Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Opportunity costs are other uses of resources Essay

The opportunity cost of any action is defined as the next best alternative to that action. The concept of opportunity costs explain that for every opportunity pursued, there is a cost associated with that opportunity. Every choice has a trade-off because one would usually give up something in favor of the first choice, given one’s limited resources. Limited resources imply scarcity, and a scarce resource used for one thing means that some other thing is foregone. Opportunity costs are usually assessed in terms of money, but it can also be considered in terms of anything that is deemed of value to the company, such as time, production or mechanical output, or any other kind of limited resource. The opportunity cost is usually the difference of value between the first choice and the alternative—for example, the difference between the actual performance of one’s current investment and some other desired investment is considered the opportunity cost of that investment. Another opportunity cost that should be considered includes the cost investing a company’s resources in new capital goods in lieu of its current production of consumer goods. Other kind of opportunities that would have associated opportunity costs include investing, supplying capital, purchasing goods, saving money, and specialization.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

For four years the guilt still haunted my Mum

As we sat down for dinner or ‘tea' as it has come to be called in our small two up-two down house, 174, Lonsdale Street, there was that same ominous feeling in the air that all too often filled me with dread and a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. That would set the tone for the remainder of the evening and most probably continue late on in to the night and early hours. The hunger that now eluded my whole body had earlier been forced to become a mind over matter issue as I struggled fruitlessly with my maths homework, but now, tea was ready. Unfortunately though, my hunger was no more satisfied even after I had ravenously finished off every last bite of my half – yes my whole half – of the gourmet dish of Heinz beans and sausage, so expertly cooked – or rather opened from the tin – by Paul. This was another tell-tale sign of what was to come in the next few hours. As per usual, the rather bland evening meal was complemented by certain happenings in our house that even I struggled to deal with as I maybe would have done in the past. By now, we had grown used to, and even begun to accept, the fact that Dad was no longer around to bring a sense of buoyancy and a friendly, smiling face to our home and our lives. Maths homework was left unfinished and certain D.I.Y jobs, such as the burst water pipe in the small dingy bathroom at the end of the landing, were left leaking. But we all understand that life must go on and we must stay strong – if not for our sake, for Mum's. This was something we had done very well since Dad left. Just the two of us, until she found Paul. As soon as we finished our tea, Mum set about busily clearing the table as I put the kettle on, offering Paul a drink and anxiously awaiting his most-probable violent reaction. Much to my disbelief, he simply just declined the drink, but left the kitchen hurriedly, in a similar fashion to the one in which he had entered, irritably mumbling something about Janet and how he had had to put up with this for too long now and how he is not putting up with it for much longer. With this, my thoughts and fears were confirmed and my heart pounded once again. It had been plainly obvious from the second I awoke that morning that they had been arguing the night before and it would once again be Mum who came out worse off. The atmosphere was tense all too often in our house. It was impossible to tell when things would boil over, but it was obvious that the tension was always at a light simmer, biding its time and appearing to await the perfect moment. It was for exactly this reason that I never invited any of my friends round to sleep or even to watch a film or for tea. The whole environment and aura is too aggressive, too heated for others to understand. In fact, everything that happens in our house with regards to this situation is kept to myself. Just as the kettle boiled my mind jolted back into reality and I poured water in to each of the three mugs. I heard the front door close with a bang and the letter box swung backwards and forwards, probably hanging off even more than it had before. â€Å"We shan't be seein' ‘im again tonight,† said Mum softly in her ever-calming voice. â€Å"He'll be back,† I replied tentatively. â€Å"Oh, he'll be back all right. Drunk as a skunk, no doubt.† She even said this in a subtle tone, as if she had seen it all before and was now finding the whole scenario increasingly monotonous. I decided that the best reply, was no reply. We sat in the lounge in silence. No sound apart from Matthew Kelly on Stars in their Eyes gaily welcoming some middle aged house-wife from Wales as Christina Aguilera. I glanced across at Mum, still glaring at the television intently, steel-eyed. She did not even look up, not a second thought. Nothing. Perhaps all recent happenings had hardened her to such petty behaviour†¦ When Gillian had finished her piece as Christina, I drained the remainder of my mug, said good-night to Mum and proceeded up the stairs that creaked more and more with each processional step higher, and to my bedroom. The only place of sanctity I could find. After having only a wash due to the broken shower, I wearily clambered into bed and took out my football magazine from my bedside drawer. The last thing I remembered before dozing off to sleep was groggily reading an article about the demise of Spain on the World stage. The lines upon lines of text slowly transformed into horizontal lines in my mind and became wood, lots of wood all lined up neatly, now vertical, forming walls. Fence panels. My eyes came into focus as I gazed around what slowly materialized into a beautiful open space, lined with borders and rockeries immediately before the mahogany slats, containing amazingly colourful trees, plants and grasses that thrived in the gorgeous weather. Now my mind caught up with my vision and I recognised the setting as our old house. It was peaceful. Perfect. Birds chirruped in the trees and a plethora of insects busily went about their duties. Bees buzzed in and out of open petals and buds all around the garden. Ladybirds landed gracefully on emerald green leaves and butterflies parading stunning spectrums of colour fluttered aimlessly in the gentle breeze. Beyond a finely pruned hedge towards the opposite end of the garden was a ray of light that glared brilliantly in my eyes. It drew me towards it with an almost hypnotic supremacy as I felt the heat of the beating sun on my neck. I stood over the pool and watched tiny insignificant creatures skate on the water's surface, backwards and forwards with no evident purpose. Gradually, large elegant petals floated down from an overhanging tree, landing on the surface of the water charmingly. One by one they came down in to the water. At first with grace, causing minuscule disturbances on the glistening mirror-like surface, but with each descent came a larger and more portentous landing until the pool was littered with petals that gave the water a mystical purple-red glow. At once – or so it seemed – the garden was silent. Insects and birds still seemed to buzz, sing and twitter contentedly in and around the garden, but no sound. Silence. I turned back to the pool to see its emptiness. No buds, no petals, not even a single solitary blade of grass. My eye lids opened with surprising ease to focus on the blankness of the familiar surroundings. Despite my disorientation, there were recognisable sounds from beyond my immediate surroundings. It took another moment for it to make sense. Mum? There was a loud, ear piercing smash, followed by a thud then an emotional cry of pain and torment! I was right. All my thoughts and fears were so damningly correct, but what could I do? Was I to go down? My mind wavered. Could I help her, or was it not worth it? Would it only worsen the situation? Could it only worsen the situation? It did on the previous occasion. Another loud scream later, followed by a familiar bang and it was over. He was home. Her haven. She whimpered in his arms, but he was oblivious. Immensely intoxicated by drink, he had fallen backwards onto the empty bottle on the table. Well, that was our version. Who would doubt it though? Her numerous breaks and bruises were plain for all to see. For four years the guilt still haunted my Mum. And Chloe, the result of that fateful night.

More Import Permits If Not Enough Chicken Essay

JITRA: The government will issue permits to import chicken only if there is a shortage. Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Johari Baharom said this was unnecessary at the moment as there was a sufficient supply. â€Å"There are enough chickens to meet demand for the fasting month and Hari Raya ,† he said after having sahur (predawn meal) with villagers in Kampung Teluk Malek here yesterday. The local chicken farms produce between 1.4 million to 1.5 million birds per day and demand for chicken is less than 1.4 million daily. The government will monitor the supply of chicken to avoid any shortage in the market, especially during the festive season. He said the farm price of RM4.70 per kg imposed since the beginning of the fasting month was reasonable, especially when compared with price in neighboring countries. He added that transportation costs and increase in demand were the contributing factors to price increase. Adapted from New Straits Times, August 16, 2010 a) What is market equilibrium? With the aid of a diagram, explain how it is determined? (4 marks) b) With the aid of a diagram, show the effect of an increase in demand for chicken in the domestic market. (4 marks) c) Explain three (3) factors that may influence the supply of chicken in the domestic  market.  (6 marks) d) What happens to the price of chicken in the domestic market if our government issue more permits to import chicken? Draw a diagram to support your answer. (3 marks) e) Explain any two (2) possible factors that may influence the demand for chicken. (3 marks)  ©

Monday, July 29, 2019

Neurexins Induce Differentiation of GABA and Glutamate Postsynvariants Article - 1

Neurexins Induce Differentiation of GABA and Glutamate Postsynvariants - Article Example Neuroligins induce presynaptic differentiation. Findings show that the neurexin-neuroligin link is a core component mediating both GABA and binding to EphB receptors can promote MMDA receptor aggregation. The introduction of a specialized function by narp in regulating the synaptic de3nsity of AMPA receptors on spiny neurons. Neuroligins have been found to induce presynaptic differentiation in the glutamatergic activity of neuroliginaxons. The absence of immunoreactivity for postsynaptic antigens distinguished GAD65 culture and with either COS or CV1 cells. Immature neutrons lacking endogenous lapses exhibit clues and VGlut1 clusters induced by neuroligins from the few endogenous synapses that happen to lie under terms of gephyrin and PSD-95. Neurexins also induce clustering of the cyan fluorescent protein at its intercellular essential NR1 subunit of NMDA receptors. The family of excitatory postsynaptic scaffolding proteins number and total integrated intensity of these clusters in conducting dendrites. In addition, even though neurexins are unable to attach to neuroligins (Ichtchenko et al., 1995), they may undergo Mechanisms of Postsynaptic Differentiation. To better understand whether the b-neurexin–neuroligin complex acts bidirectional and controls postsynaptic differentiation trigger formation of functional presynaptic terminals in axons through interaction with its axonal receptor b-neurexin, Ben Chih and his collaborators overexpressed NL-1 in cultured hippocampal neurons (7). The excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs determine the proper functioning of the neural networks. Bidirectional signaling between pre- and postsynaptic cells is thought to regulate synaptic formation. RNA interference in down-regulation of the neuroligin isoform results in a loss of excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Electrophysiological analysis concealed a major drop of inhibitory synaptic function.  

