Continuous Story Writing Essay

I saw her lying on the floor in a pool of blood, her eyes still opened but rolled back. My sight of her became blurred, I noticed after awhile. Wet, hot tears were starting to roll down my face. I could not catch my breath. My body quivered, I was beginning to fall. The last thing I remembered was a tattered book lying on the floor a few centimeters from her hand. It was a bright sunny Friday morning. The birds were singing, rays of sunshine shone into my room and the air was fresh with a tint of rosemary and pine. March the 15th, the day of my ballet recital. Today will be the best day of my life, I thought dreamily. I made my way down the stairs and was greeted by my mom with a wide smile on her face. A sumptuous breakfast was laid out for me. On the table were my favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, scrambled eggs, hotdog tortillas and a cup of refreshing orange juice. I took my time to enjoy my breakfast and when I was done I made my way to my ballet studio, excited to start my day. â€Å"One two three, one two three, twirl and smile, one two three, one two three..† 26 graceful ballerinas were dancing and prancing, smiling sweetly back at me. Each move we made were precise and synchronized. I couldn’t help but glance at my gracefulness in the crystal clear mirrors. This was my time to shine. I gave a finishing double pirouette and the famous swan lake pose as the closing to my ballet recital. That smell of cherry blossom lip gloss and fresh roses filled the room. You could feel excitement, joy and nervousness all at the same time in the atmosphere. Ballerinas were busy having their make up done, their hair nicely done up into a tight bun, going through their steps in their minds all at the same time. Every performer had glitter on their faces, but the glow that was radiating from their faces was what made them exceptionally beautiful on this very day. In just a matter of an hour’s time I was going to be on that big, wide, cold stage. I was going to be speculated by hundreds of people. The thought was almost too overwhelming for me but thankfully the thought of my mother being there in the audience comforted me. I was going to make my mother really proud. I was determined. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Grace ballet studio’s annual ballet recital. Please take your seats and prepare yourself for the long-awaited swan lake adaptation by our very own ballerinas,† announced the master of ceremony of the evening. I was getting butterflies at that moment. I opened the curtains ever so slightly just to see if my mother have arrived. I scanned and scanned through the seats but she was no where to be found. â€Å"Jolie, hurry, it’s almost timed!† I was pulled by the hand and brought to the position where I was supposed to enter from behind the thick red curtains. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have all been waiting for, please welcome the shimmering ballerinas of Swan Lake† With each step I took, each movement I made I pranced and danced gracefully on the wide stage. The spotlight was mine for a little while and then my friends came in through the sides of the curtains and joined me. All 26 of us compliment ed each other with every move we made. Our first act ended with never ending applause by the crowd. They loved us! During the intermission I got changed into my second costume. This time I had a tiny tiara on my head. Everyone’s makeup was redone and everyone was so hectic that I didn’t even get the chance to take a peek through the curtains to see where my mom was seated. I took a deep breath. â€Å"I can do this. Mommy will be cheering me on.† I stood up, straightened my costume and got ready for the second act. The smell of roses, that dazzling smile on my face, together with the standing ovation my ballerinas and I have earned was the perfect ending to my ballet recital. I was on cloud nine before i realized I had not seen my mom and I don’t see her anywhere now. I was beginning to worry and at the same time I was angry. Angry that she stood me up. We waved the audience goodbye, took a group picture and everyone helped to clean the place up. Everything was done and the place was spick and span. I went backstage to pack up my things soon after. Adele’s voice flooded the room and I immediately dug for my phone, an unknown number. â€Å"Hmm, who could that be?† I thought. â€Å"Hello. Yes, this is Jolie Schubert. That’s right. What? What did you just say? Alright, I’ll be right over.† There I was, standing. Quivering. My mother was lying there motionless. My mother had not come for my ballet recital not because she had forgotten, but simply because she couldn’t have come. The forensic investigator covered my mom with a long white sheet and began sobbing uncontrollably. Just then my father came through the door, he too was weeping, weeping for his beloved wife. It has been exactly one week since the passing of my mother, there was no doubt that I was still pretty sore but I knew life had to go on. Today I am going to receive my most outstanding ballerina award. Although my mom is not here to witness me receiving this very award but I just really want to thank her for all the support she’s given. This is for you, mom.

CRM at Minitrex Essay

Implementation of CRM at Minitrex Introduction: Customer Relationship Management is a strategy to develop strong relationships with the customer and to know more about the customer needs. Stronger relationships with the customers will help in the development of the business. CRM helps in understanding the needs of the customers by gathering the information about the customers, and this helps to market and sell the company’s products. CRM makes the use of technology and human resources for the development of the business. By implementing CRM Better customer service can be provided. Sales staff can work effectively. Can discover the new customers and retain the existing ones. For the effective functioning of a CRM, first the organization should understand about their customers and should know their value for the life time. They should also know what their customer’s needs and should develop a strategy to meet those needs. The organization must look after how the information will be saved in the form of data and how it can be used. The stored information can be used for marketing purposes like mail campaigns, sales staff working for selling products, customer service calls etc. CRM links up all those details. Company analysts will look after each aspect and identifies the area that needs better services (Wailgum, 2014). CRM at Minitrex: Minitrex is a company with two major departments involving finance and insurance. George Degas is the director of sales at Minitrex. He appointed Harold Blufmen as the VP of insurance division and Mariella Hopkins as the head of the finance division. Credit administration system that works on the billing and payments of the customers and, General Management system that keeps track of the customers are the two back end systems for the insurance division. A management business centre application was developed by the Finance division in order to help the customer service representatives to track the sales and to provide support to the customers by providing online services like statements and applying for loans through online. Jon Bettman who is appointed as the VP of sales and marketing has created a customer contact system which schedules periodic calls to the customers, feeds data regarding the customers in the insurance and the finance division(Smith, H.A., et al., 2005). The problem at the Minitrex is that customers are receiving the calls multiple times from different sections of the company. In order to prevent this, Customer Relationship Management should be developed which stores all the data from different divisions. A business analyst should be appointed to look after all the data and he should look after the defects of the organization and should develop a strategy to overcome those problems. Sales man must be supported with the guidance by providing training on how to track sales and tracking the new leads of the sales. Team work should be maintained between all the members of the organization starting from the sales man to the head of the organization. All the contact information with the customers should be noted using the technological methods contact system management. Following these guidelines will help the company in implementing the CRM at Minitrex. REFERENCES: Jamalzadeh,M.M., Behravan, N.N., Markhali, A.,& Jouya, S. (2013). Customer Relationship Management Constructs Initiating Successful e- business Strategy for Service- based Companies. Journal of Applied Sciences, 13(1), 60-69. doi: 10.3923/jas.2013.60.69 Smith, H.A., and J. D. Mckeen. â€Å"CRM at Minitrex,† #9-L05-1-002. Queen’s School of Business, January 2005. Reproduced by permission of Queen’s University, School of Business, Kingston, Ontario. Wailgum, Thomas. â€Å"CRM Definition and Solutions.† CIO. Www.CIO.com, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Arthur Rackham Illustration Essay

Arthur Rackham (1867-1939), the most well known Illustrator of his time. His work brought life to many different stories such as the Grimm’s fairy tales, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and many of Shakespeare’s work. Rackham approach to these tales is full of ‘grace and grotesque’, it is often that in the same image, Rackham would have a beautiful young girl and an old wrinkled creature. The drawing also include so much raw emotion Rackham’s work possesses a style of line and colour use that were very prominent in the Art Nouveau movement (1890-1914), a style that has is starting become popular again a century later. Rackham became a full time artist at the young age of 25 as a reporter and illustrator for The Westminster Budget and also did some small book illustration jobs, but it wasn’t until he was 37 (1905) that his career took off with the publication of Rip Van Winkle. The years following his rise to fame were very productive. Making work for over 30 different tales, averaging 13 colour plates for each project. My favourite works Rackham did were his Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Apart from loving the story Carroll wrote, I think Rackham’s illustrations are so beautiful and fit the story perfectly. My favourite from this series of drawings is Advice from a Caterpillar. Done in 1907, the 24. 5 x 16 cm drawing is only a few cm smaller than A4 but shows such intricate line work. Bibliography http://www. alephbet. com/arthur-rackham-101. php http://www. library. pitt. edu/libraries/is/enroom/illustrators/rackham. htm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Arthur_Rackham

Leading in a changing world Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leading in a changing world - Coursework Example The team members are better involved as they own the entire process through their contributed views which are discussed and agreed to do. A team creates an environment in which each member can positively contribute more to solving problems and decision making. A team can be a very rich forum to identify talent and or weaknesses of participants. In a very positive way can help create synergies based on strengths and weaknesses of individual members. For a team to fulfil the primary role it is formed in improving organisational effectiveness, it is imperative that the teams are developed into working units that are oriented towards a set goal, mission or the reason for its existence. From an adaptation in Coventry University Journals, a team is formed through five major stages; forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning or mourning. Forming is the primary stage in which members are meeting for the first time. They are characterised by politeness, positivity and impartiality; some might be very excited about their expectation. There could be some negative forces though like anxiety, unwillingness to fully participate, and some members might be very careful treading on some sensitive issues held by one. This is brought about by the perceived weakness not to give the whole ability to the intended purpose for the team. Storming is the second stage in the team formation in which the reality for the team formation dawns to the members. The roles are clarified for each member and how the team will work is clarified. The process might create or result in conflict as members confront each other as some might be uncomfortable with the perceived workload to be performed, and the approach used. What happens at point might either strengthen a team or break it as others feel that they are overburdened while others have less to do. The conflict and perceived inequity will cause some members to opt out of some roles or withdraw membership from the team. The third stag e is norming. The team, at this stage, settles on and starts respecting the team hierarchy, nominated officials and role heads. Specific skills are developed to facilitate the performance of the roles of each member of the team. Systems and procedures are developed by which challenges, tasks, and feedback will be performed, tackled and processed. At this stage, socialisation is enhanced and members will begin to help each other and constructively criticize one another. Stronger commitment to the team’s goals is developed, and progress is made towards achieving is made. At the performing stage, team’s hard work leads to substantial and tangible progress is made in achieving the vision with a solid structure in place which means that a team member can leave or join without affecting the activities of the team. The team leader, after delegating roles, can concentrate on observing and assisting where necessary individual members of the team who have issues. Closeness and c ooperation achieved thus far will entrench support to one another, foster trust, sharing of ideas and better way to tolerate one another. All goals are achieved at this stage. The last stage is what is referred to as adjourning or mourning. The team is disbanded at this stage after completing its role and achievements can be celebrated at this stage. Preliminaries can be set to for future

What cluster allocation does, how it does it, why it is useful and how Research Paper

