Business Proposal Outline Essay

This is a summary that can answer the question: what kind or type of business am I in? You must be able to answer this with a one sentence answer that summarizes everything you’ll do. You’ll use this as a tag line when meeting business people as you market your business or as an introductorily statement presented to a lender. Structure Define your business as a Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, C Corporation, S Corporation or Limited Liability Corporation. To accomplish this will require the skills and expense of a good attorney specializing in small business. Management See more: argument essay format You’ll need bios and resumes on your principal team players, including details of their experience, education, noteworthy achievements and why you’ll think they will be an asset. Employees How many and how will you hire them? What qualifications are you looking for? Will you outsource? What about compensations, benefits, workman’s comp insurance or health plans? Finances & Accounting In house or subcontracted? Computerized? What software will you need? You’ll need a proforma profit and loss statement with income and profit projections forecasted out three years. What kind of a balance sheet method will you use? You’ll need three-year projections of assets and cash-flow. Will you outsource for expertise in this area? Who can you hire and who can recommend reliable professionals? How much will a qualified CPA cost you a year? What services will he/she provide? Technology What are your needs? How will you use your equipment and in what aspects of your business? What file databases are you going to maintain? How much power do you need to maintain these? Can you option for online vendors or do you have to install an in-house system,? What about IT? Outsourced or hired? What is you budget for upgrades of equipment and software? Will you be doing graphics and promotional materials design in-house or outsourced? What about spyware, malware and virus protections? More Than An Afterthought Writing a business plan that is comprehensive will require a lot of work and thought. But once it’s done, you’ll have a tool that can breathe and grow as your business grows. A successful business plan template will be divided into sections allowing the reader an easy interpretation of what your goals are and how you plan to achieve them. It should include the following: †¢Cover Sheet. Includes the name of the new business and the principals involved. †¢Table of Contents. Easily divides the plan into different sections and allows for easy navigating. †¢Executive Summary and Mission Statement. Introduces the business idea, summarizes the ideas and goals and what you intend to accomplish. †¢Start-Up Costs and Operations. Lists all the details of the items and costs required to get started as well as the operating costs once the business has opened its doors. This includes all expenses such as rent, supplies, administration, equipment and employees. †¢Marketing Plan. Your strategy for advertising and other methods of gaining clients. †¢Revenue Projection. Your financial forecast over a period of several years. †¢Appendix.