Sunday, July 28, 2019

The Great Depression and the African American Community Essay

The Great Depression and the African American Community - Essay Example This is how Robin D.G Kelly Professor of Anthropology and African-American Studies at Columbia University, described â€Å"The Great Depression† in his book â€Å"Oh Freedom†. The book describes how the Depression affected all sections of society and more so the African Americans. Life during the Depression was extremely tough as people lived in abject poverty. Most of the African Americans lived in the rural areas and their living conditions were horrendous as they had lost all they had. It was the stock market crash that brought about the â€Å"Great Depression†. International trade declined sharply and had a great impact on industrialized countries, taxes, prices and profits. In the 20th century, the automobile industry has brought about sweeping changes by way of employment, modern infrastructure and good distribution. That is why the automobile is considered to be a â€Å"marvel of modern invention†. The African Americans who lived in the urban areas suffered badly doing manual labor to earn money for their sustenance.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Exercise Physiology Laboratory 6 Question Set Essay

Exercise Physiology Laboratory 6 Question Set - Essay Example It helps you to maintain Blood Pressure, Improve Cholesterol, control weight and prevent cancer. (Mayo Clinic Health Letter,January Edition 2008 ) Moderate Obesity Recommendations PHYSICA ACTIVITES NUTRITION Brisk Walking and Jogging Drink Plenty Water, avoid soda Swimming Eat Slow and consciously Prefer Stairs as much as possible Replace Milk with Soy Milk Involve more in Household activities 1 Vegetarian Meal / Day (Fruits & Vegetables) Avoid Sleeping in Afternoon (Access Sleeping decreases Basal Metabolic Rate Don't Skip Breakfast 20-25gms of fiber diet e.g. Soya beans,oats,carrots and Broccoli Eat 2 Teaspoons of Honey 4. SPORTS AS PER SOMATOTYPE AND BODY COMPOSITION Somatotype is the key element in analyzing the sports potential. The Structure or built of person is known as Somatotype. My Somatotyoe is as below: SOMATOTYPE SPORT RECOMMENDED AVOID MESOMORPHIC Decathlon,Gymnastics,Rowing and Swimming Marathoning, Mountain biking & Golf The above mentioned recommendations are on the basis of skills and body structure required for a particular sport. "Mesomorphs rank high on strength, endurance and agility and therefore is best suited for the above mentioned sports." (Sports Potential, Measurement Description, Overview) 5. AFFECT OF HYDRATION LEVEL ON DXA, BIA AND SKINFOLD A. Hydration Level and DXA Test: Ideally with a decrease in hydration there should be an increase in element content (like Na, K, Cl) leading to a higher molecular weight of the body and thus change in attenuation coefficient. In the study done by Going and colleagues, it was found that the 98% of weight change due to dehydration was measured by DXA. (Human Body Composition, By Steven Heymsfield, Pg 75) A normal variation in hydration level (1-3 %of body weight)...In the study done by Going and colleagues, it was found that the 98% of weight change due to dehydration was measured by DXA. (Human Body Composition, By Steven Heymsfield, Pg 75) A normal variation in hydration level (1-3 %of body weight) has very little affect on measurement by DXA method. Variation in Hydration level blazes DXA estimates of percentage fat only 1-2.5 %.This interprets that Hydration Level doesn't have much affect on DXA measurement. B. Hydration Level and BIA Test: "In an experiment done, with decrease in Hydration level, Bioelectric Impedance (BI) decreased from 14.4 5.3% to 12.3 5.3%, After Rehydration, BI % increased to 15.5 5.8%. Similar findings occurred when subjects were super hydrated (Normal-BI = 13.2 5.3%; Super hydration -BI = 15.4 5.6%)." (SAUNDERSM. J. (1) ; BLEVINSJ. E. (1) ; BROEDERC. E. (1) ) B. Hydration Level and SKINFOLD: With the increase level of Water in the body, the Value in Skin fold test increases. High extra cellular water in subcutaneous tissues causes thickness of and hence the value calculated is incorrect. "Martin, Drink water and Clays(1992) reported that variation in skin fold compressibility may be an important limitation of this method.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Karma Yoga Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Karma Yoga - Article Example Yoga being a Sanskrit word means â€Å"to become one† or â€Å"to unite†. In simpler words, it refers to the guidelines prescribed for union of a human being with the creator of this world. It is believed that such union brings the ultimate peace and happiness, which cannot be described in material words. Since divinity is within the human body and mind, yoga teaches the person to explore this divinity and seek union with it, while wondering within the confines of individual mind. Accordingly, Yoga refers to the techniques and attitudes as well as way of life that can free the human being from bondage of suffering as well as life and death. Indian scriptures are full of such detailed techniques as interpreted by many intellectuals like Ram Krishna Parmahans, Swami Vivekanand in the past as well as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during the present times. According to Indian philosophy, there are mainly three paths, which can take a person to the ultimate goal of self-realization. As different paths of a mountain lead to the peak, the three paths can lead to this goal, either individually or collectively. The three paths are Jnana Yoga that means path of knowledge, Karma Yoga that means path of action without any selfish motives, Bhakhti Yoga that means path of complete surrender through devotion. Baghvad Geeta has summarized all three yogas and their techniques as well as virtues, as spoken by Lord Krishna while delivering sermons to young warrior Arjun in the battlefield. All three yogas are complimentary to each other and a true seeker would need practicing one or the other during the voyage to self-realization. In addition, the Raaja Yoga, that is the path of meditation, also leads to the final goal of self-realization. As Karma means action, Karma Yoga specifies the path of action. Discussing on the importance of action in a life of any seeker, Lord Krishna has clarified in Baghvad Geeta that taking proper action is essential, instead of being

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Advanced Principles of Human Computer Interaction Essay

Advanced Principles of Human Computer Interaction - Essay Example This matte area is marginally raised from the surface for a functional reason. On the matte area, on the four points of the compass are four playback buttons. At the north, a point is a â€Å"MENU† button that allows you to navigate through the menus. At the west, a point is a step back button. At the south, a point is a play/pause button. At the last point is a step forward button.   The MENU button takes you from the normal screen to a menu screen that allows you to navigate to different capabilities including â€Å"Music†, â€Å"Photos† and â€Å"Videos† options on the menu. You can then enter each of these menus and navigate through them and if you want to go back up to the previous level of the menu then you can just press the MENU button again. This allows you to move back through the menu systems if you have made a mistake during your navigation. Each time that you press it will take you to the next level up in the menu system until you reappear at the original screen that you started from.   The step back button allows you to go back to the beginning of the playback of an item should you wish to. It allows you to return to the start of a song or a movie if you should need to do that. If you press the button twice then you will return to the start of the previous item and each time that press the button after that you will be moved to the item before that until you reach the start of the playlist. The step forward works in reverse since clicking on it will take you one item further on for every click of the button until the end of the playlist   The play/pause button determines the playback of items depending on the number of times you press the button. If you press it once then the item will play and if you press it twice then the track or video will freeze in place and continue from that spot when the button is pressed again.

Business Kodak and Fujifilm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 10

Business Kodak and Fujifilm - Essay Example According to the study in 1976, the company had 90% market share in USA. But during the late 1990s the company started to struggle financially as the sales of photographic film declined. After that the company was able to earn in 2007 by selling digital cameras. In January 2012, Kodak filed for protection against in the District Court of United States. Kodak had sold many of its business and patents to various companies. Fujifilm Holdings Corporation which is generally known as Fujifilm and it is a Japanese company specialized in imaging and photography. It has it’s headquarter in Tokyo, Japan. The core businesses of Fujifilm are production, sale and servicing of color film, development, digital cameras, color paper, equipments for photo finishing, equipments for graphic arts, equipments for medical imaging, printers, optical devices and flat panel displays. Fujifilm was founded in 1934 as a manufacturer of photographic film. It has expanded to be a leader in various fields of business. During the 1940s Fuji photo entered into the market segment of lenses, optical glasses and equipments. This essay declares that in 1962, the company has launched Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd along with another UK based company Rank Xerox. In the 21st century, with the rapid pace of digital technology in the photography segment the company had transformed its business structures in to digital technology. Although the company was founded many years later than Eastman Kodak Company but Fujifilm was able to transform its business very quickly from film to digital technology. The diversification strategy of Fujifilm was also successful while Kodak failed on that.  

