Rice Terraces in Danger Essay

With bare hands and primitive tools, traditional farmers in the highlands of the Phippines have been shaping the Banaue or Ifugao rice terraces into a grandeur feat that attracts the attention of worldwide visitors. The rice terraces with the cluster sites are dated more than 2,000 years old. These spectacular creations, however, are now in danger of crumbling down into oblivion. The Area in Danger These terraces are situated in the mountain region of the northern part of the Philippines about 340 kilometers away from Manila. From here, the high place could be reached some 8 to 9 hours by motor ride. These terraces have been hand-fashioned like great stairs that if laid straight from one point to another are capable of encircling half the earth’s diameter. For thousands of years, this magnificent human feat has intruded human imagination boosting human creativeness and ingenuity. For all the good attributes rendered to this property, the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has listed the site as a world heritage dubbing it as the â€Å"Eight Wonder of the World. † In 1973, the Philippine government gave these heritage properties a special recognition as a national landmark of being a valuable treasure. In 1995, the UNESCO inscribed the Banaue Rice Terraces and the cluster sites in the World Heritage List. In 1994, by virtue of the Presidential Executive Order 158, it created the Ifugao Rice UNESCO Terraces Commission that gives advisory matters to the Philippine President regarding factors affecting them. Diverse Life Forms For thousands of years, the terrace has been serving as home for diverse life forms including aquatic animals, fishes, etc. , thriving in the water-filled, pollution-free paddies. The terrace is also a home for some native red rice varieties and other indigenous rices, which are also considered endangered. In recent years, however, keen observers have noted some negative changes happening within and outside the terraces. Some contributing factors that have been diverting the terraces to these negative changes include environmental degradation and neglect, the rampant use of synthetic pesticides, degrading rice yield, fast rate of urbanization, growing poverty among terrace farmers, and the fermentation of the once solid indigenous folk cultures. Some parts of the heritage property, which were once verdantly green and fertile have now turned into partly eroded brownish, drying grasslands. In 1950, a data report from Abano (2007) shows that farmers cultivated some 15,000 hectares (about 37,000 acres) of this highland terrace. Today, that figure has dwindled to merely 5,000 hectares (about 12,000 acres) maintained by some 100,000 tribal farmers. UNESCO gave warnings in 2001 the possibility of delisting the Banaue Rice Terraces from the World Heritage List. This is because little efforts have been exerted in saving the heritage property from widening irreversible damage. From a distance, desolate terraced landscapes have already shown wears while other similar areas slowly UNESCO disappear due to lack of care. Younger populations from the darkly terraced areas have instead preferred to migrate to the cities where ‘the lights are brighter’ with more income opportunities to choose from. This transmigration has resulted to erosion, not only of the physical terraces they till, but also of the culture and traditions they have been preserving for thousands of years.

Developing strategic thinking Essay

Introduction My research interest in strategic thinking started in 1993 when I interviewed 35 senior executives for a longitudinal study on the changes in strategic planning and strategic management in large organisations between 1982 and 1993. These senior executives were responsible for strategic planning, strategic management or corporate development in 35 of the 100 largest manufacturing companies in Australia. The interviews lasted between three and four hours and one of the questions I asked concerned the problems that they had experienced with their strategic planning or strategic management approach in the preceding five years. The main problem identified by the majority of senior executives was strategic thinking. Interestingly, strategic thinking was a problem regardless of whether the companies had a formalised strategic planning system or used a non-formalised approach. For example, one senior executive from a company with a formalised strategic planning system stated: Our senior exec utives tend to get carried away by details and lose their strategic perspective. Abstract Lack of strategic thinking by senior managers has been identified as a major shortcoming in organisations. Draws on concepts in management and psychology to present a framework that can be used to remedy this situation. Argues that strategic thinking needs to be addressed at two different, but interrelated levels: the individual level and the organisational level. Organisations that successfully integrate strategic thinking at these two levels will create a critical core competency that forms the basis of an  enduring competitive advantage. Europe, East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States† (p. 242). The ability to think strategically, however, is crucial to remaining competitive in an increasingly turbulent and global environment. Considering that the average life expectancy of US Fortune 500 companies is only between 40 and 50 years (de Geus, 1997) and that only 49 percent of the 100 largest manufacturers in Australia in 1982 were still among the top 100 manufacturers in 1993 (Bonn and Christodoulou, 1996), the need for strategic thinking has never been greater. This paper presents a framework that can be used to increase strategic thinking in organisations. It argues that strategic thinking needs to be considered at two different, but inter-related levels. Organisations that successfully integrate strategic thinking at these two levels will create a critical core competency that forms the basis of an enduring source of competitive advantage. The debate on strategic thinking There is no agreement in the literature on what strategic thinking is. A number of authors have used the term interchangeably with other concepts such as strategic planning or strategic management. Wilson (1994) for example notes that: Similarly, a senior executive from a company without a formalised planning system reported: It is a major challenge to get our decision makers to think in strategic rather than operational terms. This lack of strategic thinking is not restricted to organisations in Australia. As research from the Institute of Directors in London has shown, 90 per cent of directors and vice-presidents â€Å"had no induction, inclusion or training to become a competent direction giver of their business† (Garratt, 1995a, p. 242). According to Garratt (1995a), this percentage â€Å"seems to hold good in The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com/ft This continuing search for improvement has profoundly changed the character of strategic planning so that it is now more appropriate to refer to it as strategic management or strategic thinking (p. 14, italics in original). Other authors have focussed on strategic management processes and either stated explicitly that good strategic planning contributes to strategic thinking (Porter, 1987) or assumed implicitly that a well designed strategic management system facilitates strategic thinking within an organisation (Thompson and Strickland, 1999; Viljoen, 1994). Mintzberg (1994) suggested a clear distinction between strategic thinking and  concepts such as strategic planning. He stated that â€Å"strategic planning is not strategic thinking† (p. 107) and argued that each term focuses on a different stage in the strategy development process. In his view, strategic planning focuses on analysis and deals with the articulation, elaboration and formalisation of existing strategies. Strategic thinking, on the other hand, emphasises synthesis, using intuition and creativity to create â€Å"an integrated perspective of the enterprise† (p. 108). He claimed that strategic planning is a process that should occur after strategic thinking. Garratt (1995b) argued along similar lines. He defined strategic thinking as a process by which senior executives â€Å"can rise above the daily managerial processes and crises† (p. 2) to gain a different perspective of the organisation and its changing environments. Heracleous (1998) made the distinction between strategic planning and strategic thinking by an analogy to single-loop learning and double-loop learning. In his view, the former is analogous to strategic planning, the later to strategic thinking. He claimed that single-loop learning involves thinking within existing assumptions and taking actions based on a fixed set of potential action alternatives. Double-loop learning, in contrast, challenges existing assumptions and  develops new and innovative solutions, leading to potentially more appropriate actions. Heracleous argued that like single-loop learning and double-loop l earning, strategic planning and strategic thinking are interrelated in a dialectical process and are equally important for effective strategic management. This article supports the view that strategic thinking and strategic planning are two different concepts and that strategic planning is a process, which takes place after strategic thinking. My analysis in the following sections demonstrates that strategic thinking manifests itself at two different levels: the individual level and the organisational level. This approach integrates the micro domain’s focus on individuals and groups with the macro domain’s focus on organisations and their context. In other words, it acknowledges the influence of individual characteristics and actions on the organisational context and vice versa, the influence of the organisational context on individual thinking and behaviour. As Chatman et al. (1986) have argued: When we look at individual behaviour in organizations, we are actually seeing two entities: the individual as himself and the individual as representative of this  collectivity . . . Thus the individual not only acts on behalf of the organization in the usual agency sense, but he also acts, more subtly `as the organization’ when he embodies the values, beliefs, and goals of the collectivity. Thus, understanding strategic thinking requires a dual-level approach that investigates the characteristics of an individual strategic thinker as well as the dynamics and processes that take place within the organisational context in which the individual operates. For instance, to obtain an accurate picture of the effects of differing leadership styles on strategic thinking, we can look at their impact on individual managers and on the way they influence the wider organisational climate, culture and structure. Strategic thinking at the individual level Strategic thinking at the individual level comprises three main elements: 1 a holistic understanding of the organisation and its environment; 2 creativity; and 3 a vision for the future of the organisation. Each of these  elements will be addressed in the following sections. A holistic understanding of the organisation and its environment A crucial element of strategic thinking is the ability to take a holistic perspective of the organisation and its environment. This requires an understanding of how different problems and issues are connected with each other, how they influence each other and what effect one solution in a particular area would have on other areas. As Kaufman (1991) has expressed it: Strategic thinking is characterized by a switch from seeing the organization as a splintered conglomerate of disassociated parts (and employees) competing for resources, to seeing and dealing with the corporation as a holistic system that integrates each part in relationship to the whole (p. 69). Taking a holistic approach requires the ability to distance oneself from day-to-day operational problems and to see how problems and issues are connected to the overall pattern that underlies particular details and events. Senge (1990) has called this approach â€Å"systems thinking†. He argued that: We must look beyond personalities and events. We must look into the underlying structures which shape individual actions  and create the conditions where types of events become likely (p. 43). Such an attention to the underlying structures of complex situations requires thinking in terms of processes rather than events to enable a reconciliation of apparent contradictions and the development of innovative solutions. Mastering complexity in organisations also requires managers to be familiar with the dynamics of organisational life. Stacey (1996) argued that managers need a thorough understanding of how organisations and managerial actions  change over time and of the feedback processes that lead to such changes. This includes being sensitive to the subtle interactions between the different parts of the organisation and understanding the structural causes of behaviour and their effects on other parts of the organisation. Finally, a holistic view requires recognition that organisations are components within large and complex systems, such as markets, industries and nations. Strategic thinkers need to understand how organisations are embedded within this wider context and h ow they are influenced by the dynamics, interconnection and interdependency of these systems. Strategy is about ideas and the development of novel solutions to create competitive advantage. Strategic thinkers must search for new approaches and envision better ways of doing things. A prerequisite for this is creativity, in particular the ability to question prevalent concepts and perceptions (de Bono, 1996) and to recombine or make connections between issues that may seem unconnected (Robinson and Stern, 1997). According to Amabile (1998), creative thinking refers to â€Å"how people approach problems and solutions  ± their capacity to put existing ideas together in new combinations† (p. 79, italics in original). This involves challenging the â€Å"tyranny of the given† (Kao, 1997, p. 47) by questioning prevailing beliefs or mental models in the organisation. Senge (1990) has described mental models as â€Å"deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action† (p. 8). He argues that such models are often tacit and beneath our level of awareness, yet they have a strong influence on organisational behaviour: . . . new insights fail to get put into practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting (p. 174). Thus, the ability to reflect on mental models and to challenge prevailing assumptions and core beliefs is crucial for the development of unique strategies and action programs. This requires strategic thinkers to understand their own behavioral patterns as well as existing concepts and perceptions within the organisation. Strategists should enjoy the challenge of thinking â€Å"out of the box† and of using imagination and creativity to explore whether there might be alternative ways of doing things. De Bono  (1996) has made this point very clear: Without creativity we are unable to make full use of the information and experience that is already available to us and is locked up in old structures, old patterns, old concepts, and old perceptions (p. 17). Creativity is a process that begins with the generation of ideas. As de Bono (1996) has noted . . . strategy is too often seen solely as a reduction process in which various possibilities are reduced to a sensible course of action (p. 72). Creativity Creative thinking is needed to imagine multiple possibilities and to search for alternatives to conventional approaches. The creative process also involves the selection and development of ideas. Good strategists are able to recognise the potential of a new idea at a very early stage. To visualise the value of an idea that has been put forward by people from different organisational levels might be even more important than the generation of original ideas by the strategist. As Robinson and Stern (1997) have observed: The larger the company, the more likely it is that the components of creative acts are already present somewhere in it, but the less likely it is that they will be brought together without some help (p. 15, italics in original). Finally, there is the need for translating the new idea into practice. Senior management must provide the resources that are needed to implement the idea. As Amabile (1998) has noted: . . . deciding how much time and money to give to a team or project is a sophisticated judgment call that can either support or kill creativity (p. 82) A vision for the future Strategic thinking should be driven by a strong sense of organisational  purpose and a vision of the desired future for the organisation. A genuine vision  ± as opposed to the popular â€Å"vision-statements†  ± conveys a sense of direction and provides the focus for all activities within the organisation. For Senge (1990), a genuine vision is â€Å"a calling rather than simply a good idea† (p. 142, italics in original). In his view, visions are â€Å"pictures or images people carry in their heads and hearts† (p. 206). They represent what one truly wants, based on fundamental intrinsic values and a sense of purpose that matters deeply to the people in the organisation. Evidence for the importance of a clear vision has been provided by Collins and Porras (1998). Their research showed that visionary companies outperformed nonvisionary companies significantly. One dollar invested in a general market stock fund on January 1, 1926 would have grown to 415 dollars by December 31, 1990, while the same dollar invested in a visionary company stock fund would have grown to 6,356 dollars, a difference of over 1500 percent. According to Collins and Porras (1998), the visionary companies did not attain this extraordinary long-term performance because they wrote one of the elegant vision or mission statements that have become popular in recent years. They pointed out that â€Å"Just because a company has a `vision statement’ (or something like it) in no way guarantees that it will become a visionary company!† (p. 201, italics in original). Instead, leaders in visionary companies place strong emphasis on building an organisation that has a deep understanding of its reason for existence and of its core values, those fundamental and enduring principles that guide and inspire people throughout the organisation and bind them together around a common identity. Thomas J. Watson, Jr. (1963), former IBM chief executive, made this point very clear: I firmly believe that any organization, in order to survive and achieve success, must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all its policies and actions (p. 5). consistent alignment (p. 229, italics in original). Developing a genuine vision and building it into the very fabric of the organisation must be a central element of the daily work of strategic thinkers. A vision that is shared throughout the organisation fosters commitment rather than compliance and creates a sense of commonality that permeates the whole organisation. It inspires people’s imagination and provides a focus that allows individuals to contribute in ways that make the most of their expertise and talents. Ultimately, as Collins and Porras have shown, a genuine vision helps to achieve superior performance in the longterm. Strategic thinking at the organisational level The organisational level provides the context in which individual strategic thinking can occur. Organisations need to create the structures, processes and systems that: 1 foster ongoing strategic dialogue among the top team; and 2 take advantage of the ingenuity and creativity of every individual employee.