What cluster allocation does, how it does it, why it is useful and how does it differ from the traditional portfolio allocation - Research Paper Example The scheme treats the cluster as the sampling unit and conducts an analysis on the population of clusters. Consequently, the procedure reduces the cost of examination by increasing sampling efficiency. Clusters include geographical area and often the examiner treats various respondents or subjects within a local area as a cluster (Atzeni 40). Furthermore, the examiner increases the total sample size to establish equivalent accuracy in the estimators. The findings of the observation of any of the selected sample may not present an accurate highlight of the whole population, but they are mainly close to the actual behavior of the study subject. How cluster allocation functions The model is a sampling technique utilized when â€Å"natural† but uniform groupings are evident in a statistical population. In cluster allocation, the researcher assumes various steps in defining the sample population or constituents instead of selecting all subjects from the whole population. The examin er divides the entire population into various clusters from which he or she selects a random sample of groups (Karuri and Rainer 30). Consequently, the examiner gathers essential information from the random sample of elements in each selected group. One may evaluate every element in the selected groups or may select subsamples of fundamentals from each group. The procedure is motivated by the need of reducing the aggregate cost of the analysis. The scheme demands elements within a group to be heterogeneous while presenting homogeneity between group means. Furthermore, each cluster should be a subunit of the entire population. Clusters should also be mutually restricted and jointly exhaustive. This enhances systematic examination while minimizing sampling errors (Atzeni 37). The analyzer may utilize a single-stage cluster approach or two-stage cluster model in his or her analysis. In the single-stage scheme, one uses all elements from each selected group. However, in the two-stage cl uster model, one conducts random sampling on the elements from each of the selected group. Often, cluster allocation is only applicable when groups are approximately of the same size. In situations where the clusters have varying sizes, the examiner may combine clusters to make them assume relatively similar sizes (Karuri and Rainer 32). Usefulness of cluster allocation Cluster allocation is useful in reducing the amount of funds used in the examinations. The cluster allocation procedure provides the examiner with the opportunity of concentrating resources on the few randomly selected groups instead of evaluating the entire population. This makes the examination procedure less costly, simple and fast. Particularly, the model reduces traveling and listing cost, which are the major finance consuming procedures in sampling. For example, compiling statistics about each household in a city would be challenging, while compiling statistics about various blocks of the city would be easier. In such a situation, the traveling and the listing efforts will be reduced considerably (Karuri and Rainer 53). The procedure is essentially useful in minimizing the potentially large estimation errors in diversification analysis (Geotzmann & Wachter 271). The procedure applies the concept of mean-variance in examining essential elements. The mean-variance model evaluates a set of subjects’ weights across assets, which establishes the highest probable return for each specific level of investor risk. Developing target groups enhance the accuracy of the procedure because one can conduct a detailed examination. Furthermore, the model provides an effective procedure of evaluating large populations (Geotzmann &

Labor Pool Challenges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Labor Pool Challenges - Essay Example For example, in the 21st century, 60% of new jobs require one to have at least post-secondary education. Contrarily, an estimated one third of America’s workforce has attained this level of education (Lebergott, 2014). The continuous process of innovation as well as technological changes has resulted in the motor vehicle industry related jobs demand even higher skill levels. According to United States Department of Labor (2015), the use of computers and Internet has redefined and reorganized work skills required at the workplaces. Most jobs now require education and training. As cited by Cascio (2012), structural unemployment results because of the mismatch of skills of the unemployed persons and the skills required for the available job. Evidence has demonstrated that the percentage of the workforce having graduated with college degrees is growing at a very slow rate. It has also been projected that in the next two decades, there will be virtually no growth in the prime age workforce; 25-54 years. This would result in a substantial reduction in skill growth. With few people having the required skills and education, there is insufficient supply of skilled in the labor pool for the automobile sector. In a view shared by Farmer, people with higher education levels face very low rates of unemployment. He reported workers aged 25 years or more, the unemploy ment rate was 4% for those with a bachelors degree or higher, 6% for those with a degree, 9% for high school graduates; and 12% for those with less than a high school diploma (Farmer, 2011). A can manufacturing or distribution firm with insufficiently trained labor force faces high turn over, low levels of employee performance, low productivity, high accident rates, improperly administered facilities, and improper resource allocation, as well as lack of

International Human Resources Management Presentation Speech or - 1

International Human Resources Management - Speech or Presentation Example Nevertheless, how do these Union responses to the aging workforce? In order of these trade unions to come up with a clear and realistic tool for identifying the best practice to initiate, advocate and implement in their respective area of operation, methodological and theoretical approaches are used in relation to empirical evidences and findings from other Europe countries. For example, the UK and German trade union tries to design their responses to the aging workforces based on the research conducted from multiple dimensions. However, how do they arrive at the best resolution? According to Matthew Flynn & Martin Upchurch (2012) methodological approach for the aging workforce, the UK, and the German trade union relies on the Companies’ case studies, institutional case studies, international literature reviews and contextualization of the best workforce practices from reports and interviews conducted. Based on the hypothetical specificity and sensitivity of the studies conducted by the trade union in response to their aging workforces, understanding the patterns and trends in which these trade unions response to the aging workforce becomes quite apparent. For example, when adapting to the pension system or regulating employees by norm setting, the UK trade union intend to raise the retirement ages for 68 years enclosing the withdrawal routes. In this regard, they increase the number of old workers in its workforce by 1 million in conjunction to enacting laws that prohibit discriminative working by age. In response, the UK government initiates welfare systems as well as tax initiatives that encourage the old generation to return to work. Comparatively, how do German trade union response to the aging workforce? The German trade union is directly opposite of what happens in the UK trade unions. German trade unions systems are inclusive providing negotiation

Corporate social responsabilty and ethics Essay

Corporate social responsabilty and ethics - Essay Example The approach further assesses the harms length that may emanate from unethical business practices in order to ascertain the role of societal inclusion in mentoring effective corporate, social, and public images to a company (Harrison, 2007:1). The following discussion seeks to identify the practical approach of corporate social responsibility in Northern Rock Bank in relation to the business practices, and the present theoretical approaches born therein. The internal managerial practices Executive remuneration is the amount paid to the top most managers of different ranks in any organization. It is set by the board of directors who may follow a certain set criteria and outlined in the organization’s salary and remuneration policy. Most of the managers’ demand for higher pay makes the parties involved in the remuneration system to have a hard time in resetting the system. However, sustained pay system may not be the best to reinforce executive performance (Idowu, & Leal Filho, 2008:56). It is impossible to regulate executive salaries due to various reasons, which are in a lane manifested in a range of activities. For instance; a manager may demand for a salary increment and may yet not be a good performer (Tricker, 2012:65). Others have the knowledge but lack the basic concepts of practicing what they have in their areas of responsibility. They have very little to do in the organisation compared to their subordinates who are in turn required to work hard for a low salary (Visser, 2010:156). The directors of the Northern Rock legally seize the bank shares which were to be sold and help settle all the debts it owed the bank of England. The shareholders are therefore liable to sue the directors (Innes, & Norris, 2005:128). This is due to the unfulfilled promise by the directors that they would compensate but they instead de-valued the shares so that the shareholders would get something very negligible. They did this by stating that they were; under a new management and were unable to operate as a successful business. It is the government, which led the Northern Rock to countenance the problems (Regester, Larkin, & Regester, 2008:45). They have a prima facie case for their rights having been violated by the government officials as is stipulated in the Human Rights Act of 1998, which deemed the plaintiff to compensation. The Northern Rock clients included business investment agencies, households and firms. These firms dealt with different business operations. The business investments were often in need of expenditures in the present to acquire returns in the future (Baxi, & Prasad, 2005:68). Therefore, businesses need to borrow to finance their investments since the lenders pursue to earn long-term profits from the capital investments (Idowu, & Leal Filho, 2008:58). Eventually, they demand flexible accounts, which allow them instant admittance to their deposits (this means, they value short development deposit accounts). The perso ns leading to the collapsing of the Northern Rock bank include; the directors, the shareholders, the savers, the stakeholders and the government. However, the stakeholders and the directors have greatly contributed since they led to the bank being nationalised by the British government. The British Bankers Association helped calm down the worried Northern Rock’s customers. The government interfered with the bank operations and took away the shareholders w

The Dust Bowl Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Dust Bowl - Research Paper Example Egan describes it â€Å"as if a curtain were being drawn across a vast stage at world’s end.†1 Much of Egan’s prose has this biblical tinge to it, and it strikes the proper tone for a disaster that seemed like a foretaste of Doomsday. A catastrophic symbiosis occurred. The region’s residents suffered crippling economic and personal privation from which most never recovered; similarly, the region sustained a devastating physical transformation from which it has never fully recovered. And there is irony of biblical proportions at work here, in that the people who endured such abject misery were the same ones who were responsible for the most spectacular climactic shift in American history. The land that farmers so freely exploited was part of an exquisitely delicate eco-system. The pristine grasslands which massive herds of buffalo had kept in check created a root system that held fine, fertile soil in place. When the buffalo were exterminated, the plains Indians whose subsistence depended on them moved further west, leaving only white settlers concerned with profiting from the richness of the land. That meant clearing away the grasses. When the Depression hit and wheat prices fell, farmers were forced to increase their yields, clearing more and more grass in order to do so. Millions of tons of dust were picked up by the highest winds in the United States, rendering bare survival problematic. Farmers found themselves incapable of adjusting to the situation, and agricultural profitability in the region suffered. â€Å"During the Depression and through at least the 1950s, there was limited relative adjustment of farmland away from activities that became relatively less productive in more –eroded areas.†2 In the more-eroded counties, attempts at agricultural adjustment resulted in a recovery of less than 25 percent of initial losses.3 One of the most remarkable aspects of the Dust Bowl, and which speaks to the sheer

Jespersen vs. Harrahs Case Analysis Essay Example for Free

Jespersen vs. Harrahs Case Analysis Essay Facts: Darlene Jespersen was a bartender at Harrah’s Casino in Reno in the sports bar. She was frequently praised by her supervisors and customers for being an outstanding employee. When Jespersen first started her job at Harrah’s the female bartenders were not required to wear makeup but were encouraged to. Jespersen tried to wear makeup to work a few times but decided that she did not like it due to the fact it made her feel sick, degraded, exposed and violated. She also believed that it interfered with her ability to deal with unruly customers because it â€Å"took away [her] credibility as an individual and as a person.† After 20 years of working for the company, Harrah’s implemented the â€Å"Personal Best† program contained certain appearance standards that applied equally to men and women. Women were now required to wear makeup and when Jespersen refused, she was fired. Jespersen sued Harrah’s under Title VII. Argument for Jespersen: Jespersen refused to wear makeup to work because the cost-in time, money and personal dignity. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 employers are free to adopt different appearance standards for each sex, but these standards may not impose a greater burden on one sex than the other. Women were required to wear makeup and men were not which allowed men to save hundreds of dollars and hours of time. Harrah’s had no right to fire Jespersen because the rule only applied to women. Argument for Harrah’s: Employers are allowed to impose different appearance rules on women than men as long as the overall burden upon the employees is the same. Harrah’s rules did not impose a heavier burden on women than on men. Outcome: Jespersen appealed the judgment of the United States District Court for District of Nevada granting defendant employer summary judgment in the employee’s sex discrimination action filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The final outcome was that the original judgment granting Harrah’s summary judgment was affirmed because Jespersen failed to present sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment on her claim. My Opinion: I agree with the final outcome of this case. Jespersen did not have enough evidence to prove that by Harrah’s requiring her to wear makeup was indeed sexual stereotyping. The â€Å"Personal Best† program had plenty of restrictions and requirements for men as well as women.