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Human Development Index - Ethiopia, Russia, and Switzerland Assignment

Human Development Index - Ethiopia, Russia, and Switzerland - Assignment Example This index was introduced to account for the effects of disadvantages facing females in labour markets, education and health, increasing inequality on the gender basis and reducing the actual IHDI and HDI. Finally, the human development report also includes the multi-poverty index since 2010, which complements the HDI and IHDI measures by considering how multiple deprivations overlap in income, education, and life expectancy (Vander 64). This paper will discuss human development trends in Ethiopia, Russia, and Switzerland using these indices, as well as examine how international capital and trade flows affect development in the three countries. Ethiopia, Russia, and Switzerland have stark differences with regards to the life expectancy index, despite the fact that they have all been rising consistently. Ethiopia’s life expectancy has risen from 43.9 in 1980 to 59.7 in 2013 with the most significant increasing happening between 2000 and 2013 (Ethiopia: HDR 2013 2). Russia’s life expectancy fluctuated during the 90s, unlike Ethiopia’s, although this improved from 2000 to the present. However, the rates of increase have been minimal with only a rise of 1.6 in the last two decades, compared to Ethiopia’s that has increased by 15.8 years in the same period. Switzerland’s life expectancy has increased moderately compared to the other two countries by 6.8 years (Switzerland: HDR 2013 2). With regards to education, which is calculated by the expected years of schooling, Ethiopia again has the highest increase in trend since 1980 with the expected years of schooling increasing by 6.3 years (Ethiopi a: HDR 2013 2). This is in comparison to Russia that has seen an increase of 2.1 years and Switzerland with a rise of 3.3 years. However, Russia has the highest mean years of schooling rate at 4.6 years, compared to Ethiopia at 0.7 years and Switzerland at 1 year. With regards to the income index, calculated as GNI per capita, Ethiopia’s trend shows the highest increase of 102% in the last 18 years (Ethiopia: HDR 2013 2), followed by Switzerland at 36% and Russia at 15%.  Ã‚  

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 25

Case study - Essay Example It is also proposed that the company should run a customer reward system that will reward loyal members who have retained their membership till they are adults and loyal customers through discounts and giveaways and competitions. Since scouting is entirely an adventure experience, Scouts Canada should focus on trying to increase membership not only among boys but also girls, women and men too who are stressed and need to learn essential life skills. Because of the changing nature of the contemporary people, it is proposed that Scouts Canada should come up with new badge programs such as mountain biking, street sports, healthy eating and other issues that affect the country. The target membership of Scouts Canada is anticipated to increase by 30% with an increase in adult membership by 30%. This will allow the marketing team to know the success of the recommendations and offer feedback on which areas the company can improve on. Scouts Canada is a scouting organization in Canada known for its merit badges. The organization offers programs to the young people between the age of 5 and 25. The organization has the highest membership in Canada making it the largest youth organization in the country (Scouts Canada, 2014). The organization realized that its image was a bit worn because of the decline in membership and volunteer support. Because of the numerous cases of image tarnishing, Scouts Canada have to come up with a marketing strategy in order to reposition itself. Since Scouts Canadian membership goes at a high price of $205 for beaver to venture scouts and $180 for the first child, it is recommended that the membership price be discounted to $160 and $100 charged for the second and third child from a single parent. A reduction of the prices will encourage more parents to get involved in their child’s life and increase

Monday, July 22, 2019

Reservation System Essay Example for Free

Reservation System Essay I. Introduction A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms and air conditioning or climate control. The cost and quality of hotels are usually indicative of the range and type of services available. As one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy of our time, the hotel industry alone is a multi-billion pesos and growing enterprise. It is exciting, never boring and offer unlimited opportunities. The hotel industry is diverse enough for people to work in different areas of interest and still be employed within the hotel industry. But the sad things, small hotels still using a manual reservation system and they don’t have a system that can minimize their jobs like a automated database system. Even the government staff houses like NEDA staff house have the budget but still using a manual system like log books. The main targets of this study are for the employees of NEDA STAFF HOUSE. This study aim to benefit the subject of our study, it will minimize their work and can have a security for their respective files. This study will also help the proponents to enhance their knowledge in programming such as Microsoft office application as well as teamwork throughout the study. Interaction and individual stimulation have always been linked to the technological availability of the time and place. With the transition to an information-based society, computers and transactions have evolved from manual transaction. One of the solutions or alternatives to the problems that a hotel is facing, a system was being developed which can edit, delete, filter, monitor and store and secured the records of the customers. The propose system will help the staff house to decrease the work of the building administrator because they will be using a less effort like this automated system for their reservation. II. Background of the study The NEDA staff house started in 1970 so there employees from far provinces around the Philippines have a stopover in manila in case they have an appointment. Instead of accommodating in an expensive hotel, the staff house can give the same services but has a very low rate of overnight stay. For only P80 per night the staff house has a comfortable rooms and facilities that the NEDA employees can use throughout their stay. By calling the Building Administrator 5 days before they will check in and verify the reservation 2 days before check in, they can have a peaceful overnight stay at the staff house. NEDA staff house accommodating over 13 regions of NEDA Government offices all over the Philippines. Before, the staff house has 20 staff from the main office of NEDA. They were residing at the staff house to have a temporary office. But nowadays new offices of NEDA established all over the metro manila like their main office at the Pasay city so the NEDA staff house needed only 4 employees (Building administrator, 2 Security Guards, 1 Janitor). As of now the NEDA staff house is still running and accepting accommodations from there other offices aroung the Philippines. III. Statement of the problem General problem. The main problem of this study is the inaccurate reservation of the customers/NEDA Employees. Specific Problems: The specific problems are the following: 1. Low in security for file storage 2. Time monitoring are consuming 3. Less data integrity 4. Difficulty in searching and retrieving files 5. Possible loss of records and retrieving files 6. Difficulty in finding the availability of rooms IV. Objective of the study General Objective. The study aims to solve the problem encountered and to change the manual reservation system. Using the proponent’s reservation system, it will lessen the work of the Building Administrator work. It will be organize to have an automated reservation system. Specific Objective. The specific objectives are as follows: 1. To increase the security between the management and staff. 2. To lessen time consume. 3. To highly integrate data. 4. To spend less time in searching and retrieving of files. 5. To create a back up of files in every successful transaction. 6. To become make easier to find the availability rooms. V. Significance of the study This study will show how important is the automated reservation system than a manual system. It will benefit the following: Management It will help the management a lot by organizing the files properly in a small storage like a computer than a storage that is not so well secure like a storage room. They will have a report data that is easy to manage. Building Administrator The Building Administrator will benefit a lot in this project because she can manage the files by not using too much effort using a manual system. The administrator can also create a backup if something turns out wrong on the system. She can also easily update the wrong information of the customers/government employee reservation info. Security Guards The Security guards will benefit to the project because they will not need the help of the Building Administrator in case that she’s not around. They can easily access the automated reservation system because they have the authority to use the system by entering their username passwords. Other Lodging businesses This study can also help other small lodging businesses such as motels, apartelle lodging, etc to their study about automated reservation system and made them realize how important the automated reservation system in their businesses. By this research, they will know the significance of this study to their business. Future researchers It will also benefit the future researcher or students in NCBA which is taking the course of BSIS. This project gives an idea on their research about reservation system. VI. Scope and Limitations This study is conducted to know the reason behind the proponents on how will their purposed systems will help the staff house management. The Proposed System is a Reservation System that is compatible in the NEDA staff house. Because they accommodating their employees from around the Philippines, they do not have a database system that records the reservation of the employees only a log book record. This study mainly focused on providing application using computerized system that enables businesses to track services and aims to provide accurate and reliable process on every transaction especially in reservation. This study is looked into a better impact of using technology  today on how it affects our daily lives especially for being the customer. With this studies it can help our beneficiaries to know the differences of using manual system to a computerized generation today, prioritize is to prove and to give them the right information. The limitation of the system has no inventory of item used of the customer/government employees that have a reservation in the staff house. The customer cannot process a reservation online because only the Building administrator and the security guard duty on that time can access the system so they can manage some confidential files.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Role of Strategic Management in Planning

