Role of Public Libraries in bridging the Digital Divide

The United States National Telecommunications and Information Administration popularized the term ‘Digital Divide’ in the mid 1990s to indicate the societal split between those had and those who did not have access to computers and the Internet (Warchauer, 2003). With the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution sweeping across the world, the term has since caught the imagination of social scientists, administrators, media-persons, economists and politicians alike.They have interpreted it in turn as a social, economic and political problem from their respective perspectives, and sought to offer a variety of solutions to ‘bridge’ the Digital Divide. ICT was initially heralded as a great equalizer. The general impression was that by providing interconnectivity and access to information to all, ICT would provide equal opportunities, and therefore reduce inequalities.But it was soon clear that the ‘Mathew Effect’ of Merton (1973) c ould come into play and increase the inequalities even more by translating the initial advantages of those who gained early access to computers and the Internet into increasing returns over time i. e. by widening the Digital Divide. The Social and Community Context The basic problem however lies in defining ‘Digital Divide’. According to Mark (2003) any attempt to bridge the Digital Divide without consideration of the social context could lead to failures and frustrations.He cites a project undertaken by the Municipal Government of New Delhi in India through which computer kiosks with dial-up Internet connectivity were set up for the urban poor children in New Delhi. According to the policy of minimal invasive education adopted in the project, there were no teachers or instructors to guide the children in computer usage. The project could not achieve much beyond children learning to play games and use simple applications to paint and draws.On the other hand, The Gyandoo t Project in rural areas of the state of Madhya Pradesh in India achieved success because of its community orientation. In this case, the use of computers fulfilled social and community needs. The role of public libraries in providing access to computers and the Internet also has to take all these factors into consideration. The responsibility of public libraries does not end with the provision of the equipment for computer and Internet access.Public libraries have to take on the role of the educator and the instructor so that users are able to utilize the ICT services efficiently and effectively. The larger orientation of all such services has to be around the fulfillment of social and community requirements in line with the ideals of social and community informatics. The Five Components of Individual Access The concept of ‘Digital Inequality’ as defined by Hargittai (2003) identifies Technical Means, Autonomy of Use, Social Support Network, Production of Content Acces s and Political Access as the five components of individual access.Public libraries therefore have to concentrate on providing all the five components to the individual. This would imply that libraries provide state-of-the-art equipment so that users are in no way limited or restricted by the state of the facility itself. Ensuring autonomy of use would suggest providing convenient access to a wide range of users taking into consideration the different timings that could be convenient to different categories of users. This could even entail public libraries offering round-the-clock access to their users.Public libraries will have to play an active part in building up social support networks for their users. This will not only help the users in picking up Internet usage skills faster but will also bring in new users into the network. Content is a very vital issue that determines the quality of online access of any user. Any effort to reduce digital inequality will have to ensure that the user is able to locate relevant information on the net. Hargittai (2003) differentiates between ‘available’ information and ‘accessible’ information.The available information may not be easily accessible. The phenomenon of information gatekeepers in the form of search engines and other indexing and searching mechanisms adds complexity to the situation. Commercial interests on the Internet more often than not lead the unwary browser away from relevant sources of information. Public libraries will have to take on the added responsibility coaching the novice user in looking for and locating relevant information.Each library will also have to ensure that they adopt an indexing and searching mechanism linked with their digital subscriptions so that users can find information customized to their requirements. Public libraries will also have to play their part in ensuring that users have access to the institutions that regulate the technologies that they are u sing so that they are also able to participate in policy formulations and decision-making exercises. ConclusionThe role of librarians and library staff will have to undergo vast changes in order to fit into the new responsibilities. Foster (2000) opines that the underlying concerns surrounding the issue of the digital divide are actually more about the nature and future of education than about the current distribution patterns of technology. Librarians and library staff will thus have to don the mantle of technical educators and social activists to contribute meaningfully to the reduction of the Digital Divide.

Project method Essay

1.Advantages of the project method 1.1Group projects enhance individualization- the difference between learners can be accommodated by encouraging them to take responsibility for a section that they have interest in or for which they have the capabilities. 1.2The projects allow learners the freedom to investigate, search for information and display self-expression, creativity and cognitive abilities. 1.3 Group projects provide opportunities for learners to work cooperatively with other learners in a team and enhance their social and communication skills. 1.4Learners are afforded opportunities to investigate and solve practical business-related problems. 1.5Learners are more likely to identify with knowledge that they have helped to collect(Mahaye in Jacobs at al 2002:231-232) Disadvantages of the project method 1.1A project does not contribute to the attainment of learning outcome may lead to a waste of valuable time. 1.2A project that is unachievable due to poor planning and definition may be detrimental to learners’ self concept and motivation. 2.Requirements for effective planning in teaching Business Studies †¢The teachers should have a good knowledge of their subject. †¢They should formulate clear aims of outcomes so that they themselves and their learners know exactly where they are going. †¢They should be familiar with the various approaches in Business Studies and also the sequence in which the material should be presented and then select the most meaningful approach and sequence. †¢Be familiar and use teaching methods that encourages effective participative learning. †¢Be aware of what teaching media are available and know when and how to use them. †¢Be able to asses learning, to maintain a high standard and to use evaluation to improve the quality of their teaching. 3.The critical outcomes †¢Identify and solve problems in which responses show that responsible decisions have been made using critical and creative thinking. †¢Work effectively with others as a member of a team, group, an organization or community. †¢Organize and manage themselves and their activities responsible  and effectively. †¢Collect, analyze, organize and critically evaluate information. †¢Communicate effectively using visual, mathematical or language skills in the modes of oral or written presentations. †¢Use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the environment and health of others. †¢Demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognizing that problem solving contexts do not exist in isolation The development outcomes †¢Reflect on and exploring a variety of strategies for more effective learning. †¢Participate as a responsible citizen in the life of local, national and global communication. †¢Be cultural and aesthetically across a range of social contexts. †¢Explore education and career opportunities. †¢Develop entrepreneurial opportunities 4.Factors to be considered in the choice of methods instructions †¢The learning outcome- What is the aim of a lesson? Is it to introduce new information, apply the theory in practice or revise completed work? †¢Learners needs- If the learner does not understand the work that has been explained, a teaching method should be chosen that provides opportunities for asking questions so that any obscurities and problems can be cleared up. †¢The subject contents- some subject contents are more practical while others are more theoretical. When section of the subject is extremely practical (e.g. market research) it is preferable to choose a method in which demonstrations and examples can be used to explain the subject content. †¢Learners talents and gifts- learners who are less gifted have difficulty learning hence the need for sufficient illustrations, demonstration, learner involvement and repetition. More gifted learners learn more quickly and are able to concentrate for longer periods. You should therefore choose methods that allow a learner to perform according to his/her abilities. †¢The competence of a teacher- You should know your own abilities and shortcoming. For example if you are not computer literate, you may decide to use and expert to deal with content on computer applications (emails, electronic storage and retrieval etc) if you have speech problems  you should avoid using the lecture method.

The Main Sources of Law in England Today and the Role of Judges Essay

The Main Sources of Law in England Today and the Role of Judges - Essay Example The Human Rights Act of 1998 enables all the UK courts to guard the rights identified in the ECHR (Alisdair 2007, p. 20). The English law is based on three pillars; parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law, and separation of powers. Parliamentary sovereignty refers to the supremacy of the United Kingdom Parliament in legislative matters. The principal source of UK law is the UK Parliament. Separation of powers means there is the existence of some degree of independence in the running the different roles of government. Conventionally, these roles are the executive, legislative, and the judicial functions of government (John 2011, p. 145). The rule of law calls for equality of all before the law. The rule of law encompasses basic liberties including freedom from arbitrary laws and arbitrary powers (Alisdair 2007, p. 21). Statutes Statutes are laws, which are made by parliament. The House of Lords, House of Commons, and Monarch are responsible for making legislation. Legislation begin s with a Bill, and there are three types of bills; public bills, private bills, private members’ bills. Public Bills are introduced by the government on public policy matters that affect the entire country. Local governments or large public companies introduce Private Bills. Private Members’ Bills are introduced by the Members of Parliament who are not Government Ministers or Lords (John 2011, p. 147). The Legislative Process Bills may be initiated into either House of Lords (except Finance Bills, which start in the House of Commons) or the House of Commons. A Bill follows several stages; First Reading, the title of the Bill and the main objectives are read out. Second Reading; the Bill is fully read. The main debate takes place concerning any contentious issues; amendments can be made at this stage. Joint Select Committee on Human Rights reports any occurrence of Human Rights issues. After the debates, the House votes whether to proceed or not. Committee Stage; at thi s stage the Committee scrutinize each and every clause of the Bill. The Committee Stage is an exercise of eliminating any drafting errors. Amendments of the Bill may be proposed by the Committee. Report Stage; the committee files its findings to the House of origin. The proposed modifications are then debated, and the members vote for or against the amendments (John 2011, p. 149). Third Reading; The Bill is fully read, and at this stage, a debate will be there if at least six MPs request it. The MPs will vote whether the Bill should continue or not. If a Bill successfully passes all the stages, it then continues to the alternative Chamber. Any modifications made in the alternative House should be submitted back to the House of origin to assent to the amendments; this in known as Ping Pong. Once a Bill successfully passes through both houses, it then goes to Royal Assent. This entails a formal process whereby the Queen assents the Bill, and it officially becomes a statute. The newly generated statute contains a date of implementation shortly following the Royal Assent. Delegated legislation is made under the power of the Act of Parliament. The Act gives an institution or a person authority to make the detail of the law on behalf of the Parliament (John 2011, p. 150). The following are the advantages and disadvantages of Statute Law as demonstrated by John (2011, p. 152). Advantages Parliaments are elected since they have policies citizens want. This means that their laws