Case Analysis on Capital Structure Pioneer Petroleum Essay

Introduction: This landmark case seeks to break the risk-reward trade off involved in calculating Capital Cost. The object of the solution must be to minimize project risks while maximizing project opportunities available. We want a rate and a rating system that does not unnecessarily reject â€Å"the best available projects – i.e. highest net positive free cash-flows at that time.† Particularly in times of excess capacity, this will marginally contribute to increasing company wide yields, but will not necessarily match the company-wide yield imposed by investors. History of the Company and Background of the Case: Sometime in July 1991, one of the critical problems confronting management and the board of Pioneer Petroleum Corporation, hereinafter referred to as Pioneer, is about Capital Budgeting; specifically they needed to determine the Minimum Acceptable Rate of Return, or MARR, on new capital investments. Their capital budgeting approach was to accept all proposed investments with a positive net present value when cash-flows are discounted at such appropriate cost of capital. Formed in 1924 through mergers of several formerly independent firms operating in the oil refining, pipeline transportation, and industrial chemical fields, pioneer Pioneer did vertical, horizontal, and backward integrations into exploration and production of crude oil, marketing refined petroleum products, plastics, agricultural chemicals, and later diversified into real estate development. In 1985 Pioneer restructured further into hydrocarbon-based oil, gas, coal, and petrochemicals. Statement of the Problem: What rate or rating system will consider specific, inherent risks of divisions and operating sectors AND consider benefits ascribed to the single-rate Weighted Average Cost of Capital approach? How can we help Pioneer Petroleum make an objective, rational choice on the hurdle or cut-off rates for evaluation of new projects in a fully integrated conglomerate of multiple divisions; determine whether they should use the SINGLE company wide Weighted Average Cost of Capital, which reflect the rates at their face value to the company, OR proposed MULTIPLE Divisional Cost of Capital, which reflects risk-profit characteristics inherent in various divisions and operating sectors. Objectives/ Directions of the Solution 1) The decision must help the management and board of directors of Pioneer Petroleum decide on the fair and objective Hurdle Rate/s that will fairly qualify new investment projects of Pioneer Petroleum divisions 2) Whatever the recommendation ought to be consistent with facts of the case, and provide consonance, rather than inconsonance, with the efforts of both the division and central or corporate management to execute strategy, leverage on strengths, and empower the company to make investments to gain and sustain competitive advantage. 3) The recommended project rate and rating system must be simple, objective and fair. 4) It must consider specific, inherent risks of divisions and operating sectors 5) It must also address the interest of stockholders to maximize return on their equity or investments. Case Facts and Assumptions: 1) It is the Policy of the board to balance the source of funds, or to keep the funded debt and equity ratio at 50:50 . Debt and Equity financial ratios are: a. D-E ratio for refining is 1.5:1, b. D-E for the exploration is 0.8:1. 2) The Income Tax Rate is given at 34%. 3) Revenue is $15.6 billion 4) Net income $1.5 billion. 5) It is given that dividends increased by 10% in 1990 and 1991, and therefore we will assume to use the higher target equity yields of 2.7 (add the 10%), rather than 2.45 the actual yield of 1989. 6) The company’s Corporate Debt was A-rated; this means it is deemed to carry much low risk than the general investing or borrowing public. 7) Capital Expenditure budget are enormous, $3.1 billion in 1990 and $4.5 billion in 1991, underscoring the significance of appropriate and accurate weights and calculations for Cost of Capital. Strengths and Opportunities. Pioneer was one of the primary producers of Alaskan Crude. The company’s gasoline are among the cleanest burning fuels. By 1990, total revenues exceeded $15.6 Billion and net income over $1.5 Billion. Pioneer supplied its own raw material for domestic petroleum liquids production and was also one of the most cost-efficient refiners of the West Coast and had an extensive West Cost presence. The company has clean, efficient running plants positioned to meet strict environmental guidelines capitalize on less polluted products. Capital expenditure investments ran at $3.1 Billion, with forecasted expenditures of almost $4.5 Billion in 1991. Pioneer was also heavily invested in Environmental projects. Its chemical unit produced 1/3 of the world’s supply of methyl tertiary butyl ether, MTBE, an ingredient making its gasoline one of the cleanest burning in the industry. The MTBE market had been growing with the global trends towards sustained development of the environment. Refining its cost of capital calculations will not only preserve its much-needed capital, but it also unlocks new capital — and maximizes existing capital — to capitalize on such huge opportunities, particularly the passing of the 1990 Clean Air Act with which came tremendous area in which Pioneer might capitalize on its eco-strengths. Weaknesses and Threats: To meet Pioneer expected to invest $3 Billion additional to meet the new law’s standards among other new environmental regulations. Its multinational status makes it vulnerable to foreign currency exchange risks, political risks, interest rate volatility, cultural risks, and transfer pricing and other transnational risks involving a complex network of sources, sinks and of moneys, products and services. Its fully integrated set-up requires spreads itself quite thinly, and requires seamless transnational collaboration and cross-border coordination to work. Management wanted synergy among global divisions to optimize overall performance, and obviously to decrease these complex risks. Methodology: The weighted cost of capital approach is applied, first apportioned pro rata based the usual cost of the fund source: i.e. debt and/or equity. The cost of debt would be prevailing interest rates, and the cost of equity would be â€Å"foregone† earnings on capital invested as equity – i.e. earnings per share over market value per share. The second approach is similar, but with multiple cutoff rates. First it is broken down by Divisional Cost of Capital – i.e. calculated using a weighted average cost of capital approach, but this time for each division or operating sector; before further drilling down by cost per fund source. Calculations would follow three (3) steps: a) First an estimate would be made of the usual capital structure, or debt to equity proportions, of independently financed firms operating in each sector. b) Given these proportions by sector, for each operating sector, the costs of capital – divisional debt and equity – would then be estimated in accordance with the concepts followed by the company in estimating its own cost of capital. This means Divisions are to use the WACC rules followed by the company, in estimating its own Weighted Average Cost of Capital. To describe this approach in a financial function: The Weighted Average Cost of Capital = WACC = sum of Divisional costs of capital = Sum total of [Divisional Costs of Debt plus Divisional Costs of Equity]3 Decision Alternatives for Selection of Marginally Attractive Rates of Return: Management and the board are choosing between two alternative approaches: 1) The Single WACC Rate, company-wide Weighted Cost of Capital approach, where specific rates weighted were those based on the sources of fund, debt and equity, in estimated proportion of future funds sourced; AND 2) Multiple Cut-off or Multiple Hurdle Rates for Divisional Costs of capital, involving determining the rates or weighted costs of capital for each main Operating Sector. 3) Hybrid or Combination thereof – taking the positive aspects or advantages of both methods; i.e. for example, the requirements of stockholders for return on equity on the one hand, AND the requirements of divisions or operating sectors to address specific local risks, and implications on local incentives. Case Analysis and Discussion. The two alternative approaches â€Å"purpose and benefits† are culled from the case, as follows: 1) The single, company-wide Weighted Cost of Capital approach, where specific rates weighted were those based on the sources of fund, debt and equity, in estimated proportion of future funds sourced; this gave a WACC rate of 9.0%. Proponents of the single rate might argue as follows: a. It is far simpler to calculate. b. It covers the actual rate or â€Å"cost of the source of funds† at face value of bonds or notes payable, or statements of stock or equity; c. It appears to be more conservative than divisional rates because it does not consider economies of scale of fully integrated conglomerates that benefit the divisions or subsidiaries in ways that not reflected in the divisional costs of capital or rates. d. The problem or effect of such diversification benefits on the rate is that Divisional Rates calculated independently, may be considered lower – in reality. Why charge sunk costs, one might ask to the division. The problem here is that the hurdle rate may be too high for many â€Å"projects,† and therefore unduly rejected; when in fact they ought to be accepted. IF they are accepted by competitors with similar integration benefits, perhaps, they will benefit from marginal income and grab this benefit from Pioneer’s subsidiaries. e. Pioneer’s shareholders expected the company to invest funds in the highest return projects available. f. Proponents of the single corporate rate argued that those advocating multiple rates were those who were not able to compete effectively for new funds, when measured against the corporate group’s â€Å"actual cost of capital.† g. Single-proponent advocates lacked confidence in the fairness and integrity of the process of selection of divisional rates. For example, the transport division had â€Å"unrealistically low hurdle rates† considering experience in tanker investments had been â€Å"disastrous for many companies.† There were also still some areas of ambiguity, such as how to treat environmental projects (or for this matter, central HQ projects over which Divisions have little or no control). h. Another concern was how the benefits of full integration – acquired through very costly mergers and acquisitions — would be considered in divisional rates. IF divisions lowered their rates, this might not be enough to cover central requirements. i. Reduced risk, economies of scale and other diversification premiums — remained unaccounted for in the proposed divisional costs of capital approach. There were considerably less risks for instance in subsidiaries of an integrated firm like Pioneer, than for independent petroleum dealers or non-members of the group. This being the case, was it fair to demand such a high hurdle rate given that the risks were much lower at some divisions than others? 2) Multiple Cut-off or Multiple Hurdle Rates for Divisional Costs of capital, involving determining the rates or weighted costs of capital for each main Operating Sector. The divisional rate approach seems far more complex, but proponents of divisional costs of capital argued included the following purposes and advantages of this scheme: a. The proponents of multiple divisional hurdle rates argued that a single companywide cost of capital (WACC) â€Å"subsidized the higher-risk divisions† at the expense of lower risk divisions. b. Because the cost of capital was too high for the low-risk divisions, too few low-risk investments were made. c. On the other hand, in the high-risk divisions too much investment occurred because the hurdle rate was too low. As evidence, proponents of multiple rates noted that Pioneer was the only major company that continued to invest heavily in exploration and development, and that it lagged behind its competitors in marketing and transportation inv estment. d. The divisional rates approach – there was nothing new in the calculations – except that sector rates would reflect the risks inherent in each of the operating sectors of the conglomerate. e. Evaluation of future capital expenditure or investments in each of the main operating areas of the company would be appraised pro rata based on the appropriate rate of return for that industry sector; f. For evaluation of actual financial performance — say, for incentives and bonuses — multiple cutoff rates would fairly represent the rates charged to each of the various profit centers for capital they employed or â€Å"borrowed from headquarters† so to speak; g. The proponents for multiple divisional hurdle rates also argued that the companywide cost of capital was too low, and that investments should be required to earn at least as much as an investment in common stocks. The average return since 1980 on the S&P index of common stocks of 16.25% substantially exceeded the 9% companywide cost of capital (see Exhibit 2). If Pioneer was serious about competing over the long run in industries with such disparate risk-profit characteristics, it was absolutely essential to relate internal target rates of return to the individual businesses. It was argued by proponents of the multiple divisional cutoff rates that for subsidiaries and sister firms of integrated firms like Pioneer, the inter-company-benefits mitigated the risks involved with large refinery investments. Thus in some cases rates lower than companywide rates of return were justified. There was a â€Å"diversification premium† which ought to be allocated back or deducted from the subsidiary discount rates, as calculated previously in proportion to the relation between the investment in each subsidiary and, say, the company’s total asset. Formula used for Weighted average cost of capital is WACC = K(d) + K(e) = Kd(1-t)*DEd + Ke*DEe Pioneer’s original calculations for WACC are summarized as follows From Exhibit 1 The case mentions however, that the interest used is a coupon of 12%, assuming it retains an A rating, and a 34% tax rate, this represented a 7.92% cost after tax. According to Investopedia, coupon is defined as the interest rate stated on a bond when it’s issued. The coupon is typically paid semiannually. This is also referred to as the â€Å"coupon rate† or â€Å"coupon percent rate†. The divisional cost of capital would then be calculated using a WACC approach for each Operating sector; i.e. as though each sector were an independent company competing in its own industry -Note that the same WACC formula above is used to estimate divisional cost of capital, except it is not company wide, WACC rates in specific operating sectors such as business.. The divisional perspective overlooked that each business was also part of an integrated company with â€Å"risk diversification benefits,† economies of scale and other integration benefits, say of a large refinery. The case pointed out the weakness of a single-rate policy. On the one hand, very few low risk investments were made, precisely because of the high rate of return on investment required by the pre-assessment. The hurdle rate was too steep for â€Å"low risk divisions.† Too few passed the gauntlet, so to speak. On the other hand, too much money was invested in high-risk divisions, because the hurdle rate on those operating sectors, was too low. Some members of top management felt that Company-wide cost of capital rates was too low, and investments should be required to earn at least as much as Common stocks – or over 14%. A couple of corrections need to be suggested on the single rate WACC of Pioneer. WACC = Kd + Ke Cost of equity, Ke. Note that â€Å"after prolonged debate,† Pioneer (management and board) decided to use 10%, which was the equivalent of $6.15 Earnings per Share divided by $63 Market Price per share. Using current earnings yield of their stock as the cost of both new equity stock and retained earnings.† In other words the 10% used was based on â€Å"actual† dividend yield and not the â€Å"projected† or the â€Å"required rate of return† for the company’s stock. Given a dividend growth rate of 10%, a share Market Price of $63, the next target dividend at $2.70 ( = $2.45 plus 10%), and the ratio of Equity to Debt at 50:50, then the cost of equity is therefore calculated as follows: Cost of equity: Ke = ((Target Dividend Value/Market Price)+Growth in dividends)*DEe = ((2.70/63) + 0.1)*(50%) = 14.3%. Cost of debt, Kd It seems the actual interest rate afforded Pioneer was not actually given in the case. What was used by management was the 12% coupon rate on bonds. Since Pioneer was an â€Å"A-rated† client, or deemed to carry very â€Å"low risk,† then this status ought to translate into a significantly lower cost of money or interest rate. To my understanding, a coupon rate would be like the hotel â€Å"rack rate† which would be much higher than what an A-rated client like Pioneer would be accommodated with. Let us assume a prime interest rate of 9%. Allow me to note that this assumption is just for the case exercise, but such information ought to be readily be available in the real world. The cost of debt is therefore: Cost of debt: Kd = Interest Rate * (1-Tax Rate) = 9% (1 – 34%) = 5.94%. Due to the 50-50 debt to equity capital structure, the actual cost of debt is 2.65%. The WACC is summarized as follows: The new WACC is 10.12%, as against the 9% estimated by Pioneer management. This means that companywide, projects that show a rate of return lower than 10.12% will not be approved. This is somewhat double edged, because it might mean that some projects which are less viable, but viable nevertheless, will be unduly rejected. It is suggested that rather than rejecting let there be a cap set on investments, and more flexibility be given on rates of return – sometimes this may be subject to abuse and manipulation. There are other countless foretelling signs of project success of failure than just numbers. As shown in this case, the hurdle rate WACC may vary, depending on the assumptions; for instance, if the debt to equity proportion changes, then the 50:50 â€Å"policy† might be irrelevant. Conclusions and Recommendations: FLEXIBILITY CUTOFF Rate Stop Loss Limits Forecasting Understand Risks, but also Opportunities Best-selling author of â€Å"Rich Dad, Poor Dad,† Robert Kiyosaki wrote, â€Å"Risk is a function of Ignorance.† It is always risky if it is not clear or understood. Unless objectively determined based on facts, a single, companywide rate of return used for expediency’s sake, is just as risky as a multiple-cut divisional cost of capital rate, that supposedly considers local risks of specific divisions or operating sectors. Conclusion and Recommendation Capital Structure2 is the mix (or proportion) of a firm’s permanent long-term financing represented by debt, preferred stock, and common stock equity, greatly affected by specific costs of capital or assigned hurdle rates, say in assessing weighted average costs of capital. CORE ISSUE – Hurdle rates2 are measures of the cost of capital, combined debt and equity, which a company targets for its projects to achieve in the planning period. The hurdle rate’s significance cannot be over-emphasized. If it is set too highly, it may spell tremendous losses in opportunities, or rejection of perfectly viable projects. This can also cause demoralization on the part of division personnel, who are rated based on such high hurdle rates. This means it is more difficulty to achieve, and thereby affecting managers and employees’ performance appraisals, bonuses and incentives. On the other hand, if we set hurdle rates too low [ in the game of golf, we might call this practice â€Å"sand-bagging,† or reporting a higher, more forgiving handicap to increase chances of achieving it ], this would be a major disservice to investors who expect maximum returns on their investments. They expect integrity in leadership, fair stewardship and good governance on the part of the board and senior management whom they have elected to run company affairs in their behalf. One limitation of classical estimates on Hurdle rates or Costs of Capital is that (1) investment and asset management decisions are held constant and (2) they consider only debt-versus-equity financing, which are not necessarily the only sources of financing. Recommendation: HYBRID SINGLE-MULTIPLE HURDLE RATE The solution must address specific legitimate needs of the different players, specifically the Stockholders, the Division heads, and top Management. Stockholders require better total returns on equity, and proponents of the Single rate assume that â€Å"the only way to achieve better overall returns on equity is to set company wide hurdle rates or weighted average costs of capital. They actually are not as concerned as division heads are, that some divisions are subsidizing others. This is not a sustainable practice. Pretty soon the winners who subsidize the losers will not find enough incentive to perform, and eventually leave. Division heads will be split into to. Winners, or Performers, and Losers, or non-performers. Top management must listen to winners and ought to reward them, outrageously, if they are to keep performing for the long term. This means that for winner industries, the practice of attaining a â€Å"hurdle rate† which in players’ perception is â€Å"too low†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ becomes a disincentive over time. On the other hand, in â€Å"non-performing† divisions, good players that find the â€Å"hurdle rates† too high, are totally disillusioned and demoralized when standards are lowered to accommodate them. On a wider scope, Pioneer Petroleum needs to find a fair way to â€Å"allocate central costs in accordance with responsibilities† and to determine â€Å"strategic and financial measures† – including, but not limited to the Cost of Capital – between the central or corporate headquarters and its divisions and subsidiaries. This leads to less inter-departmental and inter-company conflicts, and more cooperation and synergy, which are necessary to for any breakthroughs to happen, i.e. in the direction of better project execution, better decisions and a more positive working environment. The recommended solution may be described as follows. 1) The policy we recommend is simply: Company Wide WACC = Sum of Divisional WACCs = Sum of [ Local Costs of Debt plus Local Costs of Equity] 2) The 50:50 capital structure does not seem like a well founded â€Å"policy† and must be revisited. The objective must also include maximization of risks and returns, and not to literally â€Å"balance† debt to equity capital structure. 3) An evaluation and rating system must be set up to allow managers to think global, but to act local. This means we do a Hybrid system of Corporate-and-Divisional hurdle rates, maximizing the benefits of both, and ascribing responsibility for the rate, where it is rightfully assigned. For example, the division management is responsible for maximizing its return rate, given the resources it is allowed access to, and given the authority and responsibility in its portfolio. Division managers are not responsible for a â€Å"company-wide rate† just as much as it does not have any control over other companies, or over corporate financial, operating or marketing strategy. 4) The total company-wide Rates of Returns (e.g. 10-15%) on Inv estments or capital expenditure, are the responsibility of top management, and to achieve this, there are other ways, besides imposing this global rate on every single operating division or subsidiary. 5) A fair system of multiple hurdle rates ought to reflected the specific risk-profit idiosyncrasies of its business divisions and operating sectors in which the company’s subsidiaries operated. 6) Using multiple hurdle rates will actually combine the strengths of performers in both â€Å"winner† and â€Å"loser† industry divisions. Fact is, the latter are not actually â€Å"losers†; just lower yields but still positive yields, which might be descriptive of industry performance. The key hurdle rates to accommodate this, might therefore be industry-specific MARRs or WACCs. As mentioned, the rate or rating system must consider specific, inherent risks of divisions and operating sectors – and at the same time – consider benefits ascribed to the single-rate Weighted Average Cost of Capital approach. 7) Aside from just calculating a â€Å"fair† rate, as financial advisors, we must equip Pioneer Petroleum top management with a better designed, more objective and more rational (less emotional) rating system; to help them rationally choose the corporate-and-divisional hurdle rates for evaluation of new projects in a fully integrated conglomerate of multiple divisions; determine whether they should use the SINGLE company wide Weighted Average Cost of Capital, which reflect the rates at their face value to the company, OR proposed MULTIPLE Divisional Cost of Capital, which reflects risk-profit characteristics inherent in various divisions and operating sectors. 8) The above rating system will help the management and board of directors of Pioneer Petroleum decide – every year – on the fair and objective Hurdle Rate/s that will fairly qualify new investment projects of Pioneer Petroleum divisions. a. It considers specific, inherent risks of divisions and operating sectors b. It addresses the interest of stockholders to maximize return on their equity or investments, which is ultimately the responsibility of TOP corporate management. c. It still uses the familiar Weighted Average Cost of Capital approach in calculating both single-company wide HURDLE rate, and divisional YIELD and HURDLE rates. d. Finally the solution MAXIMIZES OPPORTUNITY available in that it does not unnecessarily reject â€Å"the best available net positive cashflow projects at that time† which contribute to increasing company wide yields, but do not necessarily match the company wide yield. I believe this solution is easy to execute. It clarifies what rates to use as hurdle rates to truly evaluate . The solution must be win-win and acceptable proponents of both single and multiple rates References: 1â€Å"Pioneer Petroleum Corporation,† Case on Divisional Cost of Capital. Copyright  © 1991 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Harvard Business School Case 292-011. 2â€Å"Capital Structure.† Chapter 17, Fundamentals of Financial Management, 12/e  © Pearson Education Limited 2004; Slides by: Gregory A. Kuhlemeyer, Ph.D., Carroll College, Waukesha, WI 3â€Å"Investors need a good WACC.† Bill McLure, Investopedia Contributor, www.investopedia.com, http://www.investopedia.com/articles/fundamental/03/061103.asp 4â€Å"Definition of Weighted Average Cost of Capital.† Bill McLure, Investopedia Contributor, http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wacc.asp 5â€Å"Which is a better measure for capital budgeting, IRR or NPV?† Rob Renaud, Spotting Profitability with ROCE. http://www.investopedia.com/ask/ViewFAQPrintable.aspx?url=%2fask%2fanswers%2f05%2firrvsnpvcapitalbudgeting.asp ‘Accounts Receivable and Inventory Management’ Chapter 10, Fundamentals of Financial Management, 12/e,  © Pearson Education Limited 2004, Slides Created by: Gregory A. Kuhlemeyer, Ph.D. Carroll College, Waukesha, WI ‘Debt and Stocks,’ Chapter 20, Fundamentals of Financial Management, 12/e,  © Pearson Education Limited 2004, Finance Decisions and Investments,  © 2012 Lecture Notes by Dean Atty Joe-Santos Bisquera, LLB, CPA, MBA, De La Salle University College of Business – Graduate School

