One Today- Poem Analysis Essay

Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama’s second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled â€Å"One Today† that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who’s daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is. Blanco uses several rhetorical devices throughout â€Å"One Today†, more so in the first few stanzas. An example of figurative language he used was the repetition of certain words or similar words in order to create a flow within the poem. My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors† is a line in the poem that best represents this. Blanco also uses personification to give a better description of the beauty that he is describing, such as â€Å"plum blush of dusk†. Another use of figurative language found in stanza four is the repetition of the word â€Å"hands† which he uses to represent the many hard-working hands of America and the things they do to contribute to the well-being of the country. The word choice in the poem is a big part of what I think ties the whole poem together, and creates a theme that carries through each stanza. As you read the poem you will notice the excessive use of the word â€Å"one† which is most often featured at the beginning of a stanza and followed by something that connects everyone in the country together. An example of this is the first line in the fourth stanza of the poem, which reads â€Å"One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat and hands†¦ . Another example is the use of words that represent movement. â€Å"Rose, charging, crescendoing, teeming, launching, jetting† are all words used throughout the poem that outline the daily movement that occurs in the lives of American citizens. In the sixth stanza of the poem Blanco gives examples of the many different ways that you may hear U. S residents say hello. I think that he did this to represent the many different cultures that make up the population of the United States, and the vast amount of languages that they speak. I think the tone and voice that this poem has is that of pride and patriotism. The author does this by outlining the good qualities that the United States has to offer. However he does this is in such away that it does not sound like bragging, because he does not boast about all of the beauty or things that America is known for but rather the people who work to make it this way and how these things bring them together. â€Å"One Today† is of course written in a formal manner because of the occasion that that it was written for. That is why it does not contain any humour, abbreveations or informal language. I think that the voice that the author used in this poem fit the occasion perfectly because it was straight forward, easily understandable and relatable to any American citizen. The sentence structure of this poem is unlike a lot of poems that you might see where the lines are of equal length and contain the same amount of sylables. Rather than taking that approach, Blanco’s poem contained senteneces, and lines that were all of different length. For example, in the second stanza blanco included two very long lines that included dashes and comma’s because he was creating a list. Some of the very short lines feautured throughout the poem occur beacause the sentence was too long to fit into the line before and was continued in the next line. After I applied all of these craft techniques to the poem â€Å"One Today† it helped me to better understand why the author wrote it the way that he did.