Arranged Marriages within the Indian and Chinese Cultures Research Paper

Arranged Marriages within the Indian and Chinese Cultures - Research Paper Example Arranged marriage should not be confused with forced marriage in which one party is forced to get married to another. Arranged marriages are the responsibilities of older family members, parents, matchmaking agents or trusted parties. In some cultures, courting is not prevalent. Spouses are brought together by their parents. In this case, it is the responsibility of the parent to see to it that his or her child passes the marital rites. This way, the adult children see it as a norm. The people who are responsible for the arrangement marriages might be subjective to emotional infatuation and come up with illogical decisions. In either case, intra-generational relationships supersede marital relationships. Following the partners sharing some factors, it is believed that some form of understanding develops between the couple and the relationship lasts. Discussion Arranged marriages are practiced in China and India with the sole aim of maintaining the social caste. Families bring the chi ldren together so that they may keep the family ties strong. In India, arranged marriages, though discouraged, are widely practiced. The parents see it as their personal responsibility to ensure that their children pass their marital rites. The legal age for marriages in India is 18 for females and 21 for males. However, through arranged marriages, family members marry their girls as early as 15 but the marriages consummated after the ages of 18 (Seymour and Seymour 132). In China, arranged marriages are practiced at a low rate because the pace of technology in the country does not allow for conservation of some cultural practices. Females are supposed to marry at the age of 21 and 23 for males. This means that the parents can only seek for suitors for the children at the right age. However, in China, people are given the right to choose their partners and it is only after they have made their choices that the parents can intervene in wedding preparations (Fox 191). Similarities Arr anged marriages are common in the Chinese and Indian cultures. These two cultures share a number of factors they put into consideration when coming up with the best match. Among the major factors is that of religion. In both cultures, it is believed that the preference should be given to the people sharing same spiritual and religious beliefs. Culture and caste is also another most common factor considered in both cultures. When picking on the matches, food habits, language, and region are considered so that the couple shares the same culture (Fox 182). The reputation of each party together with that of the family and friends that directly affect the reputation of the party is considered. One can have a good reputation but fail to be selected because of the bad reputation of his or her friends or family members. Dowry is an extremely important factor for both cultures, thus, a match would be selected from people sharing the same social class. A lady from a wealthy family background would have a match selected from a gentleman with a similar family background (Reaves 4). Vocation is another factor considered in both cultures. However, the location of the man matters more than that of the woman. The man has to provide for the family and as a result, he should be with a substantial amount of income.  

The Philosophy of Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Philosophy of Art - Essay Example This is where aesthetics sets in as a form of science. As John Keats most famously said â€Å"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all Ye know on earth, and all you need to know† 1 Aesthetics is not an exact science. The term emerged in Eighteenth Century to describe a number of various things and contemplates various theories that pertain to the conception of judgment in terms of artworks and all other objects it encompasses. It is a value and an experience concurrently or simultaneously. In the process, aesthetics is often regarded coinciding with the concept of taste. During the early years of aesthetics, beauty is something instantaneously judge for. This is best perceived in the rationalization of beauty that we experience regularly.2 This is something that is apparent from a day to day basis. It is determined by a number of things as taste may be varied from person to person but there is always that sense of uniformity in the general population of what is beautiful a nd what is not. From being delineated to the definition of the philosophy of art, subsequent years yielded focus on its value and experience in relation to the aesthetic attitudes. As a subject, Aesthetics is very vast and covers many aspects. The philosopher Immanuel Kant was the first to give a more thorough discussion of what the philosophy of art is. Kant primarily regards that the content is not the main interest of aesthetics and this is equated as a formalist point of view. Art is impure because it has concept and that even in nature it is only through our cognitive ability that we are able to enjoy parts and pieces of it and thus this is freedom. But Kant is quick to add that not every piece of art contains this. This theory of pure beauty contains four aspects; 1. it contains no concept, 2. it is objective, 3. the spectator’s disinterest and, 4. it is obligatory.3 The basic concept in the need for art is the pleasure that is derived from beauty. This is ultimately wh at we know as aesthetic pleasure. â€Å"Kant locates aesthetic judgment halfway between the logically necessary (an example would be mathematical theorems) and the purely subjective (expressions of personal taste).†4 For example, the opinion that something is beautiful as personally perceived by a person is essentially a subjective point of view based on that person’s cognitive sense of what is actually beautiful. Yet it is concomitantly not subjective because the delight derived from it has reason to be the same way with somebody else. If someone sees something beautiful and takes pleasure from, then, shares this with another person is the full circle of the philosophy of art. Beauty does not end in its mere existence, the same must be appreciated and this begins with subjectivity. Another important aspect of art is the emotion that goes along with it. Many regard that this is the most important part of art and what makes it a truly human experience. It is the way tha t a piece of art makes an impact in its audience that determined whether or not it has achieved what it is meant to be able to do. Pleasure which is the most basic explanation for the existence of art is called ‘expressivism.’ This theory, which is applicable in all art media exemplifies the value of feelings as invested in the artwork by its creator. Leo Tolstoy, among the best novelist of all time, theorizes that

Financial Analysis for Kroger Co Research Paper

Financial Analysis for Kroger Co - Research Paper Example For an industry like Kroger’s, the most important factor for consumers is price. The products available in supermarkets are not differentiated and therefore they cannot be advertised heavily. Much of the advertisement that is done is carried out on the basis of attracting families to shop at Kroger because it is cost effective to do so. Apart from being cost effective Kroger also has products of high quality which makes it popular among American consumers. Kroger Co. has 42 manufacturing plants and including dairies, beverages and meat plants and all of these plants are of the highest standards. In the recent years there has been a tremendous increase in the fuel prices and the recent financial meltdown has made things worse for many industries including Kroger. The rise in fuel prices caused an increase in costs of the products sold by Kroger. Kroger is both a manufacturing company and a retail outlet and was therefore heavily affected by the increase in cost of fuel and othe r raw materials. According to Porter, there are 3 strategies a company can adopt to become competitive and Kroger has undertaken the â€Å"cost leadership† strategy which helps to differentiate it from the rest of the supermarket chains. The continuing increase in fuel prices will prevent Kroger from increasing costs and the strategy and it would be difficult to achieve goals. Kroger can shift to alternative sources of energy and reduce its costs that way. The recent financial meltdown meant that the demand for grocery products decreased to a large extent. In the past consumers would buy gourmet foods and other items from supermarkets but due to the credit crises that has decreased. Consumers have become more price conscious and buy only items that are necessary. Such a decrease in spending has affected the entire industry at large and profit margins have gone down since the past. In 2009 there was a 60.5% drop in consumer confidence index. (Zahorsky) Kroger has been taking a dvantage of the opportunities and developed its own brand called â€Å"Private Selection† and manufactures its own products under this brand name. Consumers often prefer branded products in place of national and Kroger has been successful in understanding this need. In 2009 Kroger earned around $1 billion in sales from this brand alone and the sales continue to grow today (Zahorsky). Such a step by Kroger would not only help the company but the industry as a whole. Liquidity Ratio Current ratio of Kroger Co. for the financial year 2012: = = 0.804 Current ratio for the year 2012= 0.804:1. The current ratio for the industry is around 0.8 which is the same as Kroger (Kroger Co. Ratios, 2012). The

Corporate social responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Corporate social responsibility - Essay Example Some theorists as well as practitioners describe CSR as a form of corporate compliance with the spirit and the letter of the law; or, as a business approach that takes into account the manner in which the organization’s activities impacts upon its different stakeholders (Nehme & Wee, 2008:129). Pursuant to its legal mandate, CSR is seen as a condition where the corporation acts as a free agent of the state, to the extent that the expressed social objectives are imposed on the corporation by law (Manne & Wallich, 1972, p. 40). On the other hand, more than just compliance with legal mandate, CSR is also thought to pertain to the corporation’s efforts above and beyond regulatory requisites, in effect finding an equilibrium between the needs of stakeholders on one hand, and those of making a profit for the investors in the other (Nehme & Wee, 2008:132). CSR is â€Å"[a] concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis† (European Commission, in Nehme & Wee, 2008:131). CSR, from a market viewpoint, has been identified as a source of competitive advantage, as the company explores ways of approaching and engaging with their stakeholders (Corporation and Market Advisory Committee, 2006). â€Å"CSR is the result, implicit or explicit, of the nature of a firm, its role in society, and its relationships with its internal and external stakeholders† (Argandoà ±a and Hoivik, 2009, p. 229). The same activities, it is observed, may be undertaken whatever theory is adopted, as even community-focused activities may actually be undertaken in the service of corporate interests – a form of market development effort. Nevertheless, embarking on these activities which do not directly comprise the company’s main business operations are taken to be external manifestations of the company’s CSR program. Ever since the advent of

