Why Are Systematic Reviews Important Health And Social Care Essay

A systematic reappraisal is â€Å" [ a ] reappraisal of a clearly formulated inquiry that uses systematic and expressed methods to place, choose, and critically measure relevant research, and to roll up and analyze informations from the surveies that are included in the reappraisal. Statistical methods ( meta-analysis ) may or may non be used to analyze and summarize the consequences of the included surveies † ( Greens & A ; Higgins, 2005 ) . SRs are claimed to be the best beginning of grounds in clinical pattern and decision-making ( Cook et al, 1997 ) . They provide sum-ups of grounds from a myriad of primary surveies which focus on the same inquiries ( Cook et al, 1997, Sanchez-Meca & A ; Botello, 2010 ) by efficaciously pull offing and incorporating well big sum of bing information ( Mulrow, 1994 ) . An overview of available scientific grounds which addresses a specific job brand clip devouring procedure of reading single surveies unneeded and therefore, aid wellness atten tion professionals save their cherished clip ( Sanchez-Meca & A ; Botello, 2010 ) . By summarizing consequences of included research surveies into a individual statement, SRs provide greater advantage to clinicians in measuring grounds ( Stevens, 2001 ) . Furthermore, SRs resolve incompatibilities of surveies that discuss the same job but output confusing and conflicting consequences ( Stevens, 2001, Sanchez-Meca & A ; Botello, 2010 ) . Besides, SRs set up generalisability by measuring whether clinical findings are consistent across populations and scenes or vary harmonizing to peculiar subsets ( Mulrow, 1994, Stevens, 2001 ) . SRs have become progressively critical to a wide scope of stakeholders ( Moher et al, 2007 ) , peculiarly wellness attention suppliers, research workers and determination shapers ( Mulrow, 1994 ) . Health attention suppliers particularly clinicians read SRs to maintain abreast with their forte ( Swingler et al, 2003, Moher et Al, 2007 ) and to stay educated in wider facets of medical specialty ( Mulrow, 1994 ) . Health policy shapers and clinical guideline developers use SRs as get downing point in explicating clinical guidelines and statute laws ( Mulrow, 1994, Moher et Al, 2007 ) . As for some medical diaries, SRs are important as they serve as prerequisite grounds base tools to warrant the demand to carry on farther research ( Young & A ; Houltan, 2005 ) .2.2 Overall coverage quality of SRsOver the past few decennaries, SRs are being published yearly in progressively big Numberss ( Shea et al, 2002 ) . A survey conducted by Moher et Al ( 2007 ) showed that there are about 2500 SRs indexed yearly on Medline. However, there is relatively small bing informations on the coverage quality of SRs despite figure of SRs published is tremendous ( Shea et al, 2002 ) . Several earlier surveies concluded that quality of coverage of SRs was by and large hapless ( Sacks et Al, 1987. Mulrow et Al, 1987, Silagy, 1993, Mc. Alister et Al, 1999 ) . Sacks et Al ( 1987 ) evaluated the coverage quality of 86 meta-analyses of studies of randomised controlled tests published in English linguistic communication by taking into consideration 23 points covering six indispensable spheres, i.e. â€Å" survey design, combinability, control of prejudice, statistical analysis, sensitiveness analysis and application of consequences † . The consequences of the survey showed that coverage was by and large hapless, where merely 24 of 86 meta-analyses ( 28 % ) addressed all six spheres and of the 23 points, between 1 and 14 were satisfactorily reported ( average = 7.7, standard divergence = 2.7 ) ( Sacks et Al, 1987 ) . Another earlier rating of SRs by Mulrow et Al ( 1987 ) examined 50 reappraisals published between June 1985 and June 1986 in 4 major medical diaries and found that no individual reappraisal met all eight explicit standards of which the appraisal was based on, i.e. â€Å" purpose, informations designation, informations choice, cogency appraisal, quantitative synthesis, quality synthesis, drumhead and future directives † ( Mulrow et al, 1987 ) . An update of this survey affecting 158 reappraisals published in six general medical diaries in 1996 noted small betterment with merely 2 reappraisals met all 10 methodological standards and the average figure of standards fulfilled was one ( Mc. Alister et Al, 1999 ) . Silagy ( 1993 ) evaluated 28 reappraisals covering a broad scope of capable countries which were published in seven chief primary attention diaries in 1991 based on eight standards. The consequences of the survey showed that merely one one-fourth of the reappraisals scored 8 points out of 16 points ( 2 points allocated for each clearly reported standard, 1 point for each non clearly reported standard and 0 point for unreported standard ) ( Silagy et al, 1993 ) . More late, a survey by Jadad et Al ( 1998 ) concluded that Cochrane reappraisals have superior â€Å" methodological asperity † and are more on a regular basis updated compared with SRs or meta-analyses published in paper-based diaries. Oslen et Al ( 2001 ) assessed the quality of Cochrane reappraisals and noted that in general, there were no jobs or merely fiddling jobs found in most of the reappraisals. They studied 53 reappraisals published in issue 4 of the Cochrane Library in 1998 and found that major jobs were identified in 15 reappraisals ( 29 % ) , which correspond to the decision non to the full supported by the grounds in 9 reappraisals ( 17 % ) , unequal coverage in 12 reappraisals ( 23 % ) and â€Å" stylistic jobs † were recognized in 12 reappraisals ( 23 % ) ( Oslen et al, 2001 ) . Moher et Al ( 2007 ) examined the epidemiology and describing features of 300 SRs indexed in Medline during November 2004 and found that great differences exist between Cochrane reappraisals and non-Cochrane reappraisals in the coverage quality of several features. Main facets of SR methodological analysis were non reported in many non-Cochrane reappraisals, for case, merely 11 % of the reappraisals mentioned working from a protocol in the procedure of finishing the reappraisal. Besides, informations obtained from the survey suggested that the quality of coverage is inconsistent.2.3 SRs on herbal medical specialties for mental and behavioral upsets2.3.1 St John ‘s wort ( Hypericum perforatum ) for depressionHypericum infusions have been studied and included in clinical tests since the 1980s ( Linde et al, 2009 ) . Several systematic reappraisals published from 1995 to 2008 concluded that Hypericum infusions are more effectual compared with placebo and comparable to ( likewise e ffectual as ) criterion antidepressants in handling depressive upsets ( Linde et al, 1996, Kim et Al, 1999, Gaster & A ; Holroyd, 2000, Williams et Al, 2000, Whiskey et Al, 2001, Linde et Al, 2005, Clement et Al, 2006, Linde et Al, 2008 ) . However, some of the tests included in a few reappraisals ( Linde et al, 1996, Kim et Al, 1999, Gaster & A ; Holroyd, 2000, Williams et Al, 2000 ) were being criticised because they incorporated patients with really few and/or mild symptoms who did non run into the inclusion standards of major depression, were carried out by primary attention doctors who were deficiency of experience in depression research, and/or used low doses of comparator drugs ( Shelton et al, 2001 ) . Linde et Al ( 2005 ) conducted an update of antecedently completed reappraisal ( Linde et al, 1996 ) by including several new well-designed placebo-controlled tests where negative findings were found in some of the tests ( Shelton et al, 2001 ) . The consequences obtained aggravated new arguments on the efficaciousness of Hypericum infusions for intervention of depression and the analyses showed that effects of Hypericum infusions over placebo were less pronounced in surveies restricted to patients with major depression ( Linde et al, 2005 ) . In order to understate clinical heterogeneousness every bit good as to uncover the fact that about all new high-quality tests of Hypericum infusions are restricted to patients with major depression, another update of reappraisal ( Linde et al, 2008 ) was conducted by including several new well-designed tests restricted to patients with major depression. 29 tests were included in the survey. In nine larger tests and nine smaller tests affecting comparing of hypericum infusion with placebo, the combined response rate ratio ( RR ) obtained was 1.28 ( 95 % assurance interval ( CI ) , 1.10-1.49 ) and 1.87 ( 95 % CI, 1.22-2.87 ) severally. As for comparing with standard antidepressants, RRs were 1.02 ( 95 % CI, 0.90-1.15 ; 5 tests ) for tri- or tetracyclic antidepressants and 1.00 ( 95 % CI, 0.90-1.11 ; 12 tests ) for selective 5-hydroxytryptamines reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs ) . Hence, it can be concluded that Hypericum infusions tested in the included test are more effectual than placebo and are likewise effectual as standard antidepressants in patients with major depression ( Linde et al, 2008 ) .2.3.2 AnxietyThere are SRs on three herbal medical specialties, i.e. kava infusion, valerian and Passiflora for anxiousness ( Pittler & A ; Ernst, 2003, Miyasaka et Al, 2006, Miyasaka et Al, 2007 ) . Merely survey conducted by Pittler & A ; Ernst ( 2003 ) found that kava infusion is more effectual than placebo in diagnostic interven tion of anxiousness despite the size of the consequence is little. Finding of SR carried by Miyasaka et Al ( 2006 ) comparing the effectivity of valerian with placebo and Valium for anxiousness showed that there is no important differences between valerian and placebo and between valerian and Valium in Hamilton Anxiety ( HAM-A ) entire tonss. Besides, a definite decision was unable to be drawn as there was merely a individual little survey with 36 patients available ( Miyasaka et al, 2006 ) . Miyasaka et Al ( 2007 ) conducted a SR by including 2 surveies to compare the effectivity of Passiflora with benzodiazepines, i.e. mexazolam and oxazolam severally in handling anxiousness. None of the survey was able to separate Passiflora from benzodiazepines in any of the result steps. Two possible grounds for this deficiency of statistical difference identified were the medicines were every bit effectual and deficient figure of surveies were included ( sample size was non big plenty ) ( Miya saka et al, 2007 ) .2.3.3 DementiaStrontium on three herbal medical specialties, i.e. Zhiling decoction, Yizhi capsule and Huperzine A for vascular dementedness found no converting grounds to back up the usage or effectivity of these herbs ( Jirong et al, 2004, Wu et Al, 2007, Hao et Al, 2009 ) . Jirong et Al ( 2004 ) found no suited randomised placebo-controlled tests and concluded that the available grounds was unequal to back up the usage of Zhiling decoction in the direction of vascular dementedness. Wu et Al ( 2007 ) conducted a SR of Yizhi capsule for vascular dementedness found no survey that met the inclusion standards and no grounds from randomised controlled tests to measure the potency of Yizhi capsule in handling vascular dementedness. SR conducted by Birks & A ; Grimley Evans ( 2009 ) to measure the efficaciousness of Gingko biloba for dementedness included 36 tests but most were little and the continuance was less than 3 months. More recent tests with longer continuance showed inconsistent consequences for knowledge and activities of day-to-day life when comparing Gingko biloba with placebo and 1 of the tests reported big intervention effects in favor of Gingko biloba ( Birks & A ; Grimley Evans, 2009 ) . Another SR conducted by Weinmann et Al ( 2010 ) which included 9 tests with 2372 patients found that Gingko biloba appeared to be more effectual than placebo for dementedness. Datas obtained showed statistical important advantage of Gingko biloba compared with placebo in bettering knowledge every bit good as statistical important advantage of Gingko biloba compared with placebo in bettering activities of day-to-day life in subgroup of patients with Alzheimer ‘s disease. Consequences for quality of life and neuropsychiatric marks and symptoms were inconsistent ( Weinmann et al, 2010 ) .2.3.4 SchizophreniaA SR conducted by Rathbone et Al ( 2005 ) to reexamine Chinese herbal medical specialty, either being used entirely or as a portion of Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM ) attack for people with schizophrenic disorder found that Chinese herbal medical specialties, given in a Western biomedical context, may be good for people with schizophrenic disorder when combined with major tranquilizers.2.3.5 Insomnia/Sleep upsets2 of the SRs and/or meta-analyses of valerian for insomnia output inconclusive grounds of the benefit of valerian as a slumber assistance ( Stevinson & A ; Ernst, 2000, Bent et Al, 2006, Taibi et Al, 2007 ) . This was because the included surveies of these reappraisals presented great incompatibility across patients, experimental designs, processs and methodological quality ( Stevinson & A ; Ernst, 2000 ) . As for reappraisal conducted by Bent et Al ( 2006 ) , the surveie s included showed great heterogeneousness in footings of doses, readyings and length of intervention. Taibi et Al ( 2007 ) conducted a SR to analyze the grounds of valerian for insomnia and found that overall grounds did non back up the clinical efficaciousness of valerian as a slumber assistance. A meta-analysis including 18 randomised controlled tests was conducted by Fernandez-San-Martin et Al ( 2010 ) and the qualitative dichotomous consequences showed that valerian was effectual for subjective betterment of insomnia. However, the effectivity of valerian was non demonstrated with quantitative measurings ( Fernandez-San-Martin et Al, 2010 ) .2.4 Characteristics and Quality of SRs of herbal medical specialtiesHarmonizing to Linde et Al ( 2003 ) , â€Å" descriptive empirical surveies † on SRs are comparatively uncommon. Linde et Al ( 2003 ) conducted a research to analyze the features and quality of SRs on stylostixis, herbal medical specialties and homeopathy by including 115 SRs with 58 SRs on herbal medical specialties. The features and quality of the included SRs examined are summarised in the tabular arraies below ( Table 2.1 & A ; 2.2 ) . Table 2.1 Characteristics of included SRs ( Linde et al, 2003 ) Characteristic E.g. ( s ) Bibliographic features Year of publication Question Narrow intercession focal point Condition reviewed Psychiatric Information on inclusion standards Explicit inclusion standards sing patients/condition ; of import inclusion standards, e.g. merely placebo-controlled tests Literature hunt Explicitly in Medline Others Methods ; consequences and decision Table 2.2 Quality of included SRs ( Linde et al, 2003 ) Items reviewed Search methods reported Comprehensive hunt Inclusion standards reported Choice prejudice avoided Cogency standards reported Methods for uniting reported Findingss combined suitably Decisions supported by informations Some restrictions encountered in the survey were discussed, for illustration, restrictions in resources doing half of the reappraisals were extracted and assessed by merely 1 referee and there was great heterogeneousness across some of the included reappraisals. Therefore, it was suggested that the analysis of the informations merely served to give an overall position of the descriptive epidemiology of available SRs on herbal medical specialties and there is still plenty room for betterment in future SRs conducted on herbal medical specialties ( Linde et al, 2003 ) .2.5 Guidance/appraisal tools to measure coverage quality of SRsThe increasing popularity and utility of SRs urged the studies of SRs to be â€Å" clear, accurate and crystalline † ( Moher, 2008 ) . Despite there are some betterment in the coverage of SRs, the quality of coverage is still inconsistent ( Moher et al, 2007 ) . Therefore, it is of paramount importance to follow describing criterion or coverage checklis t ( Wiesler & A ; McGauran, 2010 ) . QUOROM ( QUality Of Reporting Of Meta-analyses ) statement, which serves as a criterion to heighten the coverage quality of â€Å" meta-analyses of randomised controlled tests ( RCTs ) † was developed in 1996. QUOROM checklist consists of a sum of 20 headers and subheadings and describes the preferable ways of coverage of meta-analyses in footings of abstract, debut, methods, consequences and treatment ( Moher et al, 1999 ) . Table 2.3 Quality of coverage of meta-analyses Heading Subheading Descriptor* Reported? ( Y/N ) Page figure Title Abstraction There are 6 points, i.e. aims, informations beginnings, reappraisal methods, consequences and decision Introduction Methods There are 6 points, i.e. searching, choice, cogency appraisal, informations abstraction, survey features and quantitative informations synthesis. Consequences There are 3 points, i.e. test flow, survey features and quantitative informations synthesis Discussion *Detailed form please refers to Moher et Al ( 1999 ) . Beginning: Moher et Al, 1999 QUOROM statement was revised and renamed PRISMA ( Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reappraisals and Meta-Analyses ) statement ( Moher et al, 2009 ) . PRISMA checklist consists of 27 points ( see Appendix 5 for elaborate checklist points ) . PRISMA checklist differs from QUOROM checklist in a few facets as shown by the tabular array below ( Table 2.4 ) . Table 2.4 Substantive specific alterations between the QUOROM checklist and the PRISMA checklist ( a tick indicates the presence of the subject in QUOROM or PRISMA ) Section/topic and point QUOROM PRISMA Comment* Abstraction Introduction: Aim Methods: Protocol Search Appraisal of hazard of prejudice in included surveies Appraisal of hazard of prejudice across surveies Discussion Funding *Detailed remark please refers to Moher et Al ( 2009 ) . Beginning: Moher et Al, 2009

