Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 58

Assignment Example Hill et al. (2010) provided evidence that workplace flexibility decreases work-life conflict and improved productivity by motivating employees to work longer hours. They stressed that schedule flexibility must be related to workplace flexibility too. Thus, reducing a five-day work week to a four-day one will greatly improve the wellbeing of employees, which will directly contribute to their morale and energy at the workplace. Facer and Wadsworth (2010) presented their findings on the Utah’s implementation of a four-day work week for state employees. Findings showed that decreased work week schedules considerably lessened participants’ total commute time, thereby boosting employees’ personal time that they can use for social and household activities, or sleep. Lowering long commute times can offer concrete benefits for organizations, since this research gives evidence that longer commutes result to more stress, more health problems, more absenteeism and tardiness, and lower performance. This source is useful for my proposal because it supports the benefits of a four-day work week at individual, company, and society levels. For individuals, they will save money and time in going to work and they can feel less work-life conflict; for companies, they can experience less expenses in electricity and other tools used by employees; and for society, social and environmental benefits are appar ent. For Chapter Ten, I learned valuable resource evaluation knowledge and skills. For instance, I used to take studies for granted, meaning that I no longer evaluate their validity and reliability. From now on, I use a system in evaluating my sources. First, I evaluate the source for its â€Å"reputation for honesty and credibility† (p.245). I examine the journals and their methods in choosing their published articles. I learned to prefer peer-reviewed over non-peer reviewed sources. Second, I discovered that it is critical to assess the

Financial & Budgetary Management. Planning Business Performance Essay

Financial & Budgetary Management. Planning Business Performance - Essay Example A budget is a report statement of management’s plans for a specific time period expressed in financial terms (Weygant & Kieso & Kimmel, 2002, p.982). The purpose of this report is to describe the important of a budgeting function and the way it can easily implanted into a business information system. A budget is created to meet the desired timeframe a manager desires. The period of time a budget is created for is a one year accounting period, which is typically aligned with the company fiscal year or the natural year. A budget is an extremely valuable tool that provides decision makers with many advantages. Some of these advantages include; Budgeting is based on the amount of expected economic resources a firm estimates it will generate. Sales are the main source of economic incentive for companies. A budget is created in order to determine the resources need to create the target sales total. The value of a lot of business variables are determined based on expected revenue outcomes. The amount of material purchases, labor requirements, machinery upgrades, information system maintenance among other factors are determined based on an annual budget of a corporation. Budgets are associated with the responsibility centers such as cost centers, profit centers and investment centers. The return on investment of an investment center is studied based on the investment budget which allows the owner to create different profit forecast by manipulating the data from the budget of the investment project. The evaluation that takes place utilizing budgets is data that can be trust if it meets the basic performance standards: Accountability provides budgets with the credibility among professionals since it ensures the system is protected from material error. Accountability is one of many qualities that ensure the quality of the information in the budgeting system. Timeliness, authority, objectivity and accuracy are other variable that ensure quality information is

Problem Solution Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Problem Solution Argument - Essay Example The multi-billion dollars academic research funded by marketers is manipulative and unethical so it should be considered illegal. Marketers have the rights to find ways on how to improve their services to maximize their profits. However, there should be a limit to how they employ such ways and maintain ethical principles as they work. Background Information Large companies hire researchers, consultants, and analysts to conduct studies on the various human behaviors using different methods. Especially during global crisis, companies are more driven to increase their sales profits. According to Gladwell article, â€Å"the time per visit that the average American spends in a shopping mall was sixty-six minutes last year down from seventy-two minutes in 1992- and is the lowest number recorded† (Gladwell 95). With economic problems, consumers’ interests of going to malls had fallen. Despite the drop in the number of hours consumers spend in malls, sellers’ profits can be improved through researches on consumer behaviors. Paco Underhill is a researcher who graduated from Columbia who had analyzed hours of shopping videotape in the past decades (Gladwell 95). Through analyzing consumer behaviors, marketers recognize that not all consumers are the same, which is why marketers now do segmentation of consumers. Segmentation is another effective trick and method used by marketers to be able to create the right advertisement for the targeted consumers. Kids are well impacted by the segmentation