based on time, promotion, and education. Lastly, the conclusion calls leaders to action to realize the importance of, and build the plan for, developing their employees. What is employee development and why do we need it? Before starting to analyze the correlation between these two aspects, a clear picture of what employee training and development mean could prove extremely useful. First, a clear delimitation should be made among three concepts that people often confuse. These are education, training, and development. The first one consists of preparing an individual’s mind in a framework that is different from the organization. The second refers to attending courses aimed at improving skills, knowledge or attitudes for appropriately achieving a certain task within an organization, while the third is the natural result of the first two and is represented by the growth of the individual in terms of ability, understanding and awareness (www.accel-team.com). This triangle proves to be indispensable to company performance as it allows employees to account for more tasks that are difficult. In addition, it accommodates newcomers to the organization’s performance standards and helps them act w ithin the same competitive pattern responsible for the company’s success. Further, it enhances the organization’s efficiency and effectiveness, it responds to legislative requirements regarding health or safety, and sets an adequate framework for informing employees on changes that have been made and the courses they have to attend in order to cope with modifications. Detecting the personnel’s needs requiring employee training and development programs is very difficult. However, task as managers can rely on various sources such as common sense (for instance, the implementation of new technologies undoubtedly represents a solid reason for training) and negative aspects that statistics reveal (the decrease of output per employee, lower performance indices, behavioral problems like absences, sickness, lateness etc.). Furthermore, government recommendations, predictions, specialists’ advice, alarm triggers pulled by specialized journals or confessions made by other organizations which have encountered a certain problem also are other sources on which task managers can rely. Training and development may be achieved in both formal and informal ways. The former category implies attending courses held by internal or external managers who usually combine impersonal lectures with interactive activities like role-playing or simulation, forums, tests, case studies presented with the help of video and computers. The latter category is a non-official one, and is mainly based on the employees’ ability to draw their own conclusions after observing other workers, participating in meetings, rotating jobs within the organization or temporary assisting employees from another company, autodidactic teaching by reading texts or viewing video tapes, being a member of a research team and so on (www.accel-team.com). Measuring the outcome of such training and development initiatives is a very difficult thing to do because results are rather qualitative than quantitative. Still, managers may observe if the effectiveness and efficiency of their employees have increased by analyzing the number of customer complaints or the time in which a certain task has been performed. They can also notice a faster accommodation of new employees, more effective use of machinery, a higher job satisfaction reflected in performing more qualitative services to the client (and thus attracting new customers), fewer accidents etc. Managers can also draw some conclusions concerning the employees’ loyalty or the improvement of their qualification allowing them to contribute to tougher tasks or other positions within the organization (www.accel-team.com). Researches proving the link between employee development and company growth Undoubtedly, employee development has a significant impact on the customers’ satisfaction and the employees’ ability and willingness to solve crisis encountered by the organization or to adapt to changes occurred in the business environment. Through training and development, a company’s personnel may gain the necessary expertise for approaching new markets or technologies, thus inducing cost savings in the end. Additionally, employees value trainings because these are seen as strategic investments that the organization accepts to make because of the huge trust it has in its personnel’s potential. Therefore, employees will embrace a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards the organization concerned about their intellectual evolvement and will work harder for helping it achieve its mission and goals (Gross, 2000). The link between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and financial performance has also been outlined by AC Nielsen through its market researches or by Sears through surveys carried out on its retail stores (Goldstein, 2003). Another research survey, carried out by Sirota, Mischkind, and Meltzer (2005), on a sample of 2.5 million employees, highlighted that companies boasting high morale had the tendency to outperform competitors. Moreover, the research emphasized that out of 28 companies having almost 920,000 employees, the share price of 14 (known as high morale firms), had an average increase of 16% in 2004, while the share price of 6 (known as low morale firms) had an average increase of only 3%. The results were significant when compared with the industry average of 6%, calculated for 9,240 companies (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu). In conclusion, higher morale and enthusiasm lead to increased financial performances. As employee development and training are said t o be rewards boosting the personnel’s positivism and satisfaction, they may be considered inherently linked to company