Welfare Reform

Any attempt by the government to transform the social welfare policy of a nation is referred to as welfare reform. There are myriads of reasons why a government may desire to undertake a social welfare reform program. For instance, there are several poor households who continually depend on the assistance from the government.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Welfare Reform – Social Welfare Change specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, a well planned social welfare program has a higher potential of reducing overdependence on government. Hence, social welfare reform improves the self-sufficiency level of citizens who are relatively low income earners (Hacker, 2004). Some critics argue that the social welfare programs that were formed during the Great Depression era did not meet the expected goals and objectives of welfare assistance. It is imperative to mention that most of those social welfare re forms were formed hurriedly without proper structures and policy frameworks. In addition, the original social welfare reform programs were not as dynamic as expected. In spite of the fact times were changing and ushering new challenges, the old programs were not flexible enough to be compatible with the emerging needs. This paper explores the social welfare reforms in the United States since the era of the Great Depression. The Welfare Reform Act that was passed sometimes in 1996 aimed at creating an end to social welfare programs in the United States. Proponents of act argued that the social welfare structure had existed in the country for extremely long time and as such, such programs were no longer necessary (Besharov Germanis, 2000). Even though the old welfare structure was to be done away with, a similar welfare system was to be enacted. Hence, the much needed change was to be facilitated by the Welfare Reform Act. The Welfare-to-Work proposal was one of the proposed changes under the new Act. In addition, individuals who used to benefit from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) package were then expected to work twenty hours within a period of seven days. Moreover, in order to meet this requirement, twelve authorized activities were listed down by the same reform statute. It is believed that this reform initiative assisted poor families greatly because they ended up being self-reliant and not fully depending on government handouts.Advertising Looking for research paper on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The impacts of the newly enacted and implemented reforms were realized in a record period of three years (Hacker, 2004). Most Americans were eventually capable of sustaining themselves compared to the initially created social welfare programs during the era of Great Depression. Although the social welfare reform discussed above was a watershed in the social wellbei ng of poor Americans, other alternatives were equally introduced in order to boost the viability of the on-going initiatives. For example, the Congress passed the 2003 welfare reform agenda. As a matter of fact, the welfare reform act that was adopted in 1996 was the main building block of the 2003 reforms. The key goal of the 2003 reforms was to boost the aspect of financial assistance to individuals and households that were still relying on full government support. The new reform agenda also aimed at strengthening individual families and protecting minors from social hardships. This was an additional clause that would ensure equitable or general state of fairness among the American public. In order to acquire the much needed independent status, both the state and local governments aided these disadvantaged groups in attaining the stated goals. Unfortunately, the Welfare-to-Work program came to an end in 2004 in spite of the fact that the program positively transformed millions of lives when it was active. The worst impact of this untimely end was the reversal of all the gains that had been achieved for relatively lengthy time. Since the inception of the first ever welfare group some sixty years ago, several positive changes have been realized among the poor American citizens. On the same note, household needs have continually transformed both in terms of diversity and variety. In order to cater for the changes that have take place among different families, the political class has regularly made reforms on the available social welfare programs. They have managed to determine both failure and success stories and acted accordingly in improving them. One of the major political undertakings by politicians has been the reauthorization of welfare legislations that are already in place. This explains why the reauthorization of the TANF initiative took place in 2005. As an impact, this welfare program has been instrumental in reshaping lives among millions of America ns who were initially living under difficult economic circumstances (Schà ¤fer, 2007). Other social welfare programs such as Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and Food Stamps have been indeed helpful to several Americans with low income brackets.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Welfare Reform – Social Welfare Change specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, certain requirements must be met in order to be eligible for any of these social welfare initiatives.  In terms of ramifications, there are about four impacts of social welfare policy that have been instrumental before the onset of the 1980s. To begin with, the underlying premise of social help advanced by the welfare programs has been questioned and debated on various platforms. Women are now being stigmatized for not being part and parcel of the workforce even though the social welfare programs were initiated to assist poor mothers in bringing up their children (Schà ¤fer, 2007). Secondly, although social security system has not been interfered with at all in the US, assistance programs suffered several blows since most of them were either reformed or done away with completely. Thirdly, the individual social policies of states have been put through experiments by the federal waivers. Some of the examples include welfare-to-work programs and health insurance (Blank, 2007).  In summary, it can be concluded that the inception of social welfare programs can be dated back to the Great Depression era when American citizens faced hard economic times. Since then, several reform packages have been undertaken in these social welfare initiatives in order to boost their validity and suitability with the changing times. They were formed to cater for the social well being of communities that had been hard hit by the tough economic conditions. Therefore, long term planning was not put into consideration at all. In any cas e, most of the social welfare programs formed during the Great Depression era failed to remain vibrant and self-supportive for a long time. They still demanded government support several decades after they had been formed. Nonetheless, it is crucial to mention that even the contemporary social welfare programs can hardly suffice the needs of all low income earners in the United States and therefore, regular reforms are necessary in order to restructure their operations to be in tandem with the emerging needs of communities. References Besharov, D. J. Germanis P. (2000). Welfare Reform: Four Years Later. The Public Interest140: 17-35. Blank, R. (2007). Improving the Safety Net for Single Mothers Who Face Serious Barriers to Work.. The Future of Children, 17(2): 183-197.Advertising Looking for research paper on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hacker, J. S. (2004). Privatizing risk without privatizing the welfare state: The hidden politics of social policy retrenchment in the United States. American Political Science Review, 98(2), 243-260. Schà ¤fer, R.A. (2007). Social Policy and Welfare Reform in the United States-An Introduction. American Studies Journal 49(3), 9-14. This research paper on Welfare Reform – Social Welfare Change was written and submitted by user Ezra Burch to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Medicalization

