How can Wal-Mart Keep Low Prices

When Sam Walton opened his first store, the Five and Dime, he had no idea that he would become a success. He started his first store with one vision – to keep prices as low as possible. He knew that by keeping the prices low, his profit would not be as large as his competitor’s but he also knew that he could compensate this by the volume of sales. Soon he was opening new stores in other states and its sales reached millions of dollars. At present, Wal-mart is the biggest corporation surpassing its competitors (Jim Hightower) It has over more than a hundred retail stores all over the world making the Waltons some of the richest people in the world. S. Robson Walton is ranked by London’s â€Å"Rich List 2001† as the wealthiest human on the planet having more than $65 billion surpassing Bill Gates. (Jim Hightower) Its present status was however not attained overnight. There were several strategies adopted by Wal-Mart which made it the world’s largest retailer. The first is the use of technology. Wal-Mart was the first to use the Universal Bar Code system. As the largest retailer, Wal-Mart was able to force manufacturers of products to adopt a common labeling called the bar code. The bar code contains details about the product which tells the retailers information such as how many of the said products have been sold and how many are still remaining. This system helped improve the way inventories are done in stores. With the bar code system, retail store owners no loner need to hire employees to conduct the inventory and the inventory system is now more accurate. Another business strategy adopted by Wal-Mart to keep prices low is its adoption of the corporate culture of frugality. The Waltons were very careful about spending their money and they lived a very simple lifestyle. They also demanded frugality from their employees. Frugality is so imbedded in its culture that even the company’s headquarters is located in Arkansas which is very old and looks dull. The executives of the company do not ride in fancy limousines and nor do they reside in expensive hotels. Instead, the executives shared budget-hotel rooms with their colleagues. (Caroline Wilbert) The corporate culture of frugality was manifested in the way the wages of their employees are being paid. It is said that the company pays an average wage of $9. 68 an hour which is definitely not enough for the employees to maintain a decent standard of living. (Gregory Heires) There have been complaints that the said company even compels its employees and managers to work overtime without paying them additional compensation for overtime work. The employees do not have adequate health care insurance and other benefits. Health care insurances are essential especially for employees who are earning barely enough for their daily living. Even if these employees get sick they will get some help from health care providers for their medicine and hospitalization expenses. Research, however, shows that â€Å"Wal-Mart's health insurance covers 44% or approximately 572,000 of its 1. 3 million U. S. workers. [In comparison, Wal-Mart rival Brown & Cole Stores insures approximately 96% of its 2,000 eligible workers. Further, Wal-Mart spends an average of $3,500 per employee for health care, 27% less than the retail-industry average of $4,800. †(â€Å"Wal-Mart†) Wal-Mart adopted an aggressive policy against labor unions. The role of unions in workplaces is very important. They ensure that the employees are given the wages and benefits which the law gives them. It is said that in North America, Wal-Mart has thwarted efforts to create union through aggressive anti-union tactics such as managerial surveillance and pre-emptive closures of stores or departments who choose to unionize. (â€Å"Wal-Mart†) Initially, Wal-Mart advertised the â€Å"Buy American† campaign. However, in order to maintain its low prices, Wal-Mart had to look for other suppliers which offered products for a lesser price than the suppliers in the United States. Eventually Wal-Mart began looking at other countries for the cheapest source of production. In 1995, Wal-Mart said that 6 percent of its total merchandise was imported. A decade later, experts estimated that Wal-Mart imported about 60 percent of its merchandise. (Caroline Wilbert) Today, Wal-Mart is considered the largest importer of Chinese-made products in the world, buying $10 billion worth of merchandise from several thousand Chinese factories. (Jim Hightower) There is, however, a price for the success of this management policy of Wal-Mart. For the company to maintain low prices for its buyers and customers, it has to reduce its expenses in the barest minimum – including wages, benefits, working conditions, supplies and products. As a result, Wal-Mart has been criticized worldwide for its business policies by other business organization, religious organization. Among the issues raised against it are: a) low wages it pays to its employees, cases of union busting, lack of health care and employee benefits, use of foreign labor, discrimination against women, It bears stressing that the current management policy of Wal-Mart is devastating for the millions of its employees worldwide. Though it may have generated employment, it has also created unemployment insofar as the employees of their competitors are concerned. For its existing employees, their working condition is far from being ideal. The purpose of this research project is to prove that it is possible for Wal-Mart to improve the wages and benefits it gives to its employees and at the same time maintain the prices of their products low. The philosophy is clear and definite – Wal-Mart can maintain the low prices of its products without hurting its employees. The persons who will be interested in this research project are not only the employees who will be benefited by the increase in their wages and benefits but also the consumers who desire to ensure that the prices of products in Wal-Mart remain the same. II. I believe that it is possible for Wal-Mart to improve the wages and benefits it gives to its thousands of employees and at the same time maintain the prices of their products low. As proof, I aim to use studies made by economists and researchers. One potential secondary source that will prove the said point is the studies conducted by the Economic Policy Institute which is cited in the article of Emily Kaiser entitled â€Å"US: Wal-Mart Could Hike Pay and Keep Prices Low: Study. † Researchers have also concluded that if only Wal-Mart would reduce its profit margin to about 2. 9%, where it stood in 1997, from the 3. 6% margin it recorded last year that would free up about $2. 3 billion to pay workers without raising prices. † (Emily Kaiser) The primary research tool that could be used for this research is the examination into the Income Statement of the Wal-Mart Inc. These are public documents which could be looked into by any citizen. By examining the company’s Income Statement, we will be able to find out just how much money the company is earning in a year. If a small portion of these earnings will only be equitably distributed, then the employees will experience an improvement in their living condition. Another primary research tool are Internet sources which shows the extent of the complaints, criticisms and suits against Wal-Mart. By looking into the information from these sources, one can conclude that the wealth and success of Wal-Mart was made at the expense of its employees.