growth. Benefits of employee training and development A major benefit of employee development is increased productivity. Because of the courses he or she attends, an employee may learn advanced techniques that lead to higher efficiency and effectiveness in performing tasks. For instance, if a company’s bookkeeper is sent to an Excel course, this will be taught several shortcuts that will help him or her comply faster with his job requirements. On one hand, this means that he or she can perform other activities that would have otherwise required hiring new employees, and spending more money. On the other hand, increased efficiency results in prompt accountancy reports and ledgers that may be timely consulted by managers in order to make operative decisions. This means shorter time, and consequently, less money spent. A second benefit of employee development refers to reducing turnover. Researches that have been carried out with regard to this issue have emphasized that an employee’s trajectory within an organization has the form of a parabola. In the beginning, he is enthusiastic about his new job and learns everything he needs in order to live up to the company’s expectations and gain recognition for his well-done work. This ascending trend (or honeymoon as Sirota calls it) lasts five or six months until the individual reaches a climax where routine comes into the limelight. Thus, he continues to do his job for a certain period, but as nothing new appears, the employee decides to leave the company and try something different or look for another challenge. Yet, Sirota’s (2005) research shows that 10% of the companies surveyed succeed in ensuring a prolonged honeymoon throughout the entire career to their employees because they understand the difficulty of â€Å"being enthusi astic about an organization that is not enthusiastic about you† (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu). Consequently, they implement development programs that help employees seize opportunities and prepare for complex tasks that might reveal numerous latent skills or abilities. Additionally, employee development may be presented as a supplementary path to job security that has become a top need after the collapse of high-tech companies and September 11, 2001. A perfect example of a high-morale company in these terms is Southwest Airlines, which, after the terrorist attacks in September, stated: â€Å"We will take a hit in our stock price and not lay off anybody† (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu). Furthermore, training and development can exert a positive influence in the recruiting process. First, managers may wish to hire an elitist who does not correspond to job requirements because of a certain skill. If the company is ready to offer trainings for developing the missing feature, it could win a valuable employee who may be responsible for future performances. The following is an example: A person applying for the PR executive position may be rejected because he or she does not correspond to a single requirement such as updating the company’s website. Although he or she is a performer and a fast learner, the organization prefers to hire a less brilliant candidate who poorly meets all the requirements instead of investing some courses in the first one. Such a decision may greatly affect the company’s performance and image. Secondly, development programs may prove enticing enough to potential employees. Therefore, the company can use them in order to attract the desired staff capable of inducing the organization’s growth. Thirdly, if existing employees are trained for different or more complex tasks, these may become eligible for vacant positions or may handle a wider range of activities. In this context, the company saves money by reducing its need to hire. Fourthly, development consists of rewarding loyal employees who after learning new skills are promoted to higher positions. This also accounts for a company’s performance. Lastly, development strategies allow employees to be more independent or, in other words, they give them wings to fly. This autonomy cuts off the supervision costs, thus increasing the company’s efficiency, and inherently, performance (Gross, 2000). Employee training also plays a major part in maintaining a work/life balance. This is essential for the organization’s health because the employee burnout phenomenon can decrease productivity or can have other negative consequences like: sickness, lateness, absenteeism as a result of the unusual stress; lower efficiency and morale because of their exaggerate workload; higher turnover rates. Consequently, employees should be helped to handle both work and life commitments through trainings teaching them how to better manage time and priorities or how to recharge batteries after projects or seasons involving an unusual amount of work. In response to the company’s concern, an employee may prove unexpectedly grateful and may voluntarily contribute to a future project, essential to the organization’s success (Gross, 2000). Employment Development Plan Hiring The first step to employee development is the hiring process. When there is an opening the department head will meet with human resources and determine exactly what the new job requirements will be. In addition, at this time there will be a discussion about where the position may lead in the future and what type of education or skills will be important to have for the path to be followed (Bass, 1985). Hiring in the future will involve a careful screening of applicants to cull the most qualified for the particular position in question. In the past, it has been accepted as a practice to hire the first one who was qualified in order to get the position filled. In the future, this will change and improve the retention rate of employees to the company. The applicants will be carefully examined so