Medicalization Medicalization is a process where problems affecting human beings are diagnosed medically and treated using medical prescriptions. Therefore medicalization of deviance involves introducing medical treatment to correct deviant behaviors. This however applies to certain behaviors that are nons of such behaviors include male chauvinism, obesity, racism, gambling, alcoholism, mental disorder, unattractiveness and sexual acts.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Medicalization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to medical terms deviance of whatever form is regarded as an illness. A definition for deviance can also be described using medical terms and a treatment for each of the deviant behavior can be prescribed in order to correct them. There are several human characteristics that do not just involve personal traits that are stigmatized in the society. Research in the field of medicine has been done on tre atment of such behavior. For instance there are sex drugs that are specifically used by people of women to treat medical conditions because they are more vulnerable to such conditions and the society has already labeled it that way. Women experience deviant behaviors such as depression more compared to men. Because of the fact that they are emotionally attached to things, they tend to express feeling candidly compared to men. As a result, there are certain behaviors which are common with women. Such behaviors can be subjected to medicalization. Treatment of depression is among the development of medicalization of deviant behaviors. Sadness, which can also translate to depression or stress, is generally considered a deviant behavior in the society and there are drugs that are specifically made for people undergoing sadness in their lives. Reproductive Technologies: Who can reproduce? According to chapter five of the book by bell hooks, it describes of how systems created in the socie ty perpetuate and reproduce oppression against the marginalized. This marginalized group includes women and people from small ethnic groups and races. Gender is an issue that has been discussed in public forums and solutions suggested towards solving the discrimination that is aimed towards women. Gender mainstreaming is one of the adopted suggestions to solving this problem whereby there is at least some representation of women in decision making. In the modern society, women need equality with men in education and other sectors of the society. These are the exact issues that she points out and critically analyzes in her book. The issue of gender mainstreaming where in each and every aspect of the society there is need for gender sensitivity in terms of representation.Advertising Looking for critical writing on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Women involvement is linked to development and Hooks puts this point out clearly by saying that equality is for the benefit of the interest of both men and everyone in the society. A look at all the millennium development goals, gender issues has huge impact in achieving almost all of them. Equality in gender can also benefit society in the sense that the role that women play in the society and in the family is really important and needs to be appreciated. Take an example of a family in which the woman or the wife has a job and goes to work daily. This means that the overall income of that family will be much higher than when it is just the male providing for the family. The problem that arises with such a scenario is that career women are considered to neglect their family responsibilities and leaving their children under the care of baby sitters. This problem can easily be solved since the breed of women today like to multitask. They can easily take care of their children by sparing some time for them and balancing their time for both wo rk and home issues Denial of women’s voices Bell Hooks in her book perceives human nature as being rational. Human beings are also equal in thinking and no one should prevent another human being from taking part in reasoning. Women are always prevented by men from doing some virtuous activities that involves philosophical thinking and reasoning. Their minds are geared towards things that are vanity in nature. For instance they use their natural beauty to make the men like them without realizing that the beauty can easily disappear. The only thing that seems to last longer for the time period that we are alive is the ability of a human being to be rational. Hooks identifies some enlightening activities in which she believes that if only women could be educated in these activities, then they can begin to think as rational beings and participate in philosophical activities which she claims to be more virtuous Hooks is a product of enlightenment in the sense that she uses a rheto rical approach to enable the men to see a faulty side of women and use this knowledge to create equity in the society by treating women as equal rational beings. In her explanation, she criticizes the nature of women and most of her arguments are focused on women. But at the same time her arguments are expected to be read by men so that they can easily realize the benefits of creating equality in the society. The oppression that men have towards women is detrimental to both the interest of men and those of the society in general. For instance, if women continue to enjoy the power of beauty over men then this would make men susceptible to issues of lust and adultery.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Medicalization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Embodied power and popular culture; how women are represented and the power of socialization She uses the term equality to express what is expected of the society as a whole in terms of relationships of gender. The society can achieve a state of equality by educating women on these key enlightenments that they are unaware of. The education according to Hooks is one that should emphasize on reasoning and philosophical activities and not issues to do with trying to impress people with their charm. Education that will enable the society to achieve equality is one that would make women to make rational judgment. This overrides the power of beauty that women enjoy over men. Nature has been used in the book to explain the natural state of men as rational beings and women as charming beings of which she argues otherwise about the state of women. She says that human beings in general are supposed to be equal for the interest of the society and the only way to achieve this is by making the women to reason. Virtue is the other enlightenment term that she uses in her work. This term is used to show that reasoning and rationality is of more importance to the society and to everyone at large. She says that rational activities such as philosophy are more virtuous than activities that only impress others. She also says that charm has very little effect to the men especially in marriage. It creates feelings of insufficiency in the women and they would start thinking of ways to please other men. Backlash against feminism; why is feminism a threat and to what? The rise of feminism brought a change in the minds of every one that women are no different than men. They deserve to be treated right with equal opportunities as men. This movement has bore substantive fruits to this moment. Gender is an issue that has been discussed in public forums and solutions suggested towards solving the discrimination that is aimed towards women. Gender mainstreaming is one of the adopted suggestions to solving this problem whereby there is at least some representation of women in decision making. The idea behind feminism is considered good for the present generation of women. However its extreme nature has come under serious and stern criticism in the recent past. Among the societies that do enjoy the extreme nature of feminism include religious institutions. Ideologies of feminism are completely against most religious principles. This makes feminism to be disregarded when viewed from a religious perspective. However, the common religious institutions such as Islam and Christianity have come to a compromise by regarding women as equal beings with equal ability as their male counterparts. Women being a weaker sex in the society for a long time now, have always been dominated by the men and sometime physically intimidated so that they do not come out of their cocoons.Advertising Looking for critical writing on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The gendered and race symbol of nationalism, religion and war I have seen several women who have the moral strength to stand their ground whenever they experience harassment. When a man or a group of men decide to speak suggestively over their bodies or make sexual advancement to them, they confidently put them off and tell them to mind their manners. If women could display such confidence and courage, then they would help change the perception of men over women and create a dully mutual respect that is supposed to exist between men and women. Women rarely do such things to men even when they are rise to power. So it is obvious that they do not deserve to be treated that manner just as they would not treat others in that manner. On very many occasions women have the feeling that the men possess power and for them to survive then they have to submit to them. Ever since girls become young, they are brought up in a manner that they have to be good towards other. They are told to be ver y respectful and caring and treat other well. So whenever girls are in a situation where they have to be bad, they suffer the feeling of guilt. They fear being rejected because of the way they were brought up. When it comes to religion, women have different rights. Most religions deal with women in a wholesome way by looking at how a woman should relate with God, how she should relate with man as her natural spouse, and how she relates to herself as a human being who is part of the greater society. Religion agrees on the fact that a woman is a weaker gender in the society however there are differences in the way they both attend to the rights and needs of a woman. Women and globalization In traditional societies, women were highly involved in procurement of food and this contributed greatly to the status of women in the society. Even though their roles were limited to their physical abilities, the impact they had on the economy could be felt. They did not have to depend on men to su pport themselves. They had the ability of looking for food and finding it to feed their children and family. Women were stable on their own and this gave them a status in the society. In todays society, women who participate in food procurement are able to build their status. Introduction of waged labor, contributed a great deal towards the destruction of womens economic status. Men were favored in most of the labor jobs available to them because of their physical abilities. They could handle most of the work and were more effective compared to women. This left the women to be forced to remain at home and depend on the men. And currently womens economic status is still being marred by development projects even though the world at large is beginning to get sensitive on gender issues. In todays capitalist society, women are beginning to gain economic status and are making a lot of profit. But this is also causing tension and bringing conflict at homes since men are losing control and dominance, and most of them feel intimidated by the profits from womens work. Aging women In this age women are struggling to have their independence and be equal to the men. They are encouraged to venture in almost anything that men are doing. The image of success in a woman today is shown by the ability to balance several issues in their lives such as career, marriage and children. However other issues have arisen as women try to be successful in life by pursuing several things at a time. These issues include the manner in which children are growing up without values that are important for them and the society. As women grow old, they receive more power and respect from the society. Before such changes were witnessed, women, especially mother played the very important role of instilling these values to their children. The early stages of a child development is very important when at least the child is around the mother because it is at this age that it is possible to shape the min ds and ways of thinking of a child. Most children who are raised with their mothers and both parents end up developing good self esteem. They know very well that there is some stability at home and that whenever they want support and advice; they can get it right from their mothers or fathers. Children need to be assured that they loved and cared for in order for them to grow positively and it’s the mother who is at a better position to provide this security. This therefore means that mothers should stay at home at least for the early years of their children development. This paper intends to develop a profound argument that supports the idea that mothers should stay at home The waves of feminism; where we are at now Since the rise of feminism, a lot of women have come out to challenge the men in fields that were once believed to be male dominated. These fields included political leadership and leadership in general, some sporting activities, and occupations that deal with en gineering and sciences. The progress made so far is heading towards the right direction as policy makers are forced to include women in decision making process. The old tradition of not allowing girls to go to school is gradually changing though not at a desirable pace. The role that women play in the society and in the family is really important and needs to be appreciated. Take an example of a family in which the woman or the wife has a job and goes to work daily. This means that the overall income of that family will be much higher than when it is just the male providing for the family. The problem that arises with such a scenario is that career women are considered to neglect their family responsibilities and leaving their children under the care of baby sitters. This problem can easily be solved since the breed of women today is like to multitask. They can easily take care of their children by sparing some time for them and balancing their time for both work and home issues. Po litically they have more power and social rights and the women seems to be hopeless and restricted at home where they only engage themselves in child bearing and child rearing and work around the house such as cooking. Gender has also been linked to development. A look at all the millennium development goals, gender issues has huge impact in achieving almost all of them. For instance when the laws are discriminatory against women, then access to education is limited and hence it is going to be hard to achieve that goal. The majority of the underpaid workers constitute of women. Therefore this makes gender issues a priority consideration before thinking of these other goals of the MDG. The role of women in child rearing is important in achieving millennium development goal number 4 which touches on child mortality. Activism; kinds Gender mainstreaming is a positive response toward creating equal opportunities for women in the world. The requirements for gender mainstreaming include c alls for gender equality where there are equal relations between male and female in all walks of life. The areas where equity must exist include: politics, work place, sexuality and culture. In mainstreaming, there should also be inclusion of gender issues in to political agenda. Every policy made by policymakers must include equal representation of both sexes. For example in public appointments made a leader must meet a standard as stipulated by the law. Normally the ratio of male to female in public offices appointments should be 1 to 3, where 1 represents the female and 3 represents the male. Including female participants in decision making is also important. Women have to be represented equally in all institutions of decision making such as the congress, house of representative and parliaments. Also in state corporations and statutory bodies this needs to be reflected in the leadership and managements as it is the state to take first steps of responsibility towards gender sensit ivity. There is need for this culture and norm in institutions and organizations. Policies must be put into place to regulate private farms to adopt cooperation on gender issues in all the departments of the farms. There are nations that still struggle to see to it that women are equally represented in decision making, therefore these mainstreaming procedures and requirements are applicable in such countries. It is observed that in such countries there is usually some level of strict poverty meaning that gender inequality is actually linked to poverty. In most case of poverty stricken area, men have an upper hand in getting opportunities for income generation compared women. Hooks, Bell. Feminism is for everybody. New York: South End Press, 2000. Kimmel, Michael S and Amy Aronson. The gendered society reader. London: Oxford University Press, 2007.