Construction Companies in an Online Environment Essay

For a company to be viable online it must attract the consumer as well as present a viable market for the product being sold. When one thinks of a company that does business well online they may bring to mind businesses such as Amazon or Google. However there are many companies that provide a great product or service but fail to have an online presence that some of their top online competitors possess. One field that has an expansive online presence is the construction industry. Many companies such as Thor Construction Inc. have gone the route of hiring a professional online market company to design their web site, while other much smaller companies have to design their online presence by what their budget will allow. Darrell Julian Construction out of Albuquerque, NM is a company that has a web site that could benefit from developing a different online strategy directed toward their target audience in the commercial and residential construction field. It used to be that one would go to the yellow pages to find a contractor or rely on word of mouth to find a company for a construction project. According to the web site for Darrell Julian Construction (Darrell Julian Construction, Inc., 2007), the company was established in 1975, long before online marketing would have been a thought for Mr. Julian and his company. As the company grew and the industry began to have greater online prescience, Darrell Julian construction needed to take its service to the internet to increase their marketability and stay competitive with the other constructions companies in their target market. By doing this Darrell Julian’s company identified with what Swiply’s web site states that â€Å"the internet gives you a virtually unlimited platform on which you can distinguish yourself as an industry expert.† (Swipely, 2011) In 2007 the web site darrelljulianconstuction.com was created to give this long established company a chance to compete in an online environment. The  product and service that the company has to offer would be viable in an online market as the consumer would be able to see the buildings and the unique way that Darrell Julian’s company assembles the product. According to the web site the walls are designed at a panel plant located at their facility and then shipped to the job site for assembly as opposed to building everything at the job site. This ability allows the workers to assemble precision wall panels and build large scale projects in a timely manner. Having these keywords in their online marketing allows the customer to search for a construction company that can supply the demand of large construction projects with a timely delivery. All of these aspects allow this company to get the word out to the online shopper that they can fill specific needs, however just having a web site in today’s market may not be enough to get the consumer to shop your product or service. Darrell Julian’s web site is available simply by typing in Darrell Julian and then the search engine supplies the web site as one of the first listed on the page. So it is not a hard web site to find, if one knows the name of the business. However, if a person was to search for construction companies in Albuquerque, NM, that person would not see the name Darrell Julian anywhere on the first page. The customer searching for what Mr. Julian’s company has to offer would not have the opportunity to visit the web site because it is not available in a general search. For this site to be successful it must reach the people that are searching for it. The competition is out there and their goal is to reach the consumer first before they have the opportunity to shop around. Some of the first sites that one sees when a search is done for construction companies in Albuquerque would be companies such as Jaynes Corporation, Gerald Martin General Contractor, and Hart Construction Inc. There are many other companies that appear on the first page of the search but a first glance these appear to be the more popular companies that consumers search for when trying to find a construction company. Jaynes Corporation is the first site that appears with a brief description after the companies’ name. Jaynes Corporation is primarily a commercial construction company that  offers competition to Darrell Julian Construction on a large scale. Their site shows many pictures of the projects that they have done as well as detailed descriptions as to what the project required. Some of the other positives of the web site are that they provide a complete company profile, press releases and news stories exemplifying their work as well as rewards, and links to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Some of the negative aspects of the site are that they do not talk about that construction process as much as one would think would be necessary to understand how the company adds to the value of their service with unique traits of their design. There is also not a place to find customer feedback on the site, be it good or bad so that a customer can relate to the other organization that have utilized Jaynes Corporation’s services. Gerald Martin has a beautiful home page that entices the visitor with spectacular pictures of some of their greatest accomplishments in the field of commercial construction. Also on the home page are some of the company’s accreditations, with the graphic designs that those who understand the construction industry would recognize by site. As with the web site for Jaynes, this site offers many pictures of the company’s projects with a detailed description of the structure that was built. Also there is a link to read news briefs to allow one an insight into some of the inner workings of Gerald Martin and their accomplishments. One of the negatives that could stand out to a visitor of the site would be that there are no links to social media sites. Again much like with Jaynes Corporation there are no testimonials on the site. There is not a place to go to view customer’s opinions of the company or the site. Another aspect that one might find is that there is not a place to compare how Gerald Martin stands apart from their competition giving the customer a way to eliminate other companies from their search. One final site for comparison is Hart Construction located in the local Albuquerque area. The web site for this company has many of the same attributes as Darrel Julian’s web site. Upon first glance the site is not  as professionally done as the other two companies that it is compared to above. The site does have quality pictures that show some of the jobs that the company has done but there are no descriptions as to what was done on the project, so one does not what aspects of construction the company can provide to their customers. One attribute that the site does offer, that differs from the others, is a reference page. They are not testimonials but they do give the potential customer the chance to contact other customers that have used the company for their projects. All of these sites differ vastly from Darrell Julian Construction with the exception of Hart Construction’s site, that allow for competition to provide a much more attractive online experience for per sons searching for a quality contractor. One aspect of online marketing that Darrell Julian’s web site could benefit from would be content marketing. According to Laura Lake from About.com â€Å"everyone is trying to sell, but those that can inform are more likely to get sales.† (Lake, L., n.d.) Though Darrell Julian’s site does show content that supports their service as well as descriptions of what the company can offer the customer, it does not go in depth enough to show the value added when choosing Darrell Julian Construction over one of their online competitors. The site lacks the ability to attract customers with up to date posts and information about the company. It also does not offer a way for the potential customer to feel that they are being enticed to choose Darrell Julian over a similar company that may have a more contemporary picture of their overall value. The content of Jaynes Corporation’s web site offers a very appealing visual appeal as well as a multitude of opportunities to explore why hiring this company to do a job would be beneficial not only in quality but monetarily as well. The content of the web site is presented in such a manner that allows the viewer to navigate to where he or she would like to go to find relevant information. When one views Darrell Julian’s web site it is not as appealing nor is it as easy to navigate as some of their competitors. A company must stay relevant to stay in order to stay in competition with other competitors. If a site gives the viewer the sense that the content is not current, and that the company is not maintaining their web site, a  person may be inclined to go elsewhere to search. Another online marketing strategy Darrell Julian’s company would benefit from would be Web site optimization. As mentioned previously, the web site can be found when typing in the owner’s name, Darrell Julian. However, if one was to type in general construction keywords they would not be directed to Darrell Julian’s web site. Even though the title of the company does contain the word construction it would be much more beneficial to have the first word in the title be associated with the construction industry. A name like Construction Designs by Darrell Julian would allow the company a better chance of showing up on the first page of the search engines query. (Stokes, R., n.d.) Optimization brings to mind ways to perform in a more proficient manner. For Darrell Julian’s web site to be more proficient for the customer it would have to be more readily accessible. One way to make a site more available to the person conducting the search would be to have links on web site that provide related products or services. If a relationship could be made with a site that provides land that is zoned for commercial construction a customer that was looking for land to build on would also come across Mr. Julian’s web site to provide their construction needs. It is important to have positive aspects about ones company be the focus when a customer is searching for a product or service provided by a company. When Darrell Julian Construction is typed into a search the focal point of the search bring the eye directly to the web site, which is the first item on the page. However if the person searching for this particular web site scrolls down to mid page there is a link to a legal web page that brings up a law suit against the company from 1998. Though this is not a damaging claim it does bring questions to the consumer conducting the search as to whether or not they should continue to consider Darrell Julian Construction as a candidate for their business. It would be much better for the company if news like this had to be searched for instead of on the same page as the link to the site itself. One  strategy that would be useful here would to be diligent in creating enough web traffic via social media or other positive web sites that allows this information to fall back to other pages so that it is not the first thing that a customer sees. One could use sites like Squidoo, or a blog site such a sGoogle+ to create positive web traffic on a page. Even though Darrell Julian’s web site does state what the business can do for the customer, it does not fully cover how the customer will benefit by choosing Darrell Julian Construction as its contractor. One strategy that keeps such things in mind is a shift in thinking, changing the focus from and upstream approach, looking at the product, to a downstream approach, focusing on the customer. In Naraj Dawar’s Harvard Business Review article he states that â€Å"the strategic question that drives business today is not ‘What else can we make?’ but ‘What else can we do for our customers?†. (Dawar, N.,2013) Darrell Julian’s web site does a good job of talking about their expertise in panel plant construction and how that allows the company to build walls at their site and then ship them out to the build site. It does not go into great detail as to how this will benefit the customer financially as well as shorten the time line it will take to finish the product. All of these aspects of the business would be positives to a potential customer and should be brought out in more detail on the site in place that would be readily viewed by the consumer, such as the home page. With all of these strategies in mind one of the most beneficial strategies that Mr. Julian could incorporate into his web site would be the presence of social media. It seems almost everyone is on social media sites these days from grandmothers posting pictures of their grandkids to businesses marketing their product with instant customer feedback and response. From Facebook to Twitter businesses are getting the message out that their product is superior over what their competition has to offer and invite customers that have used their company to spread the word that they approve of the product or service that they received. Jaynes Corporation is a perfect example of how the construction industry can reach those customers that may not  directly search for their site by marketing on sites such as Facebook and Google Plus. One of the advantages to sites such as Facebook is that customers can reach your web site through your Facebook page, or they can link to you Facebook though your direct web page. For example, if someone had used Darrell Julian Construction for one of their projects they may like your page on Facebook. Perhaps a potential customer may be friends with this individual and come across Darrell Julian’s web page via this form of marketing. On the other hand a potential customer may be on Mr. Julian’s web site and wanting to read some testimonial of others experiences with his company so they click the link on the site and are directed to the companies Facebook page. There they will have the advantage of getting to know what type of a business they are looking into and how others felt about the service they received from Darrell Julian construction. By providing these opportunities for his customers Darrell Julian has the potential to expand his business web presence exponentially. Another social media site that could be very useful to Darrell Julian’s company would be YouTube. This site allows the user to watch video’s of particular subjects that the viewer may be interested in through a search directly on the site, or by linking to the site via ones personal web page. One way that Darrell Julian may benefit from a site such as this would be to put links to some videos of his projects as they are being constructed in real time. Customers could click on the link and watch as a project unfolds, and to see the professionalism and craftsmanship that Mr. Julian speaks of in his web site. Going back to a previous comment regarding marketing strategy, one of Darrell Julian’s trademark design aspects of the business is his panel plant design. If the links are set up correctly on the site a customer could have the opportunity to watch the panel plant process as it happens. This person would have the unique ability to visualize for themselves what the company is talking about in the site without ever having to leave the comfort of their office. There is also the testimonial piece of the marketing  strategy. YouTube could allow for videos to be posted of customers talking about the excellent service and outstanding experience they had when dealing with Darrell Julian Construction. These sites are some of the more well know social media sites that most are familiar with, however blogs offer the company an opportunity to create a place for not only direct marketing by talking about the product, but indirectly by writing about experiences and interactions with custom ers. Blogs come in many shapes and sizes, from social blogs to wikis, or podcasts. A blog can be set up easily by an individual and does not need the help of a professional to be appealing to person reading or writing in the blog. Another great attribute of the blog for the company that chooses to utilize that media is that it can be controlled. Unlike Facebook or Twitter one can set limits on who can access the blog to write comments, or give feedback. This is a safe way for a company to get the word out about their product without having to do too much damage control. Darrell Julian Construction could expand their web presence by having a blog that customers could link to through the site. This would again allow the customer to read detailed descriptions of others experiences with the company as well as get to know Mr. Julian directly through his submissions to the site. Another positive aspect of the blog is that it can take a position on the first page of a search that someone may be conducting for Darrell Julian Construction allowing for a positive search and pushing negative aspects such as the lawsuit to a later page. As a whole the online marketing plan that Darrell Julian Construction, Inc. set out to establish was a good start for the company. A web site that would market to their consumer base on the internet and allow them to stay competitive with other companies that provided similar services. When Darrell Julian set up his web site in 2007 there were many attributes to the site that would allow his company to remain competitive via the internet. On the site potential customers could find out what Darrell Julian Construction’s mission and vision is, as well as how the business operates. One can also find pictures and brief descriptions of some of the company’s  top designs. With that being said the site itself is not what some of Darrell Julian competitors has to offer their customers. One of Mr. Julian’s biggest competitors, Jaynes Corporation, offers their customer a visually appealing web site that has a multitude of high definition pictures as well as detailed description of their projects. In addition to the appeal of the web site, a customer can also link to the companies Facebook site, their Twitter site, as well as other social media sites that will allow the customer to gain better knowledge of whom they are doing business with. If Darrell Julian wants his company to stay competitive in an online environment his web site will need to be updated with more content as to why the company is viable to the potential online customer. More detailed descriptions of Darrell Julian Constructions unique panel plant and how the plant will benefit the customer would be a useful addition to the site. More interactive images and detailed descriptions of jobs will allow a customer better access to information from the comfort of their personal computer. Mr. Julian’s competition will most likely continue to update their sites as well as add content as it becomes apparent that it will help in their marketing strategy. For Mr. Julian to stay competitive his company will need to implement a plan to have someone within the company or a third party that will keep the content up-to-date and allow a competitive edge over the competition. Some of the aspects discussed above will help in allowing Mr. Julian’s company to be one of the first web sites a customer sees when they Google the word construction in Albuquerque, NM. One major change may just simply be changing the name of the site to include the actual word construction at the beginning of the name allowing the search to yield his web site by topic. These strategies that would to be implemented will allow a much better experience for the customer as well as the company as a whole. Social media is everywhere and most people are going to social media to search for products or services before they will actually visit the company’s web site. Many will stumble across a company’s web site as a  result doing other things on a social media site. Mr. Julian does have a Facebook site for his company however, there is no way to access the company’s web site from Facebook, nor is there any way to access the Facebook site from the actual web site itself. A link between these two sites would allow the customer to not only visit the web site but to utilize social media to search for a company that will fit their need. In conclusion, Darrell Julian has an online presence that allows a customer to find them if they are willing to do the research. Most do not spend that much time to find a company when there are other sites that are readily available to the customer through a search on a search engine or through a social media site. Companies continue to get a majority of their business through their advertizing and marketing on the internet, for some companies it is their single and best source of marketing. Darrell Julian Construction could maintain a strong presence on the web by making some critical changes to their site and social media interaction with the customer. Maintaining this online presence and marking their company in a professional manner could be the difference between a customer choosing Mr. Julian’s company over the competition. References Darrell Julian Construction, Inc. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.darrelljulianconstruction .com/ Lake, L. (n.d.). Top Internet Marketing Strategies for the Small Business. Retrieved from http://marketing.about.com/od/strategytutorials/a/Top-Internet-Marketing-Strategies- For-The-Small-Business.htm Stokes, R. (n.d.). eMarketing: The essential Guide to Online Marketing, v.1.0. Chapter 6: Search Engine Optimization. Retrieved from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/ Bookhub/reader/19?e=fwk-105454-ch18#fwk-105454-ch06 Dawar, N. (2013). Harvard Business Review: When Marketing Is Strategy.

