Essay About Twttin

Hint, Bryon Douglas, who needs to go through his personal journey, has a friend, Mark, who is a tedious person who is endangering Bryon, and causes Bryon to aka a life-changing decision in order to fully mature; I once had to go on a profound personal journey to adapt to middle school. In this â€Å"then† period, Bryon was influenced by Mark. For example, on page 23, Bryon and Mark had the following conversation still in the mood for a little action? ‘Sure' said† By â€Å"action† Mark meant fighting.This shows that Mark influenced Bryon. He was probably so influenced by Mark who was his best friend from childhood. Mark grew into a manipulative and disarming teen. Bryon was doing illegal and irresponsible actions, but he felt bad about hem. However Mark,had no regrets. In Baryon's current lifestyle he is a calm person who stands up for the right and legal things. At this time, he is no longer friends with Mark because Mark was in prison due to Baryon's callin g the cops on Mark for selling drugs.On page 154 Bryon narrated â€Å"l ended up with straight As that semester†¦ † After his transformation, he had better logic. L developed and changed in order to survive middle school by pacing my work. I became more earnest about how much time I have to complete something and when I should start. In conclusion, Bryon matured because he abandoned Mark and made a personal exploration of who he really is; I made a rough choice for the better to adapt to middle school.Byron made his personal journey by calling the police on Mark as an act of self preservation because Byron saw Mark doing something really dangerous, and realized that he did not want to be Mark's friend. Knew it was a bad idea to put things off to the last minute, even though it pained me to give up on my free time. Change is inevitable.

Startegic Analysis (Sherwin Williams)

The Sherwin-Williams Company SHW (NYSE) Strategic Analysis ————————————————- SWOT ANALYSIS StrengthsWeaknesses Strong financial performanceHigh debt to equity ratio Wide product portfolioIncrease in current liabilities Strong market presence OpportunitiesThreats Global demand for coatings market Consolidation in chemical industry Opening new storesForeign exchange risks Strategic acquisitionEnvironmental regulations The Sherwin-Williams Company is viewed as one of the leading paint manufacturing and retailing companies in the US. Some of their key strengths are a strong market presence, wide product portfolio, and strong financial performance. Some major areas of concern are a high debt to equity ratio and increasing current liabilities. Going forward, the risks associated with foreign exchange risk, environmental regulations, and consolidation in chemical industry may impede its business growth. However, ample growth opportunities for the company are obtainable through strategic acquisition, opening new stores and increasing global market for coatings. Strengths: Strong financial performance FY2010 reflected an impressive financial performance for the company. They registered total revenue of US$7,776. 42 million in the FY2010, up 9. 62% on an annual basis from US$7,094. 25 million in the FY2009. The increase in revenue was principally due to the acquisition of two industrial wood finishes businesses(Sayerlack and Becker Acroma). These two acquisitions increased revenues for FY2010 by more than US$440 million. Also, their operating profit increased by 8. 82% from US$622. 82 million in the FY2009, to US$677. 78 million in the FY2010. Simultaneously, the company net income increase by 6. 11% to US$462. 49 million in the FY2010 from US$435. 5 million in the FY2009. Based on such strong financial performance, the company can aggressively pursue its growth and expansion plans. Wide product portfolio Having a broad business portfolio helps the company to serve the diverse needs of its customer base. Sherwin-Williams develops, produces, distributes and retails paints, coatings and related products. They also produce paints, stains, painting tools and equipments for a wide variety of customers such as residential and commercial builders, architectural and industrial painting contractors, property owners and managers. Their portfolio includes products for their Paint Stores group segment, Consumer Group segment, and the Global Finishes Group segment. In addition to its merchandise offerings, it also provides painting related services such as color sampling, wood finishing systems and services, inventory management and equipment repairs. This broad product portfolio has allowed them to obtain a higher market share and increase their revenues. Strong market presence A strong market position allows them to attract a huge customer base, ensuring strong top-line performance. Sherwin-Williams is one of leading manufacturers in the coating industry in the US. In Europe, their subsidiaries, Sayerlack and Becker Acroma are recognized as the leading coating companies. Another subsidiary, Pinturas Condor is the largest paint and coatings company in Ecuador. The company offers a wide portfolio of market leading brands such as Sherwin-Williams, ProMar, SuperPaint, A-100, Duron, PrepRite, Duration, Master Hide, ProClassic, Classic 99, MAB, Columbia and ExpressTech. Such a strong market presence of the company helps it to generate increased demand for its offerings, driving the revenue. Weaknesses: High debt to equity ratio This ratio may place the company in a risky position in paying off its high interests. Their debt to equity ratio was 70. 12 in the FY2010, which was much higher than Chemicals – Commodity industry’s average debt to equity ratio of 29. 91. The increased debt to equity ratio was due to 27. 79% annual increase in debt, from US$817. 61 million at the end of the FY2009 to US$1,044. 79 million at the end of the FY2010. This higher debt to equity ratio compared to the industry may indicate that the company’s poor ability to meet its obligations, which in turn may affect its business operations. Increase in current liabilities Substantial increase in current liabilities weakened the company’s liquidity position. Its current liabilities were US$2,063. 94 million at the end of FY2010, a 48. 09% increase compared to the previous year. However, its current assets recorded a marginal increase of 25. 07% – from US$1,770. 02 million at the end of FY2009 to US$2,213. 72 million at the end of FY2010. Following this, the company’s current ratio declined from 1. 27 at the end of the FY2009 to 1. 07 at the end of FY2010. A lower current ratio indicates that the company is in a weak financial position, and it may find it difficult to meet its day-to-day obligations. Opportunities: Global demand for coatings market The growing market for global coatings will certainly benefit the company. Market analysts expect the global coatings market to reach US$98. 69 billion by 2015. This expected increase is primarily due to economic activity, rapid industrialization, and increasing demand from automotive and construction sectors in developing countries. The Asian market is also forecast to increase at a compounded annual growth rate of 4. 2% through 2015. Being a manufacturer of paints and coatings, the company can tap this growing market. Opening new stores The company’s expansion plans of new stores will attract huge customer base. During the FY2010, the company’s Paint Group segment opened 49 new stores, of which 40 in the US, six in Canada, two in Trinidad and one in Jamaica. Also, during the FY2001, the company increased its total stores to 3,390 compared to 3,354 in the FY2009. For FY2011, the company is planning to open 50 to 60 new stores. This expansion plan will provide competitive edge over its peers in the industry. Strategic acquisition Their focus on expanding its global presence will provide further growth opportunities. As an example, the company acquired Becker Industrial Products AB in September 2010, one of the largest manufacturers of industrial wood coatings globally. Becker Acroma operates nine manufacturing facilities, 19 mixing sites and 13 technical centers around the world. This acquisition will allow them to expand its quality products and customer service while also strengthening its growing global platform to better serve customers around the world with outstanding technology, assets, and people. Strategic acquisitions such as this will enhance the company’s global expansion, ensuring top-line performance. Threats: Consolidation in chemical industry Merger and acquisition activities in the chemical industry could present a potential threat. The global chemical M&A deals are expected to be more active in 2011. In the first three quarters of 2010, total global chemical M&A transactions amounted to US$32 billion, which was higher than full year 2009 value of US$25. 4 billion. Sherwin-Williams may face competition from its peers, which are financially and operationally stronger, apart from becoming a target of such M&A deals. Foreign exchange risks Because they operate in many parts of the world, they are exposed to the fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. Their business operations are conducted in many currencies worldwide. Significant part of its revenue is denominated in other currencies such as the Russian Ruble, Euro, Brazil Real, Chile peso, and Japan Yen, among others. Although the company has forward currency contracts, there can be no assurance that such hedging activities or measures will significantly limit the impact of movements in exchange rates on the company’s results of operations. As a result, a loss of US$3. 82 million and US$2. 84 million was reports in FY2010 and FY2009 respectively, due to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. If the same scenario occurs, the company’s business and results of operations may be adversely affected. Environmental regulations These regulations may be affected by the environmental regulations governing the global chemical industry. REACH (Registration Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) is an example of the stringent environmental regulations that are set to affect chemical producers. REACH regulates the products manufactured and marketed in Europe by mandating that all companies develop and submit dossiers containing datasets about their chemical products and detail their potential impact and risk on environment. This could be a challenge while launching a new product as it is a time-consuming and expensive process. It could also result in phasing out many existing chemicals from the market, which may be regarded as toxic and hazardous. REACH directly applies to over 30,000 different chemical substances that are produced or sold in Europe and its implementation is expected to cost European chemical industry about US$3 billion. Regulations for other countries are expected to follow the same model. Similar regulations have already been implemented in the US with the reform of Toxic Substances Control Act. Such stringent environmental regulations could affect both existing and new products for the company. KEY PERSONNEL Christopher M. Connor, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer Since 2000, ? Age 54 Mr. Connor has been the Chairman of the company, since 2000 and has also been the Chief Executive Officer since 1999. From 2005 to 2006, he served as the President of the company and was the vice chairman from 1999 to 2000. He served as the President, Paint Stores Group of Sherwin-Williams from 1997 to 1999. He is also a Director of Eaton Corporation and National City Corporation. John G. Morikis, Chief Operating Officer, President Since 2006, ? Age 47 Mr. Morikis has been the President and the Chief Operating Officer of the company, since 2006. Prior to this, he served as the President, Paint Stores Group from 1999 to 2006. He joined the company in December 1984. Sean P. Hennessy, Chief Financial Officer – Finance, Senior Vice President Since 2002, ? Age 53 Mr. Hennessy has been the Chief Financial Officer the company, since 2002. He has also been the Senior Vice President – Finance of the company, since August 2001. Mr. Hennessy joined the company in September 1984. CORPORATE CULTURE AND SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES Corporate Culture Sherwin Williams has a positive corporate culture and through education assistance is willing to give its employees the skills to become what they would like to be. Additionally they have excellent training that is provided in a scheduled manner to make sure that everyone has the up to date information. They also have cutting edge technology that facilitates the sales process. Sherwin-Williams has been recognized among Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2005, 2006, and 2008. Seven core values drive their culture and guide Sherwin-Williams as a team and as a company. These values are Integrity, People, Service, Quality, Performance, Innovation and Growth. The company ensures that these values are reflected in their people, their products, and their business practices and relationships. They also provide opportunities for advancement. More than 90% of placements into managerial and professional positions in the Paint Stores Group come from within the company. Over 700 college recruits are hired every year into their Management/Sales Training Program and receive training in different divisions and functions. Sherwin-Williams is also well respected for their benefits package. Is considered one of the best in the business. Besides the common short-term benefits like health and dental insurance, they also offer benefits that grow over a lifetime. They offer: * Health ; Dental Insurance * Group Life ; Accidental Death ; Dismemberment Insurance * Supplemental Life Insurance * Voluntary Personal Accident Insurance Disability Insurance (Short ; Long-term) * Matching 401(k) and Pension Programs * Vacation and Holidays * Employee Discount Program * Tuition Aid * Adoption Assistance Societal Expectations Sherwin-Williams believes that it is their calling to manufacture and market innovative products while still operating a safe, clean and friendly workplace and observing the highest ethical standards in business. In 2009, they presented their first, Corporate Social Responsibility Report — a report that demonstrated the actions behind their beliefs. To them, Corporate Social Responsibility means to act in a way that reduces their impact on the world around us. They believe they have the most comprehensive line of environmentally responsible products. They also have a number of other brands sold around the world that seek to reduce their impact on the environment. Sherwin-Williams believes it’s important to participate in healthy discussions — and create action plans — with input from those around them. That is why they are actively engaged with government agencies and industry organizations that value sustainable practices as much as they do. Some of these agencies are: * U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Leaders Program * National Paint ; Coatings Association Coatings Care Program * CLEARCorps National Lead Extraction Program * EPA Smart Ways Fuel Efficient Transportation Program * U. S. Green Building Council * National Association of Home Builders — Green Building Council In July 2008, Sherwin-Williams launched EcoVision, an internal company-wide initiative that challenges every employee to look for and implement ways to reduce the company’s impact on the environment. The programs mission is to assist Sherwin-Williams to be recognized as a leader in the development of sustainable processes, product and activities that are profitable, preserve natural resources, and contribute to social improvement. Their contribution to social improvement has been demonstrated through The Sherwin-Williams Foundation. In 2007, the Foundation launched the Sherwin-Williams Grant, a $50,000 cash award given annually to a charity committed to either children’s health or educational programs that lead to economic independence.