German Television in North America

German Television in North America German Fernsehen in the U.S. - a Brief History NEW! The German Kino Plus movie channel is now a part of the DISH German Package! Before we look at the current German-language TV programming via Dish Network, lets review its somewhat turbulent history... The history of German television in the U.S. has been a bumpy road. In the good ol days you needed to be living east of the Mississippi and have a huge satellite TV dish in order to receive any German-language TV in the U.S. at all. But then came the digital satellite TV revolution, and I wrote about the debut of privately-owned ChannelD (D for Deutschland) in September 2001. Not long after that the German public television networks ARD, ZDF, and Deutsche Welle began beaming their GERMAN TV service to viewers in North and South America, also via satellite. Their slogan: Watch what Germany watches! (Sehen, was Deutschland sieht!) Each sat TV service charged a modest monthly subscription fee and required the purchase or rental of a dish and digital receiver. Although the two German television broadcasters used two different satellites and two different digital TV systems, it was an embarassment of riches for German-hungry TV viewers in America. But it wasnt long before dark shadows began to loom over the German TV landscape in the U.S. About a year after its debut Bremen-based ChannelD went bankrupt and closed down in late 2002. GERMAN TV was more successful, but it was also having trouble getting enough subscribers, and its efforts to get onto major cable TV systems across the U.S. were spotty at best. But GERMAN TVs programming was pretty good. Even if we really couldnt watch anything close to what Germany was really watching, we did get the genuine nightly news from ARD and ZDF, plus some popular German TV series, some movies, and other entertainment programming. Then, in early 2005, came an important breakthrough. GERMAN TV moved to the Dish Network. Now average people who didnt want a separate dish and receiver just for German could simply add GERMAN TV to their Dish subscription. True, you needed a larger SuperDish antenna, but compared to the pre-Dish situation, it was a major improvement. And it got even better when the German private TV broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Welt was added to Dishs German package in February 2005. For about $20 a month you could get both German channels. (Recently, Dish added a third German channel: EuroNews. The current package fee is $16.99/month or $186.89 annually. Separately: $14.99 for ProSieben, $9.99 for DW-TV. Prices subject to change.) But all good things must come to an end. On December 31, 2005 came the Garaus (end) for GERMAN TV. The German government was no longer willing to subsidize the ARD/ZDF/DW service. At the start of 2006 GERMAN TV was replaced with the much more modest offerings of DW-TV. The Deutsche Welle TV service broadcasts mostly news and cultural programming on the old GERMAN TV channel, alternating each hour between German and English. (More below.) The current situation can be summed up this way: DW-TV provides mostly news, and is also good for people in your home who do not understand German. There is some soccer, but mostly highlights and summaries. The new ARD/ZDF talk shows (as of May 2007) are a great improvement. ProSiebenSat.1 Welt is primarily entertainment and sports. It offers movies in German, detective series, comedy, quiz shows, etc. The news (from N24) is limited. Soccer fans will also enjoy Pro7. The new EuroNews channel is what the name says: European news in several languages, including German. (But read about the EuroNews catch on the next page.) A SuperDish antenna (an oval dish larger than the standard round dish) is required for reception of the German and other foreign-language channels. On the next page youll find a more detailed overview of the three channels in the Dish Network German Package. NEXT Programming Comparisons Programming Comparisons DW-TVThe former GERMAN TV channel on Dish Network is now the DW-TV channel. Although Deutsche Welle broadcasts worldwide in many languages (radio and TV), the version in the USA is in German and English only. Unlike GERMAN TV, which had all its programming in German, DW-TV alternates between English and German. For one hour the news and other broadcasts are in German. In the next hour the programming is in English, and so on. DW-TV focuses primarily on news, weather, and cultural information. The news broadcast Journal provides the news sports, and weather from Berlin, alternately in German and English. The news (worldwide and from Germany/Europe) is primarily aimed at viewers outside of Germany, unlike the nightly news from ARD or ZDF. Non-news shows pop up occasionally, including euromaxx (fashion, art, cinema, music, other trends), Pop Export (music made in Germany), and a few others. Earlier DW-TV hinted at possibly providing some ARD or ZDF (German public TV networks) entertainm ent programs in the future, and in May 2007 they did indeed add several German talk shows from ARD and ZDF. WEB DW-TV - USA ProSiebenSat.1 Welt (Pro7)Pro7 began broadcasting its U.S. programming in February 2005. The German commercial television network ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG was part of the Kirch Media empire until Leo Kirch went bankrupt in 2002. The network was put up for sale, but as of early 2006, the final fate of Pro7 and all its divisions was still up in the air. For American viewers the ProSiebenSat.1 Welt channel is part of Dish Networks German package. Its programming is a mix of shows from Germanys Pro7, kabel eins, N24, and Sat.1 channels. Although it can be purchased separately, the Pro7 channel makes a good complement to news-oriented DW-TV by offering viewers more entertainment and sports. All-German Pro7 has a schedule that includes talk shows, detective series, comedy shows, movies, soap operas, and quiz shows. Pro7 also features some documentary/exposà © reporting and N24 news, but its emphasis is on entertainment programing that can range from inane low-brow to quality high-brow leve ls. Although it would be interesting for American viewers, the German versions of The Simpsons, Will Grace or Desperate Housewives seen in Germany are not available on the U.S. Pro7 channel. ProSieben has plans to also be available in Canada. WEB ProSiebenSat.1 Welt NEW! As of May 2007 the German Kino Plus movie channel is now a part of the DISH German Package! More... EuroNewsIn December 2006 Dish Network added the EuroNews network to its German channel line-up. EuroNews in German is now available as part of the German package (and some other language packages). However, there is a catch to getting this new channel. Although I have a SuperDish and currently receive the German-language package, a Dish representative told me that I would need a new satellite dish in order to receive the EuroNews channel, even though it is part of the package I already have! Because the EuroNews channels come from a different satellite, I would have to pay $99.00 to install a new dish in order to receive EuroNews in German. This is not at all clear from their Web site, and I think its ridiculous for Dish to supposedly add a channel to my package that I cant get without shelling out almost a hundred dollars. If youre lucky enough to live in the right spot with a dish pointed to the right satellite, you may be able to get EuroNews in German without major extra cost. WEB EuroNewsWEB Dish Network German Package