that the candidate who is most likely to advance within the company is selected. Hiring will happen by way of Internet sources, employee referrals, recruiters, and job fairs. When an opening occu rs it will be publicized in several publications so that the company will have a diverse applicant pool from which to select those who will be interviewed (Steines and Kleiner, 2003). Training Employee development is an expensive process. The company invests funds to train the employee, and then further train and then possibly invest in the employee’s college education as well. All of this is done with the hopes that the company will eventually reap the benefits of the investments made on the employee’s behalf (Liggett, 2007). The company’s employee development plan has changed to be more cautious about fund investments at the front end of the employee history with the company, but on the back end as time moves forward, the benefits are increased from previous years. When an employee is first hired, there will be a three-day training period by which the employee will view the videos and company policies, be given tours of the company, and will engage in a discussion about future possibilities. After the three days have passed, the employee will begin working along side someone in their chosen department who will assist with their acclimation (Liggett, 2007). While this will cost time and money because the training or supervising peer will have to slow down their own work when the new employee needs help, it is still less expensive than paying for the new employee to spend time in a training institution. The training will initially for nothing more than the job the employee was hired to do. At the first three-day session however, the employee will be told of the entire development package so the employee has an understanding of what the future holds and what staying with the company can mean to them. There will also be an employee suggestion box outside the cafeteria from which ideas for development will be read and discussed quarterly (Liggett, 2007). Development based on time The entire foundation of this employee development plan is to reward employees for loyalty and longevity. The plan is based on a staggered schedule that allows the company to provide the best benefits for those who stay with the company (Redling, 2003). The reward is incentive for employees to remain in the employ of the company while offering the company some security that it is investing in long-term workers. It also reduces the loss of funds that occur when a short-term employee goes to a competitor after receiving training at this company. Because the company’s new policy is operated with the bulk of the benefits on the back end of employment they must be made better than they were before so that employees want to stay and reap the rewards of the new package. After six months of employment the employee may request for a cross training package to be started. In this package, the employee will be trained in other departments so that he or she can work throughout the company in several different capacities. The company will provide a temporary worker to perform the employee’s duties while the employee is cross training for the other department (Redling, 2003). Each six months the employee will be encouraged to choose another department that he or she wishes to be cross trained for and the company will provide an temporary worker so that the employee can devote a full forty hour week to the business of learning the new skill. There will be no limit on the number of departments an employee can be cross trained in as long as there are at least six months worked at the regular position between training sessions. This allows the employee to develop their skills as well as provides additional back up support for the company because the empl oyee can handle multiple tasks within the company (Redling, 2003). Promotion It is important that an employee feel they are being treated well and given opportunities to advance in their careers (Solomon, 2002). Any time there is an opening the company employees shall have the first opportunities to apply for it. If there is an employee who is qualified, that employee shall be given the job and the hiring will focus on replacing him or her in the old position. Education After one year of employment with the company, the employee can apply for the education package. This will allow the company to reimburse for some costs of education. In years two through four of employment the company will reimburse the cost of tuition following the receipt of a report card that demonstrates a C average in the classes attempted. The classes can be based on any subject but there will be a one hundred percent reimbursement for classes pertaining to work and a seventy five percent reimbursement for classes that do not pertain to the industry. During years five through ten the company will reimburse at one hundred percent not only the cost of the tuition but also the cost of the books for any classes the employee chooses to take. The employee simply needs to provide a report card at the end of the semester to receive reimbursement. From years ten to 15 not only will the company pay for the employee college but will allow the employee to attend during the work day without docking the pay. This will work up to two hours a day for the duration of employment. The employment development plan not only allows for the development of an employee in the area of training but also in staff development. The managers of the company will attend annual seminars on staff relations so that they can better understand how to communicate with their subordinates (Dowling, 2001). The company wants to focus on employee retention and part of the reason employees choose to stay with a company or leave it for greener pastures is because they do or do not get