Alcoholism & Culturally

Alcoholism can be defined in accordance to three distinct dimensions. Culturally, alcoholism is defined as a form of deviant drinking behavior that falls outside what culture perceives as the acceptable limits of alcohol consumption. This means that in some societies alcoholic behavior may be viewed as normative as opposed to cultural; perceptions in another society. Behaviorally, alcoholism assumes definitions that distinct between alcohol use, misuse and abuse. In this context alcohol misuse denotes the expression of adverse consequences of alcohol use.Alcohol abuse is definitive of a pattern of chronic and excessive alcohol consumption the effects of which express themselves as adverse physical, social and or behavioral consequences. Physiologically, alcoholism is defined with respect to alcohol addiction, habituation or dependence. Despite this diversity of definitions only the medical definition of alcoholism offers a succinct distinction as it relies on both the behavioral and physiologically based definitions(Steinglass, 31).Alcoholism can thus be defined as an addictive dependency on alcohol induced craving accompanied by loss of control, complete physical dependence on alcohol and withdrawal symptoms Medically therefore alcoholism is understood to be a product of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. Alcoholism is caused by grossly intricate, complex, interconnected and interrelated psychological, physiological, social and genetic factors (Kansal & Kamal 1). Usually a variety of factors lead to the development of alcoholism.Social factors include the influence of friends, peers, family, the availability of alcohol, and the perceptions of the society. Psychological factors include inadequate coping mechanisms, elevated stress levels, and reinforcement of the use of alcohol from other drinkers. There is also a growing controversy over evidences that alcoholism may be caused by biologic and genetic predispositions (Powell 24). Recent genetic studies have confirmed that when D2 dopamine receptor gene is passed on from the parents to the siblings in a specific form, chances of developing alcoholism are enhanced.Alcohol addiction or rather physical dependence on alcohol follows a gradual drinking pattern. With every pint of alcohol consumed the balance of chemicals in the brain like gamma aminobutyric acid which is responsible for the inhibition of impulsiveness, and another neurochemical glutamate which is responsible for nervous system excitation, are altered. Alcohol raises dopamine levels in the brain hence creating the pleasurable feeling that is usually associated with alcohol consumption. With time, excessive alcohol consumption depletes or increases the levels of such neurochemicals.The resultant effect is that a level of craving is created where an individual will have to additively consume alcohol to restore good feelings or degenerate into withdrawal symptoms. Based on studies comparing the size of amygdala, researchers have been able to significantly correlate the size of amygdala and the addiction process. Because the size of amygdala is inherited and that it is home to neurotransmitters, it may contain the link between alcoholism and psychological predisposing factors such as stress and anxiety.It is also postulated that inheritance of a dysfunction in serotonin transmission my be to blame for the degree of alcohol tolerance. Since serotonin is involved in well being behaviors such as eating, relaxing, sleeping as well as aggressive and impulsive behaviors any dysfunction in its transmission is bound to predispose an individual to alcoholism. Factors that contribute to the addiction process can be sub categorized as; genetic factors, emotional state factors, physiological factors, and socio-cultural factors. Genetic factors may cause an individual to develop a degree of vulnerability.This vulnerability is caused by an imbalance in neurochemicals. Emotional state factors can either be stress, emotion al pain or anxiety. These factors predispose a one to engage in alcohol consumption as a means of blanketing out undesirable emotions. Some hormones that are responsible for the development of stress, anxiety and depression have also been incriminated in the progression to alcoholism. Socio-cultural factors play a very important role in the development of alcoholism. Some cultures perceive alcohol as a rite of adulthood or manliness.In such culture the media has been instrumental in glamorizing the consumption of alcohol through catchy phrasals and visuals. Such adverts which are obviously aimed at increasing the profitability of the sponsor mislead a huge chunk of the general populace in thinking that excessive alcohol consumption is the modernized version of entertainment. Alcoholism is a medical condition and as such it is expressed as symptomatic progressive disease. This disease is predominantly diagnosed through adverse effects and behaviors. The adverse effects are based on f unctioning.Two basic diagnostic criteria are used. Usually alcohol abuse or alcoholism is related with a broad range of psychiatric, medical, social, legal, economic, occupational and family problems. So many of these symptoms are related to the descriptive of stage of dependency. Early signs of the disease include; frequent pursuit of intoxication which progresses into a well established heavy drinking pattern. During these circumstances an individual may blackout, experienced a drastic change in demeanor while consuming alcohol and exhibit impulsive behaviors such as anger and unaccustomed violence.Other symptoms include; drunken driving, absence from work, shirking of responsibilities and basically having trouble with the law. In the absence of alcohol dependence acute intoxication can be fatal or cause mental damage. Another symptom is family problems. In most cases individuals suffering from alcoholism may be characterized by divorce, child abuse and neglect, spouse abuse, crim inal behaviors and welfare dependence. The problem is even more worsened if the alcoholics themselves strive to conceal and develop a culture of denial even though they can discern the cause of family problems.Fro this reason thousands of people suffering from alcoholism pass unrecognized by health professionals. Medically symptoms may be expressed in the form of alcoholism related diseases such as gastritis, pancreatitis, cirrhosis, neuropathy, cerebral atrophy, Wernicke's encephalopathy, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, Korsakoff's dementia, seizures, central pontine myelinolysis, confusion, hallucinations, peptic ulcers, malnutrition and gastrointestinal bleeding (www. mayoclinic. com). A second basic diagnostic criterion relies on the family history of alcoholism.When children from families without any history of . alcoholism are compared with those from families with a history of alcoholism, it is easy to demonstrate the fact that children of alcoholics are at an elevated risk of alco hol abuse, misuse and alcoholism. Moreover, history of alcoholism may also predispose the younger children to other forms of drug abuse, anxiety disorders, conduct problems and a host of psychiatric disorders. All these are predisposing risk factors. Just like any disease, alcoholism can also be mitigated by a set of medical and non medical interventions.Depending on various circumstances, the treatment program may encompass, an evaluation followed by a brief intervention. After this brief intervention the patient will be undertaken though an outpatient program and counseling or in other cases a residential inpatient stays (www. mayoclinic. com). Evaluation is mainly involves the determination of the level of dependence. Residential treatment programs carry out strategies like abstinence, alcoholism support groups (such as alcoholics anonymous), individual therapy and or group therapy, activity therapy, family involvement, educational lectures and in depth counseling programs.Medica l interventions mainly include the treatment and management of the alcohol related diseases and disorders. Works Cited Alcoholism. http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/alcoholism Kansal, Kamal & Kamal, Kansal. (2004). Homoeopathic Family Kit. B. Jain Publishers, p. 1-5 Powell. (2005). Alcohol. Black Rabbit Books, p. 24-25 Steinglass, Peter. (1988). The Alcoholic Family: Drinking Problems in a Family Context Taylor & Francis, p. 30-40

The Effectiveness of Anti-bullying Policies within the NHS: An Empirical Investigation