Graffiti from Pompeii

Graffiti from Pompeii Graffiti is found in public places and consists of writings and drawings that can range anywhere from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. Graffiti has existed since ancient times, including the time of ancient Rome in the town of Pompeii. The graffiti of Pompeii was preserved by an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and was later found on the walls of the houses and buildings following excavation.The graffiti found in ancient Rome suggests what life was like for the people living in Pompeii and differs in many ways from the graffiti than can be found in modern day American cities Modern day graffiti has somewhat of a bad reputation and in most cases, is viewed by people in a negative way. When many of us think of graffiti, we usually think of the act of vandalism or destruction of property. However, the practice of modern day graffiti is considered to be a form of art as long as it is done legally.In Ancient Rome, graffiti was a respected form of writing wit h a more sophisticated meaning, not the kind of defacement that we often see on train cars or bathroom stalls. In Pompeii, graffiti was a common social practice and was widespread throughout their society. It was never thought of as a criminal act. The graffiti found on the walls of buildings in Pompeii reveals some similarities between the people of ancient Rome and the people of today. In Pompeii, graffiti was used for advertising and displaying information to the public. For example, writings were used to display the schedule and announcements of the market place.Politicians also used graffiti to advertise for elections. Today, we use bulletin boards, posters, flyers, newspaper articles, the internet etc. in a similar way to advertise and publicly display information. All of these advertisements suggest that the people of today’s society and the people of Pompeii are similar because both have an economy with supply and demand as well as some form of government with politic ians. Another similarity found in the graffiti from Pompeii is the list of stolen items with rewards to those who return the items and reveal the thief.This suggests that the people of Pompeii had some sort of legal system as do the people of today. The graffiti from Pompeii also suggests some differences between the people of ancient Rome and the people of today. For example, an advertisement with a list of gladiators scheduled to fight was found written on a wall in Pompeii. We do not have these types of gladiator fights in our society today. Some of the graffiti also describes the people of Pompeii owning slaves. Although slavery was something that was practiced in more recent years, it has since been abolished and is no longer a part of our society today.The graffiti found in Pompeii suggests many things about the people that lived there. Some used graffiti for writing messages to one another and to make certain announcements. Others used graffiti to express their emotions throu gh art and poetry. In most cases today, graffiti is considered to be a criminal act or an act of rebellion. It is only considered to be a form of art if it is practiced legally. If modern day graffiti was to be preserved and then found thousands of years from now, it would not give an account of what life was like for our society as the graffiti from Pompeii did for the society of ancient Rome.

Egyptian political history( Prehistory-1500) Research Paper

Egyptian political history( Prehistory-1500) - Research Paper Example It established a political organization structure early in time to serve its people and delegated roles for its future prosperity. Military force protected the empires and performed the orders of the kings. Records also show that Egypt expanded its authority over the empires it conquered and made certain alliances with other empires to fight their enemies. The political power was initially inherited by the royal family, which formed the sequence of establishing a monarchy based government that controlled the economic activities of the empire. Monarchical Governments The ancient Egyptian government was a form of monarchy and theocracy. Precisely, the kings were said to rule by divine decree and if lucky to keep the empire together, the power to rule was inherited by members with the royal blood. However, there are instances where the women became queens and situations where the leadership was taken away by the conquering dynasties. According to the ICR (6), for about three millennia, that is 3150 to 31BCE when the Roman Empire took the territories of Egypt, Pharaohs ruled ancient Egypt. Pharaohs occupied the top position of the social hierarchies and ruled with absolute power. Pharaohs as political and religious leaders would rule till their death, when their heirs inherited the throne. Some heirs would take the responsibility quite early in age, and sometimes where there were no princes, the royal women could be married off to a royal person in the linage, to make bear heirs of the throne and ensure no power was spilled outside the royal family. Some of the lady Pharaohs comprised of Hatshepsut and CleopatraVII, while male rulers were Akhenaten who passed down the thrown to his son king Tun (Tunankhamun at age 9). They exercised their powers without hardship, because the people had already accepted them as their gods, or mediators to the gods, as well as their associated immeasurable power that they used to command the people, head their military, and make crit ical decisions when required. The reign of the Pharaohs can be divided into 3 kingdoms according to the periods (2700 to 2200 BCE) Old Kingdom, (2052 to 1786 BCE) Middle Kingdom, and (1575 to 1087 BCE) the new Kingdom, in which the numerous Egyptian dynasties were established (Connors et al 22). Some rulers strived to accomplish the objectives of their former rulers as they defended their dynasties through the militaries, brought political and economic stability and prosperity, unified the Egyptians after the conquests, unrests, and riots. Political Structure The political organization and command of power was centered with the supreme authority that rested on the Pharaohs. Although there were subordinates to the royal power, the kings’ decision was final at any required situation. Some kings ruled through their heirs, making it possible to oversee and maintain order within the entire Egypt territory. According to Kaplan, the government of ancient Egypt looked like the struct ure of a pyramid with respect to the division of power; such that the king was at the top, and beneath him a pool of workers that varied in the ranks (13). The king, though an individual with enough power to make a decision that would affect the lives of the people, had a team of elite or royal people who acted as his advice council and could at times influence his decisions. The viziers as the executive heads of bureaucracy occupied the powerful

Is Employer of Choice brand is self-applied Essay

Is Employer of Choice brand is self-applied - Essay Example Organizations should consider the hiring process as the first hurdle. The greatest challenge that awaits every employer is to retain employees. This way an organization will be able to hire smart, and retain the best (Leary-Joyce, 2004). There are several steps which can be put in place by an employer in order to become an employer of choice. Every employee wants to be in an environment that is conducive where rules are well defined. Hence, an employer has to create and maintain a policy structure which is comprehensive by investing time and resources. Clear policies that helps in defining employees conduct, entitlement and obligations is desirable as compared to a situation where decisions affecting employees are made in an unplanned way. Employers of choice need to follow their own rules, most employees prefer an employer, who observes rules in a consistent manner, and makes decisions in an unbiased and principled way. Valuable employees can leave an organization due to decisions t hat are considered to be inconsistent and when they perceive their employer to be unfair. Secondly, an employer of choice has to have trust on the employees. For one to be an employer of choice, one has to portray trust and faith among the employees.

Adverse possession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Adverse possession - Essay Example This doctrine is based on limitation of actions whereby certain courses of actions becomes statute barred after a certain period of time. 1.1. How adverse possession is obtained Adverse possession is obtained by a trespasser who has met the common law requirements explained in part 2. In all states, there are statutes of limitations that put a cap on the time which property owner can bring courses of action to recover the property from a trespasser. When such time has lapsed, the trespasser effectively gains title to the land, and if the owner of the land can bring a suit to claim such property later, the trespasser is entitled to claim adverse possession as a defence or counter-claim. In U.K under the Land Registration Act 2002, a trespasser is entitled to make an application to the land registry to be registered as the owner, after meeting the laid down requirements 1.2. Example of adverse possession Mr X purchased a plot in order to put up commercial buildings in M Borough County. He fenced up the plot but due to financial constrains, he was unable to start constructions. For one year, he would send somebody occasionally to slash grass. Over time, Mr Y who owns a plot adjacent to the land started to use the property as his garage. He took over the duty of slashing and general maintenance. Over the years, he even replaced the lock to the main gate three times and fenced the plot such that it was only accessible from his property. At one time, following visits by brokers who wanted to purchase the land, he erected a ‘land not for sale’ sign and additionally indicated that ‘trespassers will be prosecuted’. During all this time, he was fully aware that the plot belonged to Mr. X but did all these developments fully aware of that fact. After 10 years of his presence, Mr. X sent a letter to protest his presence in the property without his consent. However, the matter was not followed up. 13 years later, Mr. X gets the necessary finance an d desires to commence the constructions. In this scenario, Mr. Y is entitled to claim legal ownership of the plot. This is because he had been in actual, notorious and open occupation of the plot for uninterrupted period of 13 years. Evidence of possession is evidenced by the signs that he erected to wade off trespassers and warn potential buyers. His possession was adverse to the title of Mr. X which is evidenced by the letter of protest sent by X. Therefore, Y, who was initially a trespasser, has since displaced X and is therefore entitled to claim legal title to the property. Several circumstances have to be in existence for a trespasser to establish adverse possession. 2. Requirements for adverse possession They include: a) He must have been in actual possession. b) Such possession must be adverse or hostile to title of the true owner. c) Such possession must be continuous or uninterrupted and d) Possession must be open, factual, and notorious so as to amount to constructive not ice to the owner of the property. 2.1. Actual possession Under this requirement, the trespasser must actually be in possession of the land. This implies physical occupation of the land. Besides the physical occupation, the court in Littledale v Liverpool College [1900] 1 Ch 19 held that the trespasser must bear the intention to possess (animus possidendi). However, in Pye v Graham (Oxford) Ltd [2002] UKHL 30 it was held that the squatter need not have a long-term intention to acquire title, it is sufficient if their intention is to displace the owner. Such possession must be possession of the entire property. If the possession