system. Advertisement has changed rapidly from only a few large companies such as Disney, McDonald, and others, but in our contemporary society, now almost all companies target children for their own benefits. According to Eric Schlosser, â€Å"Today children are being targeted by phone companies, oil companies, and automobilecompanies as well as clothing stores and restaurant chains†. Children are exposed to 40,000 commercials per year. American Companie s are recorded to spend $800 million per year for kids’ advertisement and the revenues are triple. With $800 initial money, they earned $29 billion revenues. Moreover, the Europeans generate revenues between $620 to $930 million. This shows that kids bring huge profits to many producers. Marketers did not only do surveys but they also focused on kids to be questioned secretly without their parents’ notice to obtain the information. Thanks to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that took effect on April, 2000, children’s exposure to abuse are a little limited. Nowadays, clubs seem to be the trend in getting to children. â€Å"According to one Burger King executive, the creation of a Burger King Kids Club in 1991 increased the sales of children's meals as much as 300 percent† (Schlosser). In addition, researchers found out that about 80 percent of kids dream about animals. This information is used by many marketers to create imaginary figure s that will be liked by the young children, used for advertisements to entice them. It is interesting to note how marketers target children because they are easily manipulated due to their immaturity. Lastly, the other technique used by the researchers is Neuromarketing, a process where the possible responses of consumers are studied in order to create products that would meet their ‘

RUNNING HEAD TEAM DYNAMICS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

RUNNING HEAD TEAM DYNAMICS - Essay Example So, effective and efficient groups work provides security and social satisfaction for customers and organization supporting individual needs and promoting communication, formally or informally. Recent trends underline the important of client-oriented relations and high level of cohesiveness in working groups which ensures clients satisfaction and improve service level. (Buchholz and Roth 1987). The advantage and benefits of working in teams are joined actions of all team members and an opportunity to work on complex problems and solutions. For this reason, team work plays a crucial role as it is concerned with provision of services for the diverse client population. Design of a team and effective leader can be seen only as tools for providing effective support. Neither a group work nor a leader in isolation cannot secure effective work of modern organizations. Group work is a complex notion which depends upon different strategies and methods. Modern organizations deal socially and economically with diverse settings. The class-based approach has a tendency to foster autonomy of client population. ... (Dickson and Hargie 2003). The main challenge of team work is effective communication and coordination of all team members, motivation and rewards. In general, a work team can be defined as a group of individuals working interdependently to solve problems or accomplish tasks. Teams are a powerful design option for organizations that hope to meet the challenges of increased global competition, improve output quality, and address the social needs of the ever-changing global workforce. However, the success or failure of work teams in multinational organizations will depend largely on communication. Effective communication requires that HR practitioners adapt key assumptions about motivation, structure, and accountability. Adapted assumptions must support lateral thinking, collaboration, interdependence, a focus on process, permeable boundaries, and mutual responsibility. Following LaFasto and Larsen (2001) the "key ingredients" for successful teamwork are "openness, supportiveness, action orientation and personal style" (p. 5). Work teams are most effective when there is high task interdependence or a high degree of coordination and collaboration required between team members to accomplish tasks. Thus, a group of insurance sales agents who are geographically dispersed and have little interaction with one another to carry out their tasks would most likely be an inappropriate context in which to implement teams. The agents would probably see such an effort as an empty, poorly developed strategy designed to capitalize on a management fad. Work teams are also more appropriate when the tasks that their members carry out are complex and well designed (Dickson and

Fashion abstracts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Fashion abstracts - Essay Example The prelude of my exhibition was fostered on the affirmation given â€Å"The whole art of living is mirrored in fashion† (Beaton 1975). Clothing and accessories are vital elements of studying the popular culture and social history of a given people. Based on fashion on can be able to tell to which class or status one hails from, as well as the gender factor is well determined via fashion constitutes, since the female fashion is way different from the male fashion. Furthermore, the clothing and textile museum was established in 1996 to carter for the storage of fashion artifacts to serve as holotypes of the past culture in relation to the present fashion culture of a people. The exhibition done is fostered on inference done on the clothing ages and the artifacts that’s relate to this ages, for instance, on the dress artifacts we found a varied constellation of dress fashions. Notably, the silk dress (branded sleeves) was