Based on the definition of Einarsen and Skogstad (1996), workplace bullying is defined as follows: â€Å"A person is defined as bullied if he or she is repeatedly subjected to negative acts in the workplace. However, to be a victim of such bullying one must also feel inferiority in defending oneself in the actual situation. This definition builds on research on bullying in the school playground†¦ and stresses that bullying and harassment imply a difference in the actual or perceived power and ‘strength between the persecutor and the victim.Typically, a victim of harassment or bullying is teased, badgered, and insulted and perceives that he or she has little recourse to retaliation in kind†¦This definition†¦is not limited to a predefined set of negative acts. It covers all situations in which one or more persons over a period feel subjected to negative acts that one cannot defend oneself against. Even if a single episode, e. g. physical assault may be regarded as bullying or harassment, this definition emphasizes ‘repeated negative acts.’ Consequently, serious conflicts between parties of ‘equal’ strength, or isolated episodes of conflict, are not considered as bullying. (p. 187). The NHS represents a very important entity in the delivery of healthcare services. And as bullying represents an important work place condition variable that may affect the quality of services delivered within the organisation and to patients, it is but logical to conduct a study on bullying within the NHS. Review of Related Literature O’Hare (2006) reports that there were about 5 thousand nurses attacked while at work in Northern Ireland in 2005.A handful of the victims suffered fractures, still others were grabbed by the throat, or subjected to insulting behavior such as being spat at. More than 60% of those surveyed underwent verbal harrassment as well, while about 27% were physically abused (O’Hare, 2006). These figures take on greater importance as we consider the scarcity of healthcare workers who are expected to deliver quality healthcare to NHS patients. Why is it crucial to emphasize civility in the workplace? The cuthroat competition of contemporay organisation necessitate that they develop strong retention factors that will motivate their employees to stay.It has become increasingly difficult to make employees stay within an organisation for long, and one important factor that influences such a decision is the environment of hostility vis-a-vis civility within that workplace. More often than not, employees choose to transfer to other companies instead of taking in such working conditions (Glendinning, 2001). NHS’ Definition of Bullying Bullying is defined within the NHS Trust as follows: â€Å"Persistent, offensive, abusive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, which amounts to an abuse of power and makes the recipient feel upset, threatened, humiliated or vulnerable.Bully ing undermines a victim's self-confidence and may cause them to suffer stress† (NHS Anti-bullying policy, 2002, p. 1). The NHS Trust likewise acknowledges that the occurrence of bullying within the workplace results in undue stress, depression, decrease in self-esteem, undesirable performance, and ineffective dealings with others (NHS Anti-bullying policy, 2002). Definition of Bullying by the NHS Trust The UK is not alone in its struggle to protect its workers from bullying. In a study by Glendinning (2001), they studied this phenomenon within an organisational context.Through a comprehensive review of related literature, they have conlcuded that a new relationship between supervisors and subordinates have evolved, and rightly so with the increasing dynamism and competition in the new global village (Glendinning, 2001). Moreover, it prescribes that the human resource function be held most accountable for curbing such occurrence. Difficulties in Deploying Anti-bullying Policies Glendinning (1999) differentiates between a â€Å"bullying† superior and a hard to please one. The latter simply sets out stiff expectations and targets from his subrodinates to be able to optimize their performance.On the contrary, this is not the intention of a bullying boss (Glendinning, 1999). He proceeds by consistently showing aggressive behavior that causes either physical or psychological harm to the staff he supervises . Some of the repercussions of bullying behavior in the workplace are turnover, retention, recruiting and succession issues, employee health effects, reduced productivity, counterproductive behavior, and legal countermeasures by employees (Glendinning, 1999). Prescriptions for HR Professionals for Creating a Bully-free WorkplaceAccording to Cox (2005), 87% of those in the human resources funtion were keenly informed of bullying occurences within their company. This may be a disturbing finding considering that despite such awareness, there are still 19 million working days lost because of this phenomenon. In fact, the figures show that out of five employees, there is one who is likely to feel stressed from this cause. Stress, in itself, incurs substantial cost at 7 billion annually (Cox, 2005). There has been difficulty of monitoring bullying incidents, primarily because some or even several incidents go off unreported.While there are preponderant anti-bullying policies, there is a dire need for training so that there may be heightened awareness on observing the indicators of bullying. If the bad treatment is rooted on ostracism, the employer may even be held liable for the action. Currently, employees have something more solid to rely on as a result of the Majrowski v Guy's & St Thomas's NHS Trust case. Mr Majrowski contended that his employer was partly accountable for the acts of an employee and asserted that he did experience bullying, harrassment, and intimidation from his superior.He likewise experienced extreme criticisim and others were favoured over him. As a result, the Court of Appeal rules in his favour and explicitly prescribed that he could depend on the Act and that the NHS was accountable for the actions committed by the employee (Cox, 2005). This decision has accorded employee’s a novel right, including definitions and entitlements relatd to harrassment and anxiety (Cox, 2005). There are several recommendations put forth for human resource professionals to be able to promote a bully-free workplace.One such proposal is to establish standards of interpersonal behavior within the organization to be able to (Pearson, Anderson, & Portah, 1999). Spelling out these expectations early on clearly lay down what is considered desirable or undesirable behavior within the company. Next is to be able to convey a clear message on the organization’s stance on bullying and its corresponding policies. The first realm which may exert an influence on this phenomenon is the recruiting function whi ch may relay these messages to prospective employee early on during the onboarding process (Pearson, Anderson, & Portah, 1999).The policies related to bullying must also be clearly reflected onto the employee’s job description, and there should be emphasis on the repercussions of violating these. Flynn (1999) also recommends that these behaviors be included as criteria for evaluation during the performance appraisal exercise. Given this backdrop, the current paper proceeds with an empirical investigation of bullying within the NHS Trust. The primary aim to to put forth recommendations on how to increase the efficacy of its anti-bullying policy, resulting in increased retention among its nurses and medical staff.Problem Statement The present research intends to address the following problem: How effective is the drafting and deployment of anti-bullying policies within the NHS? Thus, to be able to respond to this question adequately, the following questions have been investigat ed: 1) To what degree does bullying behaviour transpire within NHS hospitals as perceived by nurses / midwives / health care assistants and student nurses? 2) What is the efficacy level of the NHS anti-bullying policy as perceived by the medical staff? 3) Is there a significant relationship between the following variables?a) Degree of bullying behaviour experienced and level of efficacy of the NHS Bullying Policy? b) Degree of bullying behaviour experienced and age of the medical staff? b) Degree of bullying behaviour experienced and length of service of medical staff? Method Research Design The present investigation is a descriptive-correlational research that intends to define the present levels of bullying occurring within the NHS. The study is descriptive because it aims to depict the levels of bullying, the degree of awareness and involvement of nursing staff and hospital personnel in the drafting an deployment of bullying policies.In effect, there will be a need to compute for means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages to present the descriptive outcomes. The research is also categorised as correlatinal since it will also establish relationships between a) bullying behaviour and level of efficacy of the NHS Anti-bullying policy, b) degree of bullying behaviour experienced and age of the medical staff; and c) degree of bullying behaviour experienced and length of service of medical staff. Samples and Sampling Plan All hospitals within the NHS umbrella are qualified to take part in the investigation.Each of these hospitals shall be invited to take part in the study. They shall be selected through the use of a random numbers table. A total of 100 nurses and hospital staff shall be chosen through stratified random sampling, where the number of respondents shall be based on the relative size of the hospital (compared to the other hospitals chosen). A consent form has been distributed to the respondents of the study which explained that they are to willingly participate in the study and that they could choose to cease from participating at any time, without reprisal.They were also assured of the confidentiality of their responses and of their anonymity. All these measures have been undertaken for ethical reasons (Bryman, 1992). For the structured interview, 10 out of the 100 nurses / midwives / health care assistants and student nurses who originally took part in the study shall be asked questions that relate to their bullying experiences. This small sample shall be purposively chosen such that half of them have reported the bullying behaviour while the remainder did not.Moreover, selected key managers of the trust shall also be interviewed on how bullying is curbed within their respective areas of jurisdiction through the Trust’s anti-bullying policy. The qualitative data that will be gathered from the interviews shall supplement the quantitative findings from the survey questionnaire (Bryman, 1992). Instrument The NHS nursing staff and medical personnel have been asked to accomplish a self-constructed bullying questionnaire, whose items were based from the NHS Trust anti-bullying policy. The instrument uses a 5-point Likert type scale, which each number representing an opinion.The tool has three major parts. The first potion requests for demographic information, including gender, age, and tenure. The second portion is further subdivided into two parts: bullying experiences and the efficacy of the NHS Trust anti-bullying policy. The first sub-item intends to measure the degree of bullying experienced by the respondent and by others who also belong to that workplace. The items on efficacy talk about about individual and managerial responsibilities as regards curbing bullying behaviours in the workplace, conduct of investigations, and bullying awareness and training.Finally, there is an item which requests for an overall evaluation of the policy’s efficacy. Procedure The instrument shall be finalised and pilot tested. Undertaking a pilot study is necessary for instrument develepment. Chisnall (1997) points out that the value of a pilot study lies in validating the accuracy and consistency of â€Å"sampling frames† and planning the final sample size by measuring variability. According to Hunt et al (1982), â€Å"pilot testing pertains to testing the questionnaire on a small sample of respondents to identify and eliminate potential problems.† The pilot test will entail the participation of 5 respondents from any of the NHS hospitals chosen. Invitation letters shall be sent to all hospital administrators of the NHS, soliciting permission for the conduct of the study. Once permission is granted, the respondents shall each be given a consent form and shall be requested to return it three days later. On the agreed upon date, the researcher shall visit each of the randomly chosen hospitals to administer survey forms to the respondents.The survey questionnaire will be personally administered by the researcher to be able to address inconsistencies in addressing respondent queries (Oppenheim, 1992). On completion of the nursing staff, medical personnel and administrators of the NHS will be thanked, and shall be briefed on the study’s objectives. The outcomes shall be made available to them upon completion of the study. On the whole, the researcher expects that the level of bullying will be correlated with the perceived efficacy of the policy. Those who are older in terms of age and with longer tenures will tend to have lesser degrees of bullying experienced.Method of Data Analysis Pearson’s correlation coefficient shall be used as the main technique for data analysis apart from the descriptive statistics – the mean, standard deviation, frequencies, and percentages. Pearson r is a measure of the degree of association between two measures. When the figure is positive, this indicates that as one measure increases, there i s a corresponding increase in the other. Salkind (2000) asserts that the Pearson’s correlation coefficient necessitates that both variables are measured on the interval scale.The present study shall make use of the Pearson correlation coefficient to present the relationships among the variables degree of bullying, efficacy of bullying policy, age, and tenure of respondent. References Bryman, A. (1992). Reasearch methods and organisation studies. London: Routledge. Chisnall, P. M. (1997). Marketing research (5th ed. ) Berkshire: McGraw-Hill. Cox, E. (2005). Bullying is tricky for employers. The Journal, 32. Einarsen, S. & Skogstad, A. (1996). Bullying at work: Epidemiological findings in public and private organizations.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5, 185-201. Glendinning, P. (2001). Workplace bullying: Curing the cancer of the American Workplace. Public Personnel Management, 30(3), 269-275. Guynn, J. (1998). Mean business: Workplace bullies undermin e morale and productivity. Providence Sunday Journal (11/01/98).. Hunt, S. D. , Sparkman, J. R. D. & Wilkox, J. (1982). The pretest in survey research: issues and preliminary findings. Journal of Marketing Research. May, 269-273. NHS Anti-bullying policy. (2002). Retreived on November 28, 2006 from http://www. southtees. nhs.uk/foi/HRPantibullying. pdf O’Hare, P. (2006). 5, 000 nurses attacked. The Mirror, 6. Olweus, D. (1999). Norway. In P. K. Smith, Y. Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R. Catalano, & P. Slee (eds. ) The nature of school bullying: A cross national perspective. London: Routledge. Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire design interviewing and attitude measurement. London: Pinter. Pearson, C. , Anderssen, L. & Portah, C. (1999). Assessing and attacking workplace incivility. Academy of Management Review. Salkind, N. J. (2000). Statistics for people who hate statistics. USA: Sage Publications Inc.