Property Law Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Property Law Master - Essay Example 1 2) A tangible thing (things' in possession) i.e. books, chairs etc. It also means an intangible thing (things in action). They have no physical existence i.e. patents, debts, copyrights, trademarks, shares. A very crucial information missing is on the type of "property" that Madam Eve Wong was to sell to Mr. Adam Lee. It is very important to make such as distinction because it has an impact on the remedies available in case of default. The English Law divides property into real and personal property. Although some other legal systems had divided property into movable and immovable. The distinction between real and personal property is of historical origin and is based on the different kinds of remedies available to a dispossessed person and the court action necessary to enforce it. Mr. Adam Lee should know what legal action he may have in case Madam Eve Wong dispossessed him of the property. If dispossessed of his land, Mr. Adam will have the right to get back the very thing he had i.e. land. He would have a right in Rem (a right in the thing). It is only the thing dispossessed that would compensate him. Therefore it would not be enough that Madam Eve Wong compensates him only with damages. This right in Rem grew out of a relationship between a person and a thing. The court action is called a real action. He is granted specific performance. If dispossessed of anything else (including... The legal relationship, cannot be defined unless other person is ascertained i.e. owing a car, a chair, watch is related to a seller. The person dispossessed could only obtain monetary compensation from the person who dispossessed him i.e. damages. The court action is called personal action and the property recovered, personal property or personality. 2 Because of the distinction in the available remedies, it has to be established of which class of property that Madam Eve Wong has sold to Mr. Adam Lee belongs. Real Property Real property consists of land, including buildings on land and trees and crops that grow on it and the rights over land. It also includes water on land. There is a rule that: - "cujus - est solum, ejus est usque and coclum et ad internos". It means "whose is the soil; his is also that which is up to the sky and down to the depths of the earth". This maxim states that: - Land ownership refers to the soil, what is above and what is below. The question of whether the fountain was included in the contract of sale of the property can be well answered using this maxim. The fountain is not somewhere else in separate land. It is on the land that is being sold. 3 The agreement fails short of explaining the specific property that the seller intended to pass to the buyer. The term "property" here is ambiguous since it is not descriptive but general. The use that Mr. Adam intends to put the property would also be of essence in determining whether the agreement included the fountain. From the case, it has been stated that the fountain was freely standing in the garden. The information missing here is the height at which the fountain is standing. It is important because the buyer of land has a

Discussions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Discussions - Essay Example This creates a company that focuses on standards with rigid controlled process and the best practices that are closely supervised. The main advantage associated with the bureaucratic structure of an organization is the fact that decision-making takes a shorter time as less people who take part in this activity and this makes sure that work is completed in an efficient manner and on time. In contrast, bureaucratic structures may have a discouraging effect to creativity as well as innovation in the entire organization, as it is difficult for a single person in the organization to come up with all the strategic ideas that are required in a large company. Information systems are computer systems that provide the management and other employees within the company with latest information in terms of the performance of the organization such as the prevailing inventory and sales (Jawadekar, 2013). It is usually connected to a computer network that is developed through linking various computers to allow sharing of data as well as resources. These systems are intended to collect, transmit, store and retrieve as well as display the information that is utilized by several process in the organization. The systems that are supposed to serve general and foreseeable management practices are also referred to as management information systems. An example of a report that is generated by this system is the information that contained in yearly reports developed for the stakeholders of organizations. Staffing professionals include staffing managers in the human resource department who are responsible for all the areas that are linked to the staffing requirements of the company(Strayer, 2005). These professionals must be able to recruit when they find the applicants who are appropriately qualified while being able to deal with the hiring and retaining of the already hired employees. For a company to be successful, staffing is not enough, as the human resource

Chose the qualitative versus quantitative approach Assignment

Chose the qualitative versus quantitative approach - Assignment Example As a result, this involves identifying the concepts taking place within the operating room, then assessing the outcomes to implement changes in practice. The method tries to optimize internal strengths by reducing the environmental influences that might change the intervention results (Leeman & Sandelowski, 2012). This category would be amenable to qualitative inquiry because it considers different aspects during the research process to determine the correct activities through investigations and environmental influences. The choice of this qualitative was because it incorporates practice-based evidence into the real world activities for nursing professionals. This implies that it does not use assumptions or secondary literature to influence the findings (Leeman & Sandelowski, 2012). The method is also appropriate because it helps clinicians to plan for the execution of interventions in practice. This is done by researchers who deliberate on the practical implications of the results and use the research to obtain favorable practice-based evidence (Nelson, 2013). For instance, the operation room nurses must plan for their activities before adopting new implementation of interventions in practice. In this regard, the method enables the nurses to understand new concepts and offer their opinions before putting them into use because it emphasizes on

Teacher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Teacher - Essay Example â€Å"Performance is a developmental process that needs to be supported and facilitated.† (Maloy & Seidman, P. 28) However, tradition and qualifications on paper alone does not guarantee success in teaching profession. In the case of tradition, learners of today have different learning styles and come from diverse backgrounds. In addition to this, the integration of technology into the curriculum demands a shift in the teaching styles of teachers since new set of skills must be utilized to impart learning. Traditional method is only focused on intellectual learning and it is teacher –centered. Contrastingly, non traditional styles which promotes cooperative learning lead to increased motivation and academic performance ( Johnson, R. T., and Johnson, D. W.p.25). Similarly, academic qualification alone does not guarantee effective teaching. Other aspects as such as teaching styles and behavior which have been acquired through training and experience is more important than academic qualifications. In a study of teachers style published by Grasha, it was reported that teachers who exhibit medium intellectual excitement and high interpersonal rapport â€Å" are generally excellent for any group of students and teaching situation† ( Grasha P.35 ). It is important therefore that teachers do not only have academic qualifications but a set of skills as well as positive interpersonal behavior to be able to perform his role in the school setting. In the modern school setting, the teacher will not only deal with students but with the whole organization as well; thus, making him responsible to all stakeholders in the learning process. Some basic skills required for becoming a successful teacher are; Pedagogical skill, Interpersonal skill, Organi zational skill, Subject matter (content) & methodology skill , Skill in cooperating with colleagues and Skill in cooperating with the

Addressing Employee Motivation Essay Example for Free

Addressing Employee Motivation Essay Executive Summary Tom was seen to have a loss of motivation at work which was investigated. An analysis showed the main cause to be a lack of communication from his manager, a need for role definition, and a lack of publicity for the success of his project initiative. Recommendation is for Tom’s manager to be informed so they are hopefully able to address these issues and retain and develop Tom’s skills. A problematic work situation relating to a HRM concept in Book 2 1.1 A description of the work problem Tom has a well paid job as a project manager. He created an idea and initiated a project to design and implement a website. After setting up the design and defining the stakeholders, without discussion, another person was brought in to chair the project meetings and keep track of actions for the software team. He felt a lack of clarity in his role and without clear guidance and credit did not feel motivated to push the project as hard as before. Weekly work hours fell back to a normal 40 hours from 50 or 60, and his other ideas were not pushed to management with the same enthusiasm. Motivation was clearly falling. This example relates to motivation and Session 1 of Book 2 can be used to analyse what motivates Tom to go to work. See more:  First Poem for You Essay 1.2 Analysis of my experience using my chosen concepts To understand Tom’s motivation level’s I have analysed his situation using Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (1954) from session 1 (The Open University, B120 Book 2). According to Maslow, â€Å"a satisfied need is not a motivator†. Matching which needs are met on the pyramid of five categories will give an indication of which unmet need should be a motivator. Figure [ 1 ] Maslows Hierarchy of needs pyramid, and summary of Toms status within it. Figure 1 Maslows Hierarchy of needs pyramid, and summary of Toms status within it. According to Maslow’s theory, Tom has reached the 3rd level, but the lack of communication and feedback has stopped him achieving ‘Esteem’. Maslow states that â€Å"Not meeting these needs has a negative effect on our mental health† and this could explain the low motivation that Tom’s behaviour indicates. Tom was also under the impression that his idea and the quick success of the project would be publicised by his manager and would open up opportunities to be involved in other senior projects within the business. This did not materialise, and the senior management was not made aware of any plans to utilise Tom’s skills. In fact Tom’s manager was based in another country and was often not reachable for consultation either by phone or email. This expectation and its failure to materialise also causes low motivation, as explained in the concept of a ‘psychological contract’ from The Open University (2012). By applying this concept, we can understand that Tom had reason to believe that a successful project would lead to acknowledgement and higher esteem within the company, and even though this was not part of a formal employment contract. When this did not occur Tom felt his psychological contract had been violated, and that his hard work was inconsequential, leading to his low motivation to keep working hard. 1.3 Proposed solutions to the problem The analysis above has identified possible causes of Tom’s low motivation. With this understanding of these reasons, each can be addressed with the right actions. . * Problem : Low motivation, * caused by : Perceived low likelihood of achieving Esteem (on Maslow’s hierarchy) * caused by : lack of communication about tasks. * Classified as : Broken psychological contract If we can determine the cause for the broken contract, we may be able to restore Tom’s motivation to work hard. Also relevant is the Job Characteristic Model from Hackman and Oldham cited by The Open University (2012) which lists five core job characteristics that contribute to satisfying work. If Tom’s work is missing any of the core characteristics his attitude to his job could be affected. Figure [ 2 ]. Hackman Oldham JCM The lack of regular communication between Tom and his manager suggests that there is insufficient â€Å"Feedback from the Job†. B120, Book 2, Study session 4, highlights the importance of â€Å"Constructive feedback†, which â€Å"involves praising strengths and achievements†. Arranging another person to chair project meetings could also mean that â€Å"Task Identity† was not clear. To solve these items, Tom’s manager should take the following actions: * clarify Tom’s role and tasks within the project * Provide regular opportunities for feedback and communication, including praise of achievements when applicable. * Publicise Tom’s contributions to raise his profile in the senior management team and allow development of his career. Relevant Web sites http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/tesco/motivational-theory-in-practice-at-tesco/maslow-and-herzberg.html (accessed 28-Nov-2012) This shows how a successful company has used Maslow’s hierarchy and Herzbergs two factor theory to try to keep employee motivation high. Herzberg could be summarised as â€Å"If you want people to do a good job for you, then you must give them a good job to do.† The Times is a reputable publisher which lends credence to this site, but this is a case study utilising the theories in this report, and not and original source. http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/management/chapter16.htm#what (accessed 28-Nov-2012) This site was chosen because it contains some interesting definitions of motivation factors, and summarises a collection of different theories on analysing motivation in employees. The information is not verified but some theories corroborate with other sources. References The Open University (2012) B120 An introduction to business studies, Book 2 ‘An introduction to human resource management in business’, Milton Keynes. Web source 1: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/tesco/motivational-theory-in-practice-at-tesco/maslow-and-herzberg.html dated unknown (accessed 28-Nov-2012) Web source 2: http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/management/chapter16.htm#what dated unknown (accessed 28-Nov-2012)