Edward Elgar †Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61, No.1 Essay

Violin Concerto in B minor, Op.61 is one of the most well-known concerto works which composited by Edward Elgar. Elgar first composited this masterpiece and dedicated to Fritz Kreisler, a famous violinist and composer of early 20th century. On the 10 November 1910, Kreisler played this violin concerto as the first violin player on the premiere with Elgar conducted the concert. This concerto brought Elgar to another but last peak of his composition career. Also, this is one of his most popular and representative works. Violin Concerto in B minor, Op.61 is a piece that Elgar had put tons of his own emotions and personal feelings into the melodies. In the article, â€Å"Charles Sanford Terry and Elgar’s Violin Concerto† which introduced by Alison I. Shiel in â€Å"Edward Elgar and His World†, Shiel mentioned, â€Å"Scholars have subjected the concerto itself to detailed analysis, much of it in terms of the gender of it various themes, the implication being that the melodies are meant to represent some romantic entanglement of Elgar’s, past of present.† The first movement of the concerto is a beautiful sonata with few related themes which change in various ways. You can find out the tutti and soloist somehow at a point also presenting two different melodic ideas at the same time. The solo part perfectly expresses the love and the words in the â€Å"Windflower† poem. Beautiful violin positions shifting and the soft bowings complete the feelings of romantic relationship. This is no way for people to question love like this after listening to this masterpiece from Elgar, which presented his love to the one.

Agricultural Policy of Bangladesh Essay

Agriculture is the dominant economic activity in Bangladesh and regarded as the lifeline of the Bangladesh economy. Its role is vital in enhancing productivity, profitability and employment in the rural areas for improving the wellbeing of the poor. As the largest private enterprise, agriculture (crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry) contributes about 21% of the GDP, sustains the livelihood of about 52% of the labour force, and remains a major supplier of raw materials for agro-based industries. Agriculture plays an important role in the overall economic development of Bangladesh. Agriculture is also a social sector concerned with issues like food and nutritional security, income generation and poverty reduction. Besides, it is the biggest source of market for a variety of consumer goods, including consumer durables particularly in the rural area. Hence, improvement in agricultural sector performance and acceleration in its growth are critical to reducing rural poverty. 1. 2 Agricuture sector encompasses crops, fisheries, livestock, and forestry sub-sectors. Separate policies on livestock, fisheries and forestry have been formulated by the respective ministries. In this perspective, Ministry of Agriculture has drafted this policy document in order to undertake and guide development activities in the crops sub-sector. As expected, policies aimed at crop production in the areas of reaserch, extension, seeds, fertilisers, minor irrigation, marketing, gender and HRD have prominence in this document. Since crop sector plays a major role in Bangladesh agriculture and gets the utmost importance in various agriculture related programmes of the government, this policy document for the development of crop sector is, therefore, entitled as the National Agriculture Policy. It is estimated that the agricultural land is declining by 1% per year and the land quality is deteriorating owing to degradation of soil fertility (e. g. nutrient imbalance), soil erosion and soil salinity. In addition, water resources are also shrinking. In order to produce more food for an increasing population, and raw materials for agro-industries, there is a need for increasing agricultural growth through higher productivity, including increased yield, agricultural intensification and diversification, and value addition. The overarching goal of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) matches with Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of achieving 50% reduction in the proportion of population living below the poverty by 2015. In addition to maintaining a sound macro-economic framework, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), entitled Unlocking the Potential National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (GoB, 2005), highlights the need for higher growth in rural areas, development of agriculture and rural non-farm economic activities as one of the four priority areas to accelerating pro-poor economic growth. In order to achieve the GDP growth rate of 7% per year, agriculture must grow by at least 4-4. 5% per year (PRSP, 2005). This is presumably possible through an increase in agricultural productivity (for crops, horticulture, livestock, fisheries and forestry) based on modern agricultural technology and a supply chain linking farmers with consumers in the domestic as well as overseas markets. Small farms dominate the agrarian structure of Bangladesh. Therefore, performance of the sector greatly affects economic progress and people s livelihood. To reduce rural poverty 2 and improve rural livelihoods, it is necessary to recognize and to develop existing agricultural production system into a more dynamic and viable commercial sector. Agriculture has the potential to reduce food deficit as well as shortage of industrial raw materials, and also to generate employment opportunities with reasonable income, which will in turn help improve the standard of living of the rural people. The growth potential of most of the crops and other agricultural commodities are substantially higher than present level of production. 1. 7 Sustainable intensification and diversification of agriculture through technological change requires an efficient and productive agricultural technology system comprising agricultural research and extension. This needs to be supported by appropriate value addition and market linkages. Enhancing productivity, resource use efficiency, using cutting age science, experimental facilities and above all productivity and maintaining a reservoir of first-rate human resources to sustain knowledge-intensive agriculture has become critically important. The Bangladesh agriculture demands considerable scientific and technological input. Today s complex national and economic environment requires increase in the effectiveness of the public expenditure in research and extension system. Major challenges for the Bangladesh agriculture are to raising productivity and profitability, reducing instability, increasing resource-use efficiency, ensuring equity, improving quality; and meeting demands for diversification & commercialization of agriculture. 1. 9 The existing National Agricultural Policy was adopted in April, 1999. With the passage of time some issues and concerns have emerged in agriculture, in some cases with new dimension. For instance, dwindling agricultural resources, declining biodiversity, climate change, increasing frequency & intensity of natural disasters, increasing input prices, soaring food prices etc. require transformation of agriculture in such a way that would address challenges to meet demands. This necessitates the revision and updating the earlier document to make it relevant to the present agro-economic context. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of Agriculture Sector For developing of a pragmatic and effective and efficient national agricultural policy, it is a pre-requisite to gauge the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that are associated with the issues of policy interventions.