Electronic medical record implementation in correctional facilitites Essay

Electronic medical record implementation in correctional facilitites - Essay Example The significance of assessable and consistent medical records continues to be the objective of the health care and correctional facilities. The usefulness of electronic medical records cannot be underestimated. Electronic medical records will serve as the core source of information for patient care. The utilization of information technology to keep records allows capturing, processing and integration of more data. This will provide meaningful information as well as contribute to the knowledge of authorized users for lawful uses. In the contemporary world, people have increasingly become aware of their rights. People have become empowered, and thus demand for better services from servicer givers. As such, there is the need to implement electronic record keeping and enhancing customer/patient expectations. The organization also needs to implement electronic record keeping so as speeding patient treatment. It usually takes some time before a patient’s record can be accessed from the manual record. Embracing information technology in record keeping will help expedite patient treatment (Rodin, Jennifer, & Sharon, 2012). Accessing records from online records will be taking less than a minute when there is an information technology technocrat in the records department. ... Adopting comprehensive electronic records is a long and expensive process. Financial and time cost is mainly involved in containing, managing, and recouping costs. Other direct costs that are a barrier to electronic records keeping are the cost of purchasing information technology equipment and training costs. Another organizational barrier is the fear of having the staff buy-in to the organizational change option. It is quite a challenging exercise to have the hospital staff to accept the option of having to change from manual means of record keeping to electronic record keeping. In correctional facilities that have already embraced electronic records, the management expressed that it is a critical challenge to convince the staff on the need for the organizational change. Many staffs have noteworthy concerns with regard to the anticipated upheaval and changes in their daily and routine activities. The concerns are usually compounded by ambiguity regarding the potential merits that t he new system will bring (Rodin, Jennifer, & Sharon, 2012). Correctional facilities also encounter training barriers. Organizations experience tremendous logistical challenges in training virtually the staff and the community on how to use electronic records. The organization needs to enlarge their information technology staff to operate with electronic records vendor in a bid to customize the system. This includes adding information technology knowledgeable clinicians who would bridge the conversation involving practice and technology. The organization may also lack a change agent to help it midwife the process of system changeover (Borkowski, 2009). During organizational change, it is essential to have an appropriate change agent to

Professional Nursing Mission Statement Essay Example for Free

Professional Nursing Mission Statement Essay This Professional Nursing Mission Statement describes the professionalism a nurse needs to perform excellent care in the health environment. The Mission also demonstrates different aspects of nursing and what nurses are to look forward to now and into the future. A. Functional Differences Board of Nursing has an authoritive role in nursing. They are made up of professionals that make up rules so the nurse is aware of what is allowed or not allowed in their scope of practice. Theses rules may differ from state to state but primarily, their focus is to protect the public from people who practice nursing without the appropriate qualifications. State Board of Nursing has the authority to rescind and reissue licenses. Board of Nursing also decides on penalizing action against a nurse who has a complaint or lawsuit against them (Villaceran, 2007). The State of Hawaii board of nursing purpose generally claims just the same. It claims that anyone posing as a nurse must show proof ‘in order to safeguard life and health’ (Hawaii Revised Statute Chapter 457 – Nurses, 2013). A professional nurses organization, or PNO, such as the American Nurses Association for example, was generated to direct a licensed nurse on how to present him or herself in an ethical manner. Although it is not law, it should be practice as a guide to uphold the integrity of the nurse (American Nurses Association, 2001). PNO defines the nurse Code of Ethics and the Scope of Practice. They also explains what a nurse is and promote professionalism. PNO may be involved with research to improve the quality of patient care as well as be apart of the political decision-making to endorse them (Sauls, 2013). B. Nursing Code Example A nursing code of ethics is a good place to start with to guide any nurse to become a great healthcare provider. American Nurses Association, also known as ANA, Code of Ethics gives ideas on how one may want to envision themselves as a respected nurse with values. It identifies how a nurse may want to carry themselves in the workplace with quality and good integrity. ANA provision 1 seems to define what a nurse is all about. It describes the nurse as student nurses were taught to be in nursing school. Practicing  human dignity keeps nurses in good standing with the Gallup polls. In 2008, Gallup polls showed that 84% of the people see nurses as the most ethical. This is the highest amongst other occupations (Cherry, 2011). Generating a relationship with the patient is inevitable. Theres no way a nurse can do their job without first establishing a relationship with the patient. The question is, will a nurse generate a good relationship as oppose to a bad one? To give good care, the n urse and the patient is in need to be on the same page where the patient is made to feel as they are the one in charge of their care. So, if a patient does not feel like getting up to work with physical therapy the nurse should grant their wishes. Nurses should not ‘force’ patients to do things the patient does not want to do. The nurse should first encourage the patient that it is important to take their daily medications or encourage them to get up for physical therapy, for example. If they continue to refuse, the patient should have the sense of control of their care by not feeling ‘threatened’ for not wanting to take their medication or getting up for physical therapy. But, allowing the patient to set a plan for their day may have the patient more cooperative and less stressed. ANA code of ethics provision 5 is a code that states: the nurse owes the same duties as others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, and maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth.’ (American Nurses Association, 2001). Moral self-respect is required to carry out this code; not only to ones self but to the patient as well. It is a good start to establish trust. Moral respect should also be practice to the individuals in the interdisciplinary team involved. Moral self-respect is key to keep self-esteem and respect to others. It keeps the feeling of unity in a patients care. Having a good rapport with the interdisciplinary team will keep the all on the same page as far as patient care. With the every changing healthcare systems and updated research, nurses are in constant need to keep up for the sake of keeping the patient up to date with healthcare technology (Amcee, 2003). This requires ongoing classes of not only updated technology but with competency as well. If the interdisciplinary team and peers are aware of this, this will boost trust and respect for the educated nurse. C. Professional traits The ANA Code of Ethics discusses many professional traits. Although all are very important and continuously need to be practiced, the professional trait of Collaboration is essential for the interdisciplinary team to practice as well (American Nurses Association, 2001). Collaboration is the job description of any disciplinary team. It is valuable for all individuals to be apart of the care of the patient. Each member of the team gives valuable information from his or her expertise resulting in a holistic plan of care. Another professional trait the nurse to advocate to the interdisciplinary team is to respect the patients right to self-determination while admitted in their care. Every patient needs to be apart of their care and should be able to claim what they want or do not want in their plan of care (American Nurses Association, 2001). This would give the patient a sense of control in their care and their life. Delegation is the third professional trait that is essential to the in terdisciplinary team in order to give appropriate and timely care to the patient (American Nurses Association, 2001). The interdisciplinary team all has his or her own unique specialty that will allow the patient to receive individual care they are requiring. Patients put their lives into the hands of the physician everyday. They trust that they will be taken care of as if they were the only patients the physician possesses. The nurses and staff are an extension of the physician. Everyone taking care of patients has an obligation to continue that integrity the patient has already upheld in the physician. This is why provision 5 in the Code of Ethics should be practiced. This fourth professional trait allows the patient the feeling of respect and dignity. This sense will allow them to have faith in the nursing team and the healthcare system that they will have the best care possible (American Nurses Association, 2001). D. Recommended resource Jean Watson established in 1978 the Theory of Human Caring. Watson introduces the 10 carative (or caring) factors that support her theory. They are: 1. The formation of humanistic-altruistic system of values 2. The instillation of faith-hope 3. The cultivation of sensitivity to ones self and to others 4. Thedevelopment of a helping-trusting relationship 5. The promotion and acceptance of the expression of positive and negative feelings 6. The systematic use of the scientific problem-solving method of decision making 7. The promotion of interpersonal teaching-learning 8. The provision for a supportive, protective, and (or) corrective mental, physical, sociocultural and spiritual environment 9. Assistance with the gratification of human needs 10. The allowance of existential-phenomenological forces  (Nursing Theories, 2012). D1. Theory in Professional Practices Jean Watsons Theory of Human Caring is essential in patient care. Being in the hospital, away from family and literally laying your life in the hands of a stranger cannot be easy. Human caring and showing compassion and empathy can possibly decrease stress and allow patients to focus on healing and be compliant with their care. If patients feel good about their care they’ll be more involved with their care. Using the environment of a Skilled Nursing Facility, as an example, where the healing process may take longer than expected, following the 10 ‘caratives’ in the Theory of Human Caring will not only show quality care but give the patient a pleasant hospital experience for the remainder of their stay E. Contributions Lillian Wald was known for her works in the public health nursing. She believed that the caring for the patient should start before they end up in the clinic. She encouraged the importance of disease prevention and taught health education. She provided well-baby care and treated minor illness in her main clinic named Henry Street Settlement House (Cherry, 2011). Lillian Wald emphasized the significance of prevention. A practice that continues to be reiterated everywhere. As seen in commercials or billboards or even on the radio, prevention is key to a long, healthy lifestyle. When patients leave the hospital, discharge education is vital to making sure they are capable to care for themselves and, hopefully, bring down the numbers of hospital visits. F. Scenario One principle I safeguarded for a patient was respect for autonomy.  Sometimes patients are admitted into the hospital for something as simple as daily intravenous antibiotics. They are independent with all of their activities of daily living. Sometimes these patients are intertwined with other patients in shared rooms. These independent patients, because of their alertness, should be able to be in a private room. These patients are not only of low acuity, but these patients will be happier not being around sicker patients. Happier patients means good rating for us. On the other hand, there are times when patients are admitted as stable yet confused. The second principle I safeguarded for a patent was non-maleficence. Because these patients are not in control of their thoughts or actions they are required to be supervised more closely than others. Patients who are at risk of getting hurt by getting out of bed without assistance can cause nurses to be of concerned. These patients can easily be put in a wheelchair and ‘hang out’ with the nurses at the nurses station for continuous supervision from, not only of the team nurse but, all staff. This would allow more eyes on the patient bringing down the risks of injury. This will also prevent more invasive means like using physical or chemical restraints.

