Employment Law Compensation Plan Essay

In response to your request to have an employment law compliance plan for our client, Bradley Stonefiled who plans on starting a limousine service called Landslide Limousine, I have developed an employment plan which covers both State and Federal employment laws. Being in compliance with the Texas state employment laws, as well as Federal employment laws will greatly help out client in avoiding and penalties. The employment plan is based on Texas employment laws, which is where our client’s base of operations will be. The employment plan will also include Federal employment laws which are relevant to our client’s needs in helping him start his limousine service. I have also included the consequences for not being compliant with State and Federal employment laws. Texas Employment Laws Texas is a right-to-work State. This means that a person cannot be denied employment based on the fact that they are or are not a member of a labor union or other labor organization. The Texas Labor Code has five titles: General Provisions, Protection of Laborers, Employer-Employee Relations, Employment Services and Unemployment, and Workers’ Compensation (Texas Statue, 2013). The Texas Labor Code covers all aspects of employment. Title II (Protection of Labors) covers wages and discrimination. Being noncompliant can result in a civil action being brought by the employee, which can result in a monetary award that is determined by the courts (Texas Statue, Chapter1). Title IV (Employment Services & Unemployment) covers unemployment benefits and insurance which our client will be responsible. Failing to make unemployment contribution can result in a class â€Å"A† misdemeanor (Texas Statue, Chapter2). Title V (Workers’ Compensation) covers workers’ compensat ion insurance coverage, workers’ health and safety, and workers’ compensation benefits. The penalty for noncompliance is sanction, criminal prosecution, fines and restitution (Texas Statue, Chapter 4). Texas Payday Law covers how employees are to be paid, either monthly or bi-weekly. The law also states that companies are not required to compensate  their employees for vacation time, breaks, and lunches. However, they are required to pay employees for attending company meetings. Failing to pay employees’ can result in administrative cost equal to the wages in the claim plus 25% per employee. In addition to the wages which have not been paid ((Texas Workforce Commission, 2014) Federal Employment Laws States have their own employment laws which strengthen Federal employment laws. However, the Federal employment laws set the standard by which the States follow and or strengthen by adding new protections. Since our client is only looking to hire 25 employees, this would be considered a small privately owned business. Our client should also be made aware of the federal laws that he must comply to. The Fair Standards Act (FLSA) which requires employers to pay overtime to employees working more than 40 hours per week, at a rate of one-and-a-half times their regular hourly rate. The FLSA also includes the Equal Pay Act, which is an amendment to FLSA, which establishes the same rate of pay for both women and men (Cascio, p.82, 2013). Since our client is going to start Landslide Limousine in Austin Texas, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) should also be included in this employment plan. The IRCA explicitly states that employers’ cannot hire someone that is not legally authorized to work in this country. The employer must exercise his due diligence by verifying all documents supplied by a potential employee as verification of who they are. The penalties for noncompliance can vary from $100 to $1,000 per employee; furthermore criminal sanctions can be imposed if a pattern of hiring unauthorized employees (Cascio, p.88, 2013). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its amendments, which is the forerunner to the Texas Labor Code, protects employees from discrimination based on their race, color, religion, gender, and national origin as it pertains to employment and promotions. This law was expanded in 1972 to include public and private employers with 15 or more employees. The penalty for an employer who is in violation of the Civil Rights Act can be responsible for compensatory and punitive damages (Cascio, p.82, 2013). The compliance plan stated here is a necessary start to get our client, Landslide Limousine, in compliance with Texas employment laws, as well as Federal employment laws. The goal here is not only to educate our client but to ensure that he is aware and understands all employment laws  which pertain to him and his company. Reference Attorney General of Texas. (2013, February 20). Right-to-Work Laws in Texas. Retrieved from Texas Constitution and Statutes: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/agency/righttowork.shtml Cascio, W. F. (2013). Managing Human Resources. New York.McGraw-Hill. Statutes. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/?link=LA Texas Workforce Commission. (2014, June 02). Texas Payday Law. Texas. Retrieved fromhttp://www.twc.state.tx.us/ui/lablaw/texas-payday-law.html#payPeriods

Applying Ethics to End of Life Care Essay

Applying Ethics to End of Life Care can be a difficult task for those involved in making the decisions pertaining to active and passive euthanasia, as well as palliative care when it comes to themselves or loved ones. According to The Last Chapter-End of life decisions â€Å"there often comes a time that advances in medicine are no longer your friend, they become the enemy† (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 2010, Dec. 28). Euthanasia, or right to death; according to Mosser (2014), â€Å"the argument for euthanasia is straightforward: A person who is virtually certain to die within a given amount of time and is experiencing or will experience a lot of pain before he or she dies should be able to choose an earlier, less painful death. What purpose is served by keeping a person alive only to experience constant, agonizing pain?† (sec. 6.3, para. 32). The answer to the question would seem rather obvious depending on your point of view. According to Palliummja (2011, March 19) Dr. Balfour Mount stated â€Å"People do not have to die with pain†, and Kass (1989) states â€Å"Each person has a right to control his or her body and his or her life, including the end of it† (pg. 27, para. 1). Within this paper is a look at three different ethical points of view. The topic of End of Life Care will be explored through the perspective of the utilitarian, the deontologist, as well as the relativists. Each one of these theories have their own take on what is considered morally right and morally wrong. Although each of these theories have their benefits and cons, it is this researcher’s belief that the relativist’s point of view would be the best ethical theory to apply when dealing with End of Life Care issues because it is left up to the individuals own moral standards of what they perceive to be the morally right or wrong thing to do. We will first take a look through the eyes of the relativist. According to Mosser (2014), â€Å"we should recognize that there are no universal or general ethical standards; that a person’s ethical view is relative to his or her culture, society, tradition, religion, worldview, and even individual values. Because moral claims are said to be relative to something else†, he continues with â€Å"Even though philosophers distinguish between different kinds of relativism, we will generally use the term to mean that any ethical claim is relative to a set of beliefs and that any such ethical claim is true, or consistent with, that set of beliefs† (sec 6.2, para. 14). It is the individual aspect of relativism that I would like to focus on as the best way to tackle ethical questions pertaining to end of life care. This leaves the decision solely up to what the individual believes is the right thing to do, based on his or her own personal beliefs. If it is considered ok by that individual to go ahead and end their life, through active or passive euthanasia so they do not suffer more pain than what is necessary, then that is what the morally right thing to do would be. The relativist simply says that the practice a given culture/individual adopts as correct determines what should be done (Mosser, K., 2014). The second ethical view that we will be looking at is the deontological theory. According to Mosser, K. (2014) â€Å"deontological ethics focuses on the will of the person acting, the person’s intention in carrying out the act, and particularly, the rule according to which the act is carried out. Deontology focuses on the duties and obligations one has in carrying out actions rather than on the consequences of those actions† (sec. 6.1). In short the deontologists is not concerned with consequences, but rather what it is the law of the land says is right or wrong. This means that even if a patient was certain to experience excruciating pain and suffering, and was certain to die in a matter of days, euthanasia would still not be permissible because the law states that killing is the wrong thing to do. This would present a problem for a patient who is wanting to end their life early because the physician would be bound by law not to perform such acts because to kill a pers on is against the law. The doctor patient confidentiality aspect cannot be applied in this case. The good thing about the deontological view is that it keeps doctors in check by not allowing a  doctor to end a life just because they no longer wish to treat an individual. Kass gives an example of this by stating â€Å"Even the most humane and conscientious physician psychologically needs protection against himself and his weaknesses† (pg. 35, para 3). Meaning that the law is set in place so that a doctor does not make killing a therapeutic option. But even though this is a check so to say for the doctor, this cannot be the ethical theory best to satisfy ones individual need or want for an earlier termination of life, if in fact that is what they choose to want happen. The utilitarian in this situation would ask that we take a look at the consequences of such an act as euthanasia, taking into consideration as to what is the best outcome for the most amount of people. According to Mosser, K. (2014) â€Å"When given a choice between two acts, utilitarianism states that the act that should be chosen is the one that creates the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people† (section 6.1). This has its strong and weak points as well. The strong point in this is that it takes a look at every aspect of the situation, analyzing the benefits and cons to either end a life or keeping an individual alive. The problem with this view lies with, who is it that benefits the most, is it the patient and patients family who benefits more, or is it the hospital or physician who benefits more. A point made in the video End of Life Care Dilemma: Who gets booted from ICU stated that hospitals tend to â€Å"bounce from the emergency room the perso n who you know is going to die soon† (ForaTv. 2010, April 14). The reason for this is the amount of money made by keeping ICU beds full. It could cost up to two million dollars to keep an individual alive for two years. In the view of the video provided it would be more cost efficient to end a life and use the two million dollars to pay for school lunches for school children prolonging life for 500 years rather than the two years for the one individual (ForaTv. 2010, April 14). So the question remains, who is it that benefits more? It would seem as if the hospital would benefit more by ending a life because it opens up a new bed for the next individual. When it comes to end of life care and utilitarianism there is no sure way to know that ending a life would be benefitting the right individuals. In conclusion, it is this researcher’s belief that the best ethical point of  view to use when dealing with end of life care would be the relativist ethical theory. This theory allows an individual to make the decision based on what it is that they feel is the right option to do. There is no outside influence as to what a person should do when you are able to make the decision based off of your own moral beliefs. As stated above by Kass, â€Å"Each person has a right to control his or her body and his or her life, including the end of it† (pg. 27, para. 1). This right is taken away once you put forth a deontological or utilitarian point of view. The individual no longer has a say in what it is to be done with their life. Many would opt for a less painful death, in fact this researcher would opt for a less painful death knowing that I may spend the rest of my life in agonizing pain, or deteriorating. Even if it was the patients wish to die peacefully before suffering the agonizing effects of the disease, there is nothing that the doctor can do to assist with these wishes, because the law of the land prohibits murder, and since active euthanasia would be causing the death of an individual with the intent to cause the death, this would be classified as murder, this is why the deontological approach cannot work in terms of end of life care. It removes the individual’s wishes as to what they want to have happen, and replaces it with what society believes should happen. The utilitarian point of view is also one that removes the individual wants or needs from the end of life care factor. It brings in the benefits of others that may out weight the benefits of the individual. It is these reasons presented within this paper that this researcher believes that although each of these theories have their benefits and cons, it is the relativist’s point of view would be the best e thical theory to apply when dealing with End of Life Care issues because it is left up to the individuals own moral standards of what they perceive to be the morally right or wrong thing to do, and there is no other influence on what should be done with one’s own life. References ForaTv. (2009, Sep. 24). End-of-life care dilemma: Who gets booted from the ICU? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XpAYPgjMYg Kass, L. R. (1989). Neither for love nor money: Why doctors must not kill. Public Interest, 94, 25-46. Retrieved from the ProQuest database. Mosser, K. (2013). Understanding philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Palliummja. (2011, March 19). Dying for care – quality palliative & end of life care in Canada (English subtitles/captions) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=Q6mUbIjKEEI West Virginia Public Broadcasting. (2010, Dec. 28). The last chapter – end of life decisions [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jKUZ8lS9b4