Introduction to Duty of Care in Health, Social Care or Children’s and Young People’s Settings

All health and social care organisations have a duty of care towards any one that they may look after no matter what their age may be. This basically means that we must do what we can to keep a person of any age in our care safe from harm.Describe how the duty of care affects own work role.I must at all times ensure that the person or persons that I look after are free from dangers within their care setting, this maybe from obstacles in the path that they walk that could cause a trip or fall. Make sure my hands are clean before the preparation of meals and drinks and to ensure person or person’s hands are clean before they start to eat their meal, this can prevent infections. To ensure person or person’s receive personal care, this can prevent urination burns, good hygiene to prevent infection to themselves and others.Understand support available for addressing dilemma’s that may arise about duty of care. 2.1 Describe dilemma’s that may arise between the d uty of care and individual’s rights. 1 dilemma could be personal care whether they are capable of assisting with their own personal care or of in need of receiving assistance with personal care. We are here to help maintain good personal hygiene but sometimes a person will refuse to assist themselves or allow someone to assist them, if this happens then it is their right to refuse they cannot be forced into something they do not want to do or receive something they don’t want.2.2 Explain where to get additional support and advice about how to resolve such dilemma’s. I would talk to the person whose personal hygiene was in question, to try and find out what the problem may be or look in their care plan to look at their background as there could be something within their past that could help. Also if a person in your care is prone to an illness  such as UTI that can cause more confusion and change in personality report it immediately so necessary testing can be carried out. Talk to my team leader, sometimes an underlying illness can cause a person to react in a certain way, so possible G.P input maybe needed to rule anything out. Talk to the person’s family they may be able to help, the person may feel more comfortable around their family. In some cases you may need to get input from social workers and CPN.Know how to respond to complaints3.1 Describe how to respond to complaints.First of all listen to the complaint and assess the right action to take. It all depends on what level of seriousness the complaint is. Once you have established this you should be able to either deal with the complaint yourself or advise which course of action to take and to whom to take the complaint to next.3.2 Identify the main points of agreed procedures for handling complaints. Complaints procedure has different methods depending on type of complaint and if it is a complaint that has not been dealt with previously with the desired results. Firstly tal k to manager of the home this may be via telephone, or personally usually this can get your complaint dealt with straight away. Put your complaint in writing or email to either the manager of the home or to the area manager. They would then have to write or email you with acknowledgement of your complaint, also details of how long it may take to deal with your complaint and why. If the complaint is of a very serious nature you can then go to the Care Quality Commission.

Gender identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gender identity - Essay Example These stereotype environmental effects also evolve with time as the trends in recent decades have seen changes in gender behaviors and roles. Today, there is an expectation that women will show a more feminist and assertive side, while can now show a more compassionate and softer feminine side (Blakemore et al 23). Rather than reinforcing the aspect of nurture, however, this shows that one should not try too hard to nurture a child to conform to the environment. Therefore, nature must be more important in gender identity development because the child is born with a pre-determined identity. Modern research and science have contended that gender identity is not a choice made consciously. Rather, it is a result of factors in one’s biological make up, such as the difference in size of specific brain areas, genetics, and hormone levels. There is evidence suggesting that genetics plays a critical role in sexual identity. Sexual identity is wired into infant’s brains as they d evelop because of these genetic factors. For example, there are various genes involved in brain development that are active during sexual organ development. Infants and young toddlers show typical differences in gender identity (Blakemore et al 24), which suggests that gender is the first and most important player in gender identity development. Youngsters will normally start identifying with their gender before they reach mid-childhood (Blakemore et al 32). Their awareness of being a girl or boy starts in the initial year of their life by the tenth month of their lives, especially as they become mildly aware of their genitals. By the time children are two years of age, they begin to realize the physical differences between girls and boys, while it is possible for them to call themselves a girl or boy by the time they are three, acquiring a better and stronger concept of the self-concept. The gender identity of the child is already established and stable by the time they are four ye ars of age (Blakemore et al 32). By this time, it is possible to say that they know that they will always be girls or boys. It is also possible for anyone to observe a behavior and classify it as being â€Å"girlish† or â€Å"boyish†. For example, without being nurtured, boys prefer playing with toy guns and truck-cars, prefer science and math, are more active physically and more aggressive, and possess better hand-eye coordination and spatial reasoning (Blakemore et al 33). Girls, on the other hand, prefer cooperative play and dolls, have better motor skills, learn to talk and read earlier, and possess more empathy and emotions. Most of these things are inborn and innate without any need to teach them. This shows that nature has an important role in shaping gender identity. Even when parents choose to treat their children in a gender-neutral manner, the results are always according to nature (Blakemore et al 33). For example, a parent who insists on her young girls pl aying with trucks will find that her daughters refer to the trucks as mommy trucks that are on the way to pick their children from baby-care. On the other hand, a boy given a truck will fill it action heroes, while racing it all over the playing area and making noises of squealing tires. This is most certainly due to nature, which pre-determines the gender identity