TECHNOLOGY REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

TECHNOLOGY REPORT - Essay Example The other innovation in the retail industry is the use of mobile shopping through use of technologies such as MyGROCER business. The emerging technologies will cut down the time taken to process transactions and ensure better customer service. Introduction The retail industry is one of the most crucial and biggest industries in the marketplace. In UK, the retail sector stands for more than seven percent of the total value-added goods sold and has employed over 2.6 million or about 10 percent of the working group (SCB Partners, 2011, p. 5). In US, retail industry contributes to 9.2 % of the GDP and created jobs for 17.4 percent of the total workers. The grocery and food sectors are the main sectors in the industry and it accounted 173.42 billion Euros in 2010 that represented 52.7% of the total revenue from the retail sector in UK. This sector is projected to continue growing at 3.9% annually. In 2010, UK had 91,509 food stores out of which 7970 are grouped as hypermarkets, superstore s and supermarkets (Kourouthanassis et al., 2002, p. 265).Tesco, one of the major retail companies in UK is the largest private employer and was ranked as the twelfth sole contributor to the GDP in 2006 (SCB Partners, 2011, p. 5). ... Technological innovations in the industry also target to enhance efficiency in the back office operations of the firms. The technological innovations in the retail industry to be discussed in the paper include a technology to encrypt card information at the point of sale, the use of mobile devices in retail shopping and the use of NCR software. Moreover, the use of radio frequency identification in the retail industry will be explored (Bird, 2012). Cash Processing Technologies There has been a move by retailers to adopt technological innovations that enable them enhance the security of their customer’s credit card and streamline their back office activities as a way of improving efficiency and customer service (Bird, 2012). Most of the retailers are adopting technologies that help encrypt the information gathered from the credit card once it is swiped at the point of sale. One of the technological products is the VeriShield Protect developed by Lenexa-based Balance Innovations LLC, allows encryption of credit card information up to the point of processing a transaction. Ball Stores adopted VeriShield Protect and this has helped to streamline processing of transactions (Chilson, 2012). This technology has the benefit of assuring customers that the security of their information is maintained and the cash processing becomes easier thereby saving on the time taken to process each transaction. By cutting on time taken in processing transactions, a retailer is able to reduce queues in its stores and therefore become more attractive to customers (Chilson, 2012). The other technology adopted by retailers to enhance the way they process transactions is by use of electronic systems to process

Poem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Poem - Essay Example This essay will explore some of these elements and see how they add to the poem. In stanza one, the speaker tells that even though those who discriminate against her, have written damning things in history; it matters not, because she knows the truth about herself and her ancestors. Therefore, she will continue to move forward and rise above the false allegations. In line two, assonance is used â€Å"bitter twisted† to describe the lies that have been written about the African-Americans. The harsh sounding â€Å"i’s† in the two words demonstrate how cruel these false stories were. So, when the speaker says â€Å"I’ll rise† at the end of the stanza, the liberating feeling is enhanced by the previous harsh sounding â€Å"bitter twisted†. The most common form of figurative language found in the poem is the simile. For instance, in stanza three the speaker likens herself to the moon and the sun â€Å"Just like moons and like suns†. This si mile reveals to us that the speaker constantly rises, again and again, no matter how she is oppressed and put down by others; for, the sun and moon rise each day and night, and so shall she. Just like nothing can prevent the sun and moon from rising, so nothing can prevent her from rising above her circumstances, causing her to provide the light of hope for others through her actions and words.

Marketing of NBA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing of NBA - Essay Example This will severely impede the ability of the NBA to expand beyond the United States. Most NBA teams are based in the United States, therefore a problem of geography will face any marketing efforts, as has happened in the past. Different languages may describe a slam-dunk with different words, but it is still unlikely, if not impossible, for a Beijinger to cheer the Bulls. To believe otherwise is nave. 2. For the NBA to enter Australia, a country obsessed with sports, may be practical in terms of microeconomic possibility, but it will still fail because NBA is an American sport. Australians have their own Australian Football League, also known as Aussie-rules football, the National Rugby League and the Super 12s, a competition played with teams from New Zealand and South Africa, that are all keen rugby union playing nations with a shared history of belonging in the Commonwealth. If establishing a team in Australia is an adjustment then this is what the NBA must do to become established in Australia. Sport is highly regionalized in Australia, and the NBA must have local support to generate Australian revenue.

Response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Response - Assignment Example According to Savan, most of the Black English spoken today came about during the period of slavery where most African Americans were slaves to the whites. They used these words when peaking to themselves before their â€Å"Massa† so that he did not understand what they were talking about. These words were simply used by the blacks to communicate without angering their masters. The use of these words today is associated with marketing and commercials where whites are using them for their own benefit, with total disregard to the origin of these words. According to Sava, consumer media is exploiting black language for fame and profits. Therefore, paying the dues means appreciating the origin of these words, and the struggle the African Americans underwent in making these terms. In the text by Manuel Muà ±oz, the term ‘Anglicize’ is used to mean changing something from a certain language and making it sound or look ‘English.’ It refers to taking something from a different language and creating an English equivalent. This usually applies to names. In this text for instance, Muà ±oz says that the Anglicized pronunciation of the Mexican gate agent would not be unusual in California. This means that since California is in America where English is the first language, Anglicized pronunciations are usual because they sound English. In his essay, Muà ±oz uses the term Anglicize to refer to the changing of Spanish names into their English equivalents in order to fit into the American society. Therefore, Anglicization is a strategy many people use in order to feel included in the society. It is simply changing of names for purposes of fitting into the society so as to enjoy the privileges and opportunities offered by that society. From my personal experience, I have interacted with a number of friends from other countries who

Ethical and moral issues via Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethical and moral issues via Internet - Essay Example Governments in different parts of the word censor internet providers for various purposes. These include protecting the customer from antisocial problems such as gambling, gaining access to explicit information including pornographic sites among other reasons and China is not an exception. In the current political systems, autocratic governments are increasing blocking citizens from accessing the internet in order to prevent them from acquiring information that would incite them into violence and overthrow the current governments (Stephen, 2005). In the recent past Chinese government was reported to be censoring internet providers and search engines including Google preventing the citizens from getting certain information online (Elliot, 2006). This decision raises serious moral and ethical issues in a highly globalized world where the flow of information is important for commerce and maintaining social order. Chinese government is a communist’s state and the flow of informati on is highly regulated not only in the internet but also in the other forms of communication including the media and other electronic means such as television and radio (Stephen, 2005). In largely capitalistic world, Chinese government attempts to maintain their preferred form of government at all costs by preventing free flow of information. One of the main characteristics of communism is denying the citizens the freedom of expression and association (Stephen, 2005).

Managing Cultral Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing Cultral Diversity - Essay Example Employing a diverse workforce helps the organization to deal with diverse groups of clients. However, these companies will need to have effective diversity and inclusion strategies in order to retain their diverse workforce. This paper will seek to analyze how Nike, Adidas, and Puma handle diversity through a review of information on their websites. The company with the best diversity policy would be the best to work in for most people on the job market. For Nike, their mission has to do with the athletes and innovation, as well as inspiration that they give these athletes. Additionally, the company has various guiding principles that they expect their staff to adhere to, including that their main goal is innovation and that they should maintain Nike’s brand image (Nikeinc.com 1). When it comes to diversity, Nike’s website has a lot of information on their policy for inclusivity. According to their website, Nike relies on a diverse workforce in order to diversify their perspective, background, and opinion. They also harness their diversity to inspire ideas and innovation. From their website, it is clear that innovation is a central theme. In fact, Nike has a Diversity and Inclusion team whose responsibilities include sharing the essential nature of diversity and inclusion with the aim of building understanding and awareness, the utilization of diversity and inclusion in order to create inspiration for new ideas, and to encourage connections between players in their supply chain and within the organization (Nikeinc.com 1). According to the website, Nike also develops Nike Networks that seek to aid Nike in making increased strides towards diversity (Nikeinc.com 1). For example, in the United States, there are six networks for employees that are designed to focus on important communities working for the company. Each of the network’s intended purpose is to improve work performance, professional development, assist the company to recruit divers e skilled employees, and improve interaction and teamwork across their various work groups. These networks are central to the company given their prominence on their website, and they include the Native American employee network, the Latino employee network, the African American employee network, Asia-Pacific employee network, and the LGBT employee network (Nikeinc.com 1). The next website of the study was that belonging to Adidas, which also dealt with the issue of diversity, albeit not as prominently as Nike. The Adidas group, like Nike, aims to become the global leader in the industry by creating brands that have a passion for sports and the accompanying lifestyle (Adidas-group.com 1). Information on the website says that they are committed to the continuous strengthening of their products and brands to improve their competitiveness, that they are leaders in design and innovations seeking to aid athletes in reaching their highest skill levels with each product, and that they are focused on their clients with continuous improvements in quality (Adidas-group.com 1). In addition, the company is also a global entity with increased focus on environmental and social responsibility, which seeks to embrace diversity and creativity, whereas also being financially rewarding to shareholders, as well as employees. According to Adidas’

Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Advertising - Essay Example Youth are persons between the ages of 18 and 30. People falling under this age bracket are significantly attracted to digital music (Ferguson 43). Youth likes watching music, and are involved in downloading of popular tunes. Therefore, youth is the best target group that the advertisement will be aiming. Giving out purchase incentives in some of the Lindsay Ell music downloads is one of the best promotional strategies for Viral Vinyl Records to use in marketing its music. At Viral Vinyl Records, the marketing department has understood trends prevailing within the music market. The company has researched on the music industry history, current situation and major trends in the market. Therefore, Viral Vinyl has a clear picture on both the current and expected dynamics of music sales. The record company has done good analysis on the competition and also analyzed customers’ attitude towards genres like jazz, blues and rock music. This analysis has helped to identify target groups, especially when selecting on the proper strategies of reaching the selected groups. Viral Vinyl will conduct its advertisement processes through social media channels where there is a growing interest for Lindsay Ell music. Viral Vinyl Records target group is the music lovers, especially those who love rock, jazz and blues. The company is targeting social media followers and keeping them up to date on Lindsays activities, especially by informing potential fans about the cities hosting live concerts. In order to understand what Lindsay fans expect, the company will encourage interactive sessions through social media. This way, Viral Vinyl Records will have a better strategy in marketing the music and attracting more customers to buy its tunes. The process of passing intended message to a targeted group, which in this case is the youth will be instrumental in facilitating achievement of

Sociology of Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Sociology of Education - Essay Example The paper tells that functionalism theory is structuralist in nature and though its influence has waned over the past decades, it still makes important contributions in education system and society. Functionalism holds that the main objective of education is maintenance of â€Å"social order in society†. To ensure maintenance of social order in the society, the theory emphasizes on indoctrinating new generations with norms and values contained in education curriculum. In United Kingdom, the sociological importance of functionalism has declined, but in education institutions, the theory continues playing a significant role in defining and shaping the guiding policies. According to Chris and Tony, the underlying ideologies of functionalism, which include competition, consensus and achievement through merit, define education in addition to politics in the United Kingdom. According to Hill and Cole, broad groups of people and their behaviour is the major focus of functionalism. In respect to the role of education in society, the theory focuses on several major aspects, namely institutional relationships and functional linkage with society and merit based systems. In relation to institutional relationships, functional theory emphasises on the role of education in linking other social institutions such as family with occupational engagements. In contemporary society, Cole argues education plays an important role in linking the basic unit of society with the workplaces through various mechanisms. For instance, education institutions develop the capacities of human resources through training. By setting various criteria for training of these professionals, education institutions ensure that the society has a balanced pool of human resources to meet its needs (David and Barry 1985). At personal or individual levels, functionalism theory holds that education acts as an agent of secondary socialisation (Gillborn, and Mirza, 2000). By expanding or broadening individ ual experience through education, a child is prepared to take over the role of an adult in workplaces and society (Arum, and Beattie, 2000, p72). Meritocracy, in functionalist perspective plays a major role in ensuring that education performs its role in socialisation and promoting institutional linkage. According to, David and Barry (1985, p53), meritocracy refers to a system that â€Å"offers rewards to an individual based on ability and effort†. Examples of rewards in the current society include job opportunities, high remuneration and elevated social status. Therefore, functionalists hold that rewards in society should be awarded to individuals who demonstrate high ability or effort rather than on grounds of nepotism, status of an individual or family background. In education, meritocracy has created competition in different levels of education because of various rewards offered on attaining a particular level. In United Kingdom, education qualifications at various levels such as GCSE and A levels determine the career that an individual can pursue or qualification for admission in available institutions of higher learning (Cole, 2009, p269). In