Effective Communication in Midwifery

Effective Communication in Midwifery A discussion on how the midwife demonstrates her professional accountability through effective communication, including  an awareness of factors, which may contribute to poor communication.   Introduction The Nursing Midwifery Council (2004a, p. 17) in addressing the responsibilities and sphere of practice for midwives under Rule number 6 of their â€Å"Midwives rules and standards† brings forth the importance of communication by stating that midwives â€Å"Should work in partnership with the woman and her family† and â€Å"Should enable the woman to make decisions about her care based upon her individual needs, by discussing matters fully with her†. Rule number 6 adds that the midwife also â€Å"Should respect the woman’s right to refuse any advice given† (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2004a, p. 17). In furthering the roll of effective communication, Rule 7 under â€Å"Administration of medicines† as put forth by the Nursing Midwifery Council (2004a, p. 19) advises that â€Å"A midwife must respect the right of individuals to self-administer substances of their choice†. The preceding specifications have been brought forth as they help to set the foundational context for this examination, that seek to explore how the midwife demonstrates her professional accountability through effective communication, including an awareness of factors, which may contribute to poor communication. The Nursing Midwifery Council (2008a) under a document titled â€Å"The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives† begins its document by stating that â€Å"The people in your care must be able to trust you with their health and well-being†, and that in order for nurses and midwives â€Å"To justify that thrust †¦Ã¢â‚¬  they need to be able to conduct effective communication in a broad sphere of activities and actions. In elaborating upon the foregoing â€Å"The Code† adds that midwives need to â€Å"be open and honest† along with acting with integrity (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008a). The preceding means that they must and are accountable for their actions, means that accordingly that they must â€Å"†¦ treat people as individuals †¦Ã¢â‚¬  respecting their dignity, as well as acting â€Å"†¦ as an advocate for those in †¦Ã¢â‚¬  their care, aiding and assisting them in accessing â€Å"â⠂¬ ¦ relevant health and social care, information and support† (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008a). The importance of effective communication is further underscored in the dictates of â€Å"The Code† that states midwives must â€Å"Respect people’s confidentiality†, mandating that midwifes need to respect their patient’s â€Å"†¦ right to confidentiality†, informing them as to the â€Å"†¦ how and why information is shared †¦Ã¢â‚¬  among those providing for their care, and importantly, that midwifes â€Å"†¦ must disclose information †¦ (if they) †¦ believe someone may be at risk of harm †¦Ã¢â‚¬  in accordance with the law (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008a). The foregoing represents rules of ethics as well as conduct that provide the foundational understandings for the conduct of midwives. Importantly, the underpinning of the relationship between midwives and patients reside in collaboration. That communication means listening to their patients, along with responding â€Å"†¦ to their concerns and preferences†, and the support of their patients â€Å"†¦ in caring for themselves to improve and maintain their health† (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008a). The critical facet of effective and ongoing communication and trust resides in the trust between patients and midwives, as this is the foundation of care. That foundation includes the respect as well as recognition of â€Å"†¦ the contribution that people make to their own care and well-being†, and sharing information, conversation and professional advice in a manner their patients can understand (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008a). The preceding means the meeting of language as well as communication needs, along with gaining consent before beginning any treatment or care programs to ensure patients are absolutely clear on what such entails (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008a). The preceding means that the patient’s right to either accept or decline care and or treatment is inherent in their rights, along with their being fully informed as well as involved in decisions as such relate to their care and treatment (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008a). Standards Effective communication and accountability in the conduct of duties as a midwife includes their relationship with their supervisors as well as doctors, hospitals and other staff, organisations. The foregoing was detailed in another document from the Nursing Midwifery Council (2007) titled â€Å"Standards for the supervised practice of midwives† whereby the important of communication and professional practice means that midwives need to maintain a communicative relationship with their supervisors and the aforementioned support staff to further their own development. In addition, midwifes need to be able to honestly evaluate their own performance to shore up areas that they are either weak or not proficient in (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2007). Communication goes to the heart of delivering effective care, as the patient needs to develop an ongoing rapport, and advise the midwife of all facets connected with their care ‘Prep’ stands for ‘post-registration education and practice’ that represents standards as well as guidance in the providing of care and practice that maintains high levels (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008b). Under the preceding, nurses and midwives are required to record continuing professional development, in compliance with standards and practice (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008b). One provision under this requirement is that midwives, as well as nurses, are required to be able to demonstrate their â€Å"†¦ ability to use appropriate communications, teaching and learning skills†. The importance of the preceding is that effective communication is stressed in every Nursing Midwifery Council (2008) document. The significance of the preceding is detailed in the Nursing Midwifery Council’s (2004b) document â€Å"Complaints about unfitness to practise: A guide for members of the public† that deals with allegations concerning care pr actice by midwives. This guide for patients indicates that issues concerning complaints encompasses â€Å"†¦ verbal abuse †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦ failure to provide adequate care †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦ concealing unsafe practice †¦Ã¢â‚¬  as key areas, all of which can potentially have their roots in poor communication between midwives and patients. Such instances can be avoided through proper and ongoing communication with patients in a professional manner that emanates from the beginning of the relationship, on through every meeting and or communication exchange. The scope of the preceding, communication, as an important facet in the professionalism and accountability of a midwife is contained in the Nursing Midwifery Council’s (2004c) â€Å"Reporting lack of competence: A guide for employers and managers† that states that one of the characteristics the indicates and or demonstrates a lack of competence includes a â€Å"†¦ difficulty in communicating with colleagues, patients or clients†, the â€Å"†¦ inability to work as apart of a team †¦Ã¢â‚¬ , and â€Å"†¦ poor judgement †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2004c). In looking at the foregoing, one can see that communication is either at the heart of, or a symptom. Further importance, as well as administrative recognition of communication as a core foundational aspect in the practice of midwifery is contained in the Nursing Midwifery Council’s (2004d) â€Å"Reporting unfitness to practise: A guide for employers and managers† that states that fitness to practise might be impaired by a â€Å" persistent lack of ability in properly identifying care needs and accordingly planning and delivering appropriate care†. Accountability and Communication The critical nature of health care delivery entails listening and communicating with patients as an active and ongoing dialogue. The critical nature of effective communication as well as accountability and the ramifications of poor communication skills can be a result of the creation of a non-harmonious rapport with the patient that results in misunderstood communication concerning the methods of care and or options open to them, as well as a host of associated factors. In a document as prepared by the Nursing Midwifery Council’s (2008c), listening to patient concerns regarding their care is the first of a list of areas that includes the creation of an â€Å"†¦ environment that facilitates effective communication †¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The emphasis on communication is paramount in the health care profession (Ellingson, 2002). In a study conducted Catherine McCabe (2004, pp. 41-49) she starts her report advising â€Å"Patient centred communication is a basic component †¦ and facilitates the development of a positive nurse-patient relationship †¦ (that) †¦ results in the delivery of quality †¦ care†. Her study uncovered that a lack of communication, along with empathy were two of the most cited reasons by patients in complaints about their health care delivery. The diversity that exists in the UK makes the subject of effective communication even more compelling. Language, educational, believe systems, unsureness and or suspicions regarding the role and or competence of midwifes, tales involving others negative experiences with midwives, as well as a host of other factors represent impediments to the profession that a midwife needs to be aware and cognizant of in establishing contact with a patient, and developing an atmosphere of trust and confidence (Devries et al, 2001). Conclusion In an article published by Medical News Today (2007), it stated that the NMC Code â€Å"†¦ requires each nurse and midwife to act at all times in a such a manner as to justify public trust and confidence†. The article went on to add that â€Å"Nurses and midwifes are personally accountable for their practice †¦Ã¢â‚¬  stating that their professional accountability requires them to â€Å"†¦ work in an open and co-operative manner with patients and their families †¦Ã¢â‚¬  recognising patient input and involvement in their care and health planning (Medical News Today, 2007). While the bulk of this study has focuses on the midwives communication with their patients, which is the core of their responsibilities in their profession, as members of a team, midwives also must exercise and exhibit effective communication with their peers and administrative bodies as well. Supervisors are an important part of this process in that they are there to assist and help midwives stay abreast of new developments, evaluate and aid them in enhancing their care delivery as well as being working partners in the midwife / patient relationship (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008d). The supervisory practice aids midwifes in their accountability, as well as assisting them in their potential or real communication issues with patients, and stand as an aid in the process. Their role in the effective monitoring of midwifes is in the interests of the public as well as the midwife, through their ongoing monitoring of midwives (Nursing Midwifery Council, 2008d). Jones and Symon (2000, p. 27) point to the preceding as being one of the strengths of the profession in the UK, â€Å"†¦the statutory supervision of midwives†. They state that the system’s priorities are the assisting of midwives in the assessment of their own needs, as well as those of their patients, maintaining the adherence to the Code as their guide (Jones and Symon, 2000, p. 27). The preceding is referred to as ethics that represents the role of midwives, their supervisors and the entire structure of health care that is in the public trust. The aforementioned layer of accountability has been established to oversee midwives as well as provide them with a framework to foster communications with patients, and also provide patients with a structure as well. Good communication, as stated throughout this study, wards off potential issues and problems, and is the cornerstone in establishing effective care for the midwife and patient. Its importance cannot be over emphasised, as miscommunication in health care can have consequences that are life threatening. Bibliography Devries, R., Wrede, S., Teijlingen, E., Benoit, C. (2001) Birth by Design: Pregnancy, Maternity Care, and Midwifery in North America and Europe. Routledge. London, United Kingdom Ellingson, L. (2002) Communication, Collaboration, and Teamwork among Health Care Professionals. Vol. 21, No. 3. Communication Research Trends Jones, S., Symon, A. (2000) Ethics in Midwifery. Mosby Publishers. Edinbergh McCabe. C. (2004) Nurse-patient communication: an exploration of patient’s experiences. Vol. 13, No. 1. Journal of Clinical Nursing Medical news Today (2007) Resuscitation of Patients, UK. 1 November 2007. Medical News Today Nursing Midwifery Council (2004b) Complaints about unfitness to practise: A guide for members of the public. Nursing Midwifery Council. London, United Kingdom Nursing Midwifery Council (2004a) Midwives rules and standards. Nursing Midwifery Council. London, United Kingdom Nursing Midwifery Council (2008d) Modern supervision in action: a practical guide for midwives. Nursing Midwifery Council. London, United Kingdom Nursing Midwifery Council (2004c) Reporting lack of competence: A guide for employers and managers. London, United Kingdom Nursing Midwifery Council (2004d) Reporting unfitness to practise: A guide for employers and managers. Nursing Midwifery Council. London, United Kingdom Nursing Midwifery Council’s (2008c) Support for parents: How supervision and Supervisors of Midwives can help you. Nursing Midwifery Council. London, United Kingdom The Nursing Midwifery Council (2008a) The Code Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwifes. The Nursing Midwifery Council. London, United Kingdom Nursing Midwifery Council (2008b) The Prep handbook. Nursing Midwifery Council. London, United Kingdom