Memo - Investment Recommendation for Centagenetix Essay Example for Free

Memo Investment Recommendation for Centagenetix Essay After looking over the material regarding Centagenetix, I have a recommendation as to whether or not MPM should invest in Centagenetix. I realize that we have spent a great deal of time and resources on this project already, and that Harvard Medical School is anticipating that this deal will go forward. I also realize that backing out of the deal now could reflect badly upon MPM and upon you, but my recommendation is that MPM invest in Centagenetix at this point. The main reason is that if Centagenetix is actually able to create a product to increase human longevity, there are some major questions and concerns about first getting this product to market, as well as what conditions this product might carry for measurable efficacy and if the market will be willing to accept them. I will discuss other considerations shortly but I think that is itself a potential deal-breaker. Let us first consider the New England Centenarian Study (NECS). While it is a worthwhile and interesting study, with good correlations between family members and a sample pool large enough to provide preliminary findings, it still has some weaknesses. The two major ones being how geographically centric it is and the size of it. Scientists who study aging have long argued that environment and lifestyle play the largest role in longevity, but Centagenetix is setting out to see if that is incorrect: if there is in fact a heritable gene (or genes) for longevity. It would seem t hat in order to provide a strong argument that the study reaches beyond environment, there should be more samples from areas beyond the eight towns around Boston that the NECS used. It could also be a problem that the majority of the centenarians used had no history of smoking or obesity and were generally small in stature. Granted that using these samples, they found a linkage on chromosome 4, but this does not seem to match the homologous zones for longevity in the previously studied model organisms. There are possible correlations on other chromosomes that track with those model organisms, but the patent that they filed is for the 10 million base pair region on chromosome 4. I am also concerned that the first attempt to scale the study to a larger population resulted in a noteworthy decrease of the linkage’s strength. Scaling it up further restored the statistical strength of the linkage, but the overall strength and valuation of the IP remains in question. We also need to consider the possibility that this 10M bp region will contain genes that other groups are already studying and that the patent is not strong enough to survive a challenge. It is possible that these longevity genes will be related to insulin receptors or free radical management: two areas that several groups or companies are already studying. How strong will the IP remain when there is competition for these hypothetical genes? If that is the case, the company’s major resource will be its SNP datab ase of centenarians, which will cost at least another $10 million to get to a functional state, plus more money to expand and maintain it. I have not seen any market analysis as to how much companies will pay for access to such a database. While Millennium has a somewhat similar model, they are much more pro-active in what they offer their clients, and that is what arguably drives their profits. The database will be valuable, but just how valuable is an important question. We need to know what the likelihood is that building such a SNP database will turn a profit, who specifically would be interested in paying for its use, and how much they would pay. In addition, would Centagenetix receive any royalties or payments for products based off findings from that SNP database? These are important considerations, especially if the possibility exists that the SNP database will have to support the company for any protracted amount of time. There remains a conflict-of-interest issue with Tom Perls and Harvard. If he can be enticed away from Harvard, the study that the company is based on will potentially no longer be available. Perls will be a key founding member of Centagenetix, and is expected be motivated and incentivized to work hard. Without a stake in the company, it remains unclear if that will happen. We also need to consider that if Perls does leave Harvard, will BIDMC still allow Centagenetix the use of the NECS, or should we re-consider the proposal from Whitehead to buy them out? The value of the IP revolves strongly around the NECS and Dr. Perls’ work. There needs to be a much clearer sense as to if or how these issues will be resolved, or else MPM might own a major stake in a company that will require a much larger investment to restore the IP we have assumed they already have. Finally, I want to return to my main point: Aside from a SNP database, what is at the end of the Centagenetix pipeline? Let us assume that they do find a gene or several genes that directly relate to longevity and are not in conflict with another group or company, that they can find the function of these genes, and eventually develop a product built on that discovery. Presumably, the function of this product would be to increase longevity in humans. How would they run clinical trials for this, and how long would they take? If the measure of success is how long someone lives, might not the trials take far longer than is feasible for us to provide funding? Assume that they get past pre-clinical trials; will the FDA even allow such a product to be tested? I th ink that we need to know more about how the FDA would approach such a product, as it seems like the regulatory hurdles for this will not be what most pharmaceutical companies are accustomed to. They are not trying to treat or effect a disease state, but rather to increase longevity. Granted that Ponce de Leà ³n spent much of his life searching Florida for the Fountain of Youth, and that a product like this will appeal to the general public, there is likely to be some serious regulatory and clinical trial hurdles to get it there. We also need to consider how the medical community and public will react to such a product. It seems likely that, given how many of the subjects from the NECS lived relatively healthy lives, the product will have some stipulations about health for maximum efficacy. If the public is required to not smoke, or be obese before this product will work for them then that will significantly affect adoption. In addition, how would the medical community respond to so mething with claims of increasing longevity? I think it would be highly skeptical and cynical. There will be difficulty in both convincing doctors to prescribe it, as well as getting payers to compensate for it. This will presumably be a product that patients will take for the rest of their lives, meaning there will likely be a struggle for both adoption and compliance. The only real gauge of such a product will be how long someone lives, and it will be challenging to demonstrate proof that any increase in longevity is a direct result of Centagenetix’s product. Significant market research needs to be done that considers the varying scenarios for adoption and lifestyle changes, to see if the market size is as big as one would expect it to be. In closing, I acknowledge that other products may come out of Centagenetix that are related to actual disease states or physiological processes. It is possible that they will develop an impressive and profitable drug that is related to the longevity of the patients of the NECS and be yond. Heck, they may even discover the cure for cancer. Even so, there are far too many unknowns and uncertainties in this proposal. The strength of the IP is in question. The availability of the NECS and even Dr. Perl is uncertain. What an end product looks like and what sort of market exists for it. How much more money it will take if they need to build a SNP database to remain in business, or if they have to do another NECS-like study of their own. The risks and uncertainties are sizeable, and the question about actual market size is significant. I do not think that MPM should invest in Centagenetix at this point.

Development Of Autobiographical Memory Psychology Essay

Development Of Autobiographical Memory Psychology Essay Three Forms of Social Interaction in Early Life and the Development, Organisation and Maintenance of Autobiographical Memory. Autobiographical memories are those enduring memories of events and personal experiences which are drawn from in the construction of an individuals life story. The personal and social meanings attached to those memories provide us and those we relate our story to, with a sense of how we became who we are. The development of an inner autobiographical knowledge base begins with the onset of the cognitive self and social interaction plays an important role in shaping and maintaining our memories. This essay will describe three forms of social interaction and how these influence the development, organisation and maintenance of autobiographical memory early in life. The interaction forms described focus on gender development, personality development and distancing from the negative emotions of an event. There is debate in psychology over the timeframe in which autobiographical memories begin to develop. The sociolinguistic argument states that the acquisition of language is crucial to early life development of autobiographical memories which are created in the construction of our personal narrative (Fivush, Haden Reese, 2006). Proponents of the cognitive perspective however, have found empirical support for their argument that the development of the cognitive self, awareness of self as a separate individual, during the second year is of greater importance than the onset of language (Howe, Courage, Edison 2003). Howe et al. report the period of amnesia in infants ends with the ability to recognise oneself and self consciously touch a red spot surreptitiously placed on ones nose by an experimenter (2003). There is consensus however, that social interaction plays a vital role in the maintenance of memories and how these memories are recounted. Cross-cultural studies have shown that culturally driven styles of interaction lead children to create their story from culturally shaped memories. Investigation of American and Asian mother and child reminiscence reveal the promotion of independence and personal actualisation valued in American culture and interdependence and modesty valued in Asian culture occur during mother child interaction (Wang Brockmeier, 2002). Comparisons of Chinese and American student memories clearly demonstrate these culturally shaped practices influence how events are encoded into autobiographical memory. American students remember detailed events which emphasise the autonomous, assured self, while Chinese students are more likely to remember less detailed events with group orientation and personal humility (Wang Brockmeier, 2002). Research suggests that parent and care-giver reminiscence style and content aids the development of culturally determined gender norms, values and beliefs. Fivush (1994) found during observations that white middle class mothers tended to be more elaborative in their talk about personally relevant past with girls than boys, whose language skills where not developed enough to steer or influence the conversation. Greater adult reminiscence elaboration and encouragement to construct their own narrative aids a childs autobiographical recall and solidifies the memories (Fivush, Haden Reese, 2006). Further, mothers clearly distinguished between boys and girls when leading talk about the emotional content of events. Girls tended to be given the message that they should seek out an adult to resolve fear or sadness and were encouraged to find resolution to conflict within their own relationships. Talk with boys included more emphasis on independence and attribution and explanation of anger wi th less talk of resolution. These patterns suggest that western children are socialised to understand that anger is more tolerable in boys than girls, and girls have greater responsibility towards others feelings in relationships (Fivush, 1994). Studies with adults confirm that western women and men remember differently, women recall more events that are relationship focussed (Skowski, Gibbons, Vogl Walker, 2004). The research discussed suggests that gender identities are influenced in early social interaction and autobiographical memories will develop to reflect the gendered values of ones culture. Another form of reminiscence between adult and young child serves to reinforce desirable aspects of the childs developing personality and discourage less desirable aspects. Discussion of a childs memories builds self awareness but can illicit tension, for example disapproval in relation to an episode when the child was particularly stubborn. The tension lies between the childs ideal self (loveable) actual self (stubborn) and ought self (co-operative) (Conway Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). Conway and Pleydell-Pearce (2000) devised the Self Memory System to explain how autobiographical memory is organised in terms of the complex hierarchical goal structure of the working-self which interacts with the autobiographical knowledge base. The onset of self consciousness, the cognitive self is necessary for the organisation of memories (Howe et al., 2003). The working-self goals of a young child, i.e. to be loved and accepted, are motivated by needs such as, to increase positive affect and reduce n egative affect (Conway, Singer Tagini, 2004). Conway et al. (2004) suggest that self defining memories have the strength to incorporate personal scripts into enduring autobiographical knowledge. Scripts, for example stubborn behaviour, the associated emotion and outcome, become cues and link together related autobiographical memories into themes. If being loved and accepted is a childs goal the theme stubbornness, will activate relevant memories from cues in the situation and help the child predict if being stubborn in a context will elicit a loving parental response or the opposite. In this way memories are organised to be drawn on as tools to assess how plausible and reachable goals are (Conway et al., 2004). However memories are malleable and can become distorted across time and in interaction. Researchers have found that the organisation of autobiographical memories, linked together by themes activated by contextual cues, is the foundations of personality (Woike, Gershkovich, P iorkowski Polo, 1999). Reminiscence between care-giver and child can function to equip the child with the skill to step back from the negative affect associated with an original event. On the other hand adults will encourage children to savour the positive affect tagged to an event. A body of research has demonstrated that people generally experience the fading affect bias, where event positive affect is much stronger at recall than equivalent event negative affect (Ritchie, Skowronski, Wood, Walker, Vogl Gibbons, 2006). The more a memory is talked over the better the maintenance of the memory and the stronger the fading affect bias (Skowronski et. al, 2004). From approximately two and a half years children begin to understand reasoning and often becomes fixated on why questions. Once this questioning is realised care-givers can incorporate an understanding of why events happened in their reminiscence with the child. Reduction of negative affect is the result of conscious self-distancing from the affect a nd paying attention to why they feel negatively instead of focussing on what they experienced (Kross, Ayduk Mischel, 2005). Kross et al. (2005) found that negative affect does not fade if the individual uses a cognitive immersion strategy while reflecting on the unpleasant memory. Cognitive distancing from negative affect and savouring positive affect may be skills learned in childhood, and could be contributing to the fading affect bias in autobiographical memory found in adult populations. The persons life story begins to develop in early childhood with the development of the cognitive self. The specific construction of the story will be heavily influenced by adult led conversations shaped by the family and cultural values the child is born into. Life stories convey who we are, for example our beliefs about gender norms, and are built selectively from autobiographical memories. A person will be motivated by their current goals to emphasise aspects to of their history and personality through the reconstruction of the past that maximise positive affect in that particular context. Adult child reminiscence aids the organisation of these memories which are linked together by themes and activated by cues in the environment. Adults also have the capacity to teach children to enjoy the positive feelings linked to memories and to distance themselves from negative emotion attached to memory by stepping back and asking why an event is unpleasant.