Role of Strategic Management in Planning INTRODUCTION While some firms adopt strategic opportunism as a strategic planning method used mainly by senior managers who use it to assess their firms capacity to recognize and respond to identified windows of opportunity (or threat) that may require strategic changes as it would be pointless identifying strategic opportunities that the firm lacks in the competencies and resources to take advantage of them, others firms use human judgment in making operational decision making, this could involve situation assessment, actions taken to gather additional information, generating plausible hypotheses and other alternatives which either depicts Strategy as science or art. This paper aims at analyzing certain terms and elements in strategic management that explain business strategy as an art or science, terms like design, rational, hypothesis, culture or creativity etc. It also explains situations where organisations are presented with either luck or opportunity and how to what extent judgment is exhibited in the strategic decision making. ANALYSIS Role of Strategic Management Elements in planning and decision making According to Constable (1980) Strategic Management addresses the management processes and decisions which determine the long-term structure and activities of the organisation. This further explains that strategy incorporates planning activities on Management Processes which encompasses both the formal structured process (prescriptive approach) and the informal structured processes (emergent strategy change). This provides the Managers the ability to spot opportunities for and threats to the organisation in its future plans and the changing environment in which it operates. As information is seen as input into an organisation process which produces decisions as the output, the strategy of an organisation e.g. avoiding a threat or exploiting an opportunity determines the Management Decisions that need to be taken that is expected to be a solution of apparent problems, the feasibility and the requisite resources for implementation. Beck (1987) argued that many British companies lack strategic clarity, this comprises of mainly three reasons: Thompson (1993) explains, The difficulties of forecasting in todays business environment; the lack of managerial competence in many companies; and above all, the frequent absence of strong leadership from the top. Other reason maybe the distinction between established views incompatible with the formal and elaborate strategic planning systems present in the 1960s and 1970s, however failed to work in most cases. Strategic Planning helps organizations answer series of questions about how well the company is doing and why, where it should seek to develop in the future. Thompson (1993) further argued that, Most successful companies strategically are likely to be those that are aware of where they are and of what lies ahead, those that understand their environment and those that seek to achieve and maintain competitive advantage. Also, Thompson (1993) asserted that whatever strategy exist in an organisation, organisations ace in strategic thinking are more distinguished from their less successful competitors by a common pattern of management which are highlighted below: Key success factors inherent in the economics of the business are effectively identified than their competitors. Markets are segmented to gain critical competitive advantage. The segmentation is based on competitive analysis conducted on the markets, thus, segments are separated according to its strengths and weaknesses of different competitors Successful companies base their strategies on the measurement and analysis of competitive advantage. Good strategic thinking implies an understanding of how situations will change over time, thus companies can anticipate their competitors responses. Companies are able to give investment priorities that promise competitive advantage While one may be agreeable that business strategy initiatives depend on a mixture of luck and judgment, opportunism and design to succeed, different views need to be analyzed as business strategy itself can be a combination of the aforementioned features. This is because a good business strategy will succeed irrespective of the factor of luck but a good business strategy has to be able to take advantage of opportunities, be planned with great insight and judgment without relying on the good wind of luck to see it through. Companies with superior business strategies who dominate their various industries are there because of their unique insights and capabilities in the formation and execution of their strategy. However luck seems to plays a role in performance of a companys strategy. Three broad scholastic perspectives exist for explaining the relationship between luck and business strategy; Kovenklioglu and Greenhaus, (1978) held the view that luck plays little or no role in the performance of a strategy, this is articulated by Day and Maltby, (2003) who held the view that a belief in luck is irrational. The last perspective believes that luck plays a substantial role in the long run by creating short-term success which then positively positions a company for superior performance in the long run or that luck may create a lasting success via a combination of lucky efforts. This is synonymous with Mintzbergs positioning school of thought which places a company within the context of its industry and tries to devise ways to improve its strategic position within that industry. A typical case study is the position of Microsoft in the software industry; which came about when by a stroke of luck, Paul Allen, saw a magazine in a grocery store with a picture of the new microcomputer , the Altair made by a company called MITS and decided to write a BASIC interpreter for it. This led to the formation of Microsoft which grew to become the biggest software company in the world. This position has enabled them to implement successfully their business strategy of copying the products of their competitors and making it better using the vast resources available to them, then bundling it with windows to force it down the throat of consumers in order to kill off the competition. Another illustration is the browser wars between Microsoft and Netscape in 1997, when incumbent king of browser, Netscape Navigator faced an unprecedented challenge from software king, Microsoft. Netscape navigator had the dominant market share (about 80%) which Microsoft wanted; it devised a business strategy which involved licensing Mosaic an existing browser as the platform for its internet explorer. Then it decided to give away internet explorer by bundling it with the Windows 95 plus. This was effective in stealing Netscapes market share because Netscape charged for its browser. It would have been impossible for Microsoft to keep its rigorous monopoly in the software industry if it werent for its strategic position which it had already attained through windows at a time when microcomputers was just been born. It has been said that the reason Microsoft became the biggest software company was bill gates being at the right place at the right time. Legend has it that it was Digital Researchs Gary kildall that was first contacted to supply the software for the new IBM PC but as matter of luck he turned it down preferring to fly in his airplane. This made IBM to contact bill gates who went on to supply PC DOS which was developed into windows. The table below represents the attributes of Strategy as design and Strategy Judgment, each of which exhibits the characteristics of Strategy as Science and Strategy as art respectively. STRATEGY AS ART OR SCIENCE..The concept of Strategic Thinking The term Problem Solving is most often scientific related which is an activity of finding the solution to a problem; this could also be defined with respect to strategic problems where the problem solving activity is finding a solution. Hitt explained, the concept of strategic thinking where Mintzberg also argued that Strategic Planning is an analytical process aimed at programming already identified strategies which exhibits strategy as a science, however, strategic thinking is believed to be a synthesizing process, utilizing intuition and creativity, whose outcome is an integrated perspective of the enterprise, this sees strategy as an art. Strategic Thinking denotes all thinking about strategy with specific characteristics. According to Nasi (1999) Strategic Thinking extends both to the formulation and execution of strategies by business leaders and to the strategic performance of the total enterprise and for Mintzberg (1994) who is one of the foremost advocates of strategic thinking, argued that, the term is not merely alternative nomenclature for everything falling under the umbrella of strategic management; rather it is a particular way of thinking with specific characteristics. On both two issues discussed on whether strategy is seen as a Science or an Art, a whole spectrum of views exists most of which are highlighted in the table below on the aforementioned two schools of thought on strategy. Business strategies are usually developed from a companys mission statement which is basically a statement of a companys dream and aspiration for its future based on its plans. The success of any strategy however depends on its implementation this is because strategy is more an art than a science. Science test for facts using established laws of physics whereas art deals with expressions of concepts, thoughts and ideas. In this way it mostly mimics the use of business strategies not as a way to test for the success or failure of a companys goals but rather a way to express the desire of its management for the future of the company. However, there are aspects of science in the way strategies are formed, planned and executed. The entrepreneurial school of thought sees strategy as a visionary process, it stresses the use of a cocktail of insight, judgment and intuition in the formation of strategies and this articulates the importance of judgment in business strategy For example in the decisive battle of the ball-point pen between Bic, Parker, Sheaffer and Waterman, Bics strategy that eventually won the battle was based on a very important judgment of the market need in devising a cheaper and better version of the biro pen. Bic realized that the cost of a Parker Pen which dominated the market at the time was exorbitant and it devised a strategy to reengineer its design to produce cheaper pens which could be sold for a few cents and this meant they were disposable and as such were widely adopted. Burnes (2004) wrote, Mintzberg views approach to strategy as a virtue, he compared art of strategic making to pottery and managers to potters who mould the clay with the shape of the object evolving in the hands, this can be reflected in Emergent Strategy, strategy that evolves according to need which is constantly adjusted and adapted and Crafting Strategy, developing strategy according to the needs of the organisation and environment, thus seeing strategy as an art. 205. Contrarily, Burnes further argued through the works of Hoskin (1990) who claimed Pennsylvannia Railwayss executives, Herman Haupt should be given credit for initiating a business strategy which made use of full interactive play of grammatocentrism and calculability, thus implying strategy to be a quantitatively-oriented discipline which focuses on numerical analysis for market forecast , thus portraying strategy as a science Mintzberg et al, (1998) developed in the early 1960s two schools of thought for strategy; Planning school and Design school. The Planning school was pioneered by Igor Ansoff (1965) which was based on formal procedures, formal training, formal analysis and quantification this was based more on abstract thinking. The Design school, pioneered by Chandler (1962) placed more emphasis on appraisal of organisations opportunities and threat. Mintzberg also laid out the five main interrelated definitions of strategy The Strategy as a perspective mentioned above sees strategy as an abstract concept, mainly existing in peoples mind, which characterizes strategy as an art. In addition, Mintzberg et al, Johnson (1987) further argued strategy as a social science through three views of business strategy JOHNSONS VIEWS OF STRATEGY Rationalistic view: sees strategy as an outcome of series of preplanned actions designed to achieve goals. Emphasizes strategy as a science i.e. systematic and rational attributes Adaptive or incremental view: sees strategy evolving through an accumulation of relatively small changes over time. Emphasizes strategy as art i.e. dynamic and creativity Interpretive view: sees strategy as product of individual and collective attempts to make sense of. Emphasizes strategy as a science i.e. interpreting, evidence, past events etc. Burnes (2004) continued the argument between strategy being an analytical stream (formulating strategy rather than prescribing) or prescriptive (controlled, prescriptive process on strategy based on rational model of decision making) through Mintzberg et al, Johnson work on whether strategy is a process or an a rational phenomenon but the classifications of various approach to strategy was absent which Whittongton emphasized in his four generic approaches to strategy. WHITTINGTONS GENERIC APPROACH TO LONDON Classical Approach: portrays strategy as a rational process based on analysis and quantification (strategy as science) Evolutionary approaches: uses analogy of biological evolution to describe strategy development through prediction. (Strategy as a science) Processual Approach: concentrates on nature of organisational and market processes (Strategy as art) Systemic Approach: sees strategy as a link to dominant features of the local systems, involving deliberate process, planning and predictability. (Strategy as science) An effective business strategy may include both strategic thinking and the essential elements of a strategic planning process, thus, strategic planning can drive out strategic thinking. Harrison (2003) mentioned that, Henry Mintzberg, a famous strategist defined strategic planning as an analytical process aimed at carrying out strategies that have already been identified and strategic thinking involves intuition and creativity, i.e. it is so rigid that it tend to drive-out the creative-thinking processes which accentuates strategy as an art, its way of synthesizing stimuli from the internal and external environments in creating and integrated perspective of an organisation, this displays the scientific base of strategy. Strategic thinking is seen as crafting strategic architecture thus characterized by essential elements highlighted in the below by Harrison (2003), Intent Focused: Built on managerial vision of where the firm is going and what it is trying to become. This is called strategic intent Comprehensive: A system perspective which envisions the firm as a part of a larger system of value creation. It, understands the linkages between the firm and the other parts of the system. Opportunistic: Seizes unanticipated opportunities presented to the firm Long-Term Oriented: Goes beyond the here and now. Looks several years into the future at what the firm will become, based on its strategic intent. Built on Past and Present: It doesnt ignore the past or present but instead, learns from the past and further builds on a foundation of realities of the present. Hypothesis Driven: A