Management accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management accounting - Essay Example al Overhead Cost 9,600,000 No. Units 2,000 Overhead Rate per unit 4,800 Roadster    DLH Assigned 220,000 Overhead Rate 48 Total Overhead Cost 10,560,000 No. Units 1,600 Overhead Rate per unit 6,600 Fireball    DLH Assigned 80,000 Overhead Rate 48 Total Overhead Cost 3,840,000 No. ... 0 1,350 Overhead Cost per unit       9,036,000 4,518 Fireball (400 units) Activities Activity Rate Activity Level Total Overhead Overhead per unit       Number of deliveries to retailers 19,200 70 1,344,000 672 Number of set-ups 120,000 25 3,000,000 1,500 Number of purchase orders 9,000 100 900,000 450 Overhead Cost per unit       5,244,000 2,622    Sunshine Roadster Fireball Selling Price 8,000 12,000 16,000 Direct Material 800 1,200 1,800 Direct Labor 1,000 1,375 2,000 Overhead 4,860 4,518 2,622 Total Variable Cost 6,660 7,093 6,422 Contribution Margin 1,340 4,907 9,578 b) In not more than 1,500 words write a report to the directors of Sober plc, as its management accountant. The report should: (i) Evaluate the labor hours and the activity based costing methods in the circumstances of Sober plc. Volume Based Costing Under the existing circumstances of Sober plc, direct labor hours is used as a basis for volume based costing throughout all the three ranges of the bikes . Overheads are allocated to each product on the basis of direct labor hours such that overhead rate is computed to be ?48 per hour. That rate is then multiplied by the number of hours taken by each product to obtain the total overhead cost pertaining to each product. Each product’s overhead cost in then divided by the number of units of the corresponding product to obtain overhead rate per unit. In this way, Fireball has the maximum overhead rate of ?9,600 whereas the overhead rates for roadster and sunshine remained at ?6,600 and ?4,800 respectively. It is important to note that the biggest reason behind the relatively overhead rate per unit of Fireball is the less number of units produced. Its total overhead cost is however the lowest among all the three products. (Lal, 2009) If the Contribution

Bereavement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Bereavement - Essay Example The mourner's history of losses, personality style, and pre-morbid mental health adjustment also impact the grief process (Rando, 1993). Clearly, the traumatic circumstances that surrounded the events of September 11th added an unprecedented degree of complexity to the grief of those who experienced losses that day. While it appears reasonable that issues related to the trauma itself must be resolved before there is sufficient intrapsychic energy to deal with the loss per se, parsing out the differences between the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and those of complicated grief can be challenging (Figley, Bride, & Mazza, 1997). Depressive symptoms may also be confusing and interfere with recognition of and response to the symptoms of complicated grief (Rando, 1993). Especially in the initial phases of recovery from a traumatic loss, individual interventions are an appropriate modality of treatment. The process of assessment for the variety of co-morbid risks that can accompany traumatic loss is facilitated in individual sessions. There is also the opportunity to provide support and problem solving that specifically address the challenges that have been generated by both the loss itself, the circumstances surrounding it, and its intrapsychic concomitants. But because of the sense of emotional isolation that commonly accompanies both trauma and the loss of a significant other, support groups are an excellent adjunct to individual treatment (Figley et al., 1997). Studies report the importance of the supplemental support system such groups provide, and the critical necessity for the normalizing discussions about reactions and difficulties that take place in group sessions (Yule & Udwin, 1991; Fitzgerald, 1994; Rando, 1988; Underwood & Dunne-Maxim, 1992). In later stages of recovery, group support can be essential to the process of going on with life. Immigrants and Cultural Minority Groups Given both the effect that culture has on grief and bereavement, and the disproportionate rates of infant death, particularly among Afro-Caribbean immigrants compared to European, Latin American, Mexico and those born in the United States, we sampled providers serving this community. The importance of cultural competence cannot be overstated. Cultural competence should include: providers being aware of their own cultural traditions and beliefs, learning about the cultural beliefs and customs of the community being served, genuine appreciation and respect for cultural diversity and being empathic, flexible and prepared to tailor the care to meet individual and family needs of those that have suffered a loss (ACOG). The Needs of People Experiencing Loss, Grief and Bereavement There was broad agreement that the needs of individuals in relation to loss, grief and bereavement are highly individualised. There is a wide range of grieving styles and experiences. However, the fundamental needs of bereaved individuals are for support and acceptance. This includes recognition and validation of their grief and grieving style, from family, friends, employers and the general community. Arguably, grief and bereave

Proceedings on the Impeachment of Richard Nixon Essay

Proceedings on the Impeachment of Richard Nixon - Essay Example tions to be considered in this study would be, Can the situation presented in the opening statement be considered as rhetoric with reference to the concept presented by Bitzer in his theory of rhetorical situation? Do the assumptions of the Neo-Aristotelian Criticism define the opening statement as rhetoric? On which grounds does it criticize the opening statement when illustrating it as a rhetoric situation? Thesis Statement The essay to the conducted henceforth intends to present a critical overview of a literature, i.e. the opening statement of Barbara Jordan presented to the House Judiciary committee in response to the impeachment related proceedings executed against the then President Mr. Richard Nixon. With this concern, the essay would attempt to utilize the assumptions presented by Bitzer in relation to the concept of rhetoric situation. Another theory that would be taken into account is the Neo-Aristotelian Criticism which shall assist in scientifically analyzing the opening statement. Justification of the Study Based on two of the most prominent theories, i.e. Bitzer’s rhetorical situation and the Neo-Aristotelian Criticism, the essay shall provide a comprehensive account of the literature selected as the opening statement of Barbara Jordan. With this concern, the study shall elaborate on the then political scenario with the intention to learn the background, influenced by which, the opening statement was framed. Preview of the Topic During the impeachment of Richard Nixon, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan gave an opening statement in the House of Judiciary Committee in order to criticize the proceedings taken by the ministry concerning the conspiracy related with the Watergate Scandal. Barbara Jordan, through her speech, intended to criticize the impeachment... The essay to the conducted henceforth intends to present a critical overview of a literature, i.e. the opening statement of Barbara Jordan presented to the House Judiciary committee in response to the impeachment related proceedings executed against the then President Mr. Richard Nixon. With this concern, the essay would attempt to utilize the assumptions presented by Bitzer in relation to the concept of rhetoric situation. Another theory that would be taken into account is the Neo-Aristotelian Criticism which shall assist in scientifically analyzing the opening statement. Based on two of the most prominent theories, i.e. Bitzer’s rhetorical situation and the Neo-Aristotelian Criticism, the essay shall provide a comprehensive account of the literature selected as the opening statement of Barbara Jordan. With this concern, the study shall elaborate on the then political scenario with the intention to learn the background, influenced by which, the opening statement was framed. D uring the impeachment of Richard Nixon, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan gave an opening statement in the House of Judiciary Committee in order to criticize the proceedings taken by the ministry concerning the conspiracy related with the Watergate Scandal. Barbara Jordan, through her speech, intended to criticize the impeachment articles put forward during the investigation of Watergate conspiracy which was further observed to be misinterpreted as a verbal (written) declaration agreeing with the president’s removal.

IMPORTANCE AND INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND Research Paper

IMPORTANCE AND INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS - Research Paper Example This will also involve a discussion on the major challenges facing disaster management and how the social media can be used to defray these challenges. The paper will concentrate on information sharing, disaster preparation and decision-making as well as information collection. These four social media functions will then be mapped on to three crisis management phases of awareness, reaction, and recovery to outline how a variety of social media tools may be utilized to improve crisis communications. The paper will also share several cases of global organizations and governments that use social media for crisis management. The research paper proposes a model to improve government utilization of social media for crisis management that includes the necessity for a mandate, distinct guidelines and several key capabilities that need to be developed. The proposed tools will help governments and organizations in emergency management and disaster preparedness. According to Sturges (2004) crisis management is an important organizational function that deals with planning and dynamic occurrence reaction to situations as they take place, usually in unpredictable ways. The flowing effects of a happening crisis can thrash a country’s or an organization’s capability to function effectively and may bring about serious harm to its citizens, institutions, assets, and repute. The emergence of an array of social media tools has transformed the landscape of crisis management significantly over the last few years with promises for social action now becoming certainties. With the availability of various software tools such as online discussion forums and news aggregators, organizations are now able to distribute, attain, and scrutinize information in a more efficient manner and expansively. While social media has the capability to bar a crisis from getting out of control,

How has the adoption of new approaches to risk management changed Essay

How has the adoption of new approaches to risk management changed organisations and the way that managers enact international business strategy - Essay Example This includes the management of both the internal and external risks that are or that may be faced by the organization. Risk management is an important part of strategic management because the process involves the management of existing and potential adverse impacts as well as the realization of opportunities present in the broad business environment. This report deals with an analysis of how the adoption of the new age risk management processes have led to changes in the organizations and the ways the managers of these organizations formulate business and corporate strategies by focusing on the management of risk as a significant part of their strategic management initiatives. Risk management is a process used in domestic and international businesses for the purpose of the identification and assessment of the risks that are currently being faced by the respective businesses and that may be faced in the future by the same followed by developing suitable strategic plans to protect the businesses against the existing and potential risks. Risk in business is generally a term which is used to define the possibilities that in future different internal and external occurrences may lead to losses and harm for the company while at the same time also identifying the fact that the emergence and mitigation of risks may pave the way for new opportunities for these business organizations. Risks are important components to be considered by the managers and planners because, by taking risks, businesses are likely to achieve necessary gains and benefits and also at the same time, the identification and subsequent mitigation of the risks are necessary to ensure sustainabil ity and competiveness of the business in a highly dynamic, competitive and complex global corporate environment. There are many benefits of risk management that have been identified over time. The benefits of integrating risk management processes at all

