20150630 750 Disc Essay

20150630 750 Disc Essay 20150630 750 Disc Essay The project I am working on at Mayo Clinic deals with improving flow within the Supply Chain Management Department. Specifically, I am working with the Master Data Management and Sourcing Pricing Quoting teams to document current flow and resource use to better determine a smoother system and uncover any gaps in research and processing. In healthcare there is a continual push for optimization and SWOT and force field analysis provide a valuable assessment of opportunities and barriers to change. Through this project I’m gathering data through SWOT and force field analysis before studying a focus group comprised of members of both teams. The SWOT and force field analysis provide the framework of opportunities through strengths and pushback from having weaknesses and opposition to change. 1) Define the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats based on your analysis of your project. Explain your answer. Our strengths are determined by current elements and behaviors that boost our performance. After talking with several colleagues, one of the primary strengths within our department is proved success and a good reputation built from an experienced staff and involved leadership. Mayo is currently considered number two in healthcare supply chains according to Gartner. Another important strength is having the resources to make change. As a major healthcare supplier Mayo Clinic not only has purchasing power, they have the ability to work with development and build software that directly fits our organization. Weaknesses have to do with issues and behaviors within our organization that reduce or quality of care. We identified several weaknesses when thinking about how our teams work together and some barrier to change. Communication is a weakness among our supply chain. Although data travels quite well among teams communication about policy and procedure updates is not communicated or updated appropriately on team websites. Another weakness is trust among teams and team members. There is a lot of repeated verification of data as is flows through the system creating a lot of rework. Opportunities provide possibilities to make change developments that improve quality, efficiency, or lower costs. Several opportunities have also become apparent as the discussion has been opened up among teams. As both teams are newly staffed, there is a lot of opportunity to see how changes in the system can produce more efficient processes. We have also determined that defining roles and cross training could be very beneficial and support flexibility. Threats are influences that pose barriers to maintaining or improving the current state. Threats among our work teams include product disruptions for end users and decreased internal customer satisfaction as well as improper data reporting which can be very costly during annual audits. There are several other threats includ ing buying inaccuracy, and volunteerism among team members to embrace change and take on responsibility. 2) What are the opportunities for change? There is an opportunity for flow improvements as well as cross-training to improve data determination from end users. Mapping out the flow and identifying the best research tools to gather up-to-date, accurate information from within our system and from vendors should help to improve internal customer experience as well as build trust and teamwork. The goal is to reduce the time it takes from request submission to access to items. There is a secondary opportunity for developing better teamwork and communication through this process and outlining responsibilities. 3) What are the driving forces

Terms for Time of the Day

Terms for Time of the Day Terms for Time of the Day Terms for Time of the Day By Mark Nichol Many terms, practical and poetic, refer to various periods in the day or to related figurative senses. Here is a selection, ranging from regular to rare. Dawn (from Old English dagian, â€Å"to become day†), a word for the beginning of the day, also figuratively describes beginnings in general, especially in the sense of renewal or second chances. Daybreak is a practical synonym. A poetic variant is aurora, from the Latin name for the Roman goddess of dawn; the adjectival form is auroral. (The word is related to the Latin term auster, meaning â€Å"south wind,† from which the name of Australia is derived; the similar name Austria, by contrast, stems from the Germanic cognate of east, though auster and east are related.) Aurora is usually associated with the aurora borealis and the lesser-known aurora australis, atmospheric phenomena occurring, respectively, in and near the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The name for Easter, derived from the name of a Germanic goddess, is associated with the brightness of dawn and is related to east. Matutinal (from Matuta, an earlier Roman goddess later identified with Aurora) is an adjective referring to the morning; matins, the canonical term for the morning hours, and matinee, referring to an early performance, are related terms. Twilight (from an Old English term probably meaning â€Å"half-light†) is the dim light of the early morning and late evening, as well as those times of the day, though the term almost invariably refers to the latter period. Figuratively, the word also refers to a vaguely defined intermediate state or a period of decline. Gloaming (from Old English glom, meaning â€Å"twilight† which, incidentally, is not related to gloom but is akin to glow, from glowan) declined in use in the eighteenth century except in certain dialects but is associated with Scotland and poetry because of its use by Scots poet Robert Burns and others. Crepuscular (from Latin crepusculum, meaning â€Å"twilight, dusk†) is an adjective that refers to the margins of the day, especially in the evening, and might be used, for example, to refer to animal behavior. (Crepuscule and its variant crepuscle are rare noun forms.) Dusk (from Old English dox, and related to dun and dust) is the late evening twilight (and, rarely, the beginning of morning twilight); its adjectival form, dusky, refers to darkness or obscurity. Terms for the beginning of the day other than dawn include sunrise and sunup, complemented by sunset and sundown; the archaic terms morn and eve survive as poetic alternatives to morning (from the Old English term morgen the phrase to morgenne is the precursor of tomorrow) and evening (from even, in the sense of â€Å"equilibrium†). Other terms for morning include cockcrow, from the customary early-morning call of the rooster, while eventide and evenfall are poetic synonyms for evening. Various terms derive from noon (ultimately from the Latin term nona hora, meaning â€Å"ninth hour,† though the sense shifted to â€Å"midday†): These include noontime, the poetic noontide, afternoon, and the rare forenoon. Diurnal (from the Latin word diurnalis, also the precursor of journal), refers to daytime or daytime activity; the antonym is nocturnal (from the Latin term nocturnus). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Types of LanguageOne Fell Swoop30 Nautical Expressions