The Context for Inclusive Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The Context for Inclusive Education - Essay Example The context of inclusion education has been formulated as along with implemented in different countries with greater significance. In this respect, different policies as well as practices in relation to inclusive education have been devised and implemented on a global context. Inclusive education is determined to be a decisive policy with regards to human rights along with equal opportunities. Additionally, the SEN provisions will ensure that social justice would prevail largely in a specific community of various nations (Winter & O’Row, 2010). Inclusive education aids in the formulation of effective educational policies especially for children with disabilities and those who require SEN. The inclusive education system is based on certain principles that include diversity, equality and tolerance. With regards to this, inclusive education program is developed based upon certain policies and practices, ensuring that the provisions are accepted on local, national and global context. There are various legislative policies, amongst which the policy of ‘Special Educational Needs Code of Practice’(2001) has been formulated and implemented with the intention of accomplishing the objectives of inclusive education in local, national and worldwide context. ... usive education program is developed based upon certain policies and practices, ensuring that the provisions are accepted on local, national and global context. There are various legislative policies, amongst which the policy of ‘Special Educational Needs Code of Practice’(2001) has been formulated and implemented with the intention of accomplishing the objectives of inclusive education in local, national and worldwide context. The Code intends to avail children with SEN and the process in accordance with which inclusive education services will be offered. Therefore, the plans associated with the Code are based on deciding appropriate policies on the basis of which educational policies in schools will be developed (Crowne, 2012). The Code ascertains the framework, the principles along with the standards that are to be followed by schools. Additionally, it will aid in evaluating the progress of schools in offering SEN to children and also accomplishing the determined ob jectives of providing inclusive or special education to disabled children. It covers the provision of ‘Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001’ [1] (The National Archives, 2001). The SEN Co-ordinator (SENCO) provides the basic frameworks and the principles on the basis of which inclusive training programs will be conducted by ‘Local Education Authorities’ (LEAs). Accordingly, the local autorities will be able to maintain schools, develop settings in relation to early education and undertaking other measures along with duties in order to meet the needs of children with SEN. In this context, the ‘Education Act 1993’ has provided the ‘Secretary of State’ with the obligation and right to develop the Code. Moreover, ‘the Secretary of State’ is also empowered with the task of

Statistical control in reverse logistics Research Paper

Statistical control in reverse logistics - Research Paper Example It is a common phenomenon especially in the motor industry. For instance in 2009, General Motors recalled approximately one million vehicles from showrooms and consumers due to defects in their braking system. Statistical control plays a role in reverse logistics by ensuring process of recalling goods back to a manufacturer is conducted quantitatively to avoid financial losses to a manufacturer. Several parameters are considered before reverse logistics can be actualized, statistical control serve to moderate the said parameters to ensure that the process is conducted in a controlled manner that will be to the advantage of the organization financially. Some group view reverse logistics as an important aspect of the supply chain while other do not. Statistical control applies its measure in the situation by depicting the advantages that will be gained by successfully implementing reverse control for instance if a company is responsible for all its inventory returns chances are it will retain consumer loyalty and at the same time protect the brand of the product in question. Conversely, whenever decisions are being made on whether to return a product or not various considerations should be explored before a final decision can be done. Statistical control is applied to provide the analysis of the trade-off thus making informed decision concerning reverse logistics (Keller, 201 1). Before an organization can make, a decision on reverse logistics various considerations have to be explored to ensure the decision is viable financially to the firm at the same time it is also beneficial to the customers (Dyckhoff, Fandel and Reese, 2004). Whenever a product is being recalled it is, of course, not in its original condition, it may be worn out or damaged. Reverse logistics will be viable to a product of high quality, since the cost of transporting the product back to the manufacturer can be met

The Impact of Market Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

The Impact of Market Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example Most companies that are market-oriented avoid getting into trouble because they spend most of the time with their customers thereby gaining a lot of information from the customers. Indeed the relationship that coexists between the business performance and the market orientation are quite a powerful one. For instance, those businesses that exhibit strong interrelationship between the business performance and the MO have experienced success and the growth of the market share (Appiah-Adu and Ranchho, 1998). While the competitor and customer orientation can have the significant and positive impact on the overall MO, only the customer orientation can have the significant and positive impact on the business performance. From the managerial perspective, the measurements scales can be used in assessing the firm’s level of the MO and appropriately identify the â€Å"bottlenecks† in the intra-organizational information flows. For this course, the transformation of the business from the MO to the business performance is a rather a more complex phenomenon due to the interventions from the other factors during the process of transformation (Slater and Narver, 1995; Han et al., 1998; Baker and Sinkula, 1999). Successful organizations create the organizational culture that encourages its employees feel dedication and commitment to the organization. Corporate social responsibility initiatives are one way of achieving this. Besides giving the employees the invaluable feeling towards making enormous contribution to the organization, it also offer other positive effects to the business as well. Innovation in the managerial and organizational practices suggest that new and improved ways of enhancing the CSR via the rebuilding the relationship between the organizations and the community while enhancing the understanding of the social capital that found in the social environment that the