LAW ASSESSED WORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

LAW ASSESSED WORK - Essay Example If we apply this by analogy to the current scenario, David was entering into contractual negotiations with Golden Antiques on behalf of White Hall Limited. Therefore, in order for there to be a valid contract, David will have to have capacity and authority to bind the company in such contracts (McIntyre, 2008). Sections 39-40 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA) regulate authority to negotiate on behalf of companies. Section 39(1) of the CA provides that â€Å"the validity of any act done by a company shall not be called into question on the ground of lack of capacity by reason of anything in the company’s constitution.† In addition, section 40(1) of the CA stipulates that â€Å"In favour of a person dealing with a company in good faith, the power of the board of directors to bind the company, or authorise others to do so, shall be deemed to be free of any limitation under the company’s constitution†. Moreover, section 40(2) of the CA implements a provision that as regards third parties negotiating with a company, there will be a presumption of good faith. As such, the CA provisions do not require third parties to enquire as to whether there are any restrictions on the authority of the board to enter into a contract. Accordingly, if we apply this to the current scenario, unless Golden Antiques were put on notice that David did not have appropriate authority, there will be a presumption that David had capacity to negotiate and conclude the contract with Golden Antiques on behalf of White Halls Limited. Therefore, the fundamental issue will be whether the legal requirements for an enforceable contract have been complied with. The law of contract provides a tripartite test for determining a legally binding contract, which is offer, valid acceptance and consideration. For example, in New Zealand Shipping Co Limited v A M Satterthwaite, The Eurymedon ([1975]) AC 154

Culture report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Culture report - Essay Example The students that attend this high school have many obstacles to overcome in their lives. The reservation is a place of high poverty, high unemployment and high rates of substance abuse. It is the type of environment that keeps people from succeeding in life. Yet, this remarkable high school basketball team seems to find a way to win every year. They have won five state championships against much larger, well-funded schools. One of the secrets to the success of the team is their dedicated coach Al Redman. The movie focuses on Beaver C’Bearing and the work he and his coach put into winning. It shows that the boys on the team succeed by working hard to hone their skills and by working together. The movie shows that unfortunately, the lessons learned on the basketball court often do not translate to life on the reservation. Much of the conversation in the movie centers on players that were once great but have failed to have successful lives. II. Relevance of the movie CHIEFS to M arketing There is a lot of relevance in the movie CHIEFS to cross cultural marketing. One of the aspects of culture that was displayed in this movie of Native American culture seems to be the aspect of a focus on shared ownership of public goods. The Chiefs basketball team belongs to the reservation. It occurs to me that this is truer for this community of Native Americans than it is for the typical American community with a more Euro-centric culture. The Chiefs literally belong to the community, no one person or group has more of an interest in them than anyone else does. That is why everyone leaves the reservation to go see the Chiefs play their games in the playoffs. What this means for marketing is that any attempt to market the mystique, culture or logo of the Chiefs would have to be done in a way that benefits the entire community. If any one single individual or group were to try to monopolize access or attempt to brand the Chiefs in a way that excluded the community at large , I believe that this person would have a difficult time succeeding. This team is truly the heart and the soul of the Wind River Reservation in some ways. It is more than a source of pride, it is a public good, and therefore the public will have to be supportive of any marketing efforts involving the team. III. Personal Reaction to the viewing of the movie CHIEFS. I really enjoyed the movie and the crowd that had gathered to watch the movie. I really got caught-up in the stories of these basketball players and how difficult their lives were. I never felt sorry for them, because they seemed so determined to succeed at basketball. I felt that the writer and director of the film did a great job depicting the challenges Beaver C’Bearing and his teammates faced, without sensationalizing the challenges they face off the court. At times, the movie was sad, but always made me feel as though in the end the people on the team would somehow, against all the odd succeed in life and in th e game of basketball. I could not help pull for the team in each one of their games, even though the players were flawed and imperfect people. Right to the end of the movie, I believed that these people were going to win. I wanted them to win because it appears as though they were dealt such an unfair hand by fate and by their circumstances. However, I liked the fact that the

The obstacles and opportunities faced by either South Africa Essay Example for Free