African American Injustice Essay Example for Free

African American Injustice Essay â€Å"In the eyes of white Americans, being black encapsulates your identity. † In reading and researching the African American cultural group, this quote seemed to identify exactly the way the race continues to still be treated today after many injustices in the past. It is astonishing to me that African Americans can still stand to be treated differently in today’s society. In reading â€Å"Blacks in America†, Andrew Hacker states that â€Å"being black in America has consequences in areas of: wealth, identity, raising children, occupational opportunities, place of residence, and treatment in the criminal justice system. † To be honest, and I feel bad saying that I already knew this was happening to African Americans. I have heard stories of blacks not getting jobs; regardless of how qualified they are for the position, because of the color of their skin. I have heard stories, and even witness black children getting picked on in school because of the simple fact that they are black. I watched a video in school where a black family moved into a white neighborhood, and before long all the white families had moved out because they didn’t want a black family in their neighborhood. This was confirmed by Hacker in my research in the quote, â€Å"Almost all residential areas are entirely black or white. † I have also seen videos of African American men getting beaten by white arresting officers, and have heard stories of many black men being stereotyped by policemen. This must be why Hacker states â€Å"When white people hear the cry, â€Å"the police are coming! † it almost always means, â€Å"Help is on the way. † However blacks cannot make the same assumption. † These are all reports and events that I think the average American has seen before, but yet most people, including myself, continue to just shrug of and ignore. I guess it’s something that I might have subconsciously accepted, or maybe refused to think more deeply about. In reading and researching, I reaffirmed knowledge that I refused to take a greater note of. I wouldn’t say I learned anything new, because I knew what I wanted to focus on. A quote from Andrew Hacker’s article summarizes the above best, â€Å"In the eyes of white Americans, being black encapsulates your identity. † It may be easy to tell how I am going to focus this anthology. I am going to focus it on the injustices that African Americans continue to face in the United States today. That being, I know exactly what I need to get out of my interviewees, but it is probably a sensitive subject for some of the people I need to interview. I am not black, and I don’t know what it feels like to face this discrimination in everyday life. I can understand the tenderness that African Americans must feel then, when revealing and talking about their experiences with discrimination. I would think then, that it must be especially sensitive to talk about with a person from the race that they receive this everyday discrimination. It will be interesting to hear all the different types of prejudice that my interviewees have received throughout their lives. I would imagine that it ranges from just a look, or the way white Americans act around them, to voiced and physical altercations between themselves and white Americans. Hacker at times seems to be speaking directly to African Americans as he describes these altercations, â€Å"So many of the contacts you have with them (white Americans) are stiff and uneasy, hardly worth the effort. † But to me, that is exactly what the problem is. Why would it not be worth the effort? The first step to take for the uneasiness between the two races to cease to exist is for us (all people) to stop seeing color because once we act differently around the other is where all the problems seem to start. The second step is to make these contacts worth the effort. If we choose to continue to stay in our own comfortable circle of race, when is the problem ever going to end? The answer is never. My opinion as a white 18 year old is that most of the blame lies on the white race. Imagine being eyed every time you go into a store, having your car searched for no reason, or greeted warily at restaurants all because the color of your skin is different. We ignore this daily discrimination because no cares enough anymore to take notice that it happens every hour, every day somewhere in the United States. Will it ever stop? Not until we each take the steps to make it. A recent census commercial I’ve seen said â€Å"We (United States) can’t move forward until you mail it back. † I believe that our country can’t move forward and truly be great until we make sure these daily discriminations are eliminated from our society. In this project, I will interview African Americans on their personal experiences with discrimination, how they handle it, and if they think anything can be done about this problem. Sources: Andrew. 1999. Blacks in America. Pp. 160-168 in The Meaning of Sociology, 6th ed. , edited by Joel Charon. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. A Time to Kill. Dir. Joel Schumacher. 1996. African American History. University of Washington Libraries. Web. 02 Apr. 2010. .