Probleme de la Predication: Noeud Central du Sophiste de Platon Essay

Probleme de la Predication: Noeud Central du Sophiste de Platon ABSTRACT: Some scholars have found the dealing of the problem of predication, or attribution, in the Sophist (251a-e), a "digression," or a treatment of "a trivial question" and "an insignificant example." We propose to reconsider the importance of Plato’s doctrine on the subject from the point of view of the epistemology- ontology relationship in Plato. This leads to a replacement of the passage inside the whole dialogue. Beginning with the definition of the sophist, Plato goes on to treat the "mimetic" art and finds himself confronting a perplexing difficulty: how to understand falsehood, either in thought or in discourse. This is an epistemological difficulty, which raises the central difficulty of how to attribute non-being to being. So, the heart of the matter is the possibility of predication, as Plato states very clearly (238a). The solution arises from the doctrine of the community of species, making possible any attribution of one thing to another. In looking carefull y to the dialogue as a whole, we find that the passage 251a-e, dealing with the general problem of predication, occupies a central position, in all meanings, even numerically (between 236e and 264a). Dans le passage 251 a-e du Sophiste, Platon pose d'abord le problà ¨me de la prà ©dication, ensuite celui de la "communautà © des genres". Quel est le lien entre ces deux problà ¨mes? et quel est la place de ce passage (I) dans l'ensemble des dà ©veloppements du Sophiste? (I) "Expliquons ... comment il se peut faire que nous dà ©signions une seule et mà ªme chose par une pluralità © de noms ... Nous à ©nonà §ons "l'homme" ... en lui appliquant de multiples dà ©nominations. Nous lui attribuons couleurs, formes, ... ... borne pas à   nommer (cf. 251 bl: "nous ne disons pas seulement de l'homme qu'il est homme", mais effectue un achà ¨vement, en entrelaà §ant les verbes avec les noms). (22) Là ©on Robin (Les rapports de l'à ªtre et de la connaissance d' aprà ¨s Platon, Paris, 1957, p. 100), et Joseph Moreau (Realisme et idà ©alisme chez Platon, Paris, 1951, p. 38) à ©taient arrivà ©s, de leurs cotà ©s, à   une position analogue. (23) Si l'on considà ¨re que le và ©ritable dialogue commance à   236 e (position du problà ¨me de la faussetà ©) et se termine à   264 a (fin de la solution), ou mà ªme qu'il commence à   231 c (rà ©capitulation des dà ©finitions) et se termine à   268 d (dà ©finition du sophiste et fin rà ©el), on trouvera que le texte de notre problà ¨me occupe une position matà ©riellement centrale: il est prà ©cà ©dà © de 15 pages et suivi par 13 dans le premier cas, et vient aprà ¨s 19 et prà ©cà ¨de 17 dans le deuxià ¨me.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find Essay -- essays research papers

The foreshadowing effect in â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† To foreshadow is to give a hint or a suggestion of a forthcoming event. Flannery O’Connor uses the foreshadowing effect adequately in â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find.† There were many hints and suggestions that something unpleasant was going to happen in this story. The moment the grandmother first speaks of the misfit, we can assume he will show up later in the story because he is headed in the same direction as the family. Close to the ending, when the gunshots are heard from the woods, we can assume that the situation cannot get much worse. The first hint of trouble comes early in the story before the first paragraph ends. The grandmother tries to show Bailey a newspaper article about The Misfit, who has escaped the penitentiary and is headed toward Florida. The grandmother tries to discourage Bailey from taking the family to Florida again by telling him he ought to take the children somewhere else for a change, but he disregards his mother and they go on the trip anyway. The probability that an escaped convict is headed in the same direction as Bailey and his family suggests havoc is coming their way. O’Connor describes how the grandmother is dressed and says, â€Å"In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady†(221). In my opinion, this phrase suggests that the grandmother could be involved in an accident further into the story. Also, the grandmother cautions Bailey ab...

Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Enhancement of Human Beings by

The evolution of technology has been hand in hand with the human subjugation of earth, but the question persists, when does the use of technology go too far? Advances in medical science have increased the average human lifespan and improved the quality of life for individuals. Medical science and biology are steadily arriving at new ways to alter humans by the use of advanced genetic alteration. This technology gives rise to the question of how this new technology ought to be used, if at all. The idea of human enhancement is a very general topic, since humans are constantly â€Å"enhancing† themselves through the use of tools. In referring to human enhancement, I am referring specifically to the use of genetic intervention prior to birth. Julian Savulescu, in his, â€Å"Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Enhancement of Human Beings,† argues that it is not only permissible to intervene genetically, but is a morally obligatory. In this paper, I will argue t hat it is not morally obligatory to intervene genetically even if such intervention may be permissible under certain criteria. I will show, in contrast to Savulescu’s view, that the moral obligation to intervene is not the same as the moral obligation to prevent and treat disease. In short, I will show that the ability of humans to intervene genetically is not sufficient to establish a moral obligation. The first argument given for the obligation of genetic enhancement is the postulate of the â€Å"Neglectful Parents†. Savulescu considers the case of two types of parents, the neglectful parents and the lazy parents. The neglectful parents have a child that has a condition wherein a simple, cheap dietary supplement must be given so that the child maintains an advanced intellect. ... ...ealth Organization. World Health Organization, 3 September 2007. Web. 4 Apr 2011. . Nordqvist , Christian. "What Is Health? What Does Good Health Mean?." Medical News Today 21 May 2009: n. pag. Web. 1 Apr 2011. . Parens, Erik. "Special Supplement: Is Better Always Good? The Enhancement Project." Hastings Center Report 28.1 (1998): s1-s17. Web. 1 Apr 2011. . Parker, Michael. "The Best Possible Child." Journal of Medical Ethics 33.5 (2007): 279-283. Web. 1 Apr 2011. . Savulescu, Julian. â€Å"Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Human Beings.† Readings in the Philosophy of Technology. Ed. David Kaplan. 2nd ed. Lanham: Roman & Littlefield, 2009. 417-430.

Effects on Eating Fast or Processed Foods

Today, many people eat fast and processed foods instead of a home cooked meal. Most people think that fast food is fast, cheap and convenient. However, at the same time, fast food is contributing to a big social problem in the United States. In the US alone eight out of ten adults over the age of 25 is overweight due to fast and or processed foods, and not eating the right types of food. It’s important to obtain a healthy diet or the effects can be horrific of many chronic health risks such as: obesity, heart disease, Insulin Resistance, diabetes, and or even death. The number of fast food restaurants has doubled in more than 30 years in the United States. From Numberof. net, â€Å"There are 160,000 fast-food restaurants in America. These restaurants serve more than 50 million Americans daily†. From McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, to Wendy’s, the oils alone cause immense amount of health problems. The average calorie intake for an adult is from 2000-2500 calories per day, depending on height and weight. At Burger King alone, just for one Bacon Double Cheeseburger Deluxe is 700 calories, that’s not counting a medium soda and fries. Big Breakfast Platter from McDonald’s, which contains 1370 calories and nearly 65 grams of fat. Most restaurant meals are loaded with fat, sugar, and calories. Fast food is one of the main reasons for the rapid increase in the rate of obesity. Over Two-thirds, more than 190 million Americans are overweight or obese, due to fast foods. As from theyesword. com, â€Å"through studies into the question of whether fast food causes obesity, researchers have found that families that choose fast food as a meal three or more times a week do run a higher risk of obesity†. People can go through the drive-thru window order food without having to get out of their cars. This poor diet and lack of exercise increases obesity. According to the American Medical Association, â€Å"being obese means that 30% of your ideal body weight is constituted by fat†. All the excess fats can lower your energy levels which in turn lowers the amount of exercise activity. In turn, many more people with obesity in the United States could carry $1,500 more each year on health care, about 41 percent more than an average-weight, healthy person would. Everybody knows that fast food isn’t healthy but few realize exactly how unhealthy it truly is. Children who commonly eat fast foods have the same risk of developing clogged arteries as an adult five times their age. According to WebMD, â€Å"Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the U. S†. To prevent heart disease you must keep your cholesterol low. Which is a waxy substance produced by the liver and found in certain foods, like: Whole-milk dairy products, butter, cream, ice cream, Cream cheese, ect. Most of processed food is made up of sodium, salt, which is an ingredient companies put in fast food to make meat and dairy products last longer. Too much sodium causes 35 percent of cardiac attacks in the world, show the results of the research of Canadian scientists. Canadian research scientists, which included 52 countries, showed that people who applied â€Å"westerly diet† based on meat, eggs and fast food, most cases of heart attack, while the risk was much lower in those who ate more fruits and vegetables. Insulin Resistance is a step before diabetes; is when the body is unable to us the cells of the body to respond to insulin. Meaning the body can’t break down the sugars from the carbohydrates of the food. It then can’t run the energy off the fat cells, similar to Diabetes. Many Americans can also get this from bad dieting. To prevent this someone must eat less fat and calories; less highly sweetened drinks and more high fiber foods is an important part of a healthy life. With all the high cholesterol, sodium, eating high amounts of sugars, and not exercising can cause type two diabetes. Stated from Mayoclinic, â€Å"Type 2 diabetes is when your body is resistant to the effects of insulin. Untreated, the consequences of type 2 diabetes can be life-threatening†. People would argue that eating healthy could become expensive, depending on where you live, what you eat, and how well you cook; it’s possible that dining out is more cost effective than preparing your own meals. Eating at home also requires more planning, but in the long run it’s more healthy then eating out. â€Å"In the United States, more than 50,000,000 people depend on fast food. Over 110 billion dollars are spent by Americans alone for different types of fast food†¦,† Stated SweetAdditions. Net. Talked about on HealthTree, â€Å"The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (2010) monitored the eating habits, recreation and activity levels of 3,021 young adults over 15 years. The results suggested that fast food can cause extensive health issues, and that the connection goes beyond fast food and obesity. † Also, â€Å"The study also proved that regular fast food consumption increased the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. † If the fast food chains don’t make a difference in their high processed, greasy foods; we’re going to have a big problem. Not only being in chronic health risks such as: obesity, heart disease, Insulin Resistance, diabetes, and or even death, bigger, but the world will never know till it happens. Reference http://cholesterol.emedtv.com/cholesterol/high-cholesterol-foods.html