Investment in emerging market or the effects of foreign direct Dissertation

Investment in emerging market or the effects of foreign direct investment(FDI) in emerging market - Dissertation Example Hence, the impact of FDI can be ascertained through reports and academic articles. FDI alone does not mean success and it depends on various other factors. With a view to evaluate the impact that the MNCs make by entering developing economies, this study was conducted. This study is based purely on secondary data through reliable sources. After reviewing literature on the theories and perspectives on FDI and on emerging economies, two MNCs that have invested in two different economies – China and India - were studied. Yamaha of Japan invested in India as a market expansion strategy and achieved initial success. Their investment and control was limited and as competition increased, they could not sustain. They still have two plants in India but they are yet to achieve success. Cultural distance seems to be the dominant factor in the outcome. In the case of China, General Motors of the US adopted a unique strategy by entering through investments in research and development at th e behest of the local government. Gradually they could enter into manufacturing and today they sell more trucks in China than they do in the US. GM adopted a vertical approach to FDI in China because of the huge difference in the factor endowments. Thus, the success or failure of the MNCs in developing economies requires taking into account the risk factors and knowing how to mitigate these risks. Prior experience is not enough. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Problem statement 2 1.3 Organization of the study 3 2. Literature Review 4 2.1 Definition and concept of FDI 4 2.2 Drivers of FDI 5 2.3 Emerging economies 7 2.4 FDI in emerging economies 9 3. Research Methodology 10 3.1 Research Philosophy 10 3.2 Research phenomenon 10 3.3 Research design 10 3.4 Research strategy 11 3.5 Justification for literature review 12 4. Findings and Discussion 14 4.1 India 14 4.2 China 17 5. Conclusion & recommendations 22 5.1 Conclusion 22 5.2 Recommendations 23 References 25 Ap pendices 27 1. Introduction 1.1 Background The developing economies comprising of low-income economies (with an annual gross national income per capita of $905 or less) and lower-middle income economies (income per capita between $906 and $3,595) jointly produce 41% of the world’s output, according to the World Bank Development Indicators 2008 report (Lenartowicz & Balasubramanian, 2009). Moreover, 5 of the 12 largest economies are now in the developing world. China and India’s economies are not expected to grow 22 times their current size by 2050 whereas the US is expected to grow only 2.5 times approximately. The developing countries constitute more than 80% of the world’s population. The geographical focus of growth has shifted towards the developing economies, which is the reason that the multinationals have been trying to develop economies in Asia, Africa and South America as profit sources. While the MNCs from the developed nations were seeking suitable ci rcumstances for foreign market access, the developing nations also strived to draw the attention of the foreign investors by offering incentives (Michi, Cagatay & Koska, 2004). This led to a serious competition to access the developing nations’ markets and the evaluation was based on costs, internal market and ownership/location advantages. The developing nati

Black Fish Movie Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Black Fish Movie - Assignment Example There are no records of the attacks; thus trainers have little information on the risks involved in their job. The orcas are unhappy in this captivity and aggressive not to themselves but also to the trainers. This negligence witnessed in the way the orcas are treated, and this put the lives of the trainers in danger. The Blackfish film expounds on the mistreatment of orcas. This film focuses on the way the SeaWorld captured the orcas and kept in their captivity for human entertainment. Blackfish is one such documentary, which exposes the unkindness man imposes on animals and the plight of wildlife in marine parks as they undergo domestication and training to amuse humans and generate profits The filmmaker is making emphasis on telling the stories of the trainers and their narrative pointing to the abuse and in the way SeaWorld keep the killer whale in captive. The film advocates on the plight of orcas. It is not adequately supported because it is focusing on the incidents Tilikum and his captivity but fails to digress in talking the other incident involving others killer whales. There is no differentiation of the incidents. The film is not clear on how to treat SeaWorld. People interviewed in the film have the adverse opinion, and they do not provide the solution. The film has perfect visual work, and different interviews blended with the mixture of footage of animations of parks and animals. This cinematography is trying to bring clear vision and emotions on the subject of the plight of animals.

Improved Ethical Conduct Essay Example for Free

Improved Ethical Conduct Essay Improvement of ethical conduct is influential for the realization of sustainable social and economic development in any organization. Ethical conduct serves the important purpose of strengthening the reputation of an organization in the marketplace. In addition, improving ethical conduct is crucial in mitigating liability costs incurred by the organization. According to some economic and business management analysts, ethical business behavior in a company is instrumental in enhancing cooperation among its stakeholders, a move that functions to enhance the decision making process. This is also important in improving efficiency of executing business objectives. This paper is written in support of the thesis that companies should choose to understand, report on, and improve their ethical conduct as a crucial tool in ensuring sustainable competitive advantage in the market economy. Ethical conduct in an organization is important in protecting and strengthening the reputation of the company (Barnum, Richter, 1994). According to assertion by many people in the community, reputation of a firm is the most important marketing tool for its products. Numerous research findings have provided sufficient evidence linking the purchasing behavior of customers with the perceived reputation of the producing organization. Such findings have been explained by the fact firm reputation is closely attributed with quality and reliability of services, a factor that serves to enhance customer loyalty. In addition, reputation of an organization is important in protecting and enhancing investor confidence (Barnum, Richter, 1994). As an example is the financial scandal of Enron and WorldCom corporations in 2002. these scandals did not only lead to the collapsing of these two giant American corporations, but caused loss of billions of investor capitals, a move that compromised investor confidence in the firms. All these have the indication that enhancing ethical conduct in a company functions to ensure its competitive advantage. Still on improving ethical conduct in an organization is that it enhances the reputation of its individual employees. It has been evidently established that employee recommendations from some companies are highly recognized in the job market. This factor is driven by the fact that such companies have a strong corporate ethical code of conduct, a crucial element in defining the reliability and integrity of the individual. On the other hand, engaging in unethical business practices by individual employee serve both to enhance liability costs and compromise the reputation of the employee in the external job market. Another importance of improving ethical conduct in an organization is that it eliminates liability costs in the organization. According to the provisions of the American as well as international business laws, unethical behaviors by investments are subject to legal proceedings. This is because the law functions the purpose of protecting not only the interests of the firm but also those of the general public, a purpose that is negated by unethical business practices (Barnum, Richter, 1994). Based on this reasoning, it means that organizations engaged in unlawful practices serve to hurt the interest of customers and investors. As an example on improving ethical conduct to mitigate liability is the legal implications brought by the ZZZZ best carpet company. According to available information, the ZZZZ Company was involved in fraud activities to enhance its competitive financial position. However, following the revelation of the scandal, it management were subjected to legal justice and the worth of the organization auctioned to compensate investor who lost in the scandal. In addition, it is not uncommon to hear of customers filing damage cases against companies for falsified advertisements of products. Ethical business conduct is vital in ensuring efficiency of services provision in the organization. Instilling a corporate culture in an organization has it crucial function in ensuring commitment by employees serving in the organization. Just to be appreciated is the fact that the ultimate success of any organization is defined by its effectiveness in meeting the demands of its customers. On the other side, effective ethical conduct dictates for commitment of all stakeholders to the vision, mission, and objectives of the organization. Therefore, improving ethical conduct in an organization is important in improving it service provisions, thus ensuring sustainable competitive advantage of the organization in the marketplace. Improving ethical business practices promotes the decision making process in the organization (Barnum, Richter, 1994). Ethical business behavior serves to mitigate unfair dealings in an organization. It is worth noting that the decision making process of an organization is mainly driven by the financial stand of its investment. This is because such are the defining force of the measures necessary to enhance its economic expansion. This means that, without reliable financial accounting practices, the organization’s decision making process is deemed ineffective. Such practices are to be blamed for the downfall of the big corporations like WorldCom. Thus promoting ethical financial practices is crucial in enhancing the decision making process of an organization. In conclusion, business ethical practices are important component for the realization of long term competitive advantage of an organization in the marketplace. This is because they function to protect and strengthen the reputation of the firm as well as mitigating liability costs to the company. Thus companies should choose to understand, report on, and improve their ethical conduct as a crucial tool in ensuring sustainable competitive advantage in the market economy.