The application of SMS Notification-Based Library

A library management system, also known as an automated library system is software that has been developed to handle basic housekeeping functions of a library. A Library is a temple of learning which plays a pivotal role in the overall development of a society. But, it is a known fact that libraries are not always safe and secure places and they are facing a variety of security concerns which includes the theft, mutilation of library materials and other unethical losses.But, it is the duty of the librarian to pep the library buildings, shelves and stacks open and free without losing items to make available or putting individuals at unacceptable risk from the malicious, avaricious or senseless acts of others. This study aims to develop a Library Management System which is more flexible and less time consuming. According to Manhandling et. Al (201 1), Libraries and information centers are very important in the development of any country,Manhandling(2011). Longitudinal spend on the ALMS is relatively small compared to other core corporate systems.There is an increasing drive for cost reduction through institutional workflow review, yester integration and the streamlining of corporate functions, recognition that the world is changing and that libraries need to change too, taking full account of the complex systems ecology within which they operate ,changing perceptions of what a library collection is and does, including collection and circulation, resource discovery, changes in ownership and control, personalization and seamless access to resources, Veronica, A. T. Al (2008). Comprehensive, flexible and more automated ALMS is yet to be recognized by the community. Libraries are increasingly aware of the need to ‘liberate' their data to allow users to rate new and innovative services and applications. To do so their platforms will require easy-to-use and accessible services for discovery and delivery. It is evident from the cited studies that a Library Managem ent System (ALMS) is very important in the development of any country.This study proposes to make use of a biometric device using a biometric, students can now easily transact in the library as compared to the manual process. This study is expected to contribute positively to establishing a way forward for Library Management. A significant part of the study focuses on the roles librarians lay in support of the research process, and the related expectations of researchers. Librarians believe their current role of providing expert advice and teaching on information literacy will continue to be important in the future.But while many researchers agree with this, libraries will need to ensure that effort is put into securing significant take-up of their expertise and advice by the research community. There are some significant differences between researchers' and librarians' views as to the future role of libraries in supporting research, and there is a need for dialogue teen them to ens ure that library services and expertise are developed and deployed in the most effective way. References: Veronica, A. Et. Al (2008).But the last decade has brought a sea-change in relationships between researchers and libraries. Technological developments and the availability of information resources online have changed how research is done, and also the services that academic libraries provide to their research communities. Both researchers and librarians have welcomed the benefits these changes have brought, adapting rapidly o them and seeking to exploit their potential to the full. And they both look forward to further change in the coming years.Figure 1 – Conceptual Framework of SMS Notification-Based Library Management with Biometric With the help of this system there are new features and process that a user will face in order to manage a Library in a fast and flexible way of working such as in borrowing books and in the process of getting information of the applicant f or registration purpose. Here, we developed LMS foALMShe sake of the user and the applicant in order to reduce the requirements that are manually brought. In Figure 1 above you'll see the new concept of borrowing and registering a mobile user in a private or a public library.This system is designed not Just in a one directed field of service the said system is developed to be a generic Library service. a) We'Ae chose to develop this system in order to make it more helpful and easy to use in a Library station whether it is a public or a private library usage. Here we've included a mobile user applicant in order to make his/her notified by the system automatically when the due date comes after borrowing books in the Library. b) In Bhere there can be no oubt tboutmuch of the literature in this area speculates on the future role oflibrbilberriese of which is particularly clear.Since 1995, or what TenopiTenor the â€Å"postweposted†, libraries have been seen as in danger of  "substitution†, HofmanHofmann. The web is becoming â€Å"a ubiquitous source of information† giving an â€Å"illusion ofdeptoptedomprehensiveness†, GriffiGriffith) that leads to a questioning of the valueovalueries and their collections. This review will not speculate on these future roles, butwilbobtail instead on the certainty of changing technology, increasingly digital nformaunpretentiousnessocietal shifts that have changed user expectations of library services.

Compound Interest and Answer

Name________________________________ UDC – Quantitative Reasoning I EXAMINATION 3 – Personal Finance – Exponential Functions Fall – 2012 Instructions: This exam is worth 100 points. Read each question carefully. Answer each question clearly and concisely. Please, show All of Your Work. Remember, I do not believe in magic!!! A) B) Answer C) D) 1. What is the simple interest for a principal of $620 invested at a rate of 7% for 3 years? $173. 60 $130. 20 $172. 60 $129. 20 A) B) C) Answer D) E) 2. If you borrow $1100 for 5 years at 14% annual simple interest, how much must you repay at the end of the 5 years? 770. 00 $2215. 13 $2117. 96 $77,000 $1870. 00 A)Answer B) C) D) 3. How much interest is earned in 5 years on $2,900 deposited in an account paying 7. 1% interest, compounded quarterly? $1,223. 07 $1,186. 44 $266. 68 $1,029. 50 A)Answer B) C) D) E) 4. Suppose Emily Yu deposited $1300 in an account that earned simple interest at an annual rate of 8% and lef t it there for 4 years. At the end of the 4 years, Emily deposited the entire amount from that account into a new account that earned 8% compounded quarterly. She left the money in this account for 4 years. How much did she have after the 8 years? $2355. 0 $2427. 96 $3233. 87 $2457. 65 $4850. 81 A) B) C) Answer D) 5. If $1,390 is invested in an account which earns 9% interest compounded annually, which will be the balance of the account at the end of 14 years? $11,106,193 $3141 $4645 $21,211 A) B) C) Answer D) 6. Susan bought a 6-month $1100 certificate of deposit. At the end of 6 months, she received $99 simple interest. Find the annual rate of simple interest paid. 18% 16% 15. 0% 9% A) B) Answer C) 7. What lump sum should be deposited in an account that will earn at an annual rate of 8%, compounded quarterly, to grow to $140,000 for retirement in 15 years? 137,052. 73 $42,335. 45 $24,137. 93 D) E) $63,636. 36 $42,669. 52 A) B) C) D) Answer E) 8. How much money should be invested i n an account that earns 6% interest, compounded quarterly, in order to have $7,000 in 5 years? Round to the nearest cent. $5,230. 81 $5,384. 62 $9,427. 99 $5,197. 29 $5,189. 61 A) B) Answer C) D) 10. 9. Suppose $500 is placed in an account that earns 8% interest compounded daily. Find the value of the investment after 5 years. Use the compound interest formula EMBED Equation.BREE4, where P is the amount deposited, A is the value of the money after t years, r is the annual interest rate as a decimal, and n is the number of compounding periods per year. $731. 43 $745. 88 $792. 54 $811. 76 Suppose $5000 is placed in an account that earns 2% annual interest compounded quarterly. What is the value of the investment after 7 years? Use the compound interest formula EMBED Equation. BREE4, where P is the amount deposited, A is the value of the money after t years, r is the annual interest rate as a decimal, and n is the number of compounding periods per year. $5,749. 36 $5,552. 10 $6,320. 84 A) Answer B) C) D) $35,705. 27

Network Security of LAN used in Small Office and Home Office Essay

Network Security of LAN used in Small Office and Home Office - Essay Example Another fact worthy to note is that less than two thirds (62 percent) of these small businesses use automatic patching. Those that do not use automatic patching has the risk of not getting a critical update and most likely leave their systems open for the next round of attacks that will undeniably come. Recommendations for enhancing these best practices are put forth. With each passing day, interconnectivity in today’s marketplace develops and numerous businesses are putting their trust on the Internet and other network technologies for the smooth functioning of their businesses. Even small businesses now have the capability to compete with effectiveness compared with larger companies as the internet offers the ability for them to expand the geographical scope of their market. In addition, the Internet is able to make 71 percent of small businesses to begin conducting different business tasks, such as servicing the customer and doing procurement, as a recent survey shows (American Express, 2002). However, this wonderful news does not come without a catch. Internet connection particularly a 24/7 broadband connection is also a security threat to small businesses which probably lack the resources and technical skill to deal with it. The deficiency of small business to hire a diverse IT staff as commonly found in bigger companies is a hindranc e. Managers of these small businesses are unsurprisingly unable to fully comprehend yet the information and business implications of the security threats and risks. The significant factor in the creation of a standard security program for a company is still its size, where smaller business most unlikely to have very complicated security for themselves (Kotulic & Clark, 2004). In a worldwide survey done by Ernst and Young, 34 percent of respondents found they are less than sufficient in telling whether or not their systems are being attacked. 32

Personal Development and Careers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Personal Development and Careers - Essay Example This essay discusses that some employees may experience difficulties in learning in the midst of various requirements brought about by daily work. Despite the efforts of the management for their workers to obtain learning, such employees may have low levels of motivation to develop their competencies and apply these in actual practice. This has consequently led to certain issues in relation to the willingness of both employees and the management towards skill development as well as the availability of learning and training programs. The researcher describes the time and effort which managers provide for skill and knowledge acquisition, remains to be an important issue today. Employee learning and development is a fundamental part of improving the workplace environment; thus, there is a great need for managers to improve their workers’ skills and promote positive changes in their behavior as this can result to improved organizational performance. The importance of communication in the workplace is also mentioned in the essay and it cannot be overemphasized as it remains to be one of the essential components for organizational success. Effective communication can play an important function for the relationship between managers and employees. With a proper and formal system for communication, possibilities for misunderstandings can be reduced and more work can be accomplished. On the whole, a work environment that promotes communication can allow both the company and its employees to obtain various advantages.