Man’s Inhumanity to Man Essay

Through the sands of time†¦the written word has changed the course of history, inspired many to fight for their beliefs and most importantly†¦elevated mankind to a higher understanding of mans inhumanity to mankind. David Lawrence Dewey Inhumanity, it is a single word, known throughout history that has caused much destruction & trauma. The tearing apart of families, the ruins of cultures, races and countries. Some people have a vaulting ambition for power, but they misuse that authority. Man’s inhumanity to man doesn’t just happen, there are reasons, set apart from differences in appearance, culture, or even where they originate from. In World War 2, Hitler has invaded Poland and anyone who did not fit the criteria of â€Å"a perfect arian race†, specifically in Schindler’s Ark, the Jews in this case are set apart from the rest of humanity. The way that they are treated is improper. Why treat people in that brutal way. They are still human. The vicious behaviour that the Germans show towards the Jews is inhuman, even to the point of severally murdering them. They were completely stripped of everything, They were treated as scum, the dirt beneath their feet. Completely different to them as if they were from another world. The Jews didn’t have any threat to anyone. They were simple people living among society just like everyone else. Maybe they looked slightly different, or spoke a different language to the Polish people. But that doesn’t mean they should be torn apart from their homes and families. Every ounce of humanity stripped, even hair in all places on them. But thats all what Hitler wanted.

Organizations as Open Systems – China Star Chinese Restaurant

Relationship: worked as an order taker five years ago. Responsibilities included taking and packing the orders, end-of-the-day bookkeeping. Introduction China Star is a fifteen-year old, mid-size Chinese restaurant serves common Chinese dishes. It has a dinning area, and a smaller bar/administrative area that has a back door where customers come to pick up their telephone orders. The staffs include the owner/manager, an order taker, a waiter, two busboy/girl, four chefs, two part-time delivery drivers, and one cleaner. The restaurant is in an excellent location: very close to the Reston Town Center, surrounded by numerous high-tech companies and rich residents, but has been carrying its flat revenue for the past decade. It opens seven days a week, yet its most profit comes from the $5 range lunch combination during weekdays and carryout dinner orders. The dine-in dinner business had slowed down after several years of its opening, the average table that the waiter serves each night is about five. Carryout orders constitute about one half of the restaurant's total sales. Its customer base has shrunk into office workers and residents within several miles. Analysis As an open system organization, China Star's inputs are the workers, the raw food, and the facilities. Enough workers, the skill of the workers, the quality of the raw material, and the states of the facilities are all important in producing the satisfying output—fresh, delicious food and excellent service. But China Star was far from inputting enough: a) The skills of the chefs were just so-so, and it always had only one waiter. During the busy lunch hours, all the customers came at once; it was impossible for the waiter to take care of each table well and give each customer full attention. Often the customers got impatient, started to call the bus boys, and found that they hardly speak any English. Sometimes when the customers were happy they'd try to talk to the Chinese busgirl and asking her questions about China and Chinese food, but the girl wasn't able to continue the delightful conversation, and the customers were disappointed, even embarrassed. b) In order to save time and costs, restaurants mass process their wholesale ordered raw food once a while. Large restaurants have state of the art refrigerators and freezers for them to separate and preserve the food accordingly. But China Star has only one large walk-in refrigerator for almost everything and the storing wasn't done in a very pleasant manner. Inevitably the food tasted funny several times. c) The restaurant's decoration was old and it looked rather messy and stuffy. The drawings on the wall looked cheap and the Great Wall embossment was coarse. It was not a pleasant place to sit and enjoy a formal meal at all. With various stylish restaurants opening in the area, and the Chinese food rivals developing in every shopping center offering chicken-fried rice of $4.75, China Star has neither product nor price to compete with. It soon entered the Negative Entropy state of an open system. The restaurant failed to take advantage of its surrounding office buildings and residents, most of all, the excellent economy during the late 1990's. Its business fell into the typical â€Å"cheap carry-out Chinese food† image. The dine-in customers felt bored sitting in a typical Chinese restaurant, while they can hang out in a lively place with TV and live band just 3 blocks away. People came to China Star for cheap food only, and carryout orders save tips. But even carryout orders declined soon. During the peak lunch time the telephone order volume is extremely high. Customers often have to be put on hold since there is only one person responsible for taking the orders, send them to the kitchen, pack the orders, and sometimes phone the customer back— again the input is not sufficient. It's easy to make a mistake with disastrous result: one, sometimes two if the orders are switched, very angry and hungry customers that would never recommend this restaurant to others, and food that cannot be resold. Although this system was obviously moving toward its death in a highly competitive environment, the owner wasn't actively seeking solutions. The waiter and other employees were often telling him customers' comments, giving him advises–which applies the â€Å"feedback† principle in the open system theory, but he had ignored them all. (the restaurant was finally redecorated a few years ago, other changes unknown) It's actually not very hard for China Star to start a better cyclic. Restaurants are relatively less-complicate organizations. The most important principles are inputs and feedbacks. The restaurant could increase the human, material, information inputs, and adapt more the changing environments, for example, revise the menu and serve one-of-a-kind Chinese appetizers with Chinese wines and expensive, authentic green teas; hire more waiters and a few performer play soothing music with Chinese traditional instrument for the exhausted people at the end of the day; construct a website for the restaurant and make the carryout ordering web-enabled. And of course, listen to the feedbacks, both from the outside and inside of the organization. As these changes apply, the restaurant will also increase the price on its menu, without worrying about irritating its customers. As mentioned before Reston is a high-income area where people are more into â€Å"style† and willing to pay more to have a good time or feel special. Once the restaurant has established its reputation and attracts certain group of loyal customers, its sales will become stable and the organization enters the steady state until the environment changes again.