along well with their superiors. Staff development and relations is an important aspect of employee development and annual staff relation seminars are targeting problem communications so that the employee will continue to feel loyal to the company. Conclusion Employee development can serve to save funds that the company would otherwise have to write off. Employee turnover is a crucial issue when it comes to the current economic standing of America. Employee development allows for the development of the employee so that they can better equip themselves for their career choices. It is important to support their desire to develop more fully at work, while at the same time not investing money that walks out the door and to the competition. This design allows the company to support and assist the employee desire to develop in career skills while at the same time discouraging a cash loss. If the employee stays with the company the development program risks very little of the company’s assets before the employee has proved themselves a long-term investment. This plan allows the employee to fully develop and to feel that the company supports the loyalty he or she has shown by years of service while encouraging education as well as cross tr aining. The organizational consultant, per the research information and plan, challenges the organization to embrace the detailed plan to further develop each valuable employee. No matter what, organizational leaders must see the value in employee development and be willing to make the effort to show loyalty to its employees. References Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York, NY: Free Press. Dowling, F. (2001). â€Å"Just the Job: Bosses need work on staff relations.† Birmingham Post. January 6, 22 pp. Function 7: Employee education, training, and development. (2006). [Online], Available:http://www.accel-team.com/human_resources/hrm_07.html (2008, January 30). Giving Employees What They Want: The Returns Are Huge. (2005). [Online], Available: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1188CFID=3898075CFTOKEN=53249968 (2008, January 30). Goldstein, S. (2003). â€Å"Employee Development: An examination of service strategy in a high-contact service environment.† Production and Operations Management. Summer. Gross, B. (2000). 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Volume 26, Issue 2/3/4, pp. 170-180. Solomon, M. (2002). â€Å"Discovering the Leader Within.† Computerworld. August 5, 38 pp. YPM Briefing: Employee development. (2005). [Online], Available: http://www.yourpeoplemanager.com/YarBGXpoTX_-WA.html (2008, January 30). Total Quality Management: Advantages and Disadvantages Total Quality Management: Advantages and Disadvantages Quality plays a significant role in the development and success of any organization or product. UK is recognized as a core of the creation of petrochemical and other associated products of petrochemical. There is high demand for petrochemical products all over the world; so quality assurance and quality management are very important in petrochemical industry in order to exist in the global economy. There are many petrochemical industries in this country and millions of people are working in these industries. Even though this sector is one of the major sources of economic growth, the petrochemical industries are facing some problems regarding quality management and quality assurance (Grote, 2001). The main challenges faced by the petrochemical industry are the need to manage the commercial environment better and as a minimum to stop worsening the industrys inherent cyclicality  the need for further restructuring in order to improve underlying performance  and the need to improve relationships with the outside world because crucially these relationships increasingly will determine the scope for success in our industry (ibid). In terms of long term challenges, petrochemical industries in the UK are facing number of challenges that need careful planning. These challenges are firstly, the increase of demand (BP, 2010). This increase in demand is caused by the increase in population in the UK and around the world which will put petrochemical under pressure to follow the demand. Another problem is dealing with petrochemical suppliers it will be possible to survive the prices that are caused the changing in petrochemical raw material (oil and gas) in global market (ibid). For example, in 2008 the oil prices raised to record value over $138 for barrel. Thirdly, they need to find more resources to cope with demand increase (ibid). Finally, they are going to face a problem of where should they make investments and train their workforce (ibid). The investment should not be on only finding new oil field but Its about discovering new technologies and pioneering new methods; developing the best equipment and equipping our teams with the right skills and be more innovative to become even more environmental friendly (ibid). Some petrochemical industries in the United Kingdom have problems in utilizing their resources in best way. This causes a great loss of profit for them since in higher demand season they need to increase the capacity by hiring skilled workforce or buying needed products from competitors which needs extra costs. Others have problem recycling there products or some kinds of product or even recycling of the waste product. This also causes a big loss to the company because if a product has a defect, its not necessary mean that all material integrated in the product cannot be recovered. Implementation of the Latest technology and train the workforce on it is necessary as it recommended by TQM and ISO 9000 in system improving point. The pressure which making solving these problems even more difficult come from the financial crisis for the past few years that has affected the running of the petrochemical industries 2008 saw crude