The Byzantine Empire Essay Example for Free

The Byzantine Empire Essay When the western Roman Empire descended into chaos in 500 C.E. much of the Roman culture on the west side was lost, while the Eastern empire survived and preserved much of the surviving Roman Culture, but changed it’s name to the â€Å"Byzantine Empire,† showing individuality in many aspects between Rome and Byzantine. The Byzantine Empire was the surviving reminisces of the Roman Empire, which flourished into the oldest and longest lasting empire in our history. It began with the emperor Constantine who based much of the Byzantine Empire social structure of Rome. For example, the romans had two distinct classes, the Patricians and the Plebeians, the poor and the elite. The Byzantines had the poors and the Vassals. Although there was a severe gap between the social classes, the Byzantines had something called a Pepacy or the office of the people. â€Å"The laws of every people governed by statutes and customs are partly peculiar to itself, partly common to all mankind†¦..† This shows that although it continued on the Greek style of democracy, it incorporated its own laws and writings in it (Document 1 and Document 4) When the Western Roman Empire crumbled down, many people don’t know the extent of the damage the Western Empire endured. â€Å"And having a mind set upon evil, they took in hand unlawful deeds, thinking to suppress altogether the depicting of the venerable images.† This displays the chaos and anarchy roaming in Western Rome. And when the Byzantine Empire came about, it was the nail in the coffin, marking the decline of the Roman Empire (Document 3) Originally Roman religion worshipped the emperor as a god, a single deity, however that all changed when Constantine came into power. He quickly established the Byzantine capital as Constantinople, and made Christianity as the national religion. This marked the start of Christian ascendancy, which quickly globalized Western Europe. â€Å"We should be the slaves, not the sons of such as Church, and the Roman See would not be the pious mother of sons but a hard and imperious mistress of slaves.† The following quote depicts many citizens against and the Christian way of life, which eventually switched over to Islam and Constantinople was renamed to modern day â€Å"Istanbul.† (Document 2 and Document 5) If given a bonus document it would explain how people lived day in and day out living in the Byzantine Empire. Because it will explain how much of their daily lives are parallel to that of the ancient Romans.

