A Guide to the IB Middle Years Program

The International Baccalaureate ® Diploma Programme is growing in popularity at high schools around the world, but did you know that this curriculum is designed only for students in grades eleven and twelve? It’s true, but it doesn’t mean that younger students have to miss out on the IB curriculum experience. While the Diploma Programme is only for juniors and seniors, the IB also offers programs for younger students. The History of The International Baccalaureate ® Middle Years Programme The International Baccalaureate first introduced the Middle Years Programme in 1994 and has since been adopted by more than 1,300 schools around the world in more than 100 countries. It was originally designed to meet the growing needs of the students in the middle level, which roughly equates to students ages 11-16, at international schools. The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme, sometimes referred to as MYP, can be adopted by schools of any kind, including both private schools and public schools. The Ages Levels for the Middle Years Program The IB MYP is targeted to students ages 11 through 16, which in the United States, typically refers to students in grades six through ten. There is often a misconception that the Middle Years Programme is only for middle school students, but it in fact offers courses for students in grades nine and ten. Should a high school only offer grades nine and ten, the school may apply for approval to teach only the portions of the curriculum that relate to their appropriate grade levels, and as such, the MYP curriculum is often adopted by high schools that embrace the Diploma Programme, even if the lower grade levels are not offered. In fact, due to the similar nature of MYP and the Diploma Programme, the IB’s Middle Years Programme (MYP) is sometimes  referred to as Pre-IB. Benefits of The Middle Years Programme Course of Study The courses offered in the Middle Years Programme are considered to be preparatory for the highest level of IB study, the diploma program. However, the diploma is not required. For many students, the MYP offers an improved classroom experience, even if the diploma isn’t the end goal. Similar to the diploma program, the Middle Years Programme focuses on providing students with a real-world learning experience, connecting their studies to the world around them. For many students, this form of learning is an engaging way to connect with materials. In general, the Middle Years Programme is considered more of a framework for teaching rather than a strict curriculum. Schools have the ability to design their own programs within set parameters, encouraging teachers to embrace best practices in teaching and cutting edge technology in order to create a program that best fits with the mission and vision of the school. A holistic program, MYP focuses on the student’s entire experience while providing rigorous studies that are implemented through varied learnings strategies. The Approach to Learning and Teaching for the Middle Years Programme Designed as a five-year curriculum for approved schools, the MYP’s goal is to challenge students intellectually and prepare them to be critical thinkers and global citizens. Per the IBO website, â€Å"The MYP aims to help students develop their personal understanding, their emerging sense of self and responsibility in their community.† The program was designed to promote the fundamental concepts of â€Å"intercultural understanding, communication, and holistic learning.† Since the IB Middle Years Programme is offered globally, the curriculum is available in various languages. However, what is offered in each language may vary. A unique aspect of the Middle Years Programme is that the framework can be used in part or in whole, meaning schools and students can elect to engage in a few classes or the entire certificate program, the latter of which carries specific requirements and achievements that must be attained. The Middle Years Programme Curriculum Most students learn best when they can apply their studies to the world around them. The MYP places a high value on this type of immersive learning and promotes a learning environment that embraces real-world applications in all of its studies. To do so, the MYP focuses on eight core subject areas. According to IBO.org, these eight core areas provide, â€Å"a broad and balanced education for early adolescents.† These subject areas include: Language acquisitionLanguage and literatureIndividuals and societiesSciencesMathematicsArtsPhysical and health educationDesign This curriculum typically equates to at least 50 hours of instruction in all of the subjects each year. In addition to taking the required core courses, students also participate in an annual interdisciplinary unit that combines work from two different subject areas, and they also participate in a long-term project. The interdisciplinary unit is designed to help students understand how different areas of study integrate in order to provide a greater understanding of the work at hand. This combination of two different areas of learning helps students make connections between their work and begin to recognize similar concepts and related material. It provides an opportunity for students to delve deeper into their studies and find greater meaning behind what they are learning and the importance of the material in the greater world. The long-term project is a chance for students to delve into topics of study about which they are passionate. This level of personal investment in learning usually means students are more excited and engaged in the tasks at hand. The project also asks students to maintain a personal journal throughout the year to document the project and to meet with teachers, which provides ample opportunity for reflection and self-assessment. In order to qualify for the Middle Years Programme certificate, students much achieve a minimum score on the project. The Flexibility of the Middle Years Program A unique aspect of the IB MYP is that it offers a flexible program. What this means is that unlike other curriculums, IB MYP teachers are not constrained by set text books, topics or assessments, and are able to use the framework of the program and apply its principles to the materials of choice. This allows for what many consider to be a greater level of creativity and the ability to implement learning best practices of any kind, from cutting edge technology to current events and teaching trends. In addition, the Middle Years Program doesn’t have to be taught in its full format. It is possible for a school to apply to be approved to offer only a portion of the IB. For some schools, this means only offering the program in a few of the grades that typically participate in the Middle Years Programme (such as, a high school offering the MYP only to freshmen and sophomores) or a school can request permission to only teach some of the eight typical subject areas. It is not uncommon for a school to request to teach six of the eight core subjects in the final two years of the program. However, with flexibility comes limitations. Similar to the Diploma Programme, students are only eligible to receive recognition (the diploma for higher levels and a certificate for the Middle Years) if they complete the full curriculum and achieve the required standards of performance. Schools wishing their students to be eligible for these forms of recognition must register to participate in what the IB calls the eAssessment, which uses students’ ePortfolios of coursework to evaluate their level of achievement, and also requires students to complete on-screen exams as a secondary measure of aptitude and achievement. A Comparable International Program The IB Middle Years Programme is often compared to the Cambridge IGCSE, which is another popular international education curriculum. The IGCSE was developed more than 25 years ago and is also adopted by schools worldwide. However, there are some key differences in the programs and how students from each assess their preparation for the IB Diploma Programme. The IGCSE is designed for students ages fourteen to sixteen, so doesn’t span as many grades as the Middle Years Programme, and unlike MYP, the IGCSE offers set curriculum in each subject area. Assessments for each program differ, and depending on a student’s learning style, may excel in either program. Students in the IGCSE often still excel in the Diploma Programme but may find it more challenging to adapt to the varied methods for assessment. However, Cambridge offers its own advanced curriculum options for students, so switching curriculum programs isn’t necessary. Students wishing to participate in the IB Diploma Programme typically benefit from participating in the MYP instead of other middle-level programs.

Nike Inc. The Powerhouse Of The Sporting Goods And...

Nike Inc. has been the powerhouse of the sporting goods and apparel industry for years. Headquartering its powerful brand from Beaverton, Oregon, the company was founded on September 8, 1969 by Phil Knight, with a mission that emphasizes â€Å"design, development, marketing and selling of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services.† The rapid growth of the brand has led to heightened sales and endorsements in the United States, as well as incredible market performance in Europe and Asia (Morningstar). To maintain a competitive advantage in a clustered market, Nike has expanded its business across several sectors of the sports world, including Running, Training, Golf, the Jordan Brand, Elite, and many more. The company focuses on innovative products that are of high quality and appeal to the eye. For example, Nike released a preview of its high-tech, self-tying shoe from the famous â€Å"Back to the Future† films; the Nike Mags. A major reason why Nike has crushed profit expectations for nearly 4 consecutive years is due to the diversity of its products and its efficient outsourcing tactics. Furthermore, consumers are attracted to the brand itself, and one analyst said that roughly 80% of Nike shoes are bought for lifestyle purposes, not for a particular sport. At $50.57 per share, the company is performing below the target stock price, but optimism is high for a company that continues to exceed annual expectations. Growth for the next 5 years is expected toShow MoreRelatedBusiness Description And Growth Strategies1000 Words   |  4 PagesBusiness Description Growth Strategies: DICK’S Sporting Goods, an American sporting goods retailer, was founded in 1948 by a young but up-and-coming 18-year-old Dick Stack. 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Coca-Cola Financial Analysis Paper Free Essays