How Investing Became Cool Essay -- Internet Stock Market Essays

How Investing Became Cool Bankers and stockbrokers are not generally viewed as the most exciting people in the world. Traditionally, they have been viewed as those guys who are always reading the Wall Street Journal or talking on their cell phones when they're out in public; they wear the same white shirt, red tie combination every day of the week, and there's no noticeable distinction between work and the rest of their lives. Not exactly the kind of people you'd want to invite to liven up a Christmas party. And if you do invite them, they usually end up standing before a group of bored and confused laymen talking about hedge funds or IPOs. This was a common perception in the past, but within the last decade this image has changed considerably. The field of finance and investments has seen a considerable increase in popularity, and these same bankers and stockbrokers might even be considered cool now. The 1990s saw the climax of the longest bull market in recent history. As John Cassidy pointed out in an article for the New Yorker earlier this year, interest rates were low, unemployment was low, and thanks to the Internet bubble the Nasdaq was climbing at an unbelievable rate. To the average American, it started to become apparent that the stock market was a good place to turn to make a quick and easy profit, and the seemingly infinite growth made it seem like an almost risk-free investment. Soon everybody was talking about stocks like they were the newest and hottest fashion trend, and it was impossible not to notice. In a recent Money magazine article, Joseph Nocera says that in 1994, 34% of American households had some money in the market, up from just 10% in the 1950s, and this number climbed even further to mo... ...rk on Main Street. If you've understood everything I've said without too many visits to a financial dictionary, then you've proven my point. For the most part, the American public has been educated, and stock market lingo has made its way into everday speech. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before a diversified portfolio becomes as much a part of the American Dream as apple pie and white picket fences. Sources cited Ameritrade, Inc. 21 Oct. 2002; Cassidy, John. "Striking it Rich; The rise and fall of popular capitalism." The New Yorker. 14 Jan. 2002: 63; E*Trade Financial. 21 Oct. 2002; Internet Movie Database. 21 Oct. 2002; Nocera, Joseph. "Welcome to the Money Revolution." Money. Fall 2002: 34-38; Perkins, Edwin. Wall Street to Main Street: Charles Merrill and Middle-Class Investors. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Commentary on ‘Foo Fighters Music Review’ and ‘The Birth of a Band, Waring Green’

My aim in writing these pieces were both to inform and put across my opinions to an audience of interested readers. For the music review my intended audience was young music lovers and for the biography it was more for anyone who is interested in reading about people who have had an interesting life experience, perhaps a similar one to themselves. I wanted my pieces to be clear and amusing, and in the music review, more informal so that it would appeal to people. The biography was intended to be informative, whereas the review was intended to be more open in view as to include the audience more. In order to accomplish this I have deliberately used a number of techniques. In the title of my second production piece I have included some alliteration of the sound [ ] which catches the attention of the reader and helps to establish the main story. In ‘The Birth of a Band' I used mainly first person pronouns such as ‘my' and ‘I'. This helps to show the reader that it is from my own personal view and it is an actual real life even that I have encountered. In the Foo Fighter review I used mainly third person pronouns such as ‘their', and I also named people and attached the event directly to their name. this is the opposite of the other piece as it establishes that the music and the credit belongs to them and no-one else. I have tried to be quite informal in both of my pieces by using words such as ‘dodgy' and constructions such as ‘Pointless? Funny!' This helps to make the reader feel more at ease when reading it, and there is also some intended humour in order to make the reader laugh, more so in the review than the biography piece. In the review of the Foo Fighters I included one instance of a mild taboo lexeme. ‘†¦damn good†¦' Again this is a point in the text that gives the reader a bit of comic relief and a chance to reflect on my opinions with their own. This is why I decided to add quite a lot of interrogatives into the text, even though I cannot expect an answer, the reader can establish their own views and opinions about what I think and also about what they think in comparison. I aimed to make my two pieces as clear as I possibly could. I used a number of techniques to ensure this. Firstly I used short strings of words, for example, ‘That was a real boost', and tried to avoid overly long sentences. I didn't want my readers to become bored of reading too many facts or opinions at a time. Secondly I used fairly short simple lexemes. I tried to keep my words either monosyllabic or disyllabic because this makes the text flow more smoothly and doesn't make the reader get confused at long complicated words. In my two pieces I have used a lot of past tense, mainly in ‘The Birth of a Band' to show how what we have achieved is a past event. For example ‘was' and ‘asked'. However I did use some present progressive, ‘will keep trying' in order to show how our band and music are still going. I also used some present tense, mainly in the Foo Fighters Music review, to show how their music is still in development. It also helps to convey how it is their most recent album, as I am talking about it in the ‘here and now'. I included in my review of the Foo Fighters music an overall grade of how I feel about their music. This is nine out of ten. Most people will understand this as a good mark because it is on a scale of one to ten which is the most common way of grading something. I feel it is a good way of rounding up my review, although I do think it could lead to the reader skipping the rest of the text and just taking the score at face value rather than investigating further into why I have given this grade. But if the reader is interested enough I do not see this as a major problem. I believe I have successfully achieved my targets in writing these pieces. I feel as though they are very entertaining and they convey my feelings and opinions towards the subject matter very effectively. I feel that the information I have provided is sound and believable.