Healthcare Reform

Healthcare Reform By Kim LeFave Healthcare is one of the hottest political topics in the news. It affects every man, woman, and child. I’m sure most if not all of you have caught something on this topic. As I researched this topic on the internet I was surprised to learn some of the statistics on healthcare in America. Even though our nation is faced with recession and more than 8% of Americans are unemployed I still assumed the rest of the 92% of working Americans had some kind of healthcare insurance. I was alarmed to learn that 15% of Americans have no coverage. This is roughly 47 million Americans. To me it is obvious that healthcare reform is necessary. We are still one of the richest countries in the world. Why are so many without any healthcare insurance? Those of you who work full-time, how many of you pay a certain amount out of your weekly check for healthcare insurance? It seems to go up higher than the cost of living each year. Do you have adequate coverage? Most Americans are not happy with the out of pocket expenses they have to pay in addition to paying high premiums. Do you have a co-pay every time you see a doctor? Do you have to pay a portion for drug coverage? These costs can add up. When was the last time you saw a doctor? Do you avoid doctors unless you are absolutely sick? The reason I am bombarding you with these questions is to get you to think about what healthcare reform might mean to you. What is it you want out of your healthcare insurance provider? Most of us might say lower out of pocket expenses, like low or no co-payments for doctor’s visits, or low or no co-payments for needed drugs, or even no money taken out of our paychecks to pay for that health insurance. Wouldn’t that be nice? Do you realize that most developed countries have universal healthcare systems, which means whether or not you are employed you are covered for your healthcare needs. After watching a PBS program about universal healthcare in other countries I was very surprised that our country was not trying to do some of the same things that these other countries were doing. Take for instance Japan, under their universal health care system MRI’s are about two hundred and fifty dollars, and in America it is about two thousand dollars. No doctor in Japan is getting rich quick, but people are able to afford healthcare more easily. It is much of the same in other countries that have universal healthcare systems. Okay let’s get back to what is now going on in this country. Basically the Healthcare Reform Bill under President Obama’s administration is a very small step in actual healthcare reform compared to what other countries have done. I’m sure most of you have heard that under the new reform bill insurance companies cannot deny coverage if you have a preexisting condition. Also it limits sky high premiums because of gender and age. It will also prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it the most. It will eliminate extra charges for preventative care like mammograms, flu shots, and diabetes tests to improve health and save money. It is supposed to protect medicare for seniors by extending new protections for medicare beneficiaries. It will also eliminate the â€Å"donut-hole† gap in coverage for prescription drugs. If you don’t have insurance this new reform bill will create a new insurance marketplace called the Exchange. This will allow people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices. It will also provide new tax credits to help people to buy insurance. It will give tax credits to small businesses and give affordable options for covering employees. It will offer a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice. It will offer new, low-cost coverage through a national â€Å"high risk† pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created. Hopefully this can all be achieved as proposed. It is not supposed to add to the national deficit and is paid upfront from the immediate savings from the initial healthcare reform. If savings are not realized essentially cuts will be required by the President to ensure that the plan does not add to the deficit. In addition these reforms will begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality. It will create an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system. It will order immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, instead of practicing on defensive medicine. To do this the Secretary of Health and Human Services is instructed by the President to award medical malpractice demonstration grants to states funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Also large employers with more than fifty employees who can afford to buy insurance so everyone of their employees share in the responsibility of reform will be required. Their will be a â€Å"hardship exemption† for those who cannot afford the premiums. Okay so there it is the basics of the new Healthcare Reform Bill proposed by President Obama and his administration. To me this is just a minute scratching of the surface for healthcare reform in this country. I suppose you have to start somewhere. Not every American will be happy with the proposed changes. To me it should be done more on a trial basis, but let’s get real try it before you buy it in this country is virtually unheard of especially when it come to healthcare. I’m sure we will learn as we go and that it will be an honest effort to avoid high cost health insurance. What bothers me the most is that many things that make the healthcare too costly are not being addressed. What about the cost of a doctor’s visit, or the cost of a procedure, or the cost of your drugs? Will it go down? This reform bill hardly explains if this will happen. I think because of the newly created Exchange, healthcare insurance may go down a bit, but only time will tell if by the year 2013 when the exchange is fully active if it will affect the cost of the quality of healthcare as a whole. I read a blog online that made me question what is in the future for Americans when it comes to healthcare. How are people who can’t afford healthcare now supposed to afford healthcare when this new reform bill goes through? The blog questioned the validity of our government taking over another area where they have continuously failed in other areas. The point was that the Medicare / Medicaid system is already nearing bankruptcy as well as the U. S. Postal Service. It questioned how all this was going to be paid for by suggesting that the only real way to get the money is more taxes. Does that offer Americans a choice or is this being forced on us? These are very important points and even tougher questions that any American would be concerned about. Another blog for the healthcare reform bill suggests that there are many areas that the government has handled well, for instance; fire departments, police departments, waste water management, military, and coastguard. Although most of us think of some of these on a local level they are all federally funded. The strongest point was that this healthcare reform bill will reduce administrative costs from 20-30% to 2-3%. This would also reduce the profit that big time insurance companies and their biggest investors would make. My sister-in-law had that laser surgery on her eyes. When she researched cost she found that she could go to Canada and pay far less for the same procedure. She paid about three thousand dollars compared to the hefty price tag of seven thousand dollars here in the States. Many people have gone to Canada to receive cheaper procedures and cheaper drug prices. To me this is the real issue in this country. Yes, the insurance is expensive, but if you think about it procedures are even more expensive. If the cost of procedures and drugs go down along with the cost of insurance then this would make more sense to me. I think it will be at least another 5-10 years before we see this happen in this country. I think this bill will force some insurance companies to either go bankrupt or lose a tremendous amount of money. How will they compete with the less expensive insurances? Will it be just what happened to our banks? I see lots of merging insurance companies in our future. I hate to be clique but I think only time will tell how this will work out for all our citizens, our government and our insurance companies. Healthcare Reform ? Health Care Reform It should come as no surprise that the United States’ current health care system is in need of some major changes. Everyone knows that going to the doctor or hospital in the United States can cost a lot of money out of pocket, whether you have insurance or not. Americans who do have insurance pay into it with every pay check, only to go to the doctor and have to pay more. What it would be like to not have to worry about how much money there is in the bank when someone is sick? When a person is ill there are enough things to worry about without having to worry if they can afford the doctor bill. What are some of the pros and cons of a health care reform for the United States? No one person or company is safe when it comes to the burdens of the rising costs and decreasing quality of care in our current health care system. â€Å"Per-person health care expenditures in the United States have risen 6. 5 percent per year since 2000, and 5. 5 percent per year on average since 1994. † (Furnas, Ben. (January 2009). â€Å"American health care since 1994: the unacceptable status quo†. Center for American Progress) Many Americans who do have insurance are not safe from the rising costs of insurance. â€Å"Health care costs burden American mployers, who are forced to cut back on providing coverage and benefits or suffer a competitive disadvantage against international companies who don't bear health costs. † â€Å"Premiums for employer-provided health care have doubled since 2000. † (Furnas, Ben. (January 2009). â€Å"American health care since 1994: the unac ceptable status quo†. Center for American Progress) Due to the recession, many Americans have lost their jobs and are left with no insurance. There are 46 million Americans with no health insurance. A large number that do have health insurance are under-insured. Under-insured means that some who have insurance re not adequately protected from high medical costs. Many people with no or little health insurance will put off preventative care and even care they may know they need, until it is so bad that it ends up costing even more money. Individuals with no insurance will end up being diagnosed in later stages than those with insurance. â€Å"Effective chronic disease management and preventive care have been woefully neglected as a national priority and should be a key piece of any comprehensive and effective Reform. † (Furnas, Ben. (January 2009). â€Å"American health care since 1994: the unacceptable status quo†. Center for American Progress) â€Å"Nearly 25% of uninsured children and 40% of uninsured adults have no regular source of medical care. † â€Å"Inadequate insurance coverage carries with it financial as well as medical risks: the costs of medical treatment are a leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States† (Oberlander, Jonathan. (2002). â€Å"the U. S. health care system: on the road to nowhere? â€Å". Canadian Medical Association Journal , 67, 163-67. ) As a â€Å"great and free† country, we can not sit by and allow our fellow Americans to be denied medical care simply because of their income. A lot of what is rong with the current health care system can be shown in our infant mortality rate. It is fact that the United States’ infant mortality rates is among one of the highest. The United States ranks 26th in the world in infant mortality. How one of the largest and most modernized countries in the world have such a high rate? The answer to that is, it shouldn’t. A Commonwealth Fund Study found that the United States achieves â€Å"an overall score of 65 out of 100 when comparing national averages with benchmarks of best performance achieved internationally and within the United States. † It is clear that the United States is coming in well elow the standards of health, efficiency, and care. What would it be like to have a universal health care system? When it comes to why universal health care could be good for the United States, it's encouraged to watch the movie â€Å"Sicko†. It is one of Michael Moore’s documentaries. Whether loved or hated, it can’t be denied what is obviously working for other countries. In the movie he visits countries like, Canada, France, and Norway, and even Cuba. Yes, Cuba has nationalized health care. In the movie he takes a good look into what it might be like to be able to go to the doctor or hospital and not worry about how much debt might follow. Those people don’t have to worry about whether or not their insurance company is going to cover the cost of certain treatments or procedures. They don’t have to worry about being denied needed treatment, because of a pre-existing condition. People in these countries are generally healthier than Americans simply because they partake in more preventative health care. How is it possible that a country led by Fidel Castro has a better health care system than the United States? It’s simple. These countries have decided that everyone deserves to have health care, and everyone pays taxes for everyone to have it. One of the biggest complaints I hear from people who are against nationalized health care is, â€Å"Why should I have to pay for someone else’s health care costs? † The fact is, we are already paying for others health care. Everyone who works pays into Medicare and Medicaid. The way things are looking now, when I am eligible to use that money, there won’t be any for me. The current government health care system is bankrupting fast. Yes, everyone’s taxes will be raised. Paying more taxes seems reasonable to not have the financial burden be dropped on a single individual and their family in the middle of a stressful time of someone being sick. The costs of medical treatment are a leading cause of bankruptcy debt. † Half of all bankruptcy in the United States involve a medical reason or a large medical debt that they can not afford to pay The plan that President Barack Obama is proposing to the American people has a catching and enticing phrase. The bil l proposes that we build on what works in today's health care system, while repairing the aspects that are broken. To be able to provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending. This bill has public and private options for the people, a sliding scale afford ability credits, it will share responsibility among workers, employers and the government so that all Americans can have essential health care coverage and benefits. This bill will make it illegal to not insure people due to pre-existing conditions. It will allow coverage and benefits for mental health and substance disorder abuse. One of the biggest complaints of President Obama's bill is that it is said to include government funded abortions. The truth is, this bill does not clearly state either way whether the government will pay for abortions. It does say that under the public option plan, abortion costs can be covered. Pregnancies due to rape, incest, and when the mothers life is at risk are already covered by the government if the individual receives government benefits. .â€Å"Comprehensive health insurance for all Americans, are long overdue. The best time to fix American health care was [more than] a decade ago. The second best time is now. † (Furnas, Ben. (January 2009). â€Å"American health care since 1994: the unacceptable status quo†. Center for American Progress) American’s need to stand up and demand adequate health care for everyone. American’s have been great at banding together in times of tragedy, as after the 9/11 attacks. People need to look at our health care system and recognize that this is a time of tragedy for the American people. It seems that most people are afraid of change, but sometimes change is needed. Reference Page (Furnas, Ben. (January 2009). â€Å"American health care since 1994: the unacceptable status quo†. Center for American Progress) Oberlander, Jonathan. (2002). â€Å"the U. S. health care system: on the road to nowhere? â€Å". Canadian Medical Association Journal , 67, 163-67. Healthcare Reform Healthcare Reform By Kim LeFave Healthcare is one of the hottest political topics in the news. It affects every man, woman, and child. I’m sure most if not all of you have caught something on this topic. As I researched this topic on the internet I was surprised to learn some of the statistics on healthcare in America. Even though our nation is faced with recession and more than 8% of Americans are unemployed I still assumed the rest of the 92% of working Americans had some kind of healthcare insurance. I was alarmed to learn that 15% of Americans have no coverage. This is roughly 47 million Americans. To me it is obvious that healthcare reform is necessary. We are still one of the richest countries in the world. Why are so many without any healthcare insurance? Those of you who work full-time, how many of you pay a certain amount out of your weekly check for healthcare insurance? It seems to go up higher than the cost of living each year. Do you have adequate coverage? Most Americans are not happy with the out of pocket expenses they have to pay in addition to paying high premiums. Do you have a co-pay every time you see a doctor? Do you have to pay a portion for drug coverage? These costs can add up. When was the last time you saw a doctor? Do you avoid doctors unless you are absolutely sick? The reason I am bombarding you with these questions is to get you to think about what healthcare reform might mean to you. What is it you want out of your healthcare insurance provider? Most of us might say lower out of pocket expenses, like low or no co-payments for doctor’s visits, or low or no co-payments for needed drugs, or even no money taken out of our paychecks to pay for that health insurance. Wouldn’t that be nice? Do you realize that most developed countries have universal healthcare systems, which means whether or not you are employed you are covered for your healthcare needs. After watching a PBS program about universal healthcare in other countries I was very surprised that our country was not trying to do some of the same things that these other countries were doing. Take for instance Japan, under their universal health care system MRI’s are about two hundred and fifty dollars, and in America it is about two thousand dollars. No doctor in Japan is getting rich quick, but people are able to afford healthcare more easily. It is much of the same in other countries that have universal healthcare systems. Okay let’s get back to what is now going on in this country. Basically the Healthcare Reform Bill under President Obama’s administration is a very small step in actual healthcare reform compared to what other countries have done. I’m sure most of you have heard that under the new reform bill insurance companies cannot deny coverage if you have a preexisting condition. Also it limits sky high premiums because of gender and age. It will also prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it the most. It will eliminate extra charges for preventative care like mammograms, flu shots, and diabetes tests to improve health and save money. It is supposed to protect medicare for seniors by extending new protections for medicare beneficiaries. It will also eliminate the â€Å"donut-hole† gap in coverage for prescription drugs. If you don’t have insurance this new reform bill will create a new insurance marketplace called the Exchange. This will allow people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices. It will also provide new tax credits to help people to buy insurance. It will give tax credits to small businesses and give affordable options for covering employees. It will offer a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice. It will offer new, low-cost coverage through a national â€Å"high risk† pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created. Hopefully this can all be achieved as proposed. It is not supposed to add to the national deficit and is paid upfront from the immediate savings from the initial healthcare reform. If savings are not realized essentially cuts will be required by the President to ensure that the plan does not add to the deficit. In addition these reforms will begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality. It will create an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system. It will order immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, instead of practicing on defensive medicine. To do this the Secretary of Health and Human Services is instructed by the President to award medical malpractice demonstration grants to states funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Also large employers with more than fifty employees who can afford to buy insurance so everyone of their employees share in the responsibility of reform will be required. Their will be a â€Å"hardship exemption† for those who cannot afford the premiums. Okay so there it is the basics of the new Healthcare Reform Bill proposed by President Obama and his administration. To me this is just a minute scratching of the surface for healthcare reform in this country. I suppose you have to start somewhere. Not every American will be happy with the proposed changes. To me it should be done more on a trial basis, but let’s get real try it before you buy it in this country is virtually unheard of especially when it come to healthcare. I’m sure we will learn as we go and that it will be an honest effort to avoid high cost health insurance. What bothers me the most is that many things that make the healthcare too costly are not being addressed. What about the cost of a doctor’s visit, or the cost of a procedure, or the cost of your drugs? Will it go down? This reform bill hardly explains if this will happen. I think because of the newly created Exchange, healthcare insurance may go down a bit, but only time will tell if by the year 2013 when the exchange is fully active if it will affect the cost of the quality of healthcare as a whole. I read a blog online that made me question what is in the future for Americans when it comes to healthcare. How are people who can’t afford healthcare now supposed to afford healthcare when this new reform bill goes through? The blog questioned the validity of our government taking over another area where they have continuously failed in other areas. The point was that the Medicare / Medicaid system is already nearing bankruptcy as well as the U. S. Postal Service. It questioned how all this was going to be paid for by suggesting that the only real way to get the money is more taxes. Does that offer Americans a choice or is this being forced on us? These are very important points and even tougher questions that any American would be concerned about. Another blog for the healthcare reform bill suggests that there are many areas that the government has handled well, for instance; fire departments, police departments, waste water management, military, and coastguard. Although most of us think of some of these on a local level they are all federally funded. The strongest point was that this healthcare reform bill will reduce administrative costs from 20-30% to 2-3%. This would also reduce the profit that big time insurance companies and their biggest investors would make. My sister-in-law had that laser surgery on her eyes. When she researched cost she found that she could go to Canada and pay far less for the same procedure. She paid about three thousand dollars compared to the hefty price tag of seven thousand dollars here in the States. Many people have gone to Canada to receive cheaper procedures and cheaper drug prices. To me this is the real issue in this country. Yes, the insurance is expensive, but if you think about it procedures are even more expensive. If the cost of procedures and drugs go down along with the cost of insurance then this would make more sense to me. I think it will be at least another 5-10 years before we see this happen in this country. I think this bill will force some insurance companies to either go bankrupt or lose a tremendous amount of money. How will they compete with the less expensive insurances? Will it be just what happened to our banks? I see lots of merging insurance companies in our future. I hate to be clique but I think only time will tell how this will work out for all our citizens, our government and our insurance companies.

US Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

US Democracy - Essay Example The question how democratic is democracy in U.S may seem challenging to a lay man but it is clear from the U.S constitution that the states practice democracy in almost all their dealings. However to some extent America system of governance has failed to adopt some of the some of the innovations and modifications in the democratic systems and ideal. The United States constitution allows the common citizens to participate in various democratic processes such as election and taking part in referendum in case there is any. However to some extent the American democracy gets dilute day by day with more of her power Washington. The states are becoming more republic consolidated government. The "politically correct" and "historical revisionists" have soiled United States with restrained but disparaging autocracies that have extremely dented our free democratic people. Politicians use the term democracy when they need something from the publics, and they use the term republic when they do no t need something from the citizens. It is political system and where the legal force is regulated through given and enumerated powers. For instance, the United States Constitution, and predominantly the Bill of Rights, was premeditated to limit governments part to what United States’ founding forefathers saw as governments utmost vital functions. The main functions were to reserve individual liberty and defend private property. Moreover, Persons differ in their perception of a limited government, nonetheless, one common understanding is that a limited government is one that imposes just ample taxes to deliver for state defense and police security and then stays out of publics undertakings. As an example, a limited government is one that does not distress itself with issues such as what sallies should employees get from the jobs they do, retirement investment schemes of

The importance of professionalism within the construction industry Essay

The importance of professionalism within the construction industry - Essay Example For the construction industry, professionalism is important as it avails self-identity. The self-identity stems from the professional firms that personnel within the industry have created. For example in the engineering and architecture industry that have professional bodies, which act as reglators of the graduates who wish to be recognised as qualified, trusted, and capable professionals. The self-identity is also created through professionalism by the belief that exists among the public domain and the community at large that members of these bodies work to serve them (Murray & Dainty, 2013). Professionalism in the construction industry has also aided in ensuring that the experts in this industry are not money-minded, but work to ensure that their customers get the best and serve the needs that the society wants to be addressed and solved. Hence, an aspect of discipline is instilled in the industry through professionalism. Without discipline, any profession is bound to fail in the l ong run. Hence, the durability of the construction industry is fortified by professionalism (Murray & Dainty, 2013). Through professionalism, the corporate social responsibility of the construction industry is enhanced. The enhancement of the corporate social responsibility serves to boost the function-ability and delivery of the industry. Delivery is of great importance to any industry, without it, the industry cannot function. It is through this responsibility that targets are set and met, which ensures that the professional conduct.

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Muslims and Health Care in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Muslims and Health Care in America - Essay Example In this perspective, while exploring the meaning of providing effective healthcare to the whole person, it will derive that one of the first issues we must address is the nature of personhood. Wellness requires dealing with the disease present in the body, which is the traditional task of medicine. But it also requires working with patients to address other aspects of the illness, their ideas and feelings, their expectations regarding treatment and outcomes, and their ability to function. Addressing these issues require an understanding of emotional, spiritual, and relational concepts of a patient. Religious belief plays an important role in personal outlook towards handling physical self or the body as religious factors is focused heavily on prescribed beliefs, rituals, and practices, as well as social institutional features. In addition to religious factors spirituality of an individual also plays an important role in healthy living. Any spiritual assessment before treatment should be a collaborative process involving both the clinician and patient. Thus, all healthcare personals should identify the importance of cultural orientation, religious beliefs, and linguistic considerations in their approach to effective healthcare practice for delivery to diverse populace in US. Healthcare providers

Leadership versus management in healthcare Coursework

Leadership versus management in healthcare - Coursework Example Management is a process that involves the determination of objectives using human, financial, and physical resources. Managers must make sure that they adopt an appropriate approach of combining all these resources to achieve organizational goals (Shortell & Kaluzny, 2006). Other authors have categorized the roles of a manager as informational, interpersonal, and decisional. In summary, management involves functions such as planning, organizing, evaluating, budgeting, and controlling. On the other hand, leadership involves influencing followers so that they can get on the right track or direction. Therefore, leaders must define strategies and visions for an organization. Therefore, leadership is defined by visions, ideologies, and direction that must be used to influence the followers. The objectives of leaders are to inspire and motivate followers so that they can achieve an identified goal. In the view of many authors, leadership is both goals oriented, and highly inspirational. Cu rrently, there are many leadership theories that describe how leaders use different strategies to influence their followers. In the healthcare sector, both leaders and managers play a critical role. The purpose of many healthcare institutions is to promote the healthcare status of the community while delivering quality services. Leadership serves to define the visions and goals of each healthcare institution. On the other hand, the managers serve to organize all the employees, teams within the healthcare system.

Macroeconomics and Microeconomics - Interest Rate Assignment

Macroeconomics and Microeconomics - Interest Rate - Assignment Example A developed money market is essential to the development of an economy as it provides the sources of finance to carry out the necessary business transactions. Firstly, it provides the cash required on a short term basis to finance the working capital requirements of businesses and entire industries. Lenders can borrow the money from financial institutions to finance their necessary transactions and thus the money market allows the economy to keep running. It also helps to keep the financial institutions self sufficient as the institutions can recall their loans at any point if they need it. Money market instruments are significant for the central bank because it regulates and controls its monetary policy by increasing or decreasing the money market rates. It also provides the finances to the government who may issue treasury bills in order to finance its spending. (Importance of Money Markets) The money market rate is called the federal funds rate in the USA which is the lending of a vailable funds from one institution to another on a short term basis. Q2) The above figure shows the graph of the U.S. Federal Funds rate and the Treasury Bill rate over a period from 1991 to 2009. The interest rates of money market funds usually tend to move in the same way as the future interest rates are based on the expectations. The year 1991 began with the federal fund rate and treasury bill rate set at 5.69% and 5.41% and was on a constant decrease until the year 1993, after which it began to rise and more or less maintained the same level until the year 2000. In the year 2001, the terrorist attacks in U.S. badly damaged the confidence in the economy and the people, both local and foreign, were not willing to invest in the U.S., therefore the federal bank and the government reduced the interest rates in order to encourage the spending. The interest rate encouraged the potential investors to increase the borrowing and the investments along with decrease the savings. The govern ment, in 2004, increased the interest rates gradually and increased it constantly on a quarterly basis. After the interest rates reached a point of 4.5% to 5% in the year 2006, the world was hit by the recession and the central banks had to lower the interest rates to once again encourage the spending and investments in the U.S. economy to limit the recessionary impact on the economy. The government and the central bank still had to decrease the interest rates due to the recession and reached a low point of 0.16% in 2009. Q3) The above graph shows the money market rate and the treasury bill rate in Bahrain over the time period from 1991 to 2009. Again both the curves move in the same direction as they are based on the same expectations. The interest rates of Bahrain move in a direction similar to that of the U.S. because the currency of Bahrain Dinar is pegged to the U.S. Dollar. The Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) regulates the interest rates on a quarterly basis keeping the national and international indicators into consideration. The year 1991 began with a declining interest rate which was restored in 1993, similar to the case in the U.S. and the interest rates were more or less stable with only a few changes in it. This was the time when there was stability in the world throughout. However, in 2001 after the terrorist attacks, the economies throughout the world took a big hit especially the U.S. economy that had to lower the interest rates drastically until 2004. The same was followed by the Bahrain government