Coca-Cola was originally invented by a pharmacist named John Pemberton in 1886. He had tried making several new kinds of drugs but all of them had failed. So that was when he decided to get into the world of soft drinks. We will write a custom essay sample on Coca-Cola Financial Analysis Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Pemberton hired Frank Robinson to help advertise his new product but, Coca-Cola wasn’t very successful in their first year of business. Shortly, after that first year John Pemberton passed away in August 1888. In 1891, Asa Griggs Candler became the new sole-proprietor of Coca-Cola and began to give free samples, coupons and advertised everywhere for his new product. At first it was sold as a medicine to help prevent fatigue and headaches but, after the Spanish-American War congress passed a tax that would be applied to all medicines Coke would no longer be sold as a drug. (Cantwell) From there on Coca-Cola had grown bigger and bigger with the unique shaped bottle to help make them stand out and the idea of selling beverages in six packs were born. Our idea of Santa Clause was influenced by their advertisements. Even when Pepsi, one of Coca-Cola’s major competitors, was invented in the 1950’s Coke decided to make different sizes of bottles so they had a better variety for their customers. Things were good for Coke for many years until they decided to try to make a new Coca-Cola formula in the 1980’s in fear that their customers were sick of the original taste. This idea back fired, Coke received several thousands of complaints from their customer and decided to go back to the Classic Coke taste. (Cantwell) Today Coca-Cola has several varieties of flavors in soft drinks and is the world’s largest manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of non-alcoholic drinks and syrups. Coke has mastered the ability to adapt to the changes throughout history and has created a happy, patriotic and traditional feel for their product. This would explain how they are still so successful today. (Giebelhaus) How to cite Coca-Cola Financial Analysis Paper, Papers

Auditing and Assurance Services Business Risk

Question: Discuss about the Auditing and Assurance Services for Business Risk. Answer: Introduction Auditing Assurance Services play significant role in recognition of the inherent business risk within the organization. These particular services apply a business risk pproach and the standard audit practice has been incorporated with the both national as well as international auditing standard. Auditing and assurance services help the business organization to know their deficiencies in keeping record of their business transaction as well as presenting information from record of the economic events, which occurred throughout the year within the organization (A Forum on CSR and Assurance Services, 2015). Besides this, it helps in detecting the internal issue and operation deficiencies so that helps in improving the business activities of the organizations as well as it is beneficiary to the entire stakeholders. The key role of the Auditing Assurance Services is to check the financial statements produced by the business organization with the real data by the specific tools and techni ques, which use to verify the information within the financial statements (Arena and Sarens, 2015). After successfully verifying and analyzing the data and information auditors use to provide audit report about the financial situation of the organization which improves the trustworthy of the organization as basically the auditing services provided by the third party, thus it looks after the entire stakeholders side. The undertaken report is about the auditing report of one of the most successful Australian company, One. Tel, which is collapsed within the six years of its operation within the field of telecommunication. Here the about the factors, which play vital role in assessing the inherent risks are discussed (Botica Redmayne, 2011). Besides this, the inherent risk factors are discussed and their influences in auditing the firms financial statements are measured. Discussion on factors contributing to increased inherent risk assessment There are many significant factors that have important contribution to the increased risk assessment at the financial report level. Some of the vital factors are inadequate structure of the business organization, lack of professional ethics as well as deficiencies in the corporate governance strategy of the organization. The top level management of the company along with the key finance personals was corrupted (Dittenhofer, 2001). Besides this, the auditors appointed by the company are also lacking of ethics as they are lacking of integrity , objectivity , professional competency along with due care so that the role of the auditors, which perform audit of the One. Tel was heavily criticized and their actions are largely scrutinized as the company has been liquidated. The auditors of One. Tel BDO and Ernst Young both were lacking integrity and biased to the management and the key financial professional of the company (Hanim Fadzil, Haron and Jantan, 2005). Moreover, they hide the imp ortant financial information with the financial statement of the company so that there are many stakeholders of the company such as the investors, and shareholders of the company as well as the customers and frontline staffs of the company unaware of the financial position of the company and misguided by the financial information they got from the audited financial statement of the company and took inappropriate decision related to the company thus face huge loss (Botica Redmayne, 2012). Besides this, the auditors firms could not perform the auditing tasks independently so that reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of the auditing work. It can be assumed that during the strategic business risk assessment the factors like inappropriate structure of the business, lacking of professional ethics and deficiency in the corporate governess may be detected as all these are the main reason of the failure of One. Tell and cause of the liquidation of the company. Identification of recognized factors during strategic business risk assessment According to the financial statement of the company, it can be seen that in the balance sheet or financial position statement of the company that the liability of the company is consistently increasing, in the cash flow statement it is observed that the operating cost of the company is much greater than the operating profits in comparison to the receipts from the customers the payment to the suppliers and employees is much greater and cause of the loss in the operating of the business to the company (Dittenhofer, 2001). Besides this, it is also perceived that in the investing activities also the company has incurred losses means the company has to invest a lot for the payment of plant and equipment. Only in the cash flow from the financing activities provide positive results but it is negligible to cover the loss from the operating activities and investment activities. In the profit and loss statement or income statement of the company is also provides similar information, where the company was incurring loss during the financial year of 200 in spite of massive growth and development in the business. A company and the management staffs of that particular company must have the similar objectives for the future of the company (Imoniana and Perera, 2016). However, it cannot be perceived in all cases, it is often observed that the aims of the owners and management staffs of a company is differ from the objectives of the shareholders of the company and in these cases the problems arises. This particular situation is referred Principle Agent Problem. The company One. Tel face similar types of problem and it is the main cause of the collapse of the company, which was the 4th biggest telecommunication company in Australia and the company was initiating to penetrate into the global market and hold the UK, France, Netherland and Hong Kong market (Knechel et al., 2006). Discussion on inherent risk factors and their role in increased inherent risk assessment The bad corporate governance of the One Tell Company detected as the key reason of the bankruptcy of the company. The poor management structure of the company is also one of the vital reasons of its liquidation. It is observed that in 1998, the board of the Company was composed of only four members (Krishnan, 2007). Who were non executive director of the company. Among the four directors, three of them were subject to the every year election. Moreover, the 4th one was Jodee Rich, the CEO of One. Tel company, who was not take out by the shareholders of the company. Ending of the year 1998 the board of the company was extended to have eight members. Moreover, among the 8 board members three were the high school mate of the Jodee Rich the CEO of the company. The financial as well as the audit committee of One Tell comprised with 2 members who are very close of the CEO of the company (Knechel et al., 2006). The members of the financial committee were not the independent directors with th eir position in the company. In an investigation by ASIC along with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia recognized that the company has deferred expenses of forty eight million AUD along with the loss of bigger than forty million AUD. The audit partner of the company along with the external auditors were accused for overstretching the Australian Accounting and Auditing standards and fined forty eight millions. It is observed that in spite of the huge remuneration of 2.3 million AUD and bonus of 82.5 million AUD for the 3 executive directors, the directors get payment of another bonus of 14.2 million AUD at the time when the company incurred loss of 292 million AUD in 2000. It is detected that that for concealing the information to the public theses bonuses were manifest as delayed expenses along with the set up cost of the company in Europe as the strategic plan of global expansion of the company (Millichamp, 2002). Assess the risks as high medium or low The company has high risks as well as low surrender strategy with kind incentives for the new consumers might not be continued in the small market of Australia, where there are 6 services providers of mobile phone and this the 2nd biggest number in comparison any other country across the world. Besides this, the expenditure of the company was beyond of its financial capacity (Moeller and Brink, 2009). The other telecom services of the country had offered the subscribers much lower rate in comparison to the rate offered by the company. The business strategy of the company was heavily depended on the big companies Telstra and Optus and the two companies are the competitors of the company One Tell. One Tell was trading excessive phone capacity, which are procured from Telstra and Optus and the company offered cheap packages to the customers. However, the two major companies Telstra and Optus have minimal operating cost as compared to the One Tell, the companies took decision about the rate of the rental (Munro and Stewart, 2011). There was not any access fee nor had do any minimal calls spend as well as the contract not any fixed term. Therefore, there was not any single way to ensure that the consumer would stay with the company One Tell as well as spend money on it. Identification of the influential factors for effective decision making The other influential factors that help in efficient decision making are subsequently billing system failure. It is obvious in the auditing process that the intentions of the senior IT workers at this company are extremely questionable. The development personnel were given bonuses on the basis of timely creation and establish of new programs along with the system. There was not any testing need or requirement to give the necessary documentation regarding the quality of the programs (Pickett and Pickett, 2003). One of the senior accountant revealed there was not any structure, not any accounting system, not any procedures as well as not any control within the billing system of the company. Initially the billing system of the company was perfect to handle the issues as there was little customer base. Afterwards, on the way the company earned excellent reputation in the market so that the company successfully able to increase the consumers base and increase the volume of the customers t o whom the company provides essential services. Moreover, with increment of the numbers of the customers the billing system of the company was obvious insufficient; thus, fail to meet its demand (Ruhnke and Lubitzsch, 2010). Therefore, the processing as well as delivery of the invoices to the consumers was delayed and thus the company was unable to track the receipts from the consumers. The billing system of the company was designed inadequately as well as not monitored for the long time. Conclusion It is obvious that the collapse of the Company One Tell cannot be pointed to any one of the parties. There was lacking of the structure of the company, deficiencies in the professional ethics along with the corporate governance, which can be blamed for the collapse of the company (Saxena et al., 2010). The collapse of the company along with the succeeding collapse of the cop rates delivers a message to the business world. The message is that the directors along with the management staffs should pay attention to the companys business and financial activities as well as ply active role in carry out the business activities of the company (Subramaniam and Carey, 2011). Moreover, the people should be held responsible for their action along with the decisions proper reporting of the cash position as well as the internal control of the company must be monitored and examined regular basis to account for the changes along with the growth of the business organization. References A Forum on CSR and Assurance Services. (2015).AUDITING: A Journal of Practice Theory, 34(1), p.vii-vii. Arena, M. and Sarens, G. (2015). Editorial: Internal Auditing: Creating Stepping Stones for the Future.International Journal of Auditing, 19(3), pp.131-133. Botica Redmayne, N. (2011). Auditing and Assurance Services and Ethics in Australia: An Integrated Approach20111Alvin A. Arens, Peter Best, Greg Shailer, and Brenton Fiedlerd. Auditing and Assurance Services and Ethics in Australia: An Integrated Approach . 2009. 8th ed.J Acc Organizational Change, 7(4), pp.408-410. Botica Redmayne, N. (2012). Essentials of Auditing, Assurance Services Ethics in Australia: An Integrated Approach20121 Essentials of Auditing, Assurance Services Ethics in Australia: An Integrated Approach . Massey: Massey University 1st ed.J Acc Organizational Change, 8(1), pp.120-122. Dittenhofer, M. (2001). Internal auditing effectiveness: an expansion of present methods.Managerial Auditing Journal, 16(8), pp.443-450. Dittenhofer, M. (2001). Reengineering the internal auditing organization.Managerial Auditing Journal, 16(8), pp.458-468. Hanim Fadzil, F., Haron, H. and Jantan, M. (2005). Internal auditing practices and internal control system.Managerial Auditing Journal, 20(8), pp.844-866. Imoniana, J. and Perera, L. (2016). The role of IS Auditing in assurance services.MANAGEMENT CONTROL, (1), pp.17-33. Knechel, W., Wallage, P., Eilifsen, A. and van Praag, B. (2006). The Demand Attributes of Assurance Services Providers and the Role of Independent Accountants.Int J Auditing, 10(2), pp.143-162. Krishnan, J. (2007). Book review: Auditing Assurance Services International Edition.The International Journal of Accounting, 42(1), pp.119-121. Millichamp, A. (2002).Auditing. London: Continuum. Moeller, R. and Brink, V. (2009).Brink's modern internal auditing. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Munro, L. and Stewart, J. (2011). External auditors' reliance on internal auditing: further evidence.Managerial Auditing Journal, 26(6), pp.464-481. Pickett, K. and Pickett, J. (2003).The internal auditing handbook. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley. Ruhnke, K. and Lubitzsch, K. (2010). Determinants of the Maximum Level of Assurance for Various Assurance Services.International Journal of Auditing, 14(3), pp.233-255. Saxena, R., Srinivas, K., Rai, U. and Rai, S. (2010).Auditing. Mumbai [India]: Himalaya Pub. House. Subramaniam, N. and Carey, P. (2011). Risk management, governance and assurance.Managerial Auditing Journal, 26(7).