Chinese History and Political Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese History and Political Science - Essay Example Throughout the world of art, this piece of painting is symbolic and has symbolism that relates to the Chinese culture in various ways. In terms of nature and art, the paintings’ name; landscape, is a combination of two characters namely; water and mountains (Sullivan, 140). With such imprinted in the painting, it is safe to say that nature and art go hand in hand. They have a connection in that both can be represented as one. Water and mountains are natures’ products; they appear naturally and as such certain mountains and rivers are only present in specific places. When this is incorporated into art, then an exquisite piece is generated; one which combines both nature and art to bring out the desired effect onto the art lovers (Sullivan, 165). In terms of tradition, paintings in the Chinese tradition are painted by artists with creative minds in that they imagine what to draw. What they imagine is idealized into landscapes, and this includes mountains (Sullivan, 182). In the Chinese culture, mountains are a blessing, and they are considered good to a persons’ soul. It is this belief that makes the Chinese people love mountains since they are viewed to reach up to the heavens. Colors used also signify something, especially that of water. When green is used, it signifies spring time while jade is summer, blue is autumn and black means winter. Chinese landscape paintings are painted with consideration and significance to the village, seasons, event, age, relationships and taste (Sullivan, 203). The Japanese court painting is a painting that symbolizes the tradition and culture of the Japanese people also in a number of ways (Mason and Donald, 124). The painting dates back to when Buddhism and Taoism had influence over certain denominations. It came to be known as the Heian period, where art signified art and its courts.

Overview the facts involved with managing in a unionized environment Essay

Overview the facts involved with managing in a unionized environment how does it differ from managing in a non-union environme - Essay Example The employees who are in unions ensure that their rights are not undermined and even sick times are seen as an entitlement or right instead of a benefit, and even coaching is seen as discipline and employees will challenge it. Employees in unions feel that if the management was good, there would be no problems in the workplace, and this makes them strive for better management all year. Managing employees who are unionized will differ from managing non- unionized ones in various ways. Union Management Relationship Unions will make it their business to ensure that respect between the employer and employees is key, and the employer must respect the union as the only bargaining agent of the employees. Additionally, the union must also respect the employers’ right to manage the workers and direct them, and this means that both parties must acknowledge their rights and obligations. Employers are also expected to allow employees to join unions of their choice, and this will include t he rights to strike without fear of being punished, coercion or harassment from the employer. This mutual respect will create a workforce where if concerns are raised they will be looked into because all the parties are aware of their responsibilities, and this helps in eliminating disputes. A co-operative union management encourages all the parties to a collective agreement that will reconcile differences and foster good relationships through a collaborative manner that is build on principles of mutual benefit, fairness, respect, dignity and trust (HR Council for the Nonprofit Sector, 2012). On the other hand, workers who are not in a union may not get these benefits as the management may dictate on them on the work they are to do failure to which they will be punished. Collective Agreement Managers in a unionized environment must reach at a collective agreement, which is a written consensus between the employer and the union regarding the terms of employment for the covered employ ees. This agreement is legally enforceable, and an employer cannot change its provisions. It acts as a bargaining unit and will stipulate a fair and equitable pay and working conditions (HR Council for the Nonprofit Sector, 2012). A collective agreement will be used to settle disputes in the workplace as there are laid down regulations that will dictate the conduct of each party and this helps in creating a conducive workplace. On the other hand, managing employees who are not in a union is different as there may lack a collective agreement, and this may result to many disputes in the organization which will be hard to resolve. Union Structure A union undergoes certification, and after this, it is given the legal right as an exclusive bargaining agent for a group of employees in a particular organization. For it to be satisfied it must demonstrate that employees support it as their bargaining unit and once certified it acquires the right for bargaining for employees after the worker s have set out a constitution, laws and procedures for the union. A bargaining committee is selected which will speak on the employee’s behalf and the employer must recognize the union as the bargaining unit. Contrary to this, employees who are not in a union lack a bargaining unit and the management may

Chinese Philosophy and Poetry Essay Example for Free

Chinese Philosophy and Poetry Essay Chinese Philosophy and Poetry One of the most prevalent beliefs of the Chinese philosophies is that men are born good. People are naturally good unless they fail to develop their feelings and senses. Confucianism teaches that a lack of knowledge can be the cause to evil. In Poem 238, a woman named Chiang Yuan gave birth to the human race by sacrificing and praying to God. She bore her child easily because she sought after blessings from God. Confucianism teaches that good things will come to those who are good and do good. A. N. Whiteheads quotation of a Cambridge vicar says, For well-conducted people, life presents no problems. The mother in the poem seemed to be well-conducted and therefore she was blessed with a painless, easy childbirth. It says that God gave her ease and blessed her because he was pleased with the sacrifice and prayer. The poem paints a picture of how even the animals protected the baby. This might be because of their view of being born flawless and without evil. This baby was protected by the animals because there was no evil in him. Hou Chi, the baby boy, grew up to be a wise man and continued to be blessed and prospered through his crops and farming. He would be considered to be the superior man because of his moral wisdom and his ability to tell right from wrong. Because he lived by his mothers example and gave sacrifices to God, good things came to him. The power of moral example is strongly shown here. His mother first taught him the importance of sacrifice and prayer and through that, he learned to do the same and show respect and fear God. Another philosophy is the importance of filial piety and reverence. Parents are revered because they give life to their children and sacrifice much for them. The child brought honor to his mother by keeping her religious traditions. God was pleased by his actions and blessed him his entire life. This is a very ideal form of what a man can be like, but it is very unrealistic. If man were actually born good, then evil would not have such a major influence and affect everyday lives.

Harnessing Wind Energy :: physics power energy green environment clean

Living in Rural Alaska is very expensive because of it's isolated location. It would be even more expensive if energy, mail service, and other services were not subsidized by the state of Alaska. In the late seventies and early eighties, the state of Alaska looked for ways to cut the high cost of subsidizing diesel fuel for generating electrical power to rural Alaska. It was during this time that wind energy was taken into consideration as a source of electrical power. The earliest known uses of wind power date back to 3000 BC, when people used wind to sail ships. Approximately 4000 years later, windmills were used in Europe to grind tobacco, wheat, and other grains. Later, in the 1700's, windmills were then used to pump water. It was not until the 1900's that wind mills were used for generating electric power. In the United States, windmills were used prior to widespead electrical distribution. The generation of wind can be traced back to solar energy. It is ultimately a renewable and clean energy source. This is what makes it attractive to many as a source of energy for power plants. Wind is created as a result of pressure differences in the atmosphere which is caused by temperature differences of radiating solar energy. Other factors that contribute to the flow of air (wind) is the rotation of the earth, and it's terrain. We could expect more wind over bodies of water since water provides less resistance to wind than do objects on the surface of the earth. If wind is essentially free, why don't we see more windmills? The reason is that wind doesn't blow whenever we need power. Wind energy can only be stored in batteries and much of the energy from wind can not be harnessed into useful energy. The public also views wind generators as an eyesore on the landscape. Wind, initially is in the form of kinetic energy, thus it has the equation: 1/2mv^2, where m is the mass, and v is velocity of the air. Using the fact that the mass is equal to the volume times the density, we can rewrite the equation for kinetic energy as k.e. = 1/2Vpv^2, where V is the volume, and p is the density of air. Furthermore, the volume through a surface is equal to the area of the surface times the velocity of the air, times the time, thus the equation becomes k.e. = 1/2pv^3At, where A is the area of the surface and t is the time.