R. Williams Construction Co. v. OSHRC Research Paper

R. Williams Construction Co. v. OSHRC - Research Paper Example After a serious investigation, the company was charged with some Occupational Safety and Health offences, which lead to expensive penalties. Discussion The paper will investigate the Williams construction company in relation to OSHA Act. It seeks to highlight the legal issues in the case, employer’s violation of the Act, and the role of the workers in maintaining the liability under the act. Legal issues The trench collapse that caused the death and serious injury of two Williams Company employees and the company’s violation of the OSHA Act summarizes the main legal issues in the case. Therefore, the legal concerns, who is responsible for upholding the violations of certain Occupational Safety and Health principles? Is it the court or the Williams construction company? The employer’s failures or violations After the investigation, the OSHA Act charged the Williams Construction company with a number of violations. First, the company failed to instruct and equip th e workers and managers with necessary strategies on how to identify and avoid hazardous working environment, as demanded by the OSHA regulations, (Wilshusen, Berg, Brookie, Okizaki & American Bar Association, (2008). The company did not provide any safety training to both the employees and managers in charge. For instance, Secondly, the company failed to make sure that the two workers did not need to move over 25 feet to a secure region, based on the OSHA Act requirements. The Act assumed that the employees were unaware of the depth they should attempt because the company did not issue any instruction about it. The company similarly, broke the law by offering just one safe egress mechanism at the east side of the forty-five deep excavation. Even though, it seems that one pump was stationed over twenty-five feet far from the ramp of the trench, the exact pumps’ position or the exact location of the employees verse the ramp during the collapse of the excavations, is rather imma terial. A person working not more than twenty-five feet away from the exit may prefer to move far away from the point of egress to do his work satisfactorily. Therefore, it is justified to predict that any workers already in the dangerous zone will be automatically exposed to the hazard itself. Therefore, this OSHA regulation applies irrespective of whether workers were exposed to real hazard during the time of trench fall. According to OSHA regulation, a violation is validated if a worker has access to hazardous zones over twenty-five feet away from egress means. Third, the company did not have a competent expert, trained mainly to ensure trench safety. The Act requires that the construction company should have a competent expert with certain knowledge and expertise in analysis of soil and protective mechanisms and able to identify fatal conditions. In additions, the company should have an expert to conduct routine excavation inspections to ensure hazardous conditions are identifie s as required by OSHA regulations, (Genson, Kerezman & American Bar Association, 2006). For instance, John, the supervisor confessed that he had not seen the safety manual of the company located at backside of the trucks seat. Additionally, the company did not train him as an OSHRC competent expert and had no any training apart from his job. Fourthly, the company did not ensure that the trench ways are supported and slopped based on the regulation requirements. Therefore, on the four above violations, the Labor Secretary

What Impact Did Second World War Have On Canadian Society Essay

What Impact Did Second World War Have On Canadian Society - Essay Example It was due to the war that the country realized the importance of a strong naval background accompanied by a good number of officers and sailors. There were only 35,000 officers and sailors serving the navy at the time of the war. Even with this handful of officers the navy did not hesitated in serving the country and the Canadian warships continued providing support to all the soldiers landing on the beaches and seas. They also used to escort groups and provide protection to them from enemy submarines flowing in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas. (http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Militaris/index.html) At the beginning of the war the Canadian army on land comprised of very few permanent soldiers and a large number of part time workers. The soldiers were also not equipped with latest war weapons and had very poor and outdated rifles and guns. When the war broke out in 1939 the Canadian soldiers were sent to Europe for training purposes. These handful of soldiers were also very eager to fight for the defence of their country and as the number slightly reached half million, Canada decided to send some of its troops to France. But they were soon called back due to the fall of France to German forces. Other Canadian troops were sent to Iceland and south East Asia with the intention of helping the British forces and protecting Hong Kong. It also took part with British and American troops in a deadly operation that took place in 1942, which took away lives of majority of the soldiers and wounded quite a big number of them. Canadian Air Force was a small department at the beginning of the war that participated with only limited number of bombs, aerial combats, hunting submarines and air fighters. The Canadian fighters and bombers used to guide European flyers throw missiles and bombs on enemy troops on the ground and fight with German aircrafts. Keeping in view such heroic acts of the air force, the bombers formed a vital part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. (http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Militaris/index.html) Relations with United States improved after the war as Britain started to turn away. A declaration was signed with the US in the 1940 known as the Ogdensburg Declaration, which made the two countries allies as trade partners and work towards common goals. Both the countries collaborated in military matters after the Hyde Park agreement. Their common enemy was the German dictator, Hitler. France had just collapsed and its security was dear to both Canada and US. (Anthony 47) Canada gained equally for the sacrifices it made in the war. Around 50,000 men laid their lives and close to 1 million families served voluntarily. Those at home did not suffer too much. Their routine life might have been disturbed by restricted travel laws and rationing of food for a brief period of time during the war. The buying power was influenced and heavy taxes were applied but there was very less unemployment and the average salary was adequate. The industrialization provided jobs and sparked economic growth. (Anthony 55) After the war, Canadian citizens achieved their separate identity by the establishment of Canadian Citizenship Act initiated by Mackenzie King in 1945. The act came into effect in 1946. Although, technically they were still part of the British Empire but as a citizen of Canada

Security Fraud and Manipulations Using Accounting Policies and Rules Dissertation

Security Fraud and Manipulations Using Accounting Policies and Rules - Dissertation Example More importantly, a wide variety of security fraud and malpractice of accounting policies are employed in the preparation of the financial report accounting of Enron, Madoff scheme, and WorldCom Corporation that lead into their bankruptcy. Nonetheless, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) seeks to deter fraud in financial statements of companies through laws, internal control systems and regulations. More significantly, the commission continuously seeks to detect misstatements, failure of disclosure of accurate financial information in records, documentation, accounting policies and procedures in changes of equity and explanatory notes accompanying every financial period statement of companies. In addition, this paper will look at the adherence to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as stipulated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) remains committed towards global standards. Finally, the pap er looks at various fraudulent situations that could be avoided through adherence to stipulated accounting policies and procedures by management, accountants and auditors as they put shareholders interest first. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express sincere gratitude to my dissertation supervisor, xxx, for his invaluable support. As an area of accounting and auditing practise, I hope you find this paper insightful in the minimization of security fraud and manipulation practices. Tables of Contents 1. Introduction 6 2. Literature Review 7 3. Research Methodology 16 4. Discussion of Findings 18 4.1.0 Nature and treatment Of Security Fraud &manipulation through fraudulent use Of accounting policies and rules 18 4.2.0 Security Fraud and Manipulation in Madoff scheme, Enron & Worldcom Corporation 23 4.3.0 Security Fraud and Manipulation Problems in Madoff Scheme, Enron and Worldcom Corporation 27 4.4.0 Comprehensive Analysis of Parties involved in the carrying out of Security Fraud an d Manipulation 33 4.5.0 Regulation of Security Fraud and Manipulation in Madoff scheme, Enron and WorldCom Corporation 39 5. Conclusions 43 6. Appendix 45 6. References 47 CHAPTER 1.0 INTRODUCTION More than often, fraudulent financial information given in companies financial statement typically takes the form of material misstatements done intentionally by making either the annually or quarterly financial statements fluctuated. In most cases, auditors acknowledge that financial statements are intentionally misstated such that the information provided remains not only misleading, but also inaccurate, such that the presentation of financial reports does not follow the generally accepted accounting practises (GAAP), international auditing standards (IAS) and international financial reporting standards (IFRS). More so, such security fraud and manipulation through the use of fraudulent accounting policies and rules in international corporations like Madoff scheme, WorldCom and Enron led to a huge loss as a result of fraud upon