What Setting Ttells Us Essays - A Rose For Emily, Emily

What Setting Tells Us In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," the narrator carefully describes the house that Miss Emily lives in. This description helps us picture a decaying Mississippi town in the post-Civil War South. We also learn about Miss Emily's resistance to change. It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps--an eyesore among eyesores. Later we enter the house itself and, eventually, end up inside one particular room. The physical details of the setting become linked with the values, ideals, and attitudes of that place in different times. Setting can add an important dimension of meaning, reflecting character and embodying theme. Notice how the details of the setting provide the clues for solving the murder in "A Jury of Her Peers." As a result, they illuminate the deeper meaning of the story.

Mr vineeth Essay

Mr vineeth Essay Mr vineeth Essay Engineering Principles ENG311 (Foundation Year) Dynamics Contents delivered by Dr Ya Huang (Unit Coordinator): Ya.Huang@port.ac.uk 1. Office: A0.12b Force and motion Displacement, velocity, acceleration equations; force; equilibrium; vector and scalar; moment; free-body diagram; friction; projectiles. 2. Work and energy Principle of work and energy; mechanical energy (kinetic and potential energy); conservation of mechanical energy; power; efficiency. 3. Momentum and impulse Conservation of momentum; elastic, inelastic collision; impulse. 4. Motion in a circle Angular and tangential motion; rotational kinetic energy; torque (moment); transmission of power; centripetal, centrifugal acceleration; *angular momentum. 5. Simple Harmonic Motion Pendulum system; simple spring-mass system; *damping, resonance. For full contents of this unit: lecture notes, tutorial, tutorial solutions etc., log in to Moodle: moodle.port.ac.uk Reference Lee, Stephen (2008). An Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers - Mechanics, Hodder Education, London. 0-1 Dynamics The International System of Units – SI units The base units (7 in total) we will be mainly dealing with in Dynamics are: mass†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. kilogram†¦ kg The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram. length†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.metre†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦m The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second. time†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦second†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..s The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom. We will deal with in other topics: temperature .†¦Kelvin†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.K The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water. amount of substance†¦mole†¦mol The mole is the amount of substance of a system, which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12; its symbol is "mol". The other two are the ampere [A] and candela [cd] All other units are derived quantities and are based on these units. Some examples are given below. 0-2 Derived units: Force: The unit of force is the ‘newton’ (N) defined from Newton’s second law: force = mass x acceleration, or F=mxa then 1 newton (N) is the force that will accelerate 1 kg at 1 m/s2 ⎠¡ kgm ⎠¤ So 1 [N] = 1 ⎠¢ ⎠¥ note that the terms in square brackets define the unit N in terms ⎠£ s2 ⎠¦ of the fundamental units mass, length, time. Energy or work done by a force: Energy can be quantified by work done by a force: Work or energy = force x distance, or W=Fxs The derived unit for energy is the ‘joule’ (J): ⎠¡ kgm2 ⎠¤ ⎠¡ kgm ⎠¤ 1 [J] = 1 [Nm] = 1 ⎠¢ 2 m⎠¥ = 1⎠¢ 2 ⎠¥ ⎠£ s ⎠¦ ⎠¢ s ⎠¥. ⎠£ ⎠¦ Power or energy rate: Power can be quantified by the rate of energy transfer i.e. joules per second: power = energy / time = work done / time P=W/t=Fxs/t The derived unit for power is the ‘watt’ (W): ⎠¡ kgm2 ⎠¤ ⎠¡Ã¢Å½â€º kgm ⎞⎛ m ⎞ ⎠¤ J Nm 1[W] = 1[ ] = 1[ ] = 1⎠¢Ã¢Å½Å" 2 ⎟ âŽÅ" ⎟⎠¥ = 1⎠¢ 3 ⎠¥ s s ⎠¢ s ⎠¥ ⎠£Ã¢Å½  s ⎠  ⎠ s ⎠  ⎠¦ ⎠£ ⎠¦ 0-3 . Examples of the derived units Derived quantity Name Symbol In other SI units In SI base units plane angle radian rad m/m frequency hertz Hz s–1 force newton N m kg s–2 pressure, stress pascal Pa N/m2 m–1 kg s–2 energy, work, amount joule of heat J Nm m2 kg s–2 power, radiant flux watt W J/s m2 kg s–3 electric charge, amount of electricity coulomb C electric potential difference, electromotive force volt V W/A m2 kg s–3 A–1 capacitance farad F C/V m–2 kg–1 s4 A2 electric resistance ohm ÃŽ © V/A m2 kg s–3 A–2 electric conductance siemens

Greek Default of Sovereign debt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Greek Default of Sovereign debt - Essay Example For some, such as the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area), regional integration is based on establishing free trade zones. For others, such as the AU (African Union) and the EU (European Union), regional integration is based on political and economic cooperation (Sore, 2010). With the trend of regional and global integration, one of the emerging concepts is sovereign debt borrowing. Under this concept, a country can borrow a loan from another country or institutions. For example, a country that is experiencing financial problems such as growing budget deficits has the option of sovereign debt to address the problem. Some of these institutions include the World Bank, EU, and IMF (International Monetary Fund). Foreign debts are supposed to be paid as per the agreement. However, there have been cases of defaults in repayment. Usually, a country that is unable to repay its foreign debts on the agreed date can renegotiate the deal for an extension. The renegotiation option is not always a guarantee. A foreign debt default can cause adverse implications for the affected countries. In the past, such defaults have resulted in military invasions such as when the US occupied Haiti in 1915 (Huang, 2014). There have various foreign debt defaults since 2000. Some of these include: Apart from these cases, one of the largest and most recent foreign debt default occurred in 2012. Greece defaulted on its $138 billion foreign debt, which became the all-time biggest foreign debt default (Huang, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to present an in-depth analysis of the Greece sovereign default. The paper will present a detailed discussion of how the default came to be, what factors and actors contributed to it, the reactions of different stakeholders, the lessons drawn, and the way forward. The paper will present a background of the Greek debt crisis,