The obstacles and opportunities faced by either South Africa Essay What are the obstacles and opportunities faced by either South Africa or Mozambique in their attempts to improve economic and political development? Introduction In this essay I will attempt to look at the obstacles and opportunities faced by Mozambique in their attempts to improve economic and political development. I will look at the reasons why Portugal found it hard to decolonise her possessions because she could not neocolonise them. I will look at how Mozambiques problems were exacerbated by civil aid programmes and the conflicts between itself and other African countries. Mozambique: advantages and disadvantages Mozambique is situated at the South Eastern side of Africa. It is the nearest port for Malawi, Zimbabwe and the northern part of South Africa. It has some crucial resources geographically which give it an advantage over other African states. It is also strategically important as it provides easy access to other countries. It is roughly three times the size of England. One of the biggest disadvantages that Mozambique has is that there is no navy or air force to protect its coastal waters that are open to exploitation and capitalisation as there is no marketing control. The only way that this exploitation and capitalisation can be controlled is by the development of a better infrastructure of rail and roads. This is highly unlikely to be achieved due to the lack of cooperation between the regions. There are no coastal protection vessels and also no ways of collecting excise duties. These would be necessary to allow the maximisation of export quantity and therefore allow the country to capitalise, which would give it macro economic stability. Economics and conflict Historically Mozambiques trade was heavily influenced by Islamic and Arab traders. The main exports were gold and slaves. Until the 1930s most of its business was controlled by large Portuguese organisations, this only changed after the coup in 1926, which brought an end to these companies. Before this coup the pan Lusitanian community were based on Lisbon and its governmental control and policies. The regime led to fascist policies and principles. Plantations were developed but were only maintainable through forced labour. This forced labour meant that demand increased and there need to be an increase in the forced labour, creating a perpetual circle and demand for more workers. In the Post War boom commodity prices increased dramatically and led to a further demand from the whites for better services etc. There was an increase in tensions from neo traditionalists, which was exacerbated in the cold war of the 1960s, with military intervention. There were no compromises from Portuguese as Portugal could not decolonise as it could not neocolonise. Alongside the military intervention was an increasing demand for independence. In June 1962 3 exiled groups, Manu, Idenamo and Unami under the allegiance of Julius Nyerere form a front for the liberation of Mozambique called the Frelimo. This was a unified coalition of indigenous opposition to Portuguese rule. In 1964 they crossed the river and started an armed conflict against Portugal and its rule. South African support is given through Rhenamo, and the Rhodesians also react against the conflict. The result of the conflict meant that Portugal was overthrown when they retreat in 1974. Frelimo holds traditional government until 25/6/1975 when independence is declared. It is around this time that the Mozambique support for Rhodesia escalates and the civil war starts. What they want to achieve are military buffer zones were they can use for training grounds in order to train their soldiers. Frelimos Marxist Leninist beliefs that everything should be controlled through a central government is one of the main issues. By the 1990s Mozambique is almost bankrupt and there follows in 1992 democratic elections. Tensions still exist between people on the inner circles of individual parties; the old guard are refuting the intervention of the International Monetary Fund as it would give them no option but to embrace European international practices. Poor education and a lack of a civil service only compound the problem. There is a wholesale exodus of the Portuguese nationals. There is surprisingly a relatively civil relationship between Frelimo and Renamo which leads to an acknowledgement of fairness in the voting process, not skewing the vote in favour of one or another. This was the political starting point to the acquisition, marketisation and capitalisation of untold riches for the Mozambique people. MOZAMBIQUE TODAY Following the conflicts that I have discussed above, the state of Mozambiques economy is still very poor. Its position in the global economy is 168th out of 174. Its annual growth rate is averaging out at about 14% but the benefits are very slow in trickling down to the people. There is a need for public sector reform and good governance to improve this. Variations in national markets cannot be controlled by the producers, and revenue collection remains a problem. Much of the revenue collected is in the urban areas but only benefits the elite in the city. Military spending has reduced dramatically, and the first role of governance has to be defence in order to protect a country. The International Monetary Fund instructed Mozambique to sell off its Para -state industries, and it now relies heavily on foreign aid to survive. The debt level is high although most countries have cut it to 25%, with Britain completely wiping out their portion. Underdevelopment has favoured the middle class bourgeoisie, opening up the markets to allow for borrowing and thus creating some financial stability. There has been a reduction in tariffs and inflation has dropped from 71% 9% allowing for the redistribution of wealth. The downside to this is that it creates unemployment, putting more people back into the trap of poverty, and smuggling is rife as people see it as the only way to survive. One may ask does the medicine cure the patient or help to kill it? People have very little escape from poverty in these areas as there is no infrastructure and any journeys must be made on foot. Even a trip to the doctor, something that is taken for granted in western civilised societies could mean a walk of about 45 kilometres, if you didnt die on the way. The very aid that was supposed to help the people to improve their lives often made them worse. As Tordoff tells us these were grandiose, overcapitalised agricultural schemes that carried very few benefits for the peasant farmer, thus still being resultant in the food shortage and hunger. The projects often also caused environmental damage. The debt was only increased by this because of the money being misspent on unsuccessful programs, and the loss of export income. The inability to earn wages led to further poverty and strife in the urban communities. The main priorities in Mozambique are ones of sanitation, clean water, and vaccination. This has been shown to work in other countries like Kenya. There is lots of power over business from multinational organisations such as Mitsubishi and Enron. The question one needs to ask is who is it that benefits? Is it the people of the country or the business men in the city? What is the motivation behind people and countries who offer aid? Is it just another opportunity to exploit and profit from the rich natural resources that the country has to offer? Conclusion Mozambique is still relatively poor as a country in economic terms, although it is rich in others such as copious fishing waters that are underused in the global markets due to poor infrastructure. Mozambique was lead by the Portuguese government who were ill equipped to compete adequately on an international and global level. When globalisation took off in other African states, Mozambique was left behind, and never had an industrial revolution. This meant that although there was plenty of opportunity to further develop the country and equip it with the ability to trade on global levels, other capitalist states and markets were far more advanced, with a good infrastructure that opened them up to the markets. The people of Mozambique were poorly educated, many of them illiterate, and because of this they were exploited by other nations. Many of the countries inhabitants are rough peasants and this exploitation led to a fascist dictatorship. They did not have the opportunities like other countries such as Ghana under the leadership of Nkrumah. Places like this could colonise as the leaders had skewed their colonies and economies and bequeathed more education to its inhabitants. Mozambique was never going to be able to match the massive trading powers of France and Britain, as Portugal had never prepared it to do so. Portugal had exploited it but not developed it. The idea behind neocolonisation was to allow maintenance of economic control but allowing it no input. There were no representatives around the table to help with the management of decolonisation. The only way that Portugal could decolonise Mozambique was through a bloody battle, often in a very vicious manner. The advancing system of France meant also meant that their military were stretched to the limits in trying to protect its country, but stood no chance and were often abandoned, as happened in the civil war. Prior to all this all decisions about the country had gone through the president in Paris, who operated in a Masonic way. Post-modern ideas of independence for Mozambique were hindered by the failure of the Westminster model of government, due to incompatibilities and ill equipped governments. There were often visible aspects of leaders becoming economy holders of the empire of entrepreneurship. Mozambiques problems were confounded and exacerbated by the civil aid programmes that supposedly came to help them. The growth centred approach to poverty only compounded this further. Targeted intervention was of no use as the poverty was so widespread. The average wage was well below the poverty line and there was an even harder exertion for the women to secure rewards that were commensurate with their contributions to the independence struggle. They were often given the opportunity to go to the markets with their produce but were then taxed heavily, and losing out on any sort of profit they may have made, basically a form of legalised extortion. Problems with landmines meant that the land was very dangerous to work on, with a high risk of injury or death. These also helped to slow down economic redevelopment. Many of us will remember the campaigns that were led by Princess Diana showing the terrible injuries that people had suffered through landmines detonating as they worked. There was a plea for international aid to be brought in to clear away the landmines and to give the people a fair chance to improve themselves and their towns. By implementing harsh and complicated economic pressures on its people, this is difficult enough in a wealthy modern state, the picture is even worse when we talk about African countries. The problems with a rapidly collapsing infrastructure, or as in the case of Mozambique, a non existent infrastructure, alongside its entrenched parastatal sector hostile to any change, which may threaten its interests, the problems not only escalate but become utterly formidable. In addition to this, the private sector becomes a strange amalgamation of disparate unrelated components. It consists of large multinationals, medium local sized organisations usually run by Asians, and a huge informal sector that largely comprises of peasant farmers. This means that the private sector is unbalanced and isolated to some extent. Considering all these points it is clear that there should be no rush for the imposition of multi party democracies and an unfettered market economy, even if it was possible to do so for Mozambique. Surely any change should be done gradually, with long term strategies that work alongside and slowly change the present systems. To sum up, arguments for structural adjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund, and lately on an increasing level in the World Bank, only focus on the microeconomic structures, and not the macroeconomic structures of all African countries including Mozambique. One must recognise the role played by recession in the West, due to declining terms of trade for primary products and the oil crisises. Those who believe in structural adjustment believe that the majority of african states share a common state corporatism that is economically corrosive and unproductive. Originally the motivation behind these programmes was to liberalise trade, reduce the role of government and parastate industries in the economy, and to end various subsidies to various sections of the population. It was believed that this would end the balance of payment crises and therefore promote economic growth. By the early 1990s it had been shown that this was not actually the case and that policy based lending had not acheived the intended goals. A new policy was now required to correct this, and the International Monetary Fund now decided that they needed to create a series of rational law based societies throughout sub-Saharan africa. This policy would need to make it clear that investment decisions were to be made on economic grounds, rather than on politically motivated grounds. This plainly put any emphasis of blame, due to previous policy failure, about the economic crisis in Mozambique and esoecially in Mozambique, was laregely a creation of the individual african states themselves. This removed any liability and responsibility on the west, protecting its own interests again. If there is no benefit to themselves there is a reluctance to become involved in the countries problems. The retention of these types of attitudes mean that Mozambiques problems are unlikely to see any significant change in the near future. There will be change but only very slowly as discussed earlier. In my beleif I think the Mozambique people have always been given a rough deal, and cannot see that it will change quickly, as the people who hold the power and capability to enforce change are fearful that they may lose some independance, i.e. the middle class bourguoise. The fear of a lack of control for those in the city, means that the poorer members of society are repressed continually, and because they do not have the capability or knowledge to do something about it, it is unlikely that it will change. I agree that the support given through international aid is necessary, but it should be helping the peasant farmers and the poorer members of society, not just the big boys in the city. This only extenuates the gap between the haves and have nots. Bibliography Tordoff W. Government and politics in Africa.(3rd ed) 1997. Macmillan press. London Clapham.C.Third World politics: an introduction. 1985. Croom Helm. London Chabal. P.Political Domination in Africa.Reflections on the limits of power. 1986. Canbridge University Press. London Cammack P. Capitalism and democracy in the Third .World. 1997. Leicester University Press. Leicester.. McLean. I. Concise dictionary of politics. 1996. Oxford University Press. Oxford. Webliography www.homeoffice.gov.uk www.wto.org www.wtowatch.org www.worldbank.org/research/bulletin www.dfid.gov.uk