Harley Davidson Five Forces Analysis Essay

In our present competitive world in the business where customer preferences are continuously changing, prices of raw materials and cost of labour are increasing and global economy is becoming unstable, it is always been a difficult task for companies to stay and perform business. And these barriers have been a familiar scene in the global business. That is why for most companies in order to overcome such of these difficult challenges, innovativeness and the desire to be very critical and most anticipative of the changes in the industry and the whole global economy is highly necessary. Just like for Harley Davidson as the main focus of this study, even though the company currently established itself for being the highly rated motorcycle brand in the world, it is still not enough for the company to be relaxed and feel that they can be profitable and enticing to the market as years goes on. That is why in this paper it will directly focus on how do Harley Davidson’s competitors are doing at the present, what are some of the strategies that they do to compete. With this information about the competitors, how does this information be used by the company in terms of opportunities for them to use it as a strategy against them? Also, making use of this information to handle future threats as well, this is in order for them to anticipate and provide some immediate actions. In the second part of this paper, it will focus on how the company can apply Porter’s five forces tool in order to continually achieve competitive advantage over its competitors. Also at the second part of this study it will discuss on how motorcycle companies like Harley Davidson, can still earn above average return even though the company falls at the high-end market with more on the luxurious and recreation side and not as necessity for customers. Also, with that, what are the actors or contributors that will lead to that conclusion or will help attain that goal? Study of Harley Davidson’s Major Competitors As the pioneer and one of the oldest known brands in the motorcycle industry in the world, Harley Owners Group has been in the industry since 1983 and due to its growing influence worldwide, it already has over 1,000 chapters and over a million members worldwide. But, not all of its members own a bike; it is only the prestige and respect about the Harley machines that made them decide to be a member. As one of the strength of the company, it has been continually establish its brand as the number one brand in the world, with over 5 billion USD annual revenue annually. In terms of its competitors, the company’s main competitors, most specially in terms of design are the following: BMW, Victory, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha, but among these lists, Honda has become the closest and toughest competitor of Harley Davidson’s motorcycles. (Harley Davidson Motorcycle, n. d. ). With the company’s main focus on design, quality and most specially durability, it continuously has been in the forefront of the high-end and luxurious motorcycle business in the world. That is also why 80% of the total revenue of the company comes from motorcycle sales. With regards to the company’s competitor, even though the company clearly dominates the American market as its origin, which has registered in the 2006 market share, the company has eaten up half of the market or 50% while far second and third are Honda and Suzuki with 15. 1% and 12. 9% respectively. But the question now is not just the American market but instead what this paper is focusing is what the competitors are doing in the global scene. Which is actually smaller, like for Canadian market, it drops to 38. 4% still relatively high, but what is more alarming and needs to be focus on by the company is on the European market which is only 10. 2%, but still the company has a noticeably high market share globally as it generates at an average of 33%. And this is more alarming because it will also follows that the company’s net revenue growth also shows very small in other major regions in the world. With this event, it is necessary for the company that it needs to strengthen its presence in these main regional markets, because in the long run, it will be a problem that the company needs to focus on. The two main reasons why these competitors starting to entice substantial number of customers are: (1) they have greater financial resources, like Honda and Suzuki, with their global presence, they have enough financial support in every region that they operate. Meaning to say these companies knows that they know how to make use of their money in enticing potential customers and retaining current customers as well and they can even compete with price and that will soon be a serious problem with Harley Davidson, since the competition is on how to innovate with technologically funded studies that will still provide quality as well as make the product still not that so expensive. Lastly, (2) these companies, like Honda and Suzuki are obviously more diverse than Harley Davidson; they sell a lot of products with a lot of brands and choices that customers can choose, from cars, to simple scooters up to high-end luxurious brands of motorbikes and not only that with wide variety of choices to choose from. This is another serious problem by the company in the long run, since these competitors knows how they can be well-trusted by the customers and if you made such products with quality in all of it, it will be a positive sign for these companies and that will create problem for the company. With these two main reasons, Harley Davidson needs to formulate a strategy that will address these problems in order not to further add problem in the future and also not to wait until the company’s edge in the global market be removed or at least be reduced. Also, based on this study, the company must also look forward in addressing these issues while they are still room to operate due to its continuing edge in the global market. (Harley Davidson (HOG), n. d. ). In the second part of this paper, the main focus is on how the company can effectively apply Porter’s fiver forces model in attaining competitive advantage. The five forces of Porter’s method that are popularly applied by companies are: (1) Potential entrants, (2) Buyers, (3) Substitutes, (4) Suppliers, and (5) Industry competitors. In each of these five forces, there is an important factor that contributes to the success or failure of each forces and this will be discussed separately as to how the company can effectively apply it. In the entry barrier, where it mainly focus on the potential entry of new products or brands, the company must continue to be very pro-active in this part as the competitors are becoming very aggressive in this area. What Harley Davidson should do is to increase the customer awareness of their motorcycle brand in some of the regions that they are starting to have a very low market share like in the European and Asian market. Studying cost advantage and relatively access to distribution are two of the most important focus that the company should do. Also, can be added to that is to have an in-dept study on the Government policies which might be the effect of low market share, because the territories that the company operates must also need to be well represented and not just putting up a business. In the rivalry determinants, which mainly focus on both the industry competitors and new entrant forces, the company should be mainly focus as usual on how they can have advantage over its competitors by not only anticipating future challenges and innovation that their competitors may bring but also be able to establish a well defined marketing and research and development study that will help the company confident enough in dealing with the market.  particularly, the factors that it needs to focus are: industry growth, always look on the potentials in the business and be first in formulating it to the market, product differences, at this point, which is already been the strength of the company, but still needs to do more and that is innovativeness where it also been the main focus of its competitors. The company must look on how they can provide its clients new and very attractive designs, but it should also have to look on the cost side as well. And lastly, is switching costs, for any company there should also be some intelligent cost study on how the company can still be appreciated by the customers and these can either come from service and parts and of course these should be well accompanied with excellent service and availability of parts which is also a big factor during actual competition. In the side of threat, what the company should look closely on how the innovative trend and pricing strategy trend that competitors is doing. Most of the time these is what is being target to Harley Davidson, since it has been recognized as a very expensive brand and at the same time more on respecting traditional design, competitors compete through these factors. So, what the company needs is that they have to anticipate these by introducing new and innovative styles and at the same time study some possibilities of offering some not so high cost brands which may also give additional leverage for the company. Another important study and important advantage of Porter’s Five Forces is supplier power, in this side it is also important for the company not only to look for the most efficient supplier but also study closely in terms of cost. Harley Davidson must be careful in forming up agreement with suppliers. Like they can have global partnership with some suppliers, most specially if some of these suppliers are proven that they serve the company well. This reduces the cost by having different suppliers in the different regions. That is why there are two ways that the company may apply: (1) the company must carefully look into suppliers that are effectively performing for the company, if there is, Harley Davidson must look into how they can formulate a global partnership in order to lessen the cost. And lastly (2) the company must also re-visit some suppliers that are not performing well and be able to replace it or make some better arrangement on how the company as well as the partner can have a more favourable output. Lastly, in terms of buyer concern, where two of the important force involved, buyers and competitors. At this point these are the greatest challenges that the company must look at since the competitors are very aggressive in this area, most specially in the price sensitivity and not much on the bargaining leverage. Price is always a problem with the company, since it continuously in the high-end brands. What the company should do is on how they can study on introducing brands that may target other markets which will still not compromise quality and cost. In the bargaining leverage, the company must look on how they can provide some better offers for some big markets, like in terms of wholesalers. Lastly, with regards to the question how can motorcycle companies like Harley Davidson, where its business falls more on luxurious and recreation brand of products which also targets high-end markets, which the question is on how they can continue to earn above average returns. It is obvious that for company like Harley Davidson, they have to focus more on how to deal with innovations is one aspect that they need to do. By strengthening its research and development and the usual attention to customer needs and preference is the key to continually achieve above average returns. Most specially the latter where still it is considered as the most important factor in the business. The main actors or contributors that needs to work on this one in order for it to materialize are the following: (1) Company’s human resources, which means that it should continually strengthen the technical expertise of the company, and lastly, (2) is to build partnership with some of the global and most recognized industries or companies which is what is lacking with Harley Davidson. People expertise and partnership through reliable and very influential companies are very important to the success of company’s these days. That is why with the help of the management team and its top executives, they need to recognized it as the main key to continually have a better return in the business. Conclusion In this study, it shows that for any company to survive in this very competitive world of business, company’s needs to be sensitive enough in understanding the competition and on how they can overcome it. In this paper it shows that even company like Harley Davidson, who still has substantial edge in the market, it still needs to be aggressive and continue to study on how they can attain competitive advantage. Like what resulted in this study that even though the company seems to have control in the American market, competitors are however starting to focus on targeting on market outside the American region, which shows that the company starting to slow down and competitors like Honda and Suzuki are rising up. This also resulted that due to financial capabilities and diverse status of these competitors which starting to give problem to Harley Davidson. That is why the company must look on these growing advantages and be able to formulate a strategy that can offset it. In the second part of this paper, it also shows that in order for the company to be aggressive and effectively achieve competitiveness, Porter’s five forces has been presented and for each forces, there are important discussions on how the company can apply it effectively and efficiently.

Significance and Limitations of the Royal Prerogative Essay

Significance and Limitations of the Royal Prerogative - Essay Example In the 1700s, debates regarding the extent of the Royal Prerogative powers ensued.   This was further aggravated by the execution of one King and the expulsion of Charles I in 1649 and James II in 1688.   Discussions on the issue culminated with the passing of the 1689 Bill of Rights, which considered the use, and abuse of certain specific royal prerogatives as unlawful.   It was concluded that most of the prerogative powers may be exercised only upon the advice of ministers, and although the Monarch retained certain powers which can be exercised independently such as the power of appointment and removal of ministers and ministries, the royal power found it difficult to freely exercise its prerogatives, especially if it is in contravention of the advice of the Parliament. The following are some of the powers vested under the Royal Prerogative:   (1) Calling for and dissolving of the parliament, calling of elections; (2) Giving of royal assent to legislation; (3) Preparing plans to confer benefits to citizens; (4) Granting of clemency, pardoning of convicts, or reducing penalties thereof; (5) Entering into treaties, declaring war and making peace, controlling the issuance of passports and preventing foreigners from entering the country; (6) Controlling, organizing and disposing of the armed forces; (7) Appointing of judicial officers, ministers, and other public officers; (8) Procuring of ships; (9) Printing of authorized versions of the Holy Bible. The royal prerogative to establish and enter into diplomatic relations with other countries or states played a significant role in the formation of a strategic alliance that has been an important factor in international relations.   The wisdom of determining whether or not the country should befriend another country, and which country or countries it should be, is properly laid on the Crown/Monarch.   The latter is in a better position to evaluate the conduct of relations with other jurisdictions.   The long process of debates and arguments in the Parliament is considered unnecessary as it involves a purely executive function.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also, since it is the Crown/Monarch who personally engages himself in these functions, it is but proper that such power be exercised by him, to the exclusion of the Parliament.

Local Responsiveness Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Local Responsiveness Strategies - Essay Example That is not what has made a big name for the company, which started only as a local coffee bean roaster (Fabricant 1992) The stimulating culture of growth that is apparent in the organization is striking. During its early days, in the 1980’s the company had a habit of opening two stores every day (Ruth, 2007). The management of the company even tried to venture new markets such as the Midwest. Well, some of their prospects did not yield gain as expected, but the visionary strategies employed to achieve those goals directly and indirectly concern our question of the study. For instance using the global standardization strategy, the company can manage to stir local attraction from customers. This concept is usually developed through careful analysis of the status of the company in the global market versus the status that the company wished to be. Thus, it is a series of processes through value chain analysis to seek competitive advantage given the abilities of the company, Star bucks in this case. Findings would most likely show that sales and marketing was one key factor that needed to be addres sed in an effort to establish a powerful global presence for Star bucks. Another strategy that would be vital to Star bucks success in motivating local responsiveness is an effective transnational strategy. This implies that, through a firm organizational structure, a high level of co-operation and interdependence is established leading to a coordinated flow of activities especially the daily operations. It is important to note that the headquarters in Seattle is expected to serve as the vital link to the global interconnection (Fabricant 1992). The result of such a powerful strategy was a resultant domestic attraction thanks to initiatives such as advertising that appealed customers increasing sales. International strategies have also been incorporated into Star buck’s projects, with a view to

Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Discussion Questions - Essay Example s is to assist others in the provision, and management of self-care to improve human functioning at home level of effectiveness (NursingCrib.com, 2008). A nurse by following this theory can help his/her patient perform certain activities on their own so as to maintain their health, life and well being until when a patient is unable to conduct the activities on their own. As a result, a nurse comes in to take wholesome, partial or supportive-educative support for the patient. Concerning wholly compensatory nursing, a nurse provides all necessary care for the client as the patient lacks capacity to do so on their own. On the other hand, for partial, the nurse and patient share the duties of performing self care activities, while in, supportive-educative, the nurse works towards helping the patient. This is in the form of developing their own self care abilities, and is one through imparting knowledge, supporting and encouraging the

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 3

Business law - Essay Example ed are in reference to the purchase of a piece of land adjoining the highway which is being opposed by Higbert but which the other directors propose to go ahead with, in contravention of an agreement between the four Directors which specifies that a unanimous consent is required. The question of dismissal of there employees on grounds of redundancy must also be addressed. The Companies Act of 1985, with amendments made in 1993 and the latest Companies Bill to go into force in 2007, which has proposed changes in the Articles of incorporation and the enforcing of shareholder interests, the new provisions for remuneration for Directors (2002) and the Employment Rights Act of 1996 which also includes the relevant legislation dealing with dismissal of employee son grounds of redundancy. The Hippo Company has been incorporated in accordance with Articles in the Table A form. Incorporation therefore involves separation of ownership and control, it is the members who own the company and allot shares, which constitutes a delegation of the shares as spelt out under s.80 to s.96. The Companies Act sets out the provisions by which Companies are to be governed, including appointment of Directors, articles of incorporation, rights of shareholders and procedures for legal action. On this basis therefore, the four Directors of the Corporation are also the four primary shareholders in the Hippo Company, with each Director owning 25% of the share sin the Company. Hence, where the issue of marginalization of Higbert is concerned, he is placed in the position of a minority shareholder, since the others are working in tandem. The rule established in Foss v Harbottle1 provides minority protection in that an individual or group of minority shareholders can sue where a wrong arises that is ratifiable. However the terms where this minority protection will hold valid were spelt out in Edwards v Halliwell2 and a fraud should have been perpetrated on the minority3, if such protection is