a fashion icon of late 1830 and 1180. Furthermore, the museum had a collection of various accessories that went hand in hand with the fashion trend of that age, for example the bell bottom was accustom of the 1970s and a flashy checked shirt acted as its accessory. Within the museum the main chronology of historical accounts stated that a large collection of the clothing artifacts were predominantly from the overseas region that at one point was more advanced in terms of fashion ability. Some such as the waistcoat and women’s pocket was a fashion trend from North America. Some artifacts were picked from different nations such as the paper jumpsuit from Turkey, the inclined boots from Texas State †¦..e.t.c In conclusion, I gained a lot of information on the diversity of culture based on the study of different fashions of clothing. However, the main principle learned was that the fashion world had evolved since time in memorial to date. Nonetheless, the present fashion borrows some

Animal Lane Cattery Information Technology System Essay Example for Free

Animal Lane Cattery Information Technology System Essay The Animal Lane Cattery, a privately owned small business, needs an efficient, updateable, expandable, easily accessible information system to track and document clients needs for boarding/grooming services. The objective is to design and develop a system that fulfils the needs of the Cattery. An effective electronic filing system will eliminate lost paperwork, minimize errors, and provide a method for quality customer service. I will be designing and making the system that we choose for the Cattery. As the Cattery has expanded its boarding and grooming services to accommodate a total of 15 cats in separate pens, an increase in customer complaints have been received concerning the Catterys inaccurate and time-consuming tracking of specific client information. This inefficiency means that clients have to give an update of their felines information to the Catterys staff and has resulted in service errors. At the moment, they use a flatbed database, which only allows you to work with one table open at any time. The Cattery has considered using a pen and paper system, writing things out manually and storing information on paper, but a more efficient system would be a relational database. Their ideal system is a relational database, and this will allow them to have macros, reports, queries, and searches based on the information needed. This, therefore, is the system that I will be developing for the Catterys usage. Objectives: The user needs to be able to: -view the information -search for specific information -print out receipts for clients Alternatives: There are many relational database packages I could have chosen to work with, but I have decided to use the database package Microsoft Access because I have great respect for Bill Gates and also, Microsoft Access is an older program, therefore any bugs in the system will hopefully have been fixed and the package improved. I could have used Microsoft Works, but there cannot be any more than one table open at a time, and it is necessary that I have multiple tables. Users: The users of this database will be the Catterys staff- full and part-time employees responsible for the care and grooming of the cats. The Office Staff will be able to view and edit the data, whereas the Grooming Staff will only view the information they need. ANALYSIS The software I decided to use here is Microsoft Access to create and view the database. The hardware needed is a keyboard to enter data, a mouse, a printer to print out the receipts, and the computer monitor. All data will be output using the printer. I will need to ensure that there is enough memory for a relational database to function. This should not be a problem, as Microsoft Access (which I have chosen to use) does not require that much memory space, and there will be plenty of space available on their office computer, which, other than the necessary software components, will be used solely for the database used for the storing of data and the running of the Cattery. Backup copies of data will be stored on tape. The tape needs to be clearly labeled and stored in a water-tight case inside a fire-proof storage box away from the initial source of data, in case of fire or flood that may damage the computer that contains the original data. Using floppy disks as a form of backup was considered, but the database is relatively large and updated on a daily basis, so the floppy disks will not have a capacity large enough to adequately store the data. Data collection: The data will be collected from the clients using a form that they will fill in giving the information needed by the Cattery. The fields required will be on the data capture form given to clients. These will be in the form of questions, such as the ones below: -What is the cats name and owners contact information? -What is the cats vets contact number (in case of emergency)? -What is the cats meal schedule? -What are the boarding drop-off and pick-up dates? -What are the cats grooming requirements? There will doubtless be other questions that the staff will need to know the answers to. To update the data, I will need to remove certain clients information and replace it with new data when the first cats are collected. The printed data will be the reports when a search is started, and a second report to give as a receipt to customers when they collect their pet. DESIGN Two tables will be developed: owner information and services. The link between the two tables is the owner code. Each owner has only one address, but multiple cats may reside at the same address. Each cat has personal service needs even if it shares the same