The Concept of the Digital Marketing

The Concept of the Digital Marketing Digital marketing is the very innovative and novel concept in the 21st century. Through this form of media products and services are promoted with the use of database-driven online distribution channels to reach consumers in an appropriate, significant, individual, and lucrative manner. The term digital marketing has not any specific definition or meaning but it can be well explained with the examples such as emails, online advertisements, pay per clicks, wireless text messages, instant messages, RSS, blogging, fax, video streams, podcasting, broadcast, etc. All these examples are included in the definition of digital marketing. Apart from its inclusive list, there are few traditional forms of marketing which are not included in the term of digital marketing. They are TV, radio, print and billboard as they are not the instant or quick forms of marketing. It means with these forms of marketing the advertiser could not get the immediate response from the end consumers. The traditional forms of marketing could not give the accurate number of responders. Perhaps, there is a little improvement has achieved with the devices such as TiVo which records the statistics like website but, still the desirable result has not gained. Nevertheless, this became possible with the introduction of digital marketing. Digital marketing has become so powerful network of advertising, that with the introduction of Double click strategy of Google for internet, the world has become very close linking to each and every place conveniently. With the help of digital marketing, campaigns for promoting any product through internet has become very cost-effective and convenient. With the feature digital technology, in digital marketing, the advertiser easily comes to know how many times and how long the campaign has been showed on internet, also it comes to know how many people have seen this campaign, how many responses have received, and how many purchases have been made though online mode. With this fast-end technology, marketing of any particular products becomes easier, the consumers convenience become possible and the organization makes huge profits, too. The improved versions of these digital marketing are broadband internet, Wi-Fi network, and mobile phone access. The usage of these techniques has drastically increased, worldwide. The web usage has increased 10% all over the world, from January 09 to January 10, as per the recent report. The attitude of management has changed. From traditional form of advertising, they have shifted to the digital marketing. Billions of dollars have been spent by organizations on digital marketing for promotion of their ad campaigns. They are taking huge benefits out of digital marketing and earning high revenues. Critical analysis of audit findings, using relevant diagrams and appropriate models to support analysis From the audit it is found that AECOM has considered for brand repositioning for its short term marketing project through digital marketing with Yahoo! Answers. But, AECOM has not considered any particular brand repositioning strategy for that. AECOM needs to consider the proper brand repositioning strategy for successful results in digital marketing. The strategy for AECOM can be New Logo and Tagline. AECOM is into financial and management services over the last 20 years but, during that period AECOM has not considered for brand repositioning. Now, if it has decided for it, then the best strategy for AECOM is new logo and tagline. AECOM should come up with new taglines such as Finest Service Provider, or Services Delivered. Anywhere. Anytime., or Leaders in Service Delivery. Along with its tagline, AECOM also can change its logo. By adopting any of the tagline, the scenario of consumers may change and consumers feel free to contact AECOM at any point of time. The tagline itself shou ld look so attractive that more and more consumers can be fascinated towards AECOMs services. Apart from this, AECOM has considered Yahoo Answers for its digital marketing promo. But, in the market there are various digital marketing services providers are available such as Google, Hotmail, Face book, You Tube, etc. The cost of services of all these service providers should also be considered, the quality of their services should be checked, the further discounts in finalizing the particular services should be checked and only after that the decision should be taken whether the particular service provider is economic in cost or not. AECOM should have to consider Face book for undertaking digital marketing project for brand repositioning. Over 400 millions of users the website has over socialized. AECOM could be able to take benefit out of it in fascinating more consumers towards its brand. The below diagram shows that the use of Face book has increased to that extent, if any company selects this digital marketing media for promo then definitely it will remain beneficial from the view point of growth, development, revenue, publicity, and of course profits. Facebook The use of social media for digital marketing is more compared to other websites which can be proved with the following diagram. If AECOM could have undertaken the brand repositioning through social media digital marketing, then the chances of its promo would be higher compared to Yahoo! Answers. AECOM is specifically into financial and management services to valued consumers. For further growth and development purposes, AECOM should consider the policy of diversification into new business segments such as AECOM should enter the new business of aviation industries or automobile industry for manufacturing of luxurious cars. A business case, with justification, including a cost benefit analysis, for the short term marketing project and show how the marketing project will support the delivery of the organizations marketing strategy Even though, AECOM is on number one position in providing financial services and management services to consumers, to survive in a huge market competition, brand repositioning of AECOM through innovation and technology via digital marketing is must. To maintain the market share and its position in the market, AECOM needs to consider brand repositioning. But, along with brand repositioning, the fear of high costs and high risks are increased with launching of new brand. As per Biel, brand positioning is building or (rebuilding) an image for a brand. Brand repositioning is nothing but managing the existing brand in better and advanced ways. Repositioning helps in introducing new opportunities and market changes. While going with the brand repositioning, there are certain risks factors which need to be considered. While brand repositioning, there is a high risk of losing trustworthiness and consistency of consumers. Because, it may become possible that many consumers are not aware of brand repositioning strategy of a company. During the period, if any consumer contacts through website, and the logo, tagline, advertisement, etc. changes, then consumers fall in the twisted atmosphere whether to contact or not. As per few analysts, the successful brand repositioning is impossible because during the repositioning period, most of the loyal consumers shift to other brands. The basic aim of brand repositioning is safeguarding and improving brand equity to un derstand the better vibrant of it. Repositioning of brand is modification of something which already exists in the market and the minds of consumers. Brand repositioning represents uniqueness in the companys existing products and services. Repositioning strategy exist in three stages known as introductory stage, elaboration stage, and fortification stage. The stages can be explained in the below diagram: Diagram 1: Stages in brand strategy development Selecting Appropriate Marketing mix Establishing the Brand proposition Rolling out the Strategy Introductory Stage Elaboration Stage Fortification Stage Modifying the Proposition Repositioning Updating the personality Repositioning helps in moving the organization to a newer and more attractive position than before. The objective of this movement depends from organization to organization. It differs particularly for the sake of understanding what the company wants to achieve. In case of AECOM, the company wants to become innovative in terms of technology and designing to the extent possible compared to its competitors. The brand positioning helps company in taking to the higher position than before. This can be explained with below diagram: Diagram 2: The principle of repositioning New Position Price Previous Position Experienced quality As the organization shifts to new position after brand repositioning, the company tries to meet the new demands of consumers, newer and stronger arguments of consumers by convincing them to stay as loyal. To achieve the benefits out of brand repositioning such as better value, relevant status in the market, great image, updated personality, etc. AECOM needs to undertake a four-phased brand repositioning approach which is as follows; Phase 1: Determining the current status of the brand Phase 2: What does the Brand stand for today? Phase 3: Developing the brand positioning platforms Phase 4: Refining the brand positioning and management presentation. Now, combining this repositioning strategy with digital marketing approach, the more accurate results will be delivered for AECOM. For this purpose, the Yahoo! Answers should reach beyond its pure online territory and initiate this conversation. For digital marketing of AECOMs brand repositioning campaign on Yahoo!, AECOM should conduct the following activities: Stage 1: On-ground video shoot of consumers At this stage, AECOM should visit major 3 countries UAE, USA, and UK. The campaign should be conducted for three days in each of the countries at well-known places asking questions to consumers about AECOMs brand repositioning event. While conducting this event, 5 questions to be asked to all respondents provided by the AECOM. All the answers to the above questions should be captured on the video and must post to the Yahoo! Answer. The response to the event will show that, whether AECOM has got tremendous response than expected or not and the target is achieved properly or not. Stage 2: Posting all the responses on Yahoo! The second stage in digital marketing for AECOM brand repositioning campaign is posting the responses on Yahoo! Answers. Accordingly, the top 50 answers from the list should be uploaded on Yahoo! Answers with AECOM brand. On each page total 10 answers to be displayed with AECOM promotional video. This can make it possible that users or consumers may watch the video responses posted on the website or answer the questions themselves which can foster more responses in the future. Stage 3: Promoting all the responses on Yahoo! All the questions selected should be posted on Yahoo! Answers for more promotion and advertising to create awareness amongst consumers about AECOMs brand repositioning strategy. For this promotion through digital media networking AECOM may get huge response. The strategy can be used here by AECOM and Yahoo!, is for every response to an answer the promo will be added more for 12 minutes which is the highest time given by Yahoo! Other than these responses, the other creative promos can also be added by AECOM on Yahoo! These creative promos include The promo of AECOMs featured services on Yahoo! Homepage The promo of AECOMs video answers on Yahoo! Homepage These promos are covered not only on Yahoo! Homepage but also on Messengers, E-mails, Answers and Groups. Stage 4: Invite maximum users to give their views and ask questions related to the AECOMs brand repositioning. The final stage in successful digital marketing campaign of AECOMs brand repositioning with Yahoo!, is invitation to maximum users to give their views about AECOMs financial and management services to others or those who are not aware about AECOM. Also, this stage includes the questions about AECOMs brand repositioning. The trusted consumers those have queries why AECOM is carrying brand repositioning, they can post the related questions on Yahoo!, and they may get the reasonable answers to their questions by responsible management team of AECOM through Yahoo! Answers. Accordingly, the promo of AECOMs brand repositioning can be conducted successfully via Yahoo! Answers with the expected unbelievable result. Cost-benefit analysis for the short term marketing project The cost-benefit analysis for AECOMs brand repositioning campaign in the context of digital marketing through Yahoo! Answers is highly depends upon the expected benefits out of it over its cost. Cost-benefit analysis (COBA) is a technique where the assessment of monetary social costs and benefits of any specified capital project is conducted over a given period of time. In case of this short term marketing project of AECOMs brand repositioning, if the benefits out of digital marketing are expected to be huge then the project is beneficial for AECOM and vice versa. For this purpose, the basic principles of COBA are required to understand which are as follows: Appraisal of a project For conducting cost-benefit analysis for any project, its evaluation is must. COBA is an economic technique for project appraisal. Incorporates externalities into the equation This characteristic of COBA invites for the social as well as private economic costs and benefits of the projects. It also measures the social welfare of the investment. Value of Time Time is very important factor while undertaking COBA analysis. The economy of time is considered in the future of the project. Uses of COBA : COBA is traditionally being used only for big public sector projects such as water, dams, railways, bridges, by-passers, new motorways, tunnels, power-stations, flood relief schemes, etc. But, now the scenario has changed and COBA has been applied to small projects, to public health programs, in reduction of long-term unemployment, to understand the cost or benefits in new business deals, etc. The main aim of conducting COBA is whether the project leads to an increase in social benefits in future or not. If the answer is Yes then the result of COBA is positive and vice versa. Main steps in calculating COBA Approach: Step1 (a): Calculation of social costs and benefits: In this step, the social costs and benefits include all the direct and indirect costs, expenditures, profits, and gains. It involves all the significant costs. Step1 (b): Sensitivity analysis of events occurring: In this step it is to be marked that how much is the profit and cost involved in particular transaction and what is the outcome of it? If it will occur what is the scale of uncertainty about the actual values of the costs and benefits? Step 2: Discounting the future value of benefits: The next step involved in COBA is discounting of future benefits. Since the benefits are enjoyed in present, the future value of it is discounted over a period of time. Step 3: Comparing the costs and benefits: This step helps to understand the net returns on investment. Step 4: Comparing net rate of returns: Under this step, the returns from different projects are collected and accordingly the best out of it is selected. The COBA decides about ranking to the projects on the basis of its highest expected net returns in social welfare. As per these characteristics, uses, and steps of COBA, the AECOMs brand