American life at 1920s Essay

The sound of bullets abroad ended, but the ring of change in America blasted as large as a bullet. As the Great War ended, change manifested America and it was never to be the same. With a stock market boom, consolidation of businesses, and an increase in buying power, American life became modernized. The automobile was introduced as it ushered in a new era of society and increased freedom. Family pressures diminished as children began to explore the world as their own through being a flapper, dancing to jazz, or living the glamorous life that authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald idolized in the twenties. These changes did not arrive without a continuous longing for a prewar era of control, laissez faire government, and a sense of normalcy. These tensions were manifested in ideas like the Red Scare and the prohibition. Although change survived, the difference in ideas between old and new ways created tensions within American society that was eventually manifested to form a new, modernized culture. From the new advances in technology and in business (1), a new culture of youth usurped the traditional voice of society and questioned the roles thrust upon them (2), but it also created a racist and nativist country (3). In post WWI, the technology in American homes became more advanced due to the modernization of America’s economy and business. After a recession that began in the twenties, the stock market boomed, reflecting the growing prosperity of America (EV 712). In the pre WWI era, laissez faire capitalism and the support of big business was how the government ran the economy. Throughout the war, the government intervened in the economy, doing away with big business, and enlarged their presence to the delight of reformers. There was an increase in strikes from workers asking for higher tariffs. After the war, the government imposed high tariffs such as the Fordney-McCumber Tariff and Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which were enacted to protect growing business and prosperity of domestic manufacturers (EV 713). They also encouraged the consolidation of big businesses, and even if companies did not merge, the companies cooperated in price fixes and markets (EV 714). Because of the given protection and consolidation, businesses were able to create mass produced goods and lower the prices of their goods to sell to their consumers which was defined by one word: Fordism (EV 714). The methods provided luxuries that past generations were unable to obtain as they decreased production time, cost, and created leisure time. The companies,  led by Henry Ford, began to increase the pay of their workers (EV 714). This increased pay led to greater buying power of the workers who were also the consumers (Doc E). Strikes decreased and unions, like the AFL and the IWW, declined in membership because of the pay increase, inability to cope with new manufacturing abilities, and the desire of management to use ways like the â€Å"American Plan† to destroy unions (EV 716). From the pay raise and continuous decline of prices and manufacturing, the technology increased. The greatest achievement of the twenties that was manifested from the new business system was the automobile. Led by Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, the automobile led the way in changing America (EV 712). The new, affordable invention created a new America by giving the youth independence while bringing families together (EV 721). Cars created an easier way to get around, creating a more modern society (Doc F). It embodied the change in America as an offspring of the tensions from big businesses as society realized it needed this new version of buying on credit, merging businesses, and leisure time to sustain a contemporar y culture and technology. The technology adapted in this era fell away from the idea of all work and no play as workers were now able to escape their feeble lives through conveniences, like movies, radios, and television. Through this new technology and advancement in business, Americans broke from traditional ideas and changed into a new and modern culture. Societal changes between youth, women, and culture emerged in the post WWI era. The children and teenagers of the era before the war were ignored and restricted. They lived a Victorian lifestyle that meant that they were seen, but not heard. As the war emerged, the youth felt they had reached adulthood much faster than their parents due to the responsibility that was thrust upon them (Dear Parents). This shocked the older generation because of the activities that the younger generation enjoyed. With an increase in entertainment, movies and music, the youth broke traditional ties. The old tradition was to court someone that was appropriate to marry; the new idea was to date with no intention of marriage. Things like petting and necking became mainstream, and the youth became much more open about their sexual lives, a topic condemned before the war (Doc. B). In addition to the youth, women made a more prominent role in society. Women began to break away from ideas of separate spheres during the war. Before the war, women were meant to fulfil  their motherly duties by teaching others the good and bad of society, like smoking (Doc. J). But during the war, women stepped up and replaced the men in the jobs they left vacant. As they took men’s jobs and roles in society, they established a greater confidence in themselves. This confidence allowed them to stand up to men and led to an increase in divorce rates (Doc. K). Their heightened presence in the workforce made it an excellent time to increase their political might. Organizations like National American Woman Suffrage Association and Woman’s Party fought for the right to vote (EV 658). The 19th amendment was enacted in 1920 allowing women the right to vote which gave women the chance to voice their opinions and establish independence (EV 673). With their increased political influence, women increased their educational standards. More women started going to college, becoming more liberal and breaking traditional ties (Doc. D). Through the liberal ideas and the haze of post war, the flapper movement emerged. A flapper was a liberal woman who displayed w ild fashion and modern ideas (Dear Parents). With all these changes occurring in youth and women, culture began to modernize. The mentality before the war was to make a life before living life (Dear Parents). The idea was to save money, but as people began to see the lives that were being lost at the front, they started to live their life to the fullest as shown by Lindbergh flying across the Atlantic and putting â€Å"ethics† above the desire of money (Doc. I). There was much more leisure time as innovations took over menial jobs. The increase in leisure time caused an increase in entertainment, like the radio and movies (EV 724). Also, family time was a cherished event before the war, but with the emergence of cars, a new sense of freedom emerged (EV 721). With this new sense of freedom, prohibition became a joke. Before the war most of the country, besides immigrants, backed the idea of temperance and a law to stop the consumption and distribution of alcohol. So the 18th amendment was enacted in 1919, which was prohibition (EV 673). But almost three years after the law was enforced, people began to ignore it. From the beginning the Volstead Act was weakly enforced and underfunded, and New York was the first state to repeal it in 1923 (EV 736). Places like night clubs began to spring up to thwart the act (Doc. A). The rate of intoxication arrests increased (Doc. C) and gangs emerged rivaling to control the liquor business (EV 737). This modernization in culture brought upon the questioning of  truth. The traditional view was that God created mankind and everything was based on the Bible. In the 1920s though, advances in science and research was encouraged. People began to believe Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. This created a clash between the old and the new. The people who believed in the biblical ideology called themselves Fundamentalists and wanted to ban the education of evolution in schools. William Jennings Bryan endorsed this cause (Doc. G) and so did fundamentalist Aimee McPherson who enco uraged many to join her side through her charisma (Doc. L). John T. Scopes, a believer in evolution, went against this law and taught evolution to his class. This led to the Scopes Trial which found Scopes guilty, but led to a change in thought and a break from biblical ideas. Through the changes of youth from traditionalism to liberalism, their ideas changed reflected in the rebellion against the prohibition and the change of women’s roles. The idea of control was seen to be diminished as the questioning of ideas once unquestioned, like evolutionary versus biblical, were thrown into the limelight. These fears of change and control made the society into a contemporary thinking, but led to the nativism and Americanism that prevailed American thought. In the post WWI era, nativist sentiments and racist tendencies were rampant. Up to 1890, immigrants mainly came from the Northern and Western parts of Europe, Americans welcomed them and attempted to help them in the Progressive Era. But, as immigrants started coming from Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia, they didn’t assimilate and the melting pot ideology was ending (Doc. Q). The popular sentiment now was 100% Americanism partially due to major propaganda efforts during the war. These nativists believed that there was sufficient population and immigrants were overcrowding the country (Doc. O). This popular movement resulted in a shift in the government’s policies to support the people’s wants. The government enacted a quota limit act on May 19, 1921 and an Immigration Act in 1924 which limited the number of aliens of a nationality to 2 percent of the population (Doc. M). Many organizations, like the American Legion, backed the government in their decisions (Doc. N). With the government executing the laws, the Supreme Court enforced them through their cases. The case of Sacco and Vanzetti exhibits the Court’s bias towards nativists(Sacco Vanzetti). More anti-immigrant sentiment was created when the new Bolshevik regime took over in Russia(EV 706). This Russian Revolution caused the Red  Scare to take over in America, in which nativists believed Russian-Americans were trying to instill communism in the government(Doc. P) and deported them through the Palmer raids (Red Scare). Along with the immigrants, African Americans were being alienated. After Reco nstruction, African Americans were trying to blend in with the whites, but this became difficult because of the Jim Crow laws creating segregation(EV 655). Even as they fought in WWI, the armies were segregated by race(EV 690). Because of the segregation, African Americans had to create their own identity. With the spread of jazz music (EV 726) and their great migration north for better jobs, the Harlem Renaissance was born in the 1920s (EV 728) which allowed blacks to become confident in themselves and their race (Doc. H). But this confidence did not help their circumstance with the whites as shown through the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, which now targeted blacks and immigrants (EV 734), and the mass race riot of Rosewood (Doc. R). The emergence of the KKK caused people like Marcus Garvey to urge black independence and summon them back to Africa (EV 735). Immigrants and African Americans were trying to find a home in the nation called the melting pot, yet they were rejected by Americans because of the new sentiment caused by the war. It was through the changes and the tensions in the twenties that changed society through its manifestations. The automobile prevailed as the leader of the changes as it increased the freedom of the youth that lead the change from traditional conservatism to liberalism that affected all branches of society, including the mistreatment of immigrants and minorities. All of these tensions felt within this era manifested in a way to make America brilliantly prosperous and live the legend of the roaring twenties that is always glorified. But it was through these ideas that America would eventually succumb to through a Great Depression.