Managing financial resources and decisions JS and CO

Managing financial resources and decisions JS and CO JS and co is a medium sized retailer formed by two partners, James and Sainsbury, who are running it in the UK since 1869. The retailer specializes in quality food products but it sells other non-food products as well. This company got very good success in the market from the past three years. During this discussion we are going to discuss about this company sources of finance, finance as a source, financial decisions, and financial performance. The broad view of this company in our discussion: P1 (sources of Finance) P2 (Finance as a resource) P3 (Financial decisions) P4 (Financial performance) P1 (SOURCES OF FINANCE) IDENTIFY THE SOURCES OF FINANCE AVAILABLE TO THE BUSINESS When a company is growing rapidly, for example when contemplating investment in capital equipment, its current financial resources may be inadequate. Few growing companies are able to finance their expansion plans from cash flow alone. They will therefore need to consider raising finance from other external sources. In addition, managers who are looking to buy-in to a business or buy-out a business from its owners may not have the resources to acquire the company. They will need to raise finance to achieve their objectives. There are a number of potential sources of finance to meet the needs of a growing business Existing shareholders and directors funds Business angels Clearing banks (overdrafts, short or medium term loans) Factoring and invoice discounting Hire purchase and leasing Venture capital A key consideration in choosing the source of new business finance is to strike a balance between equity and debt to ensure the funding structure suits the business. The main differences between borrowed money (debt) and equity are that bankers request interest payments and capital repayments, and the borrowed money is usually secured on business assets or the personal assets of shareholders and/or directors. A bank also has the power to place a business into administration or bankruptcy if it defaults on debt interest or repayments or its prospects decline. ASSESSING THE IMPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENT SOURCES. Financial institutions that transcend national boundaries and engage in such activities as extensive inter bank contracts, over-the-counter derivatives contracts, quit, bond, and syndicated loan issuance, and trading activities globally has led to stronger interconnections, innovation, and growth. While tighter interdependencies can increase the efficiency of the global financial system by smoothing credit allocation and risk diversification, they have also increased the potential for cross-market and cross-border disruptions to spread swiftly. In addition, financial innovations have enabled risk transfers that were not fully recognized by financial regulators and institutions themselves, and have complicated the assessment of counterparty risk, risk management, and policy responses. Although linkages across institutions have traditionally focused on solvency concerns, the current crisis reminds us of the relevance of liquidity spillovers, specifically that (1) Interconnectedness means difficulties in rolling over liabilities may spill over to the financial system as a whole; and that (2) Rollover risk associated with short-term liabilities is present not only in the banking sector but, equally importantly, in the nonblank financial sector. Thus, it is essential to improve our understanding and monitoring of direct and indirect financial systemic linkages, including by strengthening techniques to assess systemic link-ages, and thereby contribute to making systemic-focused supervision feasible. Four complementary approaches to assess financial sector systemic linkages and focuses on this definition of systemic risk: 2 The network approach The co-risk model The distress dependence matrix The default intensity model CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE SOURCE OF FINANCE FOR THE BUSINESS. There are a number of ways of raising finance for a business. The type of finance chosen depends on the nature of the business. Large organizations are able to use a wider variety of finance sources than are smaller ones. Savings are an obvious way of putting money into a business. A small business can also borrow from families and friends. In contrast, companies raise finance by issuing shares. Large companies often have thousands of different shareholders. To gain extra finance a business can take out a loan from a bank or other financial institution. A loan is a sum of money lent for a given period of time. Repayment is made with interest. The lender of money needs to know all the business opportunities and risks involved and will therefore want to see a detailed business plan. The lender may also want some form of security should the business run into financial difficulty, and may therefore prefer to provide a secured loan. Another way of raising short-term finance is through an overdraft facility with a bank. The borrower is given permission to take out more from their account than they have put in. The bank fixes a maximum limit for the overdraft. Interest is charged on the overdraft daily. Businesses may also qualify for grants. Government and private funds are sometimes made available to businesses that meet certain conditions. For example, grants and loans may be available to firms setting up in rural areas or where there is high unemployment. Out comes: By this module I understood the different long term and short term sources of finance with the implications of choice of one source over the other and any advantages and disadvantages of sources different sources of finance. P2 (FINANCE AS A RESOURCE) ASSESS AND COMPARE THE COSTS OF ABOVE MENTIONED SOURCES OF FINANCE. A company might raise new funds from the following sources: The capital markets: i) New share issues, for example, by companies acquiring a stock market listing for the first time ii) Rights issues  · Loan stock  · Retained earnings  · Bank borrowing  · Government sources  · Business expansion scheme funds  · Venture capital  · Franchising. Ordinary (equity) shares Ordinary shares are issued to the owners of a company. They have a nominal or face value, typically of $1 or 50 cents. The market value of a quoted companys shares bears no relationship to their nominal value, except that when ordinary shares are issued for cash, the issue price must be equal to or be more than the nominal value of the shares. Deferred ordinary shares Are a form of ordinary shares, which are entitled to a dividend only after a certain date or if profits rise above a certain amount. Voting rights might also differ from those attached to other ordinary shares. Ordinary shareholders put funds into their company: a) By paying for a new issue of shares b) through retained profits. New shares issues A company seeking to obtain additional equity funds may be: a) An unquoted company wishing to obtain a Stock Exchange quotation b) An unquoted company wishing to issue new shares, but without obtaining a Stock Exchange quotation c) A company which is already listed on the Stock Exchange wishing to issue additional new shares. EXPLAINING THE IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL PLANNING Financial planning it is a process which presents before an individual, organization or even a country, the current financial position and the adjustments in the spending pattern, in order to meet the goals. Importance of Financial Planning It is important to plan finances in order to reap long term benefits through the assets in hand. The investments that one makes are structured properly and managed by professionals through financial planning. Every decision regarding our finances can be monitored if a proper plan is devised in advance. The following points explain why financial planning is important. Cash Flow: Financial planning helps in increasing cash flow as well as monitoring the spending pattern. The cash flow is increased by undertaking measures such as tax planning, prudent spending and careful budgeting. Capital: A strong capital base can be built with the help of efficient financial planning. Thus, one can think about investments and thereby improve his financial position. Income: It is possible to manage income effectively through planning. Managing income helps in segregating it into tax payments, other monthly expenditures and savings. Family Security: Financial planning is necessary from the point of view of family security. The various policies available in the market serve the purpose of financially securing the family. Investment: A proper financial plan that considers the income and expenditure of a person helps in choosing the right investment policy. It enables the person to reach the set goals. DESCRIBE THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF DIFFERENT DECISION MAKERS. Commonly used indicators such as the gross national product (GNP) and measurements of individual resource or pollution flows do not provide adequate indications of sustainability. Methods for assessing interactions between different sectoral environmental, demographic, social and developmental parameters are not sufficiently developed or applied. Indicators of sustainable development need to be developed to provide solid bases for decision-making at all levels and to contribute to a self-regulating sustainability of integrated environment and development systems. (a) To achieve more cost-effective and relevant data collection and assessment by better identification of users, in both the public and private sectors, and of their information needs at the local, provincial, national and international levels; (b) To strengthen local, provincial, national and international capacity to collect and use multicultural information in decision-making processes and to enhance capacities to collect and analyze data and information for decision-making, particularly in developing countries; (c) To develop or strengthen local, provincial, national and international means of ensuring that planning for sustainable development in all sectors is based on timely, reliable and usable information; (d) To make relevant information accessible in the form and at the time required to facilitate its use. DESCRIBE THE IMPACT OF FINANCE ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities of a business, person, or other entity. All the relevant financial information of a business enterprise presented in a structured manner and in a form easy to understand, is called the financial statements. There are four basic financial statements: Balance sheet: also referred to as statement of financial position or condition, reports on a companys assets, liabilities, and Ownership equity at a given point in time. Income statement: also referred to as Profit and Loss statement (or a PL), reports on a companys income, expenses, and profits over a period of time. Profit Loss account provide information on the operation of the enterprise. These include sale and the various expenses incurred during the processing state. Statement of retained earnings: explains the changes in a companys retained earnings over the reporting period. Statement of cash flows: reports on a companys cash flow activities, particularly its operating, investing and financing activities. For large corporations, these statements are often complex and may include an extensive set of notes to the financial statements and management discussion and analysis. The notes typically describe each item on the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement in further detail. Notes to financial statements are considered an integral part of the financial statements. Outcome: By this module, I identify the costs of finance as a resource, how to make up a budget on the basis of given information and implication of failure to finance adequately. P3 (FINANCIAL DECISIONS) ANALYZE BUDGETS AND MAKE APPROPRIATE DECISIONS How much unbudgeted downside risk you should manage Worst-case scenario (given catastrophic losses) vs. regret The value (and cost) of compliance with regulations (for example, SOX) Real Options: The Value of Midcourse Corrections to Projects One of the fundamental insights of modern financial theory is that options have value. The phrase We are out of options is surely a sign of trouble. However, because corporations (and other organizations) make decisions in a dynamic environment, they usually have midcourse options that should be considered in project valuations: The Option to Abandon a project: Has value if return (or savings) turns out to be lower than expected The Option to Expand a project: Has value if return (or savings) turns out to be higher than expected The Option to Delay a project: Has value if the underlying variables are changing with a favorable trend The Option to Outsource a project: Has value if internal resources dont have required experience and expertise In practice, companies sometimes have other choices. They can delay the decision until later, when more information is available. Or, they can call in outside help, even after having deciding not to do so at the outset. Such investment timing options can dramatically affect a projects estimated mean NPV and risk. Projects that can easily be modified in these ways are more valuable than those that do not provide such flexibility. The more uncertain the outlook, the more valuable this flexibility becomes. CALCULATE UNIT COSTS AND MAKE PRICING DECISIONS USING RELEVANT INFORMATION. Defining Costs There are several types of costs to consider when conducting a breakeven analysis, so heres a refresher on the most relevant. Fixed costs: These are costs that are the same regardless of how many items you sell. All start-up costs, such as rent, insurance and computers, are considered fixed costs since you have to make these outlays before you sell your first item. Variable costs: These are recurring costs that you absorb with each unit you sell. Setting a Price This is critical to your breakeven analysis; you cant calculate likely revenues if you dont know what the unit price will be. Psychology of Pricing: Pricing can involve a complicated decision-making process on the part of the consumer, and there is plenty of research on the marketing and psychology of how consumers perceive price. Take the time to review articles on pricing strategy and the psychology of pricing before choosing how to price your product or service. Pricing Methods: There are several different schools of thought on how to treat price when conducting a breakeven analysis. It is a mix of quantitative and qualitative factors. The formula: Dont worry, its fairly simple. To conduct your breakeven analysis, take your fixed costs, divided by your price, minus your variable costs. As an equation, this is defined as: Breakeven Point = Fixed Costs/(Unit Selling Price Variable Costs) This calculation will let you know how many units of a product youll need to sell to break even. Above the breakeven point, every additional unit sold increases profit by the amount of the unit contribution margin, which is defined as the amount each unit contributes to covering fixed costs and increasing profits. As an equation, this is defined as: ASSESS THE VIABILITY OF A PROJECT USING INVESTMENT APPRAISAL TECHNIQUES. Learning Outcome Assessment Criteria 1. Understand the nature of accounting, accountability and stewardship within a business environment Understand the nature and purpose of book-keeping and accounting and the difference between them. Be able to: Explain the difference between book-keeping, financial accounting and management accounting. Identify different stakeholders and their interest in the financial position of the business. Explain how accounting can be used for planning, decision making and control. Be able to: Identify and describe the fundamental accounting concepts of going concern, accruals, consistency, prudence and true and fair. Identify the key elements of financial statements (income, expenses, assets, liabilities, capital) and describe their relationship using the accounting equation. 1. Understand the nature of accounting, accountability and stewardship within a business environment (continued) Identify the main financial statements and explain how they are compiled (Profit and Loss Account, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement). Describe how financial accounts are regulated using accounting standards. 2. Understand how financial statements can be analysed and interpreted to judge the performance of a business Understand how financial statements can be analysed and interpreted using ratio analysis so that stakeholders can judge the performance of a business. Be able to: Identify likely users of ratio analysis and explain how they might use the information. Calculate and interpret profitability ratios (gross profit, net profit, ROCE, asset turnover). Calculate and interpret liquidity ratios (current ratio, acid test ratio, debtor days, creditor days, stock turnover days). Calculate and interpret investment ratios (gearing, interest cover, simple EPS) Use ratio analysis to make comparisons between one business over time, two businesses or to compare results to industry standards. Explain the benefits and limitations of ratio analysis. 3. Understand the importance of working capital maintenance (continued) Explain how creditors can be used as a source of finance and identify the costs of trade credit. Explain how the elements of working capital can be managed effectively to minimise borrowing and its associated costs. Understand how a cash flow forecast can be used to predict and manage future working capital requirements. Be able to: Distinguish between cash and profit. Identify and understand the implications of non-cash accounting adjustments such as depreciation and provision for bad debts. Prepare a simple cash flow forecast and identify periods of cash excess or cash shortage. 4. Identify and assess different sources of funding available for business Understand that there are a range of sources of finance available for businesses and those different types of finance are suitable for different purposes. 5. Understand and distinguish between costs based on their behaviour Understand that costs can be classified in different ways based on their behaviour. Outcome: By this module I able to understand the different investment appraisal techniques and nature of long-term decisions. P4 (FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE) EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF MAIN FINANCIAL STATEMENTS The three main financial statements are: The balance sheet-which reports a corporations assets, liabilities, and stockholders equity as of a point-in-time (e.g., as of midnight of December 31, 2009). The income statement-which reports a corporations revenues and expenses for a period of time, such as a year, quarter, month, 52 weeks, 13 weeks, etc. The statement of cash flows (or cash flow statement)-which provides information on the change in a corporations cash and cash equivalents during the same period of time as the income statement. The financial statements that are distributed outside of a company need to be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). For example, the cost principle generally requires that the balance sheet should report long-lived assets at cost minus accumulated depreciation. The matching principle requires that the cost of long-lived assets used in the business be allocated to various accounting periods in which they generate revenues or are used up. ANALYSES FINANCIAL STATEMENTS USING APPROPRIATE RATIONS AND COMPARISONS, BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL. 1. CURRENT RATIO OR WORKING CAPITAL RATIO: Current ratio may be defined as the relationship between current assets and current liabilities it is also known as working capital ratio. Current assets CURRENT RATIO = Current liabilities Year ended 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 Current assets(in crores) 913.27 2333 1614 1171 913.27 Current liabilities(in crores) 1479 994 475 336 213 Ratio 0.62 2.347 3.397 3.485 4.132 Interpretation: A current ratio of 2:1 is usually considered as ideal. If it is less than 2, then it means the company is not enjoying the adequate liquidity. In past five years it shows a decline in the ratios. 2. QUICK RATIO: Formula = Current Assets Inventory Prepaid Expenses Current Liabilities Interpretation: A quick ratio of 1 is considered ideal. In all the five years, it was above 1, where the funds can be properly employed. LEVERAGE RATIOS 1. DEBT EQUITY RATIO: Debt-equity ratio, also known as External-Internal ratio is calculated to measure the relative claims of outsiders and the owners (i.e., shareholders) against the firms assets. This ratio indicates the relationship between the external equities or the outsiders funds and the internal equities or the share holders funds. Interpretation: A DEBT EQUITY RATIO OS 2:1 IS IDEAL. IN 2004-06 THERE IS NO DEBT EQUITY RATIO. IN 2007 AN 2008 IT SHOWED A NEGLIGIBLE VALUE. 2. PROPRIETORY RATIO: It is the ratio between shareholders equity and Total Assets. Formula= Shareholders Equity Total Assets YEAR SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY TOTAL ASSETS RATIO 2004 125.34 1309 0.095 2005 140.71 1651 0.085 2006 285.15 2257 0.126 2007 291.80 3389 0.086 2008 298.65 3987 0.074 Interpretation: A higher the proprietary ratio the better it is In all the five years it is less than one. It shows weak financial position of the business. 3. INTEREST COVERAGE RATIO: It is the ratio between EBIT and Interest Formula = EBIT Interest YEAR EBIT INTEREST RATIO 2004 355 2005 410 2006 499 1 499 2007 693 6 115.5 2008 834 13 64.15 Interpretation: The higher interest coverage ratio the better it is. In 2004 there is no interest coverage ratio. In 2006, 2007 2008 it showed a heavy ration which indicates a greater safety of Out come: By this I understood the basis business and accounting terminology used and should be able to interpret the information collected from financial statements using ratio analysis and could draw conclusions from it. CONCLUSIONS By this module I understood the different long term and short term sources of finance with the implications of choice of one source over the other and any advantages and disadvantages of sources different sources of finance. By this module I identify the costs of finance as a resource, how to make up a budget on the basis of given information and implication of failure to finance adequately. By this module I able to understand the different investment appraisal techniques and nature of long-term decisions. By this I understood the basis business and accounting terminology used and should be able to interpret the information collected from financial statements using ratio analysis and could draw conclusions from it.

Trait And Psychodynamic Theories Of Personality Psychology Essay

Trait And Psychodynamic Theories Of Personality Psychology Essay By submitting this work I acknowledge that I am its author, that all sources consulted in its preparation are referenced appropriately in accordance with the referencing guide, and that I have not copied from any source. Personality theories concentrate on how traits are developed and how behaviour is generated. Personality traits are durable dispositions of behaviour that occur across a variety of situations. They are like tendencies; a persons predisposition to react in a certain way in various different situations. Trait theories focus on indentifying the characteristics we possess and the degree to which we possess them. However trait theories are starting to address concerns such as how behaviours are developed, how traits are generated and how our goals and motivations affect the development of traits and the degree to which we possess them (Mischel, 1996). On the other hand, psychodynamic theories of human behaviour assume that human lives are ruled by internal unconscious forces and that these forces; which may be images, opinions, or feelings are the chief determinants of who they are and what they do (Kaslow, Magnavita Patterson, 2002).This essay will relate trait theory in comparison to p sychodynamic theory. Gordon Allports trait theory views personality as a combination of stable internal characteristics that an individual displays in a given situation. Conversely, Sigmund Freuds psychodynamic approach emphasizes the interplay of unconscious irrational forces struggling for control in shaping ones personality. Freud believes that human functioning is influenced by three basic structures of the mind: the id, the ego, and the superego, which emerge developmentally. The id, as stated by Freud, is present at birth and works on the pleasure principle. The ego operates on the reality principle and attempts to satisfy the id while obeying societys rules. The emergence of the ego for Freud symbolizes the origin of consciousness and he refers it as the superego; which is the internalized rules of parents in society (Bernstein, Penner, Clarke-Stewart Roy, 2011). On the other side of the coin, Allport argues that varying strengths of many qualities or traits actually determine the personality of a person. Allport had three categories of traits: the cardinal traits, the central traits, and lastly the secondary traits. The cardinal traits govern and shape a persons behavior. Central traits are characteristics that others use to describe another individual. Secondary traits are circumstantial. More recently, trait theorists have indentified five main factors that make up personality; Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (Pastorino Doyle-Portillo, 2012).Thus one can assert that traits are relatively stable predispositions to behave in a certain way whereas psychodynamic theory deals with unconscious motivations and conflicts in ones head. Allport uses the concept of personal disposition and the idiographic approach which focuses on studying one person at a time to explain that every human being possesses unique traits that create a personalised type of behaviour in a particular situation. He also specifies that traits are exclusive characteristics to a particular person alone which generates consistent and specific behaviour patterns (Carducci, 2009). On the contrary, psychodynamic theorists focus on group behaviour and making comparisons between people while describing dynamic interactions between individuals (Jarvis, 2004). Thus one can affirm that the trait approach to personality focuses on predicting a specific individual behavior whereas psychodynamic theories centre on predicting typical behaviour of a group of people. Psychodynamic theorists believe that many of our actions depend on hidden beliefs and emotions. These unconscious forces can bring a change in an individuals behaviour and personality. When a person meets other individuals; he involuntarily experiences a must to behave as they do in order to be accepted. Thus, he suppresses more of his tendencies to be more compatible with the norms of society (Collins ORourke, 2008). In contrast, an individuals behaviour is likely to stay relatively consistent across a broad range of situations over the course of time due to the enduring and stabilizing impact of traits (Mischel, 1996). Hence one can argue that trait theory focuses on constancy in personality while psychodynamic theory hints at change in personality. Trait researchers usually study the processes behind the behaviour related with a specific trait. For example, some psychologists are keen in examining the underlying concerns of shy people which keep them away from the social world (Burger, 2010). Nonetheless psychodynamic theories stress upon the importance of early childhood experiences, the significance of repressed feelings and internal disputes between the conscious and unconscious forces that manipulate our thoughts and behaviour (Plotnik Kouyoumdjian, 2010). Therefore one can state that trait theory focuses on indentifying the mechanisms underlying behaviour while psychodynamic theory emphasizes on describing personality and predicting behaviour instead of explaining why people behave the way they do. Early research has shown that natural physical endowment is more important than environment in determining personality in the sense that it is not simply likely to produce a light or superficial impact on the image that an individual projects vis-Ã  -vis others in the society but rather it is the prime factor which decides whether he or she will be favourably or unfavourably perceived by others in the community. However ownership of a specific trait does not guarantee success in a specific field; for example, honesty, self-confidence and the ability to motivate others are some of the few characteristics which determine leadership. More recent research study showed that an individual possessing the traits mentioned above does not necessarily score high on leadership performance. Combination of both the leadership traits and management skills are needed to create effective leaders (Novick, Morrow Mays, 2007). On the other hand, Freuds psychodynamic theory emphasize hugely on the disp utes between conscious and unconscious forces that manipulate our views and actions (Plotnik Kouyoumdjian, 2010). Thus one can claim that trait theories integrate both the nature and nurture approach when shaping personality while psychodynamic theories rely mainly on the conscious and unconscious forces guiding an individuals behaviour. To conclude; trait theorists are more concerned with indentifying individual characteristics which when combined can be used to describe personality. Proponents of the psychodynamic theory rely heavily on the dynamic forces of the subconscious to explain the perceptions, and behaviours of individuals. These behaviours can lead people to behave in ways that are ineffective and even self-destructive (Mischel, 1996).