macbeth as a tragic hero :: essays research papers

Macbeth as a tragic hero The character Macbeth is a classic example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. There are many factors that contribute to the degeneration of Macbeth of which three will be discussed. The three points, which contribute greatly to Macbeth's degeneration are the prophecies, which were told to him by the weird sisters, how Lady Macbeth influenced and manipulated Macbeth's judgment, and finally Macbeth's long time ambition, which drove his desire to be king. Macbeth's growing character degenerate from a noble man to a violent individual.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The prophecies, which were told by the weird sisters, were one of the factors, which contributed to the decline of his strong character. It is believed that if the predictions hadn't been made about Macbeth becoming Thane of Cawdor, and an eventual king, he would still be focused on his career as a warrior. Greed and power drive humans to change themselves, when it is not needed. As a result of the prophecies, Macbeth's curiosity was aroused, and he know was driven to become King of Scotland. As the play progresses, Macbeth slowly relies on the witches prophecies. Shakespeare uses the witches as a remedy for Macbeth's curiosity, which corrupts his character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The influences of Macbeth's wife, Lady Macbeth, also contributed to his descend of character. Lady Macbeth's character in the beginning reveals that she is a lovable person. When Lady Macbeth was ready to kill King Duncan, she couldn't follow through with it because Duncan reminded her of her father. This example proves that lady Macbeth was not such a bad person. Lady Macbeth played an important role in this play because she provided a scheme, which caused Macbeth to murder Duncan himself. Afterwards, he later regretted his wrongdoing. During this point in the play, the climax, the audience can note the change in Macbeth's character. Macbeth's first murder was a trying experience for him, however after the first murder, killing seemed, to him, the only solution to maintain his eventual reign of Scotland. Therefore, saying that Lady Macbeth was the person who introduced a sin to Macbeth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Macbeth's ambition also influenced his decline of character. However, Macbeth's ambition wasn't strong enough to carry the motive to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth's influence also comes into play because if it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been driven to do anything it took to be an eventual king.

The Impact of Digital Media on Consumer Spending Essay examples -- Con

The impact of digital media on consumer spending has had a positive and negative impact on the average consumer. While digital media has opened up new businesses and career fields, simultaneously it has closed and decimated traditional â€Å"brick and mortar† establishments, decreasing the need for sales professionals. Many years prior to the affordability of personal computers in the 1980s, consumers were hunter-gatherers, whereas their actual jobs were hunting and gathering food for everyday subsistence. Once humankind evolved, trading and bartering came into play along with an increased level of occupational specialization. As the world population increased, natural resources decreased, innovation and transportation systems improved, and trade became the vehicle for survival and wealth building. Fast forward to present day, and we can see three major impacts digital media has had on consumer spending, the ease of accessibility for the consumer, the financial benefit to the online retailer, and the impact to the traditional â€Å"brick and mortar† establishments. Seeing that we are becoming more of a sedentary society, ease of accessibility is critical in the influencing consumers spending habits. Fast food restaurants, microwave foodstuffs, and â€Å"instant† products all have one major advantage to the consumer†¦they save time. Consumers spend an average of 8.6 hours working per day (Labor), therefore with only 24-hours in the day; any product or process that can save precious minutes could be destined for success. Online shopping is only a few clicks away, and the product you select will be at your doorstep in a relatively short period. Additionally, with internet accessibility, consumers spend less time and resources researching products... ...rt journey towards insolvency. Works Cited Internet Retailer, Portal to E-commerce Intelligence. (2012). Trends and Data, Consumers. Chicago, IL: Retrieved from http://www.internetretailer.com/trends/consumers/ Internet Retailer, Portal to E-commerce Intelligence. (2012). Trends and Data, Sales. Chicago, IL: Retrieved from http://www.internetretailer.com/trends/sales/ United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2011). American Time Use Survey. Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/ Hubbard, R. G., & O’Brien, A. P. (2010). Macroeconomics. (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. United States Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, and International Trade Administration; Advocacy-funded research by Kathryn Kobe (2007). Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs299.pdf The Impact of Digital Media on Consumer Spending Essay examples -- Con The impact of digital media on consumer spending has had a positive and negative impact on the average consumer. While digital media has opened up new businesses and career fields, simultaneously it has closed and decimated traditional â€Å"brick and mortar† establishments, decreasing the need for sales professionals. Many years prior to the affordability of personal computers in the 1980s, consumers were hunter-gatherers, whereas their actual jobs were hunting and gathering food for everyday subsistence. Once humankind evolved, trading and bartering came into play along with an increased level of occupational specialization. As the world population increased, natural resources decreased, innovation and transportation systems improved, and trade became the vehicle for survival and wealth building. Fast forward to present day, and we can see three major impacts digital media has had on consumer spending, the ease of accessibility for the consumer, the financial benefit to the online retailer, and the impact to the traditional â€Å"brick and mortar† establishments. Seeing that we are becoming more of a sedentary society, ease of accessibility is critical in the influencing consumers spending habits. Fast food restaurants, microwave foodstuffs, and â€Å"instant† products all have one major advantage to the consumer†¦they save time. Consumers spend an average of 8.6 hours working per day (Labor), therefore with only 24-hours in the day; any product or process that can save precious minutes could be destined for success. Online shopping is only a few clicks away, and the product you select will be at your doorstep in a relatively short period. Additionally, with internet accessibility, consumers spend less time and resources researching products... ...rt journey towards insolvency. Works Cited Internet Retailer, Portal to E-commerce Intelligence. (2012). Trends and Data, Consumers. Chicago, IL: Retrieved from http://www.internetretailer.com/trends/consumers/ Internet Retailer, Portal to E-commerce Intelligence. (2012). Trends and Data, Sales. Chicago, IL: Retrieved from http://www.internetretailer.com/trends/sales/ United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2011). American Time Use Survey. Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/ Hubbard, R. G., & O’Brien, A. P. (2010). Macroeconomics. (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. United States Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, and International Trade Administration; Advocacy-funded research by Kathryn Kobe (2007). Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs299.pdf

Earthquake San Francisco- 1906 :: essays research papers

Earthquake San Francisco- 1906   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the morning 12 past 5:00 San Francisco suffered a major earthquake that killed 3000 people, the earthquake lasted for about 40 seconds and was recorded at 8.3 on the Richter Scale.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People ran from there houses and some stayed inside the buildings and were crushed. The people who ran in the streets were killed by toppled buildings falling from above. There fire department was efficient but the water pipes that go down the San Andreas Fault were severed. The fire could not be stopped because there were now water until the next couple of days. Gas mains blew and caused massive fires all around the city. The city was in the middle of a great economic boom and almost all was lost on that day. The old buildings were never made to withstand earthquakes and easily crumbled and fell crushed people. Some sailers on the coast tried to leave but the waves flew the boats around like toys. The buildings were made out of unreined forced brick or wood which couldn't withstand a earthquake of that magnitude.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the earthquake, they noticed that the San Andreas Fault shifted a 250-mile long section witch tore roads and fences. Rivers, roads and power lines were severed and not aligned with its surroundings. A road across the fault ended up 21 feet north of the road to the east same with the rivers and creeks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The earthquake's most damage were in Los Bonas 30km east of the fault yet there was little damage along towns to the east side of San Francisco Bay such as Berkely, 25km east of the fault. And the capital of California Sacramento that was 120km east of the rupture showed no damage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scientists found out that the earthquake originated north of Oregon and south to Los Angeles a total of 1170 Km.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Knowing now that buildings could not withstand a earthquake with unreiforced brick, the new San Francisco would have buildings that can handle

Reflection Paper Economics Essay

All in all, demand refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. And it is determined by the determinants like taste and preferences, income, population and price expectation. Price must always come first. Consumers are more tend to buy a product. if the price decreases. This kind of behavior on the part of buyers is in accordance with the law of demand. According to the law of demand, an inverse relationship exists between the price of a good and the quantity demanded of that good. As the price of a good goes up, buyers demand less of that good. This law will only be valid if ceteris paribus assumption is applied that means â€Å"all other things are equal or constant†. It means that the determinants of demand must be constant. This inverse relationship is more readily seen using the graphical device known as the demand curve, which is nothing more than a graph of the demand schedule. Change in demand means the change in the determinants of demand. So, an increase in demand shifts the demand curve to the right while a decrease in demand shifts a demand curve into the left. If there is a change in demand, there is also a change in quantity demand, this is different to change in demand because it only shows a movement from one point to another point (a price-quantity combination to another price-quantity combination). Another thing is the supply, it is the schedule of various quantities of commodities which producers are willing and able to produce and offer at a given, place, price and time. Its determinants are technology, cost of production, number of sellers, prices of other goods, price expectation and taxes and subsidies. The law of supply states that â€Å"as price increases, quantity demanded increases and as price decreases, quantity demanded also decreases†. According to the law of supply, a direct relationship exists between the price of a good and the quantity supplied of that good. As the price of a good increases, sellers are willing to supply more of that good. The law of supply is also reflected in the upward-sloping supply curve. A change in the quantity supplied is a movement along the supply curve due to a change in the price of the good supplied and a change in supply, like a change in demand, is represented by a shift in the supply curve. Law of demand and supply explains that when the demand is greater than supply, price increases and when supply is greater than demand, price decreases. The law of supply and demand is not an actual law but it is well confirmed and understood realization that if you have a lot of one item, the price for that item should go down. At the same time you need to understand the interaction; even if you have a high supply, if the demand is also high, the price could also be high. In the world of stock investing, the law of supply and demand can contribute to explaining a stocks price at any given time. It is the base to any economic understanding.