Ford Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ford - Case Study Example ullaly, the CEO, implemented included; employee reduction and other cost of production reduction techniques, shrinking its production through asset divestitures, as well as noticeable strategic maneuvers all deemed at avoiding government bails and loans. Most importantly, Mullaly focused on building a higher customer base by converging nameplates. As a matter of fact, fords management saw product diversification as a barrier to success as it dilutes core brand names. Therefore, Mullaly enlarged on some brands whose c valuation by customers outdid the rest, such as the Taurus model. Noteworthy, the success of ford is more leaned on customer base expansion, through brand improvement than in any other strategy. For instance, having capture that demand for small cars was increasing, ford responded by majoring on small cars despite their low average returns. Veritably, fords prosperity would have been more if they had focused on marketing and promoting their nameplates but altering the branding a little bit to capture the whole market, placing small car market in their forefront. The marketing plan below is an alternative solution. Lamb et al (2014) asserts that marketing plan should include a mission statement that is not only effectively stating the company’s objectives n but also exclude marketing myopia. Therefore, the mission statement needs be based on customer satisfaction based on a SWOT analysis of the firm and industry at large. A high market share would be obtained by having several luxurious small cars but insist on lowering fuel consumption. In addition to brand reduction, Ford should have realized that the recession was worse in US than in other economies. Therefore, emphasize more developing the global market. A good target should be developing economies where vehicle market is characterized by middle class. With invention of small cars, the middle class can easily be captured by reduced fuel consumption. Technological advancement of fuel

Develop and document the scope of a project Research Paper

Develop and document the scope of a project - Research Paper Example They are Marketing and Sales departments. The corresponding departments in the sister company also perform the same function and are highly interdependent. These departments are very essential if not the most important departments for both companies in case of undertaking the project of releasing the new product to the market. This is so because of the strategic role the departments play in the successful realization of the project implementation (Dervaes, 1998). This paper tries to give a brief scope of the project with a clear outline of some important issues that concern the project. Some of the issues that are outlined in the scope include, but not limited to: the deliverables in the project, the specific limitations of the project and its scope together with the specific exclusions and assumptions that come with the project while implementing the project. These assumptions are specific to the operations that are undertaken in the distribution chains in Winsome sales department. Some of the specific deliverables that are expected from the project include meeting the sale volumes that have been set by the sales and marketing departments of both companies. The company plans to double the sales volume in the next fiscal year as a result of an introduction of the new product. This could mean that the Sales department would be required to increase their human resource capacity by contracting more staff to help in the achievement of these targets. Alternatively, Winsome manufacturing would procure the services of its sister company. To choose one among these two options, the company will undertake an analysis to find out which of the two options is a better one concerning the financial obligations that each project requires. If procuring the services of the sister company is the cheapest option, there must be specific terms and conditions that should be agreed upon in order to make sure the company will succeed. The factors that affect the project also include it s limitations and challenges. They must be well addressed in order to help the company successfully meet its targets without obligatory affecting other products (Dervaes, 1998). A steep competition from the other firms in the industry must be considered. Elaborate plans to counter their influence must be adhered to in order to achieve the overall objective of the company which is to double its sales volume in the next fiscal year. There are key elements of the products that must also be addressed like the branding which will help market the new product. Its pricing structure must also be addressed well with intense marketing also done. Some of the specific exclusions that must be identified in order to be certain that the venture succeeds include excluding this particular project from the other products that have been manufactured by the company. This product should be given a lot of emphasis with its features and advantages made known to all the customers who would be as well poten tial buyers of the product. Other existing products that the firm is producing in the market should also be excluded in the general analysis of the firm performance (Mathur, 2006). There must also be proper communication channels between the two companies and strategic customers. These means that all the information regarding the product must be made available to sales representatives of both Winsome and the sister company, and they should be able to pass the same

Comparing The Kite Runner and Angelas Ashes Essay Example for Free

Comparing The Kite Runner and Angelas Ashes Essay Depression cause a down fall on a person’s emotion. This is easy to understand in the novels Angela’s Ashes and The Kite Runner. In these two stories a person will encounter with the feelings of abandonment and death. In the kite runner Amir was depressed that he and baba had to leave Kabul. He was wondering if he was going to forget his homeland along the line. He mentioned, â€Å"I only knew the memory lived in me a perfectly encapsulated morsel of a good past a brush stroke of color on the gray, barren canvas that our life had become † The Russians invaded Afghanistan so baba and Amir had to leave to find safety. It was very hard for them to leave their homeland and go to Africa. They had to leave all their belongings and life behind n start fresh in a different country. In Angela’s Ashes Angela’s family McCourt’s they saw they were living in poor conditions .Angela’s mother sent money so they al could board a ship to Ireland and start new and leave America behind. They left Brooklyn behind for nothing because when they got to Ireland the living conditions stayed the same. Malachy spends all of his money at the bars and he always shows u to work drunk. Now there are no more jobs in Ireland so he has to abandon his family and go to England to get a job there. Amir from The Kite Runner went back to Afghanistan to visit Rahim Khan because he was very sick. While he was telling him about his family he asked about Hassan so Rahim had to tell him the he got murdered by Taliban. Amir had lots of things going threw his head. He regrets not being in touch with him band for not sticking up h imp years ago. Baba became sick with cancer and he dint want any treatment, he wisent scared to die he knew he lived his life with many accomplishments. Amir father also died now he had no one to get help from when he need guidance. There were many deaths in Angela’s Ashes. When Margret was born Malachy was able to bring food home. It was his only daughter and he was very happy, but when she died everything turned to the worst. Later Oliver one of the twins died. They dialed with many deaths in their family but every time it was harder, Oliver’s death caused depression in the family. The Kite Runner and Angela’s ashes have related themes, the theme of depression stands out, threw the loss of their loved ones, and abandoning their home land these two novels show different events that took in different parts of the world that made people depressed.