Elements of Design Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Elements of Design - Movie Review Example It is also important to familiarize with the cast and the other important people that made the film a success in order to grasp the ideology within. The movie Safe House is a contemporary movie produced in the year 2012 and an analysis of the film explains certain aspects. This is a captivating action/drama movie with Scott Stuber as the production designer. One of the world’s acclaimed movie directors, Daniel Espinosa, directed the movie. The movie creator incorporated the talent of art director, Jonathan Hely- Hutchinson to assist in his area of expertise. The cast of Denzel Washington alongside other widely recognized artists gave the production team of the movie a smooth time as it was dealing with professionals. Daniel Espisona being an acclaimed movie director took on his responsibilities as a director very well. His role in the various design aspects portrayed in the film was very clear. As a director, he had the authority to state his views on the intonation that the a ctors used on different sets. He was also responsible for overseeing the lighting of the various scenes in the movie in relation to the changes in environment that the actors played in. He also directed the actors on the manner in which to present themselves in front of the camera for greater perception of their talent. The production designer, Scott Stuber also did a very impressive job culminating to the captivating result of the film. He was very concerned with the high amount of competition that the film industry has had over the last couple of years and thus added some allure to get more fans. Scott’s role in the overall design project involved overseeing the presentation of each screenplay and delegating specific activities to the various people involved in each screenplay. He had the responsibility of identifying the visual aspects of the film to create a clear picture that could captivate the audience. Jonathan Hely- Hutchinson as the art director also had a very impo rtant role in the success of the film. His position in the general creation of the film was that below Scott Stuber. His job description involved receiving instructions from the production designer and implementing them. Each set in the movie had its individual designers and it was the responsibility of Jonathan to ensure that each of them had the required equipments to ensure that visual ground plan for each shot location was in order. To get a deeper understanding of the various roles that these artists play, it is important to focus on one scene in the movie and gain a perspective of all the constituents that made it a blockbuster. The plot of the movie is that one ex Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Tobin Frost, receives a file that contains incriminating information about one major goon by the name Vargas. Vargas gets on his trail in an effort to kill him and retrieve the file that leads to the government offering protection for Frost in a safe house. An agent Weston who assi sts Frost escape after an attempted attack by Vargas guards the safe house. The two escape to discrete places in South Africa hoping that Vargas does not catch up with them. The scene to focus on is that of Cape Town Stadium (Espinosa, 2012). The lighting at the scene is unique in that it is very imperative to bring out the conditions in which the actors were. The two actors ran into the stadium as a haven where they could get away from the perpetrator chasing them. The lighting is

CRITQUE MY PEERS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CRITQUE MY PEERS - Essay Example Similarly the essay refers to the possibility of the employees in daycare centers having criminal history, which the author backs up with suitable examples. This argument is also a valid one in terms of what one can observe in the society. The narration of the medical concerns and the mention of the amount the author had spent in treating a child sound a little weak. Medical problems do not seem to be the rampant issue in day care centers. If the author feels so, this contention should have been supported through research evidence. My suggestion would be to include some of the advantages of daycare centers such as they can come as a solace when both parents need to work at the same time. To refute this, I would argue that this does not qualify a daycare center to win the trust of parents. I would also include some suggestions relating to such facilities being more professional and the government or community involving more in the operation of such organizations to ensure that the consumer receives proper services. Does the author use signal phrases to introduce quotes? (Signal phrases are discussed in more detail in section 10g of The New Century Handbook. ) If so, provide an example. If not, suggest the correct way to do this. All quotations that the writer has used are stand alone, without integrating them into the writing. The author also has not used signal phrases appropriately. I personally believe that rather than using stand alone quotations, the writer can integrate the quotes into the writing so that the prose will have better coherence and flow. The writer has not used proper in-text citations in the paper at this stage. However, it appears that because this is a draft. The citations, as they are now, do not follow the standard requirements for acknowledging the sources. I presume the writer will address this issue before submitting the final paper. The

Costing Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Costing Principles - Essay Example A cost purpose is an action or product for that the total or unit cost is to be computed. A cost objective may be the product manufactured or the service delivered, or it may be a department, a course, or a function, all of that are referred to as cost centers. The cost axis is the least unit for that costs are mounted up for reporting and analytical functions. Organisations whose products or batches of products are treated as individual jobs use job-order costing systems. Airplane producers and parts suppliers for large manufacturing Organisations, such as tool and die shops, are examples of the users of this system. Organisations use process-costing systems with homogeneous products such as crude oil, chemicals, and grains. Both job-order and process costing systems function to build up unit costs of production, but since of the inherent disparities in the physical characteristics of the products the two methods vary. Standard costing systems absorb standard direct materials, standard direct labor and standard company overhead into production costs. Standard costs are estimated costs that may have a close relationship with budgeted costs. Standard costing systems are widely used by manufacturing organisations. (Shank, 1993, 32-33) The official statement of generally accepted accounting principles, demands that the assessment of inventories by manufacturing firms for external reporting include the full cost, that is, direct materials, direct labor and total company overhead. This system of product costing is called absorption costing or full-absorption costing. (Antos, 1998, 13-14) GAAP also requires that for external reporting actual costs should be used except where the estimated costs are not materially different from actual costs. Direct Costing Direct costing differs from full-absorption costing only in regard to one category of costs, fixed company overhead. Direct costing includes direct materials, direct labor, and variable overhead in the product costs. Fixed company overhead is charged directly to the accounting period. Ending inventory, therefore, never includes any fixed overhead. This system of costing has not been approved for external reporting purposes by GAAP, but may be used for internal purposes. Activity-Based Costing A management tool named activity - based costing (ABC) has turn out to be one of the more extensively clinch of new management styles over the period of the last ten years. Though its nucleus lies in cost accounting, ABC has engrossed the consideration of business managers in general, and has been the focus of researches in the Harvard Business Review and Fortune. Not simply is it a foremost subject matter in business, it has been accepted in parts of government like USA, such as the Department of Defense and the IRS. What commenced as effectively an

Business Law - Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Business Law - Questions - Assignment Example The defendant informed the service provider that he was in no need of his services any longer and even rejected to compensate on 11th May. The service provider sued the defendant for breach of contract on 22nd May and the starting date of the contract was due on 1st June. The court ruled the decision in favouring the claimant as the defendant has breached the contract (Andrews, 2011, p.486). In case of tort law, a person is held responsible or is held accountable if he fails to exercise the duty of care in his operations. This means that a person is said to be tort liable if he has failed to rectify any foreseeable errors in his/her offerings. For example: In Willsher v Essex Area Health Authority case, an inexperienced doctor gave extra oxygen to a baby that was born prematurely, due to this, the baby lost one of his eye, the court held the doctor liable because the inexperienced doctor had to operate with same amount of care as an experienced doctor (Tuitt, 2004, p.44). In tort cas es, negligence holds great importance, if an individual wants to press charges against another individual, he should be able to prove that the individual was involved in conducting negligence. To succeed in a case of negligence, the person making the claim has to prove the defendant had a duty of care towards the person making the claim. ... Lastly, the person making the claim has to prove that due to the defendant’s negligence towards duty of care, the claimant experienced a loss. The claimant can only win the case only if he is able to prove that the loss was experienced due to defendant’s breach of duty and the loss could have been avoided if the defendant would have taken necessary actions. For example, in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson, Stevenson being the defendant was held responsible because of his negligence to carry out the duty of care, the person who made the claim, Mrs Donoghue, experienced health issues after drinking bottle of beer manufactured by the defendant and the decision even stated that the manufacturers duty is towards the ultimate consumer, thus, the ultimate consumer experienced loss and the manufacturer was considered responsible (Cooke, 2001, p.35). A business or an individual is said to be vicariously liable if he/she has a relationship according to law with the person or busi ness that has acted negligently and has caused harm. Such kinds of legal relationships include: relationship between and worker and the employer. Negligence included in vicarious liability is referred to as imputed negligence, one theory of liability pertaining to this kind of negligence is respondent superior, according to respondent superior employer is held responsible or liable for the acts of his/her employee as there is a relationship between the worker and the employer of agent and principle. This relationship refers to the relationship that states that an employee is acting on behalf of the employer and the employer will be held responsible if the employee

Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Family - Essay Example Pi is a Hindu child. Nevertheless, his curiosity and passion to know God more drives him to pursue three different religions at a go, i.e. his native Hindu, Islam, and Christian religions (Castelli, 2012). The Life of Pi exhibits several examples of the Feminist Family Theory as well as the Structural Functionalism Theory. Feminist Family Theory refers to the search of rights, identities, opportunities and privileges that women think and believe they deserve. This theory tackles issues that make women be second-class in the society, such as being inferior to men. On the other hand, the theory of Structural Functionalism proposes that division of family roles should take a natural course, generally basing on gender affiliations of family members. In this regard, Structural Functionalism proposes that men work in order to provide basic needs for their families such as earning money to buy food, clothes and pay rent. On the other hand, the tasks of women are expressively taking care of family members, especially household chores (Hamon, Ingoldsby, Miller & Smith, 2009). Feminist Family Theory is very evident in the movie the Life of Pi. One of the major incidences occurs when Pi’s mother supports her son to pursue multiple religions even though this was against the family and religious values of Hinduism. The family belongs to the Hindu religion. As such, they have to adhere to only one religion, and this is what Pi’s father, a strict follower of traditions, ensures by forbidding his son from pursuing any interests in any other religion apart from Hinduism, i.e. Islam and Christianity. Pi’s mother argues that God is the same in all religions. Therefore, her son is not wrong in following his interests in exploring other religions. She therefore allows her son to follow his religious interests only for the father, as the head of the family, to overrule the decision and forbid Pi from doing so (Hamon, Ingoldsby, Miller & Smith, 2009). This is a p erfect example of a case proving that the society considers women as the second-gender behind the men. As such, they were not to make any decisions that would go against the decisions made by the first gender, i.e. the men in their lives, and in this case the father of the boy. Consequently, the decisions made by Pi’s mother do not have any authority because she is a woman. However, the directive given by the father of Pi overrules the permission given to him by his mother to pursue different religions because he is the man. Most societies consider men as the head of the family. This is contrary to the feminists’ movements that advocated for equality in gender and appreciation of the roles women play in the society, i.e. as supporters to the men and not as their subordinates. Women have every right to make decisions that they consider fit to benefit their household, just as advocated for in the Feminist Family Theory (Castelli, 2012). This case is very important to wom en because it clearly indicates the way the society disregards decisions or opinions voiced by women. This is clear evidence of oppression against women, far against the movements championed by women to fight for equal rights and privileges as their male counterparts. There have been several movements to fight for the emancipation and empowerment of women as equal partners in the society. Some of the modern feminist movements witnessed in the 1960s to the 1970s include liberal, Marxist,