Principles of Individual Decision-making Essay

Date In life, we have to make a decision just about everything that we do. These decisions affect our daily lives and they sometimes they affect the lives of those around us. When making these decisions there are make factors that go into making a final one. In economics there are four principles that effect how a person makes a decision (Mankiw, 2007): †¢ People face trade-offs. †¢ The cost of something is what you give up to get it. †¢ Rational people think at the margin. †¢ People respond to incentives. These four principles play an important role in economics. This paper will define each individual principle and then give the reader an insight on a personal decision of the author using the aforementioned principles. Trade-offs Making a trade-off is basically, choosing one thing over another. A classic Italian quote referring to a trade-off is â€Å"you can’t have a full wine bottle and a drunk wife†. As modern technology advances, one could argue that society has traded-off battery life in personal electronics for a smaller size and weight of the individual device. The Cost is What You Give Up After you have looked at what is being traded-off, then you can determine the true value of your decision by what you are giving up for it. As in the previous example of personal electronics, giving up battery life has a serious downside in that the personal electronic device will have to be charged more often, or it will be wired to a wall while the device is in use and charging. Here the cost can be a great one to a person that is  constantly on the go. Rational People Think at the Margin As Mankiw (2007) pointed out â€Å"Economists normally assume that people are rational† (p 6). Being rational means that an individual will do all that they can to achieve their goal with all that they have available to them. A rational person thinking at the margin or on the edge will be able to make decisions that allow them to achive their goal without giving up to much in overall cost. Going back to the personal electronic device, an individual could choose to go with the smaller and more lightweight device because of its portability, but they’ll bring along a portable charging device also, or use the product more sparingly to make the most of the available battery power. People Respond to Incentives An incentive can be varied to something positive like a benefit or something negative like a consequence. Incentives can be a large part of an individuals decision making process. The incentive that an individual would most likely respond to when choosing the new personal electronic device would be that they are carrying around less weight, therefore making them more mobile. The consequence side that would affect the decision would be rooted in the fact they will not be able to use the device as much as they would like. My Personal Decision Recently I took up the hobby of cycling and competitive road racing. A lot of thought went into my decision on whether to get involved or not. I will layout how I can to my decision using the four principles of decision-making. Trade-offs As I have aged I have picked up many hobbies. I was balancing my time between my hobbies, my family, and my job. My lists of hobbies included, but were not limited to, golfing, running, playing video games, and building model cars. I have always had bicycling as part of these hobbies, but it was only an occasional one. When I decided to actively cycle more, I had to  decide what to give up in exchange. First on that list of trade-offs were all of my hobbies. Second was family time. Cycling can take up hours of a day. I usually average 2 hours a day of riding time during the week and up to 4 hours a day on the weekends. I had a lot to think about in my decision. The Cost of what I gave up Giving up my hobbies for cycling was not a cost at all to me because I took that time I was using for the hobbies and focused it towards cycling. The cost of lost family time is more significant and placed more of an impact on my final decision. Being in the Navy and having five to eight month deployments can be hard on a family, so all time spent at home is very valuable. Rationally thinking at the Margin Fortunately I was wasting a lot of time on my other hobbies that it allowed me more time then what I was spending on the bike. I used this spare time with the family at home. Also, I took into account that as my daughters age, I can get them onto bicycles and spend time with them when I am doing my slow recovery rides which play a large part in my training. Incentives Finally, I took in to account the incentives of cycling to make the final decision. The most important incentive was setting an example to those around me. My children will see that I done just come home after work and do nothing constructive and that I am out there trying to improve myself . As for those I work with, they see that I can balance Work, Home and time for staying fit, and hopefully they will follow in my example. Another incentive was the aspect of fitness and personal health. No longer can there be the overweight chief that stresses the buttons of his uniform. In today’s Navy, a sailor is constantly representing his country, Navy, and ship. If a sailor does not fit in his uniform properly then he is not representing the Navy very well, and he could be hazard to the ship in an emergency situation if he is not physically fit. Conclusion In an economy there are four principles that are vital to the decision making process of how it will distributes it’s resources. The first is Trade-offs, giving up one thing for another. Then the determination of the cost of what you are giving up to get to your goal. Third, is the the thought that rational people think at the margin, meaning one will take advantage of all opportunities to achieve one’s goals. Finally, the principle that people respond to incentives, assists in determining the quantity or price of a certain resource. These principles are also applied in individual decision-making, and the results can affect more then just an individual but an entire economy. References Mankiw, N. G. (2007). Principles of Economics. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.