Health Care Spending Essay Example for Free

Health Care Spending Essay â€Å"Historically, U.S. health care spending has grown at rates exceeding the economy’s growth rate, often by at least 2 percentage points per year† (Holahan McMorrow, 2012, 393). Recently, it seems that the rate of health care spending has slowed down a little, though no reasons can be pinpointed as to why this is. There are many factors that affect the growth of health care spending, and plenty of solutions have been proposed to help improve this issue. Factors such as advancements in medical technology and an increase in the price of prescription drugs cause health care costs to rise year after year. Solutions have been presented and implemented, like Medicare and Medicaid and managed care plans, however, even these components have added to the health care spending issue. With all the discussion and debate, one thing can be agreed upon, something needs to be done. In recent years both public and private payers have experienced an inclement rise health care spending that has exceeded income growth. This growth started right after the end of World War II and has continue to increase every ten years, health care spending has exceeded the gross domestic products (GDP) which had a projection of 26% by 2035 taken for health care spending, prior the health care reform was passed. This number is only going to continue increasing, which bring in the importance of control the spending since the nation’s long-term fiscal balance will be determined by the future rate growth in health care cost. According to Chernew (2010) the primary determinant of spending growth is the development and diffusion of new medical technology. However this does not imply the establishment of new technology rather focuses on how to use it with technologies and systems already in use, in other words make it compatible to work together. The diversity of technologies contributing to spending growth generates a diversity of pathways by which technology increases spending. These includes high unit cost driven capital cost or the need for specialized labor, high volume, or cost related to complementary services. Because the past rate of health care spending growth is not sustainable, both private and public payers will take action to lower spending. Those actions may not necessary alter the forces that historically have driven up spending, but they will be designed to address the immediate problem of high sending. There are many options from cost sharing from patients, reductions in payments to Medicare Advantage, fee reductions under the new payment rules implemented with Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On the article there is a suggestion that I find interesting about Global payments, which is an alternate form of bundled payments which is a program use to pay a fixed fee for a set of services related to a specific episode of care. This might be a good solution for the situation we are facing now, because it would give providers the opportunity to profit with reduced revenue, and even share some of the savings form not using health care services. Yet in order for bundled payments system to be successful the need of having the proper tools to improve the efficiency of care. Many providers will be able to develop these tools, but it would require partnership between facilities, physicians, and insurers. For the system to be successful it would have to carefully manage practice pattern changes due to new technology, adjusting aggressiveness based on the generosity of bundled payments updates. If bundled payments encourage efficiencies, they may reduce the level of spending more than spending growth, and that is exactly the area we as country need to be working on. According to President Obama, â€Å"We do not have a spending problem; we have a health care problem†. This statement was alarming to many Americans. The President feels that healthcare spending on the aging population is the number one fiscal problem. Then why is the solution taking so long? With Obamacare, Medicare will see cuts up to $716 billion. Where will this leave the Americans who receive Medicare? How can they still receive health care with this much of a cut? Will Providers be willing to provide the same high level of care with the high cut to their expected fees? There is no way of knowing if this will even solve the health care spending problem or if it will create even larger problems for Americans. Budget cuts will be needed in other areas to make these cuts to health care spending improve the financial state of our country (Galupo, 2013). According to New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn, the new health care reform addresses the cost of health care rather than health care spending. He argues the proposed spending cuts will address the health care spending problem along with other budget cuts. Obamacare may not be a good solution to the current health care spending problem in America. Many suggest that the new law’s affect on provider reimbursement rates will have a huge impact on access to care for many seniors. This can greatly affect the health of our aging population. Spending cuts projected for Medicare and Medicaid will help that aspect of health care spending but with the added subsidies for people to purchase private health insurance, the savings just do not add up. When it comes to health care spending there is much controversy on what increases health care cost, what measures we can take to keep health care cost down, and what actions we can take to make health care affordable without limiting health care. According to kaiserEDU.org the chart provided below shows how costing allocates throughout the nation. â€Å"Hospital care and physician services combined added up for half (51%) of the nation’s health expenditures.† Below is a diagram from the year 2010 of the nation’s health expenditures. National Health Expenditures, 2010 Totaling up = $2.3 Trillion Some major growth health care costs include a rise in chronic disease, administrative cost, or technology or prescription cost, although there may be many more expenditure that adds up to the growth in health care cost these three have been discussed to have the biggest effect on the nation. As technology continues to advance over the years to come, we may face more health care struggles, so being prepared for the unexpected leads to a healthy future. Health care spending continues to be a concern for most Americans. â€Å"The nation’s efforts to control health care costs have not had much long-term effect, prompting a debate over what proposals are actually able to reduce for the long-term. Approaches are largely divided by debate over a stronger role for government regulation or market-based models that encourage greater competition† (kaiseredu.org). Plans such as Obamacare are being implemented, but these plans are not solving the problem. Political debates and public discussions will continue as people try to figure out what factors are responsible for this problem and what solutions are truly aimed at achieving optimal health care at affordable costs. References Chernew, M. (2010). Health Care Spending Growth: Can We Avoid Fiscal Armageddon?. Inquiry,47(4), 285-295. Galupo, Scott, 2013, Let’s Split the Difference: We Have a Healthcare Spending Problem, The American Conservative, Retrieved February 14, 2013: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/lets-split-the-difference-we-have-a-healthcare-spending-problem/ Holahan, J. McMorrow, S. (2012). Medicare and Medicaid spending trends and the deficit debate. The New England Journal of Medicine, 367(5), 393- 395. Senger, Alyenne, 3013, No, Obamacare Does Not Lower Health Care Spending , The Founder, Retrieved February 16, 2013: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/02/12/no-obamacare-does-not-lower-health-carespending/ The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (n.d.). U.S. Health Care Costs. Retrieved from http://www.kaiseredu.org.

Statement of Purpose Essay Example for Free

Statement of Purpose Essay â€Å"The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams. †I firmly believe in this quote made by Eleanor Roosevelt. I have always dreamed of making it to the top in the field of business in general and that of finance in particular. However, to realize my dream I need to understand and appreciate the fact that I must arm myself with a professional degree from a reputed business school. This would be an important and decisive step in my journey towards success. A full-fledged program in finance would enable me to form a vision of business and of finance in the twenty-first century and the way it is going. The only career option in today’s competitive environment which creates an opportunity for an aspirant to pursue a career in the field of his choice is to acquire a management degree. Management qualification is a tool to build skills, gain knowledge and insight into modern business techniques At the same time and with equal mind, I recognize clearly the fact that what I wish to do would not be really possible without a robust theoretical framework and base. I fully acknowledge and appreciate the fact that I need to build up intellectual ability in me and arm myself with techniques of analysis, case studies and proper critical examination as well as the ability to acquire information and to get to the bottom of a matter. All that can come only from being part of a complete academic program that would test and try me out and in which I would grow and broaden. That is what I expect to happen to me as and when I become part of a Masters program at an outstanding university where I shall encounter the best minds engaged in constant discussion and ever absorbed in understanding not just the theoretical foundations of finance but also its new and emerging trends. What do I have to offer? First is the fact that I have done my graduation in business along with specialization in finance, which puts me in a somewhat unique position. I already have a theoretical framework that encompasses a fairly advanced and analytical view of society, its institutions and the transition that is part of those institutions in the world of today which is moving from an earlier concept of laissez faire capitalism and is becoming a global village where economic interests predominate and function as primary determinants of political action. The qualities that I have inculcated as a result of the academic ndeavors I have gone through are perseverance, patience, good communication skills, and flexible working procedures and at the same time highly disciplined working capability, qualities which I believe are absolutely necessary not just for success but also for mere survival in today’s fast paced and dynamic socio-economic environment. Most importantly I have the basic quality of self discipline and target oriented approach in consequence whereupon success is automatic. â€Å"All work and no play make Jack a dull boy†. I wish to add that I love driving and I love playing tennis and traveling. I also spend time reading about Finance books, about Finance management and about general management. I do that when I’m not listening to music, which too I love. I like watching lawn-tennis matches. Yes, with all that, I am setting out to learn as well as I can and as fast as I can at a reputed institute and pick up the training and skills of assessment, of decision making, of leadership and of communication which would benefit me to enter the complex world of business and to make my endeavors in that world profitable and advantageous. I must add that I am particularly interested in finance and look very much forward to getting into the course specifically related to finance. I see as well something equally important, namely, the fact that a program, when entered into fully and with a complete mind, builds up into an experience one can’t ever forget. A good world-class university with its vast pool of resources in terms of faculty, its up to date curriculum and its wide student membership is an active and dynamic world that provides an exposure as nothing else can. It is this exposure that I seek, as I know that it would enable me to get closer to my dream of working in the area of finance in the way I want to My role models are Mahatma Gandhi, Dhirubhai Ambani and Swami Vivekananda. Though the three come from different walks of life, each has inspired me in some or other way. In particular, their sense of leadership, their impeccable oratory and their communication skills as well as their infinite vision and talent mean a great deal to me. Finally, I believe that I would be able to steer my career in the right direction if I am armed with a professional (Masters) degree from a world renowned institute. I understand that just a qualification won’t be helpful without sincere and intelligent efforts. However, it will definitely go a long way in helping me achieve my goals. I have always been very serious about achieving my goals and to conclude, in the words of Swami Vivekananda: â€Å"Awake! Arise! Stop not till the goal is reached!!

