Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints and Feast of Achelous Essay

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints and Feast of Achelous - Essay Example The paper "Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints and Feast of Achelous" seeks to critique Raphael’s â€Å"Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints† and Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Bruenghel the Elder "Feast of Achelous". Whereas many forms of religious art during such a time were lavishly decorative while at the same time exhibiting a corresponding high level of artistic complexity, this particular piece of Raphael exhibits historical nuances that he untrained eye would not necessarily be able to pick up upon. For instance, whereas almost all of the religious iconography and paintings of the time and long before had pictured Christ as a naked baby, this particular piece was one of the first artistic expressions of Christ in a clothed state while still a baby. Many historians have attributed this to the fact that the nuns of the convent which commissioned Raphael to create the artwork had played a strong role in seeking to censor his style and demanded that a modest repre sentation of the male form be rendered. Moreover, the painting itself allows for some foreshadowing of the ways that Raphael’s career would develop. One need only consider the use and choice of colors that Raphael engages with, representation of the clean lines, and the minimalism and life figure portrayal of both the Madonna as well as Christ to seek to draw a level of inference onto the means by which his career would progress and mirror many of these artistic ideals. Likewise, the second painting that this brief analysis.

Comparative Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparative Analysis - Essay Example Critical thinking is considered as an important concept in nursing. The role of critical thinking is defined by different authors in different styles. The perspective of critical thinking in nursing plays different roles ranging from diagnoses to analysis of patients’ conditions. This paper aims to analyze two articles relating to this topic. The first article is titled as â€Å"Critical thinking and accuracy of nurses diagnoses†. The second article is â€Å"The theory of critical thinking of nursing†. Although both articles carry useful information it is not justifiable to ignore the distinct perspectives and methodologies used by the authors. The article â€Å"Critical thinking and accuracy of nurses diagnoses† is much lengthy and carries more in-depth analysis, whereas, the article â€Å"The theory of critical thinking of nursing† is not that wordy but contains facts and clearly prove the claims by giving evidences. The article â€Å"Critical thinking and accuracy of nurses diagnoses† is designed in a way to incorporate both empirical and theoretical literature available. The information flows in a way that explains all necessary concepts related to the issue. The article first describes the relationship between critical thinking and diagnostic accuracy. It is evident that nurses are aimed to achieve diagnostic accuracy. Flawed diagnoses may end up creating complex and unavoidable circumstances both for the patients and nursing staff. In order to clarify the problems that may arise as a result of wrong interpretation, the article include a few case studies where wrong interpretation of signs and symptoms created troublesome situations. There are some overlapping symptoms which require a higher level of critical thinking for more accurate diagnoses. This article involves a table to provide examples of those overlapping symptoms. The study further illuminates the concepts of cognitive fluency, flexibility and elaboration. The

UK Precious and Non-ferrous Metals Market Size

UK Precious and Non-ferrous Metals Market Size BASIC PRECIOUS AND NON-FERROUS METALS IN UK – ANALYSIS Headlines Basic precious and non-ferrous metals market size in the UK contracted by 7% in 2013 due to decrease in aluminium, gold, silver, platinum and copper prices 51% increase in industry’s turnover was driven by the growing demand from automotive industry accounting for 14% of B2B purchases and aircraft and spacecraft industry accounting for 8% In 2013 a new Scrap Metal Dealers Act has been introduced implementing more effective licensing for scrap dealers and extending the ban for buying scrap for cash in order to decrease the level of metal theft Basic precious and non-ferrous metals production in the UK is expected to grow by marginal less than 1% over 2013-2019 due to growing volumes of precious metals and increasing prices of platinum and palladium Market Trends The basic precious and non-ferrous metals market in UK contracted by 7.3% in 2013 to  £12.9 billion. The market shrunk due to the declining global prices of basic metals including aluminium, copper and precious metals. Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers accounted for 14% of purchases in industry in 2013. The latter share experienced a 17% growth over 2013. In 2013 UK car production increased by 5% whereas sales grew by 10% respectively.[1] Higher vehicle production and increasing use of aluminium determined that aluminium accounted for the largest share – 32% of the UK market in 2013 totalling in  £4.1 billion. Its share increased by 22% over the year. Automotive industry gained from lower aluminium prices as it decreased by 8.7% to a US$1,847 per metric ton in the end of 2013[2]. Decline was experienced due to the surplus of global production as demand for aluminium in China and Eurozone has slowed down.[3] Market structure of metal ores has been changing permanently as demand of aluminium in UK automotive industry continued to increase. Automotive companies have been looking into ways to reduce CO2 emissions in order to comply with new EU standards. Aluminium is a solution to reduce vehicle weight and improve emissions. As a consequence in 2013 Land Rover announced construction of new plant for production of aluminium chassis that will cost GBP1.5 billion signalling new era for automotive industry raw material suppliers. Growing automotive industry in UK has positively affected the demand for platinum and palladiums as these precious metals are used in production of auto catalysts. The global price of the platinum declined by 10% due to the surplus in the market.[4] Palladium global price increased by 2% as palladium experienced a 7th year of deficit in the market.[5]Due to the improving economic performance in the UK and increasing customer trust, precious metals recorded a 36% drop in the value of its market size. Growing strength in equities decreased the demand for precious metals that has been viewed as a reliable substitute for the investment earlier.[6] Global price of gold bullion decreased by 26% to US$1,235 per troy ounce. The silver was no exception as the price fell by 36%[7] and reached US$19.6 an ounce.[8] Copper’s market size in UK dropped by 11% accounting for 15% of the total market size of the industry in 2013. Its value stood at  £1.9 billion. The fall was driven by the decline in international copper price that dropped to US$7,332 per metric ton in December 2013 recording a decline of 7.9%.[9] This was due to the slowdown in China’s economy and growing stocks of copper which reached their peak since 2003 in London’s Metal Exchange.[10] Aircraft and spacecraft industry accounted for 8% of the purchases in the industry after increase of 14%. The UK is the second largest civil aerospace sector in the world after the US exporting approximately 75% of its production.[11]Aerospace industry contributes 8% to the UK’s GDP on average. Therefore, in 2013 the Government announced a funding of  £2.1 billion towards saving over 100,000 workplaces in the aerospace sector boosting the aerospace industry and demand of metals generated by it.[12] In 2013 industry’s imports accounted for 86% of the UK’s basic precious and non-ferrous metals market. The value of imports grew by 26% and totalled to  £17.3 billion over the year. Precious metals accounted for 41% of imports and made largest share after a 51% growth over 2013. The main reason for growth was soaring 11 times higher exports of gold to Switzerland and China.[13] Production Trends Domestic production of basic and non-ferrous metals recorded a 51% growth over 2013 totalling to  £9.2 billion. Precious metals accounted for 44% of the turnover experiencing an astonishing 99% increase over the year. Aluminium also recorded a 30% growth in its turnover accounting for 18% of total industry’s turnover. Production of precious metals almost doubled and totalled to  £4 billion in 2013 due to the soaring exports of gold over 2013. In addition, the production was supported by growing automotive industry in UK and the world as platinum and palladium are used in production of auto catalysts. The growth of aluminium turnover was determined by increase in volume as prices of aluminium in global market declined by 8.7% in the end of 2013. The price decreased due to oversupply of aluminium as the demand growth in the main aluminium consumption markets, China and Eurozone, has slowed down. The increase was also driven by the growth of housing sector in the UK which in turn recorded an increase due to the government stimulus program and foreign investments. [14] UK’s metal recycling industry is the most advanced recycle segment in the country worth  £5.6 billion. Approximately 13 million tons of scrap metal is being processed annually[15]. In December, 2013 new Scrap Metal Dealers Act has been introduced replacing the one valid since 1964. According to it, more effective licensing for scrap dealers will be implemented and a ban to buy scrap for cash will be extended to decrease the level of metal thievery in the country.[16] Costs from mining of metal ore in the industry increased by 40% over 2013 reaching  £888 million. Costs grew due to surged demand of gold. Though electricity accounted for only 3% of the B2B costs in the industry, its share saw a 46% increase. As average price of electricity for industrial users grew by 4% over 2013, rise in costs was driven by higher quantity of metal refined. The average price grew by 6 cents (or 4 cents in real terms) accounting for 7.77 pence per kWh. From July to December the industrial price of electricity was the 4th highest in the EU15. [17] Labour costs accounted for a marginal 6% share of total costs in the industry after experiencing an increase of 17%. The increase was induced by the 12% increase in average annual wages in the industry as well as 5% increase in number of employees in 2013. Exports accounted for 85% of product output in 2013 and totalled to  £18.4 billion. It recorded an increase of 114%. The exports were concentrated with Switzerland being the main trade partner with 62% of total exports. The main reason for export growth was soaring 11 times higher exports of gold over 2013. [18] The main destination for gold was Switzerland where gold was exported to be re-melted and sold to consumers in Asia, namely China, India and UAE[19]. The industry of basic precious and nonferrous metals recorded a 126% increase in its profits which stood at  £537 million in 2013. The profitability stood at 6% of turnover. It was positively affected by increased gold exports. In addition, UK’s market players continued the reduction of their operational costs and improvement of competitiveness in the market through resource efficiency programmes and disinvestments in non-core businesses. Competitive Landscape The top 5 companies in the basic precious and non-ferrous metals industry accounted for 36% of total production in the UK in 2013. The leader was Johnson Matthey Plc – with 27% of production. The company was followed by other industry’s players accounting for a less significant share of production: Britannia Refined Metals Ltd (4%), VALE Europe Ltd (3%), Alcan Aluminum UK Ltd (1%), and KME Yorkshire Ltd (1%). Johnson Matthey Plc is a UK-based company that besides specialty in chemicals industry is engaged in recycling of precious metals, mainly platinum group. The company saw growth in all its divisions especially in department of emission control technologies as a new legislation to control emissions from heavy duty diesel vehicles has been introduced in Europe. Therefore, in 2013 the company expanded its production of diesel particulate filters in Royston, UK. Johnson Matthey Plc has also increased it manufacturing capacity of catalysts in Clitheroe, UK.[20] The company opened its new laboratory in Singapore as a part of strategy to expand its presence in Asia. As energy consumption increased by 6% over the financial year, by 2017 one of the company’s aims is to improve its resource efficiency. [21] Britannia Refined Metals Ltd, a subsidiary of Xstrata Plc, is a United Kingdom company engaged in lead and extensive range of lead alloys and silver production. Britannia Refined Metals Ltd facility is located 40 km east of London on the Thames estuary. Xstrata Plc completed the merger with Glencore International Plc in 2013. XstrataGlencore Plc future main projects are expected to be concentrated in segments of copper, nickel, zinc and lead thus providing the ability for volume growth in the upcoming years.[22] Vale Europe Ltd, a subsidiary of Vale SA, is a United Kingdom company engaged in the exploration and production of nickel in the United Kingdom. The company provides iron ores and pellets, copper, manganese, ferroalloys, aluminium, coal, fertilizers, cobalt, precious metals, and logistic services. In the United Kingdom Vale operates precious metals refinery in Acton, Greater London and nickel refinery in Clydach, Wales. In 2013 in order to improve its operations, the company started the partnership with geological research centre British Geological Survey.[23] In addition, as of 2013, the company announced plans to expand its operations in Brazil by adding 160,000 jobs and investing USD63.5 billion by 2016. Alcan Aluminum UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto PLC is a United Kingdom company, which is engaged in production of aluminium. Rio Tinto PLC operates smelters located in the United Kingdom in Lochaber and Lynemouth. The company was active in its global cost reductions through disinvestments therefore underlying earnings grew by US$ 392 million over 2013. However, recent proposals for warehousing rules from LME are expected to put a pressure on company’s regional earnings.[24] It has also informed about plans to invest C$14.8 million in a smelting site in Quebec, Canada in September, 2014. KME Yorkshire Ltd is engaged in manufacturing of various copper tubes like plain, plastics coated and special finish. The company has sold copper plumbing tubes manufacturing business in Liverpool, UK for  £18 million to Mueller Europe Ltd in February, 2014. After the deal, KME Yorkshire Ltd is expected to continue to handle all commercial activities of KME Group in UK.[25] Prospects Basic precious and non-ferrous metals production in the UK is anticipated to increase by less than 1% over the period of 2013-2019. The growth will be mainly driven by 1% increase in production of precious metals. Anticipated growth of platinum and palladium prices is expected to boost the industry further. Production of precious metals will decline by 14% in 2014 as mainly production of gold stabilizes after a surge. The industry will revert back to normal level after a gold bullion demand shock originated in China. The decline will be reassured by 2.5% in gold price, 19% silver and 12% decrease in platinum price. Vehicle production is expected to grow by 2.6% in 2014 due to increase in quantity. Consequently, demand of metals will increase with aluminium in the lead. Growth of aluminium demand will also be driven by tightening CO2 emission requirements and increasing demand of fuel efficient vehicles. Though, demand of fuel economy might slightly decline as fuel prices decline in second half of 2014 but regulations will still require a decline of emissions. Automotive industry will slightly boost precious metals segment as demand for platinum and palladium grows. Aircraft industry in UK is expected to decline by 2.6% in 2014 causing lower demand of aluminium. The increasing use of composites instead of aluminium in manufacture of airplanes will further deteriorate aluminium market causing a total of 10% decline in aluminium production in 2014 despite increasing demand from automotive industry [1] [2] France 272 [3] http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-05-20/news/39393012_1_aluminium-production-tonnes-10-6-kg [4] http://www.kitco.com/news/2014-05-02/Platinum-Price-To-Average-1457Oz-In-2014-Palladium-793-GFMS.html [5] http://www.lppm.com/statistics.aspx?comm=ptt=dailyy=2013 [6] http://www.cnbc.com/id/101253055#. [7] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-surges-20-silver-rebounds-after-dismal-2013-2014-01-02 [8] http://moneymorning.com/2015/01/02/silver-prices-this-year-fell-20-heres-why/?gated_signup=truegateType=2 [9] France 272 [10] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-30/copper-prices-falling-on-china-slowdown-europe-concerns-1-.html [11] http://www.theengineer.co.uk/aerospace/in-depth/reasons-to-be-cheerful-about-the-uk-aerospace-sector/1017274.article [12] http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/07/apc-20130712.html [13] https://www.bullionvault.com/gold-news/uk-gold-exports-022020142 [14] http://www.out-law.com/articles/2014/january/uk-construction-industry-optimistic-of-growth-in-2014-but-experts-warn-of-unsustainable-recovery/ [15] http://www.local.gov.uk/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=7ca891f9-228e-47b9-a561-d6953d660597groupId=10180 [16] http://onlinenewsroom.co.uk/bmra/uncategorized/metals-recycling-industry-welcomes-%E2%80%98new-era%E2%80%99/ [17] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296011/QEP_March_2014.pdf p.9,29, 34 [18] https://www.bullionvault.com/gold-news/uk-gold-exports-022020142 [19] http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/19/uk-gold-uk-exports-macquarie-idUKBRE97I0PQ20130819 [20] http://www.advfn.com/news_Johnson-Matthey-PLC-Half-Yearly-Report_60113845.html [21] http://www.matthey.com/documents/pdfs/2013_14/annual-report/jm-ar-2014.pdf p.3,4,12,13 [22] http://www.glencore.com/assets/investors/doc/reports_and_results/2013/GLEN-2013-Annual-Report.pdf p.198,46 [23] http://www.vale.com/en/aboutvale/across-world/pages/default.aspx [24] http://www.riotinto.com/annualreport2013/performance/aluminium.html [25] http://www.kme.com/en/pressrelease/detail/1030