repositioning in the context of digital marketing through Yahoo! Answers represents that the cost involved for digital marketing may be high but the expected returns is definitely more than its cost. In this project, the major cost involved is only for digital marketing, the returns are in variety of forms such as high returns and profits to AECOM, huge publicity which creates awareness about AECOM brand in the mind of diverse consumers, people come to know about the existence of AECOM and its wide-ranging services in all the possible sectors through its expert employees. Also, the time involved in digital marketing is less compared to traditional form of marketing. So, from all the view points, one point is very clear that the benefits involved in this project are expected to be very high compared to its cost. So, the results of cost-benefit analysis are positive. Based upon recommendations, an outline of project plan to effectively implement proposals with a risk management program The recommendation to AECOM in its brand repositioning of short term marketing project through digital marketing, where AECOM has considered Yahoo! Answers as strategic tool for digital marketing should be replaced by social media networking which is also a digital marketing tool. In social media marketing, AECOM can either go with Face book or can create companys own blog for publicity and advertising of its brand repositioning. The revised outline project plan for AECOM for implementing proposal of digital marketing successfully in its brand repositioning inclusive of risk management program is as follows: Objective: The objective of AECOM is successful brand repositioning for a short term marketing project through digital marketing. Vision: The vision of AECOM is to become pioneer in the delivery of financial and management services in the entire world. To attain the leadership position in the entire human resource industry also has to be the vision of AECOM. Strategic management: To achieve above objectives AECOM must utilize the complete structured approach to undertake strategic management. Nike must undertake the brand repositioning strategy of New Logo and Tagline in the context of digital marketing through social media networking of Face book or companys blogs. Digital marketing through Face book AECOM has decided the promo and publicity of its brand repositioning strategy of New Logo and Tagline through Yahoo! Answers which is very expensive compared to other social media networking websites such as Twitter, Linked in, and Face book. Maximum are the people using these social networking websites and if AECOM refers one of these websites for its promo then the outcome will be greater compared to Yahoo! Answers. Around 400 million users are using the Face book networking. The companies using social networking website for business purpose and their market share for twitter is 41%, Linked in is also 41% but for Face book it is 44% which is highest compared to others. Digital marketing through Companys blog Other than the use of Face book, company can create its own blobs and can post the questionnaire for promo and publicity purpose on AECOMs blog only. The interested consumers can get information about AECOMs activities from its blog and also if any queries can be posted directly to the blog of AECOM. The companies using own blogs for digital marketing purpose is very high with its market share 46% higher than Face book, too. Since, company has its own blog, the cost of hiring any digital marketing media also reduces. But, the limitation to this strategy is company cannot attract new consumers who are not aware of AECOM and its brand repositioning. Risk Management Program AECOMs brand repositioning marketing project through digital marketing has the risk of system failure and not meeting the business need. In such a situation, AECOM is required to design a risk management program. The risk management program for AECOM in case of system failure is recovery, back up, and disaster recovery procedures. In case of risk of not meeting business need involved then AECOM should ensure about the representatives and resources involved for good participation and collaboration from all concerned areas of business. Implementation AECOM can implement its plan of digital marketing through social media networking instead of Yahoo! Answers. By implementing this plan, AECOM can reduce its high cost and as a result, the COBA will also give the higher returns compared to digital marketing with Yahoo! AECOMs brand repositioning through digital marketing via social media networking will lead to gain higher profits and AECOM will be in a position to attract maximum consumers through social media. This option will ensure to attain AECOMs objective of market leadership in human resource industry. Conclusion It is concluded that the best strategic option for AECOM is social media networking for digital marketing and amongst it, Face book is better than companys blog because Face book may offer AECOM maximum consumers to get availed of AECOMs excellent services. Recommend, with justification, appropriate methods of effectively monitoring and measuring progress throughout the project, to ensure that it is completed on time, within budget and to specification Now days the share of marketing through digital media has increased compared to traditional media of marketing. As a result, the demand for tools for measurement of growing selection of online marketing channels has increased. Garners maturity model for Web Analytics has provided the tool for measurement of web site analytics but it has not included the social media networking and other digital marketing media. This gap has been filled by the Webtrends Digital marketing Optimization Team by providing an appropriate method for measuring the progress throughout the digital marketing project. The Digital Marketing Maturity Model (DM3) has provided the framework for measurement of any digital media marketing project. DM3 is the best model for measurement of progress of any digital marketing project. The DM3 beta measures the progress through six core areas. They are the six pillars of digital media measurement. They are as follows; 1. Measurement Strategy The first core area in measurement progress is measurement strategy. A formal measurement strategy should be placed by organization and should make sure about aligning the overall objectives of organization. This assists in meeting all the digital marketing activities to the companys bottom line and the manifestation of digital measurement becomes possible. 2. Analytics Resources and Domain Expertise The success of digital marketing analytics program become possible because of analytics resources and domain expertise. The employees of organization make it possible through their dedication towards measurement and analysis, the resources at their disposal, their capability to troubleshoot issues, and response to requests throughout the organization. 3. Data Integration and Visualization Through data integration and visualization, the effective measurement of digital marketing becomes possible. For successful measurement, organizations required to integrate the multiple sources of data to gain a more complete picture of their consumers and business. Data integration is the core chain of values between the systems. It enables organizations to generate an absolute image of their marketing efforts. Data visualization helps in arrangement and release of digital marketing facts in meeting the requirements of various groups throughout an organization. 4. Data Analysis and Insight Data Analysis skills are very important in twisting the web-based data into perceptive or organizations wants to optimize their websites and compel elegant marketing and business verdicts. Nevertheless, diverse data entail special types of analysis skills. 5. Adoption and Governance The value of digital marketing data is minimal unless the rules of digital marketing are in place to ensure its consistency and quality over time and if it helps in getting the right people at the right time throughout an organization. The training to people according to their roles is necessary for those who want know how to utilize the data. The assistance from government for managing various types of aspects in context to digital marketing programs becomes possible inclusive of change management, security, and data consistency programs. 6. Ongoing Optimization Organizations placed the data measurement processes consistently over a period of time which are ensured by ongoing optimization. The optimization opportunities are recognized and diverse iterations of sites are tested by using digital marketing data. Prior to implementation, grown-up organization extents all digital marketing channels from web sites to paid research and also includes A/B testing of multiple marketing updates. Critical assessment of the main techniques for evaluating the success or failure of the marketing project on its completion The main techniques in evaluation of success or failure of the marketing project on its completion are Critical Path Analysis (CPA) and PERT Charts. These both techniques are very powerful tools to schedule and manage the complex projects. Both the techniques were developed in 1950s and till now they are used successfully. Lets discuss these techniques in details. Critical Path Analysis (CPA) This technique helps to plan all the tasks which require to be completed as a part of project. CPA acts as a basis for beginning of program, and of resource planning. CPA helps in observing the achievement of project objectives. CPA also helps to keep a track whether any corrective action requires to be taken to get a project back on course. The benefit of using CPA within the planning process is to get assistance in developing and testing the plan to ensure whether it is vigorous or not. CPA takes care of tasks for timely completion of project. CPA also takes care which task to be delayed if at all resource requires to be modified to catch the missed tasks. CPA also helps in identification of minimum length of time for completion of project. The major drawback of CPA is, the management of tasks with time in relation to the project plans is not that easy and obvious like that with Gantt Charts. As a result the difficulty in understanding increases. The effective CPA makes the differences between the success and failure on composite projects. CPA is very useful technique for assessing the importance of problems faced during the implementation period. PERT Charts (Program Evaluation and Review Techniques) PERT is a deviation on CPA which takes a somewhat more cynical outlook of time approximations made for each project stage. To make use of PERT charts, the shortest possible time is required to estimate for each activity and also the most likely length of time is also required. Appendix Appendix A: Introduction of organization History and Background The founders of AECOM are Richard G. Newman and few employees of Ashland Inc. and about 20 years ago on 6th April, 1990; they established AECOM with the merger of five Ashland enterprises. In 2007, around 30 companies joined AECOM and it became public limited company on the New York Stock Exchange. AECOM is listed in a fortune 500 company currently ranking # 352 and provides the services of architecture, building engineering, design and planning, economics, program management, and transportation in all over the world having approximately 46000 expert employees in more than 100 countries. The revenues of AECOM are flowing in billions of dollars with $6.3 billion at the year ended 30th June, 2010. But, in 2009, AECOM introduced a new brand repositioning with the context of digital marketing. The employees of AECOM are so talented and skilled that their excellence and originality has come from the affluent history of some of the worlds premium engineering, environmental, planning, and design companies. The vision of the AECOM to make a world better place by providing services through excellent employees in the areas of transportation, energy, and water systems by developing environment properly and by creating new buildings and communities. AECOM is well-known for its professional service providing facility all over the world. AECOM has taken over many mergers and acquisitions with some of the greatest companies such as Tishman Construction, INOCSA Ingenieria, and Ellerbe Becket. The excellent expertise brought together from these companies to serve more clients in a better way. AECOM wanted to tell the truth to its clients that AECOM is the number one design firm by Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine, a McGraw-Hill Publication and with brand repositioning in the context to digital marketing; it will establish its brand in such a way to become a market leader. Consumer Base of AECOM AECOM has consumers all over the world. Majorly, the consumers are in the America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. AECOM is specialized in providing the expert financial and management services to its consumers. AECOM has maintained a record in retaining the industrys most talented professionals for the ease of its consumers. Apart from these, AECOM has won various excellence awards during such a small tenure of 20 years. In 2009 itself, AECOM has won the awards like best large project, best small project, best technical innovation, best win, and so on. Not only excellence awards, AECOM has achieved CEO awards, too. This proves that AECOM is a huge enterprise with a vast consumer base of it. AECOMs position in the market AECOM stands on number one position all over the world in the services of designing among top 500 companies. It is the number one designing firm all over the world. AECOM is on top position in all the services such as pure designing, transportation, mass transit and mail, general building, government and commercial offices, and education. Only in green designs, it stands on 4th position as per ENR magazine. Range of products and services AECOM provides services in the streams of architecture, building engineering, design and planning, economics, energy, environment, government, program management, transportation, and water. In the field of architecture, AECOM provides services of interior designing, master planning plus urban designing, and renovation. In building engineering, AECOM builds the commercial and educational buildings, data centers, government, healthcare, and pharmaceutical buildings. AECOM conducts designing and planning for landscape architecture, environmental plus ecological planning, master planning plus urban designing, and strategies. In the stream of economics, AECOM facilitates services for capital planning, economic planning plus real estate, entertainment plus leisure, hotels and resorts. AECOM facilitates energy efficiency and carbon management, energy for hydropower and dams, thermal, geothermal and nuclear. AECOM also takes care of environment by providing services of air quality, environme nt health and safety management, waste services, water and natural resources, and so on. AECOM helps to government in all over the world by providing necessary services in the development and infrastructure of particular country and same alike many more services. In the field of program management, AECOM provides services of knowledge transfer, training, risk management, and web-based program management systems. AECOM takes care of