Nonverbal Communication in an Emergency Room

For this project I had to decide upon and visit an environment that I would not normally be in. This environment had to be different from my normal and more comfortable surroundings, in which I thought the nonverbal communication patterns would differ from my own. I made my observations over two days. The environment I chose to observe was an emergency room waiting area. I chose this because I figured the people that I would be observing would not necessarily be very different from me, but I figured that they would be in a different emotional state then I was. I was just an observer in the emergency room while everyone else was there because of some sort of serious medical issue. During my observations I tried to identify any emblems, adaptors, affect displays, eye gaze patterns, regulators, and illustrators and interpret why they might be occurring and what they mean. I also studied and interpreted the impact of the environment itself and what effect it might have had on the people in it. I took a seat toward the back of the room to get the largest possible view of the waiting room. The overall feeling was fairly comfortable and it was not intimidating. The first thing I noticed was that the lighting in the waiting room was dimmer than the lighting in the rest of the hospital. It seemed like mood lighting to me and compared to the fluorescent lit rooms in the rest of the hospital it was more relaxing. The wall facing the outside was basically a wall of tinted windows looking into the parking lot. The windows were tinted to let in a comfortable amount of sunlight without it being too bright. I think the goal was to allow as much natural light in as possible. This would be a good idea in a waiting room because the windows can help reduce the feeling of being â€Å"stuck† there. There were a couple televisions mounted on the wall. Obviously, these were put there to help waiting patients and visitors pass the time. But I would also argue that the televisions were placed there to make the waiting room more familiar and comfortable like someone’s living room. The color of the wallpaper was a very dull, khaki, color. I think that color was picked because it is a neutral color that would not evoke any emotion. Another thing I took note of was how the seating arrangement was laid out. The room was a rectangle shape. The chairs lined the walls and outlined the shape of he room. Other chairs were placed in the middle of the room around a couple of coffee tables. It didn’t seem to make sense at first. However, the more I stared at it, the more it made sense. The chairs seemed arranged to accommodate the different types of groups that would be sitting there. Some rows were long and straight without any other rows opposite them, which I thought would be suitable for somebody waiting alone and might not want to be facing any strangers and keep to themselves. Other rows were arranged to give you the option to sit face to face with someone. There were also some rows that were arranged in a square facing each other but further apart, possibly so that if you wanted to talk to somebody you didn’t know, you had the option to do so, without it feeling obligated or awkward. At the end of the rectangle-shaped room, in the back left and right corners, were two additional areas. One was a â€Å"family consultation room† and the other area was the â€Å"children’s play area. † These two environments differed from the rest of the waiting room. The children’s play area was in the corner and was made to be a fun environment. There was a small, pink, round table with four matching chairs. The ceiling dropped down and was lower than the rest of the room as you entered the play area. I felt this made it cozier for children because the ceiling height was more in proportion to a smaller child’s height. The paint on the walls changed also. It had the same color wall as the rest of the waiting room but there was a big, blue, zigzag pattern that started half way up the wall and wrapped around the perimeter of the play area. It seemed appropriate because even without the label on the wall, the area was clearly a children’s play area. The pattern also set a playful mood. The emergency room can be a stressful place and having to a specific place for children to feel comfortable in was a good idea. The second area was a â€Å"family consultation room. † This was an additional room in the back right corner. This room is for families that have received devastating information about a patient in the emergency room. The room has a door but it was open and unoccupied at the times I was there. This room also had a different feel then the waiting room just outside. As you would imagine it had a very comforting feel. The walls were a light blue color that seemed to be painted on with a sponge. This room also had a wall of windows but it had an optional pull-down shade to cover the windows if desired. The chairs in this room were different too. There were a set of two normal chairs, a couch and a two-seat bench. The couch had room for three people and the bench had room for two. The couch and bench were different from the seats in the other rooms because these did not have any dividers between the seats. I think the idea behind that was that the room was an area to be close with friends and family. Having places to sit were you can be close to someone next to you was essential for the purpose of the room. After making notes about the environment I started making notes on everything I saw people doing, and taking note of the different types of people I was observing. I also intentionally put on headphones so that I would only be interpreting non verbal behaviors. Some of the emblems I saw were unique to the individual, while others were repeated among a lot of people. One that I saw a lot of people doing was to put an arm around the person sitting next to them. Along that same line, people were holding each other’s hands, as well as putting a hand on somebody’s leg. The triage nurse that was calling new arrivals into triage rooms used her hands and body movement to direct people to come with her and to direct them into specific rooms. She would call out someone’s name and when that person acknowledged that they heard her she would invite them over with a wave of her hand. I also saw her point to one of the triage rooms without saying anything when a doctor walked into the waiting room. The doctor had come in and looked at her with a questioning facial expression. She answered his non verbal question with a non verbal answer. She pointed to the second of two triage rooms. That was the answer the doctor was looking for because he entered the triage room without a word. Other conversational examples that were simpler were things such as a person shaking or nodding their head as a response to someone else talking to them. One woman was actually nodding and shaking her head in response to whoever she was talking to on her cell phone. There were a lot of adaptors throughout the entire room, visitors, patients and hospital staff alike. A few of them were actually common throughout the room, not always simultaneous, but at some point or another they were repeated by others. One such adaptor was bouncing a leg up and down while talking or waiting. A couple of people also kept shifting in their chairs while talking. The two most common I saw with people’s hands were drumming their fingers on the arm rest, or rubbing their hands incessantly. One that I only saw once was a girl who every few minutes had to switch the position of her feet that were