Does King Lear Play The Tragic :: essays research papers

Does King Lear Play the Tragic Hero, or the Autocrat? It is quite possible to make an argument in favour of either answer, an argument that would prove to be quite a debate, although one answer would weigh in favour of the other. To prove this, certain elements would have to be analysed thoroughly, all aspects taken into context and sufficient research done into the matter. This is the only method in which a fair debate of the argument can be taken into consideration. We can only find the answer to this question if we know what the two arguments mean; this will provide a solid base onto which the rest of the debate can rest, a foundation of fact. Aristotle, a great founder of the definition of tragedy used the word catharsis to describe the effects of true tragedy on the spectator. Aristotle stated that the purpose of tragedy was to invoke pity and terror, and thereby effect the catharsis of these emotions. Other critics see tragedy as a moral lesson in which fear and pity are excited by the tragic hero’s fate serve to warn the spectator not to similarly tempt providence. This interpretation is generally accepted that through experiencing fear vicariously in a controlled situation, the spectators own anxieties are directed outward, and, through sympathetic identification was the protagonist, his insight and outlook are enlarged. Also, as importantly and significantly, Aristotle introduced the term hamartia, the tragic flaw, or an inherent defect or shortcoming in the hero of a tragedy. Aristotle casually described the tragic hero as a man of noble rank and nature whose misfortune is not brought upon him by villainy or corruption, but by some error of judgement. This imperfection later became known, or interpreted as a moral flaw, although most great tragedies defy such a simple distinction of the term. We could say that in many cases of tragedy the hero is never passive, but struggles to resolve his tragic difficulty with an obsessive dedication, that he is guilty of presuming that he is godlike, attempting to surpass his own human limitations. The need, or lack of order in a society, could be a reason why the tragedy came to be, and is known in Greek terms as hubris. This ethical and religious thought portrays the resulting implications of impious disregard of the limits governing human action in an orderly universe. It is the sin to which the great and the gifted are most susceptible, and in Greek tragedy is usually the hero’s tragic flaw.

Cancer :: essays research papers fc

Cancer INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the American society, cancer is the disease most feared by the majority of people within the U.S. Cancer has been known and described throughout history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early 1990s nearly 6 million cancer cases and more than 4 million deaths have been reported worldwide, every year. The most fatal cancer in the world is lung cancer, which has grown drastically since the spread of cigarette smoking in growing countries. Stomach cancer is the second leading form of cancer in men, after lung cancer. Another on the increase, for women, is breast cancer, particularly in China and Japan. The fourth on the list is colon and rectum cancer, which occurs mostly in older people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the United States more than one-fifth of the deaths in the early '90s was caused by cancer, only the cardiovascular diseases accounted at a higher percentage. In 1993 the American Cancer Society predicted that about 33% of Americans will eventually get cancer. In the United States skin cancer is the most dominating in both men and women, followed by prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. Yet lung cancer causes the most deaths in men and women. Leukemia, or cancer of the blood, is the most common type in children. An increasing incidence has been clearly observable over the past few decades, due in part to improved cancer screening programs, and also to the increasing number of older persons in the population, and also to the large number of tabacco smokers--particularly in women. Some researchers have estimated that if Americans stopped smoking, lung cancer deaths could virtually be eliminated within 20 years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The U.S. government and private organizations spent about $1.2 billion annual for cancer research. With the development of new drugs and treatments, the number of deaths among cancer patients under 30 years of age is decreasing, even though the number of deaths from cancer is growing overall. TYPES OF CANCER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.Cancer is the common term used to designate the mosst aggressive and usually fatal forms of a larger class of the diseases known as neoplasms. A neoplasm is described as being relatively autonomous because it does not fully obey the biological mechanisms that govern the growth and the metabolism of individual cells and the overall cell interactions of the living organism. Some neoplasms grow more rapidly than the tissues from which they arise, others grow at a normal pace but because of the other factors eventually become recognizable as an abnormal growth and not normal tissue. The changes seen in neoplasm are heritable in that these characteristics are passed on from each cell to ots

Motivation to Pursue a Healthcare MBA program Essay

Early in life, my family taught me the value of work, the importance of managing, respecting, gratifying the needs of the employees satisfactorily and the rigors of establishing and maintaining a business. For over 20 years, my family has owned and operated a chain of 11 convenient stores and other small businesses. Surrounded and influenced by the ups and downs of daily business life I developed the impetus to succeed in a business setting. With this business experience, the compilation of science courses taken throughout college and the experience gained in the industry, I am determined to further develop my stance on how I could be most valuable in the society; as a healthcare administrator or hospital CEO. Throughout the years I have acquired the basics of understanding the health care set up, but a Healthcare MBA from George Washington University is thus the master key to give me the knowledge and skills necessary to conscientiously and professionally execute the responsibilities of hospital CEO. During my time whilst at UNC, I was involved with the agency, Communities in Schools, whereby I offered to mentor and/or tutor high school students. A particular experience I cherish is when I helped a certain weak student, who had lost hope in school, to build confidence and motivation to study hard and pass his exams. The student is now attending college and attributes his success to my helping him discover his own potential. These endeavors have allowed me to assume the role of a mentor and an instructor, and have further taught me to become a communicative leader who can guide others in their development. Moreover, the sheer amount of pleasure I received from aiding the students in achieving their goals reflects my commitment to a career of service, which your program will steer me towards perfecting. I have perfected my abilities to work well under pressure with minimum supervision throughout the years; the necessary virtues of a good administrator. Perhaps even more important, throughout my experience, I have discovered the importance of sharing and accepting criticism. I understand how to deliver feedback without judging or discouraging others, and I use the advice of others to improve my own behavior. I admit that throughout my college education, my academic performance was sub-par; however, I attribute this to spending ample time participating in various non-academic activities. I was pushed to my limit as I was compelled to balance my time between studying and maintaining involvement in other aspects of my life that I am passionate, serving others and dancing. Although being an active person affected my scholastic performance, it was my involvement in those activities that stimulated my leadership potential, trained me to network with various agencies, and allowed me to give something small back to my community. It takes perseverance, drive and passion to rise above set-backs that we create for ourselves along the way and my long-term goal has served as the light at the end of the tunnel. My goal is simple: intellectual enrichment and to use my knowledge to help build a better society. The experience, knowledge and skills I have accumulated this far, put me in a position to successfully embark on new challenges. I want to pursue a higher degree because I know I have the potential to achieve academic success and thus redeem my undergraduate academic experience. It is my belief and conviction that a person is educated if they constantly strive to attain knowledge while simultaneously recognizing the usefulness of this knowledge towards society. Confident in my ability to adapt well and learn new techniques, I am ready to commit and follow the advice of my mentors; pursue a Healthcare MBA from George Washington University.