Statistics Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Statistics - Speech or Presentation Example Standard deviation on the other hand show us how the individual values compares the mean value, the smaller the standard deviation, the closer the samples measurements are to the mean and vice versa (Gravetter and Wallnau 123). With regard then to the standard deviation given, it is evidenced that there is a considerable difference of the samples considered. Different sample numbers and variation of age among the considered students may have occasioned this. Comparing the two calculated statistics with the population statistics clearly shows inaccuracy, the mean deviation of the samples from that of the population is enormous and this shows that sampling was skewed to a section of the population thus the true value could not be reached. This can also be observed with the values of the standard deviation that shows consistent abnormal variation questioning the sampling technique. Referring to the statistics from the samples against that of the population, they do not reflect values t hat are consistent to the central tendency. Central tendency tends to show us where the majority of the data belongs to by use of mode, median or mean (Gravetter and Wallnau 156). Indeed the only way of getting correct statistical results from a data is to consider as much samples as possible against the possible number of population, this will ensure that a larger percentage of the population are considered with possible inclusion of all the extremities, smaller and larger ones narrowing the space for biasness (Gravetter and Wallnau 162). The use of two classes alone or Susan’s class would have considered a group with skewed values distorting the

PROJECT ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PROJECT ANALYSIS - Essay Example The CRM is a significant business management tool employed in the contemporary business environment for enabling organisations to achieve their business goals effectively. The case study involves Warnaco Group Company, which is a women’s clothing industry whose team is charged with installation of a new CRM system at the marketing department level of the company. Information-gathering Techniques and Design Methods Most of the technical staff members understand the significant of collecting information from clients, users, employees, stakeholders and many others as the fundamental part of their job. Most of them employ both qualitative and quantitative research design methods for data collection in order to obtain their intended project goals effectively. The there are various ways or techniques of gathering information and the most common methods employed includes surveys, focused groups, interviews, questionnaires and literature searches. However, these methods depend on what the technical staff in the Warnaco Group Company demand; thus defining the information they need through designing effective methods will enable them to retrieve information successfully. Gathering information is one of the first crucial aspect for technical officers and many technical staff members attempt to muddle their way by employing a poorly planned information gathering technique in project process. Myers and Avison (2002) argue that well planned methodologies and implementation of effective techniques in data collection process is vital. Questionnaires/Surveys The technical team in the Warnaco Group Company will employ surveys and questionnaires in gathering information before the installation of CRM software system in an organisation. These techniques are significant because they will enable the technical team to reach a large audience across the departments. Employing specific questions can enable project designers to get a clear data set than surveys because surveys ten d to produce a low response than questionnaires, which can produce a higher response. However, the technical team or project design team can increase survey response and this is through ensuring that the survey questions focuses only on the concept of CRM system. According to Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger (2005), the use of questionnaires and survey designs will enable one to design a project effectively because it tells what people wants. Knowing what people wants can be the key factor for the success of any project being implemented. Many companies measure the attitude of employees and customers; thus the best way to gather or find information about them is to design survey or conduct interviews. Focused Groups The technical staff members of the project can employ focused group discussion or group interview and this is vital because it can enable them to gather adequate information about the project. Focused groups are effective especially in case the interviewer want to create a dialogue about the project program. This can enable respondents to interact freely with the project designers; thus gathering significant information about the project. The use of focused group is vital because this technique is mostly employed in testing new approaches such as discovering stakeholders concern towards the installation of the CRM software in the Warnaco Group Company. A group of stakeholders of the company can meet in a discussion or conference room whereby the trained moderator will train

Changes in Social Lending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Changes in Social Lending - Essay Example dit permits very underprivileged people to insert themselves into projects that are focused on self-employment— with a view of generating some income. Yunus provides loans through his controversial bank, Grameen Bank—which makes him a pioneering single leader. Grameen Bank based in Bangladesh lends money through solitary groups. The bank’s approaches targets solitary groups as its prime building block. Further, the use of this technique has clearly had a significantly positive effect upon many prospective borrowers. Without Grameen, the financially handicapped wouldn’t have dared borrowing at all. I mean, to many of them, borrowing would figuratively be building castles in the air. Be that as it may, the determination to warranty that all members of solidarity groups are equally poor is inconsistent, and may not always improve the group performance at all. In all, microcredit is mere bunkum—in fact; it won’t succeed without the help of immense grants. In all, this is a reality that dents on the development of this approach. Conversely, this approach lacks clear lucidity. Glancing at it through perspectives, the overall effect of this development approach has not been to reduce poverty, but only to produce a debt gridlock for gullible borrowers—who are incredulously subjected to particularly supercilious rates of interests practical to conventional banks . It is no surprise at all that Yunus used the infused poverty in his country profitably to gain international attention. This approach of bottom of the pyramid has no capability of finally leading to long-term development, because many poor people will feel that they are being defrauded through the obviously feasible

Project management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project management - Coursework Example Several studies revealed that majority of traffic collision is caused by human factors related to intoxication or the use of cell phones while driving (Strayer & Drews, 2004; Strayer, Drews, & Johnston, 2003; Williamson, Feyer, Friswel, & Finlay-Brown, 2001). In some cases, other forms of visual or sound distraction such as the presence of billboard in highways or the use of loud radio could also promote road accidents (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2008). To prevent unnecessary deaths caused by traffic collision, this project initiation document will discuss the importance of joint training and exercises as a way to improve the multi-agency response to road traffic collision. Project Aim / Goal The aim of this project is to develop and implement a joint training and exercises programs that will improve the multi-agency response to road traffic collision. Project Objectives The following project objectives will be considered to ensure that the project goal is attainable: 1. To e ncourage the health care team (doctors, emergency care medical personnel, and nurses) to participate and work together with other related agencies like police department, traffic enforcement group, and the transport department in developing and implementing a joint training and exercise programs that will reduce the number of controllable traffic collision that happens each day; and 2. To educate the public about human factors that can contribute to controllable traffic collision and how to avoid vehicular accidents. Project Benefits This project will not only increase the public awareness concerning the public with regards to the primary causes of traffic collision, it will also serve as a means of reducing the number of deaths due to vehicular accidents. Since vehicular accidents related to traffic collision could create socio-economic and emotional problems on the part of the victims’ family and loved ones, the project benefits can be more than the cost of encouraging the health care team (doctors, emergency care medical personnel, and nurses) to participate and work together with other related agencies like police department, traffic enforcement group, and the transport department in developing and implementing a joint training and exercise programs that aims to reduce the number of controllable traffic collision. Project Costs Based on the work breakdown structure presented on page 4, the estimated cost of this project is ?2,330,000. (See Appendix I – Summary of Work Breakdown Structure on page 8) Business Case Based on the World Health Organization (2002) report, the global death associated with traffic collision is roughly 5 million each year whereas physical injuries caused these vehicular accidents can be as much as 12% of the total annual deaths (Peden, McGee, & Sharma, 2010). On top of the large number of road traffic injury cases, between 20 to 50 million people who becomes a victim of traffic collision has suffered from serious physi cal injuries (Geetha et al., 2010). Since the annual hospital cost of physical injuries related to traffic collision is between $65 billion to $100 billion (Geetha et al., 2010), implementing the proposed project with a budget of ?2,330,000 can be considered highly feasible. By implementing this project, the government will be able to save more people from going through the burden of paying large amount of money on hospital bills but also save the lives of thousands and