Semantics Essay -- Communication, Language

Language is the primary source of communication for humans and is used to convey thoughts, feelings, intentions, and desires to others (Bonvillain 2008:1). Many rules are taken into account when forming a language. According to Bolton, language is arbitrary and is unrepresentative of the objects they represent (Bolton 1996: 63). The study of Semantics allows us to identify the meaning of words and phrases in their literal sense, and helps us to make meaning out of arbitrary sounds and phrases. It has been contributed to by both linguists and philosophers. Linguists used lexical decomposition to understand the features that comprise words and the categories in which the words fit. Philosophers dealt more with the meanings of sentences and truth condition and reference (Parker and Riley 2010: 28).Semantics is still not a completely understood field, and as a result it is not easy to study (Parker and Riley 2010:26-27).Semantics is split into three different sections: sense, reference, and truth conditions. Thanks to semantics, we gain an understanding of what words mean when they are said to us. Without semantics, we would not be able to understand each other. Semantics take into account cultural, situational and environmental constructs to develop meaning in different areas of the United States and throughout the world (Bonvillain 2008: 27). With that being said, there are several things that semantics brings to the English language that allows us to communicate on a deeper level and makes our language more complex. Sense is the study of the literal and intentional meaning of words and phrases. Part of this section is lexical ambiguity. This occurs when one word has more than one meaning. Parker and Riley use the example of the wo... ...nd not in the other (Parker and Riley 2010: 40). Presuppositions are phrases that have to be considered true in order to evaluate the validity of another phrase. For example if I said â€Å"Judy Genshaft is the president of USF† and â€Å"Judy Genshaft is a good president,† you would have to accept the idea that she is the president in order to understand whether she was a good or bad president. In conclusion, semantics is what we use to make sense of our language. It takes into account the cultural references, environmental sayings, and situation events. Maybe the reason that semantics is so hard to understand is because it tries to make sense of something that has no meaning and things that change from place to place. Without it, our language would be much more primitive than it is now, but because of it we can make sense of things, make references, and understand truth.