owner as another. The client names and cat names will not be used as key fields because there might be multiple clients with the same names or cat names. Office staff at the Cattery may view and modify the data in both tables, and the grooming staff may view data. Following are the hand-drawn designs of the database. First are the initial rough designs to show the basic layout of the database. I will then give a data capture form (next page) to one of the users (an office staff person) asking what things they think could be done better and how the design of the database could be improved to make using it easier. The users comments will then be taken into account when making the final designs of the database, detailed so that anybody could create the same database that I will be making for the Cattery. Final Users Comments (after having reviewed the initial designs) How effective do you think the designs will be? What do you think could be improved, from what you have seen of the initial designs? What is lacking from the database (if anything)? Other comments: IMPLEMENTATION On the following pages are the print screens of the way the Catterys database was created (tables, forms, queries, reports, macro code etc). EVALUATION The original objectives outlined in my Identification stage were met. The Cattery now has a useful and fast system to find and store their clients information, to view and search for specific information, and to print out things like receipts for clients. After having reviewed the owners comments and compared to the things I have changed, I feel I have improved the database enough for him to be comfortable with using it. I took in to account the things he mentioned about needing designs for reports and queries, and lessening vagueness of some designs. I feel I have achieved my objective in making the Cattery an effective, easy system to hold all their information.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Policy Analysis

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Policy Analysis Policy Analysis on Female Genital Mutilation FGM The policy on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), adopted by the Human Rights Commission of Ontario, Canada, in 1996 (and further revised it in 2000) acknowledges the practice as an internationally recognized violation against women and girls human rights and looks at the domestic implications of Canadas obligations as a signatory to international conventions and treaties which recognize FGM as a human rights violation. The policys focus is on the practice of FGM in Canada by immigrant groups who have brought the practice to the country from their countries of origin in Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia. The policy looks at human rights issues as well as health, social and criminal law concerns. The Ontario Commission acknowledges the complex social and cultural roots of FGM and the need for dialogue and education initiatives within the at-risk communities in Ontario and across Canada. However, it underlines that arguments based on a defence of cultural or religious values sh ould not be accepted as justification for the practice, nor for discriminating against women who have been subjected to, or perceived to have been subjected to, genital mutilation. Significantly, immigrant groups and advocacy organizations in Canada have acknowledged the need to deal with FGM as an internationally recognized health and human rights concern. This essay will first of all define FGM and look at the reasons the practice has survived in some regions despite international condemnation. It will also give a summary of the key elements of the Ontario Commissions policy, the arguments it uses to justify its actions and also show that in this case, the need to protect and promote the rights of women and girls is more important than concerns of cultural imperialism. The policy adopted by the Human Rights Commission of Ontario on FGM is based on the over-arching argument that the importance of good health to a womans well-being and that of her family and society cannot be overstated. Without reproductive health and freedom, women cannot fully exercise their fundamental human rights, such as those relating to education and employment. Womens disproportionate poverty, low social status, and reproductive role expose them to high health risks, resulting in needless and largely preventable suffering and deaths. The benefits of eliminating the harmful and painful practice of FGM are easily demonstrated, yet the practice persists for cultural and traditional reasons. FGM is a gender-specific violation of the rights of girls and women to physical integrity. Over the years, FGM has become recognized not only as a health hazard and a form of violence against women and girls, but also as a human rights issue under international law. Efforts at the international level, particularly by United Nations agencies, have placed FGM on womens health and human rights agendas. FGM is practised by many ethnic groups, from the east to the west coast of Africa, in southern parts of the Arabian peninsula, along the Persian Gulf and among some migrants from these areas in Europe, Australia and North America. It has also been reported in some minority groups in India, Malaysia and Indonesia. In these societies, FGM is considered a rite of passage preparing young girls for womanhood and marriage. However, often performed without anaesthetic under septic conditions, FGM or female circumcision as it is sometimes called, can cause death or permanent health problems as well as severe pain. Despite these grave risks, its practitioners look on it as an integral part of their cultural and ethnic identity, and some perceive