Employee relations and engagement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Employee relations and engagement - Assignment Example The company has incorporated and added new forms of amusement in order to attract the new generation of visitors to the park. The company is seen to employ about 250 people and amongst them 200 are members of the union and have collective bargaining rights. The company management and the union sit down for negotiations each year and decide on the demand that they approve upon from both sides of the table. The following page discusses the negotiation process between the management and employee of the organization on different lines and issues. The objective of with which we went into the management in this negotiation is to ensure that the demands of the employees in the form of increase in salary should not be accepted. We found that the union will place a demand for increase in the no. of holidays. This cannot be allowed. On the part of the demands to be placed by our part as management, we would like to place the condition of retrenchment of some of the employees. We would also place the point that we will indulge in the career development or the skill training of the employees of the organization (Mehta, 2009). We think it to be necessary on our side to negotiate and try to establish the above points as because our company has been finding it difficult to make profit since the last six years. An amusement park has opened in the 10 mile radius of our company in the past 6 years and has taken a share of the market and the visitors. This has resulted in the fact that our company has been able to just breakeven in the las t 4 years and made a loss for the first time in the last year. Due to the increased competition and loss of market share it has become necessary for our company to introduce new entertainment machinery which is called the wow factor. To maintain the market share and profitability it is required that our company should invest in new technology, games and training facilities for the

Video Game Is Harmful To Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Video Game Is Harmful To Children - Essay Example In a Gallup poll conducted in 1984, over 93% of American teenagers had participated in video games for at least some of the time. By the year 2001, sales of video game were projected to reach eight billion dollars, with more than 280 million units sold in the year 2000 alone. Approximately 60 percent of all American population regularly plays video games and the annual worldwide video games sales reached 20 billion dollars (Evra, 197). This popularity and strong appeal of video games brought great controversy, with some people arguing in their favor and others arguing against them. As Gunter points out, one of the most dangerous aspects of video games is that they can become addictive. They make players to feel constantly compelled to be involved with them and they may portray a lack of interest in other tasks. They cause withdrawal symptoms if a player attempts to stop playing them for some time. Video games critics also hold the view that video games have a corrupting control on yo uths and children in that they encourage anti-social behavior and glorify violence. They argue that most video games have tendencies of feeding into masculine fantasies of control, destruction and power, rather than feeding into co-operation and bargaining (Gunter, 15). Themes of violence characterize them. As opposed to watching TV, playing video games is interactive and therefore, it is much more psychologically involving. The effects of their violent themes on children are therefore more pronounced. A video game use survey revealed that 70% of 118 M-rated games (games for mature audiences above 17 years of age) were aimed at children below 17 years. More disturbing is the fact that younger children could readily access these allegedly restricted video games. Unaccompanied 13 to 16-year-old children were in a position to purchase M-rated video games 85% of the time. Apparently, as they produce and market these games, sell them, and agree to the children to buy and play them, the v ideo-game industry, retailers and parents respectively do not have the best interests of children at heart. Shifting the blame to parents, the video game industry in defense asserts that they are just providing to children what they want and that children know that the games are not real. They also disagree with the argument that video games triggers and increases violence among children and youths (Taylor, 10-11). McGraw cites a latest content analysis by a research organization called Children Now indicates that most of the video games include violence and that almost half of the violent incidents would culminate into death or serious injuries in the ‘real’ world. He adds that children tend to resolve anxiety wrongly by externalizing it. Consequently, when they become anxious, they have the tendency of externalizing it rather than conveying it emotionally through crying, talking about it, soothing themselves, expressing it to someone, or through calming themselves. Th ey can be mean to a pet; they can assault something; or even kick a wall. Children who play these video games exhibit an increased rate of violent responses.  McGraw further notes that violent video games do not teach moral consequences to children. They, for example, do not teach that if one shoots somebody he/she should go to jail/get penalized. Instead, such acts earn the player extra points! The most damaging facet of violent video gam

Stages of Grief Essay Example for Free

Stages of Grief Essay The stages of grief are common for all human beings. Once experiencing a tragic loss, or trauma, many of us go through steps that help us except what has happened and to move on. Some of these stages last longer than others, depending on how the person follows each stage. In this paper, we will cover the different stages of grief and how author Nicholas Wolterstorff reflections in the book of Lament For a Son impacted his life. In the book, Lament For a Son, Wolterstorff tells us the story of the passing of his son, Eric. Wolterstorff explains that his son was in a mountain climbing accident. Do not be confused, this book is not a novel, but a collection of anecdotes and quotes pertaining to the authors experience of dealing with a premature death. Wolterstorff, believes that it is wrong for parents to buy their child because the children represent the future. The author plays through a battle of trying to move on from the loss of his son. The author informs the family with the death of his son, but states that each of them must live their lives as if Eric was still alive. The grief of his son’s death, leaves Wolterstorff at a loss of words. He does not know what to think nor to say. People will often deny the grief process to avert pain but it is healthier if we learn to accept the loss as we journey through the stages of grief and our life. The process has 5 stages: denial, rage, trying to negotiate or bargaining, a depressed state and finally the last stage, acquiescence. The narrator does not only go through all of the stages, but each of these stages has a different variation of duration. Wolterstorff does not have a long stage of denial. He accepts the fact that his son has past away even though it hurts him tremendously on the inside. The author has the feeling  of offering Eric, his son, to someone â€Å"before the cold burning pain† pervades him. The author does not go through a stage of rage. He has stayed calm throughout the tragic loss of his son. However, as mentioned before, he tries to offer his sons body to someone, which is the stage of negotiation. The author does not wish to take the place of, but to simply be with his son again, for he has taken him for granted. Once Eric’s body is brought back, Wolterstorff is depressed. He has lost his son due to an accident, which has left a space in his heart empty. The author states that he and his family had taken Eric’s life for granted, where now they are left with no son and he wishes they had a closer bond with him. Before the funeral of his son, Wolterstorff is in a very depressed state. However, the funeral gives Wolterstorff’s soul rest. The narrator seems to be in a better place where he has prepared the liturgy that is used at his son’s funeral. This stage is the last stage of the grievance process. The author accepts the fact that his son’s in a better place now. He also accepts that even though Eric is gone, his memories will stay forever. In the book, Wolterstorff copes with his stress and loss in a beneficial way that lets him enjoy the rest of his life. For the narrator, books offer ways to turn from death and pain. Therefore he decided to write a book that explains the battle he has gone through with the news of his son passing away through the faith in God. The book he wrote is meant to assist other citizens in dealing with tragic problems and trauma. However, even though he writes his book, Wolerstorff still believes that it does not honor the memory of Eric. The author accepts the fact that death is to come to everyone. That one can do whatever he or she wants to stop it, but it will come when the time comes. Wolterstorff learns to spy God in the light, but not see him in darkness. He comprehends the suffering that is happening around the world in a deeper meaning. Wolterstorff learns to live with himself even with all the regrets and sorrow from the loss, for he, one day will meet Eric again. He states that he is waiting for Judgment day to apologize to Eric, for the lack of attention he has given him. These 5 stages of Grief helped Wolterstorff get past the death of his son. Not that he has completely forgotten about it but it has help him cope with this tragic time and to turn it around to live life to the fullest how Eric would have wanted to. These stages help a person recovery from a tragic loss in a healthy not deadly way which helps them get back on their feet and move on. References Roos, S. (2012). The Kubler-Ross Model: An Esteemed Relic. Gestalt Review, 16(3), 312-315. http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=85124369site=ehost-livescope=site Bems, N. (2012). We can carry grief and joy together Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-grieve/201204/we-can-carry-grief-and-joy-together Wolterstorff, N. (1987). Lament for a son. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.