Research entry on John Rawls Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Entry on John Rawls - Research Paper Example On November 24, 2002, the entire American nation encountered the sad demise of John Bordley Rawls. Rawls acquired his dignified professorship degree of James Bryant Conant University from the Harvard University (Wenar 1). He also successfully attained his achievement of Fulbright fellowship at Christ Church, Oxford. Rawls also got several awards of honor and admiration for his services for America. Being truly deserving, Rawls was given Schock Prize for his Logic and philosophical intellect. In 1999, he was given a Medal of recognition for keeping up the spirit of American democracy. Two famous theories of Rawls are ‘Theory of Justice’ and ‘Law of People’. Rawls believed that there was no valid existence of conflict between equality and justice. He tried his level best to clear the opposing pictures of freedom and equality that were developed within the assumptive minds of people. Via his theory of Justice, in 1971, Rawls tried to recreate the prevailing concepts of equality and freedom, and explained to the entire nation that both of the notions have overlying attributes. Both are not perpendicular, in fact they run parallel to each other (Iep.utm.edu 1). Both can together generate an intense power of union that would always have utter fair and just consequences. This theory unfortunately did not bring out much impactful effects as expected. Practically, it wasn’t that balanced and one claim always out ruled the other. Late during his career, Rawls perceived the devastating impact of the international politics those days. Therefore, he outlined the ‘Law of People’ and stated that people having moral values are either ‘liberal’ or ‘decent’ (Wenar 1). He could foresee the excruciating consequences of decent minorities if ways of handling politics were not changed. Law of People was to protect the rights of participation of minorities in the elections as the political scenario was targeting the deprivation of decent people from

Action Plan for Homeland Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Action Plan for Homeland Security - Essay Example For a leader who is determined and courageous, his/her prevention strategies on attacks and disasters entail the strengthening of information sharing and collaboration capabilities. This will entail a robust investigative capacity to address all terror-linked issues and enhancing public awareness on reporting terror-related matters. There is need to establish the permanent commission that comprises of fire chiefs, police chiefs, mayors, local public health officials, and local emergency managers by the Department of Homeland Security to restructure the local-federal partnership with an aim of strengthening domestic security and safety. Create a safe and resilient cyber setting and promoting cyber-security innovation and knowledge (Shoemaker, & Conklin, 2011). There is a probability that a weapon of mass destruction will be utilized in a terrorist attack anywhere in the world by the end of 2016 (Graham, 2013). To ensure the safety of American people, the water systems will be protected from natural disasters and terrorist attacks through web-based monitoring of the distribution system water quality and regular water quality sampling combined with the analysis in the distribution system. Reducing vulnerability to terrorist attacks as well as other related disasters by strengthening capabilities that offer protection to public transport systems, ports, high-traffic borders, and other high priority critical infrastructure. The efforts to prevent terrorism will be centered on a layered risk-based approach to the security of the cargo and passenger systems of transportation, borders, and ports of entry. In the event of an electromagnetic pulse, money needs to be provided to the Department of Homeland Security by the federal government in order to offer protection to the electrical grid system. Office of Homeland Security to be given budgetary control over all federal programs associated with the nation’s domestic protection. Besides that, for those leaders who  are visionary and forward-looking, the Office of Homeland Security needs to be structured in a way that it works directly with mayors in support of their leadership responsibilities.