Occupational Therapy Reflective Essay

Occupational Therapy Reflective Essay â€Å"I’m an occupational therapist, an obscure profession if there ever was one. We are few and far between, maybe because we have chosen toserve people with disabilities. All disabilities. Not a glamorous endeavour, nor a lucrative one. And I say serve because we deem that in helping we see weakness, while in servingwe see wholeness. We’ve opted for wholeness nearly a century ago and have been at odds with the system ever since. We don’t fix people, you see: with them, we simply try to find a way tomeaning,balance, andjustice. I chose occupational therapy because it blendsscienceandhumanism,intellectual rigourandcompassion.† — Rachel Thibeault (fromOccupational Therapists without Borders)1 Occupational Therapy First Year Portfolio Task A year ago, I was in my final year at high school and studying for finals. Now, I am a first year Occupational Therapy (OT) student at the University of Witwatersrand who is getting ready for her end of year exams, scary stuff! But I can’t complain when I think back on how much I’ve learned this past year and how it has impacted me when I think about my future. At the core of it, this year has taught me that OT is not what I thought it was. Yes, I had an idea of what an OT does in terms of activities but I was not aware of what it would take to get to the same point as the OT’s who I had observed during my time job shadowing in my matric year. I’ve learned a lot during this first year and I now have a deeper understanding of the career path that I am pursuing- what it will demand from me, how it will influence the lives of others through me, the scope of OT and what I need to know to not only be good as an OT, but to be a great OT. It has me anxious about the mountainous path looming ahead and passionate to reach the finish line all at the same time. In talking about the mountains that I see rising ahead of me, I thought that I would reflect on the mountains that I have already crossed and how they impacted my grasp of OT and how it helped me to link the theory to the clinical uses. The first mountain was Problem Based Learning (PBL) which actually grounded me in order to prepare me for the much larger mountain: Fieldwork. One of the first lectures that we had was on PBL’s, problem based learning. And to say that I took the concept for granted and wrote PBL’s off as time-wasters would be correct. So when I realised just how helpful and beneficial PBL groups could be, I was all in. PBL’s have taught me the importance of working as a group, time-management, designation of tasks, following certain steps in order to reach a set goal and understanding different concepts from a first-look evaluation and then comparing this to theory or researched constructs.6 This form of methodology can be defined as a teaching and learning strategy where students learn about a subject through the experience of problem solving.6 During this process students learn about thinking strategies and gain knowledge and insight into the topic. PBL teaches us to think critically rather than to draw superficial conclusions. Our first problem in PBL prepared me for what OT is, the background into OT and the profess ional environments of an OT. PBL taught me that occupations are daily activities that reflect cultural values, provide structure to living, make appropriate use of an individual’s time and give meaning to their lives.8 Occupation could also be said to be ‘ordinary and familiar’,4 thus it is the nature of the occupation that gives it purpose and meaning. 4 Even Occupational Therapy was better explained to me once I had combined my new knowledge with that of our textbook: Occupational Therapy can be accomplished through the teaching, facilitation and maintenance of skills, the encouragement of engagement in â€Å"purposeful activity† 2 and in â€Å"occupation† 2 so that a person can reach his/her optimal level of function†. 3 OT is both an art and a science which uses occupation as both a means and an end in therapy, both in individual and group therapies, to enable people, families and communities in a wide range of settings. 7 This is a lot more in-depth and complicated than I ever suspected it could be. I think that I was under the impression that occupation meant ‘work’ like so many others believe. And even in knowing and understanding this, I still battle to explain it to people. I even have a friend who calls OT’s glorified housewives who love to garden! One thing that has become clear to me, studying our Problems in PBL, sitting through our Psychology and Sociology classes and studying OT this past year- OT is very holistic. Never is a patient defined by their symptoms and OT’s tend to study every aspect of a person’s life before drawing conclusions or beginning therapy. The word ‘holistic’ has come to mean many things to me this year, but none more than that a person’s characteristics areâ€Å"intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole†.9 Once I had gained the theoretical knowledge about OT, I was more than ready to start with the fieldwork part of the year. I was placed at Thambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg for four mornings over three weeks. The patient that I was assigned to was diagnosed with deep partial thickness burns with an amputated lower left arm from the elbow. But aside from my patient I was able to observe my Fourth Year with her other patients, was able to ask her questions and even assist in certain assessments, treatments and activities. This was a completely different experience to the one that I had had when I job shadowed at the same hospital a year before. As an outsider and someone who is not aware of what OT truly meant, I merely saw the assessment of different patients at a superficial level and only really understood the treatment as games or activities that would keep the patient busy so that they did not notice that they were making use of the injured or problem area. Thankfully I now unde rstand OT better and can see certain aspects of therapy and theory coming out in the actions of the OT’s and their patients. Being able to see therapy performed from this view and being able to interact and speak with other OT’s on a more professional level has helped to cement my plan to become an OT. During my time at the hospital I was lucky enough to observe most of the steps in the OT process. The OT process is defined in the Practise Framework as the collaboration of the OT and the patient through the steps of evaluation, intervention and outcomes in order to achieve health and participation in life through the engagement in occupation .5 The evaluation step consists of the occupational profile and the analysis of occupational performance which help the OT determine what the patient hopes to gain during therapy, what they need to accomplish, what the patient can do and what are the barriers or supports to their health and participation in therapy. In this, I was able to speak with and fill out forms for two separate patients and also assist in the assessment of a third patient. With the occupational profile, the patient is very much the centre and all the questions are focused around them so that the appropriate goals for the end of therapy can be set. Intervention has three parts to it: intervention plan, intervention implementation and intervention review. The plan is developed by both the OT and the patient to guide the therapy with the use of theory. Outcomes or goals are also decided upon during this stage. Implementation is the actions of the OT which will revolve around therapy as well as the support and encouragement needed to see an improved occupational performance.7 Implementation is direct towards the goals set and the OT is required to monitor and develop the patient at all times5 so that the activities are appropriate and can be adapted if they are not performing in the intended way. Finally, review is simply reflecting on the implementation and assessing the progress towards the set goals. Outcome is the determination of success at reaching the desired goals. The results of this step will be used in planning further therapy if it is needed. This step is one of the hardest to observe in my opinion and is also very subjective. A patient may feel that he is fine and does not need any more therapy while the OT may see him as dysfunctional. To be dysfunctional is not saying that there is something socially wrong with a person or that they are overtly damaged, this is something that I have come to learn this year. Dysfunction, defined within an OT’s perspective is â€Å"when a person cannot do or is at risk for not being able to partake in occupational participation and performance†.10 In terms of my assigned patient I was unfortunately able to witness the barriers between her and my Fourth Year who was her OT which resulted in her unwillingness to participate in therapy, added to that was her de-motivation and also the selection of an inappropriate activity during therapy. My patient was French speaking and thus the OT could not effectively fill out her necessary forms, could not adequately communicate with her and had to get this information from the patient’s husband. And so the patient, who the OT thought, enjoyed cooking and cleaning chose an activity of making milkshakes. Once I spoke to the patient (since I know some French) it became clear that she does not enjoy milkshakes and only cooked and cleaned because it was culturally expected of her as a wife. This brings into play the therapeutic relationship. The therapeutic alliance between the patient and the OT develops over time11 and requires the OT to be able to communicate in an effective way such that these details are made known. Because of what happened to my Fourth Year with her miscommunication with her patient, I now understand the importance of our Dictionary assignments- to be able to communicate with any patient, no matter how rudimentary it is. Also, the selection of activities is imperative, especially for patients who are de-motivated which often occurs with burns patients or amputees. The loss of a limb or partial limb is a huge thing to deal with both physically and emotionally and burns patients are often de-motivated due to the pain of movement. Choosing the correct activity during therapy of these patients can determine whether there will be any progress in that session or not and also whether the patient will continue to be de-motivated or could possibly start to find reasons/purposes to want the therapy to succeed. This can also be accomplished through the therapeutic use of self to be able to use yourself, as an OT professional, to read the situation and a dapt it, 11 whether it is during evaluation or during the intervention steps. Culture also needs to be considered when referring to patients. An OT need to take their patient’s culture into consideration and respect it. While culture may not define a person, it does indeed impact on their lives and ways of living. 12 Thus, my patient may only cook and clean because she is a wife but it is her responsibility in the home so she will need to rehabilitate to a point where she can continue with her tasks, but it may not be a good idea to use these tasks as activities since she sees them as work rather than leisure tasks. Overall, I would definitely say that this year has been a success. My knowledge of OT and the profession has increased and I am even more certain that I want to be doing this as a career. The importance of the OT process is further defined by role of an OT which is categorised through the use of self, the therapeutic relationship, proper communication and compounded with a firm foundation of knowledge and attained skills. To reiterate what Rachel Thibeault said, â€Å"we see wholeness We don’t fix people, you see: with them we simply try to find a way tomeaning,balance, andjustice.†1 Occupational Therapy is about the patient, it is not about us save for what we can do for others So the goal is to learn, make mistakes, learn from them, observe and experience as much as possible so that we can do everything possible to help them. From this end of the mountain range, I can only see the obstacles blocking the destination from my sight. And yet I am not feeling deterred. Rather, I am excited to see what the mountains will contain and what I can learn from them. The next mountain that I see is end of year exams So I think that I am going to do this one mountain at a time and never forget what I have learned and discovered on the way so that I am prepared for every challenge that approaches me. Works Cited 1 Gerber,AK. OT Without Borders. http://otwithoutborders.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/im-an-occupat/ (accessed 30 September 2014). 2 Hersch, G. I., Lamport, N. K., Coffey, M.S. Activity Analysis: Application to Occupation, 5th ed.: SLACK Incorporated; 2005 3 Thorner, S. The Essential Skills of an Occupational Therapist. British Journal of Occupational Therapy 1991; 6(64). 4 Curtin, M., Molineux, M., Supyk- Mellson, J. Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction: Enabling Occupation, 6th ed.: Elsevier: Churchill Livingstone; 2010. 5 American Occupational Therapy Association. (2008). Occupational Therapy Practise Framework: Domain and Process (2nd Edition). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62, 625-683 6 Devan, D., Casteleijn, D.. Problem Based Learning 2014. Lecture presented at Khanya Building, Wits Education Campus; 2014. 7 Schell B., Gillen G. Scaffa M. .Willard and Spackmans Occupational Therapy. 12th ed. Baltimore MD. Lippincott, Williams Wilkins; 2013 8 Jay J. Occupation Activity. Lecture presented at Khanya Building, Wits Education Campus; 2014. 9 Oxforddictionaries.com. holistic: definition of holistic in Oxford dictionary (British World English) [Internet]. 2014 [cited 1 October 2014]. Available from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/holistic 10 Smith R. Intro to Occupational Dysfunction. Lecture presented at Khanya Building, Wits Education Campus; 2014. 11 Devan D. Occupational Therapy Process: PBL Post Problem Tut. Lecture presented at Khanya Building, Wits Education Campus; 2014. 12 Smith R. Cultural Diversity. Lecture presented at Khanya Building, Wits Education Campus; 2014.

UFO’s and Alien Life Essay -- Essays Papers

UFO’s and Alien Life For many incredibly interesting years, a certain question has troubled scientists, the government, and actually the rest of the world. Does alien life exist, along with the idea of unidentified flying objects, better known as UFO’s, and if they do, should the government keep spending money on the subject, when life on earth is in such financial trouble? Much research and money has been invested in this wondrous topic, although for the past fifty years scientists still remain clueless about the existence of extra-terrestrials. The history, the research, the encounters, and of course many other content areas, including financial interest puzzle myself and the rest of the world. This paper will involve an in-depth look at those subject areas, along with thier relation to the internet, and hopefully by the end, I will have the mystery of UFO’s and alien life figured out, and then I can share my knowledge with many others. The World Wide Web is full of different sites that relate to UFO’s and alien life. Most of the pages are factual and contain information to enhance people’s knowledge on this very obscure topic. These pages are not trying to sell you anything, not trying to get you to believe a certain thing, but rather just informing the public about UFO’s and aliens through the Internet. If you wanted information on UFO’s before the World Wide Web came about, how would you get it? You would have to go to the library and look up information that was outdated and time consuming. Now you can just type UFO’s into the Net Search box and up pop all different types of sites relating to UFO’s and alien life. There is information from years ago and current information of recent sightings and reportings. UFO... ... it to the best of my ability.(http://rogue.notrhwest.com/~gb1018/paranormal.html) The next time you think you just woke up from a bad nightmare, and thought you were just dreaming about aliens because of the episode of the X-Files you watched two nights ago, think again. Maybe you were abducted by aliens and UFO’s, and maybe you better get on the internet to find out!!!!!!! Works Cited Anonymous, http://rogue.northwest.com/~gb1018/paranormal.html, (14 April 1997). North Kitsap UFO Society Report a UFO In Kitsap Country, http://www.oz.net/~ smoke25/nkufo.htm, (14 April 1997). Lambright, Chris, UFO's: A closer look..., http://www.tcet.unt.edu/~chrisl/ufos. Htm, (14 April 1997). Vallee, Jacques, UFO's are a Hot topic, http://www.phoenixat.com/scott/ufo.html, (14 April 1997). UFO Links, http://members.tripod.com/~andreajp/links.htm, (14 April 1997).