Synthesis of New Coordination Polymers or MOFs

Synthesis of New Coordination Polymers or MOFs 1.1 Design Principles Coordination polymers also known as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) or metal-coordination networks are compounds constructed from organic ligands and metal ions connected through coordination bonds and other weak chemical bonds which can extend infinitely into one two or three dimensions [1-3]. The arrangement of the components in coordination polymers mostly exists only in solid state which results from coordination interactions and weaker forces forming a smaller molecular units and growth occurs through self-assembly processes to give the final overall structure (Fig. 1) [4]. There are four different kinds of building blocks of which coordination polymers are built; ligands, metal ions or clusters, counter anions and solvent molecules. Metal ions which are called nodes or connectors and ligands which act as linkers are the main components [7]. They are the starting reagents which form the principal framework of the coordination polymer. The important characteristics of connectors and linkers are the number and orientation of their binding sites. Transition-metal ions are the most widely used connectors in the construction of coordination polymers. The choice of the metal and its oxidation state will determine the coordination geometries, which can be linear, T- or Y-shaped, tetrahedral, square-planar, square-pyramidal, trigonal-bipyramidal, octahedral, trigonal-prismatic, pentagonal-bipyramidal, and the corresponding distorted forms. Lanthanide ions are less used because of the high coordination number and variability coordination environment. However, th e large coordination numbers from 7 to 10 and the polyhedral coordination geometry of the lanthanide ions will create new and unusual network topologies. In addition, coordinatively unsaturated lanthanide ion centers can be generated by the removal of coordinated solvent molecules. The vacant sites could be utilized in chemical adsorption, heterogeneous catalysis, and sensors [8,9]. Multidentate carboxylate functionalities provide rigid frameworks due to their ability to chelate metal ions and lock in to M-O-C clusters, which are referred as secondary building units (SBUs). Instead of employing one transition metal ion at a network vertex, SBUs can produce extended frameworks of high structural stability. Metal-complex connectors have the advantage of controlling the bond angles and restricting the number of coordination sites; sites for no use can be blocked by chelating or macrocyclic ligands directly bound to a metal connector, and therefore, leave specific sites free for linkers [25,10,11]. Linkers are categorized in to three: inorganic, organic, and organic-inorganic hybrid types. Halides (F, Cl, Br, and I) are the smallest and simplest of all linkers. CN and SCN have similar bridging ability to halides [12,13]. Typical organic ligands are shown in Fig. 2 consisting of neutral, anionic and cationic organic ligands. The organic ligands act as bridging organic groups between the metal ions. Most famous neutral ligands are pyrazine (pyz) and 4,4’-bpy [15-18]. An example of a coordination polymer with the 4,4’-bpy ligand is illustrated in Fig. 3. Recent efforts have been devoted to utilization of long bridging ligands with appropriate spacers [20-25]. Among the anionic organic ligands di-,[26-28] tri-,[26, 29-32] tetra-,[33,34] and hexacarboxylate [35,36] molecules are representative anionic linkers. Coordination polymers having nonsymmetric anionic ligands described as pyridine-X-COO (X=spacer) have been exhaustively studied [37]. 1,4-Dihydroxy-2,5-benzoquinone and its derivatives provide a variety of frameworks, in which they act as linear linkers [38]. Coordination polymers with cationic organic ligands are very rare, which is naturally a result of their very low coordination power for cationic metal ions [39–43]. Developed were novel cationic ligands based on N-aryl pyridinium and viologen derivatives and were successfully employed [39–41]. Counter ions are present in the coordination frameworks when neutral bridging ligands are used as linkers to keep the neutrality in the overall charge. Furthermore, other roles such as coordination and hydrogen bonding linker, guest for vacant spaces in the solid state are expected, eventually resulting in overall structure regulation. Solvent molecules are used not only for reaction media, but also the regulation of framework topology. It may co-crystallize, increasing the number of possible weak interactions in the final solid state packing, and can also act as guest molecules in the vacant space between polymer construct [7]. Synthesis Many new coordination polymers or MOFs have been synthesized in the last few years; however, their methods of preparation and synthesis were quite similar. Most of them are synthesized by employing a so called â€Å"modular synthesis†, in which a mixture of metal precursors and appropriate ligands are combined under mild conditions to provide a crystalline porous network [26]. In most of the resulting materials the solvent used during synthesis is removed by applying vacuum, heat, or exchange with volatile molecules, resulting in large pore volume and large surface area accessible to guest molecules. Synthetic methods such as solvothermal synthesis (conventional approach), microwave synthesis [45], sonication synthesis [46], mechanochemical synthesis [47], and solid start synthesis [48] have been developed. Despite the simplicity of the synthesis, there are several challenges in the preparation of new materials related to the optimization of the reaction conditions that lead t o the desired MOF, in high yield and crystallinity. The following parameters can influence MOFs’ optimization and synthesis: temperature, solvent compositions, reaction times, reagent ratios, reagent concentrations, and pH of the co-solvent solution [44]. Accordingly, any change in any of these parameters can result in large number of network connectivities, many of which are nonporous and have adverse effect on the gas storage and separation applications. Therefore, large numbers of reactions trails are required to discover the new desired MOFs in which the reaction parameters are systematically varied. As a result high throughput technologies have been employed for the synthesis of new MOFs in the recent years [49,50]. 1.2.1 Solvothermal Synthesis Solvothermal methods have been confirmed to be among the most effective and convenient routes under relatively mild conditions, in particular for the crystal growth of coordination polymers [50-52]. Solvothermal reactions are carried out in closed vessels under autogenous pressure above the boiling point of the solvent. In most cases, high-boiling organic solvents have been used for solvothermal reactions. The most commonly used being dimethyl formamide, diethyl formamide, acetonitrile, acetone, ethanol, and methanol etc. Mixtures of solvents have also been used to tune the solution polarity and the kinetics of solvent-ligand exchange, effecting enhanced crystal growth. Solvothermal reactions can be carried out in different temperature ranges, depending on the requirement of the reaction [53]. When water is used as the solvent, the reactions are referred to as hydrothermal. The hydrothermal method has been used successfully for the synthesis of an enormous number of inorganic compoun ds and inorganic organic hybrid materials [54]. Due to their unique advantageous properties such as high thermal stability, air and moisture non-sensitivity, non-volatility, low reactivity, and templating and charge balancing ability of ionic liquids, they can be chosen as solvothermal reaction media. Solvothermal synthesis in ionic liquids is specifically referred to as ionothermal synthesis [55]. The coordination polymer [Cu(I)(bpp)]BF4 [bpp = 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane] [56] was prepared by solvothermal reaction using the ionic liquid [bmim][BF4] (bmim = 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium). The synthesis methods employed for different structures of coordination polymers (MOFs) and their key findings are listed in Table 1. 1.2.2 Microwave-assisted synthesis Microwave-assisted synthesis has attracted much attention as it provides a very rapid method for the synthesis of MOFs and has been used extensively to produce nanosize metal oxides [59]. Such processes involve heating a solution with microwaves for a period of about an hour to produce nanosized crystals. The microwave-assisted synthesis has been termed ‘microwave-assisted solvothermal synthesis’ for the preparation of MOFs. Microwave-assisted processes generally produce the same qualities of crystals as those obtained by the regular solvothermal processes, but much quicker [60-64]. The first coordination polymer reported to be synthesized by microwave synthesis was Cr-MIL-100 [65]. The compound was synthesized in 4 h at 220 oC with 44% yield, which is comparable with that of conventional hydrothermal synthesis (220 oC and 4 days). The author expanded this method to synthesis of Cr-MIL-101 at 210 oC in less than 60 min, and reported similar physicochemical and textural properties compared with the standard material synthesized using the conventional electrical heating method [66]. Another coordination polymer, MOF-5, was also synthesized by applying microwave irradiation: increase in microwave irradiation time, power level, and concentration of the substrates beyond an optimal condition led to a reduction in synthesis time at the expense of crystal quality [67]. Microwave-assisted heating was found to be the method of choice to rapidly synthesize HKUST-1 crystals in the range of 10-20 ÃŽ ¼m in high yields (~90%) within 1 h [68]. Fe-MIL-53 [69], Fe-MIL-101-NH2 [7 0], IRMOF-3 (H2BDC-NH2) [71], and ZIF-8 (HMeIm) [72] were also synthesized using microwave-assisted synthesis method. 1.2.3 Sonochemical Synthesis Sonochemical methods can also achieve a reduction in crystallization time and significantly smaller particles size than those by the conventional solvothermal synthesis by homogeneous and accelerated nucleation [73,74]. A substrate solution mixture for a given MOF structure is introduced to a horn-type Pyrex reactor fitted to a sonicator bar with an adjustable power output without external cooling. After sonication, formation and collapse of bubbles will be formed in the solution which produces very high local temperatures (~5,000 K) and pressures (~1,000 bar) [74,75], and results in extremely fast heating and cooling rates (>1010 K/s) producing fine crystallites [76]. High-quality MOF-5 crystals in the 5-25ÃŽ ¼m range were obtained within 30min by sonochemical synthesis using NMP (1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) as the solvent [77]. Detailed characterization and comparison with a conventionally synthesized sample showed almost identical physical properties. HKUST-1 was also prepared using DMF/EtOH/H2O mixed-solution in an ultrasonic bath [78]. High-quality Mg-MOF-74 crystals (1,640m2/g BET surface area) with particle size of ca. 0.6 ÃŽ ¼m were successfully synthesized in 1 h by a sonochemical method after triethylamine (TEA) was added as a deprotonating agent. Interestingly, mesopores were formed, probably due to the competitive binding of TEA to Mg2+ ions [79]. ZIF-8 was prepared recently by a sonochemical method under the pH-adjusted synthesis conditions using NaOH and TEA [80]. Inexpensive industrial grade DMF was employed as a solvent. A small amount of TEA as a deprotonating agent was necessary to obtain ZIF-8 crystals when the resulting solution was subjected to an ultrasonic treatment for 1 h at a 60% power level. 1.2.4 Electrochemical Synthesis The electrochemical synthesis is based on metal ions continuously supplied through anodic dissolution as a metal source instead of metal salts, which react with the dissolved linker molecules and a conducting salt in the reaction medium. The metal deposition on the cathode is avoided by employing protic solvents, but in the process H2 is generated [81]. The electrochemical route is also possible to run a continuous process to obtain a higher solids content compared to normal batch reactions [76]. The first electrochemical synthesis of MOFs was reported in 2005 by researchers at BASF [82] for HKUST-1. Bulk copper plates are used as the anodes in an electrochemical cell with the H3BTC dissolved in methanol as solvent and a copper cathode. During a period of 150 min at a voltage of 12-19V and a currency of 1.3 A, a greenish blue precipitate was formed. After activation, a dark blue colored powder having surface area of 1,820m2/g was obtained. This work was further used in the ZIFs syntheses [81,83]. Recently, HKUST-1, ZIF-8, Al-MIL-100, Al-MIL-53, and Al- MIL-53-NH2 were synthesized via anodic dissolution in an electrochemical cell [84]. The synthesis parameters such as solvent, electrolyte, voltage-current density, and temperature on the synthesis yield and textural properties of the MOFs obtained, was investigated and the produced MOF structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction, gas adsorption, atomic force microscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. 1.2.5 Mechanochemical Synthesis Mechanochemical synthesis involves breakage of intramolecular bonds mechanically followed by a chemical transformation [80]. Synthesis of porous MOF by mechanochemical reaction was reported first in 2006 [89]. Mechanochemical reactions can occur at room temperature under solvent-free conditions, which has an advantage in avoiding organic solvents [90]. Quantitative yields of small MOF particles can be obtained in short reaction times, normally in the range of 10-60min. Mostly, metal oxides were found to be preferred than metal salts as a starting material, which results in water as the only side product [80]. The critical contribution of moisture in mechanochemical synthesis of pillared type MOFs was recently reported by Kitagawa group [91]. Liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) involves addition of small amounts of solvents which can lead to acceleration of mechanochemical reactions due to an increase of mobility of the reactants on the molecular level [92,93]. The liquid can also work as a structure-directing agent. However, mechanochemical synthesis is limited to specific MOF types only and large amount of product is difficult to obtain. While a mechanochemical reaction between H3BTC and copper acetate produces HKUST-1, reaction using copper formate resulted in a previously unknown phase, potentially due to templating effects of the different acid byproducts formed [93]. Recently, a mechanochemical approach was also applied for ZIF synthesis using combinations of ZnO and imidazole (HIm), 2-methylimidazole (HMeIm), and 2-ethylimidazole (HEtIm) as the starting material within 30-60min reaction time [94].