propped up on a coffee table in front of her. She seemed to be doing it out of boredom or restlessness. I felt she was doing it too often for it to have been the result of her feet being uncomfortable from being in the same position for too long. Others that I noticed were small. A security guard that passed through a few times had the consistent habit of playing with his set of keys attached to his belt. I spotted one of the nurses at the information desk had a habit of tapping the end of her pen gently on her two front teeth while she was pausing to look up anything on her computer. Most of the affect displays throughout the room were revealers, and very similar to each other, without much change from when I entered to when I left. The first thing I noticed was that nobody was smiling. The only smiles I noticed were fake smiles. The person smiling was forcing the smile. This occurred a lot within groups sitting together when they weren’t talking. A mother â€Å"smiled† at her son but her eyebrows were furrowed and pulled together, and her eyes remained unexpressive. The mother’s â€Å"smile† was a sign of reassurance and maybe it was interpreted by her son as a real smile, but the mother was clearly worried. Most of the people in the room had blank expressions or just a slight frown. It seemed as if everyone was in deep thought and most people did not look thrilled to be there. Eye gaze patterns throughout the room varied quite a bit depending on the person's situation. A group that was sitting together in the area of chairs facing each other kept the most eye contact with each other while talking and seemed very comfortable with it. There was another group that was not as good at making eye contact. The group consisted of an elderly woman in a wheelchair along with a middle aged man and woman. The man looked very agitated. He sat with his body positioned forward toward his companions, but his head was turned completely to the side so that he was looking out the windows. He had his elbow propped on the back of the chair next to him, his chin was resting in his hand and his fingers were covering his mouth. When one of the women talked to him his eyes darted to the one speaking to him but quickly went back to the windows as he answered. The women exchanged glances with each other that seemed to let the other know that they both picked up on his agitation and should probably let him be. A few people’s gazes were all over the place. Those people seemed to be the ones that had nothing to do. They were sitting there without a magazine or anything to distract them. Another person sitting alone also mainly looked at their lap or the ground, occasionally locking eyes with a stranger sitting across from them and quickly looking away. The same thing happened to me with a girl sitting opposite of me. We kept making eye contact when I was looking around the room for examples. I’m pretty sure she was trying to figure out what I was doing. I do think she did figure out that I was making some sort of observations and recording them because she started to avert her eyes more quickly the next two times we made eye contact. Regulators were hard to spot because, for the most part, nobody was talking to each other, with the exception of the two groups near me. In the corner what I noticed was, while the man was listening to the woman, he sat back in his chair, body turned towards her, and nodded his head. When it was his turn to speak, he did the opposite and sat up and leaned more towards her and looked around more. The family was all fairly reserved while listening; hands in their laps, bodies turned towards the speaker, but were more animated with their hands and body shifting as they spoke. The illustrators I saw were mostly emphasizing or helping illustrate something somebody was saying. I watched one funny example play out between the two girls in front of me. I never heard what they were talking about but at one point they both put their arms out to their sides and touched the tip of their noses with their pointer fingers. They were discussing either a field sobriety test given by a police officer or a balance test given by a doctor. Another example like this helping explain speech was a young man holding both of his closed fists together and snapping them apart while talking to a woman he was with. I determined he was explaining what had happened to his leg since he was in a wheelchair and his leg was wrapped. Those were the only specific illustrators I saw that seemed to have some type of meaning, where the most common thing was just random gesturing of people’s hands as they spoke. This did not always seem to have any direct connection to what they were speaking about. The adaptors I saw had clear and similar messages with each other. One man came off as stressed and anxious because he was rubbing and squeezing his hands together very roughly without seeming to be aware of it. Fidgeting with his hands seemed to help him take away from the stress he was feeling. Similar to the man rubbing his hands was the girl shifting the position of her propped up feet. She was releasing energy through movement of her feet. It seemed as though she didn’t want to be sitting and would rather be moving around. Most of the prescriptive interpretations I came up with for the behaviors observed came to me immediately as I saw them, as most of them seemed to convey a very clear message in my mind. Almost all of the emblems I saw were various people putting an arm around the person’s shoulder sitting next to them, holding their hand, or putting their hand on their leg. Touch is a powerful form communication. These all were ways of conveying to the other person that they were there for them, to comfort them and help them in this emotional time, and that everything would be alright. I didn’t have to do too much adjusting once I entered the room. I didn’t stick out anymore than anybody else did as far as my clothing went. Since this is an emergency clinic, I assumed that none of these people planned to be here so there really was no particular style of dress. Also, the fact that I was there alone and not talking to anybody actually helped me blend in. There were plenty of people alone and keeping to themselves. The only time I felt like I wasn’t blending in was when the girl in front of me noticed I was writing about the room. That happened on the first day. The second day I went into the emergency waiting room, I wore a hat to better conceal my face and what my eyes were doing. Overall I thought what I found was pretty interesting because I have been in this environment before, noticing most of these things, but the observations this time were put in a whole new perspective because I had to consciously interpret each one, instead of casually noting them. What I think was unique and interesting about this environment was the fact that, although everybody in the room could have easily been of a different ethnicity, gender, age, religion, or political affiliation than each other, they all still had a very similar communication style and seemed to convey the same general emotions. The overall communication was mostly nonverbal simply for the fact that there was very little talking. However, the non verbal communication that was happening was easily interpreted by the people I was observing. There are few places you can go where the overall internal state of mind and emotions will be so universally contained within one room and made this an excellent location. This exercise made me realize how much and how effectively we communicate as humans without even talking.