Chinese Attitudes Toward Nature, Time, Good and Evil Essay

As for the attitude of Chinese people toward nature, it is undisputed that it is marked by a strong feeling of harmony, for example, oneness of nature and man. According to Dong Zhongshu, who was the most important philosopher of the Western Han, Heaven had its will and purpose. It was Heaven that made the sun, the moon, and the stars move, the four seasons change, and all animals and plants grow and die. Heaven was kindhearted, so it made things produce one another; Heaven was also severe, so it made things overcome one another. Moreover, Heaven created a ruler to rule over the people. This meant that Heaven wanted the people to be ruled. When a ruler did something wrong, Heaven would be angry and would give the ruler warnings by causing strange natural phenomena to happen, such as eclipses, earthquakes, floods and droughts. This theory——the interaction between Heaven and man——had a clear purpose. On the one hand, it was intended to show that the ruler’s position and power were given to him by Heaven, and should not be questioned; on the other hand, the ruler should be virtuous and benevolent, and govern well, so as not to incur Heaven’s anger. Dong had a well-known saying: â€Å"The Way is great because it originates in Heaven. Heaven does not change; nor does the Way. † I would like to explain the idea clearly by an example. That is Feng Shui. Feng Shui (also known as â€Å"geomancy†) is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to use the laws of both Heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive qi. Maybe many people think it is superstition, but I consider it can reflect the pursuit of harmonious life of Chinese people. There are four purposes in Feng Shui, seeking the harmony of human body; the harmony between people and people; the harmony between people and society; the harmony between people and nature. Let me give a small example about placing a bed. The bed shall be slightly higher than the knee and not near the door. And it shall face to the south and back to the north in order to adjust duxhlt, the aorta and large veins direction of the blood circulatory system, so that people can fall a sleep easily, and have a high quality sleep. The bed can’t facet the west, because the rotation of the earth is from east to west, making the blood rush toward the head, and people can’t sleep soundly. Beam presses which mean air conditioners hang above the pillow, or the lights suspend above the bed, bring about oppression, and cause adverse effect of body and mind. Mirrors can’t face the bed, if not people may be startled easily in midnight, and can’t be peace. It really can express the attitude toward nature, uniting of heaven and humanity. As for the attitude of Chinese people toward time, three features will be mentioned about. The first is round- type time outlook. In the oriental world, farming is the major way of carrying out material and exchanging goods dominates all the economic life of the whole society. This pastoral civilization treats human and the nature as interrelated and interacted,the world as an integer organically linked. So in oriental society the round-type time outlook is that nature and human is integrate. This kind of time outlook holds the view that time is like a circle and all the things in the world return to its origina1 state after a cycle of time, for example, the alternation of day and night, the come and go of the four seasons,the turning of the twelve months, the increase of the age and the growing of plants. This kind of time view makes the Orientals handle the time at their disposal and do things at ease. For instance, when a teacher has not finished an important point in his class,he can prolong his class. At the Chinese wedding feast, few people will come at the time which is written on the invitation card. Moreover, Chinese use time very casually and intangibly. Chinese prefer to say some uncertain words 1ike â€Å"at once†, â€Å"sometimes†, â€Å"a short while†, which a1ways confuse the westerners. Chinese students who are studying English tend to misuse the tense when communicate with foreigners. In a word, Chinese don’t have clear differentiation concept of time. The second is polychromic time system. Polychromic time system means people are very casual in using time. In other words, being punctual is important, but not strict. Polychromic time system is the heritage of traditional agricultural society. People are used to do severa1 different things at the same time and do things emphasizing prime time. Chinese think that everything in the world develops with the cycling of time, so people catch the time that is ripe for acting, which means each step of our action is determined temporarily by our surroundings. So action is poorly planned by Chinese. In some occasions, people can do many things in the same time. A Chinese salesman can check out with the first customer on the one hand,and show the goods to a second one on the other hand, even greet a third One at the same time. However, westerners can hardly accomplish them and also can not accept them. The third is past time orientation. Time orientation is a relatively stable factor in cultural difference. It is connected to the historical background of the. Generally speaking, people who have too heavy tradition, look up to history and past, so their time orientation is past-oriented. Chinese belong to past-oriented. People show great respect to the past. The past experience and 1esson are important reference for today’s success and failure. Chinese show respect to ancestors and teachers. They like to say things by referencing to the old books and stories. That is why Chinese call teachers â€Å"lao shi†. â€Å"lao† means old. People attach importance to age and experience, because they are symbols of power and wisdom, so words like â€Å"lao† and â€Å"da† always mean respect in Chinese. As for the attitude of Chinese people toward good and evil, perhaps the most extreme view of goodness is found in the Buddhist tradition. Buddhism maintains that we are born pure and are closest to what is called â€Å"loving kindness† when we enter this world. Hence, people are good, and our culture is what makes us evil. The view of goodness is also found in Confucianism. Meng Zi made the original goodness of human nature the keynote to his system. To him, the virtue of humanity together with the accompanying virtues of righteousness, rites and wisdom arises from the inner springs of the human heart. These four cardinal virtues come in their seed form—the â€Å"four beginnings†, as the feeling of compassion, shame, modesty, and of the distinction between right and wrong. Such feelings are universal among mankind and they come as naturally ad taste for food, and sight for beauty. This, Meng Zi argued, can be seen in the fact that a child naturally loves his parents and that a man will instinctively experience a feeling into a well. Therefore, human nature is originally good, and will be good if it is guided by its innate feelings, just as water is inclined to flow downward. In contrast to the concept of the goodness of human nature advocated by Meng Zi, Xun Zi declared that human nature is originally evil because human desires inevitably lead to greed and strife if left untrained. Believing that goodness can only be acquired, Xun Zi stressed the value of education and environment. To him it is environment and authority that make the man, and it is obedience of the precepts of the sage-kings that produces the goodness that is in him. In the end, however, not only is the life of virtue a possibility but even sage-hood is within reach. Therefore, Xun Zi said, â€Å"Every man on the street can become like the sage-king Yu†, a perfect orthodox Confucian note. What mentioned about are viewpoints from the ancients. Nowadays Chinese attitudes toward good and evil are very wide and vague, not like Christianity which has a â€Å"ten commandments†, making the general public even those without much cultural literacy has some certain standards, ruling what can do and can not do, their attitudes toward good and evil are absolutely clear. But to Chinese, nothing must been done and nothing can not be done. The boundary between good and evil is obscure, in some condition something is good but in other condition it may be bad. To Chinese the boundary is always about degree, whether it is excessive or not. For example, talking between Chinese friends sometimes contains abusive language, but it doesn’t mean they hate each other, most of time, it is just joking. That behavior is not really evil, but if it is overdone, it will be. Chinese People’s attitude toward nature, time, good and evil have been formed gradually, and they are relatively stable in a long time, but they are not without changes. The better living conditions, the development of the economy, the improvement of the society and the increase of the interaction of people from different cu1tural backgrounds will undoubtedly have subtle effects on their views, although it is also a long process. What I talking about is some basic attitude of Chinese, it will help foreigner to understand Chinese better, but not always apply to every Chinese at every time.