sequential process in which creative ideas are then critically evaluated. Is willing to take a risk STRATEGIC LUCK While some firms hope to yield above expected normal returns from implementing business strategies, they must however be consistently conversant with the future value of those strategies than other firms playing in the same market. Other firms gain advantage in strategy implementation which is either a manifestation of these special insights into the future value of strategies, or a manifestation of a firms good fortune and luck, as sometimes, the price of the strategic resource acquired may be based on expectations on the return potential of that strategy However, unexpected greater organisational profits can simply be unexpected, a surprise, and a manifestation of a firms good luck and possibly not its ability to accurately anticipate the future value of a strategy. Even well-informed firms can be lucky in this manner. Some organizations actual returns on strategies could be greater than the expected returns; this resulting difference is often regarded to be manifestation of a firms unexpected good fortune. Although most of the success of the company has been deliberate and designed, luck has also been part of it. Luck can also play a role in the formation of business strategy as was the case of the battle of the ball-point pen, when Chicago businessman Milton Reynolds, stumbled upon a new product on a business trip to Argentina, he then bought a few samples knowing that another company Eversharp had bought the patents for a million dollars and widely publicised it, devised a strategy to be first to market in order to take opportunity of the publicity already gained in the US. Reynolds then sold the Pens for hefty prices to anxiously waiting customers thereby making millions of profit. Strategic luck can be demonstrated in the success of the POST-IT Notes originally developed the firm 3M. The idea of Post -it notes came from Dr Spencer in 1968 but didnt emerge until 6 years later when it appears to be a solution for a problem of Art Fry (a colleague of Dr Spencer at 3M) in finding songs quickly in his Hymnal book. Even though Dr Spencer was talking to colleagues and anyone ready to listen about his discovery, no one really knew how to use it until Art Fry came up with the idea of using the post it note to retrieve quickly what he needed from his hymnal book. As a result post it notes became really popular and was used in almost every office. Had it not been the problem Art Fry that require a solution post it notes may not have known the success they had and still have. (Big success) The more accurate an organisations expectations about a potential strategys return are, the less luck plays in generating above normal returns but when the organisation has less than perfect expectations, luck can play a role in determining an organisations returns to implementing its strategies. Consequently, strategies yielding above normal returns may be as a result of a firms ability to uniquely implement a strategy which either reflects the competence of the firm to make accurate expectations, underestimating the true value of the strategy or it had no special expectations but the strategy still yielded above normal returns, these are real reflections of a firms good fortune and luck. Exxon recorded its fourth-straight year profits, enduring wild swings in oil prices and a worldwide drop in demand in 2008. Falling oil prices in the latter half of 2008 hurt its oil production arm (CNN Money.com, 2009). Thus, Barney (1985) explained, because luck is, by definition, out of a firms control, an important question for managers becomes, How can firms become consistently better informed about the value of strategies they are implementing than any other firms? Firms that are successful at doing this can, over time, expect to obtain higher returns from implementing strategies than less well-informed firms, although, as always, firms can be lucky. Another perspective of luck is that it only affects performance of strategy in a few instances but which when averaged out over a lengthy period of time appears to be insignificant. These two views are consistent with scientific inquirys assumption of causality. This perspective is most evident in sports, whereby a team like Manchester united may perform poorly in a few games due to some bad luck but will generally do better than the other teams over the course of the season due to their superior football strategy. STRATEGY AS DESIGN Johnson, Scholes, Whittington (2005) introduced the idea of strategic lenses[1] which design lens is part of, they explained the design lens as a strategy idea formulated through objective and careful analysis and planning which is implemented down throughout the organisation by the top management. Johnson et al stated, Strategy as design views strategy development as the deliberate positioning of the organisation through a rational, analytic, structured and direct process. Johnson et al (2008), argues that strategic design basically builds on two main principles; Managers are, or should be, rational decision makers. Managers should be taking decisions about how to optimise economic performance of their organisations. Although most strategies are by design or deliberate, some of them are however emergent. Porter (1990) was one of the proponents of deliberate strategy which argue for the creation of detailed plans on which a business can exert its full influence because market conditions will be relatively stable for the strategic planning period. Mintzberg, a Proponent of the emergent school of thought argued for the creation of objectives or goals for the future of the company but leaving the implementation to the flexibility of market forces. In order words Mintzberg advocates leaving the strategy open to changes in market conditions. These schools of thought make it inappropriate for me to agree with the statement that strategy is a mixture of design as this is not always the case. The success of Amazon can be attributed to the design of its strategy. Following the effervescence of online shopping, Amazon has successfully designed its strategy to meet customers requirements and needs in a way. It has allowed customers to shop from their homes, offices or any other locations without having to physically go in the shop. Amazon also appears to offer a wide range of products and services, and gives the chance to post any comments, rate the products their bought and offer review for products as well which helps buyers in their choice. Amazon has grown from strength to strength over the years as a result of this well design strategy. (Bokardo) Rational choice is being based on the consideration of the decision making consequences and thus be the anticipations of the future effects of possible actions. Invariably by implication, considerations would be given to the diverse benefits and limitations of different strategic options on the basis of evidence that informs on the likely outcomes of decisions made. As Johnson et al (2008) stated, the assumptions typically underpinning a design view of strategy are in two forms which are as follows: In terms of how strategic decisions are made: Systematic Analysis Strategic positioning, an analysis that provides basis for the comparing organisational strengths and resources with changes in its environment in order to be able to take full advantage of opportunities and circumvent threats. Analytic thinking precedes and governs action Objectives are clear and explicit and basis upon which options are evaluated. Making assumptions about the form and nature of organisations Organizations are hierarchies. Organisations are rational systems Organizations are mechanisms by which strategy can be put into effect. STRATEGIC OPPORTUNISM Just as in science field, strategic planning demonstrates the importance of the use of rigorous flexible methods, results and theories in order to take advantage of strategic opportunities with an impact by improving the direction of the knowledge thats been produced. The above expresses the term strategic opportunism an ability to remain focused on long-term objectives while staying flexible enough to solve day-to-day problems and recognize new opportunities. A managers most important role is to plan a long-term, strategic course for the company, keeping the company geared towards that direction. Given that goals are often static contrary to the business environment, success in this role could however elude managers as each day brings an incessant stream of surprises, new information and opportunities. It can be said that the difference between successful and failing companies is in their ability to sense and respond to opportunism in their business environments. Mintzberg Environmental school of thought sees strategy formation as a reactive process, in effect a response to the external environment. The importance of opportunism to the overall strategy of a company cannot be over emphasized be it technological or financial opportunism. Bernand stated, the challenge for managers, then, is to maintain both flexibility and direction. While no magic formula exists for balancing todays plan against a five-year plan, strategic opportunism can be an effective way to respond to immediate concerns while setting and pursuing long-term goals. This can be illustrated in the case of the Snapple Beverage Corporation, a drink company that was founded in 1972. Having known a good success in the 1990s in the cold channel dominated by small independent drinks distributors, Snapple was bought in 1992 for $143 million by a private firm (Thomas H. Lee) that sold it a year a later after taking in public for the $1.7 billion to a successful firm, Quaker Oats. However under the ownership of Quaker, Snapple was deficient, thus it was later sold in 1997 for the modest sum of $300 million to the Triarc Company. Triarc took this opportunity (of getting a company for a small price) and put back Snapple on track, using the niche market they were previously in, instead of following the mistakes of other firms that wanted Snapple to compete with big brand names. Triarc used the failure Quaker oats as an opportunity and made it as they sold Snapple in 2000 for the staggering sum of $1.4 billion to Cadbury Schweppes. Strategic opportunism focuses mainly on identifying and exploiting the immediate market opportunities at hand with a view to leverage the companys existing strategic assets and competencies and avoids commitment.Harrison (2003) argued that, although strategic thinking is based on strategic intent, it does exhibit a certain level of intelligent opportunism, which he defined as the ability of managers to take advantage of unanticipated opportunities to further intended strategy or redirect a strategy. Therefore, it can be concluded that Strategic Opportunism is characterized by the following according to Aaker (2004): Driven by a focus on the present. Premise that environment is so dynamic and uncertain that it is not feasible to aim at a future target. Strategic flexibility and willingness to respond to opportunities is necessary. Change is the norm. Minimizes risk of missing emerging opportunities. Reduces risk of strategic stubbornness. Requires decentralized structure. Needs entrepreneurial personnel. STRATEGIC JUDGMENT Judgement is usually what the decision makers add to uncertainties or ambiguities in any business strategy. Arguably, its believed that managers gain judgment through past experience and its the experience of specific situations and activities that gives specific types of judgment. Pettigrew (1973) argue that experience is the most important source of what managers call their personal development. Mumford (1980) and Stuart (1986) stated that, the process of acquiring the experience which shapes managerial judgment can also be facilitated by working with those who have already demonstrated ownership of the desired qualities of judgment. Conclusively, since strategic judgment has been attributed to experience acquired, thus, can be related to Strategy as experience which is one of the strategy lenses. According Johnson et al (2005), The Strategy experience lens views strategy development as the outcome of individual and collective experience of individuals and their taken-for-granted assumptions most often represented by cultural influences. Thus, an apparently coherent strategy of an organisation may develop on the basis of a series of strategic moves of which make sense in terms of previous moves. Its being discussed that strategic judgment most often influenced by experience, which can be further broken down into various forms. Managerial judgment in strategy planning or formulation could be as a result of certain circumstances, development and experience. Furthermore, Johnson et al (2005) discussed the elements that act as influence on judgment: Individual Experience and Bias Individual experience could be in terms of the mental (cognitive) models people build over time to help make sense of their situation. It exhibits certain characteristics; Cognitive bias is inevitable The future is dependent and related to in terms of the past experience Bargaining and negotiation between high-ranking individuals in terms of how issues are being understood Collective experience and organisational culture Johnson et al (2005) defined Organisational culture as, the basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organisation, that operate unconsciously and define in a basic taken-for-granted fashion an organisations view of itself and its environment. Its also depicted in these characteristics; Managers understanding of the strategic position of their organisation Likelihood of strategic drift[2] Innovation requiring the questioning and challenge of basic assumptions The taken-for-grantedness of a firm may include its strengths which may provide bases for competitive advantage. CONCLUSION In summary, Strategy as design describes the strategic management process which is really the steps and sub-processes of an organisations strategy needed to maintain or improve the organisations performance. Its also been argued that business strategy requires judgment. Though, judgment is most often a personal evaluation and analysis which each individual is committed to, firms and managers captured by their past have higher resistance to change and low in innovation. Conclusively, some innovative business strategies are determined by culture of managers and organisations with their personal judgment, expectations and adequate design methodologies planning, others are simply a variation of luck owning to the fact that some firms just happened to be in the right place at the right time, by taking full advantage of some opportunities that may arise in the global market place, thus, realising it and then developing it into a successful strategy. REFERENCES Aaker, D (2004) Strategic Market Management (7th Edition) England: John Wiley Sons, Inc Burnes, B (2004), Managing Change (4th Edition) England: Pearson Education De Wit, B Meyer, R (1998) STRATEGY: Process, Content, Context (2nd Edition) London: Thompson Learning Fifield P. (1998), Marketing Strategy, 2nd Edition Butterworth: Heinemann. Harrison, J (2003), Strategic Management of Resources and Relationships: Concepts and Cases USA: John Wiley Sons Hitt, M.A; Freeman, R.E and Harrison, J.S (2001), The Blackwell Handbook of Strategic Management, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers

The Strengths Of The Mattels Core Brands

The Strengths Of The Mattels Core Brands Answer: Yes, every manufacturer of the childrens products have special responsibilities. Because being a part of a business organization has the responsibilities to the consumers and the society. Every organization tries very hard to survive in market, by the effective use of factors of production and other facilities of the society. With the help of this process the organization get into an interdependent relation with the community at large, the environment and the target customers. Such interdependence gives rise to a series of broader responsibilities to society and the targeted customers. According to the business environment theory of Palmer and Hartley, the business organization should act in social responsible manner in two different ways, one philosophic and one pragmatic. The philosophical way includes the model of the organizational requirement and other includes the social values of the society which is very important for an organization to resist in the social market. Every organization has a responsibility towards the consumers and the society and that particular responsibility is being termed as Corporate Social responsibility, which can be defined as economic, legal, ethical and different expectations that a society has from an organization. The concept of corporate social responsibility means that organizations have moral, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. Previously many organizations opposed consumerism but now most companies have grown to accept the responsibilities towards customers and the society. The philosophy of enlightened marketing says that even the marketing practices should also be socially responsible which consist consumer oriented marketing and societal marketing which aims at serving and satisfying the needs and wants of the customers and to produce such products which are not only pleasing but also beneficial. As a manufacturer of the products which are specially designed for the children the, the manufacturer has some special responsibilities to consumers and society, because children often lack the literacy to completely understand how things may work, the toys must be safe in all use including non-intended use in order to protect the children. The manufacturers should not only create the safe toys but they must also be sensitive to the societal concerns on childrens rights and privacy. Manufacturers of the childrens product specially have obligations to the consumers. This is in assurance that children continue to have highest levels of protection when it comes to toys. An obligation that manufacturer do is that manufacturers must carry out assessments as it relates to safety and health hazards and add to it technical information on specific such as chemicals, in order to support findings and present accurate information. The warning should be put on certain toys to indicate what the intended age is for use of the toy. Moreover after all testing is done on the toys, if any toy or part is significantly under the standard, then it must be destroyed in order to prevent the public from gaining access to it in any way, shape, or form. When we talk about Mattel that how Mattel has met the responsibilities then the things are quite clear the Mattel did it by creating such a product that consumers and parents trust and building a successful and positive brand image. They also integrate this responsibility with their Corporate responsibility report in which they state their goals are to ensure product safety, volunteer in communities, and treat colleagues with respect in order to work hard to be a leader in making our communities and the lives of the children better. The core brands of Mattel are Barbie, Hot wheels, Fisher price, and American Girl. Each brand clearly has its own demography, each brand catering to infants and preschoolers, Girls, Boys and those adults that are still young at heart. One of the strengths of the brand Mattel is the rich history of the company. The company began in 1945 out of a small and simple idea that started in a garage workshop. Each brand also has good staying power at the forefront of their market. The evidences that show the strengths of Mattel in the area of fulfillment of the responsibilities to the customers and the society specially as the manufacturer of childrens products are. Mattel recognizes international environment, different legal systems and cultural expectations, and the use of technology especially with regard to consumer privacy and has taken steps to strengthen its commitment to business ethics and social responsibility. Mattel recently published its first Corporate Social Responsibility report, including a strong statement about its commitment to economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities which includes commitment to product safety, volunteering in a community, developing a best practice or even treating colleagues with respect and dignity. Makers of American Girl collection provided $449,500 in grants to support childrens projects as environmental education for elementary school children, various cultural programs and a performing arts series for children. The Barbie brand debuted a worldwide cause related-program called Barbie Cares: Supporting children in the Arts dedicated to supporting Arts education for children funded by a $2 million donation to the Entertainment Industry Foundation. The weaknesses of Mattel in the same area are. The Childrens privacy- Mattels attempts to follow their market into the technological realm have included the development of a number of children-friendly websites to accompany their toys. Targeting children with internet sites, however, brings about extra concerns. Mattel must be very careful to protect their legal and moral reputations by respecting the privacy of the children and their families, which is put in jeopardy every time the website asks a minor to provide information. Lack of total control over business partners-Though Mattel has embarked on the Global manufacturing Principles (GMP) and regular social audits, Mattel cannot intensively monitor the business processes and activities of its partners. There is no guarantee that its business partners will completely comply with Mattels corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethical business conducts and product safety requirements. Mattel somehow could be facing legal actions and criticisms from various stakeholders around the world. Q.2- Comment on the strengths and weaknesses of Mattels core brands. In looking at Barbie specifically, has Mattels success with the American Girl collection cannibalized sales from Barbie? Explain. Ans. Mattels core brands have multiple strengths. Mattels image overall is one of which parents and consumers trust. The Barbie brand is highly accessorized allowing for multiple products to be marketed and purchased. Other brands such as Hot Wheels and American Girl also have the flexibility to accessorize and customize consumer needs and desires. Some weaknesses that Mattels core brands may have are the lifespan of their products. As children grow older, they are no longer interested in playing with dolls and cars such as Barbie and Hot wheels and the life span of the product shortens for continual use. The strengths of the Mattels core brands are- Brand Recognition- 1. Barbie is Mattels flagship brand and its number one seller-routinely accounting for more than 50 percent of Mattels sales revenue. 2. Barbie was the only Mattel brand that made the list of the 2002 The 100 Best Global Brand. 3. American Girl is targeted for girls in from 7 12 years old. This is due to different taste in different target market. 4. American girl is a well-known line of a historical dolls, books and accessories. Intense demand of the product- Barbie- Captured the attention of girls under 7 years old that resulted in high demand. The intense demand seen at the retail stores was insufficiently met for several years. Barbie- The best-selling fashion dolls in most global market with $2 billion in worldwide sales annually and more than 1 billion dolls sold in four decades. Customer Orientation- Mattel redesigned Barbie to more naturally reflect a normal athletic woman in an attempt to meet the demands for a more realistic doll. Opening of American Girl Place shops New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The New York store features three floors of dolls, accessories, and books in the heart of the 5th Avenue shopping district. The store offers a cafe where girls can dine with their dolls and a stage production where young actresses bring American Girl stories to life. Product variety and differentiation of the product- Barbie has taken on an extension of different characters, family and friends, and profession. For Barbie, there are Barbie clothing for children, computers and digital cameras with Barbie theme. This is done to recapture more customers and expand their market to attract girls after the age of 7. For American girl, they have books, accessories and even a Store that offers a cafà © for girls. This has resulted in an increase the product variety for both brands that generates more revenues. Product Development- Mattel introduced the new line of My Scene dolls aimed at tweens with as trendier, young looking and are considered to be more hip for girls of age group above 7. Other efforts targeted at tweens include the Mystery Squad, a crime-solving crew, and the Barbie Doll as Elle Woods, which is a tribute to the blond character in the MGM Pictures film Legally Blond 2. The weaknesses of Mattels core brands include- Foreign Market Customization being ineffective-Traditional Barbie has triggered the possibility of banned in Malaysia by the Malaysian Consumers Association of Penang, due to her non-Asian appearance and the lack of creativity but it was not success. Some other cases like in Iran, the non-Islamic characteristics of Barbie and western influences resulted in the confiscation of Barbie doll from toy stores. In Russia, it is interpreted as harmful to young minds that awaken sexual impulses and consumerism among infants. This creates a negative brand images that can bring loss to Mattel. Not only children are leaving tangible toys at earlier ages, but the impact of the global market is affecting the success of Mattel. Mattels Barbie is well recognized throughout the global market, but is not considered appropriate in all cultures which are one of the weaknesses of the core brand of Mattel in the international market. The problem of limited distribution networks of American girl in the international market is also found to be one of the weakness of Mattels core brand, it is been seen that American girl is sold exclusively through catalogues and different stores in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago but there is no evidence or details of the product sold in international market. Even though there has been lots of product innovation of the Barbie but its slipping popularity failed it to be the top five selling dolls due to competition in the market. If we talk about the Cannibalization of American girls sales from Barbie several points came into light which tells that American girl has out-performed the sales of Barbie as- 1. Barbie successfully catered only to the young girls of 7 years old and below. 