Zero Based Budgets Essay Example

Zero Based Budgets Essay Example Zero Based Budgets Essay Zero Based Budgets Essay Zero-based budgeting starts from a zero base and every function within an organization is analyzed for its needs and costs. Budgets are then built around what is needed for the upcoming period, regardless of whether the budget is higher or lower than the previous one. Because of its detail-oriented nature, zero-based budgeting may be a rolling process done over several years, with only a few functional areas reviewed at a time by managers or group leadership. Zero-based budgeting can lower costs by avoiding blanket increases or decreases to a prior periods budget. It is, however, a time-consuming process that takes much longer than traditional, cost-based budgeting. The practice also favors areas that achieve direct revenues or production; their contributions are more easily justified than in departments such as client service and research and development. The name zero base budgeting derives from the idea that such budgets are developed from a zero base: that is, at the beginning of the budget development process, all budget headings have a value of ZERO. This is in sharp contrast to the incremental budgeting system in which in general a new budget tends to start with a balance at least equal to last years total balance, or an estimate of it. What zero base budgeting tries to achieve is an optimal allocation of resources that incremental and other budgeting systems probably cannot achieve. ZBB starts by asking managers to identify and justify their area(s) of work in terms of decision packages (qv). Zero-based budgeting is an approach to planning and decision-making which reverses the working process of traditional budgeting. In traditional incremental budgeting, departmental managers justify only variances versus past years, based on the assumption that the baseline is automatically approved. By contrast, in zero-based budgeting, every line item of the budget must be approved, rather than only changes. [1] During the review process, no reference is made to the previous level of expenditure. Zero-based budgeting requires the budget request be re-evaluated thoroughly, starting from the zero-base. This process is independent on whether the total budget or specific line items are increasing or decreasing. Advantages 1. Efficient allocation of resources, as it is based on needs and benefits rather than history. 2. Drives managers to find cost effective ways to improve operations. 3. Detects inflated budgets. 4. Increases staff motivation by providing greater initiative and responsibility in decision-making. 5. Increases communication and coordination within the organization. 6. Identifies and eliminates wasteful and obsolete operations. 7. Identifies opportunities for outsourcing. 8. Forces cost centers to identify their mission and their relationship to overall goals. . It helps in identifying areas of wasteful expenditure and, if desired, it can also be used for suggesting alternative courses of action. One drawback to zero-based budgeting is cost in terms of managerial time; it takes a considerable amount of time to go through the process of reviewing operations in enough detail to justify costs each budget cycle without relying on past expenditures. One solution to this problem is to create a rolling budget every year and perform a zero-based budget every three to five years, or when a major change occurs within the operation. This allows an organization to benefit from the advantages of zero-based budgeting without an excessive amount of work. Likewise, traditional rolling budgets should never strictly rely on a prior-year budget plus a percentage; consideration should always be given to past numbers. In some cases, a zero-based budget may rely on some prior numbers where it is overwhelming to create a budget from scratch. Ultimately, the process gives top management the opportunity to judge the performance of managers in terms of allocating resources efficiently and effectively, and gives managers more responsibility in developing their budgets. An organization should not feel that all budgets must be developed in entirely the same manner. Some departments can utilize an in-depth study of a zero-based budget while others can use a rolling budget. This is a way to spread the extensive work over a number of years instead of concentrating on one certain year. Many organizations have implemented the system in some form or another and found that it did not work. If properly implemented, however, the process could have a considerable improvement over traditional rolling budgets. The number and nature of decision packages varies from organization to organization; it is not uncommon for large organizations to identify several thousand packages. Furthermore, it is often hard or even impossible for top executives to have the necessary knowledge or time to develop and rank priorities for thousands of packages. To alleviate this problem, managers, after ranking their own packages, can have their top executives rank the packages of all the managers that report to them. This approach is used by one of zero-based budgetings pioneers, Texas Instruments. Another solution is for each level of management to rank a certain percentage of packages within its own area of responsibility. In this solution, the first level of management may rank 40 percent of the proposed packages; the next level may rank the next 40 percent of packages, while top management may concentrate on the remainder of the budget Read more: Zero-Based Budgeting strategy, organization, levels, system, style, examples, advantages, manager, company referenceforbusiness. com/management/Tr-Z/Zero-Based-Budgeting. html#ixzz1TgZFF400 [edit] Disadvantages . More time-consuming than incremental budgeting. 2. Justifying every line item can be problematic for departments with intangible outputs. 3. Requires specific training, due to increased complexity vs. incremental budgeting. 4. In a large organization, the amount of information backing up the budgeting process may be overwhelming. The zero-based budgeting system puts the burden of proof on the manager, and demands that ea ch manager justify the entire budget in detail and prove why he or she should spend the organizations money in the manner proposed. A decision package must be developed by each manager for every project or activity, which includes an analysis of cost, purpose, alternative courses of action, measures of performance, consequences of not performing the activity, and the benefits. This approach is different than traditional budgeting techniques due to the analysis of alternatives. Managers must identify alternative methods of performing each activity first, such as evaluating the costs and benefits of making a project or outsourcing it, or centralizing versus decentralizing operations. In addition, managers must identify different levels for performing each alternative method of the proposed activity. This means establishing a minimum level of spending, often 75 percent of the current operating level, and then developing separate decision packages that include the costs and benefits of additional levels of spending for that particular activity. The different levels allow managers to consider and evaluate a level of spending lower than the current operating level, giving decision-makers the choice of liminating an activity or the ability to choose from a selection of levels of effort including tradeoffs and shifts in expenditure levels among organizational units. The decision packages must be ranked in order of importance once they have been created. This allows each manager to identify priorities, combine decision packages for old and new projects into one ranking, and allows top management to evaluate and compare the needs of individual units or divisions to make funding allocations. In this respect, zero-based budgeting is quite different than traditional rolling budgets. Rolling budgets often appeal to people who prepare budgets because they make budget development much easier. Managers can add an inflation factor to the previous years budget and then include any adjustments for major changes. Rolling budgets also give management a concrete number to help make comparisons from year to year. However, traditional rolling budgets have a tendency to create conflict; they can create an incentive to spend money carelessly in order to justify the next years budget. They can also create inefficient operations due to the fact that individual departments or units do not have to justify expenditures based on operations, but only on the prior years expenditures. Zero-based budgeting addresses such problems that can occur with traditional rolling budgets. In zero-based budgeting, each dollar spent by management must be justified with a detailed account of what will be purchased, how many labor hours are needed, what problems will be faced, and so forth. This allows management an opportunity to review operations in depth and make recommendations for changes to if necessary. The zero-based budgeting process helps managers identify redundancies and duplications among different departments, concentrating on the dollars needed for proposed programs as opposed to percentage increases or decreases form the previous year. Specific priorities of departments and divisions are identified more easily in zero-based budgeting. The process also allows for the comparability of different departments as to the respective priorities funded. Zero-base budgeting enables a performance audit to determine whether each project or activity has been performed as efficiently as planned. Zero-based budgeting may require an extensive amount of time, money, and paper work; but it does provide a systematic method of addressing an organizations financial concerns, in turn enabling an organization to better allocate its resources. A combination of zero-based budgets with rolling budgets or some other form of budgeting that spreads the work of justifying new budgets each cycle is one way to incorporate zero-based budgeting without undo stress at the same time for all managers with budgetary responsibility. www. eferenceforbusiness. com/ /Zero-Based-Budgeting. html http The zero-based budgeting system puts the burden of proof on the manager, and demands that each manager justify the entire budget in detail and prove why he or she should spend the organizations money in the manner proposed. A decision package must be developed by each manager for every project or activity, which includes an analysis of cost, purpose, alternative courses of action, measures of performance, co nsequences of not performing the activity, and the benefits. This approach is different than traditional budgeting techniques due to the analysis of alternatives. Managers must identify alternative methods of performing each activity first, such as evaluating the costs and benefits of making a project or outsourcing it, or centralizing versus decentralizing operations. In addition, managers must identify different levels for performing each alternative method of the proposed activity. This means establishing a minimum level of spending, often 75 percent of the current operating level, and then developing separate decision packages that include the costs and benefits of additional levels of spending for that particular activity. The different levels allow managers to consider and evaluate a level of spending lower than the current operating level, giving decision-makers the choice of eliminating an activity or the ability to choose from a selection of levels of effort including tradeoffs and shifts in expenditure levels among organizational units. The decision packages must be ranked in order of importance once they have been created. This allows each manager to identify priorities, combine decision packages for old and new projects into one ranking, and allows top management to evaluate and compare the needs of individual units or divisions to make funding allocations. In this respect, zero-based budgeting is quite different than traditional rolling budgets. Rolling budgets often appeal to people who prepare budgets because they make budget development much easier. Managers can add an inflation factor to the previous years budget and then include any adjustments for major changes. Rolling budgets also give management a concrete number to help make comparisons from year to year. However, traditional rolling budgets have a tendency to create conflict; they can create an incentive to spend money carelessly in order to justify the next years budget. They can also create inefficient operations due to the fact that individual departments or units do not have to justify expenditures based on operations, but only on the prior years expenditures. Zero-based budgeting addresses such problems that can occur with traditional rolling budgets. In zero-based budgeting, each dollar spent by management must be justified with a detailed account of what will be purchased, how many labor hours are needed, what problems will be faced, and so forth. This allows management an opportunity to review operations in depth and make recommendations for changes to if necessary. The zero-based budgeting process helps managers identify redundancies and duplications among different departments, concentrating on the dollars needed for proposed programs as opposed to percentage increases or decreases form the previous year. Specific priorities of departments and divisions are identified more easily in zero-based budgeting. The process also allows for the comparability of different departments as to the respective priorities funded. Zero-base budgeting enables a performance audit to determine whether each project or activity has been performed as efficiently as planned. ://www. referenceforbusiness. com/index. html.