Program Evaluation as a Key Tool in Health and Human Services

Program Evaluation as a Key Tool in Health and Human Services Maria Delos Angeles Mora HCA460 Research Methods in Health and Human Services Professor TyKeysha Boone April 22, 2013 Program Evaluation as a Key Tool in Health and Human Services In this competitive health care environment, consumers want and expect better health care services and hospital systems are concerned about maintaining their overall image. There is also attention to ways in which patient satisfaction measurement can be integrated into an overall measure of clinical quality. As lots of information is available to be used in a hypothetical evaluation.The American Red Cross is my selection due to that I worked with them for several years as a voluntary and telephonic representative to answer incoming calls that needed to be checked for different parts of the United States and commonwealth territories. The fundamental Principles of the Global Red Cross Network are based on humanity- the Red Cross, born of a desire t o bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavors-in its international and national capacity-to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found.Its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, and cooperation lasting peace amongst all peoples, impartiality-it makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavors to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress, neutrality- In order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the Red Cross may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or deological nature, independence-since the Red Cross is considered is independent. The national societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their govern ments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with Red Cross principles, voluntary service-is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain, unity-is there is a Red Cross society in any one country no one can be turned out as it may be open to all.It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory, and universality-as the Red Cross is a worldwide institution in which all societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other. In the continuing effort to improve human service programs, funders, policymakers, and service providers are increasingly recognizing the importance of rigorous program evaluations. They want to know what the programs accomplish, what they cost, and how they should be operated to achieve maximum cost-effectiveness.They want to know which programs work for which groups, and t hey want conclusions based on evidence, rather than testimonials and impassioned pleas. This paper lays out, for the non-technician, the basic principles of program evaluation design. It signals common pitfalls, identifies constraints that need to be considered, and presents ideas for solving potential problems. These principles are general and can be applied to a wide range of human service programs.We illustrate these principles here with examples from programs for vulnerable children and youth. Evaluation of these programs is particularly challenging because they address a wide diversity of problems and possible solutions, often include multiple agencies and clients, and change over time to meet shifting service needs. It is very important to follow the steps in selecting the Appropriate Evaluation Design. The first step in the process of selecting an evaluation design is to clarify the questions that need to be answered.The next step is to develop a logic model that lays out the expected causal linkages between the program (and program components) and the program goals. Without tracing these anticipated links it is impossible to interpret the evaluation evidence that is collected. The third step is to review the program to assess its readiness for evaluation. These three steps can be done at the same time or in overlapping stages. Clarifying the Evaluation Questions is a design of any evaluation begins by defining the audience for the evaluation findings, what they need to know, and when.The questions used are determine which of the following four major types of evaluation should be chosen such as: The Impact evaluations focus on questions of causality. Did the program have its intended effects? If so, who was helped and what activities or characteristics of the program created the impact? Did the program have any unintended consequences, positive or negative? How performance monitoring does provides information on key aspects of how a system or program is operating and the extent to which specified program objectives are being attained (e. g. numbers of youth served compared to target goals, reductions in school dropouts compared to target goals). Results are used by service providers, funders, and policymakers to assess the program's performance and accomplishments. Process evaluations answer questions about how the program operates and document the procedures and activities undertaken in service delivery. Such evaluations help identify problems faced in delivering services and strategies for overcoming these problems. They are useful to practitioners and service providers in replicating or adapting program strategies.Cost evaluations address how much the program or program components cost, preferably in relation to alternative uses of the same resources and to the benefits being produced by the program. In the current fiscal environment, programs must expect to defend their costs against alternative uses. As the comprehensive eval uation will include all these activities. Sometimes, however, the questions raised, the target audience for findings, or the available resources limit the evaluation focus to one or two of these activities.Whether to provide preliminary evaluations to staff for use in improving program operations and developing additional services is an issue that needs to be faced. Preliminary results can be effectively used to identify operational problems and develop the capacity of program staff to conduct their own ongoing evaluation and monitoring activities (Connell, J. P. , Kubisch, A. C. , Schorr, L. B. , and Weiss, C. H. (1995). But this use of evaluation findings, called formative evaluations, presents a challenge to evaluators who are faced with the much more ifficult task of estimating the impact of an evolving intervention. When the program itself is continuing to change, measuring impact requires ongoing measurement of the types and level of service provided. The danger in formative e valuations is that the line between program operations and assessment will be blurred. The extra effort and resources required for impact analysis in formative evaluations has to be measured against the potential gains to the program from ongoing improvements and the greater usefulness of the final evaluation findings.Performance monitoring involves identification and collection of specific data on program outputs, outcomes, and accomplishments. Although they may measure subjective factors such as client satisfaction, the data are numeric, consisting of frequency counts, statistical averages, ratios, or percentages. Output measures reflect internal activities: the amount of work done within the program or organization. Outcome measures (immediate and longer term) reflect progress towards program goals. Often the same measurements (e. g. number/percent of youth who stopped or reduced substance abuse) may be used for performance monitoring and impact evaluation. However, unlike impact evaluation, performance monitoring does not make any rigorous effort to determine whether these were caused by program efforts or by other external events. The way that we are looking at Design Variations is when programs are operating in a number of communities, the sites are likely to vary in mission, structure, the nature and extent of project implementation, primary clients/targets, and timeliness.They may offer somewhat different sets of services, or have identified somewhat different goals. In such situations, it is advisable to construct a â€Å"core† set of performance measures to be used by all, and to supplement these with â€Å"local† performance indicators that reflect differences. For example, some youth programs will collect detailed data on youth school performance, including grades, attendance, and disciplinary actions, while others will simply have data on promotion to the next grade or whether the youth is still enrolled or has dropped out.A multi-sc hool performance monitoring system might require data on promotion and enrollment for all schools, and specify more detailed or specialized indicators on attendance or disciplinary actions for one or a subset of schools to use in their own performance monitoring. Another look is at the Considerations/Limitations when selecting performance indicators, evaluators and service providers need it is important to consider: The relevance of potential measures to the mission/objective of the local program or national initiative. The comprehensiveness of the set of measures. The program's control over the factor being measured.The validity of the measure and the reliability and accuracy of the measure, feasibility of collecting the data. How much effort and money is required to generate each measure? Practical Issues. The set of performance indicators should be simple, limited to a few key indicators of priority outcomes. Too many indicators burden the data collection and analysis and make it less likely that managers will understand and use reported information. Regular measurement, ideally quarterly, is important so that the system provides the information in time to make shifts in program operations and to capture changes over time.However, pressures for timely reporting should not be allowed to sacrifice data quality. For the performance monitoring to take place in a reliable and timely way, the evaluation should include adequate support and plans for training and technical assistance for data collection. Routine quality control procedures should be established to check on data entry accuracy and missing information. At the point of analysis, procedures for verifying trends should be in place, particularly if the results are unexpected. The costs of performance monitoring are modest relative to impact evaluations, but still vary widely depending on the data used.Most performance indicator data come from records maintained by service providers. The added expense invo lves regularly collecting and analyzing these records, as well as preparing and disseminating reports to those concerned. This is typically a part-time work assignment for a supervisor within the agency. The expense will be greater if client satisfaction surveys are used to measure outcomes. An outside survey organization may be required for a large-scale survey of past clients; alternatively, a self-administered exit questionnaire can be given to clients at the end of services.In either case, the assistance of professional researchers is needed in preparing data sets, analyses, and reports. Process Analysis key element in process analysis is a systematic, focused plan for collecting data to: (1) determine whatever the program model is being implemented as specified and, if not, how operations differ from those initially planned; (2) identify unintended consequences and unanticipated outcomes; and (3) understand the program from the perspectives of staff, participants, and the commu nity.The design variation is the systemic procedure used to collect data for process evaluation often include case studies, focus groups, and ethnography. As strong pressures demonstrates program impacts dictates making evaluation activities a required and intrinsic part of program activities from the start. At the very least, evaluation activities should include performance monitoring.The collection and analysis of data on program progress and process builds the capacity for self-evaluation and contributes to good program management and efforts to obtain support for program continuation-for example, when the funding is serving as â€Å"seed† money for a program that is intended, if successful, to continue under local sponsorship. Performance monitoring can be extended to non-experimental evaluation with additional analysis of program records and/or client surveys. These evaluation activities may be conducted either by program staff with research training or by an independent evaluator.In either case, training and technical assistance to support program evaluation efforts will be needed to maintain data quality and assist in appropriate analysis and use of the findings. There are several strong arguments for evaluation designs that go further in documenting program impact. Only experimental or quasi-experimental designs provide convincing evidence that program funds are well invested, and that the program is making a real difference to the well-being of the population served. These evaluations need to be conducted by experienced researchers and supported by adequate budgets.A good strategy may be implementing small-scale programs to test alternative models of service delivery in settings that will allow a stronger impact evaluation design than is possible in a large scale, national program. Often program evaluation should proceed in stages. The first year of program operations can be devoted to process studies and performance monitoring, the information from which can serve as a basis for more extensive evaluation efforts once operations are running smoothly. Finally, planning to obtain support for the evaluation at every level-community, program staff, agency leadership and funder-should be extensive.Each of these has a stake in the results. Each should have a voice in planning. And each should perceive clear benefits from the results. Only in this way will the results be acknowledged as valid and actually used for program improvement. Reference Connell, J. P. , Kubisch, A. C. , Schorr, L. B. , and Weiss, C. H. (1995) New Approaches to Evaluating Community Initiatives: Concepts, Methods, and Contexts. Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute. Ellickson, P. L. , Bell, R. M. , and McGuigan, K. (1993) â€Å"Preventing Adolescent Drug Use: Long- Term Results of a Junior High School Program. American Journal of Public Health 83(6): 856-861. Engle, R-F and Granger, CW. J. (1987) â€Å"Cointegration and Error Correction: Representation, Es timation and Testing. † Retrieved from: Econometrica 55: 25 1-276. Evaluation Strategies for Human Service Programs. Retrieved from http://www. ojp. usdoj. gov/BJA/evaluation/guide/documents/evaluation_strategies. html#p 6. Heckman, J. J. (1979) â€Å"Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error. † Econometrica 47:153-162. IRB Forum. Retrieved from www. irbforum. rg. Joreskog, K. G. (1977) â€Å"Structural Equation Models in the Social Sciences. † In P. R. Krishnaiah (ed. ), Applications of Statistics, 265-287. Amsterdam: North-Holland; Bryk, A. S. and Raudenbush, S. W. (1992) Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Meta- Analysis Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Kalbfleish, J. D. , and Prentice, K. L. (1980) the Statistical Analysis of Failure Time Data. New York: Wiley. Kumpfer, K. L, Shur, G. H. , Ross, J. H. , Bunnell, K. K. , Librett, J. J. and Milward, A. R. 1993) Measurements in Prevention: A Manual on Selecting and Using Instruments to Evaluate P revention Programs. Retrieved from: Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, (SMA) 93-2041. Monette, Duane R. , Thomas J. Sullivan, Cornell R. DeJong. Applied Social Research: A Tool for the Human Services, 8th Edition. Wadsworth, 2014-03-11. . MREL Appendix A. Retrieved from: http://www. ecs. org/html/educationIssues/Research/primer/appendixA. asp. Program Evaluation 101: A Workshop. Retrieved from: http://aetcnec. ucsf. edu/evaluation/pacific_evaluation%5B1%5D. ppt.

buy custom Obamas Heath Care Plan essay

buy custom Obama's Heath Care Plan essay The health care plan by Obama was intended to offer the people of the United States with security under the reforms in the health care program. The plan was a design to offer stability and security to the people who already have insurance in heath care and those who did not have any form of health care in their condition with little cost or on free basis. The ultimate goal was to ensure the affordability of health care for businesses, families and the government at large (Reid, 2009). Upon its establishment, a lot of people thought that the health care plan was against the constitution of the United States. It was ideally thought that the plan contradicted the first amendment on the constitution where individuals have been given the right to choose as they please. The first amendment is desecrated since it requires all people to make a choice of health care. However, the Obama plan on health care was meant to strengthen the power of the people of the United States. The goal of the he alth care plan is to free the people of America from a system of corruption but many people are too blind to realize that. Many people view the same subject differently and my stand on this plan is very positive. There are high promises and unbounded hope in the future of health care in the United States. One of the advantages of the health care plan is the fact that it will not add a dime on the present deficit. The plan is paid for, upfront. It will create an autonomous commission of medical experts and doctors to identify fraud, abuse and waste in the system of health care. Again, the plan will actually order important and instant medical malpractice reform efforts that will assist medical professionals to prioritize their patients rather than engaging in defensive practice of medicine. All the same, big employers will be expected to cover their workers and people who can manage to buy insurance so that all people will become part of the reform plan. I am confident that the plan has a sustainable benefit that is achievable. The strategy of creating a national health insurance where people may purchase the new plan of the public would be very useful. This would require all participants to choose the public plan or opt for other qualifiers. Consequently, there will be a cost reduction as a result of the participation of all people. The cost of financing the program will be between $50 and $ 65 billion dollars which can be paid for by the other participants. The health care plan will have a very positive result on the economy. Initially, the present system of health care takes up about 18% of the countrys GDP ranking it the highest in the world. I am therefore positive to this plan because it will deal with that expense and promote a better care in health. A good number of the Americans without the health care insurance will access these services and thus enhance their welfare. This plan will help promote professionalism and transpa rency in the health care system where billions of dollars are lost to criminal acts. In conclusion, the Obamas health care plan may not have had a great impact initially but it is due to take its full course in like 5 to 10 years. It will be of great benefit to both the current and future generation. It is important for Americans to look into the future and abolish selfish stands by using everything at present. I am most confident that the Obama health care plan is a very useful option to address the current challenges in the health care system. The current system of health care is founded on making huge profits at the expense of the welfare of the people in the United States. Therefore, Obamas health care plan is a useful endeavor that moves in the right direction to turn around the fortunes of Americans. Buy custom Obama's Heath Care Plan essay

Give A Brief Definition Of Nursing Research And Evidenced-based

Give A Brief Definition Of Nursing Research And Evidenced-based Give A Brief Definition Of Nursing Research And Evidenced Nursing Research and Evidence Based Research Nursing Research and Evidence Based Research Evidence based research in nursing involves the use of already available evidence to establish the knowledge on a certain issue. It is mainly applied to link the past with the present which is crucial in addressing the issues arising in any health set up. This can include getting the data in a certain hospital and check for the prevalence of a certain disease and how it has been possible or impossible to handle it with the available resources. Nursing research involves going to the field and collecting data which is then processed before coming to a certain conclusion. For instance in addressing the prevalence of a disease like pneumonia in a locality one can go to various hospitals and homesteads getting the information from the parents and doctors and then using the information one can be come up with a conclusion that can be used to better the way a certain problem is being addressed. It also involves visiting the literature in that field to see has been done already and show the relevance of your research (Health Leaders Media, n.d). The two approaches have a similarity in that they are both aimed at improving the way the problems in the nursing set up are addressed. This could be a certain disease or the challenges the nurses are facing while executing their duties. Another similarity is that both rely on the already present information to set a strong argument or a foundation of the research (Health Leaders Media, n.d). This involves a look on the literature available and the information present in hospitals to come up with a factual argument. They also borrow a lot from each other and they are usually used as one. The major difference lies in the way each of them addresses the problem as lies in their definition. ReferenceHealth Leaders Media. (n.d). Evidence Based Practice and Nursing Research: Avoid Confusion. Available at.