Changing Workforce Essay

Introduction: It is no surprise that the workforce is on the move and changing at a growing rate. There are several factors that lead into the changing workforce and play important roles. There are the workers who are leaving, the ones who will be staying and the new ones who will be entering, all of which have an important role to play in the US economy. This topic is important but it seems to weigh a little more heavily during an election period like we are in now. When the unemployed rate is high and the national debt is at an unprecedented amount it makes me wonder, who will our job force consist of and how will it be changing? Some of the important things that need to be considered when looking into how the workforce is changing is who is now entering the workforce that was not previously in it? How will this affect competition for jobs? Are education levels affecting the workforce? Childcare and Eldercare seem to be playing an increasing role in who works and who stays at home to care for th eir families, will this change? More minorities are also working in the US making a big change to the workforce, how does this play out with HRM and other parts of management? All of the questions and statements above need to be answered in order to find out why the workforce is changing and who comprises the majorities now. The workforce today is much more different than just 20 years ago. It is important as a human resource manager to stay up to date on these things and to know what the coming trends are for who you might be looking to employ. Significance of the topic to the field of Human Resource Management: The effects of the changing workforce on Human Resource managers are quite large. As of 2007 in healthcare there are older workers than younger ones. The issues arise in HRM with this when the technology is changing and schools are teaching different things that the older generations are not as familiar with if at all. The changing of technology in any field is greatly  affecting all parties involved. The issue of globalization and learning new policies and procedures of how to handle a workforce that is not in the same location you are is also something that is on the rise. The changing of the demographics as well as competition also plays a large role in why HRM is becoming such a fast paced changing job. The biggest issue that the US sees in the trend of the workforce changing is the older workforce. With an aged employee base come issues with health cost, retirements, age discrimination and succession planning. All of these things have to be considered and taking very seriously in HRM. It is important to handle all the issues legally and just fully but with the things like increasing healthcare cost for the older generations things get tough for the managers and decision makers. Literature Review: The article Trends and Challenges for work in the 21st Century goes over a lot of points on the changing workforce and what is making it change. It includes things such as changing demographics and why they are changing, the issue of people having or choosing not to have children while in and out of the workforce as well as our aging workforce. It looks at things such as insurance and pensions and whether or not those have any effects on people choosing to stay in the workforce longer or shorter amounts of time. Lerman, R. (n.d.). Trends and challenges for work in the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/herman/reports/futurework/conference/trends/trendsVII.htm This article had figures from the women in the workforce. It examined how many have children under 18 versus those who have children over 18 and are in the workforce. I think the goal of this study was to see how many females with younger children choose to stay at home rather than work. They also included a study of the race and sex of employees in the workforce and how it has changed. This article seemed to find that with the changes in technology, the adding of more women and more minorities to the workforce has made drastic changes and will continue to do so over the next decades. The article seems to lean on the side that people are choosing less or no children and that enables them to work more. However, having less or no children directly impacts the workforce for the coming generations. Nursing Leadership is a publication of where I found  the second article I reviewed. Although it focuses on one career instead of the workforce as a whole it is very specific how the workforce change has affected the nursing and medical industries. The change in technology seems to be the hardest adjustment for the ones who have been in the workforce the longest. Spinks, N. (n.d.). The changing workforce, workplace and nature of work. Retrieved from http://www.longwoods.com/content/19286 In this article Spinks talks about in 2010 that the older workforce will outweigh the younger ones. She talks about issues of predicting retirement, â€Å"Women’s retirement patterns are somewhat less predictable because we are only now beginning to experience large numbers of women in the paid labour force working until retirement†. (Spinks) Although the article is done about healthcare she makes a lot of good notations and observations about the workforce as a whole. In this article she lays out 7 strategies and solutions to help maintain a good strong workforce. Spinks did a lot of her observations and studies in Canada. One section of the article talks about having a workforce shortage and I can assure you the US has not had this issue in the last few years. She found that the workforce in Canada is much like the population there, many are not from Canada but rather born somewhere else and migrated there or their ancestors came to Canada making the work population there very diverse. To me it seems Spinks found that technology and diversity in the nursing and healthcare industry are the biggest struggles when you start to think about the workforce changing. That although this study was done in Canada where their health system is a bit different from that of the US the overall concept of the workforce aging and changing is the same. In the article the workforce is changing the way we do business printed in the USA today magazine the author talks about the corporations being able to keep up and how to handle the changes. The author goes into some detail on how to keep a completive edge even when your employee base that you once knew is now completely different. The author also talks about what to look for in the new employees that will be emerging, or what kind of people you should look to hire. Herman, R. E. (n.d.). The workforce is changing the way we do busines. Retrieved from http://www.retentionconnection.com/retention_article_workforce_changing.html This article explores the idea that its not just customers looking to be satisfied within a business but the workers are as well. Herman states that  while there are people out there willing to do work there are not enough qualified for the skilled jobs, thus making the competitive advantage harder to achieve today. One idea that Herman explores to help with this problem or situation is to concentrate on building workforce stability. He explains it like this â€Å"Concentrate on building workforce stability. Forget the revolving door of recruiting and hiring any warm body. It doesn’t work and will just create more problems for you. Replacing people who leave will become more chal lenging. Evaluate the qualifications for your next hire(s), and become more selective. If you’re going to invest in retention, you might as well have good people to retain.† (Herman) This article to me states there is indeed changes happening in the workforce but more importantly is how as a business we embrace the changes and hang on for what could be a rough time. It shows the importance of having skilled workers to help your company but at the same time there are not as many of them as there once was. Workforce planning makes for a smarter reduction in force is an article that seems to relate very well to the economic times the country has been and seems to be copiously enduring in regards to jobs and job demands. The idea that businesses need to cut cost means they have to look at lowering their work force to save money. This takes a different approach then the normal how is the workface changing articles bur rather how are businesses changing the workforce. Garbis, N. (01, 2010 06). Workforce planning makes for a smarter reduction in force. Retrieved from http://www.humanresourcesiq.com/business-strategies/articles/workforce-planning-makes- This article goes over the idea that businesses in this time of the economy being hard and not being as profitable they sometimes offer the employee to take some sort of severance package and leave. Garbis says you have the worse problem when to many leave, or you forecast incorrectly of how many of your workforce you need to eliminate. His studies show that having workforce planning in place can be very beneficial but it is something that needs to be re-visited often so that to many or to few employees are let go back out into the workforce when really they are needed. The article A Global March toward an aging workforce was written after a speech by an author of a man named Ted Fishman. Fishman looks at the ideas that the age range of the world population and those who are working now is not near the same as it was a decade or two ago.

Drawing the Color Line Essays

Drawing the Color Line Essays Drawing the Color Line Paper Drawing the Color Line Paper Drawing the Color Line Drawing the Color Line by Howard Zinn the second chapter from A People’s history of the United States. The authors writes this chapter to explain racism and how it started, â€Å"a continent were we can trace the coming of the first whites and the first blacks-might supply at least a few clues† he wants to use history to try to explain why it started. In this chapter Howard Zinn gives us an insight on Slavery and racism in the early 17th century of America. This chapter does not only tell us why slavery accrued but how it happened. The author Howard Zinn tells us how the Americans were simple prone to having slaves because of the circumstances they faced in the early 17th century. It was a period of starvation Howard Zinn tells us that â€Å" the Virginians of 1619 were desperate for labor, to grow food to stay aliveâ€Å". Among these people were also the survivors of the 1609-1610 the â€Å"starving timeâ€Å". This was a period of time were the colonist were desperate for food and would do anything for example they â€Å"dug up graves to eat the corpses†. Another incidents was when a man slew his wife and cute her into many pieces and fed upon her till he had eaten everything but her head. This was caused because many of the settlers weren’t used to working and didn’t even know how. They didn’t want to work, there was a time were john smith had to force the colonist to work in the fields just to be able to survive. The need for labor led the colonist to believe that Black slaves were the answer , it was natural to consider imported black slaves because by 1619 a million slaves had already been brought from Africa to South America. They were confined bellow deck all together, with no space at all. They weren’t even able to turn to the side. The smell on the ship was horrible. It was so bad that the slaves jumped ship to drown. The slaves would be held in cages and would be chained together. Blacks slaves were the answer because they couldn’t get the Indians to work for them. They could not keep them enslaved because they were â€Å"tough, resourceful, defiant, and at home in their own land†. While the black slaves had been torn from their culture and their land. Not only were they forced into a situation where everything was different, but they were torn from their families. They colonist even had a system that was both Psychological and Physical to try and discipline the slaves. The slaves rarely submitted willingly. The black slaves resisted and tried to run away they wouldn’t give up. Even though there was laws in trying to stop the blacks from running away, they still ran away. There were laws made that if anyone were to find black slave they should do to them what they feel be appropriate. Man slaves were killed or burnt in the book there was a case were a black slave was burnt in a slow fire for 8-10 hours. In some cases both white and black slaves ran way together but the punishment wouldn’t be the same white would only extend there period of serving as slaves and the black salves were hanged or killed. Even then they could see racism how the whites that committed the same crime would get treated differently then the black slaves. The black salves couldn’t do anything besides being slaves, so thought the white people. Even the white servants were treated different, not only were they working for a set period of time, but they were treated as humans and they had rights, and would receive land and pay at the end of their term. The white people justified their own slave trade because in Africa slavery existed too. This was not a good justification because a slave trader named John Newton stated that the way the slaves in Africa were treated much better and no man was allowed to draw blood no even from a slave. The colonist were cruel to the black slaves. â€Å"The reduction of the slaves to less than human status by the use of racial hatred, with the relentless clarity based on color, where the white was masters and the black was slave†. Even back in the early 17th century we saw racism. Another example was that the color black according to the Oxford English Dictionary it meant Deeply stained with dirt; soiled, dirty, foul. Having dark or deadly purposes, malignant; pertaining to or involving death, deadly†¦. liability to punishment, etc. , and the white was often used to describe beauty. Also that the greatest fear was that the white servants would join the black servants to overthrow existing order. This all goes back to the beginning of the book and the question that the author Howard Zinn asks â€Å" How does it start? †, â€Å"How might it end? † and â€Å"Is it possible for whites and blacks to live together without hatred? †