2. American Girl has a better image. American Girl dolls have a wholesome and educational image- the antithesis to Barbie. The retro versions of Barbie dolls, feature Hooker Barbie, Trailer Trash Barbie and Drag Queen Barbie are seen less decent than the image of American girl. These points explains the Cannibalization sales of American girl from Barbie. Q-3. What are the opportunities and threats that Mattel faces as it looks ahead? Ans. Mattel has lots of opportunities as it moves ahead with its product in the market. The opportunities of Mattels product in international market includes its venture into more interactive, educational and technology product line as today children are preferring to spend time with music, movies or on the Internet. The American toy market is becoming increasingly saturated and competitive, along with a downward shift in age of when children abandon tangible toys such Hot Wheels and Barbie for more interactive and technological products. If Mattel continues with the same product it provides better opportunities to grow ahead in the domestic market. All of Mattels core brands are instantly recognizable around the world. Therefore, Mattel has the ability to highly leverage one or all of these brands. Mattel can expand more to international distribution networks apart its reliance on Wall Mart and target hypermarkets like Giant (Malaysia), Carrefour, Cold Storage and local toy distribution network could make Mattels products highly visible in the international market which would led Mattel to have a better future prospects ahead. Mattel can also have An alliance with an Asian company, Bandai, which can prove very beneficial as numerous eastern countries open their markets to western goods. This market has been left largely untapped, and offers a huge increase in customer base. Finally, Mattel must address is that of selling its products in foreign markets. An important aspect of going global is being able to adapt to different cultures and to break down cultural barriers. Mattel has done a little bit of this with the changing of the product packaging, and some of their Barbie lines. However, there are still some countries that are boycotting Mattel because they are offended by some of their products that are being sold. While Mattel is expanding their product lines, they need to take into consideration the message each of their products is conveying. By conducting market research, Mattel can find out what values are important in foreign markets. If Mattel neglects to customize to all of their markets, their new products can fail overseas, and therefore the company as a whole will not be able to expand. The threat that Mattel faces as it looks ahead is that the market is shifting away from tangible toys, which account for a majority of Mattels core products. Children are adopting more interactive and electronic toys earlier in age today, eroding Mattels primary market of children under the age of 10. This has already forced Mattel to enter, and may force Mattel to further their involvement in the technological realm, a product category in which the firm has performed very poorly. Young customers have less time spending on traditional toys today and the same is expected in the future. Intense competition from other toy-makers like Bratz has slowed down the sale of the Mattels product Barbie worldwide and the realization of Mattel for its product distribution mainly on Wal-Mart and Target diminishes its pricing power. Mattel has also experienced problems breaking into foreign markets due to cultural barriers. The Chinese found it offensive that the Barbie doll did not represent people of their cultures, the Russians believe that the doll promotes adolescents to think in a promiscuous fashion at a young age, and the Islamic countries find that the doll goes against their religion with regards to the role and image of women. The foreign market will be very prosperous for Mattel if they can structure their entry into the market appropriately. Q-4. If you could make only one recommendation to Mattel, what would be it? Introduction According to the case, we find that Mattel in the United States, Europe and Latin America market growth is more and more slow, even appear saturation sign, although they try to into Iran and Russia market, but due to without considering the cultural differences lead to sales were almost forced to withdraw from there. So our proposal is in full consideration of cultural and religious differences influence, produce to accord with other local culture habit of products, continue to develop and enter into the emerging market, such as Asias China and Africa, which support the companys globalization strategy, and realize the great-leap-forward development. Recommendation Through the Mattel in Iran market failure we recognize that if a company would like to sell their products to abroad, it must pay attention to the product whether will conflict with local customs and culture, once things happen, be sure to adjust. As is known to all, the Barbie doll is Mattels most famous product, which is fashion and filled with the western world liberal breath. But in Iran, such as makeup and revealing clothes, are not wanted in a society where women must wear head scarves in public and men and women are not allowed to go to the poll or beach together (page 484 of case study). So if Mattel want to re-enter Iran market in the future, must adjust their products style, below is Irans own doll can be used as Mattels reference. C:UsershpDesktopuntitled.bmp On the other hand, in order to expand the market, increase sales, Mattel should seize the opportunity into some of the good prospects for emerging markets, especially Chinese market, which is a toy production country, it is estimated that China toy enterprise has more than 6000, about 75% of the toys made in China over the world. The toy market size of mainland has the rapid development. In childrens toys market as an example, toy sales from 2.13 billion RMB in 2001 to 4.44 billion RMB in 2006, which raised by 108%, with an average annual growth rate of 15.8%. The mainland toy market rise space is enormous. From toy joint network industry report, Chinas per capita consumption in toy only 20 30 RMB (2.4-3.6 dollars), far lower than per capita consumption in Asian children toys $13 and children all over the world in per capita consumption level of $34 toys. If they reach the Asian average level, childrens toys market scale is expected to will exceed 30 billion RMB. (Long long, M.2006) In the business strategies, because Chinas toy productions are mostly applied in the low-standard level, breed is monotonous, mainly plush and wooden material. However, the mainland local toys and international brand compared with large price gap, so the low-standard market has a strong competitive power, the general basic monopoly wholesale market and vendors, and other sales pipeline. So Mattel should positioning in high-end, give full play to their own advantages, for example, in a Barbie doll legend marketing history story, telling the story is always the conventional methods. They sell toys as well sell a way of life. According to Mattels design, Barbie have their own lives, thoughts, need a friend, like to dress up, have belong to him fairy tale world. Make good use of this advantage, the company entered into the China market is no longer a dream. (Li, L.2011) Conclusion Like many foreign brands to enter the Chinese market, Mattel need pay enough time and patience. After all, in Chinas such a big Oriental country, want to get common identity is not a simple matter. But one thing is sure, respect local culture and customs is very important and necessary. Q-5. How can Mattel reverse the decline in Barbies sales? Should Mattel give up on Barbie and accept that fact that the brand will never regain its former sales status? Explain. Ans. Mattel, Inc. (Mattel) designs, manufactures, and markets a broad variety of toy products worldwide which are sold to its customers and directly to consumers. Mattels vision is creating the future of play. Mattels objectives are to grow its share in the marketplace, sustain gross margins of about 50%, leverage its scale to deliver cost savings and lower its selling and administrative costs, and create long-term stockholder value. Barbie doll happiness concept is based on human sensibility, through happiness brand image and happy shopping experience to satisfyconsumer demand happy emotion, so that consumers will be product or brand with the happy feeling together, then will be happy with the product or brand linked, to stimulate consumption desire and to promote the marketing concept of consumers purchasing behavior. Body part: The concept of Barbie has not only toys, and became an immortal symbol of American culture. Until now, the business of Barbie bigger and bigger, not only toys, books, clothing, cosmetics, movies and electronic games. Even today, see any one of the two in standard, sexy blonde doll, almost all of people were not consciously known as Barbie ¼Ã…’whether this doll is not Mattel produced. This is also proved Barbie industry is how success. As a result of population, technology and social change, Mattel is undergoing modernization, Mattel, in my opinion, cannot reverse the decline of Barbie sales. Although there are still to be improved, Mattel weakness seems to be far less than they were just a few years ago. Specifically, the Mattel Inc. has some very famous brand. The largest is Barbie doll, and now accounts for more than half of the companys revenue. However, the most interesting news for Mattel declining popularity rate of its core products Barbie doll. As of 2002, Barbie dollfell out of the top five best-selling. Mattel Inc. subsequently has been undertaken to reclaim market share items, such as computer software and the girls clothing line of Barbie doll. Barbie has tried to fight back. Internet becomes another weapon to reverse the sales decline in 2007; Mattel launched a brand new Barbie Girls. com site where kids can create their own virtual Barbie, and placed in a virtual commercial buildings can also directly involved in product design. The girls also can have around Barbies virtual community space, this was considered a breakthrough attempt, also let Mattel in sales for 7 consecutive years after the decline appeared to pick up. Mattel is also faced with many cultural barriers, these need to overcome the market penetration strategy will be successful. Lack of understanding of cultural replacement, the brand awareness of self-protection is too strong, the Barbie doll isolated in new era outside, so that the target consumers become more and more narrow. Unresponsive market, the Mattel have not been able to guide the trend, the competitors took the opportunity to split its market share.Andin the occasion of Mattel Barbie doll become fashionable rage, the former Mattel CEO Jill Barad made a series of mistakes and expensive acquisitions, to make the worlds largest toy manufacturer long-term stock price in a slump. In addition, Mattel in new product launch, behave not just as one wishes, the new design style also no expectation. These are all Mattels malpractice. Conclusion: Sweet chocolate, eat more will be tired. Barbies decline has a deep-rooted cultural factors and the impact of social thought, to give people a profound inspiration. We can see that the United States of America culture is moving toward a diversified ethnic culture, to encourage the pursuit of self-direction stride, and popular culture trend change quickly. Mattel ignore this value orientation, or excessive protection is of brand ego blinded their vision, do not have a proper understanding o of the mind of the public, lost the lead market opportunities.After opponents successfully host, Mattel still did not take timely measures, wait for the opponent create a certain threat after to respond but too weak. Finally, caused the market share to be cut, the lesson is painful. Careful observation of the leader in the market, we will find their commonness rapid response, countermeasure in time, they will not be trend guide, but to guide the trend. It is simple and easy to know. Pacifying the interior before resisting foreign aggression. The first thing Mattel need to do is solve the inner problem, straighten a relation, in order to solve the problem of providing external guarantee. For the external development of Mattel, the problems which should be paid attention to, not in order to cope with the market competition and to launch new products with the opponent, but in the consolidation of existing customers on the Barbie dolls loyalty. They are supporting the Barbie dolls core strength, so that through interaction and understanding of their needs, provide their satisfaction with the program to maintain this part of customers. In order to consolidate the customer base, and prevent competitors directly off the market share. With the development of computer and networks, such as Face book and Twitter applications, Barbie doll will be able to control its sales decline. This is a very expensive to change their production and advertising means. The only advantage of this strategy, both short-term and long-term within, they will not bear any additional costs. In this way, Mattelcan use their own resources,make full use of social networking technology environmental advantage in price, and try to participate in the market competition. Having the correct marketing strategy and innovative products Barbie doll product line, will become more interactive and educational products, Mattel can still create the market to meet their needs.Also around the world set up Barbie doll flagship store, experiential marketing, will drive the Mattel sales market, strive for the biggest market share.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