How to beat writers block - Emphasis

How to beat writers block How to beat writers block Someone once said that writing is easy. You just sit at your keyboard and wait till the beads of blood form on your forehead. For anyone who has ever suffered from writers block (and thats all of us), this will be a familiar scenario. It doesnt have to be that way though: you can beat writers block. But first you need to realise what causes it. Fight the fear Usually its down to two things: fear and lack of information. You dont have to dislike a subject to fear writing about it. In fact, your document could be about something that you find fascinating and it might still cause you problems. The trouble is that we worry that as soon as we put fingers to keyboard, reality will set in. Were afraid that it wont be perfect, that people may disagree with us or that well mess it up. Well, heres the first truth: all those fears might come true. And heres the second: it doesnt matter. Yes, it doesnt matter if its not perfect. In fact, nothing is ever perfect. The key is to realise that success is not perfection. To misquote General George Patton, better to have an imperfect report today than a perfect one in six weeks time. Because if you dont write it at all, it doesnt matter how much potential your document has. And what could be more galling than avoiding writing a perfect document and losing out to someone who wrote an imperfect one? Get what you need If fear isnt the issue, then probably its that you dont know what to write. In other words, you lack information. So get it. Perhaps you dont know what your reader expects. If so, then filling out a reader-profile questionnaire should help. (You can download one here.) And if youre still not sure, why not ask your reader or someone who knows them better than you do some well-targeted questions? Be sure to think the topic through first though, to show that youre not just being lazy. Brainstorm all that you know already with a mind map or some similar tool then put question marks against all topics that need a little more research. Whatever it is you need to know, acknowledge that, then go and find out. A few words of warning though: make sure you really do need to know it, and that youre not just being a perfectionist. Remember, success is not perfection. Kick-start your writing Finally, here are a few practical tips to get you going: Plan first. Planning can be a great way to ease yourself into the writing itself. Besides, its critical to separate the thinking from the writing, otherwise your document could end up a jumbled mess that makes sense only to you. Planning first does exactly that. Pick a leading task. Sitting and stewing will only increase your stress and muddle your thinking. So pick something that you need to do before you can write such as launching your word-processing program or opening the folder that contains the information you need. Then do that first. This will begin to put you in action mode, and make the writing itself easier. Planning is a good leading task, incidentally (see above). Set a time. Pick a time to start writing, and do your leading task just beforehand. As the time to write approaches, you should start to feel energised and able to get going. Pick an introduction. There are four types of introduction, and picking one of these types gives you (and your reader) an instant in. For instance, the Historical intro type contrasts what used to happen last year/decade or whenever with whats happening now, and creates a real sense of movement in your readers mind. Give yourself a time limit. If after all this, youre still paralysed with fear, then simply set yourself a time limit. Resolve to write for five minutes and only five minutes. This usually works where all other methods fail. After all, how bad can five minutes be? What usually happens with the last technique is that you start writing more quickly as the time limit approaches which sets you up nicely for writing the rest of the document. You need to be honest for this method to work though. So do allow yourself to stop after five minutes if youre really not happy. Then set a time to do another five minutes. You almost certainly wont need many five minutes sessions before youre in full flow.

Laughter in The Heptameron (Navarre) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Laughter in The Heptameron (Navarre) - Essay Example In First Day, Story One, humor can be found in the way the wife of St. Aignan juggled her husband, the Bishop of Ses and Du Mesnil as her lovers. Navarre used the woman's servant to show the serving lady's critique on her mistress' sexual morality when she wrote; 'The good woman felt sorry for him (Du Mesnil). There he was, a good-looking, well-bred young man, so much in love, and so badly treated in return!' (Navarre 72). It could be noted that Navarre did not directly criticize the seemingly lack of sexual morality in her characters. The servant was her mouthpiece to point out the fact that Du Mesnil had no moral sexuality in pursuing her mistress. He was described as 'good-looking' and decidedly capable of finding suitable, eligible love interests. Since he chose to indulge in a married woman, he was partly responsible for the treatment he received when he had no access to his married lover. Du Mesnil had been made the comic fool by his persistent trust in the woman. He fell into her trap and was slain by St. Aignan's servants. It was funny how the wronged and weak brought destruction upon themselves. Navarre used a combination of dialogue and narrative to show showed how gullible Du Mesnil was; 'Off he went, never dreaming that she was planning to trap him, while she took his servant back to her house and gave him some supper.' (Navarre 73). It was not a surprise that the woman who lacked sexual morality was also lacking in moral scruples. The weak St. Aignan made a fool of himself when we read that he showed off his pretended valor when; 'he thrust his dagger a dozen or so times into the body of the man on whom he would never have dared lay a finger had he been alive.' (Navarre 74). St. Aignan made a comical figure with his false bravery. It was a critique on the weak huaband who could not comment nor do anything on his wife's moral sexuality while his Du Mesnil was alive. It was comical how events did not turn out the way the characters planned them. St. Aignan planned to get rid of his wife. Navarre's narration said that he made a wax doll to cast a spell of ill will on her because he felt that; 'It was she who was at the bottom of all this trouble, and he was quite certain she would never renounce her wicked ways.' (Navarre 77). He had no sexual morality because he did not want to preserve the sexual relations that bond him to his wife. The same could be said about the woman. She wanted to rid herself of the restriction that imposed sexual morality on her so she devised her own measures to save her skin while condemning her husband. Although she did get past criminal jurisdiction for her wickedness, she did not enjoy a good life thereafter. At the end of the story, Navarre revealed that the story teller was Simontaut, whose objective was to chastise women who lacked sexual morality. Navarre incorporated the critique on sexual morality in the form of a witty exchange amongst her story tellers, Simontaut, Parlamente and Oisille. Sinc e this story was a moral condemnation of a woman's marital infidelity, Navarre had set the stage for the next story teller, Oisille, who said she was compelled to tell a story to contrast with this and redeem the virtues of good women with good sexual morality. (Navarre 71-78).

Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research Proposal Example In democratic countries, the media is allowed the freedom to propagate news without undue influence from the government and the political class. In such nations, the media are free to air and communicate any information to the general public, although they have to follow regulatory rules set by the communications commission’s in their respective jurisdictions. In dictatorial societies, the freedom of mass media is limited, and the political class manipulates what is selected and produced by the media. Such nations are viewed as politically and democratically immature. Citizens who are subjects to repressive governments receive partial information as the government determines the content of every news release. It is widely acknowledged that the news has a momentous impact on the lives of citizens. The numerous parties involved in the news making should be viewed as stakeholders, who have every sort of interests in dynamically determining what the media’s impact on people ’s lives will be. ... This means, there is no clear distinction on who is responsible and who dominates who since the media is so influential that it set a whole nation’s agenda. The media are also powerful in centering masses’ attention on principal issues and assuming others, as well as influencing personal behavior. The cultural selection theory on media holds that any choice of the message has a profound effect on societal members (Fog, 199). In the contemporary world, the media is operating in a free and a competitive market, and are said to have no power whatsoever. Instead, it is the consumers of news, news managers, sponsors and sources who are now setting the newsmakers’ agenda. 1.3 Rationale and purpose of the study Who should select news? When limited resources have to be allocated; and fair and realistic procedures are not readily available, who should apportion such resources becomes a pertinent concern. As a result, it is right to ask who ought to be accountable for the selection and production of news. The news may be too pertinent to leave to journalists alone. Gans (2004) asserts that journalists have always insisted on retaining the sole obligation over a nation’s selection and production news. Gans notes that journalists hold that the audience rights to know is preserved if journalists are allowed to decide on what news are worthy, and when they are detached from the political process. Nevertheless, journalists are not detached for their enduring values are also political values, which imply the backing of one type of social order. Additionally, since news have political implications, and given that journalists select the news in response to source power, they are inadvertently part of the political course. These considerations

Risk And Project Management Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Risk And Project Management - Literature review Example Risk management is â€Å"the process of identifying, analyzing, and responding to business and project risk in order to minimize the consequences of adverse risk-based events† (Barkley, 2004, p. 3). According to Silvers (2010), the management of events is complex and replete with responsibilities. The process of preparing plans and executing them requires the participation of a good number of personnel, equipment and expertise, all of which must be gathered at one location in order to accomplish the set of activities that would complete the planned project. Events may be small in scale and limited in their complexity; others would be substantially more challenging, taking a much longer time to complete, and requiring the collaboration of many other talents working in conjunction with each other, the setting (location, time, weather, etc.) and against the constraints of a budget. Because of the multitude of unknown factors, risks abound in the execution of a project, from the p lanning phase until the last clean-up operation. There are financial risks that pertain to the business side, implying the possibility that the expected returns may not be realized. There are also the real risks of physical injury due to fortuitous events that, despite all precautions, occur unexpectedly. The job of events management is to assess and take cognizance of all these risks, so as to allocate for the possibility that they may happen and to allow the project team to address them. The importance of this topic is attested to by a substantial number of articles and researches that have been undertaken on the topic of project. This chapter shall review the available literature on the subject. Below are two diagrams depicting the risk management process, sequentially and then functionally. Project definition and project life cycle The risks attendant to events management are of the same nature of risks to which all projects are subjected to. A project is â€Å"an activity that has a beginning and an end which is carried out to achieve a particular purpose to a set quality within given time constraints and cost limits† (Chartered Management Institute). Essentially, events are projects with a tangible beginning and end and dedicated to attain one result, and therefore follow the project life cycle development. The project life cycle is a representation of â€Å"the linear progression of a project, from defining the project through making a plan, executing the work, and losing out the project† (Verzuh, 2008, p. 23). There are numerous ways of depicting the life cycle of a project, one of which is presented in the following diagram. http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/century21/figure3.gif The risks of doing business There are many types of projects that have different objectives; whether they are philanthropic or for profit, there is certainly a cost factor involved that places a constraint on the manner the business is run. At best, the project s hould earn a decent return for the organizers where the aim is fund raising or the furtherance of a business. At the least, the costs incurred must be within the limits set by the sponsors. In any case, uncertainties in the events surrounding the project’s execution may impact in the form of higher than expected costs or lower than expected revenues. According to Ibrahim (2010), it is possible to introduce some diversification in order for events