Japanese Comfort Women Essay Example for Free

Japanese Comfort Women Essay It is estimated that between one and two hundred thousand female sex slaves were forced to deliver sexual services to Japanese soldiers, both before and during World War II. These women were known as comfort women and the Imperial Conference, which was composed of the emperor, representatives from the armed forces and the main Cabinet ministers, approved their use by Japanese soldiers. Walkom) The term comfort women refers to the victims of a premeditated systematic plan originated and implemented by the government of Japan to enslave women considered inferior and subject them to repeated mass rapes, said Michael D. Hausefeld, one of over 35 lawyers in his firm representing the former sexual prisoners in a class action lawsuit currently pending against the Japanese government. (Eddy) Since ancient times, prostitutes in Japan chose to sell their bodies either for family, poverty, or for saving her husband and her children. More or less, their sacrifices were seen as positive. But, being forced to become comfort woman by Japanese is seen as negative. The difference between the Japanese prostitutes and comfort women is that the comfort women did not choose to be trapped as a sex slave and they were not paid for what they did. In 1931, when the Japanese army invaded Manchuria, â€Å"comfort houses† made their first appearances. These comfort houses were created to provide the Japanese soldiers with outlets for their sexual needs. In the beginning, there were only a few comfort houses but after the Nanjin Massacre occurred in 1937, many more were added, basically to every place that the Japanese were stationed. (Walkom) After the Japanese soldiers slaughtered thousands of Chinese people in the Nanjin Massacre, they barbarically raped an insurmountable number of women. As a result, anti-Japanese sentiments grew and it became harder to fully occupy these lands. The government set up comfort houses to decrease disorder and give the approximately two million soldiers a place to satisfy their sexual needs. The Japanese did not have enough prostitutes to supply the needs of the soldiers so they commissioned civilians to develop comfort houses. At the time, only a small percentage of Japanese women were mobilized to â€Å"work† in comfort houses and they were all prostitutes to begin with. The majority of the comfort women were actually Korean women, who were forcibly taken from Korea to service the needs of the Japanese soldiers. After the war, the Japanese government destroyed all evidence of their involvement in Japanese comfort houses, enforcing that commercial businessmen were responsible for the movement of women. Many of the comfort women were kidnapped or deceived into voluntarily working in comfort houses. Once they were there, they were trapped and forced into prostitution. Some women reported that Japanese agents offered them good jobs or education. Others were told that each family in the village had to donate a daughter to the war effort. Many others were offered food, shelter and factory jobs. The Japanese also kidnapped young, unmarried girls when they had a shortage of comfort women. The ages of the girls in the comfort houses ranged from 15 to 19, with the minority exception of some younger girls and some older, married women. The girls were transported between military bases like cargo, under heavy guard in army trucks, trains, ship and bus. They were forced to lose their virginity before arriving at the bases to prepare them for having sexual intercourse with tens of soldiers every day. Many women contemplated death after this, as they believed their virginity to be more precious than life. (Henson) When living in the comfort houses, the comfort women lived in fear and desperation. They were unable to leave, as they were heavily guarded. Each day, they were penetrated by as many as 50 soldiers, until they were sore and bloated to the point of not being able to open their legs. If they were infected with a sexually transmitted disease, they received injections known as Injection 606. If infected enough times, they lost their fertility. In Japan, infected women were killed. Their food was mixed with cyanide, their bodies taken to a cave and finally, the cave was blown up with a grenade. The comfort houses made money off these women and it is believed that the Japanese government paid them, as most of the soldiers paid by coupons. As soon as the war was finished, the Japanese Imperialist guards disappeared without trace. Most comfort women describe the experience this way, Suddenly, the soldiers came no more, and upon asking we found that the war had ended. In other regions, as the Japanese committed â€Å"harikari, the women were forced to do the same. In extreme cases, the women were put in a cave and blown up. After the war, many of the comfort women were too sick to be moved and were taken under the care of the American army. Most of the women were left with no place to go, as they were in a strange country with no money, and were too humiliated to go home. According to one comfort woman, my bodys wasted, therefore I do not dare go home in fear of being ignored and looked down upon. Even after the war ended, the comfort women were not free. Their guilty minds and inferiority complexes kept them from returning home and they stayed in foreign countries. The small amount that married, were often forced to separate after the fact that they were comfort women was known, or they were divorced because they could not have children. The victims are still suffering the pain physically and psychologically. More than half of them could not get pregnant, and most of them have chronicle diseases. Furthermore, the psychological impact on these women made them felt themselves dirty, ashamed that they disgraced themselves and isolated themselves from others. They are either afraid of getting married, or unable to ask for any commitment from their lovers. For those who got married, their marriage was unstable and unhappy due to their past. Some thought that they must have done something evil in their previous life that they have to be punished in this life. (Hicks) They go to tempos to chant sutras, to confess, to pursue liberation, and they even commit suicide. Although the period of time they spent at the Japanese military base was a small part of their life, what they had experienced caused an incurable impact on their health, marriage, mind, and social adaptation. Although the Japanese government continues to deny or minimize their involvement with comfort women, their defense is unraveling. A conference on Japanese Crimes Against Humanity: Sexual Slavery and Forced Labor was held last year, in which Japanese researchers delivered papers which claimed that the Japanese military, the rest of the government, and Japanese industry were all involved in the decision to provide sex slaves for the countrys soldiers. (Chunghee) Japanese historian Hirofumi Hayashi said: The establishment and development of the military comfort women system as not only carried out by the total involvement of every section of the military but also by administrative machinery at every level of the Japanese state In addition, we should not overlook that Japanese companies were their accomplices. (Chunghee) Researchers from the Center for Research and Documentation of Japans War Responsibilities in Yokohama showed that Japanese rubber companies were under government contra ct to supply 20 million condoms a year to armed forces once the decision had been made to provide sex slaves to the soldiers. Rumiko Nishino wrote that high-ranking adjutants commissioned by Cabinet and sub-Cabinet-level government officials implemented the distribution of the condoms. The availability of condoms to the general population became almost nil. (Chunghee) Last year, the Japanese appeals court overturned an earlier ruling that orders the government to compensate women who were forced to serve as sex slaves during World War II. Both sides had appealed that ruling. The plaintiffs because they thought the compensation was too small, and the government because they refused to pay. Duke) In deciding in favor of the government, the Hiroshima High Court said abducting women to use them as forced laborers and sex slaves was not a serious constitutional violation. Tokyo has admitted that its wartime army had set up brothels, and forced thousands of Koreans, Filipinos, Dutch and Chinese to serve as prostitutes, but it has refused to compensate these victims. Historians say as many as 200,000 women were f orced into sexual slavery during World War II.