it as a religious obligation. The most severe form of FGM, infibulation, which involves removal of the clitoris, results in trauma that is repeated after each childbirth. In many communities FGM is believed to reduce a womans libido, and thereby is further believed to help her resist illicit sexual acts. Cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are clean and beautiful is also another reason for which FGM is carried out (WHO). The practice has been condemned in many international fora and by womens groups as a manifestation of gender inequality and an attempt by society to exert total control over women. In countries where FGM is widely practised, however, it is often supported by both men and women, usually without question, and anyone departing from the norm may face condemnation, harassment. It is often practised even when it is known to inflict harm upon girls because the perceived social benefits of the practice are deemed higher than its disadvantages (UNICEF, 2005a). Though no religious scriptures prescribe the practice, practitioners often believe it has religious support. Religious leaders take varying positions with regard to FGM: some promote it, some consider it irrelevant to religion, and others contribute to its elimination. In most societies, the procedure is considered a cultural tradition, which is often used as an argument for its continuation (WHO). Local structures of power and authority, such as community leaders, religious leaders, circumcisers, and even some medical personnel can contribute to upholding the practice. The age at which the procedure is performed varies depending on the ethnic group and location. It is sometimes performed on babies, more commonly on girls between ages 4 and 8, but also in adolescence, or as late as the time of marriage or during the first pregnancy. Adult women are under pressure to submit to it in order to ensure the status which marriage and childbearing confer and to demonstrate solidarity with fa mily and community. Younger women and girls have no choice at all (UNFPA). The Human Rights Commission of Ontario has successfully and forcefully used several arguments to make its case against the practice of FGM among minority communities living on Canadian territory. International Law: FGM has been condemned by numerous international and regional bodies including the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Organization of African Unity and the World Medical Association. In 1995, the Platform for Action of the World Conference on Women in Beijing included a section on the girl child and urged governments, international organizations and Non-governmental groups to develop policies and programmes to eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child including FGM. The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines violence against women as encompassing, inter alia, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women. The Commission underlines that in various African countries where the procedure is performed, comprehensive action plans have been developed by womens groups to attempt to eliminate the practice- although overall progress has been slow. FGM has been outlawed in Sudan since 1946, but it continues to be widely practised. In Burkina-Faso and Egypt, resolutions were signed by the respective Ministers of Health in 1959, recommending that only partial clitoridectomy be allowed, and decreeing that it be performed only by doctors. In 1978, as a direct result of the efforts of the Somali womens movement, Somalia established a Commission to abolish infibulation. In 1984, participants from twenty African countries, as well as representatives of international organizations attending a seminar in Dakar, Senegal, on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children and recommended that the practice be abolished. African states acknowledged that there was a need to establish strong, on-going education programmes for meaningful progress towards elimination of the practice. Rights of the Child: The policy points to the link between FGM and the rights of the child, saying that the Convention on the Rights of the Child asserts that children should have the possibility to develop physically in a healthy and normal way, with adequate medical attention and be protected from all forms of cruelty. The Convention establishes the rights of children to gender equality, to freedom from all forms of mental and physical violence and maltreatment and to the highest attainable standard of health. An article of the Convention explicitly requires States to take all effective and appropriate measures to abolish traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children. FGM and health rights: The physical and psychological health complications resulting from genital mutilation of women have been extensively documented. The partial or complete loss of sexual function constitutes a violation of a womans right to physical integrity and mental health. Domestic implications of international human rights law: the Commission argues that since Canada plays a prominent role in the international arena as a supporter and promoter of womens human rights and is a signatory to over twenty major international conventions and treaties, the province of Ontario would be in compliance with its obligations by taking steps to eradicate this practice. Domestic or national courts are required to interpret implementing legislation in conformity with international convention insofar as the domestic legislation permits. This is also the case in Europe where legislation prohibiting the practice of FGM exists in Sweden, France and Great Britain where the procedure carries a penalty of imprisonment. Criminal