Analysis of Singapore’s GDP and Inflation figures Essay

According to the above forecast of GDP growth of Singapore, we know that it stand at 5.3% instead of 6.2% earlier. Therefore, it clearly indicates that the forecast of Singapore’s GDP growth downgrade. Gross Domestic Product, it refers that during a period of time, the production of all final goods and labor value from the economy of a country or region, it is often recognized as the best index to measure national economic conditions. It not only reflects a country’s economic performance, but also reflects a country’s national strength and wealth. The importance of GDP can not be ignored, especially when it is mentioned in the same breath with market expectations, the actual economic growth rate or recession rate often affects the trend of financial markets. The higher the data shows that the more driving economic growth. GDP represents all the economic activity within the country, reflects the basic situation for economic growth, it is used to analyze current status of the state’s economic development. GDP growth decelerated, indicating that the economy is in contraction phase, consumer demand of the production will decrease. In general, the higher GDP of Singapore means the better economic development, rising interest rate, its currency exchange rate is strong. There are so many different elements that affect the GDP growth of Singapore, in my opinion, one of the reasons is global economy. As a result of the global economic downturn, the economy of Singapore has been shrinking dramatically. Singapore’s economy can not maintain the pace of strong growth in 2010, because Singapore’s economy is mainly dependent on exports and exports of non-oil products and services, they occupy for more than half of its GDP, which makes the economy vulnerable to changes in global economic growth. Moreover, recent GDP data revisions in the US showed that economic conditions were not as robust as previously thought – indeed, aggregate activity had stalled since 2010. Uncertainty of U.S. economic recovery and the relative recession in the global electronics market has also led to further downturn in Singapore’s export demand. As reduction of global demand, as the pillar industry of Singapore, exports of electronic products sharply shrinking is the main reason of the country’s economic downturn. Singapore is one of Asia’s fastest growing economies. This year, the U.S. economy maybe decline in growth rate and the global electronics industry may decline are the main danger facing by Singapore’s economy. The Monetary Authority of Singapore states â€Å"domestic economic activity fell by 6.5% in the second quarter of 2011. The contraction was led by a slowdown in trade-related activities, due to supply-chain disruptions from the Japan earthquake and weaker demand from the advanced economies†(MAS, 2011). Economic growth was weak in the 2011, reflecting the impact of transitory shocks such as higher oil prices and the Japanese earthquake. â€Å"A strong dollar will stimulate GDP by discouraging exports and encouraging imports,† says Bob McTeer, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Monetary factors also affect GDP. The U.S is one of Singapore’s major trading partners, the U.S. dollar exchange rate continued to decline, the relative value of Singapore dollar increase, but Singapore is a country need to reserve more foreign currency, which means it needs more exports, exporting more production needs to undervalue its own currency. Therefore, the decline in the dollar also affected Singapore’s exports, led to GDP growth declined. Question 2 In my opinion, I agree with the statement without a doubt. The main aim of the government is to reduce high inflation to keep balance. Inflation, a monetary phenomenon, is an increase in money and credit. Its major consequence is raising prices. Inflation occurs when the economy’s aggregate volume of money expenditures grows at a faster rate than its total real output grows. Inflation is thus an increase in the supply of money without a corresponding increase in the supply of goods and services. (Edward, 2000) The official measure of the inflation is the increase of the general level of prices measured over a period of time, and RPI or CED is used as a measurement. To explain how it does this I must first explain the main two different causes of inflation. First type of inflation is called cost-push inflation. It basically means that increasing costs of factors of production (wages, rent interest, cost of raw materials, increased normal profit requirement) push up the general level of prices. This applies to the aggregate supply side of the economy and arises partly because general wage costs arise, for example the powerful trade unions might have pushed up wages without increasing the productivity. Import prices play a role as well, because nowadays no country is independent of the others. When a country has lower inflation than others it tends to â€Å"import† inflation with its foreign trade because foreign goods get more expensive. Also, for example, the massive rise in oil prices affected western oil-importing economies and caused inflation. The changing exchange rates also cause inflation. As the production costs of the firm rise it has to increase its price to cover the costs. Then in turn, as the goods are expensive, labour demands wage increases that will increase the production costs even further. Another type of inflation is demand-pull inflation. This occurs when aggregate demand exceeds the value of output at full employment. The role of government is to ease pressures from inflation; it takes appropriate monetary policy or fiscal policy to reduce high inflation based on different types of inflation. The government has several ways to control inflation. It can do this by using fiscal policy that manages the aggregate demand by using government spending and monetary policy to reduce investment, consumption and the circulation of the currency. Fiscal policy: government should raise tax rate and reduce expenditure, for example, raising consumption tax, it makes goods more expensive, so you need to pay more consumption tax when you buy something, it will make you reduce the number of purchasing things. Thus, the total market demand will reduce at a certain level, making the overall price fall, playing an alleviative role to high inflation. Main weapon to fight against inflation after 1970 has been monetary policy, widely used by Conservatives. The main policies have included controlling interest rates and medium-term financial strategy. Also the real inflation is much caused by people’s expatiation on future inflation, reducing the expectations of inflation in the future has been one of the governments’ aims. The consequences of inflation are quite serious. It has bad effect on growth, because it increases uncertainty and discourages savings. It is also damaging for the balance of payment, because it makes imports cheaper. It distributes incomes in favour of profit earning, away from fixed earning pensioners, whose real income will fall. Therefore, government must play active role in managing high inflation rate by an economy all the time. References: 1. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, Recent Economic Developments in Singapore, 01 Sep 2011, pp 01 [01 Dec. 2011] 2. Bob McTeer, Impact of a Weak Dollar by Admin, Posted in: Financial Planning, 03 August 2011 [01 Dec. 2011] http://ourbusinessnews.com/impact-of-a-weak-dollar 3. Edward W. Younkins, HOW GOVERNMENT MANIPULATES MONEY AND PRODUCES INFLATION, 28 Oct. 2000 [02 Dec. 2011] http://www.quebecoislibre.org/001028-11.htm 4. Walter E. Williams, Syndicated Columnist, The government’s role in inflation, 06 Sep. 2009 [02 Dec. 2011] http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/524850/The-government-s-role-in-inflation.html 5. Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. New York: Dubleday Dell Publishing. [17 October. 2011]

How do feminists explain inequality between the sexes and how do they seek to remedy it?