If you could make one scientific discovery in your lifetime, what Essay

If you could make one scientific discovery in your lifetime, what would it be and why - Essay Example Let me explain why: I might offer a rather unsupported claim stating that many individuals devote a significant portion of their early adult life to medicine and health care for the monetary benefits that this industry can potentially provide. This assertion might sound a tad bit presumptuous, however it does not diminish the capabilities and ultimate competencies of these ambitious individuals. However, there are those people, such as myself, who view the efforts of contemporary medical communities to be an attempt at sustaining the health and well-being of generations to come. I think this might be an argument which can be supported by the successes of other pioneering professionals in the medical field, such as the reduction of various, ancient plagues and diseases which once wreaked havoc on society, but are no longer threatening to contemporary communities. Though these researchers primarily contributed to disease warfare appropriate for their individual time in history, their long-term legacies t o social and physical health improvement are most notable and remarkably sustainable. Having offered this, the elimination of the genetic factors controlling the aging process would become a significant project with everlasting, positive consequences for the way that we, as humans, would live our lives. I believe that with this discovery, the future global community would no longer experience diminished human morale and would virtually eliminate problems with suicide. Why, you ask? With the prospect of eternal life would come greater opportunities for cognitive growth and emotional maturity, helping individuals to mold their ambitions toward self-discovery and methods by which to make contributions to society. Where todays society is plagued by the realization that the accomplishment of lifelong goals is limited by progressive aging, tomorrows culture would likely learn crucial elements such

Socio-Technical Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Socio-Technical Systems - Essay Example Throughout the various stages involved in this case study, its success was highly shaped by the organization’s social system. Before the E-File system was adopted by the company, its workers were frustrated with the level of service they received. The workers termed this as â€Å"deteriorating service† as their issues were not addressed in time. Those that were injured at work had to wait for a long period of time for their claims to be processed, a process that was greatly tiring and time consuming. This meant that the level of relationship between the workers and the organization’s administration was strained. However, the adoption of the new technological system was a breath of fresh air to all. The E-File system was swift and convenient. The workers claims could now be processed in a timely manner. This helped in saving time for both the workers and the management, a time that could now be used in carrying out other organizational activities (Golden-Biddle, 2 ). According to Golden-Biddle (2), human beings organize themselves into the different kinds of social groupings they interact with in everyday situations. In this case, the workplace can be considered as a social grouping in which the company workers associate with everyday. When carrying out the transition from the paper based work processes into the more technical E-File system, the company’s social system played a vital role in shaping its final outcome (Parker, 6). As such, the company’s staff was in a position to consult amongst one another on how the new system worked. Though much of the staff was already highly skilled on the new tasks at hand, those that did not understand the technical aspect of the new system were in a position to learn from those that already had more knowledge and expertise in the system. This ensured that no worker was left behind in the evolution from the paper based process into the new paperless system. At the same time, the workers we re in a position to learn how the system worked from a much better perspective when taught by their co-workers than from the technical experts. The insurance management understood that it would highly depend on the ability and willingness of its employees to develop new work practices and skills in order for this new project to take effect. This meant that the organization had to find ways through which any interference or hindrance to these changes could be eliminated (Stebbins & Shani, 17). As such, the company devised new ways through which they could appeal to the employees socially and dampen whatever fears they had in regards to the project. In order to achieve this, the company recognized the need for reassure its workers that they would not be affected by the technological changes. To this effect, the insurance company negotiated a provision within the collective employment agreement and a wage protection for its entire staff that would be affected by the technological chang e within the organization (Parker, 5). In this case, the technical system interacted perfectly with the social system in shaping the outcome of this new project. After the implementation of these new provisions, more workers embraced the new system. This is because they felt that their social surroundings were safe and were not on the verge of collapsing (Stebbins & Shani, 28). This new agreement demonstrated that the employees would be given the support and time that they would require to learn how the new syste

Sonia Sanchez Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sonia Sanchez - Essay Example She started with Homecoming in 1969 and with the passage of time, created a wonderful collection of child books, dramas and essays. In her sixties, Sanchez, together with her colleagues, actively participated in the black studies movement after black studies were banned in the San Francisco State College. She served as the head of the Afro-American Studies Program in the Amherst College. Sanchez did not ever try to be just an essayist or a dramatist or a poet. She has served as an excellent teacher in addition to these. She made several trips to China, Cuba and Scandinavia. Sanchez is known for a dazzling performative manner. Instead of reading her works like a slow-paced British professor, Sanchez would inculcate the African and African American cadence into the performance. In 1984, her volume, homegirls & handgrenades emerged (Gates, 2004). One year later, Sanchez’s literary skills were appreciated with the American Book Award. She has written 16 books in her lifetime (soni asanchez.net, n.d.). The topics of Sanchez’s poems originated in the societal worries and her articulate manner made them a fundamental source of instigation and tenderization of the Black Arts movement. References: AALBC.com (2011). When one reads Sonia Sanchez, one knows the state of black America. Retrieved from http://aalbc.com/authors/sonia.htm. Gates, H. (2004).

The role of the IMF in helping poor and debt-troubled countries Essay

The role of the IMF in helping poor and debt-troubled countries - Essay Example ionality, the reasons why the IMF indulges itself into helping poor and debt troubled countries, the ethical issues involves, and the effects of IMF loans on a country’s economy. The IMF seeks to help poor and debt troubled countries so to stabilize the countries’ recovery from balance of payment deficits, and to stabilize exchange rates. The IMF also performs evaluation and compilation of its member countries’ economies, and in the case of financial crisis, the IMF intervenes by providing loans on conditions for restructuring economies to avoid future crisis. The IMF lends itself to developing countries so to ensure the â€Å"revolving character† of the Fund whereby, the funds given to a certain country can be made available to another country in need. The policies’ structure and corrective measures are designed in such a manner that ensures the funds will be repaid, and availed to other members of the Fund in future. According to the IMF, conditionality refers to the policies that a member country should follow in order to gain access to the Fund. That is the conditions that the members are supposed to abide by, so to access the financial resources of the International Monetary Fund. Some of the conditions that the IMF implements is that a country must change its financial policies to get support; the bigger the country, the bigger the financial need, therefore, the more stringent the policy formulations. In a loan approved for Niger in 2005, the fund asked for an â€Å"extension in VAT on processed foods including; sugar, milk, wheat, flour†, a reduction in tax exemption on necessities such as water and electricity, and an increase in excise tax on sodas and other soft drinks. The IMF closely monitors how these funds are used in a bid to ensure that the funds are used as agreed, and not for any other purpose. 1. The member country is the national owner of its political and other resources; therefore should partake in the formulation of policies for the