Law: The Criminal Code can be used to control the transportation of female children outside the country for the purpose of obtaining FGM. A memorandum was issued to all Chiefs of Police and the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, stating that FGM is a criminal offence. In 1997, FGM was included in the Criminal Code and put under aggravated assault- any person who commits an aggravated assault is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years. If a parent is present and is in agreement with the act of FGM being performed on their child as well as if the parent performs the operation themselves can be convicted. Duty to report: In Ontario, a duty to report FGM exists under the policy of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO). Under the CPSO policy, the performance of female circumcision, excision, infibulation and/or reinfibulation by a physician licensed in Ontario, unless medically indicated, would be regarded as professional misconduct. Under Ontarios Child and Family Services Act,42 there is a duty to report information with respect to a child who is in need of protection. This duty exists despite the provisions of any other Act. If a person has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is or may be in need of protection, the person is obliged to report the suspicion to appropriate authorities. The Ontario Human Rights Code: The Ontario Human Rights Code, recognizes the inherent worth and dignity of every person in Ontario. The creation of a society in which all persons can live and work in an environment that is free from discrimination is central to the policy objectives of the Ontario Human Rights Commission in virtue of the Code. There are new immigrants to Canada who may not be aware that some of their traditional or culturally rooted attitudes and values may result in practices that are clearly in conflict with Canadian law, including the Ontario Human Rights Code. FGM is practised within certain immigrant groups- where the families might not consider the operation as a form of physical or sexual abuse. The Commission does recognise the need to treat such issues in a sensitive manner and to educate the public on human rights issues. The need to work with communities: The Commission acknowledges the complex social and cultural roots of FGM and the need for dialogue and education initiatives within the at-risk communities in Ontario and across Canada. However, it is the Commissions view that arguments based on a defence of cultural or religious values should not be accepted as justification for the practice, nor for discriminating against women who have been subjected to, or perceived to have been subjected to, genital mutilation. The Commission is committed to working with members and organizations of the at-risk communities, as well as with other agencies in the public sector in developing public education initiatives around FGM. The efforts of the Commission, together with those of the affected communities and concerned organizations, can help to create an environment in which people are encouraged to eradicate the practice, without imposing a threat to the dignity and cultural identity of the affected communities. The Commissions focus is very correctly on eradicating FGM among immigrants in Toronto which are from the regions where FGM is practised. It is estimated that there are 70,000 immigrants and refugees from Somalia and 10,000 from Nigeria. Reliable statistics on the incidence of FGM are not available. However, based on discussions with members of the communities that are at risk, there is some evidence to indicate that FGM is practised in Ontario and across Canada and that in some cases, families from those communities send their daughters out of Canada to have the operation performed. The Commission is working with local non-governmental groups to spread the message. The National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada has prepared a workshop manual for health care workers and facilitators working with communities that have traditionally practised FGM. The aim is to educate participants about the health and legal consequences of FGM, to correct misperceptions and fallacies about the tradition and to support efforts to eradicate the practice. As there were no co-ordinated efforts between various professionals and institutions, and no consistent policy in Canada regarding FGM, members of affected communities requested that the Minister Responsible for Womens Issues establish an Ontario FGM Prevention Task Force. The Task Force, an inter-ministerial/agency/community initiative, was mandated to develop and recommend strategies and policies designed to provide support for girls and women who have been subjected to FGM, to prevent the practice, and to support community work by, and for women affected by genital mutilation. The focus is not on imposing a foreign value system (the concept of cultural imperialism) on societies in Africa etc. but asking immigrants and religious groups which have come to live in Canada to act in accordance with the countrys concerns about the health of women and their reproductive rights. The policy is therefore based around the idea of the empowerment of women and of ensuring an end to discrimination. The Commissions policy has had a direct impact on immigrant communities living in Ontario but also helped to publicise the problem in other parts of Canada and the world. In 1994, in a landmark ruling, Canada also became the first Western country to recognise FGM as grounds for granting asylum. The Human Rights Commission of Ontario has therefore taken a courageous and ground-breaking policy stance to tackle a serious violation of the rights of women.