Feminism is the only ideology that believes that gender is a form of discrimination, if not the strongest of social boundaries compared to race, status, and nationality. For this reason feminists focus on gender inequality and the specific roles that men and woman lead in every day life as a result of gender discrimination. Feminism can be traced back to 1405 in the book by Christine de Pisan's â€Å"Book of the City of Ladies†. This book contained the basic skeleton of thought that is present in modern day feminism, as it celebrates and highlights women and their contribution through out history, similar to cultural feminism. This clearly shows that from long ago there has always been a demand for equal rights between the sexes. In the last century many schools of feminist thought have emerged as a result of this question of equality and many different remedies have also come as result. Today feminism is an ideology that has a very broad horizon, which is only normal for an area as vast and amorphous as gender. Liberal feminism emerged in the 1850's and was the school of thought that dominated first wave feminism. Liberal feminism is the belief that focussed on woman enjoying the same rights as men, and for this reason first wave feminism focussed on the public sphere of politics. Liberal feminists believed that the problem was in the political sphere of life, as woman at the time were literally not allowed in the public sphere of life. The British suffrage movement lead by mother and daughter Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst in the 1903 organised many forms of protest that were aimed at achieving the goal of the female vote. The feminists at the time thought that gaining the vote would be the most important right that women needed, and as a result the other gender divides in society would disappear. For this reason it is understandable to see why feminists at the time thought gaining the vote would solve inequality between the sexes as the external rights would affect everyday life, and internal affairs. Legislation was the only way that woman could gain the vote, and bring equality. Once the bill had been passed than it would be the responsibility of the ruling body to implement and protect that laws and this would mean woman having the same protected rights as men, or so they thought so. The methods that the suffragettes used to achieve this ranged from handing out leaflets, chaining themselves to property, and even to the use of hunger strikes. These methods no doubt gained media attention, but not necessarily positive media attention. However these forms of protests did increase awareness among other woman, and also inspired others to join the movement as well. The movement grew through out the 19th century, and had the clear focus of gaining the vote. Despite woman's obvious contribution to society it was only until the start if the First World War when they could prove they were just as capable as men were. When the war was over and won in 1918, woman over the age of thirty were given the right to vote in 1920. This right to vote was given for many reasons, woman had proved that they could do the men's jobs, and were just as capable. Also the government realised that as growing power in the world, the British workforce would be stronger if women were a part of the workforce as well. The voting franchise was further extended to woman aged 18 in 1928. The goal of first wave feminism had been achieved, woman had the vote and but this caused the movement lose the impetus. But it was clear that inequality still remained between the sexes, gaining the female vote had raised the political status of women slightly, but failed to achieve the original goal of bringing equality between the sexes. . The feminist movement did not stop here, but instead the opposite happened, feminists had to look at the bigger picture and not just rely on one piece of legislation to solve inequality. Where did inequality start? How is it maintained? But mostly, if gaining the vote didn't end equality than what would? These questions were the main focus of second wave feminism, which emerged decades later in the 60's. Second wave feminism aimed at achieving the goals that first wave feminism failed to achieve, and for this reason the movement this time was dominated by a more contemporary approach, radical feminism. In 1963 Betty Frieden wrote â€Å"The feminine mystique†, and the first chapter was called â€Å"The Problem With No Name†. This problem was what most women were going through at the time. Trying to live up to the perfect images of a housewife, but at the same time feeling empty and not knowing their true identity. The problem with no name took the idea of true liberation for woman. If woman were liberated in their personal lives, and then this in turn would liberate in the public sphere. Betty Frieden stressed on the message that women should not coup themselves up at home, and should broaden their horizons through striving for true liberation. Radical feminists like Kate Millett took this new perspective of focussing on woman's everyday lives further, when the concept of patriarchy was discussed in her book â€Å"Sexual Politics† written in 1969. Patriarchy literally means rule by the father, but feminists use this term to describe men's general dominance in society. Radical feminists believe that patriarchy is how men maintain the position over women in society. When looking at patriarchy radical feminists like to focus on everyday relationships between men and women. For example when a woman irons her husband's clothes, this can show how men for their own benefit use women and also how woman are confined to the house. It also shows that patriarchy starts from the home, and is built in the family structure â€Å"rule by the father†. Women are socialised into believing that they are inferior to men, they are socialised to be weak, and as Simone de Beauvoir said â€Å"Woman are not born they are made†. Thus the only way to get rid of patriarchy is summarised in the statement â€Å"The personal is the political†, meaning woman should liberate themselves in their personal lives as well. Gaining the vote didn't bring equality, because patriarchy starts from the family (the heart of society), patriarchy is maintained through socialisation, and patriarchy in turn shapes society. The radical feminist Shulasmith Firestone looks at how women are biologically weaker than men, and how this makes it possible for men to dominate women. She argues that woman have the ability to have babies, this links to menstruation, breast- feeding, and childbirth, which are all disadvantages as they limit what a woman can do in her life. These biological characteristics also take away large amounts of freedom from women. One of the reasons why woman are mostly in low paid, part time work, is because they have other commitments at home. Most of the high well-paid jobs, are dominated by men, this may be because of the gaps in employment that woman take when pregnant and so fail to get promoted. Her solution to this is to defy women's nature with the aid of modern technology. Ideally women should have complete control over their ability to give birth and this will mean that children will be born outside the womb. However women taking control of their biology will only be the first step towards women being completely in control of every aspect if their lives. Radical feminism goes against Liberal feminism in one way, liberal feminists believe that the state and legislation is the solution to gaining equality. However radical feminists believe that the state is used as a tool that keeps women in an inferior position in society. Radical feminism also believes in the concept of sisterhood, and this is shown through how Shulasmith Firestone, stresses that the biological family is present in all societies. Showing that all women are suffering, and weak as a result of their biology. This is why radical feminists believe that woman should all be united in their struggle, against men, and towards true liberation. Sisterhood is important to radical feminists, as it strengthens the movement, and woman will be able to seek strength in each other rather than rely on men. The other schools of feminists thought that have come about after the 60's is Marxist feminism, which focuses on how woman are abused by the capitalist system. Marxists feminists like Sue Sharpe states that women are used as a surplus labour force ready for to be used and disposed of easily. Also that women are drained of their energy and time, through maintaining the present workforce (their husbands), and also at the same time rearing the future workforce (their children). Marxist feminists stress on how woman are used and abused in both the home and the workplace, and men dominate both environments. Another school of feminist thought is ecofeminism, which looks at the link between nature and females. Ecofeminists like Van Plumwood believe that the world would be a better place if women were in charge. The reason for this is that woman innately are more caring than men, they have they ability to raise children and nurture human life. Ecofeminists also focus on the state of the world today, pollution, global warming, the dumping of toxic wastes, and other environmental issues. But some feminists argue that this form of feminism is reactionary, meaning that it takes woman backwards away from progress, as it is taking the female role back to biology. This is similar to pro-womnism that also focuses on the positive side about women's role to reproduce. These two schools of thought would clash with radical feminist who believe that women are handicapped due to their nature. Black feminism is a school of feminist thought, which mixes race with gender. It is the argument that white woman dominates the feminist movement and political scene mainly. This may be true as it was the middle class women, that had the time and the money to involve themselves in politics, and they were usually white. New feminism can be viewed as the third wave of feminism but it hasn't really come crashing like the other two previous waves. Maybe because the movement has passed its use but feminists would argue that the movement still has its aims. New feminism believes in breaking the link between the personal and the political hence â€Å"the personal is less political†. This has been done because many women are put off by the obtrusive nature of the slogan. The statement shows that new feminism is trying to make women more comfortable with being feminists. This is ideal for women who do not want the their public life to mix with their private life. New feminism also looks at issues like abortion, pornography, which are controversial and affect woman greatly. This shows that it is not the end of the line for feminism because women constantly face new problems in a modern growing society, and need organisations that will help them. The feminist movement has changed greatly through out the past century, and no doubt a great deal has been achieved. Feminism by having these different stages has shown the world that it is almost evolutionary, and will be around for a longer time. Organisations like NOW are one of the biggest in America, and lobby a vast range of issues concerning women. Women today are still benefiting from the work of the past feminists, in areas of education, work, and politics. Overall the feminist movement has been a success, a remedy for true equality and liberation may not of been found yet. But instead many have been put forward, which have caused women to think further and also think for the future of â€Å"personkind† as well.

Is biological pest control better than chemical pest control?