How Sensationalism Affects Eve Essays -- essays research papers

How Sensationalism Affects Everyone Involved In today ¡Ã‚ ¦s society journalism is under close scrutiny and is losing its credibility. Sensationalism effects both those who receive it in addition to those who report it. This essay will review the history of sensationalism in the media, clearly demonstrate how sensationalism effects ours views on journalism, and confront the ethical dilemmas that journalists must face between reporting objectively and reporting what sells. This will be accomplished by investigating various sources, including articles published on the Internet as well as those published in newspapers and magazines. Throughout history sensationalism has been represented in all shapes and sizes. Celebrity journalism is amongst the oldest forms of sensationalism. For instance, America ¡Ã‚ ¦s first real newspaper, Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic, reported a story on how the King of France was flirting with the prince ¡Ã‚ ¦s wife. Furthermore, in the 1830s, there was the creation of the penny press, which appealed to the then growing population of immigrants in our cities. These papers focused on the reporting of crime and celebrities. Sensationalism returned in the late 19th century in the form of  ¡Ã‚ §Yellow Journalism ¡Ã‚ ¨. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst competed viciously for readers of their respected newspapers. They both sensationalized stories about alleged atrocities committed by the Spanish, calling for the United States to step in on behalf of the Cubans. Equally important, when the USS Maine mysteriously blew up, both papers immediately blamed the Sp aniards. Today, this incident remains a mystery. In addition many blame the act of  ¡Ã‚ §Yellow Journalism ¡Ã‚ ¨ as the cause for the Spanish/American war. Yet another form of sensationalism popped up in the 1920s, picture tabloids. Sensationalism still remains a strong force in the current media. May it be in the form of picture tabloid magazines, celebrity journalism, or the violence infested media known as television and movies, the fact is that it sells. As long as there is a market for this type of unethical journalism there will a supply. Over the years, the general public has depended on the media for its information on current events. On the other hand, the public is becoming less and less confident in the objectivity of the news that is reported. Just last year a reporter for... ...nalism has become deeply entrenched in the media, leaving the public paying a high price through their loss of credible sources of information. In turn, journalists are also paying a high price by sacrificing their ethical standards and succumbing to the temptations of sensationalism for the sake of profit. The mass media has particularly found an avenue for vivid sensationalism through the phenomenon of television, which allows the public to passively absorb fast-moving images, without receiving comprehensive information. It is unlikely that sensationalism can be eliminated, however, the public would be well advised to actively consider their sources of information, rejecting those that blatantly disregard standards of objectivity and credibility in exchange for shallow glitter. By clearly sending a message of dissatisfaction to the corporations that control the mass media, the public may influence the decisions that are made and work toward improvement. Likewise, despite being constrained by the mandates of their management, journalists must make a concerted effort to resist resorting to sensationalism to sell a story, and rather base their success on solid, objective reporting.

Shakespeares Macbeth - The Tragic Hero Essay -- Macbeth essays

Macbeth - The Tragic Hero      Ã‚  Ã‚   Every true Elizabethan Tragedy comes complete with a tragic hero.   The tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, has a perfect example of a tragic hero, otherwise known as Macbeth.   A tragic hero must be a man who is great and admirable in various ways.   He should be placed in society in such a way that everything he does affects all of the members of his society.   A tragic hero should at some point reach the top of Fortune’s Wheel, but land up at the bottom by the end of the tragedy due to the continual change of fate.   Macbeth fits the description of being a tragic hero, displaying his strengths, his weaknesses, his tragic flaw, and how influential outside influences are on him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth definitely has a number of strengths that are prevalent throughout the entire play.   At the beginning of the play, Macbeth seems quite noble.   He fights in the battle against Norway, proving his honor (Lowe).   Ambition is another one of these strengths.   Macbeth is so determined that it enables him to become King of Scotland (Lowe).   It facilitates him to be strong, to overcome his hindrances, and to attain goals (Lowe).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Weaknesses are another characteristic of a tragic hero, and Macbeth displays these quite evidently.   Although ambition was one of the aforementioned strengths obtained by Macbeth, it is a weakness of his, as well   (â€Å"Macbeth – Tragic Hero†).   In fact, it is such a substantial weakness that it constitutes as Macbeth’s tragic flaw.   Being so motivated can cause someone to do horrible things to get their way, as one can see by noting that â€Å"ruthless† is a synonym of â€Å"ambitious.†Ã‚   Through the course of the play, Macbeth kills several people in order... ...gic Hero†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many traits that make up a tragic hero, and Macbeth displays each of these.   Macbeth definitely completes a cycle in Fortune’s Wheel, starting off as a highly venerable man at the play’s beginning and being the exact opposite by the end.   His actions affect everyone in his society.   He displays strengths, weaknesses, a tragic flaw, and the fact that he is vulnerable to outside persuasions, thus making him a perfect example of a tragic hero. Works Cited Lowe, Lawrence.   â€Å"Macbeth’s Tragic Flaw.†Ã‚   http://server44.hypermart.net/homeworkdatabase/essays/essay11lit.html (10 January 2005). â€Å"Macbeth – Tragic Hero.†Ã‚   http://www.digitalessays.com/essays/eng_plays/eng_plays_0013.html (10 January 2005). Shakespeare, William.   Macbeth.   Ed Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar.   New York:   Washington Square Press, 1959.

British Mercantilism

Mercantilism was more favorable to the colonies than it was to Great Britain because, Americans reaped direct benefits from the mercantile system, the average American was better off economically, and mercantilism had sufficient merit to be long perpetuated. Mercantilism was a huge success and a major factor in the development of the colonies. Mercantilism helped jump-start the formation of what we now call America. The American colonists reaped direct benefits from the mercantile system.Liberal bounties were paid to colonials who produced ship parts. The tobacco planters received special privileges in the colonies because of their addictive plant. The colonies had a monopoly on the British market. The direct benefits that the colonies receive help America grow economically because of mercantilism. Although the colonies reaped direct benefits the average American can be more significant to this subject. The average American was better off economically than the average Englishmen.For one the Americans paid no tax on any army because of the alliance with Britain. They paid no tax because of Britain’s forceful navy and saw no use to form an army of their own. The lack of tax and the direct benefits combined together help prove that the average American is better off than the average Englishmen. Mercantilism was a great success. Mercantilism had sufficient merit to be long perpetuated. Mercantilism was so triumphant that it is a system that can be used in our world today.Traces of mercantilism are indeed found in our world today proving the success of mercantilism to be phenomenal. Trade between countries still is a immense part of how we obtain our food and clothing and our bare essentials, as it was for the colonies and Britain. Mercantilism in the colonies obviously worked better than in Britain for these specific reasons; Americans reaped direct benefits from the mercantile system, the average American was better off economically than the average English men, and traces of mercantilism can be found in our world today.