Report question about AMR-US Airways Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Report question about AMR-US Airways - Assignment Example Fuel volatility is bad for the airlines because it reduces airline revenues, trust fund revenues, and access of passengers to the national aviation system. The domestic passenger traffic, reduces by 9% overall. Some airlines in the US decrease of 25%. These decreases declined the revenue of airports, prompting the airports to cut their operating costs, and hold the capital improvement projects. Price fluctuation also led to airports to reduce their airline capacity causing some of the passengers to lose access to the services of commercial air. This is due to increased fares in the passenger market. Smaller airports with fewer flight options, has the largest percentage decrease in their nonstop destinations as well as their reduction in capacity. Therefore, when the price of fuel fluctuates, Trust Fund revenues will fall, thereby contributing to a decrease in the funds non-committed balance (Lehman, 67). The Cost per ASM is computed by calculating the operating cost by the available Seat Miles that an online provides each year, this will vary with capacity. A quick analysis of the ASM from the company shows that the overall capacity has increased since. This explains the reducing Cost of ASM. On the other hand, the operating expenses have increased sharply since. Therefore, CASM for the 3month ending 2013/06/30 The Revenue Seat Miles is the distance an airplane flies times the passenger’s seat available for the passengers (Ones, 76). RSM is normally referred as the available seat miles. Therefore, the operating Cost per Mile is calculated as The difference between the two numbers is calculated as 926 The US Airways: The total operating cost in the 2nd quarter was recorded in $3.4m, this was a one percent increase compared to the previous year. The operating Cost per available seat mile was recorded are 12.88 cents. This was down 2 % on a 4.2% rise in the airlines ASM. When special items like profit and fuel sharing are excluded, the airline’s CASM becomes 8.21 cents. The 8.21 cents is a 0.4% decrease in CASM compared to the previous year. The merger will benefit the firms because it would generate it would raise more than half a billion dollars to the consumers and firms as well. Additionally, the merger will provide an effective competitor to some of the leading companies in the industry (Ones, 76). This will reduce competition by sidelining the market from creating competitive and new flight options for the passengers (Nutriment, 88). Consequently, the merger would result in cutting of services and raises the domestic fares. Also, the merger would be beneficial to the firm because it would result to a more competitive airline industry thereby giving the passengers more choices (Lehman, 67). Also, the merger would bring about the most competitive development in the airline industry. It is in the same dimension that FTC allowed UA-CO merger. However, the FTC is discouraging AA-US merger because the merger would reduce the le gacy carrier number from 4 to 3. This would increase the chances of coordinated professionalism among the airlines. This will lead to higher fees, fare, and diminished services. Therefore, blocking the merging of the two airlines will loosen the competition. This will prolong the cycle of the crisis to the passenger’s detriment, to the US airways, and also to the employees

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 20

Final - Essay Example Some of the refugees moved to Russia while others moved to settle in India. At the same time, about 2-3 million people returned home after the Soviets left. After the Soviets left, a civil war erupted which displaced over 5 million people to neighboring nations (Runion, p. 115). The Taliban fighters seized control of the country in 1994 and started to persecute non-Islamic religions and limited women rights. This led to the educated, women, religious minorities, and critics of the Taliban to flee the country. This refugees migrated to western nations like the United States and Canada where the Taliban had no influence (Runion, p. 121). The results of stream effectiveness for the refugees depicts the fact people were fleeing Afghanistan and into other countries. The 100 percent stream effectiveness points to the fact that no refugees were moving into Afghanistan. The gross migration and the net migration of the country was the same. The high out migration rate of 89.8181 shows that the rate at which the Afghans fled their country was so high. The fear of death and looking for a means of survival was the main driving force in this migration rate. The main ethnic group in Afghanistan, the Pushtuns, moved from the South eastern provinces of the country. They moved through the Durand line into the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan as they had distant relatives. As their number increased, they were relocated by the Pakistan government away from the border areas. The Baluch and Hazara ethnic group refugees moved from Afghanistan into the capital of Baluchistan of Pakistan. Another group of Hazara refugees settled in Quetta part of Pakistan where they had relatives (Cultural Survival). The Uzbek refugees from northern Afghanistan were settled in Karachi, the Sind Province of Pakistan. Around 18,500 Uzbek refugees live in 320 villages. The Kirghiz refugees

Create a Code of Ethics for a fictitious company for this assignment Coursework

Create a Code of Ethics for a fictitious company for this assignment - Coursework Example The resort is just 5 km away from the beautiful orange plantation. We provide elegant luxury with all the modern comfort in accommodation. Wild Orange resort has 50 individual suites with 2 specialty restaurants delicate to pure south Indian food, Aruvi and the Seasons multi cuisine restaurant , Teyla the a coffee shop and a library bar, called Vajra, which offers finest beverages and best cigars. We provide room service facility and 24 hr laundry. Our priority is complete satisfaction of our guests. We want every guest at Wild Orange resort to leave with an unforgettable experience. We believe in our people and we aim at the care of our employees as of our guest. We also follow to give the best training to our employee’s to make the vision of wild orange resort real. In our business Guest is our priority, then our team members and at last profit, this is the driving force of Wild orange resort. Mission Statement Our mission statement is directed towards our guests, associates and investors. Guests- We believe in uncompromising guest service by exceeding the guest expectations with high levels of service standards. Associates – We respect our associates as we do our guests and therefore work towards their growth and development. Investors – We are committed to provide maximum returns to our investors through our careful and dedicated business practices. Director’s message Dear Associates, Wild orange resort has witnessed incredible success over a period of time, from its humble beginning to nation’s most famous tourist resort. The achievement of this level was possible because we believed in very simple principles and ideas such as personalized guest service, Optimum utilization of nature’s gifts, and care for our employees. Wild orange resort will see tremendous growth from now on where the company will be transformed to a hotel chain with new resorts opening. In order to impart the growth history we had developed a bu siness code of conduct which each and every associate is bound to follow. Let’s have a pledge to follow the code of conduct, for the success of our company. Sincerely Executive director Nalinaj Raveendran Guiding Principles: Wild Orange Resorts have strong guiding principles. As far as wild orange resort is concerned, it has a strong foundation of its values and code of ethics. We believe in providing our guest with personal care and attention. Each guest who stays at Wild orange resort must remember his/her days in the rest of their life. Detailed and elegant service is the priority of our resort which makes it an unforgettable experience. Our people are valuable and they are nurtured to deliver their best towards uncompromising guest satisfaction. Our training program aims at developing professional skills of the employees which ensure better standards of service and also motivation for employees. We are committed to the nature as we are located in one of the most precious and beautiful locations on earth. We practice eco friendly products and services which contribute to nature and we help the local community. Core value – The Company that mutually represents associates and Guests. Purpose of Code: Wild orange resort plans to continue its growth trend in future too. For this trend to be continued, we need a set of strict time tested and proven code of business

Singapore's Macroeconomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Singapore's Macroeconomy - Essay Example Singapore as a country is devoid of natural resources. In its foreign policy, Singapore has incorporated polices to strengthen its relation with the members of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Singapore also maintains a strong association with the United Nations Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) to improve trade relations with Latin America and East Asia. So, from the very beginning, it had focused on the development of capital intensive methodologies for further growth (Australian Government, n.d.). The Nominal GDP of Singapore in the year 2012 was recorded as 276.52 billion dollars (International Monetary Fund, n.d.). This has even surpassed the prediction by IMF, which had forecasted the GDP to be around 270 billion dollars. Analysis of the country’s business cycle The GDP of the country is tabulated in the following table. Table 1: Real GDP of Singapore Year GDP current prices in US Dollars Growth Rate 2000 94.31 9.04 2001 87.70 -1.154 2002 90.64 4.202 2003 95.96 4.58 2004 112.70 9.159 2005 125.43 7.37 2006 145.75 8.764 2007 177.58 8.857 2008 189.96 1.701 2009 185.64 -0.98 2010 227.38 14.76 2011 259.85 4.889 Source: (Econ Stats, n.d.) The above table shows the GDP of Singapore at current prices in US Dollars. This paper has considered the GDP growth over the last ten years. The formula that has been used for the calculation of growth is: Rate of Growth of GDP in current year = (GDP value in current year – GDP value in base year)/ GDP value in year base year It can be clearly seen from the table that Singapore’s GDP has been following an upward trend throughout, except a little slump in 2009. The slump can be explained because of the adverse external environment in the World economy. Since then, the economy of Singapore has made a steady progress as can be seen from the rising trend in the GDP. Figure 1: Graphical presentation of GDP Source: (Authors creation) The graph above gives a visual representa tion of the GDP values. It can be seen from the figure that the economy of Singapore had faced a slump in the GDP growth in 2001. This is primarily because of the fact that the country went into recession in the middle of 2001. The chief reason behind this was the slower growth of the US economy, particularly in the electronic sector, which had slowed down the exports from Singapore to not only the US, but also the rest the European countries (Arnold, 2001). Since then, the economy of Singapore had shown a consistent performance. The main reason behind this exceptional growth was not the increase in total factor productivity, which had mainly driven the growth for other Asian countries. The root of growth and a stellar performance for the Singapore economy was the high level of capital accumulation. The growth can be mainly attributed to the mobilization of resources. The development strategies adopted by the government were strategic and vibrant which had mainly propelled the econo my to its growth. In a research conducted by Professor Vu he, it was found that the contribution of the capital-input in the growth process has been around 47%, while labor contributed to around 36% of

Parkinson's Disease Discussion Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Parkinson's Disease Discussion - Research Paper Example Management of motor response changes, for example, nighttime deterioration, dyskinesias, early morning deterioration, and psychiatric problems can only be successful if there are strategies for treatment. Although tremendous efforts and developments have been made in comprehending the pathophysiology that lie beneath this condition, the cause is not yet known, and there is no treatment that is curative. This paper will look at the video â€Å"My Father, My Brother, and Me†, and attempt to discuss issues that surround Parkinson’s disease. Firstly, there is a personal drive to understand Parkinson’s disease. The disease has affected the actor’s family members. During his undertakings, he meets with various remarkable people who are doing research about the disease. The researcher’s meeting with frozen heroin addicts results in a monumental step forward. An individual who had suffered from this disease got a reformed living by going through the surgery of the brain. Moreover, he encountered a geneticist who assisted in identifying some of the mutations responsible for Parkinson disease. It has also been noted by specialists that at least six genes can cause Parkinson’s disease. Secondly, there is a belief that the debate involving genetics and environment is adequate because there has not been an answer to it. A development of the connection between genetics and environment has led to the improvement of Parkinson’s disease research hugely in the last few years. Thirdly, it is fascinating to know that even with the progression in the embryonic cell therapies; the research was stopped in 2006 by the former United States president, George Bush. He did this by vetoing the bill that was supposed to increase funding for stem cell research. He was largely responding to pressure from various religious groups. Fourthly, there is an illustration of the different treatment, medication of interest,