Cyber attacks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cyber attacks - Research Paper Example It is concerned with communications, transportation, water supply, energy, emergency services, and banking and finance. Information Technology has been evolved with new research and reinventions facilitating the critical infrastructure computerized. On the other side, vulnerabilities also emerged causing disruption to the critical infrastructure impacting in several ways. Although there are many vulnerabilities, cyber attacks are the most prominent one. Cyber attacks approach the target in a non traditional way. Due to inequity in the military strengths, hackers attack this critical infrastructure affecting both the economy as well as the military sector of the country (SANS: Critical infrastructure protection). It could be operated by the government or the private sector, both Networks provide opportunities for hackers to intrude the destination remotely and take control of the capabilities and resources these devices has. The impact of hacking in these systems is devastating. For example, hackers may gain access to the military radar systems, credit card data stolen, data stolen from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has revealed secret agents and now their life is at risk etc. The capacity of these attacks impact on the country’s economy, security and financial stability. They breach government networks which are directly related to national services. Thousands of new cyber attacks categorized with ‘Major’ and ‘Minor’ are penetrated on the Internet daily. The focus is the power sector of the United States including websites of Poland, South Korea and United Kingdom. They all have witnessed cyber attacks in past few months. Different schools in various sates of America have lost millions of fraudulent wire transfers (Shackelford, 2010). Cyber attacks are intelligent as well as organized. Once the network is hacked, they install small lop holes or software intruders for giving hackers access whenever they

The Parable of the Sadhu (Article review, answer specific questions) Essay

The Parable of the Sadhu (Article review, answer specific questions) - Essay Example The internal compass of an individual and the sense of duty combines together to provide the necessary emotional and ethical resources which can help an individual to take a stand whether against unethical behavior of an organization, a group, government or any community at large. (Tom Watson, 2007) In such a situation where we know that Apple’s products are loved by millions and have really made a difference in the lives of many. We need to however make a conscious decision as to whether taking stand will result into greatest good for the greatest number of people or not. Though the overall number of children working in factories producing goods for Apple is relatively low as compared to overall volume of business however the situation still requires that a stand need to be taken against a company which influences millions of its customers. As such the stand needs to be taken when the issue is affecting larger number of persons. (Machan, 2007) We need Sadhu in every situation where we face a gray area where we are unable to decide between what is right and wrong and what we need to do in a situation where we face a personal dilemma of whether to act or not. In this given crisis, it is relatively important to clearly decide whether we should continue to buy Apple’s products knowing fully well that the firm is engaged in practices which may not be ethical with relatively unethical consequences for the society at large. It may therefore warrant that individually we need to take the action. (Crane & Matten, 2007) Virtue ethics suggests that an individual’s ethical behavior is driven by the character of the person. The knowledge which has any bearing on human kind therefore is important and need to be properly put in place regardless of the overall consequences of the actions. The question of how much we can give of ourselves in this issue and create to relative awareness about the issues therefore depends upon two

Motivation and Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Motivation and Performance - Essay Example In fact the intrinsic motivation is preferable as the employee develops affinity with the organization and considers the welfare of the organization to be his wellbeing. This improves his productivity and performance since it will go along with his satisfaction. Such employees are also loyal to the company's cause. In contrast the employee who looks for extrinsic motivation becomes greedy in anticipation and looks for alternatives to promote his own wellbeing. Two academic articles have been put up for review. Seijts, G.H., Latham, G.P., Tasa, K. & Latham, B.W. (2004) in their article "Goal setting and goal orientation: An integration of two different yet related literatures" published in the Academy of Management Journal suggest that goal orientation and goal setting are two different fields that are unfortunately considered as one composite by most authors. In their view this does not augur well in establishing that motivation and devotion are the causative elements of better performance by employees. They argue that goal setting does not take into consideration the level of preparedness or personality of the employee who is expected to benefit out of it and in turn the company does not gain in terms of better productivity. In their view goal orientation paves the way for better understanding of the goals set and help to eventually realize the same to benefit both the employee as well as the organization. They have gone on to state that self-efficacy and quest for information act as a go-between the effect of a learning goal on performance. In their final view they confirm that their results were based on a single industry that was service oriented. For this they have relied on empirical research and have applied the same with their well explained theories. Two of the authors - Latham and Latham- have written profusely on the subject in various other publications and have covered the subject widely. On the other hand Marsden, D. (2004) has relied on the case studies of non-profit companies, to write "The role of performance-related pay in renegotiation the "effort bargain".' published in the Industrial & Labor Relations Review. His research of mostly state owned or controlled companies led him to the conclusion that although rewards and schemes that result from goal setting have been quite successful, the motivation of the participants was not a contributory factor in the end result. This appears contradictory but the author has rather convincingly proven his point in case using the empirical evidence with subjective questioning that brought out this fact. He has correctly diagnosed that the leaders and managers are under the wrong impression that their performance related schemes have borne results out of motivation despite the results being according to their expectations. He however is not reluctant to state that the out come of performance related pay has resulted in higher productivity due more to the smart use of the management ploy. Indeed it appears that this scheme has been rather well exploited by the employees and they have been able to use it as a tool to negotiate better deals for themselves. While the managements have been convinced that performance related pay has improved the productivity in services, the real fact is that the employees have craftily used this as a lever to

The Parable of the Sadhu (Article review, answer specific questions) Essay

The Parable of the Sadhu (Article review, answer specific questions) - Essay Example The internal compass of an individual and the sense of duty combines together to provide the necessary emotional and ethical resources which can help an individual to take a stand whether against unethical behavior of an organization, a group, government or any community at large. (Tom Watson, 2007) In such a situation where we know that Apple’s products are loved by millions and have really made a difference in the lives of many. We need to however make a conscious decision as to whether taking stand will result into greatest good for the greatest number of people or not. Though the overall number of children working in factories producing goods for Apple is relatively low as compared to overall volume of business however the situation still requires that a stand need to be taken against a company which influences millions of its customers. As such the stand needs to be taken when the issue is affecting larger number of persons. (Machan, 2007) We need Sadhu in every situation where we face a gray area where we are unable to decide between what is right and wrong and what we need to do in a situation where we face a personal dilemma of whether to act or not. In this given crisis, it is relatively important to clearly decide whether we should continue to buy Apple’s products knowing fully well that the firm is engaged in practices which may not be ethical with relatively unethical consequences for the society at large. It may therefore warrant that individually we need to take the action. (Crane & Matten, 2007) Virtue ethics suggests that an individual’s ethical behavior is driven by the character of the person. The knowledge which has any bearing on human kind therefore is important and need to be properly put in place regardless of the overall consequences of the actions. The question of how much we can give of ourselves in this issue and create to relative awareness about the issues therefore depends upon two