Marketing Mix Definition And Concept

Marketing Mix Definition And Concept According to Laura Lake the marketing mix is a mixture of marketing tools that are used to please customers and company objectives. Customers frequently call the marketing mix the offering. Basically offer is controlled by the following variables often referred as the four Ps in marketing: Product Price Place (Distribution) Promotion By exercising the variations of these four components you have the capability to reach multiple consumers within your target market. According to Jed C. Jones the term marketing mix is defined as the marketing Mix refers to the main elements that ought to be attended to in order to correctly market a product. They are also well-known as The 4 Ps of Marketing, the marketing mix is very helpful, and is a guideline for understanding the fundamentals of what makes a good marketing campaign. 3.1.2 Variables of Marketing Mix: Product: The marketing mix concept has its heredity from the 1950s U.S. corporate marketing planet, and the practice of marketing has obviously developed tremendously since this expression was invented. One of the alterations is that, there are a lot more services accessible nowadays, such as those obtainable through online and the difference between product and service has become more fuzzy (e.g., is a Web based software application a product or a service ). Moreover Product here refers to as products or services. The product you propose needs to be able to meet a definite, vacant market demand. Or else you need to be able to create a market niche via building a muscular brand. Price: The price you set for your market offering plays a big role in its marketability. Pricing for offerings that are further commonly available in the market is more flexible (Elastic), and its implication says that unit sales will move up or down further responsively in replication to the price modification. In contrast, those products that have usually more limited availability in the market (but with strong demand) are more inelastic, meaning that price changes will not affect unit sales to a large extent The price elasticity of the offering can be found through various market testing methods. Place: It usually refers to any way that the customer can attain a product. Provision of a product can come about via any number of distribution channels, for instance in a retail store, via mail, via downloadable files, on a cruise ship, in a hair salon, etc. The easiness and options through which one can make your product available to your customers will have an effect on your sales volume. Promotion: It is basically concerned with any vehicle you use for getting people be familiar with more about your offering. Advertising, Public relations, Point-of-sale displays, and word-of-mouth promotion are all conventional ways for promotion. Promotion is basically a way of concluding the information gap between would-be sellers and would-be buyers. Ones choice of a promotional strategy will be dependent upon the budget, the type of offering you are promoting, and availability of the said promotional vehicle. The marketing mix serves as an outstanding criterion for continually examining that you are covering all of the bases in your marketing campaign. Mass Media: It refers jointly to all the media technologies, including the Internet, television, newspapers, and radio, which are used for mass communications, and to the organizations which control these technologies. Mass media play an important role in determining public perceptions on a variety of important issues, both through the information that is distributed through them, and through the interpretations they place upon this information. The also play a large role in shaping recent culture, by selecting and representing a particular set of beliefs, values, and traditions (an entire way of life), as a reality. That is, by portraying a certain interpretation of reality, they shape reality to be more in line with that interpretation. Contemporary research demonstrates a growing level of concentration of media ownership, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a very small number of firms. Direct Marketing: It is a type of advertising that reaches its target audience without using conventional formal channels of advertising, such as TV, newspapers or radio. Businesses stay in touch straight to the consumer with advertising techniques such as fliers, catalogue distribution, promotional letters, and street advertising. Direct Advertising is a sub-discipline and a kind of marketing. There are two main definitional types which differentiate it from other types of marketing. The first is that it sends its point directly to the clients, without the use of intervening commercial communication media. The second characteristic is the core theory of successful Advertising driving a precise call to action. This aspect of direct marketing involves a stress on measurable, trackable positive responses from consumers (known simply as response in the industry) apart from of medium. 3.1.3 Marketing Mix Management by Peter Grant: According to Peter Grant Marketing Mix Management is the successful business enterprise which will flourish through the aggressive and pre-planned execution of a complete Marketing Mix strategy in approaching revenues. Identify Audience or Vertical Market to Penetrate Assign Marketing Mix Resources that Accommodate Audience in Communications Process Implement Plan The objective is to use both active and passive mechanisms to emphasize the impression rate, (or number of times that your audience perceives that it remembers), your corporate communications message to your target audience, leading to bigger revenues. To be really successful, all areas of the Marketing Mix need to be pre-planned and then executed in a timely and disciplined fashion. The World Wide Web, correctly handled, can identify and address both in a passive and active mode, both current and future clients. Marketing Mix Definitions and Action Steps Pro-activity Discipline Actions / Results Active / Passive Web Site Crosses all boundaries in passive / active communications. Great freedom by potential clients in accessing your information. Active Direct Sales Face-to-Face contact. Builds rapport, leads to proposals. Active Telesales Phone solicitation to identified customers; leads to rapport building and eventual appointment for a Direct Sales call. Active Telemarketing Identifying potential customers through qualifying needs to have a problem solved that could be addressed through your particular product or solution. Passive Direct Mail Lists by maintaining an internal client database (from inquiries generated from advertising or from telemarketing/telesales calls. Lists from purchased list service. Mass mailing service (ValPak, SuperCoups). E-Mail nickname lists from inquiries. We do not recommend spamming. Fax blast to internally generated lists. Postcard mailing for cost-effective contact frequency. Passive Advertising / Promotions Target vertical market associations that purchase your product or service. Ensure that your core corporate communications look (logo, slogan, and graphical look) is repeated in any advertisement. Vertical Market trade show participation Complimentary Introductory Program exists within your communications goals. Consistent Corporate Communications look to all of your marketing efforts (Logo, stationary, brochures, advertisements, etc.). This acts to reinforce your impressions rate. Passive Public Relations Monthly Press Release and Backgrounder to all vertical market associations. Monthly release to horizontal / territory markets to build perception and retention of your core products, services and corporate identity. The execution of the above Marketing Mix objectives in a timely and well-focused manner should ensure the relative success of any enterprise that has done appropriate market research to determine the viability of its concept. 3.1.4 How to select the finest marketing mix: pros, cons, and tips for telling people about your business includes connected article on how people get business tutorial: How to Select the Best Marketing Mix: Your marketing campaign is that set of actions that you use to get the word out get the right people or group to know what you do, who you are, and where to find you. (Then your sales campaign takes over and change prospects into customers.) You can try to wing it. But going through the same planning procedure as larger companies before launching the marketing campaign will pay off perhaps by reducing the costs, and almost surely in getting better results for the similar investment of time and money. During the past some years advice is there for the software developers, physical therapists, dance instructors, dog trainers, and other small, usually service-oriented businesses on setting up their personal marketing campaigns. Here what campaigns are all about, and how you can create your marketing work for you. WHOS YOUR CUSTOMER? One cant hit a target if he/she doesnt know what youre aiming at or where the target is. So before one define the marketing campaign, do the homework: * Clearly recognize your products and services. For Instance: neon art and signage; pre-school day care by ex-teachers. * Describe your business goals, and then set the prices or rates. How much totality of business do you want? What mix of products and services do you would like to sell? * Recognize the prospect base by income, geography, age, type of organization or individual, and line of business (for instance, nonprofit organizations with yearly revenues of $100,000 to $750,000). Cons: Can be costly; needs a lot of time and effort. Not right for a number of people or businesses. Tips: Learn to qualify prospects rapidly. Follow up promptly with mailings, letterings, samples, chiefly in response to specific requests. Keep good accounts; consider using a contact-management program. Events. Attending, participating in, or reveal. Examples: trade shows, conferences, and seminars. Pros: Very good for exposure. If you dont show, often highly affordable. Cons: Very volatile results; can be time-consuming and draining, with expensive travel expenses. Tips: Prepare. Pick a small number of shows in your field to attend on a regular basis. Meet as many people as probable to grow contacts. Collateral. Materials that you print up and hand out. For Example: brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, reprints, coupons, fliers, and business cards. Pros: Can be cheap, especially if the pieces can provide many purposes and you make them using desktop publishing. Cons: Can be costly putting together a desktop-publishing system. Can take a lot of time, until you get the hang of it. Needs episodic updating; inventory needs to be managed cautiously. Tips: Think cautiously before over committing to a costly item that will go out of date. Look for pieces that can be their personal mailer. Other diverse advertising specialties. Instances: bumper stickers, coffee mugs, key rings, calendars, and other gewgaws; skywriting and blimps; contests, surveys, and joint marketing efforts. Pros: Can help drawing the attention; gives you a simple way to depart your name and address with prospects. * Expect to spend an average of an hour a day, each day, in marketing. * Always be ready. Answer the phone with a smiling, positive voice; always carry business cards. * Do follow-up promptly. * Remember that marketing rarely has immediate results. It can take months, or even years, to set up yourself. * Dont spend the money you dont have. * Use outside services sensibly mostly where you desire to save time or where special-purpose gear is needed. No two campaigns will be similar. Even though your business may be alike as somebody elses, you may have a different philosophy, budget, or capacity to take on advertising, public speaking or phone calls. Only experience will educate you whom marketing approaches works best for you, in terms of your aptitude to do them and in delivering consequences. 