Postural Sway and Self-Motion Perception Theory

Postural Sway and Self-Motion Perception Theory Tharushi Kaluarachchi People are often faced with a sensation of motion when gazing at moving clouds or when a train on an adjacent track moves at a railway station (Dichgans Brandt, 1978). Multiple senses contribute to this common visual illusion of self-motion. Optic flow stimuli induces a conflict between visual input, signalling movement of the body and vestibular input from inertial motion cues (A1). Visual-vestibular interactions also play an important role in maintaining postural stability (A4). Thus it is proposed that there is a common underlying mechanism between postural sway during quiet-stance and vection (A5). Recent research has shown that quiet-stance postural sway can be used to predict subsequent vection strength (A5). While many different types of global optic flow can generate self-motion (A2), this relationship has only been demonstrated for radial flow (Apthorp, Nagle, Palmisano, 2014). Therefore, does quiet-stance postural sway predict differences between multiple vection types, or is it simply a global measure distinguishing vection from non-vection? Concepts The experience of vection describes compelling visual illusions of perceived self-motion that are induced by presenting large patterns of optic flow to physically stationary observers (Palmisano, Allison, Schira, Barry, 2015). Optic flow fields provide visual signals for effective navigation through the three-dimensional environment. It describes a pattern of visual motion on the retina used to rapidly estimate the direction of movement (Duffy Wurtz, 1993). This direction is dependent on the nature of this field, differing with radial, lamellar, rotary and spiral patterns of flow (Britten, 2008). A radial pattern refers to expanding and contracting optic flow (Apthorp et al., 2014). A lamellar pattern refers to optic flow with horizontally parallel flow (Stoffregen, 1985). A rotary pattern of optic flow describes a rotating pattern also parallel to the medial-lateral axis. A spiral pattern of optic flow combines radial and rotary patterns, with the rotary component superimposed in radially expanding flow (Nakamura, 2011). The postural system concerns the position and orientation of body segments to organise balance and movement (Massion, 1994). Postural sway refers to readjustments in posture which can occur with medial-lateral (ML), side-to-side, or anterior-posterior (AP), back-and-forth sway (Ruhe, Fejer, Walker, 2011). Quiet-stance postural sway refers to both eyes open and eyes closed postural sway while standing which occurs prior to the onset of vection (Apthorp et al., 2014). Assumptions A1 (vection). Self-motion perception is a multisensory experience induced by conflicts between optic flow stimuli indicating movement and vestibular input which detects no variation in body position or velocity (Lestienne, Soechting, Berthoz, 1977). A2 (optic flow). Radially expanding and contracting optic flow stimulates forwards and backwards linear vection, respectively (Apthorp et al., 2014). For lamellar optic flow, it generates an illusion of self-translation parallel to the direction of flow (Stoffregen, 1985). A rotary pattern induces roll vection parallel to the plane of the presented flow (Tanahashi, Ujike, Kozawa, Ukai, 2007). Spiral optic flow induces a combination of roll and linear vection (Nakamura, 2011). A3 (optic flow and vection). The magnitude of vection varies with the nature of the optic flow, depending on the area, velocity, depth and spatial frequency of the pattern (Palmisano, Apthorp, Seno, Stapley, 2014). In general, more compelling vection will be induced by optic flow displays that generate significant sensory conflict (Palmisano et al., 2015). A4 (vision and posture). Maintenance of upright posture also depends on visual-vestibular cues (Del Percio et al., 2007). The extent of reliance on visual input in particular, indicates variations in posture, with a greater dependence resulting in more postural readjustments (Apthorp et al., 2014). A5 (postural sway and vection). Quiet-stance postural sway and vection are underpinned by the same basic mechanisms. This supports the use of quiet-stance postural sway measures to predict subsequent vection strength. (Palmisano et al., 2014). A6 (postural sway and vection). During upright stance, ML sway involves the control of hip and trunk muscles, whereas AP sway is regulated by ankle muscles. As these are controlled separately by the postural control system, independent variations in ML and AP are predictive of sway differences between vection types (Tucker, Kavanagh, Morrison, Barrett, 2010). Hypotheses Considering that vection magnitude varies with vection type (A3), it is hypothesised that global differences in the magnitude of future vection will be predicted by changes in quiet-stance. In addition, it is proposed that vection magnitude will be stronger for individuals who rely more on their vision for postural stability. Using local differences in sway axes, it is proposed that changes in AP sway will predict radial flow as it stimulates forwards-and-backwards self-motion (A2). For lamellar flow, which induces self-translation and roll vection generated from rotary flow (A2), it is hypothesised that ML changes will be more predictive. In addition, the combination of roll and linear vection from spiral flow may be predicted by sway in both ML and AP axes. Operationalisation Vection magnitude can be operationalised through a subjective verbal vection rating. Subjects verbally rate the strength of their vection experience on a 100 point scale, with ‘0’ indicating no perceived self-motion and ‘100’ indicating complete self-motion (Apthorp et al., 2014). Though self-report measures can be susceptible to subject cognitions, subjective ratings of vection are reasonably reliably as vection is a subjective experience (Palmisano et al., 2015). The multisensory visual-vestibular interaction for posture can be operationalised through postural sway measures. Quiet-stance postural sway, has been shown to predict subsequent vection, which makes it a viable measure of vection (Palmisano et al., 2014). Postural sway can be operationalised through the changes to the location of the centre of foot pressure (CoP) in the AP and ML direction (Ruhe et al., 2011). Larger sway amplitudes are indicative of greater postural instability. Though CoP is an indirect sway measure as it measures motor system activity, it is a practical method of measuring postural sway in standing (Ruhe et al., 2011). References Apthorp, D., Nagle, F., Palmisano, S. (2014). Chaos in balance: non-linear measures of postural control predict individual variations in visual illusions of motion. PloS one, 9(12). Britten, K. H. (2008). Mechanisms of self-motion perception. Annu. Rev. Neurosci., 31, 389-410. Del Percio, C., Brancucci, A., Bergami, F., Marzano, N., Fiore, A., Di Ciolo, E., . . . Eusebi, F. (2007). Cortical alpha rhythms are correlated with body sway during quiet open-eyes standing in athletes: a high-resolution EEG study. Neuroimage, 36(3), 822-829. Dichgans, J., Brandt, T. (1978). Visual-Vestibular Interaction: Effects on Self-Motion Perception and Postural Control. In R. Held, H. Leibowitz H.-L. Teuber (Eds.), Perception (Vol. 8, pp. 755-804): Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Duffy, C. J., Wurtz, R. H. (1993). An illusory transformation of optic flow fields. Vision Research, 33(11), 1481-1490. Lestienne, F., Soechting, J., Berthoz, A. (1977). Postural readjustments induced by linear motion of visual scenes. Exp Brain Res, 28(3-4), 363-384. Massion, J. (1994). Postural control system. Curr Opin Neurobiol, 4(6), 877-887. Nakamura, S. (2011). Effects of viewpoint jitters on roll vection. i-Perception, 2(4), 254-262. Palmisano, S., Allison, R., Schira, M., Barry, R. J. (2015). Future Challenges for Vection Research: Definitions, Functional Significance, Measures and Neural Bases. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. Palmisano, S., Apthorp, D., Seno, T., Stapley, P. (2014). Spontaneous postural sway predicts the strength of smooth vection. Exp Brain Res, 232(4), 1185-1191. Ruhe, A., Fejer, R., Walker, B. (2011). Center of pressure excursion as a measure of balance performance in patients with non-specific low back pain compared to healthy controls: a systematic review of the literature. European Spine Journal, 20(3), 358-368. Stoffregen, T. A. (1985). Flow Structure Versus Retinal Location in the Optical Control of Stance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 11(5), 554-565. Tanahashi, S., Ujike, H., Kozawa, R., Ukai, K. (2007). Effects of visually simulated roll motion on vection and postural stabilization. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 4(1), 39-39. Tucker, M. G., Kavanagh, J. J., Morrison, S., Barrett, R. S. (2010). Differences in rapid initiation and termination of voluntary postural sway associated with ageing and falls-risk. J Mot Behav, 42(5), 277-287.