Definition and Examples of Absolute Phrases in English

Definition and Examples of Absolute Phrases in English An absolute phrase is a group of words that modifies an independent clause as a whole. Its etymology is from the Latin, free, loosen, unrestricted. An absolute is made up of a noun and its modifiers (which frequently, but not always, include a participle or participial phrase). An absolute may precede, follow, or interrupt the main clause: Their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky, the storks circled high above us.The storks circled high above us, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky.The storks, their slender bodies sleek and black against the orange sky, circled high above us. An absolute allows us to move from a description of a whole person, place, or thing to one aspect or part. Note that in traditional grammar, absolutes (or nominative absolutes) are often more narrowly defined as noun phrases...combined with participles. The term absolute (borrowed from Latin grammar) is rarely used by contemporary linguists. Examples and Observations The absolute phrase that adds a focusing detail is especially common in fiction writing, much more common than in expository writing... In the following passages, all from works of fiction, some have a participle as the post-noun modifier...; however, youll also see some with noun phrases, others with prepositional phrases. There was no bus in sight and Julian, his hands still jammed in his pockets and his head thrust forward, scowled down the empty street. (Flannery OConnor, Everything That Rises Must Converge)Silently they ambled down Tenth Street until they reached a stone bench that jutted from the sidewalk near the curb. They stopped there and sat down, their backs to the eyes of the two men in white smocks who were watching them. (Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon)The man stood laughing, his weapons at his hips. (Stephen Crane, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky)To his right the valley continued in its sleepy beauty, mute and understated, its wildest autumn colors blunted by the distance, placid as water color by an artist who mixed all his colors with brown. (Joyce Carol Oates, The Secret Marriage) A second style of absolute phrase, rather than focusing on a detail, explains a cause or condition: Our car having developed engine trouble, we stopped for the night at a roadside rest area. We decided to have our picnic, the weather being warm and clear. The first example could be rewritten as a because- or when- clause: When our car developed engine trouble, we stopped... or Because our car developed engine trouble, we stopped... The absolute allows the writer to include the information without the explicitness of the complete clause; the absolute, then, can be thought of as containing both meanings, both when and because. The absolute about the weather in the second example suggests an attendant condition rather than a cause. (Martha Kolln, Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects, 5th ed. Pearson, 2007) Nominative Absolutes Nominative absolutes are related to nonfinite verb phrases... They consist of a subject noun phrase followed by some part of the predicate: either a participle form of the main verb or a complement or modifier of the main verb. . . . [C]omplements and modifiers may take almost any form...Absolutes have traditionally been called nominative because the absolute construction begins with a noun phrase as its headword. Nevertheless, they function adverbially as sentence modifiers. Some [absolutes] explain reasons or conditions for the action described in the main clause; others... describe the manner in which the action of the main clause is performed. (Thomas P. Klammer, Muriel R. Schulz, and Angela Della Volpe, Analyzing English Grammar, 5th ed. Longman, 2007) More Examples of Absolute Phrases Roy circles the bases like a Mississippi steamboat, lights lit, flags fluttering, whistle banging, coming round the bend. (Bernard Malamud, The Natural, 1952)Harry froze, his cut finger slipping on the jagged edge of the mirror again. (J.K. Rowling,  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Scholastic, 2007)Bolenciecwcz was staring at the floor now, trying to think, his great brow furrowed, his huge hands rubbing together, his face red. (James Thurber, University Days)The spider skins lie on their sides, translucent and ragged, their legs drying in knots. (Annie Dillard, Holy the Firm, 1977)His bare legs cooled by sprinklers, his bare feet on the feathery and succulent grass, and his mobile phone in his hand (he was awaiting Lionels summons), Des took a turn round the grounds. (Martin Amis, Lionel Asbo: State of England. Alfred A. Knopf, 2012)When Johnson Meechum came up the three steps of his purple double-wide trailer and opened the front door, his wife, Mabel, was waiting for him, her thin hands clenched on her hips, her tinted hair standing from her scalp in a tiny blue cloud. (Harry Crews, Celebration. Simon Schuster, 1998) Six boys came over the hill half an hour early that afternoon, running hard, their heads down, their forearms working, their breath whistling. (John Steinbeck, The Red Pony)Whenever you heard distant music somewhere in the town, maybe so faint you thought you imagined it, so thin you blamed the whistling of the streetcar wires, then you could track the sound down and find Caleb straddling his little velocipede, speechless with joy, his appleseed eyes dancing. (Anne Tyler, Searching for Caleb. Alfred A. Knopf, 1975)Still he came on,  shoulders hunched, face twisted, wringing his hands, looking more like an old woman at a wake than an infantry combat soldier. (James Jones,  The Thin Red Line, 1962)A tall man, his shotgun slung behind his back with a length of plow line, dismounted and dropped his reins and crossed the little way to the cedar bolt. (Howard Bahr, The Year of Jubilo: A Novel of the Civil War. Picador, 2001)The men sit on the edge of the pens, the big white and silver fish between their knees, ripping with knives and tearing with hands, heaving the disemboweled bodies into a central basket. (William G. Wing, Christmas Comes First on the Banks) Hundreds and hundreds of frogs were sitting down that pipe, and they were all honking, all of them, not in unison but constantly, their little throats going, their mouths open, their eyes staring up with curiosity at Karel and Frances and their large human shadows. (Margaret Drabble, The Realms of Gold, 1975)The accused man, Kabuo Miyamoto, sat proudly upright with a rigid grace, his palms placed softly on the defendants table - the posture of a man who has detached himself insofar as this is possible at his own trial. (David Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars, 1994)The superintendent, his head on his chest, was slowly poking the ground with his stick. (George Orwell, A Hanging, 1931)You can get a fair sense of the perils of an elevator shaft by watching an elevator rush up and down one, its counterweight flying by, like the blade on a guillotine. (Nick Paumgarten, Up and Then Down. The New Yorker, April 21, 2008)Two middle-aged men with jogging disease lumber past me, their faces pur ple, their bellies slopping, their running shoes huge and costly. (Joe Bennett, Mustnt Grumble. Simon Schuster, 2006) At a right angle to the school was the back of the church, its bricks painted the color of dried blood. (Pete Hamill, A Drinking Life, 1994)Ross sat on the edge of a chair several feet away from the table, leaning forward, the fingers of his left hand spread upon his chest, his right hand holding a white knitting needle which he used for a pointer. (James Thurber, The Years With Ross, 1958)One by one, down the hill come the mothers of the neighborhood, their kids running beside them. (Roger Rosenblatt, Making Toast. The New Yorker, December 15, 2008)I could see, even in the mist, Spurn Head stretching out ahead of me in the gloom, its spine covered in marram grass and furze, its shingle flanks speared with the rotting spars of failed breakwaters. (Will Self, A Real Cliff Hanger. The Independent, August. 30, 2008)Down the long concourse they came unsteadily, Enid favouring her damaged hip, Alfred paddling at the air with loose-hinged hands and slapping the airport carpeting with poorl y controlled feet, both of them carrying Nordic Pleasurelines shoulder bags and concentrating on the floor in front of them, measuring out the hazardous distance three paces at a time. (Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2001) Source Macmillan Teach Yourself Grammar and Style in Twenty Four Hours, 2000.