The strategic plans of Procter and Gamble Essay Example for Free

The strategic plans of Procter and Gamble Essay INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This study is being undertaken in order to review the strategic plans of Procter and Gamble. The Human Resource activities of the company will be identified including their estimated costs and benefits. Also, the study will identify the strategic activities and how it match the strategic goals of the company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Finally, this study will formulate recommendations on how the organization might better match its human resource activities with its strategic benefits. COMPANY BACKGROUND   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Procter and Gamble Company is a U. S. based global corporation based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It manufactures a wide range of consumer goods. The company is the 25th largest U.S. company by revenue in 2007. It is the 18th largest by profit, and 10th in Fortune’s most admired companies list as of 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company was founded by William Procter, a candle maker, and James Gamble, a soap maker in 1837. These two men were immigrants from England and Ireland respectively. The company grew tremendously and throughout the twentieth century, it continued to prosper. The firm expanded into other countries and introduced Tide laundry detergent in 1946 and â€Å"Prell† shampoo in 1950. In 1955, the company began selling its first toothpaste to contain fluoride which is known as â€Å"Crest† (Dyer et al., 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Currently, the company is ranked in the top ten by the Harris Interactive/Wall Street Journal list of companies with the world’s best reputation, the number one ranking in Fortune’s U.S. Household and Personal Products most admired list. It is ranked number two on the Hay Group list of Best Companies for Leaders, and the Market Sector Leader for Household Products in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (PG Annual Report, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   PG ranks among the top companies for Executive Women (National Association for Female Executives), African Americans (Working Mother and Women of Color Magazines), Working Mothers (Working Mother Magazine), and Best Corporate Citizens (Business Ethics Magazine) (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Supplier diversity is a fundamental business strategy of the company. In 2007, the firm spent over $1.9 billion with minority-and women-owned businesses. It is a member of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, a forum of 14 corporations that spend more than $1 billion annually with diverse suppliers (Ibid). Overview of Operations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The business of Procter and Gamble is focused on providing branded consumer goods. The company’s goal is to provide products of superior quality and value to improve the lives of consumers around the world. The company believes that this will result in leadership sales, profits and value creation, allowing employees, shareholders and the communities in which the company operate to prosper (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The firm’s products are sold in more than 180 countries mainly through mass merchandisers, grocery stores, membership club stores and drug stores. It is continuing to expand their presence in â€Å"high frequency stores,† the neighborhood stores which serve many customers in developing markets. The firm on-the-ground operations in over 80 countries. The market is highly competitive, with global, regional and local competitors. In most markets and industry segments wherein the company is selling their products, it compete against other branded products as well as retailers’ private-label brands. In addition, many of the product segments in which it compete are differentiated by price. Essentially, Procter and Gamble compete with premium and mid-tier products and are well positioned in the industry segments and markets in which it operates. It is most often holding a leadership or significant share position (Ibid). Organizational Structure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Currently, the organizational structure of the company was comprised of three Global Operations Units (GBUs) and a Global Operations group. The Global Operations group includes the Market Development Organization (MDO) and Global Business Services (GBS). The heads of the three GBUs and Global Operations each would report to the Chief Executive Officer (Ibid). Global Business Units   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During 2007, the three GBUs were Beauty and Health, Household Care and Gillette GBU. The main responsibility of the GBUs is to develop the overall strategy of the brands. They identify the common needs of the consumer, develop product innovations, marketing and sales. In the United States, the business units comprising the GBUs are integrated into seven segments: Beauty; Health Care; Fabric Care and Home Care; Snacks, Coffee, and Pet Care; Blades and Razors; and Duracell and Braun (Ibid). Growth and Strategies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Procter and Gamble’s sales have grown from $39 billion to $76 billion in the past seven years. The firm have more than doubled the number of brands that generate $1 billion or more in sales each year, and now have 23 of these leading billion-dollar brands in its portfolio. The company also have more than quadrupled the number of brands that generate at least $500 million in sales, and today have 18 of these brands poised to be the next billion-dollar brands. The firm have nearly doubled the number of countries in which it generates a billion dollars or more in sales each year, and now have 12 billion-dollar countries (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Procter and Gamble (PG) have more than a billion dollars in sales each year with seven retail customers, up from two in 2001. PG have generated more than $43 billion in net earnings and $50 billion in free cash flow. PG’s   market capitalization has increased more than $100 billion since 2001. Currently, the company is among the ten most valuable companies in the United States (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Procter and Gamble designed a diversified business portfolio to grow consistently and reliably. It designed its core strengths to win in the industry. It designed strategic, operational, and financial processes that ensure discipline to deliver. It also designed a management team and organization to lead (Ibid). 2007 Results of Activities   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The year 2007 brought results to the company’s strategic plan for growth. It was the most demanding year that the company faced since the beginning of the decade. As energy and commodity costs continued to rise, competitive pressure also intensified. Nevertheless, the company continued to grow well and attained its target growth range. The following were the highlights of its operations: Net sales increased 12% to $76 billion. Organic sales increased 5%. Diluted net earnings per share increased 15% to $3.04. Free cash flow from operating activities was $10.5 billion, or 101% of net earnings. Fabric and Home Care grew organic sales 8%, with double-digit growth in developing markets and mid-single-digit growth in developing regions. The key growth drivers included Tide Simple Pleasures, Gain Joyful Expressions, and Febreze Noticeables. Blades and Razors organic sales grew by 8%. Beauty organic sales increased 5%, led by strong growth in feminine care, prestige fragrances, and hair care. Billion-dollar brands Always, Olay, and Head Shoulders each grew sales double-digits for the year. Health Care organic sales incremented 6% which is driven by very strong growth in oral care. In the United States, Crest extended its category market leadership to 38% behind the success of the Pro-Health line. Baby and Family Care organic sales increased 4%. This growth was due to the continuing expansion into developing markets and robust results on Pampers Baby Stages of Development and Baby Dry Caterpillar Flex products in North America.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Growth across geographic regions was also broad-based. This was led by mid-single-digit organic volume growth in North America and double-digit organic growth in developing markets. Also, it made excellent progress on the integration of Gillette. This was the biggest acquisition in the consumer products industry and in the history of the company (Ibid). Growth Strategies, 2001-2007   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The basic strategy is to grow from its core competence. This is done through maximizing on its leading brands, big markets, and top customers. Specifically, this strategies are as follows (Ibid): Volume up 7% on average, for PG ‘s 23 billion dollar brands; Volume up 8% on average, for PG’s top 16 countries; Volume up 8% on average, for PG’s top 10 retail customers. Develop faster-growing, higher-margin, more-asset efficient businesses and this is done specifically through: Beauty sales doubled to $23 billion profit more than doubled to $3.5 billion; Health Care sales more than doubled to $9 billion; profit increased 6-fold to $1.5 billion; Home Care sales up nearly 85% profit more than tripled.   Ã‚   Accelerate growth in developing markets and among low-income consumers as follows: Developing market sales up 18% per year; Over one-third of total company sales growth from developing markets; Developing market profit margins comparable to developed market margins. New Strategic Design   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first element of the company’s strategic design is a portfolio that balances growth and consistency.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the 1990’s, two businesses accounted for 85% of all the value created by the firm through the decade. Today, the firm have a much stronger and more robust business portfolio. It is competing in 22 categories that include a balanced mix of faster growing, higher-margin asset-efficient businesses, such as beauty or home care, and large, foundation categories such as laundry, or baby care. PG also have an attractive geographic mix, with about half coming from the rest of the world. The firm is focusing on achieving disproportionate growth in fast-growing developing markets. These markets have contributed more than a third of the company’s top-line growth over the past five years, and their contribution has been accelerating. Nearly 40% of PG sales growth came from developing markets this past fiscal year, and it is expected that the contribution would be even greater in the year ahead. The company’s diversified portfolio reduces exposure to single and competitive events, and maximizes future growth opportunities. Traditional businesses, like fabric care and baby care, are strong and growing in their own right, and they create scale that makes PG’s beauty and health care businesses more competitive (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Geographically, the firm’s North America home base is rock solid, with dependable growth that allows them to invest in developing markets. Also, the breadth and diversity of the firm’s businesses and the breadth and diversity of the technological expertise that supports these businesses enable the company to transfer technologies from one business to another. For example, Crest Whitestrips was created by combining bleach stabilization technology from laundry care with film technology from corporate Research and Development (RD) to provide in-home teeth whitening. The Swifter Wet Jet pad combines absorbent cores from feminine care with flexible surface lawyers from baby care. Olay Daily Facials combines structured paper from family care with skin conditioning and mild cleansing from beauty to provide a mini-facial in the home. The company’s ability to combine technologies from so many diverse businesses cannot be rivaled in the industry because no other consumer products company has the scope of science and technology found at PG. The firm’s business portfolio is not static. It uses the operating total shareholder return (TSR) delivered by each business to continuously ensure its portfolio is maximizing shareholder value. TSR is a cash flow return on investment (CFROI) model that measures sales growth, earnings growth and cash flow to determine the rate of return that each business earns (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The firm’s researchers and entrepreneurs around the world working in areas that are relevant to their business. They are establishing the company as the preferred commercialization partner for these external innovators, and it is making a huge impact. The firm’s ability to innovate is most evident in the net present value of its innovation pipeline and the organic incremental sales growth generated by innovation. Innovation-driven value creation for shareholders and incremental sales growth from innovation have nearly doubled in this same time period (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These are just two examples of how the company designed an institutional capability to grow. The firm’s core strengths create sustainable competitive advantages, and it is continuing to get stronger in every area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The third element of the company’s design for growth is the disciplined way it managed its business. Discipline is part of the company’s culture and it is applied to every aspect of the business: strategic, operational, and financial. The company set and stick with clear strategies. It does its homework before going to market with new products and ideas (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second element of the firm’s design for growth is its combination of core strengths. Early in the decade, the firm determined that it did not have sufficient competitive advantage in the five areas that are critical to winning in consumer products: consumer understanding, brand building, innovation, go-to-market capability, and scale. It invested substantially in every area and it is paying off. For example, the company invested more than a billion dollars in consumer understanding since 2001. It transformed one of the industry’s more traditional market research organizations into a consumer understanding powerhouse. Its external benchmarking indicates that the company has the industry’s strongest suite of proprietary consumer research tools and methodologies. These tools make the firm learn faster and more effectively, and it helps discover the often unarticulated needs and aspirations that lead to breakthrough innovation (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Innovation has always been the firm’s lifeblood, and it created significant advantage in this area. It has the best-in-class expertise in about a dozen technology areas that are the foundation for innovation in the industry, including enzymes, perfumes, and flavors, polymers, structured substrates, and surfactants. The firm multiplied this internal capability through an effort we call â€Å"connect + develop,† which is proving to be an enormous source of innovation and competitive advantage. It has about 8,500 researchers within the company and another 1.5 million outside the company (Ibid). Strategic Focus   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The growth strategy of the company will exploit opportunities focusing on these areas: PG’s Core. The firm is widening its share advantages versus competition. For example, in fabric care, it is the number two player worldwide in the early 1990s. Today, the firm has a 34% share of the global fabric care market, almost double the next competitor, and its share has grown for six consecutive years. There are plenty of opportunities to keep growing all of the company’s billion dollar brands. It is proving in category after category that a leading share, even a relatively high share, is not a barrier to growth. The company aims to continue leverage its brand line-up and category-leading innovation to keep core businesses healthy and growing. Faster-Growing. Higher-Margin Businesses. The company has even greater upside in businesses such as beauty and health