Understanding And Managing Resistance To Organizational Change Management Essay

Understanding And Managing Resistance To Organizational Change Management Essay Most businesses have to undergo change as a result of any of a number of causes: a changing competitive landscape; a new business strategy; changing of customer or workforce demographics and expectations; new laws; new technology or a changing economic environment. Rumelt, as cited by Boyer and Robert (2006, p.325), claims that organizational change is the most vital issue in front of executive management teams, even above product and market strategies. Therefore, as businesses approach change, an important issue for many is effecting the needed change in the face of resistance. This paper will examine resistance to change and approaches to managing organizational change. Resistance to change can occur at both the individual and the organizational level. Robbins (2011, p.627) summarizes major factors in such resistance. On the individual level, these factors develop from habit as well as insecurity about ones well-being, career, or general fear of the unknown. On the organizational level, the factors are even more complex: structural inertia; insufficiently comprehensive focus of change; group inertia; and threats to expertise and the existing hierarchy. Habits are useful, and even vital to our daily lives. They take away the need for us to willfully focus attention on every action and thought, turning into non-events such things as tying our shoes, driving a car, and interacting with others. However, habits can also be non-optimal, non-productive, or even destructive. Woods et al. (2002) conclude that habits are associated with lower stress and sense of being in control, and the greatest benefits of habits are that they allow for reflection on the past and planning for the future. On the disadvantages of habits, they note that judgments that have become automatic because of previous experiences may cause people to be less aware of small but potentially important changes in the current situation, and that behaviors may continue even when the situation changes to make those behaviors no longer appropriate. In an organization, structural inertia is the product of embedded mechanisms that perpetuate existing behaviors. These can be embodied in formal procedures and regulations as well as in unwritten rules and social norms, including hiring selection criteria. Structural inertia is not in itself, however, a bad thing, and it should not be challenged without good reason. At the same time, when good reason exists, change must not be avoided. As cited in Mellahi and Wilkinson (2004, p.11), Hannan and Freeman note that structural inertia causes organizations to react slowly to threats and opportunities, instead of adapting they are more likely to dissolve. However, they report this risk decreases as the organization grows and suggesting that in larger organizations there is greater capacity to absorb the shock of adjusting to organizational change. Another factor against change in an organization is when the effort is applied to an area that is not large enough, or where the focus is too limited. Surrounded by and interacting with a larger environment still doing things the old way, changes tend to be temporary only. Even where individuals want to change, group inertia, or the expectations and attitudes of their group or team, can hold them back. For others, though, change represents a direct threat to their authority or prestige, leading not only to resistance, but possibly direct opposition. Robbins (2011, p.628) lists eight tactics to help moderate resistance to change: education; participation; building support; developing trust; making the change fair; covert manipulation; selecting people who are able to accept change; and coercion. Education, employees are more willing to accept change when they understand its rationale. This is most effective when the rationale is not solely based on maximizing value to the shareholder, but takes into account the interests of all stakeholders, including employees. Participation, allowing those who are impacted by the change to have meaningful input in the process and this may result in a suboptimal result. The benefits tend to reduce resistance among participants. Building support, when workers are fearful of change, counseling and training can help boost confidence, and perks can help make the adjustment easier. Developing trust, change is better tolerated when implemented by trust-worthy managers. Making the change fair, workers will view a change negatively if it is not seen to be applied fairly and consistently. Covert manipulation, lying about the need for change, or starting false rumors, can be an effective form of manipulation, as can give influential resistors inducements to support the change. However, these deceptions, if discovered, put at risk the credibility of management and those effecting the change. Selecting people able to accept change, some people are predisposed to prefer stability, while others are more open to change. An organization can shape its hiring policies to prefer candidates that are tolerant of change, thus reducing one form of resistance when organizational change occurs. However, there are potential risks in this approach. First, this bias might skew hiring in a way that exposes the organization to discrimination lawsuits. Second, it might create a monoculture that puts the organization at a competitive disadvantage. An alternative to changing hiring practices is to identify those within a group that are more accepting of change and use them as examples and advocates for applying change throughout the organization or area where change is needed. Coercion, when all else fails, threats and force can push through a change. It can often be done quickly, although it carries the risk of loss of morale and trust in management. Robbins (2011, pp.630-636) describes four major approaches used in managing organizational change: Lewins Three-Step Model; Kotters Eight-Step Plan for Implementing Change; Action Research; and Organizational Development. Another notable approach is Wilfried Krugers Change Management Iceberg. Krugers Change Management Iceberg Kruger(1996) likens the factors involved in organizational change to an iceberg. He contends that managers of change consider only the tip of the iceberg, which relates to issues of cost, quality, and time. However, perceptions, beliefs, power and politics are below the surface, which must also be managed in order for change to succeed. Managing issues from these areas involves understanding that people at every level of an organization are affected by change. These people can generally be grouped into four categories: promoters, who support the change; potential promoters, who are disposed to accepting the change but have not yet been convinced; opponents, who are against the change; and hidden opponents, who appear to be supportive, but are actually against the change. People in each of these categories must be managed appropriately to avoid failure. Lewins Three-Step Change Model Robbins (2011, p.630) describes the three steps of Kurt Lewins Change Model as unfreezing, movement, and refreezing. Using the hypothetical example of a large oil company that wanted to consolidate its three marketing offices located in different cities into a single office, two forces are considered during the step of unfreezing acceptance of the way things currently are. The first, a driving force, moves behavior away from the status quo. The second, a restraining force, suppresses behaviors that move away from the status quo. Unfreezing can be accomplished by increasing the driving force, weakening the restraining force, or executing both actions. In the hypothetical example, restraining forces could take the form of objection to the inconvenience involved in moving to a different city, especially for those with children, houses or roots in the community. Management might accomplish the first step of unfreezing acceptance of the status quo by increasing the driving force by, for e xample, helping with moving costs or with securing low-rate mortgages in the new location. Similarly, restraining forces could be weakened by listening to and helping clarify worker concerns. Figure . Source: http://www.sqaki.com/9/KrugerChangeIceberg/screenshot.gif When the second of Lewins three steps movement is underway, completing the transition quickly, as opposed to deliberate, plodding change, is associated with greater chance of overall success, and the reasons are not hard to deduce. The two stable states the original one, before change began, and the one after the transition has been completed are fully engaged in the business of the organization. However, during the transition, the organization might be unstable, lines of communication are in flux, and the business of the organization might conduct inefficiently. An organization in the middle of organizational change is like a boxer changing boxing gloves that the transition should be as quick as possible. When the tolerance for error is extremely limited, for example, such as when transitioning from a manual system of order processing to an automated one. It would be foolhardy to flip a switch that stops the first and begins the second. Prudence dictates that there should be a t ransition period when both systems are operating in parallel. Although such a transition is costly, it allows time for errors to be worked out of the new system. Lewins final step refreezing is needed in order to stop reversion to the previous stable state or continued movement to some unintended stable state. Refreezing is accomplished by balancing the driving force against the restraining force. In the hypothetical oil company example, this might be done by making permanent a salary increase. It is assumed that as time progresses workers will get used to the new way of doing things, adopting it as a new normal. Kotters Eight-Step Change Model Kotter (1995) builds on Lewins approach, breaking the steps into greater detail. Expressed as a list of errors that contribute to the failure of organizational transformation, Kotter presents an eight-step model of change: Error #1: Not Establishing a Great Enough Sense of Urgency (Kotter 1995, p.61). Kotter considers this step essential, declaring that half of the companies he has observed fail here. Executives either pay this step only cursory attention or worry that showing the urgency of the situation will precipitate plunging morale and lower share prices, for all of which they will be held to account. For this reason, outsiders may be brought in to give the unwelcome message. The intent of this stage is to make the status quo threatening and change the only relief. According to Kotter, bad business results may be used as a pretext and in some successful cases a businesses crisis has been engineered for the purpose of creating the sense of urgency needed for organization change to succeed. Kotter argues that success requires at least 75% of management to believe that the status quo is no longer tolerable. Error #2: Not Creating a Powerful Enough Guiding Coalition (Kotter 1995, p.62). Advocates for change must include a sufficient number of senior, influential stakeholders in order for anything more than token movement to occur. Kotter allows that only a few such people three to five may be adequate at the beginning, in a large corporation this number needs to increase to as many as 20 or 50 powerful members to create substantial progress. This coalition of stakeholders may well go beyond senior management and include board members, representatives from important customers, as well as senior labor leaders. Failure at this point, according to Kotter, comes from underestimating the effort required to create change and undervaluing the guiding coalition. As a result, the coalition might be put under the leadership of someone from human resources or a lower level manager. Without active top-level backing, more senior managers can insulate themselves and their departments from change, eff ectively blocking progress and stopping change. Error #3: Lacking a Vision (Kotter 1995, p.63). Kotter remarks that every case he has witnessed of successful organizational change has involved the guiding coalition being able to develop and communicate an image of the future. Without such a unifying vision, the effort can lose its focus and devolve into contradictory and ineffective projects that either produce no organizational change at all, or, worse, change for the worse. Kotter describes one instance: [A] company gave out four-inch-thick notebooks describing its change effort. In mind-numbing detail, the books spelled out procedures, goals, methods, and deadlines. But nowhere was there a clear and compelling statement where all this was leading. Not surprisingly, most of the employees with whom I talked were either confused or alienated. The big, thick books did not rally them together or inspire change. In fact, they probably had just the opposite effect.(1995, p.63) Error #4: Undercommunicating the Vision by a Factor of Ten (Kotter 1995, pp.63-64). Transformational vision in communicating should be wide, frequent, inclusive, clear and credible. Kotter sees this step mishandled in three ways: first, the message is delivered only once or only to a small group; second, the vision is poorly expressed perhaps because it has been poorly conceived; and third, the message may be effectively conveyed in speeches and emails, but their content is belied by the behavior of senior executives, who expose the vision as being merely empty posturing. For Kotter, the communicating the vision also means expressing the message through actions that are consistent with the vision. Error #5: Not Removing Obstacles to the New Vision (Kotter 1995, pp.64-65). Barriers that hinder individuals and groups from engaging in the new way of doing things should be moved aside where possible. Although these barriers can be self-imposed there may also be obstacles that arise from the organizational structure or are imposed by ones job description or performance-appraisal metrics. Allowing these blockers to remain can bring the entire transformational effort to a halt. Error #6: Not Systematically Planning For and Creating Short-Term Wins (Kotter 1995, pp.65-66). When organizational change takes place over an extended period of time, people need positive feedback to know that they are on the right track and that the change is worth the effort. Rather than looking for and publicizing such positive news as might occur during the transformation period, Kotter advises that the guiding coalition should plan for projects that will produce short-term wins. This serves the purpose of keeping up morale, while also providing a real indication that overarching progress is being made. These mini projects can also serve as test cases to help tweak the transformation vision. Error #7: Declaring Victory Too Soon (Kotter 1995, pp.66-67). Kotter found that over a seven year period monitoring a successful transformation, the first gains were seen in year two but the maximum gain did not occur until year five. He contends that abandoning transformation efforts after the first gain misses the opportunity to achieve even greater success by confronting the structures that are still inconsistent with the transformation vision, but which had earlier been avoided because they had seemed simply too big to tackle at the time. Rather than declare victory at the first sign of performance improvement, the momentum can be used to achieve even greater performance gains. Error #8: Not Anchoring Changes in the Corporations Culture (Kotter 1995, p.67). New behaviors must take root, becoming a part of shared values, or they may degrade or revert when no longer subject to scrutiny and pressure of transformational change. Kotter argues that two factors have major importance in sealing change into a corporate culture. The first factor is to clearly show people the link between improved performance and the new behaviors and approaches. If people are left to make the link themselves, there is a risk that they may mistakenly link improved performance with something else. The second factor is to make sure that succession decisions are in place so that those who will follow into top management continue to be champions of change. According to Robbins (2011, pp.631-631), the Action Research change process uses a five-step method of systematically collecting and analyzing data in order to arrive at a change action. The five steps are: diagnosis, analysis, feedback, action, and evaluation. During diagnosis, the change agent gathers information by asking questions, looking at records, and finding out what concerns employees and what changes they say are need. Analysis involves looking for patterns and commonalities; these discoveries are turned into three parts: main concerns, secondary concerns, and possible actions. The third step, feedback, is comprised of sharing the findings with employees who, aided by the change agent, create an action plan to achieve changes. Next, the plan is put into action, with the employees and change agent performing the specific tasks in the plan. Finally, evaluation is done, using the data captured during the diagnosis step to assess the effectiveness of the action plan. This chan ge process has two obvious benefits: the first is that problems are sought, and then solutions are determined based on the problem. This is in contrast to many improvement activities where a solution goes in search of a problem. The second benefit is that resistance to change is reduced by the deep engagement of employees into the improvement process. As a point of criticism, this approach seems very useful in operational areas of which employees have direct knowledge. However, it seems of limited benefit when change involves larger parts of an organization. For example, in the hypothetical oil company case mentioned earlier, from the perspective of employees, the need for change would not be obvious, and it would be all too easy for squabbles to arise between the marketing offices over which office would remain for the other to merge into. Organizational Development (OD) is a collection of change methods that combines organizational growth with respect for human growth. Robbins (2011, p.633) summarizes the values that these methods generally support: Respect for people, individuals deserve dignity, are responsible and caring. Trust and support, a healthy organization is open, trusting, genuine and supportive. Power equalization, effective organizations place less importance on hierarchic control. Confrontation, problems should not be avoided, but addressed openly. Participation, people affected by a change will tend to commit to their implementation in proportion to the extent that they are involved in the decisions. Robbins lists six OD change-related interventions, but there are far more. Holman et al. (2007, pp.17-18) describe sixty-one, classifying them into five types: adaptive methods, which use practices that can be adjusted to varying needs; planning methods, which are used for setting strategic direction and determining core identify; structuring methods, which are used to redefine and organize; improving methods, which increase operational efficiencies and effectiveness without challenging the basic assumptions of the organization; and supportive methods, which can be used to make the other change methods more effective. In conclusion, this paper reviewed the concept of organizational change, why it happens, and its risks and benefits. Resistance to change, its motivations, and methods of managing change were also considered. Based on the great variety of approaches to managing resistance and promoting change, it is reasonable to conclude that no single method will work best in every situation. However, the abundance of approaches also suggests that with careful deliberation and application successful organizational transformation can be achieved.