The Impact Of Liquidity On Profitability Finance Essay

The Impact Of Liquidity On Profitability Finance Essay Padachi observed the trends in working capital management and its impact on performance of a firm. Return on assets and cash conversion cycle was used to measure the firms profitability and efficiency of working capital management respectively. He described that a firm should maintain stability between profitability and liquidity while maintaining its day to day activities. The manager of a business want to maximize firms value by achieving preferred tradeoff between liquidity and profitability of a firm. The results indicated that the more investment in inventories and receivables lower the profitability of a firm. Raheman Nasr (2007) discussed the impact of working capital management on profitability of a firm. They also highlighted that the basic objective of a firm is to maximize profit but maintaining liquidity is also an important objective. There will be a serious problem if firm increase profit at the cost of liquidity. Both objectives are important for the firm. If a firm does not concerned about profit then it cannot survive for a longer period. On the other hand, if a firm does not concern about liquidity it may face bankruptcy. They took 94 firms of Pakistan and analyzed that there is a negative relationship between liquidity and profitability of a firm. Michalski (2008) empirically analyzed the relationship between firms policy regarding net working investment and firms profitability. Too low liquidity level may come up problems with timely reimbursement of its liabilities while surplus liquid assets would negatively affect firms profitability. He discussed that decisions regarding liquidity is very difficult, a firm has to choose one of the three policies: first an aggressive policy i.e. a large part of the firms fixed and volatile demand to finance fixed assets is supported with short term financing, second a moderate policy i.e. a fixed part of current assets is financed with long term funds and volatile part is financed with short term funds lastly a conservative policy i.e. both fixed and volatile parts of current assets are financed with long term funds. Dash Hanuman (2009) were concerned about working capital management and they analyzed the liquidity-profitability trade-off model named as goal programming model. They supported that proper flow of fund is needed to run any business. A firm has conflicting objectives regarding liquidity and profitability so the goal programming model determines how targeted levels of profitability and liquidity would be achieved by maintaining current and fixed assets and at the same time minimizing opportunity cost. Their model proposed that working capital and inventory must be streamlined to profitability. Nazir Afza (2009) tried to find out the relation between aggressive working capital management policy and firms profitability by using panel data regression model and Tobins q of 204 Pakistani companies for the period of 1998-2005. They claimed that investors give importance to stocks of those firms which adopt aggressive policies to manage current liabilities. Their findings suggested that aggressive working capital investment and financing policies and profitability are negatively associated. They claimed that investors consider that firms which have less long term loans and equity can have better performance than the others. Burtescu (2010) documented the reflection of liquidity and profitability of a company in the accounting result. He emphasized that it is not adequate for a firm to follow only economic indicators but it is also essential for a firm to make sure its liquidity in its quality of a specific dimension of financial management. The information about solvency and liquidity are beneficial for a firm to predict the ability of a firm to fulfill its financial obligations. He argued that investors have a great concern about the cash flow of a company and it becomes obligatory for a firm to include cash flow statement in its annual financial statements. Gill, Biger Mathur (2010) attempted to examine the relationship between working capital management and profitability. They used sample of 88 firms listed on New York Stock Exchange for the period of 2005-2007. The results suggested that the relationship between cash conversion cycle and gross profit margin is statistically significant. They also concluded that account receivables and profitability are negatively associated. The managers can enhance profits of their company by handling the cash conversion cycle efficiently. Mohamad Saad (2010) attempted to scrutinize the impact of working capital management on profitability and market valuation of a firm. They analyzed the secondary data of 172 Malaysian companies for the period of 2000-2007. They took working capital variables such as cash conversion cycle, current ratio, debt to asset ratio, current asset to total asset, current liabilities to total asset and profitability variables are return on asset and return on invested capital. By using multiple regression analysis and correlation, their results revealed that working capital variables have negative association with firms profitability. Firms cannot exist without working capital and it can improve the profitability and market value of a firm. Dong Su (2010) also conducted a study to find out the relationship between working capital management and firms profitability. The working capital management has an important part in the success and failure of a firm because it has a great impact on the profitability and liquidity of a firm. Their sample is based on 130 firms which are listed in Vietnam stock market for the period of 2006-2008. Their findings proved that profitability and cash conversion cycle is strongly negatively associated. By optimum working capital management, the managers may create a value of stock for the shareholders. The firm should maintain a balance between its two objectives; profitability and liquidity. One objective should not be achieved at the cost of other. Their findings also suggested that profitability can be increased by decreasing the number of days accounts receivable and inventories. Saleem Rehman (2011) observed a significant relationship between liquidity and firms performance. Liquidity of a company is very important for its every stack holder. If a firms cash and near cash assets are insufficient to satisfy its immediate payment obligations than firm may face difficulties. This can affect firms day to day business operations and profitability. They evaluated that liquidity and profitability are inversely related, one increases the other will decreases. Bhunia, Khan Mukhuti (2011) provided the evidence with respect to the relationship between liquidity and profitability of a firm. They took steel companies of private sector in India to assess the management of liquidity as a factor of performance. They studied important liquidity indicators and analyzed that optimal working capital management can be achieved by controlling the trade-off between profitability and liquidity of a firm. Firm value is positively affected by optimal working capital management so the investment in working capital must be satisfactory. They concluded that liquidity and profitability are significantly positively associated. Saghir, Hashmi Hussain (2011) studied the relationship between working capital management and profitability of a firm. They used cash conversion cycle to measure working capital management efficiency and return on asset to measure profitability while analyzing the financial data of 60 textile firms listed on KSE for the period of 2001 to 2006. They suggested that smooth inflow of profit is mainly affected by the optimum point of working capital. Working capital means companys current assets and it has a direct effect on the liquidity and profitability of a firm. According to the risk and return theory, when firms liquidity of working capital is high then it has low risk and low profitability and vice versa. The shorter cash conversion cycle is better for the firm profitability. Their result shows the negative relation between working capital management and profitability of a firm. Alipour (2011) researched about working capital management and corporate profitability while taking sample of 1063 companies from Tehran stock exchange. To test the hypothesis, multiple regression and pearsons correlation was used. He analyzed that sale and profit of a company is greatly influenced by the working capital management. Due to inefficient working capital management, a company may be incapable to pay its debts on time. The results show a significant relationship between working capital management and profitability of a company. There is a negative relationship between cash conversion cycle, average collection period, inventory turnover in days and profitability. Qazi et al. (2011) examined the impact of working capital on the profitability of a firm. Using the financial data of Pakistani automobile and oil and gas industry for the time period of 2004-2009, he proposed that the important components of working capital are debtor, creditor and inventory. The efficient and effective working capital can create value of the shares to shareholders. He persuaded that maintaining the companys liquid level is a major task of a company. So, by ignoring liquidity objective, company may face insolvency or bankruptcy. Their results showed the positive impact of working capital on profitability. Ching, Novazzi Gerab (2011) scrutinized the financial statements of two separate groups of companies: working capital intensive and fixed capital intensive having16 companies in each group listed on Brazil Stock exchange during 2005-2009. They used return on assets, returns on sales and returns on equity to measure profitability and cash conversion cycle, debt ratio, days receivables, days inventory and days of working capital are used as independent variables. Their results showed that managing working capital is very important for both type of companies. Moreover, working capital intensive type of company gets more profit by managing inventory and cash conversion efficiency at optimum level and fixed capital intensive type of company yield more profit through other two variables. Karaduman et al. (2011) also investigated the link between management of working capital and profitability of a firm. In the recent economic conditions, the survival of a firm greatly depends upon the ability to manage its financial function. Their sample is based on 127 companies listed in the Istanbul Stock Exchange during 2005-2009. The cash conversion cycle was used as a proxy of working capital management and returns on assets was used to measure profitability. The results portrayed that ROA is positively affected by the reduction in CCC. The profitability is increased by developing efficiency of working capital. Alam et al. (2011) studied the influence of working capital management on the profitability and its market value of firms which are listed on Karachi stock exchange. They claimed that a misconception that firm survival is based on its profits has been cleared due to the present liquidity crises. They used financial data of 65 companies listed on Karachi Stock exchange during 2005-2009. Return on assets and returns on invested capital were used as proxy for measuring financial performance of the firm, Tobins Q was used to determine the market value of a firm and five financial ratios such as cash conversion cycle, current ratio, debt to asset ratio, current asset to total asset ratio and current liabilities to total asset