A Case Study Of Agriquip Agencies Essay Example for Free

A Case Study Of Agriquip Agencies Essay 1.0 INTRODUCTION The report reviews my three months work of attachment at Agriquip Agencies (EA) Ltd which is part of compulsory course work prior to the compliment of a diploma in business management. The report is an overview of experience gained, activities carried out at Agriquip Agencies (EA) Ltd, challenges faced during my attachment period and how I overcame them. In My attachment I was rotated in all the departments of the organization. 1.1 AGRIQUIP AGENCIES (EA) LTD See more: The stages of consumer buying decision process essay Agriquip Agencies (EA) Ltd is an organization specialized in Importation, distribution, Wholesale and retailing of a wide variety of Agricultural and industrial machineries and their accessories. The company was established in 1968 and it is based in Nairobi Industrial area along Lusaka road. It has branches in major towns, in Kisumu city, Mombasa city and Eldoret town. It has a number of appointed distribution agents in other towns in order to assist in distribution of their products. The organization draws its major customers in the Sugar factories by providing them with industrial spare parts, in agricultural sector it supplies the tea firms and plantations with various machines and their accessories for ease of their farm work. In industrial sector the firm provides the manufacturing companies with spare parts for their machinery to ensure the production does not halt due to lack of spares. The firm also targets the automobile industry by ensuring that they have spares in hardy in order to continue with their business without interruptions due to lack of spare parts. The firm obtains its products from different parts of the world and ensures they maintain good relationsh ip with their suppliers and maintains the necessary stock levels in order to cope and satisfy the demands of their customers. 1.1.1 Vision of the Organization To be the leading firm to transform Africa into a prime trade and investment destination 1.1.2 Mission Statement To turn Africa risk into opportunity by providing high quality, cost effective Agricultural industrial equipments. 1.1.3 Core values Strive to carry out their business with customer focus approach combined with integrity, creativity, unity of purpose and an attitude of getting it right the first time. 1.1.4 Corporate Objectives To consistently focus on our customer needs and provide them with products of the highest quality and standards that ensure they enjoy value for their money. To transform Africa into a prime trade and investment destination by ensuring steady supply of quality products to our business partners in other sectors To ensure safety of environment and users of our products by providing products which are environmental friendly To invest in research and development in order to design products which are cost effective and satisfy the emerging needs of our customers 1.1.5 SWOT Analysis An analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) was carried out to identify the firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses (internal analysis) in relation to external opportunities and threats (external analysis). This was undertaken with a view to identify and take action to leverage the strengths and opportunities and transform the weaknesses into strengths and threats to be turned into opportunities. This goes a long way in enabling the organization to achieve its objectives 1.1.6 STRENGTHS The main strengths of Agriquip includes the following;- i.Committed and experienced staff. The staff members are committed and have good skills and experience in their respective units. ii.Proper communication channels: the communication channels are well defined and the management created room for creativity and innovation as well as expressing their opinions freely without fear or intimidation. 1.1.6 WEAKNESSES The firm was noted to have a number of weaknesses which includes:- Little room for growth- The firm does not have well structured policies which provides for promotion and staff growth path. Lacks clear recruitment policies Unequal distribution of work Do not have proper allocation of resources. 1.1.7 OPPORTUNITIES Technological Development These are opportunities which the firm can exploit to reduce cost of its operations Research and development – The firm can invest in RD in order to understand the needs of their customers in order to come up with products that are capable of satisfying their customers and remain competitive. 1.1.8 THREATS Competition Due to the technological change the firm is faced with competition from other suppliers Counterfeit goods flocking the market The firm should invest in campaign against use of counterfeit products. 1.2 DURATION OF ATTACHMENT I was attached at Agriquip Agencies (EA) Ltd for eight weeks from 17th December 2013 to 8th February 2014. During this period I was rotated in all the departments of the firm starting with administration, purchasing, imports, accounts, sales and stores. I was taken through the various operations of the above departments and was able to practice what I learned in class. The attachment was very interesting as I had an opportunity to practice and utilize my technical skills and equipped me with understanding of the various management functions. 1.3 DEPARTMENT ATTACHED 1.3.1 ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT I was attached in this department for one week from 17.12.2013 to 21.12.2013, working for 5 days from Tuesday to Saturday. This department deals with the following activities; -Receiving recording and distributing mail to the  relevant departments for action. -Maintaining staff attendance records -Assigning duties to office assistants, clerks and delivery staff -Allocating resources for use by all the units within the organizations -Issuing local purchase orders for office stationeries -Maintaining fuel consumption records for all the company vehicles -Attending to customer queries and directing them -Filing and maintaining safe custody of the company files -Recording out going mails and dispatching them -Processing leave application forms for the staff members 1.3.2 IMPORTS DEPARTMENT I worked in this department for two weeks starting from 23.12.2013 to 04.01.2014. I was working from Monday to Saturday except during the holidays i.e. 25th, 26th December 2013 and 01st January 2014. The duration that I was attached in this department I was assigned to do the following jobs -Application for import license (IDF) -Filing of all the importation documents -Opening the costing sheets files -Application of marine cover notes -Receiving the shipping documents from the overseas suppliers and coordinating clearance with the clearing agents -Processing customs bonds with KRA -Computation of import duties and customs taxes -Arranging for payments for customs taxes and other levies 1.3.3 PURCHASING DEPARTMENT I was attached in this department for duration of one week from 06.01.2014 to 11.01.2014, working for six days from Monday to Saturday. During this period my duties were:- -Receiving and recording requisition from the stores -Filing requisition and other purchasing documents -Updating order records -Preparing and sending enquiries to the overseas suppliers -Sending purchase orders to the suppliers -Recording purchase orders in the order book -Receiving quotations from the potential suppliers -Follow up with the suppliers to expedite our supplies 1.3.4 STORES I worked in this department for duration of one week during which I was tasked with the following responsibilities. -Issuing requisition for purchase to the purchasing department. -Receiving and verification of goods to ascertain they are in conformance with our order confirmation. -Issuing goods received notes -Filing of documents -Supervising stock taking -Binning of the incoming stock in their respective bins -Retrieving stock from the bins to be sold -Updating the stock issuance forms -Raising stock adjustment slips 1.3.5 SALES I was attached in this department for two weeks from 20.10.2014 to 01.10.2014, working for 6 days per week. During this period my duties were:- -Taking orders from customers and raising sales invoices -Recording daily sales in the sales day book -Assisting the purchasing department to raise enquiries to the suppliers -Keeping track of daily sales documents and ensuring they are properly distributed to the various department for appropriate actions -Assigning enquiries received to the counter salesmen to action -Issuing ETR receipts for the sales made -Receiving customers complaints on the company products and directing them to the responsible persons for appropriate action5 1.3.6 ACCOUNTS I was in this department for one week from 03.02.2014 to 08.02.2014. My assignments were:- -Receiving sales documents for the previous day and checking the calculations -Entering sales in the sales day book -Entering purchases in the purchase day book -Writing receipts for the payments received from the debtors -Writing cash book and petty cash books -Preparing remittance advice notes -Preparing PAYE, VAT returns online -Preparing bank reconciliations -Preparing debtors analysis schedules SECTION TWO 2.0 ATTACHMENT EXPERIENCES 2.1 GENERAL ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN. The general activities undertaken on daily basis were to ensure that all the documents to be used for the day are available as required, depending on the department attached. 2.1.1 Filing of various documents Filing was also classified as an important general activity undertaken in the Organization. I sorted and classified the various documents depending on the required classification methods adopted by the different departments within the organization and putting them in their respective files. 2.1.2 Classification and handling information in the office set up. I classified and handled office information in a confidential and secret manner as files were not to be exposed or left unattended as they contain confidential information which should not be disclosed to everyone. 2.1.3 Planning of daily activities As a general rule and practice of the organization, every employee was expected to prepare a daily work plan for the activities that he was expected to perform in the course of the day. I had to start my days with a plan which entailed arranging my work in the order of priorities as directed by my supervisor 2.1.3 General office administration – I ensured that the duties allocated to me by my manager were promptly executed and maintained conducive environment for daily operations. 2.1.4 Customer Relationship Management I ensured customer’s requests were promptly handled and the responsible managers were informed of the enquiries through the daily reports. I responded to the enquiries through emails, telephone calls and any other appropriate channels of communication. I also directed the enquiries to the right person for assistance. 7 2.1.5 Office tidiness After the office had been cleaned, I ensured that my desk was neatly arranged to facilitate smooth flow of work 2.2 SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN I undertook the following activities in the various departments attached 2.2.1 Records management – this involved receiving incoming documents, recording, classifying, arranging, opening respective files, updating of records, capturing data relevant to the various departments, storing and retrieving files , locking the documents in the cabinets and restricting unauthorized persons from accessing any records under my custody. I performed this work in all the departments attached. 2.2.2 Filing of tax returns – in the accounts department I was tasked with preparing VAT returns, PAYE returns, advance tax returns, Withholding tax returns, NSSF returns, NHIF tax returns 2.2.3 Computation of Customs taxes In the imports department I performed the duties of preparing imports declaration forms using KRA Orbus system, lodging customs entries using TRADEX- SIMBA system and arranging payments for the taxes through the bank. 2.2.4 Processing Customs Clearance documents I was also tasked with processing clearance documents and clearing the import consignments at JKIA. Preparing marine cover notes and ensured all our imports are duly are insured against damages, pilferage or loss in transit. Updating the imports register and ensured that all the imported is up to date 2.2.5 Customer relations – I was tasked with receiving customers’ complaints on the company products and directing them to the responsible persons for appropriate action. I took note of the issues raised and forwarded them to the relevant heads of department and made a follow up to ensure the necessary action has been taken and feedback has been communicated concerned person. I also ensured there was a working co-ordination between the various departments within the organization and the right information was communicated to right person on time. 2.2.6 Stock management – I assisted the stores department to improve on their stock management procedures. This was through improvement of their systems of stock recording, issuance and documentations. Other tasks included Issuance of purchase for requisition forms to the purchasing department, issuing goods received notes, supervising stock taking, binning of the incoming stock in their respective bins, retrieving stock from the bins to be sold, Updating the stock issuance forms Raising stock adjustment slips among others Receiving and verification of goods to ascertain they are in conformance with our order confirmation. 2.2.7 Administrative Duties – I was assigned to perform administrative duties which includes. Maintaining staff attendance records, Assigning duties to office assistants, clerks and delivery staff, Allocating resources for use by all the units within the organizations, Issuing local purchase orders for office stationeries, Maintaining fuel consumption records for all the company vehicles Filing and maintaining safe custody of the company files, Processing leave application forms for the staff members as well as tracing of different types of files and taking them to the required departments. 2.2.8 Purchasing functions – This involves the tasks of receiving and recording requisition from the stores, Preparing and sending enquiries to the overseas supplier, Sending purchase orders to the suppliers, Recording purchase orders in the order book, Receiving quotations from the potential supplier, Follow up with the suppliers to expedite our supplies, Issuing requisition for pur chase to the purchasing department. Receiving and verification of goods to ascertain they are in conformance with our order confirmation. Assisting the purchasing department to raise enquiries to the suppliers 2.2.9 Sales of Company Products – This involves taking orders from customers and raising sales invoices, Raising cash sales in case of cash transactions, Recording daily sales in the sales day book, Keeping track of daily sales documents and ensuring they are properly distributed to the various department for appropriate actions, Assigning enquiries received to the counter salesmen to action, Issuing ETR receipts for the sales made 2.3 AN ANALYSIS OF LEARNT KNOWLEDGE AND APPLIED SKILLS 2.3.1 COMMUNICATION The communication channel in the AGRIQUIP AGENCIES (EA) LTD is vertical. Communication channeled from top management down to the middle level and subsequent to the lower level. Junior officers give feedback through the same channel until the information reaches the senior management for action. I learnt that for smooth and efficient operation in any organization there must be an effective communication system which facilitates the flow of information. 