Horror of War Exposed in Dulce et Decorum Est Essay examples -- Dulce

Horror of War Exposed in Dulce et Decorum Est We have all heard war stories that seemed exciting and adventurous. Some stories are of men who gladly laid down their lives in the glory of battle and would do so again if given the chance. These stories tickle our sentiment and ease the pain of real war, but they do little to help us understand war's brutality. In his poem "Dulce et Decorum Est," Wilfred Owen does not attempt to pull the blood stained wool over our eyes. Instead of a novel quip, Owen gives us a look into the real horror of war. Using images of pain and sorrow, Owen gives us a taste of the front line that crushes any romantic ideas about war. Most of us envision soldiers marching into battle as upright, steady young men proudly bearing their ruck sacks and singing as they march. Owen paints us a picture of a different hue. Owen describes the men as, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks." We see figures that are contrary to our preconceived notions ( 1). Owen's men of war are tired from the stress of battle and the weight of the inevitable doom that lies ahe...

Investigating Cameron Balloons Essay

Cameron Balloons The first business I have chosen is Cameron Balloons. I have chosen this business because it seems interesting to me about investigating a hot air balloon manufacturer. Activity Cameron Balloons manufacture Hot Air Balloons, Inflatables and also Airships, which are also known as Blimps. Cameron Balloons are also known for their special shaped balloons, which they created. Cameron Balloons have diversified into making medical products for hospitals and nursing homes. Jim Howard from Cameron Balloons and surgeon Harry Espiner teamed up to make Espiner Medical Products Ltd, which were supplied with materials by Cameron Balloons. One of their medical products is called ‘Laparoscopic Sacs’, or ‘Lap Sacs’ in short. They help with tissue retrieval. They also produce hyperslide transfer sheets which easily help transfer patients from wheel chairs to beds. This means that Cameron Balloons operates in the secondary sector, because they do not get raw materials themselves, but they manufacture the materials and sell them. They have also diversified into making medical products and supply hospitals. Other businesses in this sector include: * Aerospace manufacturing * Car manufacturing * Clothing industry * Electronics * Engineering * Energy industries * Metalworking * Software engineering * Telecommunications Industry * Tobacco industry * The main customers involved with Cameron balloons would be hot air ballooners * The main competitors involved would be other hot air balloons manufacturers (See D1 – Cameron Balloons External Influences – Business Competitors for a list of cameron balloons’ worldwide competitors) * Cameron balloons only used to make hot air balloons just like any ordinary balloon manufacturer. In 1975, Cameron balloons began making special shaped balloons. Cameron balloons have also recently began making medical products * When Cameron balloons began making special shaped balloons, they became the biggest manufacturers of hot air balloons. They also expanded by diversifying into making medical products Location Cameron balloons’ location is in St. Johns Street in Bedminister, which is in Bristol. It has many travel links (for different common types of transport) and also has many points of interest nearby. Cameron balloons have chosen a good place for the business because: * There are many transport links close to the Cameron Balloons site. Lots of major roads, including the A38 and the A4, are close to the site, Bristol Airport is 9 kilometres away along the A38, the rail station next to the site, and the M32 is 5 kilometers away. These links are important for Cameron Balloons’ suppliers, customers and staff. Good rail links mean that heavy equipment and supplies can be brought in easily; good road and rail links give employees easy access to the site. Bristol’s air and sea links are also important as more than 80% of Cameron Balloons’ output is exported. * The site in Bedminster is large enough to allow the business to expand when it needs more space. * Cameron Balloons need employees with convenient access for them to get to work. It also needed a certain amount of experts in the aeronautical industry, which was quite simple as the airport was so close to the site. * Because Cameron Balloons is one of the biggest and best ballooning companies, the reputation of it helped to attract both skilled employees and new customers. * Because there are many points of interest nearby, it should be easy to find the location of the business It was a coincidence that the location of Cameron balloons was in Bristol, as this was where Don Cameron first started his business as a sole trader. Here is a map of Cameron Balloons’ location along with a smaller map showing the main roads: Here is another map showing areas of points of interest and travel links: Ownership Cameron Balloons is a private limited company (Ltd.). When Don started the business, he was a sole trader. Owners usually make their businesses private limited companies because there are more advantages than disadvantages. The advantages and disadvantages of a private limited company are: Advantages Disadvantages Protection of Limited liablilty Profits have to be shared out amongst a potentially larger number of people Owner isn’t personally responsible for companies debts No benefit from scale economies (e.g. bulk buying, cheaper borrowing e.t.c.) If business name is licensed, it cant be duplicated by someone else Owner is accountable to shareholders for the operation and profitability of the company More capital can be raised as no limit on number of shareholders Detailed legal procedures must be followed to set up the business – consuming time and money Cheap and easy to set up If the owner has to sell any of his shareholding, he could lose his business Owner is major shareholder Financial information can be inspected by any member of the public once filed with the registrar, including competitiors Owner can raise money from friends and family Owner can sell the business if he wants to Control of company cannot be lost to outsiders – shares only sold if all shareholders agree Easier to borrow money The business will continue to run even one of the owners dies, shares being transferred to another owner Aims & Objectives The main aims of Cameron Balloons are: * To make a profit * To expand * To be the biggest balloon manufacturers * To make 500 balloons in a year and hit a turnover of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10,000,000 * To improve the efficiency of their balloons to help improve performance and care for the environment * To provide hospitals with medical products to help patients There are objectives for each aim. Cameron Balloons are a successful company, so they don’t have to worry about surviving at the present time unless they get hard competition from another business and start making losses, so the business mainly focuses on making a profit. They are currently aiming to make 500 balloons a year and hit a turnover of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10,000,000, which is about à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3,000,000 more than what they made in 1996. They want to make more sales than their competitors, and they have currently achieved this by manufacturing special shaped balloons. They are always trying to make a new special shape or improve the performance of their current balloons Cameron Balloons are an expanding company. They have diversified into producing medical products for hospitals. Marketed by Espiner Medical Products, Cameron Balloons have been producing ‘lapsacs’ which helps in tissue retrieval in operations. They also produce ‘Hyperslide’ patient transfer sheets, which are made from balloon fabric. The surface has no friction which helps to easily move patients from wheelchairs to beds. This could help Cameron Balloons as well as hospitals as Cameron Balloons can use their own balloon fabric, and if they have spare or scrap fabric after making balloons, they can make use of it, make profit and make less waste, which is good for the business, hospitals and the environment. Cameron Balloons wanted to become the largest balloon manufacturer in the world, which soon turned into a success after producing the first special shaped balloons. The first special shape balloon was built in 1975 and the company has produced more than 400 designs, including Disney’s Fantasia castle, a dragon, a space shuttle, several cows and numerous cans, houses and bottles. Cameron balloons always need to keep checking whether they are meeting their objectives. Only then will they be able to meet their aims. A way to help to check if Cameron ballons are meeting their objectives is by having objectives which are measurable. For example, if an objective of Cameron balloons is to make 40 balloons per month, then they can see after each month whether they are meeting their objective or not. If they are not meeting their objective, then they will know that they won’t meet their aim unless they make more balloons next month until they reach their objective and account for the previous month. But if an objective of Cameron balloons is to make more balloons than their competitor each month, then if they are meeting their objective, they still might not be successful. This is because even though Cameron balloons is ahead of their competitor, Cameron balloons won’t be making many balloons if their competitor is failing. Richer Sounds The second business I have chosen is Richer Sounds. I have chosen this business because I already have some knowledge about the business. Activity Richer Sounds sell entertainment systems. They sell their goods in three ways, which are from the stores directly, by mail order and over the internet. They had tried to diversify into selling telephones, musical equipment and videos. However, these were all unsuccessful. Richer Sounds is in the tertiary sector because it gets supplied by products but Richer Sounds don’t make the products themselves. Other businesses in this sector include: * Franchising * Restaurants * News media * Hotels * Consulting * Hospitals * Waste disposal * Real estate * Personal services * Business services * richer sounds’ main customers could be anyone as most people buy what richer sounds sell * richer sounds have lots of competitors. a competitor of richer sounds could be a retailer of anything that richer sounds sells. The main competitors could be the ones that are close to richer sounds. Richer sounds still have to keep in mind about other competitiors as well as lots of businesses sell their stock online. * Richer sounds have tried to diversify into selling other equipment, but failed, so they stay as a specialist of what they always sell * Because richer sounds hasn’t changed and stays as a specialist of certain equipment, it means they can provide better, specialist customer service, which is one of their main qualities Location Richer Sounds have 44 stores nationwide. Their first store was opened at London bridge walk in 1978 because Julian Richer was working in that area and bought the shop. After that, a store was opened in Stockport because people from Manchester were going to the London store, so if they made a store closer to them, it would mean less hassle for more people and more profit for Richer Sounds. Their main warehouse is in Lancashire. It has more than 74,000 sq ft of storage space. The products get distributed to all the stores or customers who bought something from Richer Sounds from the internet. The distribution director is Solomon Essah Essel. He and the employees that work with him are responsible for the storage and distribution of the goods in the warehouse. The warehouse is in a good location as it is near central England, and because richer sounds is a nationwide company, it means that the shops and customers can be supplied with not much hassle. It also has good travel links to hel p with delivering. Ownership Richer Sounds is an unlisted public limited company (Plc.). They became a public limited company so they could get limited liability benefits, so Julian Richer doesn’t become personally liable for the companies debts. But they do not put their shares on the stock market. This is because they do not need to get additional capital by giving their business away to people outside the business. The advantages and disadvantages of a Plc. are listed below: Advantages Disadvantages Same as Ltd. Expensive set up cost of all forms of business organisation considered Increased potential for raising finance by share issues or through other financial investors Due to public transfer of shares, more open to hostile takeover bids Due to size they can gain from Economies of Scale Tighter levels of regulation The Plc. can use its power/size to dominate a market, (e.g. purchasing competitors) Public ownership by minority shareholders does not provide them as owners with any real control of the business Large Plc.’s may suffer from diseconomies of scale By having limited liablility, the owner’s personal possessions (e.g. his/her house, car e.t.c.) can’t be taken to repay for the business’s debts. Many owners prefer choosing this type of liability. There is also unlimited liability. This can apply to sole traders, small businesses e.t.c. their personal posessions can be taken from them if their business gets into debt. Aims & Objectives Richer Sounds have aims and objectives to help keep the business moving forward. This is why they have a mission statement, which is shown below: RICHER SOUNDS MISSION STATEMENT 1. To provide second to none service and value for money for our customers. 2. To provide ourselves with secure well paid jobs working in a stimulating and equal opportunities environment. 