ratio were used as dependent variables. Their empirical results presented sufficient evidence that firms strongly depends upon current assets to generate profits. Ogundipe, Idowu Ogundipe (2012) provided evidence regarding the influence of working capital management on performance of a firm and its market value. They collected data from annual reports of 54 Nigerian companies for the period of 1995-2009. They explained working capital management as management of current assets and current liabilities and it has a direct effect on firms profitability and market valuation. Their findings suggested that as cash conversion cycle decreases firms profitability increases and efficient working capital management also increases the market value of a firm. Barine (2012) established the relationship between efficient working capital management and firms profitability. Working capital management ensures a firms ability to satisfy both short term obligations and forthcoming operational expenses. They compared the cost and returns of working capital of 22 listed firms on Nigerian stock exchange. Their findings proposed that if cost of working capital is greater than returns on working capital investment then it negatively affects profitability and firms should have optimized working capital investments to stay away from over or under investments. Bhunia (2012) explored the influence of liquidity on profitability while taking the sample of FMCG companies in India during 2001 to 2010. He argued that working capital management plays an important role in the financial management decisions of a firm and managers should manage the trade-off between liquidity and profitability to attain optimal working capital management as it can create value for the firm. By using applied normality test, correlation and regression, the results indicated that liquidity and profitability are positively associated. The research of Vahid, Mohsen and Mohammadreza (2012) also highlighted the affect of working capital management policies on firms profitability. They explained that working capital management has a great impact on profitability and liquidity of a firm and it is responsible for the success and failure of a firm. Their sample consists of 28 Iranian companies listed on Tehran stock exchange for 2005-2009. Their results suggested that conservative investment policy i.e. high level of short term investment have a negative impact on profitability and value of a firm, while aggressive investment policy i.e. long term investment have positive impact on profitability and value of a firm. Their results also showed that aggressive financing policies i.e. high level of current liabilities to finance firms project have a negative impact on profitability and value of a firm, while conservative financing policies i.e. having more long term liabilities to finance firms operating activities have a po sitive impact on firms profitability and value. Al-Mwalla (2012) tried to observe the affect of working capital management policies on the profitability and value of a firm. He persuaded that a firm has to maintain adequate level of working capital to fulfill its short term obligations. Therefore, a firm can adopt one of the two policies; a conservative policy by maintaining low level of current assets to total assets or an aggressive policy by keeping high level of current liabilities to total liabilities. He took annual data of 57 firms listed in Amman Stock Market during 2001 to 2009 for analysis. The results portrayed that conservative policy of investment and financing are positively associated with profitability and value of a firm. Ahmad (2012) highlighted the influence of working capital management on forms performance while taking a sample of 253 companies related to non financial sector listed on Karachi Stock Exchange, Pakistan. He use ROA and ROE as proxy of firm performance and current asset over total sales, current asset over total asset, debtors turnover, current ratio and inventory turnover as proxies of working capital management. Using OLS regression, Pearson correlation analysis and logistic regression techniques, he found that all explanatory variables are positively correlated to firm performance except current assets to total sales as it has a negative correlation with firm performance. Usama (2012) extended the work of Rehman and Nasar regarding working capital management while taking the sample of 18 companies from other food sector listed on Karachi Stock Exchange for the period of 2006-2010. The researcher used different variables to measure working capital management such as average collection period, inventory turnover in days, cash conversion cycle, average payment period, debt ratio, firm size, current ratio, and financial asset to total asset. Using common effect model and pooled least square regression, the results indicated that working capital management has significant positive association with firms profitability and liquidity. He also concluded that firm size and minimum inventory turnover in days has positive influence on firms profitability. Myers (2001) purported that there is no general theory regarding debt and equity choice. He discussed three main theories for the choice of debt and equity. He described that according to trade off theory firms adopt that debt level which balances the tax benefits of additional debt against the cost of financial distress. Debt financing gives a tax shield to a firm therefore they took high level of debt to gain maximum tax benefits and eventually increase profitability. However, the increase of debt financing increases the possibility of bankruptcy. According to pecking order theory, when firms internal cash flow is not enough to fulfill its capital expenditure then firms prefer debt on equity. Mostly low profitable firms entail external financing and accumulate debt. According to the free cash flow theory, when a mature firm has profitable investment opportunities and its operating cash flow is considerably exceeds its investment opportunities, so this dangerous level of debt will h ave a positive effect on firms value regardless of threat of financial distress. Berger Bonaccorsi di Patti (2003) supported that leverage has a direct impact on agency cost which influences firm performance. They proposed that high leverage or a low equity capital ratio causes to reduce the agency cost related to outside equity and raises firm value. They used annual information of U.S. commercial banks from 1990 to 1995. Their result showed that a 1% increase in leverage decrease equity capital ratio surrenders a predicted 6% increase in profit efficiency. Fama French (2005) described the financing decisions of firms. They tested predictions of pecking order theory about financing decisions and claimed that more than half of their sample firms defy the pecking order predictions. Their first result is against the pecking order prediction that firms hardly issue stock. Under their sample, 67% of the firms issue stock each year during 1973-1982 and it rises to 74% for 1983-1992, and 86% during 1993-2002. So, equity decisions of a firm frequently violate the pecking order. Second prediction is that capital structure of a firm is derived by asymmetric information problem but their findings are against this prediction. They suggested that this problem can be avoided by issuing equity through different ways. Elsas, Flannery Garfinkel (2006) studied firm major investment, financing decisions and long run performance. They took 1,185 U.S. firms which made huge acquisitions or capital expenditures during 1989-1999. They observed that large firms financed their new investment with debt whereas equity has a small role. With the passage of time, new debt replaced with equity funds. Small firms mostly rely on issuing equity when financing its new investments to replace debt while internal cash flow is used by medium sized firms. They analyzed that debt financing produces negative long run performance more than equity financing whereas financing with internal funds never produce important share underperformance. Dittmar Thakor (2007) developed a new theory of issuance of security that is when stock prices are high then firms issue equity. This issue is contradictory with the two major theories of capital structure: pecking order and trade off theory. The main idea of their theory is that managers decision about security issuance is based on how their decisions will influence the investment choice of the firm and how this choice will influence the post-investment stock price of the firm. After the investment in the project, managers are more concerned about the stock price and the long term equity value of the firm. The shareholders and bondholders may object to the managers choice of investment because they have dissimilar beliefs regarding the value of the project. Their findings suggest that firms which issue equity have higher stock prices, higher values of agreement parameter and higher increase in investments.

Essay --

Essay #3 Through chapters seventeen to twenty one, in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, a few new aristocrats are introduced as Mr. Rochester’s guests. Among these guests there is a significant character called Blanche Ingram. Jane is soon to find out about the relationship between Mr. Rochester and Miss Ingram, they are engaged. During the week that Mr. Rochester was away, Jane came to a realization of her feelings towards Mr. Rochester. However she kept telling herself that she had no business with Mr. Rochester except a strict business relationship as his governess. And that the only thing he should be giving her is the money she earns and that is it. However after a few days Mr. Rochester comes back with a group of aristocrats. Although he has guests he intends to impress, he still calls down Jane every evening. Because she is not in their ranks she is mainly ignored, but because Mr. Rochester calls her down, she is forced to sit in the window seat and simply watch them. In these gatherings, Miss Blanche and her mother treat Jane cruelly. They insulted her not directly but by her position. They talked badly about how much they dislike governesses and tutors and about how difficult they would make their lives. However Jane could really see inside Miss Ingram. She spent those days observing mainly the relationship held by Mr. Rochester and Miss Ingram and came up with the conclusion that â€Å"Miss Ingram was a mark beneath jealousy: she was too inferior to excite feeling. Pardon the seeming paradox; I mean what I say. She was very showy, but she was not genuine; she had a fine person, many brilliant attainments, but her mind was poor, her heart barren by nature; nothing bloomed spontaneously on that soil; no unforced natural fruit del... ... still, without weapons a silent conquest might have been won.†(chap. 18, pg 196) Jane was confident of her charm that she had over Mr. Rochester, and although she didn’t interfere, there wasn’t any trace of jealousy, except possibly some hurt, because Mr. Rochester would choose to marry someone who he doesn’t love but is in the same social class, rather than someone who he does love, and loves him back but isn’t in the same status as him. Overall although everything was happening so fast, soon we find out that Miss Ingram was only interested in Mr. Rochester’s wealth, and probably thought that since he was older, and not that attractive he would be easy to get a hold of, since she knows that she is beautiful, and sort of a snob. Even so we also find out that Mr. Rochester lead on Blanche Ingram, making her think he wanted to marry her, simply to get Jane Jealous.

Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day - Comparing Scenes in the Movie and Book :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day - Comparing Scenes in the Movie and Book   Ã‚  Ã‚   With the Nazi invasion of France in the early 1940s, Europe became a very turbulent and dangerous place. There were many concerns of the people of all the countries of the continent: bombings, invasion and especially espionage. In her novel The Heat of the Day, Elizabeth Bowen describes the unsettling and uneasiness that were apparent in England during the war. Although Bowen gives us an eloquent description of the happens in England, readers get a much better view on the happens in certain scenes by viewing the adaptation of the novel into film. Although there are many scenes to compare between the film and the novel, the scene chosen for this study will be the funeral of Cousin Francis and the first appearance of Harrison in the movie. This occurs in the fourth chapter of the novel. A discussion of Robert and Stella’s conversation in his room at Holme Dene will also occur. The first scene begins, in the film, with Stella walking into the church when the funeral is about to begin. We see that she chooses to sit on the right side of the coffin where we can only assume that the family is meant sit. Next we see the camera pan to a shot of a man sitting on the opposite side of the isle. At this point, unless the audience has read the book, we have no idea who this man is. The funeral commences, ends and the next shot we see is the members of the funeral procession heading to the post funeral gathering. One odd thing that we must note at this point is that the unknown man who sat in the back of the church does not walk with anyone else in the party: he seems to just be follower. Many things occur at this point in the film. We learn that Stella’s son Roderick has become the sole person to inherit Cousin Francis’ home, Mount Morris, according to the family lawyer. We also discover that no one in the whole funeral party knows who the man who sat in the back of the church is. It is here in which we learn that the man is called Harrison after he introduces himself to Stella.

Business Research Report

Social media, dating sites and shopping sites all use given registration information to learn more about consumers. The more companies know about people, the better they can decide who their potential customers should be and how to reach them. Social media is communication through online communities. The use of social media in marketing has become very popular over the last few years. This is a very effective way to promote content by increased visibility. Using these platforms also allows for more involvement with the customers to build more trusting relationships with them.Customer relationship management refers to software that records and analyzes all kinds of useful data. This info can be obtained in many different says by either the company or a third party. It is used to understand the customers and their buying habits. We recommend opening a Faceable and Twitter account, using those accounts to hyper target and creating a CRM database. We chose these specific technologies bec ause they are fairly simple to implement and would be the most helpful for our company. Introduction The purpose of this report is to review and analyze new information technologies that can assist with marketing in the company.As of this year, there are over 950 companies that provide marketing software (Brinier 2014). Everyday, marketing professionals are looking for new ways to grow their business and technology has changed the way they reach new customers. These days, it's all about the customers and what they want and because they have access to pretty much everything, marketers have to find a way to get their attention. It is estimated that people spend about 1 1 hours a day using some form of technology (Patronize 2014). Knowing this, traditional marketing just isn't enough anymore.If companies want to keep up with consumers, they must keep up With technology. With all of the technology available for use, companies can have so much information at their fingertips. Out of all of the possibilities, we chose to examine social media, hyper targeting and customer relationship management (CRM) because we think those will work best for the company. Social media is very low cost and will allow us to reach a much bigger audience. We can engage the audience and build relationships with them this way. Hyper targeting will be used to identify potential customers and reach them more efficiently.This ensures that the people we advertise to are more likely to be interested in what we have to offer. Having a CRM database would low easy access to all of our information about our customers. This information can be used in anyway that our company sees fit. Hyper Targeting Hyper targeting is defined as the ability to identify potential consumers and deliver targeted advertising content. History The phrase â€Å"Hyper Targeting† was actually coined by Namespace (Gold, 2009). Namespace discovered that they could target consumers for ads based on the information provid ed in users' registration and profiles.This information might include age, sex, geographic region, education, favorite movies, entertainment, restaurants, etc. Namespace discovered that because of the large numbers of registered users, they could target very specific user interests and still reach large numbers of people. Today, dating sites, social media sites and other sites that require user registration and other â€Å"self- expressed† user information all make use of hyper targeting. Hyper Targeting with Twitter and Faceable The social media sites Twitter and Faceable both make heavy use of hyper targeting.A company advertising on Twitter can target every Twitter user who has specific words in their public bio, or someone who uses particular words often in tweets, or someone who follows certain verified other retailers. Businesses can also create a user list using those specifications and show that group â€Å"promoted nets† (Smith, 2014). Faceable allows advertis ers to target users by age, SeX, language, location, workplace, education, interests, browsing history and more, with different ads for different populations.Advertisers can even display ads in different languages, depending on whom they have hyper targeted (Albacore, 2011 Mobile Hyper Targeting Advertisers may target mobile device users based on the location Of the user, via a number of methods. Users' locations can be estimated based on their IP address, but this method is not always accurate. A more accurate approach is to use the GAPS coordinates that the user has chosen to share with certain mobile applications. Once the users location is known, advertising may be targeted based on proximity to a particular place (I. E. The city center), or based on proximity to a particular retail outlet.Advertisers may also presume that users have a particular interest based on their location (I. E. If they are at a hockey game, perhaps they like sports), and target advertising accordingly (K ombi, 2013). Analysis Hyper targeting can be used to identify potential customers based on relevant criteria and deliver advertising to them. Hyper targeting may limit the size of the advertising audience, but the â€Å"targeted† consumers are much more likely to respond to the advertising. Hyper targeting is relevant to our company because it can help us determine who our customers are and/or should be, and it can help us reach them more efficiently.Social Media Social media, as most know, is a form Of electronic communication through online communities. According to Pew Research (2014), 90% of adults ages 8-29 use social media, which has made it a very popular way to market over the last few years. Social media is used to promote and inform, gain valuable feedback and build relationships with customers. Promotion Twitter and Faceable are often used for promotion and are very effective (and free). Customers look on these pages for all kinds of information about companies and social media is a fast and simple way to keep them updated.A company can invite people to like their page and share their posts and just like that, millions of people could be exposed to the content. The global average of a share on a social networking site is $3. 0 (Meyer-Brandt 2014). This is how much money the company makes due to increased visibility from each share of their content. Engaging Social media platforms are a great way for businesses to engage and build relationships with customers. This is now one of the fastest ways to communicate with people. Because it allows for two-way communication, where television and radio don't, it is much easier to engage people.Companies can ask for people's opinions with new projects and encourage them to share their content. Getting them to participate in voting, contests and provide feedback can help the company be more transparent to the public. Responding to questions and comments can make customer service experiences better. Analy sis With social media being such a big part of society these days, there isn't really a better way to market one's business or product. This is important to us because we can reach a bigger audience to share information about our company with than we could using most other avenues.Social media marketing is usually free and will allow us to build relationships with our â€Å"followers† and involve them. The more involved they are, the better and more trusting relationships we have with them. Those relationships will lead o better experiences for our customers, who will spread the word and bring more business to us. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can be defined as a strategy used to record and manage data and interactions with customers. This strategy usually involves using some kind of software that saves and analyzes data.Information The information collected could be contact info, demographic and complete transaction history. Su rveys could be given to customers to find out what they like and don't like. One method used to obtain information is to offer a shopping/loyalty card. Giving rewards and discounts to customers will encourage them to sign up, which is when they will provide some of their info. Some companies also use a third party to connect people to account numbers and credit cards. How it's used The information can be used in many ways to help improve marketing.The idea is to understand the relationship between the company and the customer with their buying habits. All of the info that is recorded over time and through each and every customer interaction is saved in a database and is used to target customer's specific needs. So, now it is easier to market the eight product to the right person for the right price. Implementing a CRM system can be very beneficial to the company. This is the fastest growing marketing tool in the last five years (Reardon 2011 All Of our information involving customer s would be in one organized database.The marketing team would then have easy access to all of the info and use it as they see fit. Having this knowledge, marketers would be able to find more qualified customers, making the time spent doing so more valuable. This would save the company time and keep us from wasting money on marketing to the wrong people. Recommendations Our company, like others, relies on sales for profit. It is recommended that we take measures to increase those sales by implementing the findings. The first thing we should do is make a Faceable and Twitter account.We can designate people to administer these accounts, keep them updated and get people interested in our company. We should then, use our social media accounts to hyper target. There are various software programs to choose from or we can let Faceable and Twitter do all of that for us. Lastly, we should decide what information we want to use in a CRM database; what info ill be most helpful to our company. T hen, we need to decide if we want to create our own database or if we want to pay a third party to do collect the information for us.These findings are important because they will help our company advance in marketing, which is likely to lead to higher sales. Social media is a fast and easy way to reach the most people. It permits us to communicate and engage existing and potential customers. We can also use these platforms to hyper target our content. Hyper targeting will help us by advertising to the people who are most likely to respond, getting the most out of our marketing. Creating a customer relationship management database will contain all of our customer's information.