Development and behavior in the environment Essay

Life is a changing process, from the moment of conception to the moment of death, and there are many complex processes of development that a human being experienced. People have the inherent ability to enlarge, to change and to develop in the entire way of living. People show an underlying continuity from one time of life to another. In other way, they change in one area with aspects of both continuousness and change is considered personality development. Human development is the scientific study of the quantitative and qualitative ways by which people change overtime. A procedure of becoming something distinct while insom respects are alike. Perhaps what is uniquely human is what we remain in an unending state of development. Life is always an incomplete business, and death is only a cessation. Human Behavior to the Environment According to Papalia (1992) people are not passive sponges, soaking up influences. They actively shape their own environment and they respond to the biotic and abiotic factors in their environment. In the development of all new behavior patterns, even where learning is an important factor, no amount of stimulation or practice will produce the behavior pattern until certain maturation has been reached. Therefore, it is not the behavior itself that matures, for behavior implies an interaction between the individuals and component in his environment. To study broader aspects of human behavior, it is important to consider the fact that heredity does not operate in void but that it is steadily limited and modified by environment. Theories and Concepts Jean Piaget: Cognitive Stage Theory The Swiss theoretician Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was the most prominent advocate of the organism perspective. Much of what we know about the way children is due to his creative inquiry. He built complex theories about cognitive development; changes in children thought processes that results in a growing ability to acquire and use knowledge about their world. Piaget believed that from infancy to adolescence, children advance through a predictable series of cognitive stages. Freud’ s Stages of Psychosocial Development Freud believed that personality is precise formed in the first few years of life, as children deal with conflicts between their biological, sexually related urges and the requirement of society. Freud saw that human personality is made up of three elements, which he called the id, the ego, and the superego. In these elements we will be convinced that humans are urge to do things in their own perspective depending on what kind of element they had adapted from the environment dominate them, this also answers the questions why each person is totally unique from the other. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Behaviorism In 1906, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov has discovered a basic form of learning called classical conditioning, also referred to as Pavlov’s conditioning theory, in which an organism comes to associate one stimulus with one another. Latest research integrate this theory that this basic process can account for how people form certain preferences and fears. Environment All the conditions in the world that influence behavior, growth, development is what we define as environment, it includes the internal (cells, tissues, organs and system of the body), and social ( the people around us both within our family ties, jobs, school and those that seems to give a big influence in our daily living). The interaction of heredity environment determine human traits and characteristics. Heredity determines how high level of development a given environment can bring about in a given period of time. Environment determines how effective a certain heredity can be in influencing development over a given period of time. The function of the environment is that it supplies the stimuli that set off patterns of response already prepared by maturation. It also provide situation which are conductive to the person’s learning new patterns of altering old ones. Applied knowledge We will be considering two infant who have different parents lets name them Angie and Charlene, both of their parents work outside the home at full time jobs. Angie’s parents are able to arrange their schedules so that one parent is at home when Angie and her sisters return to school, should the parents be delayed the children go to the neighbor which is a grandmotherly figure. Her parents do their best to give them quality time. Homework is taken seriously by Angie and her parents the reason why Angie at an early age realizes the value of good education. While on the other side Charlene’s parents like his father does not usually stays at home when he is not working, he can be found with friends at a local bar the same way with her mother who have no longer time in cooking their food and depend on fast food as a regular basis. She has difficulty concentrating in school, and spends a good deal of time with friends at a local bar, all of whom enjoy riding the bus downtown to go to the movies. Angie’s parents are giving her maximum support while Charlene is not experiencing the same amiable but firm urge that encourages Angie to move on and develop into capable young adult. In this scenario, I could conclude that attention and time is very important in up bringing a child both psychologically and emotionally. Addiction Everything that the mother takes in makes its way to the new life in her uterus. Drugs may cross the placenta, just as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water do. The use of drug addicting substances such as marijuana, nicotine, cocaine, caffeine and opiates. The use of marijuana by pregnant women could affect her infant’s nervous system and can lead to birth defects. Drugs and chemical agents cross the placenta affect the embryonic and fetal system. Dynamics of abuse and neglect Adults hurt and neglect children because of various causes including the characteristic of the abuser or neglecter, the victim the family, the community, and the larger culture. Almost of the abusers are not psychotic and do not have criminal personalities; but many are lonely, unhappy, depressed, angry, dissatisfied, isolated and under great stress, or they have health problems that impair their ability to raise their children. Conclusion Human development is not merely an increase in body weight and height of a human being rather it is the total influence of environment and heredity. The behavior of a person to the environment depends mainly on maturation of his mind and capability of the body to out stand adverse condition, from the start of conception of a mother the time the ovum is fertilized by the sperm cell of the father is the beginning of the development Environment participates seventy percent and thirty percent of heredity in the development of a person, many factors should always to be considered to produce a human that will be an asset to the society. Work Cited Forgas, J. P. , and G. H. Bower.(1997) â€Å"Moods Effects on Personality Perception Judgements. Journals of Personality and Social Psychology. New Jersey. Papalia, D. E. and Olds, S. W. (1992) Human Development (International Edition) USA: McGraw Hill, Inc. Snyder, W. and Ooms, T. (Editors) (1998) Empowering Families, Helping Adolescents. U. S. A. : Diane Publishing. Vander, J. W. , Crander, T. L. , Crandell, C. H. (2007) Human Development (8th Ed. ) USA: McGraw Hill, Inc. Zayas, L. H. , Rojas, M. ,and Malgady, R. (1998). Alcohol and drug use, and depression among Hispanic men in early adulthood. American Journal of Community Psychology.

Burning Bright

Is It Love? â€Å"Burning Bright† is a story about an older woman marrying a man young enough to be her son. Marcie is almost sixty. When her husband Arthur died and the local help fell away, she endured incredible loneliness at the end of a five-mile dirt track until the church recommended a handyman, Carl, who could help out on the farm. This silent man from nowhere marries Marcie, but remains mysterious. In the twenty-first century, seeing an older women and a young man is common. For most people though, the question is if the couple is truly in love.Many older women and men have large sums of money which could be given to their younger spouse if they die. In Rosh Rash's â€Å"Burning Bright,† Marcie is much older than Carl, and there is a huge disconnect in their relationship because of age. The first question that has to be answered is if Marcie's marriage with Carl is a believable love story. I think that it is not really a true love story. There is a part in the story where Carl and Marcie are talking about why he has not been married, and Carl tells Marcie that she is not too old for him(Rash 7).Farther on in the story, when Marcie and Carl got together, they did not have the typical fairytale love story meeting. Carl met Marcie because of the preacher giving him some much needed work. He got laid off from his carpentry Job. Marcie dated Carl Just because she became lonely. Later, they are at dinner, and Marcie thought that their conversation would get more comfortable. When she tries to talk to him about the fire, Carl is very short with her on words and tries to make the conversation short. He did not like to be around her, so he would sit outside and attend to himself.When they go to bed, they show love to each other, but it is the same thing every day. It is basically a routine for them. One of the examples that they use for their routine would be when Marcie says, â€Å"But at night as she readied herself for bed, he'd always come in . Theyd lie down together and he'd turn to kiss her good night, always on the mouth. Three, four nights a week that kiss would linger and then quilts and sheets would be pulled back (Rash). † I found this particularly interesting at the end of the story when Marcie chooses to pray for rain. She is praying for Carl to stop burning items.She also praying for her quality of life back, something Carl could give her. Marcie mentions she thought the longer they were together, the more he would talk, but it is not so. I think that their marriage will probably not last as long as they want it too, but as long as their both trying to work things out together, as of getting Carl to talk they relationship should be great. Now days, couples Just like Marcie and Carl. Some relationships are different than Marcie and Carl's relationship. What are some thoughts about the relationships in the world today that's Just like Marcie and Carl?