3. To be profitable to ensure our long term growth and survival. Richer Sounds have many aims. The main one is to provide good customer service and provide good value products. Richer Sounds aim to reward employees and to be equal with everyone. Another main aim is to make a profit, which is the same with all profit making organisations. Richer Sounds don’t just pay salaries. They like it, and are generous in giving it. They also have bonus schemes for employees. Julian Richer, the chairman and David Robinson, the group managing director decide on ten goals for the business for the next 12 months which they want to achieve. One of Richer Sounds objectives is to keep the business fun. This keeps employees motivated and makes them work to their full potential. They also want to continually improve on customer service and produce new services. They also change the business to help it work more efficiently. Employees also get the chance to submit suggestions to richer sounds and they also get rewarded for it. Richer sounds also provide services for homeless people, by having touch screens available to them to help them find places where they can stay. Richer sounds need to make sure their objectives are measurable. For example, if richer sounds aim to get a certain amount of profit by the end of the year, then their objectives could be to get a certain amount of profit by the end of the month. This can help them to keep track and to help them see if they need to work harder or if they need to set a higher aim. A2 Activity One of the main differences between Cameron Balloons and Richer Sounds is that Cameron Balloons is a manufacturing company and Richer Sounds is a retailing company. Cameron Balloons also managed to successfully diversify into manufacturing medical products. Richer Sounds, however, tried to diversify into making telephones, musical equipment and videos, but failed. Location Cameron Balloons is situated in Bristol. It is good for this type of business because it has good transport links and it exports products as well, so it has a good location for doing business internationally. However, it isn’t a that much of a good position for doing business nationally, although it does have good road links. So overall, it does have a good location. The warehouse for Richer Sounds is located in Lancashire, which is a good position as it is near the midlands. It doesn’t do business internationally so they have chosen a very good position for the warehouse. It is also good to have the warehouse to be situated there because they deliver to stores all over England so it would be best to have the warehouse near the midlands. Ownership Cameron Balloons is a private limited company. The advantages and disadvantages for a Ltd. company are: Advantages Disadvantages Protection of Limited liablilty Profits have to be shared out amongst a potentially larger number of people Owner isn’t personally responsible for companies debts No benefit from scale economies (e.g. bulk buying, cheaper borrowing e.t.c.) If business name is licensed, it cant be duplicated by someone else Owner is accountable to shareholders for the operation and profitability of the company More capital can be raised as no limit on number of shareholders Detailed legal procedures must be followed to set up the business – consuming time and money Cheap and easy to set up If the owner has to sell any of his shareholding, he could lose his business Owner is major sharholder Financial information can be inspected by any member of the public once filed with the registrar, including competitiors Owner can raise money from friends and family Owner can sell the business if he wants to Control of company cannot be lost to outsiders – shares only sold if all shareholders agree Easier to borrow money The business will continue to run even one of the owners dies, shares being transferred to another owner Richer Sounds is an unlisted Public limited company. The advantages and disadvantages for a Plc. are: Advantages Disadvantages Same as Ltd. Expensive set up cost of all forms of business organisation considered Increased potential for raising finance by share issues or through other financial investors Due to public transfer of shares, more open to hostile takeover bids Due to size they can gain from Economies of Scale Tighter levels of regulation The Plc. can use its power/size to dominate a market, (e.g. purchasing competitors) Public ownership by minority shareholders does not provide them as owners with any real control of the business Large Plc.’s may suffer from diseconomies of scale The boxes in underlined italics do not apply to Richer Sounds as Richer Sounds is an unlisted public limited company Aims & Objectives Cameron Balloons’ main three aims are: * To survive or make a profit * To expand * To be the biggest balloon manufacturers Richer Sounds’ main three aims are: * To provide second to none service and value for money for their customers * To provide themselves with secure well paid jobs working in a stimulating and equal opportunities environment * To be profitable to ensure their long term growth and survival Richer Sounds make it easy for people to understand their aims and objectives because they have a mission statement. Cameron Balloons do not have a mission statement. A3 Activity Cameron Balloons have expanded by diversification into making medical products. They could also diversify again using their materials to make something else. Richer Sounds could keep trying to diversify until they manage to successfully diversify into doing something. It could benefit them just like it benefits Cameron Balloons. I think the main reason why it is easier for Cameron Balloons to diversify is that Cameron Balloons is a manufacturer, and Richer Sounds is a retailer. Location Cameron Balloons have expanded their business by diversification into medical products. They could also expand by opening a new site. This will double the amount of products they sell. They could also open it in the north since their current site is in the south. This will make it easier for national deliveries. Just like what Cameron Balloons can do, Richer Sounds could make another warehouse as it could be hard and complicated for them to distribute goods to 45 stores. As their warehouse is situated in the midlands, they could have their next warehouse in the north or south, the busiest area would be a suitable location. Ownership Cameron Balloons could become a plc as there are less major disadvantages. I think Richer Sounds shouldn’t change their type of ownership but keep it as it is because they don’t want anyone to buy their shares and because of this, they have less disadvantages as a plc., and would be better off as a plc Aims & Objectives The only similarity between Cameron Balloons’ main three aims and Richer Sounds’ main three aims is to make a profit, as they are both profit making organisations. From the other two aims, Cameron Balloons only focuses on the success of the business. However, Richer Sounds focuses on the wellbeing of the employees and the satisfaction of their customers. Both of the businesses need to have a mix of the aims. Cameron Balloons need to think more about the employees and their customers and Richer Sounds need to think about how the business could improve in the long term. B1 I will be describing three functional areas at Richer Sounds. The three functional areas I will be describing are: * Store Operations * Marketing * Customer Service Store Operations The head of the store operations is John Clayton, the operation and training director. He gets help from employees working in operations, distribution, the store service and repairs, stock control and Hi-Fi Direct. Some of the responsibilities of store operations are: * Setting each store’s budget * Checking that all the stores achieve their targets and taking action if targets aren’t being met * Communicating with stores * Deciding the minimum staffing level * Sorting out any problems with employees * Sorting out any other problems * Checking orders of stock * Organising store visits * Checking that store managers undertake health and safety risk assessments * Helping store managers and employees * Making stores suitable for the area that they are in. Marketing The marketing director is Claudia Vernon. The things that she does with the employees under her control do can be split into 4 main categories. These are: * Marketing * Design * Point of sale * Their website Customer Service John Clayton is the director of customer service, who is also the operations and training director. These are some of the things they have for customer service: * Knowledgeable and friendly staff * A national call centre * A corporate sales section * Mail order and web sales * An order line for free catalogues * Specialist customer service staff * A service and repairs section * Well laid out, welcoming stores with easy access * Demonstration rooms * Pets welcome policy * Competitive prices * 100% satisfaction guaranteed or money back * New products by known manufacturers * Full access to technical back-up and spare parts * Computerised stock control system * Web access in stores * Part-exchange scheme * A clear product key code * All repairs covered by a three month warranty * Till receipt customer questionnaire * Informative in-store catalogues * Free seasonal refreshments * Free delivery scheme * Mystery shopper scheme B2 How the three functional areas work together to support the business Operations keep everything organised and under control so there are no problems. This can help the other functional areas work better. The marketing area will be able to do its bit easier as the stock order has been checked and they know what they have to sell. The customer service area will then begin and they will try to help the customer as much as possible and resolve any problems. Example 1 (Operations) Operations organise visits to the stores to make sure everything is in order. If a store isn’t visited then something could happen without operations knowing. If an employee in the marketing department has an argument with another employee from the customer service department, and if the operations department does not sort this out, then both of the employees could be slacking on their jobs. If they slack on their jobs then the marketing department won’t be able to reach its targets. The customer service could also be a failure which would harm the business more as it involves interacting people from outside the business. This could cause losses in the store as less people could be going to it. The store may then close down. This would all be because the operations didn’t do their job properly. Example 2 (Marketing) Marketing is split up into 4 groups. If one of these areas doesn’t perform well, then that could affect the other groups and could affect the whole marketing area. The operations will have to sort this out as if it isn’t sorted out, then more work will be put on the customer service area, and if they can’t handle it, then the store could close down as above. Example 3 (Customer Service) If the customer service area isn’t performing well, then this could have a major impact on the business. This is because the employees are interacting with people from outside of the business. The business could lose a lot of customers in a short amount of time if customer service isn’t good as customers wouldn’t like the service and would stop going there and wouldn’t recommend others to go there. This could also make the store close down. If any store is disliked for some reason, then it could affect other Richer Sounds stores as well because they will be losing their reputation. B3 Richer Sounds’ main three aims are: * To provide second to none service and value for money for their customers * To provide themselves with secure well paid jobs working in a stimulating and equal opportunities environment * To be profitable to ensure their long term growth and survival How the functional areas work together to achieve the aims Aim 1 – To provide second to none service and value for money for their customers The operations area keeps things organised and make sure that stores aren’t performing less than expected. They also keep in contact with stores and the stock/prices of products are sorted and organised for the stores. Depending on the location of a store, it will be customised to adapt to the environment it is in. Any problems with store managers or employees will get sorted out. This makes things easier for the marketing area. The marketing area tries to make products sell by advertising, making them look attractive e.t.c. The customer service area tries to keep the customer satisfied. Aim 2 – To provide themselves with secure well paid jobs working in a stimulating and equal opportunities environment The operations area makes the jobs easier for the marketing area and the customer service area. They sort out any problems with store managers or employees. They set budgets for stores so they can sell products, but not buy too much. They make sure that the stores are achieving their targets, otherwise something will be done about it. They keep in contact regularly with stores and also visit them. The market area tries to make products sell and want the business to be successful. The customer service area tries to satisfy the customers so the business has an increase in their reputation. Aim 3 – To be profitable to ensure their long term growth and survival The operations area sorts and organises stock/prices of products are for the stores. Setting a budget for each store can help make a profit as well as preventing a loss. Setting targets for each store makes the employees work to their potential. Advice to store managers or employees can help a lot as it could get rid of a major problem, which could help the store improve. The market area tries to make products sell as much as they can. The customer service area try to keep customers satisfied as much as they can. C1 Richer Sounds do not call their employees by ‘staff’ or ’employees’. i think they do this because they want everyone to feel equal as much as they can, and not treat them like slaves. Also, instead of saying ‘head office’ they say ‘central office’ because ‘head office’ makes it sound more important to the others. Even though ‘central office’ makes it sound more important aswell, it is better than saying ‘head office’. Richer Sounds also use the term ‘career key timer (CKT)’ instead of ‘part-time’ as ‘part-time’ could make the part-tme employees think that they are only partly involved in the business. Instead of approaching customers by saying ‘can I help you?’ the employees use a better way which is by offering the customers a free cup of coffee or ice lolly. This is a good way to appraoch a customer as the customer will be happy that they are receiving free refreshments and at the same time can get help if they need it. Some different types of communication are: * Writing a letter * Recording a message * Reports * E-mail * Fax * Phonecall * Posting information on the internet * Meetings * Surveys * Face to face * Oral/Written feedback An example of written communication The employees are given the directors’ home numbers. This is because if they have a complaint then they can talk directly so the problem gets sorted out quickly. This helps the employees have private conversations aswell, which is why this method would be used for any problems or complaints. This also shows that the employees are trusted with these numbers and that they wont misuse them or give them out to any unknown person. An example of oral communication Meetings gather people together so that they can talk face to face and elaborate on any issues. This is an effective way of communication as more than just one person is bieng communicated, which saves time. People can also debate and have problems sorted out quickly ad effectiveley. How ICT is used to communicate and operate ICT is used in a variety of ways. Some of them are: * Customer service. This includes staying in contact with the customer until they are satisfied, helping them with product issues such as insurance, product support e.t.c. * Posting information on the internet, which could be on their website for customers, or other sites for others to see * Sending e-mails to people. Sometimes, this would be easier than going to meet the person as they could be a long distance away, or they may need to know the information as soon as possible. * Sending and sharing files with others. This saves time as people know where all the shared files are, and people don’t need to bother others for information * Having a network for ease of access for employees inside the business * Advertising * Organising products, prices, quantities e.t.c. More than one department is needed to sort these things out, so it is important that they keep in regular contact with each other * Support (this includes people from inside the business and outside the business). This also ranges from different types of communication, but ICT can be used a lot. Employees could help others who are facing a problem with ICT, they can sort out problems within the business and also outside the business C2 The functional areas need to keep in contact with each other and so do the staff inside a functional area for the business to avoid any problems.Examples of how communications methods are used inside a functional area include: * Employees could phone each other for convienece if they are a fair distance away * Someone may need to show a report to the other employees to help with improving the functional area * Someone may need to send an e-mail to another employee for privacy, or for more convinience * A meeting could be held for more convienience as instead of explaining the same thing to each employee repeatedly, it can just be explained once to all the employees together. This will also allow the employees to show their opinions regarding what is being said * Talking face to face can be useful for people talking in private, or if people arent far away so it would be easier to talk to them This is effective enough to run the functional area but it can be improved. Examples of how communications methods are used between functional areas include: * A manager could write a letter to another manager of a functional area * Julian Richer records a message weekly which all the managers can hear * Someone may need to show a report to others to help with improving the functional areas * Someone may need to send an e-mail to another employee for privacy, or for more convinience * A Fax could also be sent for the same reason as an e-mail * Employees could phone each other for convienece if they are a fair distance away The business needs to keep in contact with its customers and the other businesses it is involved with. Communcications methods used outside the business include: * An employee could write a letter to a customer for customer service * An e-mail could also be sent to a customer or another business such as a supplier * Phonecalls could be made to customers and other businesses for customer service or to sort out transactions e.g. with suppliers * Posting information on the internet may be useful for anyone. However, this can be a bad thing as rival businesses can find out about Richer Sounds and improve their own business * Surveys can be given to customers so Richer Sounds know where to improve on thei customer service * Talking face to face can help with transactions and helping customers * Advertising shows customers attractive products and prices. But this can also help rival businesses to improve on their advertising to get more customers aswell C3 Improvements which could be made to communications inside functional areas may include: * Being connected to a network so that people can stay communicated with each other and share files more easily Improvements which could be made to communications between functional areas may include: * Being connected to a network so that people can stay communicated with each other and share files more easily * Having surveys between employees to help improve on functional areas * To have a chat area for Richer Sounds’ employees only, so that they can all stay conneced to each other and help each other with problems within the business Improvments which could be made to communications outside the business may include: * Feedback. If Richer Sounds do this then they will know how to improve on their services * Having a chat area in which Richer Sounds’ customers and employees can have general conversations. This could be done by allowing people to register onto the Richer Sounds site and having an available chat area D1 Cameron Balloons External Influences Business Competitors Cameron balloons have worldwide competitors. This is because they are a large company, exports goods to customers abroad and they also have a partner in the United States, which is called Cameron Balloons US. Here is a list of some of the competitors of Cameron balloons Europe – UK Lindstrand Rest Of Europe – Excluding UK Ballonbau Worner Balony Kubicek Ultramagic Balloons US Aerostar Avian Balloon Corporation Firefly Balloons Head Balloons Australasia Kavanagh Balloons Germany Schroder As I have shown above, Cameron balloons has about nine competitors. However, Cameron balloons is a very successful company so it is hard for some companies to compete with Cameron balloons. This can narrow the list of competitors down for Cameron balloons. So Cameron balloons’ main competitors are: * Lindstrand * Ultramagic Balloons * Aerostar * Schroder Economic Conditions * Changes in interest rates * Changes in exchange rates * Inflation * The amount of unemployment * Changes in government tax Environmental Constraints * Noise Pollution * Air Pollution * Waste Pollution * Global Warming Richer Sounds External Influences Business Competitors Richer sounds have many competitors. This is because they have a large amount of products with different manufacturers. They sell products from approximately 140 different manufacturers and also sell approximately 50 different types of products. This means that their list of competitors would be very big. Although richer sounds have many competitors, they still have an advantage over some of their competitors. This is because richer sounds are specialists in certain equipment. Economic Conditions * Changes in interest rates * Changes in exchange rates * Inflation * The amount of unemployment * Changes in government tax Environmental Constraints * Noise Pollution * Waste Pollution * Global Warming * Waste Electricity D2 + D3 Impact Of Changes In External Influences To Cameron Balloons And What Is Done About It Business Competitors Cameron balloons is a very successful company and is about twice as big as its main competitor. It has also diversified into making medical products. So there isn’t much to worry about unless the competitor starts to rapidly gain more profits and expand. Economic Conditions * If interest rates go higher, and if Cameron balloons make a loan, then they will have to pay more back to the financiers. This would put them in a big dilemma if they stopped making profits. So if interest rates go lower, then that would be the best time to make a loan * If exchange rates change, then this can affect Cameron balloons depending on whether the pound is stronger or cheaper. For example, if the pound is stronger than the dollar, then the prices of imports from America will be cheaper and the prices of exports will be more expensive to American customers. But if the pound is weaker than the dollar, then imports from America will be more expensive, and exports will be cheaper to American customers. So Cameron balloons will benefit more if the pound is stronger. This is because they order materials in the UK, so there is no need for imports, but if they did import, then it would be cheap, and also, when they export, they would get more money from their customers * Inflation will mean that Cameron balloons will have to pay more for materials and will have to sell their products at more expensive prices if they want to keep getting the same amount of profit * An increase in government tax would mean that Cameron balloons would have to pay more for materials and so they would have to sell their products at more expensive prices if they want to keep getting the same amount of profit * If there is a large amount of unemployment, then Cameron balloons can let go of the employees that aren’t doing their job properly, and they could get better employees. They could also make new jobs to make space for more employees. If there is a low amount of unemployment, then Cameron balloons will have to hold onto their employees and will have to train them if necessary, which will mean that it will cost time and money Environmental Constraints * Cameron balloons don’t have to worry much about the amount of noise pollution as they have a large site and the equipment they use isn’t very noisy * Air Pollution isn’t a major factor for manufacturing the balloons but Cameron balloons have to make sure that their balloons work properly and don’t cause too much air pollution when in use * Cameron balloons have come across a solution to lower the amount of waste pollution. Using their balloon fabric, they produce medical products. They could use their scrap or leftover fabric for this so they have less waste and, at the same time, more profit * Because Cameron balloons are manufacturers, they have to make sure that they don’t contribute too much to global warming Impact Of Changes In External Influences To Richer Sounds And What Is Done About It Business Competitors If one of richer sounds’ competitors cuts prices on their products then richer sounds will cut their price as they monitor competitor’s prices. They also offer a price reduction on any product if a customer finds the same product cheaper at a different store. I think it may be hard for richer sounds to do this as they will have to constantly find cheaper suppliers otherwise they may end up with losses that could end up in bankruptcy. Economic Conditions * If interest rates go higher, and if richer sounds make a loan, then they will have to pay more back to the financiers. This would put them in a big dilemma if they stopped making profits. So if interest rates go lower, then that would be the best time to make a loan * Exchange rates don’t affect richer sounds as they are only a national company * Inflation will mean that richer sounds will have to pay more for supplies and will have to sell their products at more expensive prices if they want to keep getting the same amount profit * An increase in government tax would mean that richer sounds would have to pay more for supplies and so they would have to sell their products at more expensive prices if they want to keep getting the same amount of profit * If there is a large amount of unemployment, then richer sounds can let go of the employees that aren’t doing their job properly, and they could get better employees. They could also make new jobs to make space for more employees. If there is a low amount of unemployment, then richer sounds will have to hold onto their employees and will have to train them if necessary, which will mean that it will cost time and money Environmental Constraints * Richer sounds don’t allow any sound systems to be played in the store as someone could be affected and may complain or leave the store. This doesn’t just include customers, as employees could be affected as well. People with hearing disabilities could also be affected. That is why if a customer wants to listen to a sound system, they have to go to a demonstration room, which is sound proof, to listen to it. Richer sounds help to protect peoples hearing by having warnings in their stores and also by selling ear-plugs. * Richer sounds also try to keep waste pollution low. They accept old sound systems as part exchanges for their products. This helps keeping customers’ waste low as well as putting the systems to good use. Cardboard and wood which aren’t needed are recycled * Lights, heating and all equipment are turned off at the end of the day so richer sounds don’t contribute much towards global warming * Electric forklift trucks are used at the warehouse to prevent air pollution