Comparative analysis between The Heathen by Jack London and The Open Essay

Comparative analysis between The Heathen by Jack London and The Open Boat by Stephen Crane - Essay Example Sea voyages are generally considered to be quite dangerous due to the unpredictability of oceans and nature’s fury is being presented in both these stories. â€Å"Eighty feet high splashes that were monstrous went above the mastheads.† The Heathen. (www.readbookonline.net ) Indeed both stories have been splendid when it comes to describing the human relationship, which exists between the different members during the course of their journey at sea. It also very beautifully brings forward the message that, during adversities it is the mutual trust and help that will enable each sailor to tide against all odds. Both stories have been quite effective, in showing the vagaries that the ship crew face during a ship wreck and the miraculous escapes of a few of them, who are partly saved by luck and partly due to the level of confidence each crew is filled with. Though ship wrecks are a common occurrence during olden days both these stories bring out the way by which the sailors and crew members overcome such adversities. It shows that people with the highest level of skill and intelligence, only can survive ship wrecks and sea journey is not for the weak hearted. Thus it is only ultimately the strong and bold men who challenge adversity are the one’s who survive ship wrecks. â€Å"If men get adequate training they would not get drowned in sea due to the commonly occurring shipwrecks.† The Open Boat. (www.readbookonline.net )

Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector Assignment

Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector - Assignment Example and literacy skills among the learners, educators must create a conducive environment that creates conditions for learning (Avis, Fisher & Thompson, 2009). Since learners are of varying backgrounds ranging from cultural to socio-economic backgrounds, educators must provide adequate support to the learners so as to attain the set standards. Additionally, Avis, Fisher & Thompson (2009), say that teaching numeracy and literacy skills is a complex process, and it is the role of the teachers to come up with methods that will suit the multilingual learners. This involves selecting resources and planning instructions so as to meet the high and low order skills in language learning (Avis, Fisher & Thompson, 2009). For teaching literacy and numeracy classes to be productive, educators must develop deep understanding of the main concepts and principles in literacy and numeracy. Avis, Fisher & Thompson (2009), emphasize on synthesizing, explaining, analyzing, evaluating and hypothesizing in the course of teaching multilingual learners. From the lessons I have been keen on, lessons plans presented by the centre, printed materials and articles, motivation of the learners cannot be ignored (Avis, Fisher & Thompson, 2009). In an event whereby the learners are motivated, they tend to engage in the learning tasks. Teachers can motivate the learners by creating a favourable learning environment through modelling, and in turn the learners take risks in engaging in class activities, so as to learn these skills. Since effectual learning of numeracy and literacy skills is based on evidence based research, educational systems must devise literacy and numeracy programs using reliable techniques (Avis, Fisher & Thompson, 2009). Teachers must always assess and evaluate the programs, so as to understand if the learners acquire the information taught in the classroom setting. Lastly, the educators must inculcate a culture of continuity in the learning process if numeracy and literacy