Youth Sports and Character Development Essay Example for Free

Youth Sports and Character Development Essay Character development is not something that can be gained or developed over night. Character development is the multiple life skills that an individual builds within themself throughout their lifespan. When a person develops good character in their early years of life, they will benefit in the long run because they used the life skills they gained and put them to use, becoming a successful individual in all aspects of life. There is one thing for certain in this world, everyone wants to accomplish something in life and we want to recognize our full potential. In order to do this we must have some skills, and in this case it’s life skills. Life skills are a range of characteristics we express such as communication, commitment, hard work, setting goals, etc. If an individual wants to excel at a job, a sport or any discipline, that person must learn and master particular skills. Retaining life skills that you have developed allows an individual to deal with life’s difficulties and struggles more effectively. People do not realize this, but when a person develops essential life skills and are able to acquire them for their own uses when they want, that individual has more control over their life and are therefore are happier and more productive in life. Participation in sports at a young age helps provide good character development within an individual. Sports are one of the most influential ways for a person to develop good character development because sports involve all aspects of character development. As a sports participant you will gain life skills, perseverance, and ethical decision-making skills. Perseverance is a characteristic that is important for any individual to gain and being active in a sport will help you develop the feeling of perseverance and understand its importance. Perseverance a personal character development where an individual learns the importance of working hard until they reach their goal, and the feeling of success that individual experiences displays through perseverance is the importance of hard work; knowing that success doesn’t come easy. â€Å"Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game†. This famous quote may seem simple to figure out and its significance for an individual but don’t let the simple context of its meaning throw you off; this quote has a strong motivational meaning that relates to perseverance and is useful for any individual to be successful in life. From my perspective, this quote reinforces the idea of not giving up on personal accomplishment. Whether your goal is as simple as making a base hit or something big as wanting to open up your own business; accomplishments in life aren’t handed to us. Some goals may come easier for others, they could try two times and obtain their goal or it may take up to 20 times; the important matter is how they handle their failures. In baseball/softball a player is allowed three strikes until they are called out. As a player, being called out at the plate is a tough call to mentally accept. It’s essential for a player to develop the importance of not giving up because mentally it can change a player’s perspective on the importance of perseverance. Don’t let three strikes keep you from hitting the ball next time your up to bat; shake it off and tell yourself, â€Å"I’ll get it next time†, develop the feeling off determination. This strategy is relatable for anyone who has goals they want to accomplish. You never know when you will reach your goals in life. Things may not work out the first time you go after it but, it doesn’t mean you have completely failed, you must keep playing the game. When an individual reaches their goal and becomes successful the feeling they will experience is unexplainable and different for everyone. It’s no wonder why this quote and the development of perseverance play such an important role in an individual’s life and when a person develops this part of character development at a young age, it helps them become successful at an earlier stage in their life. Ethical decision-making skills are important in our everyday lives because we are constantly making decisions on something, whether it’s deciding on what you will do on a day-to-day basis or if it’s dealing with a situation that must be resolved. Having the ability to affectively make the best decision possible for any situation by gaining ethical decision skills and putting them to use are essential for everyone. When a person is involved with sports, they are constantly learning and practicing ethical decision-making skills because there are always decisions that must be made. Whether the situation is between two teammates or dealing with calls in game situations, there are always decisions being made. Being a participant in sports, an individual obtains personal and social values and behaviors. This is where an individual builds close relationships through the experience of being apart of a team. Within the building of close relationships in sports, a person learns how to work effectively in-group settings. Individuals gain and learn the importance of handling different situations and viewing them in a strategic way when resolving a conflict. Other features of an individual having good character are honesty, integrity and ethical behavior. These characteristics are brought about through being a participant of a sport because when an athlete recognizes they are in the wrong during game play, they develop the importance of honesty. i. e. In baseball/softball: a runner makes contact with the ball, the player runs to first base but realizes they didn’t touch the bag when the ump calls the player safe. That player is honest with the ump and says they missed the bag, then goes back to the dugout. ) This action of honesty a player displays transitions into ethical behavior because they knew they were in the wrong when the call on the play was made so they displayed ethical behavior by walking back to the dug out. It says a lot about a player if they are willing to risk the team an out/point by being honest and acting in an ethical manner. Another ethical behavior that has developed is the notion of helping others. This is effective because a player learns to respect the opponent, and if an opponent is injured in the middle of a game they put those their ethical behavior by helping the opponent off the field or helping them back up from the ground. This action becomes important in an individuals life because it is one of the things that makes a person have good character. If they learn how to help their teammates or their opponents in a sports atmosphere, as they grow older they will use this characteristic in their everyday lives. Another characteristic that falls into honesty and ethical behavior is integrity. In sports it’s always about teamwork and playing by the rules, and by practicing these ethical behaviors an individual develops the meaning of integrity and the importance it plays in our day-to-day lives. Over time an athlete has the experience of always having to follow the rules, and this will continue into the future when dealing with society. Developing integrity is not only limited to following rules but also is related to an individual’s academic success. As a student athlete, in order for a player to participate in a sport, they are obligated to sign an academic integrity policy. This form requires an athlete must obtain, and keep, a certain grade point average that is set by the school or coach. This type of discipline is important because it demonstrates hard work, determination and maintaining to the responsibilities you agreed to. Academic integrity is a great tool for a person to obtain because it follows in with following the rules and if an individual wants to be successful in life they must follow the rules and maintain their obligations they agreed to. From experience, academic integrity has impacted my academic success throughout my school years. I never have had the chance to slack on a homework assignment or get away with not studying. It is a simple concept; if I wanted to participate on a team I must keep my grades up or I simply would not be able to be apart of a team. I have been asked how I am able to do it and how do I go to school, work, and play softball. My answer is simple, I just got used to it and having the responsibility of keeping my grades up is helpful and has been a great discipline strategy for me. A sports participant also is able to develop the concept of balancing different commitments such as school, work, and a sport. This is important because as we grow older we become busy with work and our family life. We must learn how to balance between our activities so we become responsible, successful individuals in all aspects of life. Integrity doesn’t stop there. It follows an individual for the rest of their lives. The impact of participation in sports and the influence it has on academics transitions into career outcomes. If a young athlete grows up practicing academic integrity, they use their motivation and are able to visualize how important success is and are more likely to further their education beyond a high school degree. When I interviewed my coach from West Virginia, he said, â€Å"academic success is important to me and as a coach. I want my girls to be successful college athletes on and off the field. My hopes are that when each one leaves and moves on with their life that they use all the life skills they developed here to be successful wherever they go. Softball is important for me but what’s more important is that my girls are staying on top of their schoolwork and getting good grades. Even though my girls are here on scholarship, they are also here for a college degree and I think it’s important the girls and myself don’t loose sight of what’s more important. I stick to my academic policy; each girl must have a grade point average of 3. 0 or higher. If anyone is struggling I make sure they regularly meet with a tutor even if it means they miss practice or a game. If they fall under my expectations I must follow up with my word and as hard as it is I have to suspend the player until they improve their grades†. My coaches aspect on academics is what has helped me develop good academic skills and will be useful for me as I move towards graduating from college and start working in a field of my degree. I found it informative when my coach was knowledgeable on character values and how they are broken up into two parts. As participantion in sports an individual develops two types of character values: social and moral. When an athlete gains social values, they are developing loyalty, dedication, sacrifice, teamwork and good citizenship, while moral values include the development of honesty, fairness, fair play, justice and responsibility. I wanted to research the two types of character values and understand them in a more in-depth understanding. There was an online article my coach referred me to that said, â€Å"Social values, which are highly esteemed in our society, are about the real world and how society views the importance of social character. Moral values are first principles, meaning that they stand by themselves; if we violate any one of these, we violate people directly. Social values are positive assets but must be tempered by moral values. A person who has strong social character may have little or no moral character. An individual can be highly dedicated and loyal to an immoral cause. Because sport may foster social values, character development through sport should help athletes learn to weigh a social value against a moral value and then act on that moral value† (Beller, December). All of these characteristics play an important aspect in a player’s character development, which become successful tools throughout life. Referring back to the development of perseverance, participating in a sport teaches you to reach for something higher that you have never imagined; helping you set life goals. This character development alone gives an individual the opportunity to be successful in life. When a person reaches their lifetime goal, they then use the other tools they developed in order to keep their lifetime goal successful. (i. e. n individual applies for a job and is hired. This person uses their social and moral development skills along with other good character skills they developed to be a successful worker who makes a difference for the company. Having a well-rounded development of good character is what makes an individual stand out from others, especially in a work setting. ) As an athlete you learn the importance of â€Å"The six W’s: Work Will Win When Wishing Wont†. It takes hard work when achieving anything in life, nothing comes easy and it especially does not come by wishing for it. As a participant in sports I learned the meaning of the six W’s through my experience of coaching and playing sports my entire life. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the involvement in athletics and the impact it has played throughout my life All of the different character development aspects I just discussed have contributed to the development of my individual character, academic success and achieving my personal goal. As a young girl, since the day I could walk, I have been committed in the involvement of sports. Dance and pee wee baseball were the first two activities I became involved with. Throughout my middle and high school years I participated in dance, softball, volleyball, basketball, soccer, track and cheerleading. As I progressed into my junior and senior year of high school, I decided it was time to start focusing more on my lifetime dream. I was in third grade when I went from playing peewee baseball to playing slow pitch softball, later advancing into fast pitch softball. This when I decided I wanted to be the pitcher on any softball team I will play for. My goal didn’t stop there though; I wanted to take my dream farther, my goal was that one-day I would get paid to play softball. Third grade was when I decided that one day I was going to be the pitcher for a division one or division two college or university. For 15 years I dedicated myself to pitching, and what people do not realize is the fact that most pitchers, such as me, spend an hour at least four to five times a week outside of team practice working on our pitching skills. All year I practiced pitching whether it was my dad catching me or the brick wall, outside in the blazing sun or the pouring rain, inside a gym or on concrete, there was always a way to do drills and pitch; no excuses! It was my freshman year when I got moved up to the varsity softball team, and it was my junior and senior year when I outstandingly succeeded. I’ll never forget beating Fort Hill High School, ending their undefeated record, all the no-hitters and one-hitters I threw, and all the recognition I got for throwing such excellent games. I was able to recognize the importance of teamwork, knowing I would not have been able to throw such excellent games if it were not for their excellent defense. Just like the saying, â€Å"There’s No I In Team†. Throughout those years I developed all the essential life skills, knowing I wouldn’t have been able to develop these skills if it was not for my involvement in sports. My character development through sports did not stop with my senior year of high school. It was my senior year of high school when colleges were scouting me and I realized how much my hard work had paid off. A few division three universities in Pennsylvania wanted me to sign with them and be apart of their team. Although that amazing opportunity was there, I wasn’t satisfied because my dream was to get paid and I was determined to reach that goal. I ended up visiting a few division two colleges where the coach’s final decision was not to recruit me. It became mentally difficult for me to accept without becoming discouraged and not wanting to give up on softball altogether. My pitching coach Staci and Wes who is the head coach of Frostburg State University, was one of the biggest impacts on my mental development when it came to perseverance. They taught me the importance of hard work and the role of a pitcher on a team, which was a big part of my character development. It allowed me to not to let the denial of a few colleges stop me, so I decided to advance my goal a little farther and took into consideration the thought of playing out of state. It was May of 2008 when I signed my letter of intent to play division two softball for Potomac State College of West Virginia University. A DII softball team chose to recruit me and pay me to play softball for them. Even though it was an unexplainable feeling, I want to focus on the development aspect of the experience itself. Within my two year contract with Potomac State we were the East and West Pennsylvania state champs both years, undefeated in our conference one year, had high winning records both years, and placed in the tournament we played in down south. These were all great achievements each player will remember for the rest of our lives, but it is the character development we learned that makes each and every one of us successful now and in our future. After those two years I decided to move down to a division three college or university where I could focus more on my degree. After contemplating between a few, in fall 2010 I took the opportunity to play for Coach Caldwell at Penn State Altoona, where I would finish my last two years of softball. Unfortunately last spring in 2011, I was pitching a game when I got line drive straight back to my pitching hand, right on the bone. Luckily nothing was fractured but the doctors said there is a chance of permanent tightness or tendonitis that could develop. Of course with my developed life skills of perseverance, hard work and determination, I was not going to let the injury keep me from playing softball. It was this past fall, 2011, when I started into my fourth year of college softball. I was determined to be able to pitch the same way I did back in high school; I felt fresh and ready to go. A few weeks went by before the end of the season when my mind was telling me one thing and by body another. It was a combination of overusing my arm, the wrist injury and school, which helped me realize that maybe it was time to end my softball career. It was a tough decision but I think it was time to face the facts; if I keep pushing myself then eventually I will tear myself apart to the point I can not even coach. I do not plan on advancing to the pros and plus I had to view the biggest picture of it all; my goal was to get paid to play softball and I accomplished that part of my life. I figured it was okay to move on, advancing my life experience by putting my develop life skills and character development to use so I can live a successful and rewarding life. The coming spring of 2013 will be the first time in 15 years that I won’t be participating in softball. I’m not sure what to expect, but I know it is going to be difficult for me but I think as long as I stay focused on the importance of my future and the positive impact sports has had on my life, I will be satisfied with my decision. It was not just the feeling of accomplishment that has helped me develop a positive character development, but all the experiences within each year that helped me gain a well-rounded development of good character and essential life skills. All the developments I gained has made me successful in my work and school settings. My transition from involvement in sports at a young age to the college level gave me the skills and character development that lead to coaching young girls. Coaching is something I never imagined doing but when the opportunity came my way in 2009 I was speechless. For me, coaching is a personal reward because I am able to give back to what has been a positive part of my life. It is not something anyone can do, a coach must have the essential skills mentally and physically in order to be an effective coach. When I got recognized I was specifically asked if I would be interested in giving personal pitching lessons for 20 dollars and hour. Today, I am still coaching young girls back home in the area and one day I plan to be apart of a high school or middle school softball team as their pitching coach. It is obvious to see the influence sports have on an individual’s character development. If a child starts participating at a young age and stays committed throughout high school, they are more likely to become successful in their future. Altogether with the experience of my participation and having the opportunity to coach, I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it was not for the essential life skills, ethical decision-making skills and character development I gained through being a sports participant. I will use my essential tools when dealing with a future situation that may deal with friends, family, a work setting or just my day-today activities. My communication, leadership and team building skills will allow me to work with others in any atmosphere. The determination and hard work ethics will help me become successful one day when use my college degree to apply for a job. I will be able to successfully balance my life activities on a daily basis staying committed. My honesty and integrity development has made me an individual who is reliable and trustworthy. I have gained all aspects of character development, and I owe it all to the involvement of sports and the coaches who influenced these essential life skills that produced my good character development. In conclusion, through my involvement in sports, my different observations through coaching, an interview with my coach and the surveys, youth sports have a positive impact on the development of good character. Sport programs have the influence to promote the development of sports-man-like behaviors, ethical decision-making skills, and an overall curriculum for moral character development. The experience of being apart of a team also provides an individual with a social environment to acquire personal and social values and behaviors contributing to good character and good citizenship that is used throughout an individual’s life.