Politics of Volkswagen Essay

One can be forgiven for overlooking the categories of cars when asked about politics in one’s country – they seemed too commonplace and mundane to be considered anything political. In the mainstream thought, cars are a means of transportation, to travel from one point to another. Some conservationists may argue on the environmental agenda, while others may think of cars as one of the main industries driving the economy. Nothing more is thought of these mean machines that move the world. Yet, the history cars possess has political backgrounds, given that they were considered technological advancements in their early days. Using Volkswagen as the main case study, this paper will examine cars in a political-visual aspect and the impact they have on the people through the ages. It will also consider the consequences of the car – the economical impact by the car industry, environmental impact by the car and the different law and policies enacted for the car and the us ers. Last but not least, the iconic Volkswagen Beetle will be featured and explained on its influence on the lives of many. As this paper attempts to cover a lot of ground, the focus will be on the impact by Volkswagen on the world. The History of Volkswagen The Fà ¼hrer addressed the nation on the Volkswagen. It is understood that the term ‘Volkswagen’ was a brainchild of Adolf Hitler, the Fà ¼hrer of the Nazi Germany. However, what is less understood is how Volkswagen came about. The supposed ‘People’s Car’ was more than political rhetoric; it was a determination in Hitler’s political ambitions to provide the car to the masses in a time where the Car was out of reach and seemingly for the elite. Although there were cars from the rival companies, like the Mercedes 170H, the Volkswagen was a car company started off from scratch, fueled by the designs by the Chief Designer, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. Brought together by a car salesman, Jakob Werlin, both Hitler and Porsche discussed ideas of this new project that the Nazi government was willing to embark on. Though there were strong skepticism from the Society of German Automobile Manufacturers and the preparations were taking longer than usual, the interest for the Volkswagen never died down. Herr Wilhe lm von Opel, the owner of the Volkswagen’s rival Opel, produced a similar car for the mass public in 1936. Hitler quickly doused water on the Opel project by taking its key supplies of iron and steel under the control of Nazi government, thus making the 1,000 Marks Volkswagen Project a possibility. Along with the Nazi might, the Volkswagen project was rolling with estate, funds and supplies from the Nazi Government. The Fà ¼hrer and committee were led around on the inspection of the Volkswagen. The significance of Volkswagen as a car project is of huge importance here. The term ‘People’s Car’ was no longer a catchphrase for the politicians; it was not bait for the people, but something tangible for the people to admire and work towards. This worked well with the Germans – they were under hard times and the conceptualization of a People’s Car would be the best form of motivation to work hard to join the ranks of developed nations after the double fiasco of World War 1 reparations and the Great Depression. Towards the end of the decade, exhibitions of the car prototypes were present throughout every Nazi parade, giving the German people hope that they soon could afford the car. Never has an image of a car fuelled public hopes, this contributed to a fervent support for the Nazi rule. The Prototypes: The three ready-made prototypes for public viewing. The Volkswagen Project was almost dead at the end of the World War, but for a Major Ivan Hirst and Dr. Heinz Nordhoff, who later became the Managing Director of Volkswagen. The Nazi Government no longer existed; the political mantra behind the project was no longer applicable. The name was also no longer linked to the Nazi government, although its history was steeped in the Nazi programs. Yet, despite all these, the Volkswagen brand and group went to influence the world in different ways, sticking strictly to the philosophy behind its name – the People’s Car. Visuals of Volkswagen Throughout the decades of Volkswagen, the strong advertisements and pictorials of Volkswagen proved popular with people around the world, starting with Germany. The early days of Volkswagen was during the Hitler period and he managed to get 300,000 Germans to sign up for the â€Å"Strength-through-Joy† (Kraft Durch Freude) savings scheme for the Volkswagen. Although this did not result in any form of Volkswagen supplied, it was an indication on how strong the demand for the Volkswagen was. English translation: 5 Marks a week you need to save, if you want to own a car. The poster all around Nazi Germany was like the above, where the â€Å"Strength-through-Joy† movement was in place. The savings scheme was a motivation to achieve the desired People’s Car and for a lot of the working class Germans, this proved to be hugely popular. English Translation: â€Å"Strength-through-Joy† Calendar 1939. The Calendar was one of the many tools to get the Germans interested in the Volkswagen. After the revival of the company, the phenomenon spread to America, where the impression of Volkswagen was hugely popular with the middle-class folks. This set the impression that the Volkswagen was indeed a People’s Car. The association with diplomats increased the prestige of the Volkswagen. Volkswagen has brought prestige, once associated with the elites, down to the man on the street. Volkswagen was known to have such teasing ad designs in America, and was not afraid to include celebrities or bring in creative artwork with cheeky descriptions. This escalated the Volkswagen brand to a cult, with different subcultures following it, namely the â€Å"Hippies† movement with the Volkswagen Beetle. Volkswagen, with its range of iconic cars, managed to inspire liberalist thinking amongst the people while ensuring the capitalist ideal existed – hard-earned money for a well-deserved reward. The Symbol of Volkswagen The Volkswagen Logo over the years The symbol of Volkswagen has not visibly changed much over the years, as the recognizable â€Å"VW† has been the signature of the brand. The â€Å"Strength-through-Joy† logo had similarities to the Nazi swastika when it first came out, heavily associating it with the brand of Nazi programs. When the British took over, the car logo was kept along with the name, despite it being a Nazi relic as any form of car was not presented to the people under the Nazi rule and no other company wanted to take over the company, given the â€Å"ugly† design of the renamed Volkswagen Beetle. Since then, the Volkswagen brand has become the third largest automobile firm in the world. When people see the Volkswagen logo, they think of the superiority of the car made affordable to the people rather than its Nazi past. The Impact of Volkswagen Through clever marketing and a strong ethos, the Volkswagen philosophy managed to sell well to the people. Yet, there is an underlying political message to be derived from the sale of Volkswagen cars, the ideal People’s Car. Having a Volkswagen on the street would represent the reality of the common man achieving his dreams of finally owning one. This would represent a political message on two different grounds – the governmental and the individual. One of the definitions of the rich was to own a car. The car would represent the luxury of being affluent – the comfort, the convenience and the social status. The masses could only look on with envy as they proceeded on with their daily lives looking at the rich in shiny transportation while the rich looked down on them from high carriages. This impression struck a chord in the common man’s mind while he raged a revolution in different places – turning monarchies into anything but it. As such, governmen ts would like to ensure that the population would not throw a revolution – the symbol of a Volkswagen would provide a perfect crowd pleaser to the population then. For the government these days, the appeal of Volkswagen still exists: the existence of a Volkswagen in many countries still provides the same effect on the people – it’s their car. As long as the Volkswagen is on the street, the government has done their ‘supposed’ job to provide cheap transportation to the people. To the people, beyond the dreams of owning a car, the Volkswagen represents a capitalist dream. The Hitler years notwithstanding, the modern Volkswagen represents a new class of citizens, who will be rewarded with what they have earned thus far. From the above visuals, the brand Volkswagen brings about a new breed of ideal citizens – the ones that capitalism will reward. The individual is now laden with a hope of owning a car and that to own the â€Å"People’s Car†, one will have to abide by the laws of capitalism to achieve the ‘dream’. Working hard to earn the income to pay for the price for the car, it has bro ught about the capitalist dream to the people in the subtlest of ways. Economical Impact of Cars The impact of automobile industry has affected the entire world – whether it’s through the factories that the car firms set up in America, Germany, Japan or Thailand or through the different industries spawned or assisted by the automobile industry. The significance of the economical impact of cars cannot be discounted. With reference to Volkswagen, the understanding of economical impact of cars visually will be split amongst two different groups: the government and the different complementing industries. From the point of view of the government, the car industry presents itself as a huge economy boost. The once-thriving Detroit, the car town of America, was a major industry with huge employment rates, driven by the huge American consumer market, where over three quarters of the 200 million automobiles are cars. The view of fully filled car parks waiting for the export ships to port was a sight to behold – it represented a view of the bustling economy. For Volkswagen, an entire city was constructed for the birth of Volkswagen. Wolfsburg, once a countryside village, was transformed into the headquarters for Volkswagen. Workers came from all over and settled into Wolfsburg to work for Volkswagen, and before long, it was the heart of Volkswagen operations. To build a city from scratch needs planning and labor – this provides employment and opportunity for a lot of people. Thus the sight of a Volkswagen brand has generated economy for the government; in a political way, it has ensured one of the main employment sectors and economic boost. For the other industries, the car industry has provided a suitable complement to their business. The more obvious examples are the petrol industries, where the cars are dependent on them for energy sources. The less obvious examples – the music industry (where radios in the cars are necessary these days), the drive-through industry and the entertainment industry (to launch their new cars) are all part of the economic industry that depends on the car industry for some form of economic dependence. As such, the visual of cars on the streets give the economy a boost, especially with the other industries. Environmental Impact of Cars Cars have a disastrous impact on the environment – being largely responsible for smog and toxic air pollutants, not to mention the world’s increasing dependence on foreign oil makes it one of the top pollutants around the world today. The sight of cars emitting harmful smoke has led to the vocal political opposition in governments worldwide. Despite the best efforts of the car industry, there is no suitable alternative energy fuel to compensate the current form of fuel consumption – diesel and petrol. However, this has created an impetus to search for cheaper and more valuable engines, which will provide better â€Å"miles-per-gallon† formula. For Volkswagen, this has resulted in the TDI technology, where the fuel is consumed when needed. The TDI technology has won accolades for saving fuel – the most efficient cars on the road run on diesel are by Volkswagen TDI Diesel Engine. Volkswagen went one step further – they implemented Volkswagen Think Blueâ„ ¢, a drive to find the cleanest alternative energy consumption that would be sustainable for its engines. Pushing the limit for the fuel consumption while searching for the next alternative fuel for the car, they managed to achieve an understanding of sustainability and progress in environmental terms. This underlines Volkswagen’s environmental considerations while providing progress to the people. The People’s Car is seen under different light – it is environmentally friendly while pushing for progress. And while it may offend the petrol heads, the Volkswagen is trying to be an environmentally friendly car, which puts it in line with the beliefs of the Democrats. Das Auto: Respecting the law. The Volkswagen Beetle was made to travel the Autobahn, the fastest highway on the planet without any speed limit. Hitler’s vision of allowing cheap fast transport for the masses was to be realized with the Volkswagen and the Autobahn. Unfortunately, the rest of the world did not have such laws in place and to regulate the traffic, they installed rules and laws. The first of all traffic laws was the limitation of speed – this was to prevent unnecessary casualty. The introduction of non-horse carriages came to light – the first of all vehicles was a steam-powered carriage – the need for safety of those not driving was present. As such, over the years, the governments sought to reduce speed in all manners – on the highways, on the roads and on the dashboard. As promising as the technology from the car industry, there would be a speed limit for all vehicles. This was to prevent the race for speed and allow the progress of the automobile done safely. Other policies include the limitations of vehicles in densely populated place – the use of ERP and COE in Singapore and the taxes levied on vehicles. These were to prevent the rampant sale of vehicles while keeping the country free from the overcrowding. The Automobile Icon: Volkswagen Beetle The best is kept for last: the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, which has been the longest production vehicle (from 1938 – 2003 on one design) with sales of more than 21 million. This recognizable car has its own movie and spawned movements, along with generations to embrace the Volkswagen Beetle as part of their lives. In this section, the Volkswagen Beetle will be examined politically as a cultural icon with its impact on the political arena. The Volkswagen Beetle â€Å"ugly† design – one that was unconventional different and from the pre-WWII days – was a signature icon that lasted through the decades. Volkswagen’s refusal to change the design of the Beetle led to many modifications from the owners. As seen below, the popular culture took over with the designs in the 60’s. The customizable feature of the Beetle allowed the freedom of expression, in which the Hippie culture of the 60’s took full advantage of. The freedom of expression has always been a part of the American Constitution and it took a liberal turn with the Hippie Culture. Notwithstanding the sex, drugs of that period, the Hippie Culture was a liberalizing process for the population to air their views. These views were of a peace-making, pacifist nature and they were in support of non-violence, civil rights and anti-nuclear armament movements. The Volkswagen Beetles with their decorated colors were a symbol of that political statement. A television series, â€Å"Herbie†, featuring the Volkswagen Beetle as a racing car with human emotions, popularized the car. Although this was not the only car that was featured in films, the very nature of the Beetle shown to have human feelings was a personification of the car. From the television and film series, the character of Volkswagen Beetle was further defined: determined with a colorful personality. This created an impression on the younger generation then that the car was a cool factor – it made them want a car in their lives. The implications were that these children grew up needing cars and created a population who rather give up their voting rights than driving license. The specifications of the Volkswagen Beetle also came into focus. The numerous races and rallies that it went for and achieved results became a cult in its own right. Given that the Beetle was never made for racing, this has led to many thinking that the Beetle is multi-functional despite the ugly nature. The engine, simple yet effective, is also adjustable to modifications. This feature of the car has created a Volkswagen Beetle sub-culture, one where even as the old Volkswagen model is no longer in production, the owners of Volkswagen regularly meet up to showcase their re-tuned and refined Volkswagen Beetles. Translate this into an understanding of visual politics: the cult of Volkswagen Beetle is an example of a loyal following of unwavering belief and given in the previous paragraphs we have deduced that the followers are liberal in principle, the conclusion is that the Volkswagen Beetle is a symbol of liberal views. Conclusion: Having seen the impact of Volkswagen around the world, one would really wonder if Major Ivan Hirst were not to revive the company and let it pass, would the world be the same today? Throughout the years of Volkswagen existence, there have been many movements, many political undertones derived from the sheer existence of Volkswagen on the street. The Hippie Culture, the racing mentality, the liberal ideals and the capitalist principles – all of which points to a subliminal messaging by the presence of a Volkswagen on the street. No other car has invoked so many different views in the world today. There are other aspects of Volkswagen not touched in this paper – especially the impact of Volkswagen in the future. Given that the future of automobiles is very volatile, Volkswagen may have a different feel and visual understanding in the future. As of now, the brand of Volkswagen is still the People’s Car, one that all should have if they work hard enough for it. Thus, it is apt that the tagline of Volkswagen today is Das Auto – the Car. Bibliography: Books Cited: Anderson, Curtis D., and Judy Anderson. Electric and Hybrid Cars: a History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010. Print. Ginsburg, Douglas H., and William J. Abernathy. Government, Technology, and the Future of the Automobile. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980. Print. Hopfinger, K. B. The Volkswagen Story. Henley on Thames: Foulis, 1971. Print. Keller, Maryann. Collision GM, Toyota, Volkswagen and the Race to Own the 21st Century. New York: Currency Doubleday, 1993. Print. Luger, Stan. Corporate Power, American Democracy, and the Automobile Industry. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2000. Print. Packer, Jeremy. Mobility without Mayhem: Safety, Cars, and Citizenship. Durham: Duke UP, 2008. Print. Paterson, Matthew. Automobile Politics: Ecology and Cultural Political Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print. Redshaw, Sarah. In the Company of Cars: Driving as a Social and Cultural Practice. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008. Print. Pictures Used: Great VW Ads, â€Å"Remember those great Volkswagen ads?†, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from Volks World (29th January 2009) Adolf Hitler – Rare Photos, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from Websites: US Department of Energy, 2011 Best and Worst MPG Cars, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from Volkswagen, TDI Academy: Tackling TDI technology, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Incidentally, he was the man behind another great car company, Porsche, with a similar rear-engine car model. [ 2 ]. Hopfinger, K. B. The Volkswagen Story. Henley on Thames: Foulis, 1971, pp 62 – 67 [ 3 ]. Ibid, pp 96 – 97 [ 4 ]. Volks World (29th January 2009) Adolf Hitler – Rare Photos, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from [ 5 ]. Volks World (29th January 2009) Adolf Hitler – Rare Photos, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from [ 6 ]. Hopfinger, K. B. The Volkswagen Story. Henley on Thames: Foulis, 1971, pp 142 – 152 [ 7 ]. Ibid, pp 98. [ 8 ]. Great VW Ads, â€Å"Remember those great Volkswagen ads?†, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from [ 9 ]. Great VW Ads, â€Å"Remember those great Volkswagen ads?†, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from [ 10 ]. Hippie Culture [ 11 ]. http://www.neatorama.com/2008/02/18/evolution-of-car-logos/ [ 12 ]. Case in point: the countries in Central and South America. [ 13 ]. Great VW Ads, â€Å"Remember those great Volkswagen ads?†, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from [ 14 ]. Luger, Stan. Corporate Power, American Democracy, and the Automobile Industry. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2000, pp 9 [ 15 ]. Hopfinger, K. B. The Volkswagen Story. Henley on Thames: Foulis, 1971, pp 106 – 112 [ 16 ]. The higher the value for mpg – the better the fuel consumption of the vehicle. [ 17 ]. Volkswagen, TDI Academy: Tackling TDI technology, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from [ 18 ]. US Department of Energy, 2011 Best and Worst MPG Cars, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from [ 19 ]. Luger, Stan. Corporate Power, American Democracy, and the Automobile Industry. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2000, pp 12 [ 20 ]. Great VW Ads, â€Å"Remember those great Volkswagen ads?†, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from