James Clavell Essay - Taipan and Shogun :: essays research papers

James Clavell’s Exploration Of Ancient Oriental Customs James Clavell certainly had his work cut out for him when he chose to write his â€Å"Asian Saga† series of novels. Exposing the customs and culture of the ancient Orient is a daunting task for even the most qualified professional. However, to do so with an intriguing and entertaining medium is verging on impossibility. Until the last two centuries, both China and Japan remained time capsules that held within them unique societies based on radically different values and perspectives. This national seclusion in China and Japan was a direct result of the countries’ trade policies and their view of foreigners. Both countries believed that their country was truly the â€Å"land of the Gods† and that all foreigners were inferior. This belief lead to laws that acted as force fields to repel Western society. Clavell’s in-depth biography explains how Clavell spent part of his life as a prisoner of war in Japan (JamesClavell.net, par. 2), and thus was able to coupl e his experiences with his natural gift of story telling. Throughout James Clavell’s novels Taipan and Shogun, Clavell cleverly intertwines the plot with beliefs and customs of ancient Hong Kong and Japan, respectively. Clavell does not merely present the oriental culture, but he incorporates all of his characters in the process of portraying the different aspects of their way of life. In doing this, Clavell is able to educate the reader without losing their interest. Throughout the two novels, Clavell stresses the importance of â€Å"face† and honour to the Oriental cultures. Early on in the novel Shogun, Clavell opens the reader’s eyes to the absolute importance of honour. Honour, in Japan, came in many forms. A person of low status was always expected to honour a superior by treating them with the utmost respect. One of the most important ways to pay respect to a superior was by bowing to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   them. Clavell demonstrates that this ritual of bestowing honour was extremely important when one man is purposefully disrespectful by â€Å"rise[ing] deliberately, without bowing† (Clavell, 1975, 34). The astonishing result of this disrespect is that â€Å"the [superior’s] killing sword made a hissing silver arc and the man’s head toppled off† (Clavell, 1975, 34). Although this seems extremely ridiculous and uncalled for, the reader realizes that if a samurai broke their code of honour, or bushido, then they had shamed themselves forever. When this occurred, their life no longer had meaning and was disposable at the will of their superiors.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Essay --

It is difficult to know whether a negative reaction to the leader or other members in the group is because of a true feeling toward that person, or if it is because of transference of feelings for someone significant in the life of the person having the reaction. One of the most obvious signs that there is transference taking place is when a member has a really strong reaction to me, the leader, without having spent much time with each other. I think this is the most obvious because how could such strong feelings transpire in such a short period of time. Another sign is negative feelings over time. There may be a way that I behave or articulate myself that brings up feelings of someone in the member’s outside life. After all of the reading that we have done for this class though, I feel like the only way to really know if it is transference is to discuss what the individual is feeling and why they think they are having such a strong reaction. Transference between members is probably more obvious. The leader can look at the interactions between members more objectively. The signs are the same as transference toward the leader, but the members that seem to be in conflict may not understand what is potentially happening. Just like with transference toward the leader, discussion about feelings and personal reactions needs to take place. 2. There are a few steps that I can take to be more aware of if I am having some countertransference reactions to members. First, understanding my own issues with people in my life. If I am having issues with someone in my life, then a member exhibits behavior in the group that I associate with the individual in my personal life, I cannot provide the best help to them. Next, if I am having strong re... ...goals they will have for themselves when the group does end. Once they establish the goals they would like to achieve when the group ends, the leader can help guide them in ways to reach those goals. My job as a leader would be to help the members deal with their feelings about the group ending. As the reading makes clear some people may have anxiety about not having the support of the group, or maintaining the changes that they have made. I also will need to address any concerns about confidentiality once the group ends. The members need to know that the work they did is going to stay confidential, even though the group is ending. Helping members set goals and the ways they can achieve them when the group ends is also important. Giving any final feedback that can help the members after the final session will also aid in the member in reaching/setting their goals.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Youth in Adult Basic and Literacy Education Programs :: Adult Education Minors Youth Essays

Youth in Adult Basic and Literacy Education Programs Wherever adult educators gather, whether at conferences, meetings, or in e-mail discussion groups, a topic on many minds is the challenge of increasing numbers of teenagers enrolled in adult education classes. (Smith 2002, p. 1). The increase in the number of youth under the age of 18 enrolling in federally funded adult basic and literacy education programs is a trend that is putting increasing pressures on programs designed to serve an adult population (Hayes 2000). A number of questions and issues surround this trend and administrators and teachers view it from different perspectives (ibid.; Smith 2002). After reviewing some of the trends and factors that are contributing to an increase in youth enrollment, this Digest provides an overview of how programs are responding to the challenge of serving young adults. Documenting the Trend Much of the evidence related to the trend of youth under the age of 18 enrolling in federally funded adult education programs is anecdotal in nature. Documenting the extent of the trend is difficult due to the way in which federal statistics on age of program participants have been compiled and variation in state policies (Hayes 2000). Fiscal Year 2000 was the first and most recent year that the number of participants aged 16-18 is shown as a separate category in the state statistics compiled by the Division of Adult Education and Literacy in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education; in that year, 16% of the total participants were in that category (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/AdultEd/2000age.html). Prior to FY 2000, youth aged 16-18 were included in the category "ages 16-24"; in 1999, 35% of participants were in that category. In 2000, the number of participants aged 16-18 (16%) combined with the number aged 19-24 (25%) totaled 41%, indicating t hat, overall, the number of younger participants is on the increase, but it is not possible to tell if the increase is among youth aged 16-18. State policies regarding at what age individuals may take the General Educational Development (GED) test as well as who is eligible to be served by adult basic and literacy programs vary: some states have more liberal policies that allow 16-18 year-olds to enroll in programs as a way of preparing for the GED so that they can complete high school (Beckwith 2002; Hayes 2000; Smith 2002). Figures from the GED Testing Service reveal something about the number of youth who potentially may be enrolled in federally funded programs.

Obtaining Mental Health Services

Being a probation police valet is not easy. It requires a lot of knowledge, skills, and check to be an effective probation ships officer. Having a flourishing heart is fine believing that these offenders furthert joint change their lifestyle, supporting them in their determination to function in the community, and qualification certainly that the people within the community where these offenders ar staying would be safe from any danger. However, objectiveness should always come first since umteen lives ar dependent on the probation officers ability to supervise and supervise these offenders performance.A probation officer also uses his resources in the community to assist his client, the offender in appearking employment or run such as medical care, intoxicantic drink treatment, mental health treatment, and the like. The probation officer explains all in all the terms to the offenders pro tempore release and the consequences for violating them infra probation. E verything is made clear.In the case of this 22-year-old man who have been convicted four times in two geezerhood straight for driving while under the influence of inebriant, thorough investigation should be done. This man may be say his capacity yell counselor that he is clean. He may be salute in all his counseling appointments. Nevertheless, these claims do not prove that he has stop alcohol consumption. Furthermore, having eccentric ideas and opinions this man notification you that his neighbors are monitoring his breathing by dint of the television proves that there is something terribly legal injury about this psyche. So, what do I proposal to do about the matter?First, researching and analyse about this mans soul-to-person history , such as his family to amaze with, would be a good start. cognition about his childhood, his relationship with his co-family members, and his plight during his growing-up years are vital information in knowing how and why he acquire d such behavior, vices, and even beliefs that he still tend on up to this day.A range check of his life three to basketball team years prior the present come across could also come in handy. yesteryear relationships usually contribute to a persons perspective and sanity. Another flat coat check would be his scholastic and social performance in school given over that he went into one. Based from his interaction with these people, I might find clues to some grand as to why and how this person came to be the way he is.Second, talking with this man would give me hints and clues about the way he thinks, the way he answers questions may it be rational, practical or not, and the way he views the world. Upon acquiring his personal background, a drawing interview about his family and previous relations with others would somehow prove if this man is current or not. This would be necessary because inconsistencies on his statements would prove irregularity of his character, therefor e making him a threat, somehow, to the community.Third, I would discuss with his marrow squash abuse counselor all my findings so we could come up with proper procedures infallible to prove his mental capability or incapability. I would suggest that the substance abuse officer gives my client some clever tests because my client is showing signs of a paranoiac schizophrenic or of a person just having paranoid reactions that may be due to depression or accidental injuryFourth, I would require my client to support not only the psychological tests that his substance abuse counselor would give him but also a series of sensual exams for instance urinalysis, blood tests, and the like to see if he really is clean or if he went back to alcohol or worse took other substances and mixed it with alcohol altering the effects of the alcohol-intake alone.Fifth, I would duplicate to my client the sanctions that he might be subjected to if his tests prove that he is positive of alcohol and/or substance intake. Such are necessary actions for me to accurately and objectively value him and propose certain measures.ReferencesCivil military service Associations, Inc. (August 2000). Examination Preparation Booklet.. Principles and Practices in the manipulation of the mentally Ill/Emotionally Disturbed, Problems of the mentally Ill/Emotionally disturbed, booklet 10. pp. 4-5. Retrieved October 10, 2007, fromhttp//www.csea9200.com/pdfs/TestPrepBks/TreatMIllBook10.pdf move and Community. (January 2003). Probation Officers. p2, numbers 4 6 . Retrieved October 10, 2007, from