oil prices rise to record highs and then follow the financial markets to unexpected lows (BP, 2010). Increase in the price of the resources decreased the production of these industries or if the production doesnt change, the profit will decrease. The petrochemical products are used for a number of purposes and the number of competitors has increased recently; therefore, leading in quality and clearing the company brand guarantee the survival in this competition. Implementation of TQM as a precursor to ISO 9000 and vice versa: The petrochemical industries are those involved in the manufacturing of toxic chemicals and organic compounds which can affect the people when not maintained properly. Quality assessment and quality standard implementation should be done from the start-up of production to the final despatch of the product for customer satisfaction and for the maintenance of quality system. The petrochemical industry should also comply with the requirements of occupational health and safety management systems which deal with the precautions on health and environmental factors. This is applicable to all chemical industries. In Diagram 1, the implementation of quality factors starts with the vision and mission of the company, the vision are the future view of the company; the mission are the goals in terms of quality products, customer satisfaction and the profit which they want to achieve (DTI, n.d., p2). The statements should be clear and spontaneous (ibid). CSF/KPI: The critical factors for successful implementation are the building blocks for the success and those identified factors that affect in the implementation by analysing of the past data and the modification to be done in implementing the new standards (DTI, n.d., pp2-3; Oakland and Marosszeky, 2006, p363). They identify the key performance indicators like the employees, resources like plant and machinery, innovation etc. Encouraging new ideas and technology, discarding obsolete ones etc. contribute to the success in the implementation; they monitor the performance and report the progress and the feedback for the organizations well-being (ibid). Core process: The core business processes are the profit rearing segments of the business and they consist of suppliers, process and the customers (DTI, n.d., pp3-4). The quality implementations create a major impact on the core process and the competitive advantage when the implementation of the TQM is done in the business process (ibid). Defining of the business opportunity: Quality implementation is done mainly for increasing the reputation of the company which leads to increase in profit. The company must be against the acceptance of any kind of compromise in the product quality which affects the company and its reputation in the market. To make the situation at an ease and conducting a review to identify the particular need and the specification of the customer and the company and the analyzing whether the required standard is met or not, this becomes the method for getting a better business opportunity (DTI, n.d., p6). The ISO 9000: This is an important tool for the implementation of TQM. This is a general name given to the list of quality standards. The main aim of these quality standards is to provide the company with the standard products and to make the company a profit oriented and highly reputed. The brainstorming of the ideas is given a good place for the implementation. They help in several ideas generated by the people and the product analysis and the performing of the functions according to the effectiveness of the customer satisfaction and the major role in the quality assessment criteria and to enhance the company position, reputation and profitability (Karakas and Kavas, 2008, pp.8-11). Decision making by the management and the implementation to be done by the different standards and the performance of them are monitored continuously, and the demerits in the performance are identified and continuous improvement is done by providing adequate training and development (Maddalena, 2007, pp.71-72). ISO 9000 series is a quality management system that has to be maintained in an organization. This means what the organization does to fulfil:   the customers quality requirements, and  applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to  enhance customer satisfaction, and  achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives (ISO, 2010). The idea of improvement in implementing TQM by the companies is to have the accreditation, proper dealing with the customer for the certification for the business and exports to be done to other countries and also to increase the position and profit of the company. Advantages of implementing TQM as a precursor to ISO 9000 and vice versa globally: The ISO 9000 and TQM are two main subjects that are used to show the quality of an industry. Although fundamentally different TQM ensures organizations do the right thing, while ISO 9000 is about doing things right (Williams and Buswell, 2003, p133). There are many advantages in implementing ISO 900 as precursor to TQM and vice versa. ISO 9000 has grown popularity due to its advantages. The ISO 9000 is considered as a quality model, and it can be used as a tool to TQM. ISO 9000 helps in planning household finance because keeping records of paying bills and taxes is the first step to run a business effectively (Kurtus, 2001). ISO 9000 will help the process of production when the quality management process is at the starting stage. ISO 9000 has nowadays become a need to any organization because it helps to improve productivity (Pike and Barnes, 1996, p27). It helps in organizing the process of production, and it also helps in improving the performance of the company (ibid). The implementation determines whether the work is done in an efficient way or not, and makes sure that the system is on track (ibid). Moreover, ISO 9000 gives a great advantage to an organization to work globally (ibid). Finally, by implementing ISO 9000 first, the implantation of TQM will be more effective. On the other hand, Total quality management can be implemented as a precursor to ISO 9000. Implementing TQM as a precursor can be of advantage to the implementation of ISO 9000 because the company can keep its regular customers which can be possible because TQM helps in meeting the needs of the customers. The implementation of TQM creates a competitive advantage, and it will also improve the participation and dedication of the employees. The employees work as a team for the implementation activities and thus cooperation increases. Besides, the implementation of TQM as a precursor to ISO 9000 will reduce the time of the registration with ISO because most of ISO 9000 requirement should be met by the organization. The implementation of TQM and ISO 9000 helps provide quality to the customers. So, the advantages of both quality systems in an organization can be listed as follows; They improve the productivity of the organization from top to bottom. They are systematic and well-structured approaches that can be used for enhancing customer satisfaction. Theyre very improvement methods by which the deviations can be reduced. Both help in delivering the product and services that required quality which expected by the customers. Together they help in reducing a higher level of wastages. Implementation of ISO 9000 offers a strong foundation for the efficient implementation of TQM. The implementing of ISO 9000 as a precursor of TQM helps to create an understanding of the requirements of the customers. It enhances the involvement of the employees in the TQM process. It increases the relationship with the suppliers. The profit of the firm can be boosted up by implementing ISO 9000. Disadvantages of implementing TQM as a precursor to ISO 9000 and vice versa globally: ISO 9000 and TQM are the integral components of the successful running of every organization. While implementing TQM as a precursor to ISO 9000, few problems arise in connection with customer satisfaction, because without the incorporation of TQM and ISO 9000 does not bring enough customer satisfaction. They consider that ISO 9000 certification is the main thing which shows the manufacturers ability to produce high quality products (Schoonmaker, 1997, p5). Also implementation of TQM as a precursor to ISO causes difficulties for entering into international market because ISO 9000 certification is an integral component of petrochemical industry to enter an international market. In order to get ISO 9000 systematic planning is necessary and it will help bring faith from the part of the customer and also to produce good quality products. ISO 9000 certification is the major thing which is used to compete with the international markets. Also, implementing TQM as a precursor to ISO 9000 will cause difficulties to maintain quality improvement. So, it is better to follow ISO 9000 standards before TQM in every organization. Nevertheless, there exist few disadvantages also for this type of implementation. In order to achieve maximum profit from a business, the major thing is to fulfil the needs of the customer and TQM approach gives more consideration to customer satisfaction. So, by implementing ISO 9000 first will cause few problems regarding customer satisfaction. Even there is quality in the products for the satisfaction of the customer ISO 9000 and TQM certification is essential. It is better to implement ISO 9000 before TQM because in the newest version of ISO 9000 it includes several features of TQM. Therefore the implementation of TQM before ISO 900 is really wastage of time and money. There are some problems regarding the implementation of TQM as the precursor to ISO 9000 and some of that problems are Initially higher cost of production as more is recognized as rejects. Cost of training personnel, cost of implementing stages of feedback for employees (Voters 2010). The implementation of this TQM standard requires more cost because there need to bring total changes in the organization such as for the training of the employees, implementation of the latest technologies etc (Pike and Barnes, 1996, p275). It is difficult to alter the practice of the long-time workers to the TQM procedures and ISO 9000 procedures. While the organization is ru nning smoothly with their existing functional procedures as the customer demands for the ISO 9000 and TQM standard certification, the company owners are forced to change to these standard procedures. Even though an organization maintains quality in their products and excellent workers the customer does not agree the quality without the certification of these standards. The petrochemical products are used for several purposes so the certification of ISO 9000 and TQM for every product seems to be very difficult because sometimes the assurance of the quality of a product requires much more money than the money required for the manufacturing of that product. There are also some difficulties in implementation the ISO 9000 as the precursor. To finish the procedures of ISO 9000 registration it takes several months. The 1996 Quality Systems Update survey indicated that it took businesses an average of 15 months to move from the early stages of the process to passage of the final audit, and that processes of 18-20 months or even longer were not that uncommon (Answers, 2010). It is really wastage of time and effort to the business owners moreover wastage of time to other employees in the organization. Frequently companies will have a customer who demands that they be ISO 9000 certified to continue doing business. NOW the company has the choice of losing a customer or implementing ISO 9000. Either way money is lost in the short term (Gunaman and De-Almeida, 2000, p.5).