Food is vital for humans to survive, the population of the world is immense as it approaches 6 billion and all these humans need to be fed on a continual basis. Therefore, a large quantity of food needs to be produced rapidly and on a very large scale. Generally farmers across the western world do produce food very quickly and efficiently and there tends to be a surplus of food, whereas, in less developed countries they have a shortage of food. Due to the size of the world's population and it's high levels of demand for food farmers are unable to leave crops alone and let them grow naturally. Read this  Respiratory Activity For example, one-third of the crops that are grown worldwide are spoiled by pests, animals particularly insects and many plants. Certain types of crops grow better in certain set conditions and there are many different factors which effect the crop yield. Crops grow by photosynthesis, the environmental factors affecting the rate of photosynthesis, are light intensity, concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, and the surrounding temperatures. All the requirements for photosynthesis need to be available at a good rate and supply, the light intensity which is usually supplied by the sun needs to be at suitable intensity, which means the crop will only grow certain times of the year due to the amount of light available. The same applies to the concentration of carbon dioxide, which usually does not tend to cause a problem, as there is ample supply of carbon dioxide in the surrounding air, however if it is ever to run low the crops will not grow. The temperature is another factor which has a huge effect on the growth of crops, if the temperature is to get too high this would prevent any growth of the plant as it would not be able to deal with the extreme temperature killing off the chlorophyll that the plant requires to grow. However if the temperature is decreased to a very low temperature this will restrict any growth, as the plant will not be able to function properly. Therefore, all these factors need to be at the correct rate for the crop to be able to grow sufficiently. Many different types of crops such as maize, corn, wheat, rice, fruit and vegetables are grown at different times throughout the year and most farming is usually based on monoculture. Which is where one type of crop is grown in a certain piece of land, this technique of mass production tends to cause many problems and is not as straight forward as it seems. If crops are growing extremely well and conditions are correct and all the crops have all their requirements at the right rate and intensity there is still one other factor which would still prevent a perfect yield from being produced which are known as pests. These pests still destroy all crop yields, by destroying the crop its self and restricting growth in certain ways. When crops are grown they are just like plants in that they compete for mineral ions, water from the soil and light, however when crops are grown using the monoculture method there usually isn't a problem because it's the same crop being grown and so the conditions can be controlled. However, the problems that do arise is that if there is a large concentration of the same crop in one area and they are all in close proximity to each other then there is the potential of the crop being infected by diseases, fungi, unwanted plants and insects which will then lead to the rapid destruction of large areas of the crop. There are a number of different pests, for example, insects, fungi and weeds that effect individual crops in different ways; like insects, fungi and weeds. Weeds are plants that grow in places we do not want them to grow and there optimum growth occurs in ground disturbed by human activity. They compete with cultivated plants for space, water and minerals. Worldwide, about 10% of crop yield are lost because of weed growth. Weeds tend to come in different sizes and they can be long and the same length as the crops, which means their roots are able to reach deep into the ground and take the nutrients, they require leaving many shortages for the crops. Also weeds can sometimes have broad leafs that cover the crops and so take all the sunlight and restrict the amount of sunlight reaching the crop. The competition between the crops and weed, which is organisms of different species, is known as interspecific competition. Occasionally you may come across weeds that are very small and do not do any real harm to the crops. The insect pests work in many different ways, each kind of plant has its own species of aphids, and these little creatures have small mouthparts, which they use to suck sap from plants. The loss of sap can be harmful to the plant in many ways in that, it can cause leaves to curl up and become distorted. The leaves are the place where photosynthesis takes place; the curled up leaf leaves the plant unable to photosynthesise efficiently and so can leave the plant stunted. Another way in which aphids can effect crops are, that as the aphids suck in the sap if that crop was diseased they could pick up the disease or virus and then go suck on another plant which would then pass the disease or virus on, which would spread the disease to many plants, any organism which spreads disease or viruses from host to host is known as a vector. Also if the aphids take in to much sap they tend to secrete it through their abdomens, this is usually a sticky honey dew which forms a sticky droplet which attracts ants, which then attack the crop even further. So altogether there are a number of ways in which crops are prevented from being grown. The ways in which these pests can be controlled and crops can be grown without too many problems is that we can put into the environment a chemical substance that kills the pest, which is called pesticides, or we can put into the environment another organism, which kills the pest, which is known as biological control. A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, or repelling any pests. Chemical control is the use of pesticides. Insects, which eat crops, can be killed with insecticides. Fungi, which grow on crops, are controlled with fungicides. Weeds, which compete with crop plants for water, light and minerals, can be controlled with herbicides; pesticides are usually applied as pellets, powders or sprays. Many different chemical substances are used as pesticides; there are contact pesticides, systemic pesticides and residual pesticides. The contact pesticides are used as spray as they are sprayed straight on to the crop where the pests are living and as the contact insecticides spray comes in contact with the insect, the insect tends to absorb it in through its gas-exchange pores, the spiracles, along its body. This is where it attacks the insects and poisons them. The same process occurs with contact herbicides and fungicides the surface of the plant absorbs the poison through, and so the poison then attacks it there. This method is not very expensive however they need to be reapplied continuously as there are always pests, which are missed out, and the affect of it does not last very long. Systemic pesticides work in a similar way as they are sprayed straight on to the crop where the leaves and surface of the plant absorbs it in and so it is transported all around the plant. Therefore, whenever a sap-sucking insect comes along it sucks the poison into its body, and this eventually results in the killing of the creature. This method for systemic insecticides is very effective because the spray does not have to come into contact with the insect so it only attacks the insects that attack the crops. Systemic herbicides are also quite effective in that they are able to be sprayed onto the surface of the leaf where they get absorbed and then have that poison transported all along the weed killing off the tissue and even reach the roots. Residual pesticides can also be quite effective, as they are also sprayed directly on to the soil and instead of attacking the actual insect or weed they attack any insect egg and larvae, and weed seedling as they germinate. All these methods are used for chemical pest control; chemical pest control is very effective in that this is the most popular method in the UK for farming large number of crops, to provide the large population of the UK. However even though chemical pest control is very effective and is very popular there are a number of disadvantages of using chemical pesticides. Firstly, chemical pest controls involve many chemicals that can be very dangerous if they are not monitored correctly. Therefore, chemical pest controls must be safe for farmers to use and must not damage the environment. To provide this there must be continual testing and development carried out on all pesticides. This can be very expensive and this expense will be passed onto the farmer in the form of the pesticide costing a huge amount of money. This expense is taken by the farmer on the premise that it will assist in the good growth of his crops, however, the disadvantage being that it may not work at all! It is also known that pesticides damage the environment a great deal, Pesticides can badly affect wildlife through changes in the food web, direct and indirect poisoning. And their harmful effects may show up in animals, which have no direct relationship to the original pest. In that in the 1950's many of the pesticide used did a lot of damage to the environment especially one DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). It was used to kill insects, however people didn't realise that it is a persistent insecticide, which means it doesn't break down but remains in the body of insects and the soil. So whenever a bird or other organisms ate the insects they ate the DDT too. And so the DDT stayed in their bodies and just began to accumulate. Also as well as being persistent it was also non-specific as most pesticides are. This means that it not only harms the insect it's meant to but also harms other living things. For example in the 1960s, the gannet population in Quebec began to shrink. The shells of the gannets' eggs were too thin to protect the embryos. Once the egg had been examined they realised DDT was the culprit. Because there where large concentration of DDT in the birds because of all the pests they had consumed which had been sprayed with it. Many other birds such as ospreys, eagles and peregrine falcons also had been affected greatly and populations of those birds had declined. Also all the chemical sprays that are sprayed into the air will have a great effect on the atmosphere. So many pesticides harm the environment a great deal, even though many tests are done before hand. Pesticides also change wildlife habitat, for example if a herbicide was put down on certain plants or vegetation, animals that depend on that piece of vegetation find it difficult to live any longer and so slowly will begin to die out, and so if they begin to die out then the population of their predator that relies on that particular creature, will begin to decrease. Another problem, that that may arise is if a particular pesticide is used a lot the pest may eventually become resistant to it. The pesticide no longer kills the pest and so a new one has to be developed at all times which results in more resources and cash flow being ploughed into developing and testing. Also once the pesticides are applied, they can be used up quickly and if it rains they sometimes need to be reapplied which takes much time and effort because special clothing and safety measures need to be carried out each time. The most important disadvantage of using chemical pesticides are that the crops that have been produced using pesticides are now covered with chemicals which we will now eat and which can be very harmful for us. Another major harm to humans is to farmers, who are using the pesticides and are in contact with it on a continual basis and it has led to them becoming extremely ill, for example, in parts of the UK, farmers and their families are being diagnosed with illnesses, which are associated with pesticide poisoning. Such conditions as multiple sclerosis that are occurring in many of the farmers, especially in the cases where they use sheep dipping as part of their work. Also in less developed countries the farmers are effected a lot more because they do not have all the specially designed clothing which they require and so in places like Malaysia and Sri Lanka, 7 to 15 per cent of farmers experience poisoning at least once in their lives. The advantages of using pesticides are that all these chemicals do produce the maximum amount of food, which is very cheap for the consumer, because the farmers are able to produce on a mass scale, using the chemicals to make sure they have a high-quality crop yield. Also pesticides work very fast and most of the time instantaneously, once applied to the ground. With pesticides you usually have a guarantee that they will work and be extremely effective, and solve the pest problem. Chemical pest control is one way to control pests even though there are a number of disadvantages, however the other way to stop pests from destroying crops are by biological control. Biological control is not using chemicals but the use of a specially chosen living organism to control particular pests; the chosen organism may be a predator, parasite or disease, which will attack the harmful insect. It is a form of manipulating nature to increase a desired effect. Examples of this are usually A bluebird: it eats insects to prevent damage to trees and gardens. They are found throughout the United States, UK and Canada A ladybird beetle: it eats small soft insects, which prevents damage to fruit and crops. They are found throughout North America. A garden spider: consumes insects with wings by catching them in a sticky web that it spins. Usually found in America and UK. Biological control is usually done in three ways known as classical biological control, conservation and augmentation, these are three ways to use these natural enemies against unwanted insect pest population. Classical biological control is to import which involves travelling to the country or area from which a newly introduced pest originated and returning with some of the natural anomies that attacked it and kept it from being a pest there. New pests are constantly arriving accidentally or intentionally. Sometimes they survive. When they come, their enemies are left behind. If they become a pest, introducing some of their natural enemies can be an important way to reduce the amount of harm they can do. The second method is conservation; conservation of natural enemies is an important part in any biological control effort. This involves identifying any factors that limit the effectiveness of a particular natural enemy and changing them to help the beneficial species. Conservation of natural enemies involves either reducing factors, which interfere with the natural enemies, or providing needed resources that help natural enemies. The final method is augmentation; augmentation is a method of increasing the population of a natural enemy, which attacks a pest. This can be done by mass producing a pest in a laboratory and releasing it into the field at the proper time. Another method of augmentation is breeding a better natural enemy, which can attack or find its prey more effectively. Mass rearing can be released at special times when the pest is most susceptible and natural enemies are not yet present, or they can be released in such large numbers that few pests go untouched by their enemies. The augmentation method relies upon continual human management and does not provide a permanent solution unlike the importation or conservation approaches may. There is also another way in which pests can be controlled using the biological control method, which is known as Biochemical pesticides these are natural occurring substances, which are safe. This is because most plants and animals produce chemicals that can be used, as pesticides, the oils and seeds are usually the substances, which can be pesticides. For example many insects produce chemical substances called Pheromones, which attract the opposite sex. Synthesised pheromones are sometimes used to attract pest insects into traps. The traps are usually sticky which hold the insects and so enables you to get rid of them by killing off the insects. Another method of biological control is crop rotation this helps to discourage pests. Since different pests affect different crops, crop rotation can be very effective method of pest control. Using crop rotation means that there is high possibility of pests dying out before the same plant is grown on the soil again. In many cases, removing their preferred food and shelter can control pest populations. Examples of crop rotation are below. Year1: potatoes – may be affected by potato cyst eelworm Year 2: cabbage – may be affected by clubroot and brassica cyst eelworm Year3: beans – root nodule bacteria improve soil nitrate supply All these methods of biological controls can be used however they also have many disadvantages to them, just as chemical control biological control takes more intensive management and planning. It can take more time; require more record keeping, more patience, and sometimes more education or training. Because a successful use of biological control requires a greater understanding of the biology of both the pest and its enemies. Also often the result of using biological control is not as dramatic or quick as the results of pesticide use, which can react very quickly. The aim is not to wipe out the pest because this could be counter-productive. If the pest were reduced to such an extent that it no longer provided enough food for the predator, then the predator in its turn would be wiped out. The few remaining pest could then increase their population rapidly, in the absence of the controlling agent. The ideal situation is where the controlling agent and the pest exist in balance with one another, but at a level where the pest has no major affect on the crop yield. Even though biological control has disadvantages it also has many advantages. Biological control, overall is a far safer method as it reduces the environmental and public safety hazards of chemicals, as the food we are eating is not covered with poisonous sprays and the air is not being polluted by sprays which we breath in that can be quite harmful to us. Also biological control is cheaper for the farmer to use overall because like pesticides they don't have to be reapplied continuously, once they have been introduced they begin to work and consume the pest, so together its cheaper and less time consuming and easier to apply. Another advantage of biological control is that the pest are less likely to become resistant to the control organism then they are to pesticides, which means unlike pesticides a new pesticide doesn't have to be developed on a regular basis. Also unlike most insecticides biological controls are often very specific for a particular pest. The biological and chemical controls of pests work very well individually however the two can be used together, this is known as integrated control. This method can be very successful as was shown in Indonesia in 1970's, when they began to use large numbers of pesticides to control the pests to produce high yields strains of rice. There where a lot of brown planthopper pests, and so farmers found them selves spraying up to 8 times a season, to get rid of the pests however it was later discovered that the insecticide was the problem of the large number of these pests. This is because the sprays had wiped out all the natural predators of the pest, particularly the spiders and yet only had a limited effect on the pest its self. So it was here that the integrated control was introduced. With integrated control the use of pesticides is always the last resort with the minimum amount used. This then prevents pests and enables large healthy yields of crops without using too many pesticides, which have many disadvantages. However using integrated pest management is not always easy, the technique requires time, knowledge and dedication on the part of the farmer. Overall when using pest controls there are a number of factors to consider, to get maximum effect and sustain pest control. The important factors to consider are how efficient each method is at controlling the pest, the cost, damage that might be caused to the environment, and possible health hazards. When considering how efficient each method is at controlling pests I think both are quite good in their own way in that biological control is aimed at the one pest whereas chemical pesticides tend to infect all insects and plants that they are sprayed on. However at the same time chemical works a lot faster and targets the problem more efficiently whereas biological takes a lot more time to establish its self to the environment and take effect. The cost is a lot cheaper for the biological, because even though it costs a lot to research and develop to make sure everything is correct and working well, it doesn't cost the farmers a lot to get the method started, and once it has been applied it doesn't have to be re-applied continuously like chemical control. Also with chemical control there is the extra cost on top to develop and test the chemical product, also new chemical products need to be developed continuously at all times because pests become resistant to them quickly unlike biological control. Even though biological requires a lot of development, training and testing it only has to be done once and then there usually is a result, and doesn't have to be repeated over and over again to develop new pesticides like chemical control. Damage that might be caused to the environment is mostly caused by chemical control because there are a number of pollutants sprayed into the air, which infect the atmosphere, and there are a lot of chemicals going in to the soils, which also damages the soil. Also if pesticides are persistent a large concentration can be built up in different animals, which can cause problems and be dangerous to those animals. Additionally pesticides are not selective and harm creatures that don't need to be infected; also a number of habitats can be destroyed when certain plants are killed. Whereas biological don't have any environmental effects and so biological controls would be a better one to use. Possible health hazards are that chemical controls can be dangerous to the people who have to apply them to the ground and also the food we eat has absorbed the spray and so they can infect us and harm our bodies. However biological controls do not have any health hazards, therefore, are very safe and is the better one to use. In addition in the developed world we have become increasingly concerned about the long-term effects that chemical pesticides and herbicides may have on us as we eat our well-sprayed food. We have also become progressively greener over recent years, with more and more people expressing concern over the future of the earth and our effect on it. Substituting biological control for chemical intervention therefore seems like a very good idea. The developing world cannot yet afford such concerns the main struggle for many developing nations is to be able to feed all their hungry mouths. But in these countries too the cost of chemical control and the increasing resistance of pests to the expensive chemicals are adding another powerful voice to the arguments in favour of biological control as an integrated part of pest management. So overall the one I think is best and has least problems and safest to use is the biological controls.