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Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition This document provides complementary or late-breaking information to supplement the Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Millennium Edition (Windows Me) documentation. HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT To view Display.txt on-screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window. To print Display.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor, and then on the File menu, click Print. -------- CONTENTS -------- WINDOWS UPDATE WINDOWS 95 UPGRADES WINDOWS 95 DRIVERS CONVERTED TO VGA ADAPTER TYPE MONITOR TYPE REFRESH RATES DISPLAY PROBLEMS DYNAMIC COLOR CHANGE ANIMATED CURSORS IRQ CONFLICTS WITH PCI DISPLAY ADAPTERS MULTIPLE DISPLAY SUPPORT =============== WINDOWS UPDATE =============== Microsoft regularly makes updated drivers available on the Internet through Windows Update. Windows Me also includes additional drivers in the Drivers directory on the Windows Me CD. To obtain additional or updated drivers, carry out the following steps: If you have an Internet connection: 1. Click Start, and then click Windows Update. 2. Follow the instructions on your screen. If you do not have an Internet connection: 1. Click Start, and then click Help. 2. In Windows Help, click the Index tab. 3. Type "Download Library", and then press Display. 4. Follow the instructions on your screen. Microsoft updates the Windows Driver Library on the Internet regularly with the newest drivers from third-party manufacturers. Microsoft tests these drivers for compatibility and then makes them available for download. Windows Update makes these drivers available automatically by detecting the hardware on your system and offering you only those drivers that are compatible with your system. =================== WINDOWS 95 UPGRADES =================== Windows Me upgrades all Microsoft-provided drivers from Windows 95 and DirectX releases. Windows Me also upgrades certain third- party Windows 95 drivers that might experience problems running in Windows Me. If your display card or system included display-specific utilities (for example, extra Display properties in Control Panel, refresh rate utilities, or color matching utilities), an upgrade to the provided Windows Me driver may cause the utilities not to work correctly. If Windows Me upgrades your display driver and your display-specific utilities are not working correctly, this is because the existing third-party Windows 95 driver is not compatible with Windows Me. Third-party display drivers and utilities are often very interdependent, so that if you remove one piece, you will break the other. The display drivers included with Windows Me are intended to be generic drivers that provide stable support for standard Windows APIs and features. Because each driver must support a number of different configurations, it is impossible to support every utility with one driver. Some features that formerly were included in third-party utilities have been integrated into Windows. If you still want the extra features

Global Assignments:Pre-departure Training Program Essay

Introduction Global assignment of managers has been a traditional method of operating far flung commercial empires since the days of Robert Clive and the British East India Company. The importance of transferring knowledge, upskilling remote or local managers and instilling best practice throughout a multinational organization has long been recognized as a source of competitive advantage for those firms able to expand successfully. The failure of rate of global assignments, and indeed international expansion, has throughout history been nothing less than fantastic. The vast majority of firms have been unable to master operations across multiple cultures, political systems or levels of economic development. The need to simply find out what is going on has, in the past, been the major motivator for global assignment. The advent of modern communication and travel technology has arguably reduced the need for â€Å"inspection† style assignments; however this role has been upgraded to the â€Å"mentoring† vocation of international managers whose primary purpose is to transfer knowledge. The plethora of technological marvels that enable cooperative endeavor expanding around the globe do little to change the fact that knowledge is â€Å"person bound† – acquired overtime through interaction with either tacit or explicit sources. Firms must transfer people between host and home countries because it is arguably still the only effective way to exchange culture, knowledge and experiences. A number of issues arise for those individuals who are selected for, or who  choose to embark upon international assignment. These issues may include practical, emotional/psychological or professional hurdles that limit the employee’s effectiveness on assignment, or lead to early repatriation. Options for reducing the risks these potential dangers pose are only limited by finance and imagination, and extend to careful selection of employees for expatriate assignment, pre-departure training, and familiarization visits, mentoring from both the home and the host country, post-arrival training, regular return home visits, repatriation training and extensive communication between home and host. The focus of this training program is on pre-departure training; i.e. preparing potential expatriate candidates and their partners for the experience of global posting before they embark on assignment. Pre-departure training is important because it is at this stage that candidates must determine their personal objectives within the context of the assignment and the firm’s overarching goals. Training at this stage can equip expatriate candidates with the questions they need answered to ensure both the employee and the firm gain from the assignment. The advantages of pre-departure training lie in the safety of the home culture training environment, the ability to catch misapprehensions or poorly formed perceptions before they become costly mistakes. Pre-departure training provides those candidates who do go on to expatriate assignment with a point of reference between their new environment and their home culture – a way to recognize the totally unfamiliar. The Training Program The devised program has been designed for potential expatriate candidates and their partners, to be conducted by independent consultants for multiple firms simultaneously. It is culturally non-specific because it seeks to provide tools that can be applied in a range of cross-cultural situations. Clearly there are limits to the range of non-specific instruction; however the aim is not to provide lists of norms or stereotypes, but rather to teach recognition of unfamiliar cultural circumstances, no matter the national, ethnic or religious environment. The program is intended to be starting point for those employees and firms contemplating global assignment. As such, the program will lay the foundations of service policies, employment contracts and job descriptions, as well as remuneration and repatriation agreements. The program will also provide practical advice for both firms who must manage from afar, and expatriates who must deal with local situations whilst keeping the home office happy. An inescapable factor in global assignment is a change in cultural environment for the expatriate, and the inevitable feelings of unease or stress commonly associated with coping with this change. There is arguably little any course can do to offset this hurdle, yet pre-departure training allows opportunity to raise the candidates awareness of this problem, arguably increasing their ability to cope. The program is not intended to be intensive, nor is it intended to be long. It is structured for 15 to 20 candidates with their partners and will be conducted over the course of a day. The program is divided into three, 2 hour sessions; therefore the participants will also be divided into three equal groups and rotate through each session in turn. Partner’s well be kept together within groups to ensure they gain the same insights. Sessions will be divided as follows: ï ¼Å'Candidate selection and firm / expatriate expectations ï ¼Å'Culture Shock and Practical Problems ï ¼Å'Relocation, on-going support and repatriation. Session A: selection and expectations Part A: Country Briefing The development of overseas business, markets and customers requires multinational companies to adapt to the unique demands of each country. As no two countries are alike, the ability to understand the language and culture of a country can invariably make the difference when building profitable relationships. In contemporary business environment, it is not unusual that an employee mainly based in China has more connections with his colleagues in Paris or Washington DC. The globalization makes the constant transfer of staffs from a culture to another necessary and essential. Not surprisingly, if a company is planning to send staffs overseas, they will find the whole working style not like the one they are used to. In a study of Elizabeth Marx in 1999, approximately 14.3% England and 25% American expatriate managers were not as successful as they used to be. (Elizabeth Marx (1999) Breaking Through Culture Shock) How to prepare for a totally different culture is crucial to an expatriate manager’s performance. Any stereotypical and inaccurate preconceptions may lead to the international assignment a disaster. That means at corporate level, it is important to prepare the expatriate managers for their new, unfamiliar business environment. This training program is aiming to challenge those managers with the culture and social environment they are going to face. The following is a list of the areas our training course may cover: 1.Background of the country History Political System 2.Current Economic System 3.People and Society 4.Population Profile 5.Current Economy Data 6.Working Relations 7.Language 8.Media and Communications 9.Religion 10.Trade and Industry Part B Candidate Assessment Program Source: Pappas Stanoch Will global trotting help your career (http://www.windowontheworldinc.com/pps_1.html) In this part, we are going to help the employee to evaluate their potential for success on an international assignment. By accepting this part of training, it will help to promote assignment success by supporting a candidate and partner in determining their suitability for living and working internationally. The self assessment is important to the business performance as well as the personal life of the expatriate. For many executives, though, whether to take an international assignment boils down to three key issues: personality, timing and motivation. Personality Doing business in a new setting, under different rules and possibly in a different language, requires flexibility. Frequently, employees with Type A personalities are chosen for these kinds of assignments because they’re ambitious, vocal and successful. However, Type B personality are often more adaptive and relaxed about the challenges they’ll encounter abroad. Timing Families adjust better to the difficulties of an expatriate move at certain times in their life cycles than others. A single person might seem ideal for such a transfer because he or she doesn’t have a family to consider. However, single people lack the emotional support other family members provide, which can be important to facing the stresses of working and living in another country. You have to consider the possibility of your children’s education and your spouse’s career before the decision to move abroad. Motivation How strongly do you want to go, and will you be adequately compensated? Given cost-of-living issues, the assignment may not provide a significant monetary gain. Also ask yourself how your company treats returning expatriates? What types of positions are offered? Is their experience valued? Re-Entering Successfully Many repatriates have difficulty readjusting and maintaining career momentum after their return. As a result, 25% leave their original companies within two years of returning from an overseas assignment, according to a survey by Windham International, a New York-based relocation firm, in conjunction with the National Foreign Trade Council Inc. and the Society for Human Resource Management. To avoid problems, planning your re-entry before you leave for an international assignment is essential. Establish ways to stay in touch with your home office while you’re overseas. This can help you to combat â€Å"out-of-sight, out-of-mind† syndrome. Also, find a company mentor to keep an eye on your career path while you’re out of the country. Be flexible about the timing of your re-entry, since the ideal position may not be available when your assignment is scheduled to end. This part of the training will take about one hour. And firstly the tutor will present the four factors affects the decision to relocate. After that, the following questionnaires are handed out to the trainee. Let them discuss the 10 questions in 4-5 people group for 30 minutes. At this stage, tutors will attend the group discussion and try to lead the group discussion to the points mentioned in the bold words following each question. At the end of the discussion, each member will be asked to present the necessity to be relocated. 1 Do I handle stress constructively? Some people feel frustrated, confused or lonely when surrounded by people from other cultures. Expatriates need to manage these sometimes negative and stressful emotions as well as any job-related stress they experience. 2 Do I rebound quickly from disappointments? It’s common to make mistakes and cultural missteps and experience failures in a foreign country. Being able to laugh at yourself and remain focused are important characteristics of successful expatriates. 3 Am I open to risk? Trying new things is inherent in an international experience. Every day there are new people to meet, new foods to try and new places to explore. 4 Am I comfortable during periods of uncertainty? You can’t learn all the new social and business norms immediately. Accept that you’ll learn as you go and that you can’t be expected to figure out everything as quickly as you would in your home culture. It’s estimated that expatriates operate at 65% of their normal level of productivity during the first three to six months of an assignment. This may disappoint or frustrate you, but it’s perfectly normal. 5 Am I flexible and open to new situations and relationships? You’re certain to encounter ways of thinking and behaving that differ from your own. Being open and flexible will help you enjoy interacting with people who think and operate differently. 6 Am I curious about differences in other cultures, and am I discriminate and accepting of other types of people? While on an international assignment, you need to maintain a positive attitude toward the unfamiliar. While living in a host country, you’ll encounter many people unlike yourself. Learn to understand where they’re coming from and try to interact with them in an effective manner. 7 Do I have a strong sense of self, and am I self-directed? As an expatriate, you may not get the reaction and reinforcement you’re accustomed to. During difficult times, your identity needs to come from within. You must maintain a strong sense of self, especially when others aren’t reinforcing your values. Recognize your personal power and set your own goals, so that you can feel at home in any culture. 8 Am I sensitive to how others interpret my behaviour, and do I appreciate others’ feelings? When communicating in another culture, you need to have confidence in your ability to accurately perceive the feelings of others. Verbal language is sometimes a cultural barrier, and another culture’s subtle, nonverbal cues aren’t always obvious. 9 Does my family support accepting this international assignment? Having the support of family members helps you to focus on whether the move will be good for your career and them as well. 10 Is this a good time in my life to be far away from family, friends and my career network, and can I maintain ties with my home office while on assignment? Living away from your native country can be stressful. It’s helpful to be at a phase in life when important relationships can withstand unusual and challenging circumstances. Having a company mentor in the home office to help you stay abreast of any changes and remain visible also is important. Coming home can be harder than leaving, since you’ll have changed a lot, but your company may have stayed much the same. Session B: Preparing expatriates and their families Purpose: To prepare selected expatriates and their families before going overseas. The program is aimed at building trainees’ recognition of culture shock, and providing them with basic knowledge of living and working in a new environment of cultural difference.