Cango Wk 4 Swot

Performing a SWOT analysis technique would be very beneficial at this point and will serve as the baseline to elaborate on a strategic plan for the organization. CG consultants have been monitoring CanGo’s processes for quite sometime, and we have developed the following preliminary SWOT analysis: Strength: ?Purchasing an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) would help to improve the warehouse, by purchasing an automated storage and retrieval system it is a great solution for CanGo’s handling inventory in a more effective and efficient manner. ?CanGo has had tremendous growth over the past couple of years. CanGo has also been recognized for as one of the fastest growing small business in the Hudson Valley. CanGo is continually looking to venture out into other areas, in an effort of improving the overall organization. Weaknesses: ?One of the biggest issues is the fact that CanGo does not have a Vision and Mission Statement. Without a vision and mission the organization does not have a clear direction of the organization. ?CanGo is also missing a Strategic plan, without a strategic plan there is no roadmap for growth and prosperity. Strategic planning will help you foresee and react quickly to market changes and opportunities. CanGo should conduct these strategic plans routinely, by doing so it helps you to see opportunities earlier and set up contingency plans so threats are minimized. ?Lack of a system analysis and programmer is also a weakness for CanGo, in general a system analyst would ensure that the requirements set forth by the business are captured and documented correctly before the solution is developed and implemented. Currently this is not happening for CanGo, so this is an area that needs to be addressed, without it CanGo would not have the knowledge of understanding how present and future business needs will impact the olutions and the implementation process. Opportunities: ?Investing in an in-house database that incorporates into an automated storage and retrieval system ASRS. Fully automated and integrated storage systems are the ultimate in warehouse management and efficiency. They allow for complete integration of the company’s ERP software with warehouse retrieval storage system. Order picking is optimized and controlled. ?CanGo would also benefit from updating their website to reinforce corporate and brand identity, this would help their existing investment in marketing go further. This would allow for CanGo to advertise services and products, build customer relations through personalized services, they could also benefit by conducting market research through their website. The internet is a great opportunity for your business to compete on a much more level playing field with much larger businesses. Threats ?CanGo faces losing business from their website to other websites due to their web search taking too long, where the competition’s website is optimized and produces the results quicker Recommendations Issue 1: Marketing to the right customers and consumers is vital to every business. A company needs to know how to market to a certain target to attract their customers so they can sell their goods and create a profit from their inventory. CanGo built their success onluck and they never bothered to get into the details of how their company became successful. They are lacking important and vital information to keep their company successful. Since there is no marketing department in CanGo, I would suggest for them to hire an outside company to conduct their marketing research; I believe that they would benefit from this. The upper management of CanGo should research the company that would best fit the job; perhaps choosing a company that specializes in the same industry as CanGo. There are many advantages to hiring an outside research company; they would be able to determine who the target customers are, where these customers are located, how to reach the target customers and exactly what type of product or services they are looking for. Once the marketing research company determines all of these issues, CanGo would be more effective in marketing their product. Issue 2: The fact that no one is tracking where the work is and who is supposed to be working on what can lead to many problems. Some employees may be doing more work than others because they are efficient and everything seems to land on their desk while others may be receiving credit for work they are not doing. In the video we saw that Nick was tasked out with creating a process flow chart, but he passed it on to someone else, and that some one pass it down to two more people. I believe in fair and equal work between team members so they should break down the work prior to initiating any task. There is nothing wrong with helping your teammates but not do the work for them. Passing work like that can also lead to it getting misplaced. They should use a flow chart to track where the work is. A Gantt chart or a document flow chart seem like a perfect fit for this occasion. The document flow chart will trace the process flow chart document through the system to avoid it getting lost. Losing information can also lead to the loss of secret or personal information. It can be very costly and time consuming to redo all the work that was lost. No one wants to redo what he or she already did. Issue 3: CanGo has been experiencing issues where customers are browsing the website and even selection items to purchase and placing them in their check-out cart; however the customers are leaving the website without making their purchases. It appears that the customers are experiencing issues regarding making purchases from the website. CG consultants have a number of recommendations to enhance the shop experience on CanGo’s website. One of the reasons may be due to trust. With internet connection, people want instant gratification. If your sale process is not hassle-free, many customers will go elsewhere. In order to keep customers coming back and to making purchases, CanGo needs to make sure that it is easy to navigate throughout the website, such as making sure that when a customer click on an item it loads up in a timely fashion, time counts, when shopping on websites. Other things that could enhance the website are having a clean and professional design; your home page has a huge impact on visitors. I would also include a search box that is user friendly, this way customers can locate items that they are interested in quickly. Online customer service is another feature that would enhance business, if customers wanted to chat about checkout problems, this could prevent cart abandonment. Not only can live support help customers figure out your site, locate products or ask questions, live chat can be reactive, where the system triggers a chat invitation based on user behavior. Last but not least there should be links to social networks, such as (Facebook, Twitter, etc. , all of these functionalities would enhance the customers visit to your website more inviting and pleasurable. Issue 4: At CanGo, there is an increase in customer complaints and returns, and before they bring in a new ASRS system and spend more money, they need to correct the customer issues beforehand. If customers are not satisfied with CanGo products or the way they are handling the ordering process, then complai ning is a good way for CanGo to realize they are doing something wrong, so they can fix it. In order to keep loyal CanGo customers as well as gain more, the company needs to address where the customers complaints are coming from. This could be from the website not being user-friendly or the customer is not getting enough feedback and going through with the purchase. If the customer does go through with the purchase, then CanGo seems to be getting more returns of the merchandise bought through the website. What CanGo needs to do is to start at the beginning to to look at the company through the eyes of the customer, and they need to figure out the best way to have the customer feel great and good about their purchases from step one of the buying process to the final purchasing stage of the process. Issue 5: Website optimization is very important to online businesses, when a customer makes a search on the website they do not want to have to wait long periods for the results. To improve the issue with the long search times they need to optimize their website and use website compression, this will allow the website to run much faster and produce the quicker results that the customers are wanting. Issue 6: To solve is issue with where the employees that are pickers will go once the ASRS system is implemented is simple, they can look at areas that have performance and possibly quality issues and they can place these employees there as opposed to terminating them. By placing these employees in these â€Å"problem† areas, this can increase the productivity of these areas increasing more work flow. Reference Monique. (2012, January 23). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://upandrunning. bplans. com/2012/01/23/the-benefit-of-market-research/ Best practices for speeding up your web site. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://developer. yahoo. com/performance/rules. html CanGo Video Week 34. (2012, November 11). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Harris, D. (n. d. ). Types of Flow Charts. Retrieved November 20, 2012, from eHow: www. ehow. com/about_5061018_types-flowcharts. html CanGo Videos Weeks 34. 2012, November 19). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Center for simplified Strategic Planning. (2011, November). Simplified strategic planning. Retrieved November 2012, from The best ways to reward employees: www. cssp. com/http:;www. entrepreneur. com/article/753340 CanGo Videos Weeks 34. (2012, November 19). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Top 10 Things Customers Expect from Your Online Store. (2012, 11 20). GetEelastic. Retrieved fro m http://www. getelastic. com/customer-expectations/ Cango Wk 4 Swot Performing a SWOT analysis technique would be very beneficial at this point and will serve as the baseline to elaborate on a strategic plan for the organization. CG consultants have been monitoring CanGo’s processes for quite sometime, and we have developed the following preliminary SWOT analysis: Strength: ?Purchasing an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) would help to improve the warehouse, by purchasing an automated storage and retrieval system it is a great solution for CanGo’s handling inventory in a more effective and efficient manner. ?CanGo has had tremendous growth over the past couple of years. CanGo has also been recognized for as one of the fastest growing small business in the Hudson Valley. CanGo is continually looking to venture out into other areas, in an effort of improving the overall organization. Weaknesses: ?One of the biggest issues is the fact that CanGo does not have a Vision and Mission Statement. Without a vision and mission the organization does not have a clear direction of the organization. ?CanGo is also missing a Strategic plan, without a strategic plan there is no roadmap for growth and prosperity. Strategic planning will help you foresee and react quickly to market changes and opportunities. CanGo should conduct these strategic plans routinely, by doing so it helps you to see opportunities earlier and set up contingency plans so threats are minimized. ?Lack of a system analysis and programmer is also a weakness for CanGo, in general a system analyst would ensure that the requirements set forth by the business are captured and documented correctly before the solution is developed and implemented. Currently this is not happening for CanGo, so this is an area that needs to be addressed, without it CanGo would not have the knowledge of understanding how present and future business needs will impact the olutions and the implementation process. Opportunities: ?Investing in an in-house database that incorporates into an automated storage and retrieval system ASRS. Fully automated and integrated storage systems are the ultimate in warehouse management and efficiency. They allow for complete integration of the company’s ERP software with warehouse retrieval storage system. Order picking is optimized and controlled. ?CanGo would also benefit from updating their website to reinforce corporate and brand identity, this would help their existing investment in marketing go further. This would allow for CanGo to advertise services and products, build customer relations through personalized services, they could also benefit by conducting market research through their website. The internet is a great opportunity for your business to compete on a much more level playing field with much larger businesses. Threats ?CanGo faces losing business from their website to other websites due to their web search taking too long, where the competition’s website is optimized and produces the results quicker Recommendations Issue 1: Marketing to the right customers and consumers is vital to every business. A company needs to know how to market to a certain target to attract their customers so they can sell their goods and create a profit from their inventory. CanGo built their success onluck and they never bothered to get into the details of how their company became successful. They are lacking important and vital information to keep their company successful. Since there is no marketing department in CanGo, I would suggest for them to hire an outside company to conduct their marketing research; I believe that they would benefit from this. The upper management of CanGo should research the company that would best fit the job; perhaps choosing a company that specializes in the same industry as CanGo. There are many advantages to hiring an outside research company; they would be able to determine who the target customers are, where these customers are located, how to reach the target customers and exactly what type of product or services they are looking for. Once the marketing research company determines all of these issues, CanGo would be more effective in marketing their product. Issue 2: The fact that no one is tracking where the work is and who is supposed to be working on what can lead to many problems. Some employees may be doing more work than others because they are efficient and everything seems to land on their desk while others may be receiving credit for work they are not doing. In the video we saw that Nick was tasked out with creating a process flow chart, but he passed it on to someone else, and that some one pass it down to two more people. I believe in fair and equal work between team members so they should break down the work prior to initiating any task. There is nothing wrong with helping your teammates but not do the work for them. Passing work like that can also lead to it getting misplaced. They should use a flow chart to track where the work is. A Gantt chart or a document flow chart seem like a perfect fit for this occasion. The document flow chart will trace the process flow chart document through the system to avoid it getting lost. Losing information can also lead to the loss of secret or personal information. It can be very costly and time consuming to redo all the work that was lost. No one wants to redo what he or she already did. Issue 3: CanGo has been experiencing issues where customers are browsing the website and even selection items to purchase and placing them in their check-out cart; however the customers are leaving the website without making their purchases. It appears that the customers are experiencing issues regarding making purchases from the website. CG consultants have a number of recommendations to enhance the shop experience on CanGo’s website. One of the reasons may be due to trust. With internet connection, people want instant gratification. If your sale process is not hassle-free, many customers will go elsewhere. In order to keep customers coming back and to making purchases, CanGo needs to make sure that it is easy to navigate throughout the website, such as making sure that when a customer click on an item it loads up in a timely fashion, time counts, when shopping on websites. Other things that could enhance the website are having a clean and professional design; your home page has a huge impact on visitors. I would also include a search box that is user friendly, this way customers can locate items that they are interested in quickly. Online customer service is another feature that would enhance business, if customers wanted to chat about checkout problems, this could prevent cart abandonment. Not only can live support help customers figure out your site, locate products or ask questions, live chat can be reactive, where the system triggers a chat invitation based on user behavior. Last but not least there should be links to social networks, such as (Facebook, Twitter, etc. , all of these functionalities would enhance the customers visit to your website more inviting and pleasurable. Issue 4: At CanGo, there is an increase in customer complaints and returns, and before they bring in a new ASRS system and spend more money, they need to correct the customer issues beforehand. If customers are not satisfied with CanGo products or the way they are handling the ordering process, then complai ning is a good way for CanGo to realize they are doing something wrong, so they can fix it. In order to keep loyal CanGo customers as well as gain more, the company needs to address where the customers complaints are coming from. This could be from the website not being user-friendly or the customer is not getting enough feedback and going through with the purchase. If the customer does go through with the purchase, then CanGo seems to be getting more returns of the merchandise bought through the website. What CanGo needs to do is to start at the beginning to to look at the company through the eyes of the customer, and they need to figure out the best way to have the customer feel great and good about their purchases from step one of the buying process to the final purchasing stage of the process. Issue 5: Website optimization is very important to online businesses, when a customer makes a search on the website they do not want to have to wait long periods for the results. To improve the issue with the long search times they need to optimize their website and use website compression, this will allow the website to run much faster and produce the quicker results that the customers are wanting. Issue 6: To solve is issue with where the employees that are pickers will go once the ASRS system is implemented is simple, they can look at areas that have performance and possibly quality issues and they can place these employees there as opposed to terminating them. By placing these employees in these â€Å"problem† areas, this can increase the productivity of these areas increasing more work flow. Reference Monique. (2012, January 23). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://upandrunning. bplans. com/2012/01/23/the-benefit-of-market-research/ Best practices for speeding up your web site. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://developer. yahoo. com/performance/rules. html CanGo Video Week 34. (2012, November 11). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Harris, D. (n. d. ). Types of Flow Charts. Retrieved November 20, 2012, from eHow: www. ehow. com/about_5061018_types-flowcharts. html CanGo Videos Weeks 34. 2012, November 19). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Center for simplified Strategic Planning. (2011, November). Simplified strategic planning. Retrieved November 2012, from The best ways to reward employees: www. cssp. com/http:;www. entrepreneur. com/article/753340 CanGo Videos Weeks 34. (2012, November 19). Retrieved from DeVry University: www. devryu. net Top 10 Things Customers Expect from Your Online Store. (2012, 11 20). GetEelastic. Retrieved fro m http://www. getelastic. com/customer-expectations/

NHS omputer System Failures Affecting Patient Care Assignment

NHS omputer System Failures Affecting Patient Care - Assignment Example Computers have assisted man ever since their inception. This assignment describes the infusion of Information Technology in the field of health and medicine that has led to the rebirth of the said field. Technological advancements that have affected the field of health were described in the assignment and have affected the human society as a whole directly and have mostly proved to be beneficial rather than hazardous. The researcher focuses on analysis of the NHS OR NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE that is an organization that was established in UK. The core idea behind the establishment of National Health Services-NHS was to provide high quality of healthcare to all the patients. This was specially intended keeping in mind that no patient should be made to suffer because of his financial stature. Thus apart from very few procedures the NHS unanimously provides medical services to all its patients that are UK residents. Since its inception, there was always one issue or the other that inhibit ed the successful growth of the system, such as the delaying of computerized scheduled patient operations, subscription of timely and accurate medicines, failing to detect and ensure treatment of cancer patients within two weeks and those of emergent nature within four hours. The researcher analyzed and investigated problems, that were mentioned above and provided his own opinion on success of the National Health Services organization as well as some gave some recommendations and solutions found to solve the problems.