2.3.2 TO EMBRACE TEAM WORK I learnt that it is crucial to have good co-operation between the workers which enables department  activities to be coordinated smoothly and efficiently. Any organization must encourage Team work and coordination within all its departments in order to achieve the overall objectives of the business. I learnt to build team work and to cooperate with both the internal and external customers of the organization. 2.3.3 SOCIAL RELATIONS The staff members are friendly and this in turn creates unity. The senior officers are free and social with the junior staffs thus making them feel recognized, this enable me to adapt to the environment very quickly. I learnt that through creation of social relation there is room to learn and perform work easily as this encourages breaks barriers and leads to efficient communication and accomplishment of tasks. 2.3.4 RECOGNITION/RESPECT Respect is highly observed, Staff members respect each other, their seniors and also the public in general. Staff members who perform their duties well are motivated verbally, through recommendation letters, incentives and sometimes promotion. Staffs are also encouraged to upgrade their education. I learnt that when workers feel appreciated they are able to perform their work with minimum supervision and willingly. 2.3.5 EMPLOYEE FOCUS I learnt that when organization recognizes the contribution of their employees, they see them as important assets and to be invested in and not a cost to be avoided. Employees with personal needs are to be assisted which boosts their morale and increase their out-put. The organization has set clear and explicit standards of service that clients (employees) reasonably expect. They always uphold transparency and accountability in service delivery. They always take corrective action on errors and deficiencies that occur I learned the way the organization should undertake the core mandate. This was by working closely with various departments during my attachment. And i also found out that practical part of management is very interesting. I was allowed to learn the way an organization is supposed to function and  what is expected of every employee with regard to terms and condition of service. I was trained on how to develop work/duty schedules which enhances performing tasks efficientl y; achieving results and solving problems effectively through consultation of other working mates. 10 During my attachment period I ensured that decisions which I made were in line with the organizations policy and in consultation with my superiors. I applied the knowledge learnt in class in addressing issues like complaints from employees and managed the situations effectively. Through interpersonal skills that I acquired both in training and during the attachment period I was able to interact well with the employees of the organization. I also acquired knowledge on how to communicate with senior management staff and how to address the general population with respect and decorum where one subordinate is entitled to one superior type of management. 2.4 A PROFILE OF SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES GAINED/ACQUIRED These eight weeks of my internship at Agriquip Agencies (EA) Ltd enabled me to gain skills, competence and experience in various managerial functions. I interacted with many suppliers both local and international suppliers, Consumers of our products, Government Agencies and other cl ients who required to be attended to. This equipped me with communication skills, negotiation skills and more importantly managerial skills in all sections within the organization as I rotated in all the departments. 2.4.1 COMMUNICATION SKILLS ACQUIRED I acquired communication skills using various communication channels, I learnt how to write official letters, send and receive emails, communicate well with the managers, others employees and the clients who came to seek for our services. I also learned how to communicate with different kinds of people like the clients of the organizations, customers and management staff using the appropriate approaches. I learned how to communicate through memoranda and ensuring that it is addressed specifically to the right group having simple language to be easily understood generally. 2.4.2 SOCIAL SKILLS ACQUIRED.I learned how to interact well with the employees of the organization. This was beneficial because i was able to work with them well due to the social skills applied. I also worked hand in hand with the management team and was also able to interact well with the other trainees. 2.4.3 MULTI-TASKING Exposure to working in different departments and handling clients with different needs enabled me to gain experience in multi-tasking and therefore was equipped with capability of handling different tasks performed in different departments effectively 2.4.4 CONFIDENTIALITY AND BUSINESS ETHICS I gained skills of desertion and business ethics which is vital because most of managerial functions must be kept confidential and I was trained on the need to observe ethics and never to divulge information to any unauthorized person and to keep confidential information about any function in the organization at all times. 2.4.5 ORGANIZING I also learned that managerial role requires high level of organization of the resources, functions and time. Through the attachment I was able to gain this skills as the organization has a very strong focus on how the employees organizes their daily activities and utilizes resources allocated to them. 2.4.6 CORDINATION During my internship, I gained skills on how the employees should coordinate in order to accomplish their assigned tasks. I also learnt that all the functions within the organization in order to achieve the mission and overall objective of the organization. 2.4.7 MANAGEMENT OF RECORDS I learnt the skills on how to properly manage company records during my attachment in all the departments of the organization. How to store files safely and protect them against access by unauthorized persons, arrange the properly in the cabinets Employees are handled in a professional manner embracing dignity and respect. 2.4.8 WORK SKILLS ACQUIRED I learned to prioritize work by organizing my working time table. This enabled me to apply management by objective principal. 2.5 OBSERVATIONS AND CRITIQUE For the duration that I have been attached at Agriquip Agencies (EA) Ltd I was able to make several observations for which I liked some and other I did not like 2.5.1 OBSERVATIONS Open communication The organization has adopted an open communication policy.  During my attachment, I observed that the management encouraged open communication between the managers and their juniors as well as the trainees. This created room for the trainees and junior staff members to express their ideas freely without fear hence created room for creativity and innovation. Good relationship between employer and employee The firm maintains a good employer /employee relationship. All the employees of the organization are given fair treatment irrespective of the positions they hold. The managers were willing to interpret the policies and guide their juniors and trainees in the implementation of the strategies set to achieve the desired results. Management commitment to motivate employees The management had a commitment for motivating their staff members. I observed that all the workers in the organization were very committed to their work and needed minimum supervision. The level of motivation was high and therefore created room for innovation, trust and cohesiveness which leads to efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Embraced change On the other hand I observed that both management and employees were very accommodative to change this was due to high level of trust and open communication the management was able to communicate to their employees of any planned change before implementing which translated to less resistance. Employee willingness to teach the new trainees – as a result of high commitment by the employees to their tasks and trust between the employees and the employer, the interns were not viewed as threat to the already existing employees and therefore they were willing to train and 13 guide them in their internship. The work I was assigned truly allowed creativity and innovation in that I was expected to come up with new ideas and ways of effectively managing the resources of the organization in order to meet the targets and increase the efficiency of the organization. I liked the way the organization cared for the social needs of their employees. 2.5.2 CRITIQUES/DISLIKES ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION Some departments operations are not computerized and therefore it takes long time to acquire information that is necessary for quality decision making. The organization lacks proper progression path which discourages the employees from furthering their training since there is no rewards expected  after undergoing the training. The other deficient area that I found wanting is that of recruitment and employment. The organization does not have employment policies and therefore their employees does not fully understand the criteria used. I observed that organizations do not give much emphasis on the course a student is taking, but they prefer students who have basic education and they proceed to nurture them based on their judgment on how one is performing. There is delay in replenishing some products/stocks which have high demands which causes the organization to lose their customers to their competitors. Some suppliers take too long to supply the products. Lack of co-ordination betwe en the purchasing, imports and stores departments hinders the organization from achieving their objectives. The organization has not fully embraced new technological advancement in several departments. This in itself is a setback as technology is known to improving efficiency and less paper work. As an organization that imports products from many parts of the world, I found that their ICT systems are wanting. The organization has not invested in research and development which is a powerful tool for enhancing their productivity and competitiveness. 2.6 STRATEGY FOR UTILIZING OF CONTACTS ESTABLISHED DURING ATTACHMENT During my attachment period at Agriquip Agencies (EA) Ltd I established good contacts, and still keep in touch with them and any time I require information pertaining to particular field am assured that I will have someone whom I can consult. I intend to seek employment opportunities for myself and also my fellow students. In today’s market economy job is only allocated and accessed by those who are networked well or known well. These contacts will also be of great help in securing employment opportunities in future in the field of management. I will also use the established contacts as referees to recommend me in getting employment in the future. SECTION THREE 3.1 SUMMARY The industrial attachment was conducted at Agriquip agencies (EA) LTD from 17th December, 2013 to 08th February, 2014. During the attachment I rotated  in all the departments within the organization i.e. Administration, imports, purchasing, sale and stores departments as an imports clerk/ supervisor. I learnt various functions of all the above departments and equipped me with knowledge and skills on how to effectively perform duties of these functions. The theoretical knowledge I learnt in class helped me to have a better understand on how to carry out the relevant functions. Some specific activities undertaken needs to be taken seriously by any person assigned to perform them because they can heavily impact on the performance of the organization. These functions includes, Purchasing of products, these should be done by competent personnel who have thorough knowledge of procurement procedures as well as good negotiation skills. Sales, This function should be done carefully as the p ersonnel assigned should have good marketing skills and able to do proper marketing mix in order to satisfy the needs of the Customers failure to which the organization can be affected negatively by becoming the target for competition. Imports, the personnel allocated this function must be having good analysis skill, should have capabilities to analyze the external environment in order to determine the economic situation , understand the inflation rates, rates of exchange as well as effects of the economies of scale. Accounts, The personnel allocated to this department should be able to produce reports in time and accurately to enable the management to determine the profitability position as well as decide on the course for action. 3.2 CONCLUSION I sincerely wish to appreciate the management of Agriquip Agencies(EA) LTD for the opportunity they gave to me to pursue my industrial attachment in their organization and also for assistance they accorded to me and being always ready to let me learn from them . The experience gained in the course of my attachment is very important in securing me an opportunity in the job market. I highly encourage the idea of industrial attachment and recommend that the students be supported and given maximum guidance to ensure that they are able to exercise their practical skills that are fundamental in building their career. My eight weeks in Agriquip Agencies (EA) LTD have had a great impact to my career development. I thank the management of The  Kenya Institute of Management for creating an opportunity for their students to undergo an industrial attachment that enables them to acquire practical skills in their field of training. The attachment has also enabled me as a management trainee to id entify the areas of weaknesses within the organization and recommended to the management on the best course of actions to improve on their performance. 3.3 RECOMMENDATIONS Agriquip Agencies (EA) Ltd should improve its technological infrastructure by providing more computerized systems enabled with internet to the various departments to facilitate e-commerce. Departments whose operations are not computerized to be computerized in order to improve on the service delivery and enhance their satisfaction to their customers. To find alternative suppliers for their products in order to ensure products are always available for their customers. Since some of the current suppliers take long periods to supply the ordered products they should seek alternative sources of supplies and create good relationships with suppliers to ensure steady supply of goods. Formulate employment policies. The organization to formulate employment policies that will govern their recruitment procedures, staff appraisal, reward systems, growth and development of the employees among others Investing on research and development. The organization should consider investing on research in order to be able to understand the market treads, the customer needs, the level of competition. The need to develop new products that are suitable for satisfaction of their customer desires. The management of the Kenya institute of management to explore ways of partnering with the private sector investors and the Government to ensure that their students are able to secure attachments opportunities and employment placements on completion of their training.