How to Write an Advertisement Critique Essay

How to Write an Advertisement Critique Essay Writing an Advertisement Critique Essay What is an advertisement critique essay? How to start an advertisement analysis: Tips on how to start How to write an outline How to write a thesis for an advertisement critique essay How to write an introduction Tips on how to write an introduction and thesis How to write body paragraphs Tips on body writing How to finish an advertisement critique essay Tips on conclusion writing Advertisement analysis revision: Tips on revision Advertisement critique essay sample Advertising plays an important role in todays world. There are people who depend on advertising for their livelihood while others have built multi-billion dollar companies from advertising. It is estimated that in a year, people spend up to $450 billion and for the U.S. accounts for a third of the above amount. Therefore, advertising is indeed an important sector. What is an advertisement critique essay? The above information is essential for an essay writer to develop their advertisement analysis. However, one should, first of all, understand what an advertising analysis is as well as its main features. An advertising critique essay can be described as a paper whose aim is to deeply examine an ad and provide a comprehensive analysis of the same. Its features are not different to that of other essays because it will have an introduction with a thesis statement, a body with several topic sentences, and finally a conclusion. However, you need to ensure your writing focuses solely on the ad and that you provide your verdict on the ad. How to start an advertisement analysis: Tips on how to start Every accomplished writer will tell you that starting an essay is the most difficult stage. The start will always present you with some challenges. However, as you keep writing, you grow as a writer and your increased experience will help handle and tackle any kind of paper. To start an advertisement analysis, consider the following tips: Choose an ad you understand and like to write on. Ensure you are familiar with the product being advertised. Vaguely describe the ad. Look at the ad keenly and note everything you find interesting or that captures your attention. Develop an argument you wish to express in your paper. Develop an outline. How to write an outline An outline is simply a map or a prototype of your paper. It should encompass your main ideas as well as anything you wish to have in your paper. It should also be structured into an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. This is essential because it helps you define the information that goes into each segment. Make your outline brief but thorough. This will help to make your work easier because you will simply be filling up data or information. Separate your points and make sure each stands on its own. How to write a thesis for an advertisement critique essay As already stated, you cannot write about an ad you do not understand. Therefore, first know what a thesis statement is and what it does before you get to how to write it. A brief explanation is as follows: a thesis statement is a statement carrying your main argument or the point you wish to express to your audience. The basic things you need to understand here include: Make it brief and clear. Ensure it is detailed enough to communicate your main point or argument. How to write an introduction An introduction is the most important part of your paper. It not only draws the attention of your readers but also ensures they are interested enough to read the entire article. You, therefore, need to ensure it is as interesting as possible. You should also make it brief but detailed enough to capture and communicate your main argument. The above simply means you need to include your thesis statement. Tips on how to write an introduction and thesis To better explain what the above section is communicating, consider the following tips: Start with a hook. A hooks aim is to capture the attention of your audience; it is always the first or second sentence. Provide a general summary of the ad. This includes the company, the product, etc. Include your thesis statement in your introduction. How to write body paragraphs Body paragraphs mainly build on your thesis statement. They help to expound your argument further by using other smaller arguments. While writing the body paragraphs, you need to ensure that each paragraph begins with a topic sentence. Topic sentences are then followed by supporting sentences which simply provide support or evidence to your topic sentences. Tips on body writing Use topic sentences to start your paragraphs. Typically the body should be 3-5 paragraphs long unless stated otherwise. Cite any information you include and that is not your original idea. Mention or indicate the ads targeted audience. Mention some of the strategies used in the ad to make it more appealing to the audience. Provide the textual strategies used in the ad. How to finish an advertisement critique essay In the conclusion, you need to recap or provide a summary of your paper including the arguments used in your paper. You also need to have a restatement of your thesis statement. The finishing of a paper is indeed important. You need to make it memorable and in a way that will be difficult for your audience to forget. Tips on conclusion writing For an advertisement critique essay, you need to consider the following tips as you write your conclusion: Recap your article by providing a small summary of your writing. Restate your thesis statement. Provide recommendations on how the ad could be improved. Discuss implications of the ad on the cultural, political, social aspects of the society. Advertisement analysis revision: Tips on revision Revising your articles should be an important and mandatory step as a writer. Revising means re-reading your article and correcting any mistakes you find in your essay. While revising your paper consider the following tips: Use online grammar checkers to help you correct some of the punctuation and grammatical errors. Give a trusted friend or family member your article to read and to offer genuine feedback. Cite any piece of information which is not original. Advertisement critique essay sample Coca-Cola is by far the most profitable soft drinks company. The company is not only adaptive but also keeps reinventing itself which makes it more adorable and gives the customers little chance of ignoring their products. Their new advert dubbed Taste the Feeling is indeed reminiscent of the company’s prowess in ensuring that clients keep buying their products. The ad is not only appealing but also prompts one to go get a Coca-Cola bottle. The Taste the Feeling ad not only and successfully unites all of the company’s products but also helps to showcase why the company is where it is. First of all, the ad is simple and is also fitted with appropriate captions which seek to explain every moment that could be spent with an ice-cold Coke. The audience is obviously the young consumers or the millennials whose lifestyle could accommodate the taste of Coca-Cola. It is also fair to say that the ad does achieve its purpose and goes ahead and uses characters whose lifestyle is reminiscent of the target audience. Secondly, the ad appeals to the emotions of everyone who is watching by including a series of emotionally charged moments. In all these moments, the ad shows a coke being enjoyed thus helping to calm the characters’ nerves down or to simply help them enjoy the moment more. Here, the company was trying to make secure its position as the leader in the soft drinks industry. Additionally, one can say that the company was also trying to endear itself to the customers even more. Thirdly, the message was also clear and one could sense the pleasure of drinking Coca-Cola. The goal was trying to show how the drink makes moments special and more even more nostalgic. By using this mode or direction of advertising, it is possible to get or to grasp the attention of viewers. Everyone will simply be wishing for the specialness of having an ice-cold Coca-Cola bottle whenever they are having or thinking of special moments. In conclusion, it is difficult to get a negative aspect of the ad. It not only captures one attention but also unites the products of the company. The theme which is simple and catchy is also something that is unforgettable and therefore, helps to make it more appealing. It is indeed difficult to beat this particular ad and other companies ought to be aware.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm... and Early Risers Get Better Grades