Pro Hunting

The calls to ban the practice of hunting if enacted will sound a death knell to a sport that since the 16th century has become an integral part of our culture. It is a culture that has over time elicited interest in thousand of participants all over Britain. I believe this practice should be upheld not just for its cultural values but also for its economic and sporting importance.Taking a look at the history of foxhunting I become more convinced that this event should be upheld due to the satisfaction that it has been according to the participants. The history of fox hunting dates back to the 16th century, originally as a form of pest control and was carried out by English farmers. This was done by the farmers to protect their livestock, as foxes had become a real threat to their goats and chickens.In some places in England, fox hunting remains largely a form of pest control. Should this practice be allowed I would not fathom how the opponents of fox hunting expect these farmers to s afeguard their source of livelihood. I would not want to see the efforts of these farmers go into waste to satisfy the whims of some few animal rights crusaders. These foxes pose a threat not only to the humans but also to domesticated animals that are more productive and have received months of tending and feeding. I don’t see any other way that these foxes can be eliminated and the threat they pose to humans be reduced significantly. A look at their eating habits leaves me with a lot of disdain for foxes. Foxes can kill a whole pack of chickens while in the real sense it has an appetite of only one. This leads to wastage and should not be condoned; hunting them down remains the most effective way of reducing these incidences( Dagmar Orendi, February 2004.I support fox hunting in the belief that in the long run it plays a great role in ecological balancing. A cross analysis of the foxes in their natural habitats indicate that they have no real predators in the wilderness. Th eir population if unchecked can rapidly increase to an unmanageable level. Man is their only real threat and is the only entity that ensures that only the best survives. I agree with the argument that has been passed on over time that fox hunting apart form controlling the population ensures the culling of the least desirable ones.   In hunting only the weak succumb to the human’s fury.The strong and the fast get to survive and see another down. Hence the hunting and killing of foxes should not be demonized or be viewed as an activity that seeks to fulfill the human’s sadistic tendencies. I am convinced that this activity plays a great role in the ecology more than we can fathom. In the wilderness it is survival for the fittest and hunting isolates the weak from the strong ensuring only the strong breed survives.I am a great lover of sports, not only for the role that it plays in bringing individuals of varied and diversified social upbringing together but for the ph ysical fitness that it instills in those that engage in it. Disregarding its original role and intentions, fox hunting is a sport that continues to create an effective forum for interactions and give individuals a chance to excise their limbs and minds. This is a sport that has evolved from far but still tends to maintain some of the traditional trends. In hunting the foxes, the hunters may opt to do so on foot, on horsebacks, on bicycles or using four wheels drive vehicles.Regardless of the means used, it is a perfect opportunity for the hunters to engage in outdoor activities and enjoy their fun in the rough terrain. I would feel sad to see this sort of an activity banned and the joy of spectating and engaging in the sport diminished. Watching people foxhunt on the screen or hearing the tales of these expeditions gives me thrills and a yearning to participate in them too. By banning these practices, the authority seeks to deny us the excitement and adventure that comes with these sports either when you hear from third parties or when you have physically participated in the fete.Fox hunting is an economic venture in that it not only seeks to reduce livestock losses but also increase the number of jobs created. It is an economic activity that is relied upon by significant number of people. I shudder at the thought of these individuals losing their jobs over what the opponents call ‘cruelty’ to animals.I don’t understand their argument when they purport to advocate for animals, while at the same time failing to put into consideration the number of households and livelihoods that rely on fox hunting, either as a direct source of employment or due to reduced loss of their livestock. I have looked at a recent study that was seeking to establish the number of individuals that depend on fox hunting as a source of employment in the United Kingdom. The findings were interesting. Over 7,000 people fully rely on fox hunting for their living. I see no reason why we should legislate against fox hunting and put into jeopardy the lives of several thousands over arguments that do not hold any water.Although I have an unshakeable believe that fox hunting should not be outlawed, I cannot fail to look at some of the arguments brought forth by the opponents of fox hunting. Animal rights activists are convinced that fox hunting should be outlawed fully and perpetrators thrown behind bars or fined. They cite a few reasons that also may be put into consideration but do not warrant outlawing the event. They claim that fox hunting is cruel considering the fact that the foxes end up being shredded into parts by the hunting dog. It is a very distressing affair to the foxes as they undergo a lot of suffering. They argue that fox hunting is cruel as the foxes do not die instantly but have to undergo a lot of pain.I don’t find this argument strong in any way and deserving any form of attention. In the first place, foxes are hunted not prim arily for sport and excitement but to reduce the threat facing the livestock. To the animal rights activists, it looks that the quality of human life and their source of livelihood is not important, what is important is that the foxes should not undergo suffering even when the strike at the livestock.A cost benefit analysis of fox hunting reveals that it has more social and economic benefits than losses. In my opinion, I find that fox hunting is a venture that seeks to kill more than two birds with a single stone. Economically, the practice is beneficial to the society as it is a natural way for pest control. Socially, it provides us with an important forum whereby people in the society can interact and get to share out their experiences. The interaction play a great role in ensuring unity and cohesion and in one more way than one ensures stability in the community. As a sport, it is a practice that gives people an opportunity to engage in physical outdoor sporting A sport that not only puts their physique in to test but also their minds. I strongly believe that these and more are strong reasons why fox hunting should not be outlawed.BibliographyDagmar Orendi, February 2004. The debate about fox hunting. A social and political analysis. Retrieved on 13/10/07 from http://.www.hu-berlin.de/gbz/downloads/pdf/pagmarorendi-masterthesisPolitics.co.uk 2007.Hunting with dogs. Politics unspun. Retrieved in 13/10/07 from http://www.politics.co.uk/issue-briefs/domestic-policy/animal-welfare/huntingBadger, R.J Fox Hunting in Scotland. Research Note RN99-17, Scottish parliament Information Centre, EdinburghMacmillan, D.C 1999. The Economic Impact of a Ban on Fox Hunting in Scotland. Research Paper 99/3, Environmental and Rural Resource Economics Group, University of Aberdeen.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Eating at Fast-Food Restaurants Essay

Life is moving at a very fast pace in today’s world. Everyone is striving hard to compete with others and get to the top because of which a rat-race is going on all the time. Adults are busy with their careers and children with their academics because of which people rarely have time for one’s self let alone others. In spite of all this busy schedule, everyone still need to consume food in order to survive and since people don’t have time to cook so they just grab a quick lunch or dinner from fast-food restaurants which are now almost everywhere in town. Cause). It does not take long to make fast food and it is quick and hassle free to eat as the name suggests ‘fast food’, hence we can see that because of these factors the consumption of fast food is on the rise in today’s fast-paced world. If one is hungry and in a hurry, one can quickly grab a burger or a pizza and can eat it easily unlike the desi foods for which one need to be properly seated on a table to accommodate for its side-lines and so that the gravy doesn’t spill. Fast food like pizza and burger are delicious, kids love them, the adults find them the most appropriate kind of food when they are running on a tight schedule, all in all fast food does seem as the best food option available, but sadly it is not. Fast food may be considered very delicious and hassle-free but it comes with its own negative effects. Fast food is known to be the unhealthiest kind of food as it leads to many health related problems like obesity, diabetics and other heart related problems. The growing problem of obesity of kids and adults in the west is due to fast food only, as because of their tight schedule people there mostly consume fast foods because of which they fall prey to such health related problems. As fast food is usually very oily with a lot of cheese and when these things are consumed on a daily basis it deteriorates the health of a person. Hence, it is best for us if we consume fast food just to a certain limit instead of all the time, as everything has its own disadvantages in addition to its advantages.

Leadership on The Line Essay

Recognizing the evolving definition and requirements of leadership, Heifetz Ronald and Linsky (2002) highlight the need for leaders to consider the skills and perspective to ensure their effectiveness. Leadership, as illustrated in Leadership on The Line–Staying alive through the Dangers of Leading? requires not only the accomplishment of goals but also the ability to respond effectively to the human realities of working in an organization. The books three parts provide steps in recognizing leadership challenges, developing responses and interventions and what competencies leaders must develop professionally and personally. Marginalization, diversion, attack and seduction are identified as the main sources of resistance to leaders. At the same time, the authors also pay particular attention to the dangers within the leadership characterized as hunger for power and control and the difficulties in self-monitoring. The authors want to communicate to readers that there is a need for leaders to purse the development of their leadership skills. Despite the use of figurative characterizations in the book, the authors are practical and pragmatic in their discussion. The examples given, particularly in the Response section of the book is based on real life examples. Examples which the readers can easily relate directly to or parallel to their own experience. The authors point out that the sources of resistance are natural to any leadership scenario and therefore can not be fully stopped and in fact, can also be safeguard against ineffective leadership However, they have to control through resistance-response skills which in turn allows leaders to function as they are needed. Critique There is no doubt that leadership is a difficult challenge. Thus, there has been no limitation of the number of literature that aim to develop strategies and competencies for it. Unlike most literature in its genre that focuses on the development of attributes for effective leadership to become a leader, Ronald and Linsky discuss the development of leadership when one already holds office. The authors aim to provide a literature or guide to leaders who are already experiencing challenges in their roles due to a change in working scenarios or relationships. From the perspective of Heifetz and Linsky, what has become more critical for leaders to day has been the ability to go beyond their functions and respond to other people and at the same time eliciting a response from them. Thus, beyond achieving goals set members, of the organization must understand why these goals are being pursued, that â€Å"people need to know that the stakes are worth it† (p. 94). At the same time, Heifetz and Linsky state that before any action can be take to address threats to effective leadership, leaders must be able to understand the â€Å"heart† of the issues before recognizing the actions, indications or â€Å"faces† determining the threats. The main message of the book is the need for leaders not just to be competent, sensitive or responsive. They also must understand the their motivations for being so, the perspectives that can be taken, the methods that can be most effective and the implications of any perspective, opinion or action to be taken. Empathizing with the natural isolation of being the top man of an organization: there should be an acceptance that there will be member of the organization who would â€Å"undermine the clarity of his vision, delay his progress, and divert him from his core purposes† (p. 76). Thus, leaders while being advocated to be sensitive to their organization have to balance this with their resolve to accomplish organization goals. Leaders should be then prepared to be questioned, doubted and even maligned for their decisions. Heifetz and Linsky reflect that leaders often view these are criticisms to their professional and personal capacity but they should also understand that these reactions, even when they are deliberate and malicious, occur as part of the dynamics leading and organizations. Reading the book, one of the most unique ideas that Heifetz and Linsky present, absent from most of the leadership literature that I have read, is the concept of pain and leadership. The authors’ views are ones that one can easily agree and even commiserate to. The recognition of the fact that effective leadership has its pains and not just costs, both to the leader and the organization, is a perspective that makes the work effective and truly emphatic to the challenges of leadership. The view that leadership challenges, or resistance, is an ever present element in any organization does not discourage readers but actually motivates them to deal with them rather than trying to circumvent them. However, it should also be recognized that some of the examples or ideas presented may require significant experience to be understood comprehensively. This is a particular challenge in the last section of the book where the authors delineate the introspective requirements for leaders. Nonetheless, the book provides critical insights to the realities of leadership and not just what it should be. More importantly, it is effective in motivating readers view leadership as continuing process of development and that there is a need to actively pursue effectiveness. Reference Heifetz, Ronald A. and Linsky, Marty (2002). Leadership on The Line–Staying alive through the Dangers of Leading, 1st Edition. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.