Hierarchy HR Department Human Resource Management Commerce Essay

Hierarchy HR Department Human Resource Management Commerce Essay Human capital is the rarest resource of the company which cannot be imitated while every other resource or asset of the organization can be copied by the rivals due to the changing environment and emergence of technology. HR Is basically a support function which helps the other imperative functions in achieving their vision which cannot be achieved without the support of HR. Its a cost minimization and value creating source. HR successfully linked the lower management with the top management for the purpose of achieving goals and objectives. There is not a formula or certain procedure in human resource management, it varies from person to person and managers perceived it differently as everyone has his/her own strategies. In this report we have covered almost each and every aspect of human resource management. HR process starts with hiring of the effective employees and ends with the performance evaluation of the human resources. Goals of HR Department in UMA To recruit the most effective pool of candidates Motivate the employees so that performance of each employee can be strengthened Prevent and reduce the turnover rate. This is the most imperative job of HR because it helps the firm in achieving its goals Give rewards and benefits to the deserving candidates. Deserving candidates are identified by analyzing the performance appraisal. To give priority to the internal labor supply over the external one so that the motivation level and performance of workers could be enhanced Resolve the conflicts among the employees so that an impressive working environment could be developed. Develop HR related policies and code of conduct. HIRING There is not a fixed time period for hiring. Company hires the workers according to the need of the time the first and the most imperative step in the hiring process is recruitment. Recruitment is basically the process of generating effective pool of employees. The most famous and renown tool for recruitment is newspaper and internet in united marine agency. The firm believes that with the help of newspaper and internet you can generate a huge pool of candidates in a very limited time. Besides this there is another advantage of recruiting the candidates through newspaper and i.e. Image of the organization , as we all know that an immense ad in the newspaper can strongly influence the image of the company. Employee referral is also a tool used by the firm for the purpose of generating impressive pool of candidates. Employee referral is considered as the most trustworthy, reliable and effective tool because the employee are very much conscious in referring the candidates as this is the matter of their credibility as well as a result the most preferred and effective candidates are referred by the employees . Employee referral is not always positive. There are some negative aspects of employee referral as well because sometimes managers has to neglect or ignore the mistakes of certain employees just because of there sound reference . Internal Vs. External Labor Supply The firm believes that internal labor supply must be given preference over external labor supply. Consequently when an executive position is vacant, top management attempts to fill that vacancy by promoting a deserving employee. This helps the firm is following ways Reduce cost of hiring Hiring is the process of human resource management which involves a lot of cost and requires a massive time for the purpose of producing effectual pool of applicants but internal labor supply is that efficient tool which can certainly reduce the cost of hiring process for united marine agency, because via promoting and enriching the job responsibility of an productive employee you can reduce huge cost of the organization for sure. Internal employee is aware of the organization culture An internal employee is usually aware of the organization culture therefore he does not take much time in adjusting with the work environment Productivity increases When an internal deserving employee is promoted to an executive position, motivational level increases thus performance of the employee enhances which results in effective organization productivity. Emergency hiring In case of emergency hiring, the firm does not rely on the normal procedures of recruitment but they try to go for the speediest process and usually the process is decided by analyzing the situation intensely and implementing a process according to the situation. SELECTION Selecting the Candidates Process of selection varies job to job. Some job requires a test. Test is provided to the candidates who have been shortlisted through recruitment and the individuals who are able to clear the test are requested to appear in the interview. In majority of the cases, employee referral is used for the purpose of hiring personnel for executive position in UMA. And there are many reasons behind this. Generally an employee is aware of the kind of the individual required for a particular position because he knows the responsibilities of the vacant position and is pretty much aware of the nature of the job therefore he refer an individual who can efficiently perform the job activities and help the organization in achieving its goals and objectives. As Mr. Zeeshan stated that recently a sales manager was hired in UMA on the reference of general manager. The compensation package of that individual is very impressive and well-off according to MR Zeeshan but the general manager is very much satisfied with the compensation package of sales manager because according to him he has the ability of generating sales vigorously. SELECTION PROCESS Candidate is selected by following certain steps which include the test at the initial stage which is design to reduce the vigorous pool of candidates, later an interview is conducted by the HR manager once short listed by the HR manager, the candidates are asked to appear in the final interview conducted by the HOD of the particular department to get the dedicated employees. SELECTION CRITERIA UMA follows the following criteria in order to select effective employee for the firm Education Experience Confidence Soft skills Reference TRAINING Every company either SME or large corporations has a vigorous believe that human capital can build a strong position of company if efficiently and effectively utilized. UMA also strive in achieve the same goal. UMA strongly believe that training and development plays an important role in increasing revenues of the company either through cost reduction or increase in sales. Trainings in UMA are done on almost every level whether a telephone operation or a brand manager of a company, all are indulge in training. As per Mr. Zeeshan employees gets motivated when such sort of activities is done in the organization. Some training is the routine trainings which have to be given to each and every employee after certain time period. such as fire fighting, emergency exits drill and on the job trainings which is given to the new induction by the immediate boss only in the case if there is any technical work in the job description of the employee, Whereas other trainings are done as per the requirement of the job. TRAINING METHODS ON THE JOB TRAINING The frequently used training method is on the job training in UMA. Usually lead by the senior very next to the person who needs the training. Moreover other consulting companies are also outsources by the company in order to accumulate new skill in the employees. As per Mr. Zeeshan recently UMA has organized a 15 days training session for the sales support staff and telephone operator so that the company can build good relation with the customers and can provide the exact solutions of their queries. OFF THE JOB TRAINING Off the job training is rarely done by the company and is only provided to the executive class. These trainings include seminars and workshop which is conducted abroad mostly in Singapore and Dubai. Performance appraisal UMA does the employees performance appraisal on as annual bases. Performance appraisal is done by using multi methods in order to get accurate information for the employee and its achievements. UMA uses two performance appraisal methods at the same time, MBO and graphic rating scale. In every December before the increment of the employees performance appraisal form is distributed to the HODs of every department with the due date, and then it become the responsibility of HOD to evaluate the employee. Following are the questions that are included in the appraisal form of the employee List your achievements or tasks you have done or/and currently doing well. What are the facilitating and constraining factors in performing your work? Achievements of Previous Agree Targets any training required RATING SCALE 1 Unsatisfactory 2 Acceptable 3 Good 4 Excellent FACTORS Employee Evaluator 1 Quality of Work 2 To meet targets and deadlines Initiative 4 Attitude 5 Cooperation 6 Attendance 7 Communication Skill 8 Interpersonal Skill 9 Willingness to learn 10 Cost conscious 11 Development of subordinator REWARDS AND BENEFITS: every year increments is given on the bases of performance of the employees and is not influenced by personal liking or disliking If employee performance is not up to the mark they are considered for the training and development program in order to make them more effective in achieving the task assigned to them. Training is also given if the employee thinks they need it for the better understanding and execution of the task. Drawback of MBO and Rating Scale The biggest drawback of appraising the performance through MBO is employee stick to the particular objectives provided to them which limits their productivity, performance and creativity to a certain level Benefit of MBO The most impressive benefit of MBO is providing the employees with clear and specific objectives as a result employees are aware of the fact that what is required from them therefore employees put their best efforts for the purpose of matching those objectives as efficiently as they can PROMOTION UMA consider different factors in order to analyze the promotion of the employees. According to them they dont have any fixed time period to promote an employee. It totally depends on the traits personality and hard working of the employee. Recognizing the promotion UMA recognizes the need to promote employee by continuously observing the performance of the employee. The main focus of the company is on the goals and targets achieved by the employees then on the factors and lastly on the time duration. Even the Deputy Manager is promoted in 8 month of time period because of his achievements and fulfillment of the targets. Factors considered in promotion planning and organizing professionalism teamwork and leadership punctuality achieved targets attitude and behavior of other According to Mr. Zeeshan once an employee is promoted then they are not promoted until they develop their skills for the upper position. If the employee is about to get promoted and at that time he resigns, then as per the practices of the HR department they either promote the contingent employee or give dual responsibilities to other. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS UMA provide great incentives and benefits to their employees. Other than their basic salary following are the incentives provided to the employees are based on their designations. Fuel Allowance Fuel allowance is given to the employees on the bases of their designation and work. Fuel allowance varies from 45 liters to 300 liters. As per the policy following is the ratio of giving fuel Bikes 45 liters Car (till 1000cc) 150 liters Car (till 1300cc) 250 liters Car (till 2400cc) 300 liters Mobile allowance Mobile allowance is also provided as per the designation of the employee Medical Insurance Every employee is covered with medical insurance which only includes hospitalization. In case of any mishap insurance company will pay all the expenses. Vehicle and its repair and maintenance Company provides the vehicle with the repair and maintenance to the employee as an incentives, but with the condition that car must remain clean all the time otherwise it would be taken back. Cars are inspected on daily bases Bonus Two bonuses are given to the employee in the period of one year other than the increment in the salary. One full salary is given on eid-ul-fitr and 70% is given on eid-ul-azha Retirement benefits The biggest benefit of retirement policy is that there is no age constraint in retirement an employee can work till the time he is capable of working in the organization. Gratuity is given to the employee which equal to the one salary for one year of service EOB pension is given to the employee Job rotation As mentioned before, employee is rotated to any other department or job if his/her performance is unsatisfactory. Most of the time managers also asked to their subordinates that whether they require a job rotation or not. Managers do this in order to enhance the employee motivation, performance and skills. TERMINATION In UMA, employees are not terminated on the basis of their performance because termination is not the solution of the problem. If the performance of the employee is not up to the mark, management attempt to transfer that individual to another department Termination is only occurred on the basis following cases Misconduct Or Misbehavior Misbehavior or misconduct of any employee is not tolerated in any case, which leads to straight termination Violation of HR policies or rules Each and every employee is requested to follow the HR rules and policies and if the employee is not following the rules and regulations, firm decided to terminate that individual Sexual harassment Sexual harassment is the case which leads to immediate termination Fraudulent For the purpose of alerting other employees, deceptive or fake individuals are terminated. ISSUES 360 degree of method of performance appraisal is ignored Do not have software for online recruitment At times, employee referral caused difficulties for the managers HR department of UMA is almost new. So the parameters of selecting new candidates are completely different as a result the performance of new induction varies from the old one which results in the organizational conflicts. SOLUTION The HR department is doing an impressive job but there are still some issues which need to be rectified as soon as possible. Following are the recommendations we suggested for the HR department of UMA 360 degree method of performance appraisal must be used. This is the most effective tool for the performance appraisal which is ignored by UMA because the performance of an individual must be evaluated by other colleagues as well Do not have software for online recruitment which is a hindrance in the hiring process. Software should be used for making the recruitment process more effective. Sometimes employee referrals cause problems for managers as they have to ignore the mistakes of the particular employee who has a strong reference. This issue can be resolved by providing the managers right to discipline the employee who is not performing well CONCLUSION By analyzing the whole HR process, we analyze that the HR department is doing an impressive job for United Marine Agency because the whole HR department consist of only five individuals who are managing more than 250 employees. Therefore we can state that HR department is doing a really efficient job. We all know that recruitment via newspaper or internet can generate very large pool of candidates. And we were really amazed by knowing the fact the whole task of recruitment is managed by only 5 individuals in the HR department. To fill the executive position through employee referral is a wise decision which helps the firm to hire effective individual and save the cost and time related to hiring process. The most impressive thing is their policy of not terminating any individual on the basis of his/her performance. By doing this, UMA proves that moral values and corporate social responsibility is an integral part of the organization. The process of job rotation is conducted by considering the opinions of the subordinates that whether they require job rotation or not. This helps the firm in enhancing high organizational performance by increasing the motivation level of employees. Different sort of incentives are provided to the employees in order to satisfy the workers and reduce the turnover rate Employee has to pass three interviews sometimes. This is also a good move because caliber of the candidate cannot be judged in a single interview only because organization has to make sure that it has selected the right candidate for the right job Two methods of performance appraisal are used by the firm which is MBO and rating scale. The purpose of using two methods is just to confirm that the performance is appraised appropriately.

Pneumonia And Tuberculosis Essay -- Health Illnesses Essays

Pneumonia and Tuberculosis Pneumonia and tuberculosis have been plaguing the citizens of the world for centuries causing millions of deaths. This occurred until the creation and use of antibiotics become more widely available. These two respiratory infections have many differences, which include their etiology, incidence and prevalence, and many similarities in their objective and subject indicators, medical interventions, course, rehabilitation and effects. To explore the relationship between pneumonia and tuberculosis we will examine a case study. Joan is a 35 year old women who was feeling fine up till a few weeks ago when she develop a sore throat. Since her sore throat she had been experiencing chest pain, a loss of appetite, coughing and a low fever so she went to visit her doctor. Her doctor admitted her to the hospital with bacterial pneumonia and after three days of unsuccessful treatment it was discovered that she actually had active tuberculosis. This misdiagnosis shows the similarities between the two diseases and how easily they can be confused. Pneumonia Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of the lungs with exudation and consolidation. Pneumonia can be one of two types: lobar pneumonia or bronchial pneumonia. Lobar pneumonia affects one lobe of a lung while bronchial pneumonia affects the areas closest to the bronchi (O'Toole, 1992). In the United States over three million people are infected with pneumonia each year; five percent of which die. Etiology There are over 30 causes for pneumonia however there are 4 main causes which are bacterial, viral, mycoplasma and fungal (American Lung Association, 1996). Bacterial pneumonia attacks everyone from young to old, however "alcoholics, the debilitated, post-operative patients, people with respiratory disease or viral infections and people who have weakened immune systems are at greater risk" (American Lung Association, 1996). The Pneumococcusis bacteria, which is classified as Streptococcus pneumoniae, causes bacterial pneumonia and can be prevented by a vaccine. In 20 - 30% of the cases the infection spreads to the blood stream (MedicineNet, 1997) which can lead to secondary infections. Viral pneumonia accounts for half of all pneumonia cases (American Lung Association, 1996) unfortunately there is no effective tre... ...sis can be kept under control with the use of antibiotics and the earlier that the infection is caught the better chance of a prompt recovery. References American Lung Association. (1996). Pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.lungusa.org/noframes/learn/lung/lunpneumonia.html American Lung Association. (1996) Tuberculosis [Online]. Available URL: http://www.lungusa.org/noframes/learn/lung/luntb.html Cook, Allan R., & Dresser, Peter D. (Ed.). (1995). Respiratory diseases and disorders sourcebook (6). Detroit: Omnigraphics Inc. Galantino, Mary Lou., & Bishop, Kathy Lee. (1994, February). The new TB. PT Magazine. P. 53-61 MedicineNet. (1997). Diseases & treatments: pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.medicinenet.com/mainmenu/encyclop/ARTICLE/Art_P/pneumon.htm National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine. (1989). Med Facts Pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.hjc.org/MFhtml/PNE_MF.html O'Toole, M. (Ed.). (1992). Miller-Keane encyclopedia and dictionary of medicine, nursing, and allied health. Toronto: W.B. Saunders. Schlossberg, David. (Ed.). (1994). Tuberculosis (3rd ed.). New York: Springer - Verlag.