The Early Bird Gets the Worm... and Early Risers Get Better Grades A New York Times article on September 9, 2011, To Earn an ‘A,’ Set the Alarm Clock Early, reported that early morning classes, at least at one college in New York, correlate to higher grades. The professors who conducted the study found a direct relationship between later morning classes and higher incidence of alcohol use. The article did not make it clear whether the morning classes were the cause of the tame nights, or whether students already inclined not to drink were the ones who chose early classes. What was clear is that students with later classes drank more and slept more poorly, albeit for more hours, than did their early bird counterparts.   Apparently their grades suffered. Could an early schedule actually be a cause of sobriety and overall responsibility?   If so, it seems that registering for early morning classes is a good idea for any college student.   Why tempt fate? And perhaps the same rule applies to people in the workforce.   Certainly people who get up at 5am for work every day are unlikely to spend their weeknights pounding shots until 2am. So what about business owners and job seekers?   Those early morning BNI and other networking events might be keeping us on the straight and narrow. I am not a drinker myself, but I do know that when I don’t have early morning appointments I tend to stay up later – working, not playing, but perhaps I would be more productive if I were to go to bed by 10pm and get up at 5am each day, rather than slide into a 1am to 8am sleeping pattern.   Am I hurting my â€Å"grades† by doing that?   I’m starting to wonder. If you are someone who does not have an external force keeping you to a schedule, perhaps it is a good idea to create an early morning appointment of some kind to train you to go to bed at a decent hour.   Some people I know have a mini coaching call with a friend each morning.   Some go to the gym religiously at 7am.   If you knew you would perform better overall by starting early, would you do it? One of my friends and informal coaches keeps telling me I should stop working at night.   I generally haven’t listened to his advice (note:   I wrote this blog at 10pm on a Saturday night).   But I’m going to try an experiment.   This week I am going to go to bed by 11pm every night, and get up at 6am. Will I see a difference in how much I get done, or in how well I do it?   I’ll keep you posted on the results. 😉 Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: September 20, 2011 at 12:45 pm Thanks for your comment Brian! I wonder if there is a societal listening of people who get up early and go to bed early that they are more productive? Clearly some people, like BeeGee, have a different experience of life! One of my challenges is that some of the people I work with send me things to do late at night, and some are in time zones where if I do not respond I lose an entire day of potential communications. Despite my promise to go to bed at 11pm last night, I was up until 11:45 and got up at 6:45. Hey, at least the times started with my promised numbers! And I did get a LOT done this morning from 7-9am. Log in to Reply Karla says: September 20, 2011 at 7:55 pm I agree. I get the most accomplished during the day if I get up early. I dont necessarily love getting up early, but I feel much better about my productivity when I rise early. I also took early morning classes during college and I earned As and Bs. I feel like once I woke up, I was much more alert for my morning classes than in the late afternoon or evening when my energy was dragging. Great post! Log in to Reply

Retail strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Retail strategy - Essay Example Further to him, these studies have noted some quite common traits among the existing entrepreneurs with respect to the need for complete achievement, the perceived locus of control and measure, are orientated toward initiative thinking and have a risk taking propensity in them. According to Beech, W (2001), an entrepreneur is driven by the need to create something new or build something tangible for others to follow. Also, entrepreneurs are described as human beings who are most of the times engaged in the creative destruction of products and services which exist. All in all, since new enterprises have low chances of success rates, an entrepreneur must also have considerable persistence if he/she is to attain the set goals. A crisis of management often arise when the entrepreneur fails to recognize that, running a large company which is stable is quite different from running a small growing company. This problem is often resolved by the entrepreneur leaving the organization and going to tart a new venture Another definition has it that, an entrepreneur is a person with the ability to see what others who came before missed. Further, he/she is a person who is able to make connections between things that others had not and are not capable of. He/she combines to work together to create that which had not existed before (Carey, C 2001). Often, the entrepreneur is not the one who actually creates the new goods or services, but he/she is the one who has the vision of how that idea can be transformed into reality for the benefit of everyone (Carey, C 2001). The entrepreneurs creativity is different from the creativity known. His/her creativity finds ways for the ideas which he/she has formulated to enter the market place as well as being of benefit to all of the society. Entrepreneurs in most cases reward those who came up with the new ideas in the first

Criminal justice Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal justice - Term Paper Example This paper will give the history of drug trafficking, the causes why it still continues to become a looming social problem, the negative effects it will do to the user and how the current justice system of the US government is coping with the preventive and corrective measures at present time to cure this problem. Keywords: illegal drugs, drug trade, capital punishment, death penalty, imprisonment, justice system ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE IN AMERICA Illegal drug trade has already been a part of the world culture and the number of drug dependents who get hooked on these substances continues to grow especially in the later years. Studies show that drug dependents are most likely to commit heinous crimes like, rape, murder, manslaughter, robbery, kidnapping with ransom and other serious crimes. The continued use of illegal drugs have destroyed the lives of innocent victims. The current justice system must be stricter in imposing stiffer penalties to prevent hardened criminals from ruining the society. Sherman (2010) has stated in her report that: â€Å"Drug trafficking is another term for drug trade. ... ses, the drug trafficking organizations are more powerful, better funded, and more heavily armed than the governments of the countries where they operate (Sherman 2010). HISTORY Seelke, Wyler and Beitter (2011) reported that: â€Å"Drug trafficking has been viewed as a primary threat to citizen security and U.S. interests in Latin America and the Caribbean despite decades of anti-drug efforts by the United States and partner governments. The production and trafficking of popular illicit drugs which included cocaine, marijuana, opiates, and methamphetamine is known to have generated an income worth of multi-billion dollar black market in which Latin American criminal and terrorist organizations thrive. These groups challenge state authority in source and transit countries where governments are often fragile and easily corrupted. Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) largely control the U.S. illicit drug market and have been identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as the â€Å"greatest organized crime threat to the United States.† Drug trafficking-related crime and violence in the region has escalated in recent years, raising the drug issue to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy concerns†. It is fact that dealers of these illegal drugs engage in the business of trading drugs because of the lucrative profit they will earn. The demand for the production is present so they continue to keep the illegal substances coming through any means they can think of. â€Å"Other researchers suggest that the drug enforcement and supply reduction efforts will fail because they cannot succeed in meaningfully raising the price or reducing the availability of the drugs. In this view, they is plenty of supply of traders who will run the moral, economic and physical risks of dealing