care. The beauty and health categories in which PG competes are   a combined $360 billion market today, and are projected to grow 3% to 4% a year for the balance of the decade. The firm has almost doubled its share of beauty and health over the past decade although the firm’s share of this combined market is only about 10% globally. Developing Markets and Lower-Income Consumers. The firm can still grow significantly in developing markets by increasing household penetration and consumer usage frequency, and by entering categories   where it has not yet competed. For example, the average U.S. householder buys five to ten times as much PG product per year as the average household in developing markets. In addition, there is a large number of households in developing regions that do not yet purchase any PG product. Closing this gap, the company is confident that it can do it over time. It will continue to drive strong growth for years to come. There are significant bottom-line growth opportunities as well. The firm will continue to leverage its economies of scale. It will reduce overhead costs by simplifying work and eliminating duplication between global business units and market development organizations. It will be more effective and efficient in how it will manage smaller country organizations and brands. It will continue to increase productivity in all of its businesses. It will continue to improve gross margins. The company’s current margin is about 52% (Ibid). Human Resource Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Procter and Gamble have the most diverse and broadly experienced leadership team in its history. The top 45 leaders came from a dozen countries, and most of them have experience leading businesses in both developed and developing markets (PG Annual Report, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The firm is proud that they have recognized as one of the world’s best leadership development companies. PG have been ranked as one of the three best companies for leaders. Human Resources Executive magazine ranked PG as the best company among the Fortune Most Admired for â€Å"management quality†(Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Human Resource department of PG have developed advanced leadership training or senior managers. The new General Manager College is targeted to the 135 general managers who run PG businesses globally. GM College focuses on Purpose and Value, leadership strategy, capabilities, systems, and culture. They have also designed a sequel to GM College which is called the Executive Leadership Program. This program is targeted to the most-senior managers in the company and focuses on agility and flexibility, embracing leading change, and sustaining growth (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The firm is concerned with getting the right people into the right jobs at the right time is always a primary responsibility of management. Also, equally important and more difficult is the need to anticipate leadership capabilities that will be required in the future, and ensuring that managers get the experiences and coaching they need to be ready (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most visible example of the company’s ability to develop strong leaders is the number of former PG employees who are now CEOs of major companies. The president of PG himself is personally involved in succession planning for every organization in the company. They review succession plans and the progress of key leaders with the Board once a year, and with the senior management team three times a year (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The human resource management values and culture of PG is reflected in their principles as follows (www.pg.com): We show respect for all individuals. We believe that all individuals can and want to contribute to their fullest potential. We value differences. We inspire and enable people to achieve high expectations, standards and challenging goals. We are honest with people about their performance.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The interests of the Company and the Individual are inseparable. We believe that doing what is right for the business with integrity will lead to mutual success for both the Company and the individual. Our quest for mutual success ties us together. We encourage stock ownership and ownership behavior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We are Strategically Focused on Our Work. We operate against clearly articulated and aligned objectives and strategies. We only do work and only ask for work that adds value to the business. We simplify, standardize and streamline our current work whenever possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Innovation is the Cornerstone of Our Success. We place great value on big, new consumer innovations. We challenge convention and reinvent the way we do business to better win in the marketplace.   Ã‚  Ã‚   We are Externally Focused. We develop superior understanding of consumers and their needs. We create and deliver products, packaging and concepts that build winning brand equities. We develop close, mutually productive relationship with our customers and our suppliers. We are good corporate citizens. We incorporate sustainability into our products, packaging and operations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We Value Personal Mastery. We believe it is the responsibility of all individuals to continually develop themselves and others. We encourage and expect outstanding technical mastery and executional excellence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We Seek to be the Best. We strive to be the best in all areas of strategic importance to the Company. We benchmark our performance rigorously versus the very best internally and externally. We learn from both our successes and our failures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mutual Interdependency is a Way of Life. We work together with confidence and trust across business units, functions, categories and geographies. We take pride in results from reapplying others’ ideas. We build superior relationships with all the parties who contribute to fulfilling our Corporate Purpose, including our customers, suppliers, universities and governments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As such, it is very clear in â€Å"Our Principles† of PG that they really value their human resources and that they value the individual, the team and their development to become leaders and their corresponding search towards excellence (www.pg.com). Employee Benefits   Ã‚  Ã‚   The company sponsor several post-employment benefits throughout the world. These include pension plans, both defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans, and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) plans, which is comprised mainly of health care and life insurance for retirees (PG Annual Report, 2007). Stock-Based Compensation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company have a primary stock-based compensation plan under which stock options are granted every year to key managers and directors with exercise prices equal to market price of the underlying shares on the date of grant. A total of 229 million shares of common stock were authorized for issuance under plans approved by shareholders in 2001 and 2003, of which 73 million remain available for grant. An extra 20 million shares of common stock were authorized for issuance under a plan approved by Gillette shareowners in 2004 and assumed by the firm in conjunction with the acquisition of the Gillette Company in October 2005. A total of 14 million of the shares remain available for grant under this plan. There are also five million shares available for grant under this plan. There are also five million shares available for grant under Future Shares Plan approved by the Board of Directors in 1997. This plan will terminate in October 2007. Grants issued under the firm’s shareholder approved plans since September 2002 are vested after three years and have a 10-year life. Grants issued under these plans from July 1998 through August 2002 are vested after three years and have a 15-year life, while grants issued prior to July 1998 are vested after one year and have a 10-year life. In addition to the key manager and director grants, the company makes other minor stock option grants to employees for which vesting terms and options lives are not substantially different (Ibid).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Total stock-based compensation expense for stock option grants was $612 million, $526 million, and $459 million for 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. The total income tax benefit recognized in the income statement for these stock-based compensation arrangements was $163 million, $140 million and $125 million for 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. The company also makes minor grants of restricted stock, restricted stock units and other stock-based grants which are generally expensed at grant date was $56 million, $59 million and $65 million in 2007, 2006, and 2005 respectively (Ibid). Defined Contribution Retirement Plans   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Procter and Gamble have defined contribution plans which cover the   majority of U.S. employees as well as employees in other countries. These plans are fully funded. The firm generally make contributions to participants’ accounts based on individual base salaries and years of service. The main U.S. defined contribution plan comprises the majority of the balances and expense for the firm’s defined contribution plans. The contribution rate is set annually. Total contributions for this plan approximated 15% of total participants’ annual wages and salaries in 2007, 2006 and 2005. Procter and Gamble maintains the Profit Sharing Trust and Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to provide a portion of the funding for the D.C. plan in the United States as well as other retiree benefits. Total defined contribution expense was $273, $249 and $215 in 2007, 2006, and 2005, respectively. The accumulated benefit obligation for all defined benefit retirement pension plans was $ 8.6 billion and $8 billion at June 30, 2007, and June 20, 2006, respectively (Ibid). MATCHING OF HUMAN RESOURCES WITH STRATEGY   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The development of key managers through the General Managers’ College of PG matched its strategy of growth and diversification as discussed above. The continuous growth of the company requires a constant supply of managerial talents. The employee benefits also matched the strategic goals of the company since these benefits are the motivators that will make the employees and managers work hard since the company spends a lot of money for their insurance, health care, pension plan, and stock-based compensation wherein the company spends billions of dollars.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also, the â€Å" Our Principles† of the company as discussed above is also supportive of the strategy of the company wherein these principles promote a culture of independence and at the same time work as a team. It also encourages hard work and excellence for employees in their jobs. RECOMMENDATIONS   Ã‚  Ã‚   PG is an excellent company. Most of its strategic management practices are state of the art as well as its HRM practices. However, in order to match the strategic goals of the company, the human resources function should do the following: Conduct intensive training to all of its employees and not only their candidates for senior managers. These trainings should be in line with their respective functions of the employees in their respective divisions, and In order to motivate employees, the stock compensation option should be offered to everyone and not only for key managers.   PG’s infrastructure requirements consist of those functions and activities necessary for the effective management of a companys human resources. The major purposes of these activities traditionally have been to attract, retain, and motivate employees. We refer to them as human resource management (HRM) practices (Schuler, 1984), and the key HRM practices include: Human resource planning Staffing, including recruitment, selection, and socialization Appraising Compensation Training and development Union-management relationships   Ã‚  Ã‚   The result of effectively managing human resources is an enhanced ability to attract and retain qualified employees who are motivated to perform, and the results of having the right employees motivated to perform are numerous. They include greater profitability, low employee turnover, high product quality, lower production costs, and more rapid acceptance and implementation of corporate strategy. These results, particularly if coupled with competitors who do not have the right people motivated to perform, can create a number of competitive advantages through human resource management practices. CONCLUSION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although there are many ways by which companies can gain a competitive advantage, as MacMillan (1983) has suggested, one way often overlooked is through their human resource management practices. HRM practices enable companies to gain a competitive advantage in two major ways: One is by helping themselves and the other is by helping others. So there appears to be a significant benefit from having HRM considerations represented in the strategy formulation stage rather than only in the implementation stage. Once the strategy is formulated and the appropriate HRM thrust identified, specific HRM practices need to be developed. These practices, such as staffing and compensation, are the ones that actually create the competitive advantage for the company. In addition, selection of the most appropriate practices should be appropriate to the strategy and lead to behaviors that are supportive of the strategy; for example, if cooperative behaviors are needed among employees, then group or organizational level compensation incentives should be provided rather than an individual-level incentive system. If product quality is critical, quality circles and union-management cooperation should be developed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Once the strategy is formulated, the determination of the needed behaviors comes from job analysis. The HRM practices that stimulate those behaviors must be identified. They must be implemented so as to ensure consistency across HRM practices. It is this hard-won consistency which will help ensure that a competitive advantage through HRM practices is gained and sustained because of the barriers we have just discussed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition to using their HRM practices on themselves, companies can also gain a competitive advantage through using their HRM practices on others. Specifically, companies can gain a competitive advantage by helping their suppliers, customers, or servicers/distributors with their practices     Ã‚      REFERENCES    ^ a b http://www.pginvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=104574p=irol-fundSnapshot ^ CNN Fortune ranking ^ http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2007/top20/index.html ^ Dyer, Davis; Frederick Dalzell, Rowena Olegario (2004). Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at Procter Gamble. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 1591391474. ^ Wherrity, Constance. Dial Agrees to Buy PG Deodorant Brands, Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York blog, 2006-02-21. Retrieved on 2006-09-06. ^ John G. Smale: He rebuilt PG and city, too, The Cincinnati Post, 11 October 2005. ^ 2007 Annual report, pg 71 ^ Reasons for Selection, 2007 Canadas Top 100 Employers. ^ Trademark of the Beast by David Emery, June 10, 1998 ^ Trademark of the Devil by Barbara Mikkelson, snopes ^ Mikkel MacMillan, I. C. Seizing Competitive Initiative. The Journal of Business Strategy, 1983, pp. 43-57. Peters, T. J., and Waterman, R. H. Jr. In Search of Excellence. New York: Warner Books, 1982. Schuler, R. S. Personnel and Human Resource Management (2nd ed.). St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1984. Skinner, W. Big Hat, No Cattle: Managing Human Resources. Harvard Business Review, September-October 1981, pp. 107-118. Schulerson, Barbara and David. 2005 December 31