3.1.5 Marketing mix customization and customizability by Marc Logman: According to Marc Logman businesses looking for customized methods of designing, pricing, selling, and delivering their wares can do it themselves or leave it up to the customer. We are sailing out of the century and into the next with our marketing techniques in full-scale transformation. Top-down marketing is changing into bottom-up. Transaction marketing is changing into relationship marketing. One-way or broadcast marketing is changing to an interactive style to support a dialogue with the client and mass marketing is changing to a customized, one-on-one way of reaching individual customers. Because of fierce rivalry, long-standing competitive advantages often are no longer sustainable. The policy is to be followed, says dAveni (1994), is one of nonstop market annoyance in order to generate impermanent competitive advantages. Hamel and Prahalad (1994) propose that firms should look almost endlessly for new openings. In the middle of such dizzying change, companies must be able to create real-time decisions, so their planning and tactics horizons frequently become shorter. To be flexible and highly receptive to market moves, a top-down approach in which business plan decisions precede tactical and planning decisions often no longer supports. Companies should be able to become accustomed to their tactics immediately. In the same background, a firms communication approach becomes more and more bottom-up. Rather than determining target group (who?) and communication aim (what?) before deciding on the instrument (how?), specific methods of communicating, such as by means of the Internet, are leading to the recognition of who and what. Moreover, many writers assert that a paradigm shift is happening from transaction marketing to relationship marketing. Firms are beginning to understand that keeping current customers may be more significant than trying to attract new ones. In the computer business, different hardware specifications may be developed by the customer. Menu options offer choices of hard disk capacity, processing speed, software drivers, and so on. Capacity can be extended; new cards can further be added. Software firms are also developing innovative tools that allow the user to perform several operations more efficiently. Power quest recently introduced the package Partition magic, which allows users to divide their hard disks more effectively. Business-to-business markets, in which suppliers sell products to the manufacturer, are using both customization options. Some manufacturers, such as the auto makers, hold suppliers accountable for integrating their products into the final version. Others tend to favor buoying customizable products from the supplier and become accustomed on their own. In the second case, manufacturers often rely on competent integration-engineering division. The Laboratory of Production Technologies of Siemens in Belgium transform the basic technology into integrated solutions that fit completely into the production lines of different Siemens divisions. Purchase Price Offering the price discounts is one of the most popular ways to customize prices. Criteria for discounting often includes a customers sales volume, its sales history (such as being loyal or not), and the time of purchase. High-volume customers might get special discounts, users of old product versions might get discounts on new product versions, and so on. Another way to customize prices is through customizing the product, with additional product option leading to higher prices. Communication According to Logman (1996) points out that, especially in todays rapidly changing business environment, customers may have different information needs. Some might want to be informed about new product versions, whereas the others are interested in information about possible upgrades of old product description. The Price-sensitive customers may be interested to some extent in promotional information, whereas the quality-sensitive customers may be interested in product information. To meet the individual information needs, a firm can either communicate directly to the customers or adjust its information (such as through direct mail) or else it can offer a customizable information system that allows customers to find the preferred information easily. The World Wide Web is the most salient instance of the latter framework, with clientele selecting from corporate Web sites. Distribution and Logistics Customers now have much more freedom in choosing the logistics and methods of distribution to fit their detailed requirements. They can determine when, where, and how they want goods to be delivered; they can even state the manner in which they want goods to be handled before and after the delivery. Gilmore and Pine (1997) refer to this as the representation requirements. After-Sales Support and Costs Like many products, services can also be bundled into a customized service parcel. In numerous industries, customized augmented solution that includes both product and service are offered. In b to-b markets, such as in the mainframe computer business, sales contracts frequently cover agreements on product maintenance, substitution, and so on. By using a remote control system that permits diagnosis and possible remedy of product defects from a distance, customers after-sales costs may be condensed. Nashuatec does make use of such a system in the fax business. The Web provides another chance in this direction. By transferring video images of a product performance, product failures can be detected. After-sales costs, to some extent, can be customized by end users. Someone who buys a fresh car may decide to opt for lower energy costs by driving at a reasonably price rate of speed. A company may manufacture a copy machine that is simple for customers to maintain and repair themselves. Service costs are thereby condensed and the customers after sales cost perceptions may be positively influenced. CUSTOMIZED OR CUSTOMIZABLE: A TRADE-OFF? Businesses clearly have two alternatives when it comes to producing and marketing a product or a service: either going for the customize marketing mix instruments or let the customers themselves do it. The choice depends on numerous considerations. Finally, a firm must think about the independencies and interdependencies of its marketing mix decision. Can it present customized final product while offering a customizable information network for after-sales communication? Does price customizability results from product customizability? Can experienced computer users design their personal PCs from a list of options of standard components at a price that seems suitable to them? Will customizing methods of distribution affects price? With marketing practices in such a flux, companies are ever looking for innovative solutions to customize their ways of offering products and services. Using the framework provided here allows marketing practitioners to assess different customization options for their marketing mix instruments. But some warnings are in order. When a firm chooses to customize the marketing mix at its own, it should take care to make sure that its marketing policy is transparent and clear-cut to customers. Offering inconsistent solutions to diverse people may be seen as giving special treatment to some while discriminating against others and offering inexpert customers a do-it-yourself customizable product or service might be able to result in confusion, dissatisfaction, or even in a disaster. Along with the advances in technology that facilitate both customization and customizability comes with a new array of challenges. But careful decisions based on a proper framework for assessing the options can result in a marketing mix that draws closer to providing everything to every customer. 3.2 Brand Equity: 3.2.1 Brand Equity Definition Concept: According to Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong, Brand Equity is defined as how much is a brand worth of? Brand equity refers towards the value of the brand. Brand equity does not develop immediately. A brand needs to be cautiously nurtured and marketed so customers feel real value and trust regarding that brand. Nike, Adidas, Harrods, all have high brand equity. These brands command high awareness and consumer loyalty. But how much are these brands really worth? It is hard to put a value on these brands. But how much is a pair of Nike trainers worth without the logo on it? According to Scott D. White, Brand equity can be defined in many diverse ways. He has developed an easy, yet dominant definition of brand equity. For a brand to be strong it must achieves two things over time: i.e. retain current customers and attract new ones. To the amount, a brand does these things well, it grows stronger versus opposition, and delivers more earnings to its owners. Flouting down the definition of brand equity into its two components, one can more easily determine a dependable way to measure the brand equity, and to track changes in brand equity over time. The components of retention, brand equity, and attraction of customers, stem from people experiences with and perceptions of a brand. The ability to keep customers is largely experiential. A high equity brand displays stronger levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty. History has shown that customers will continue to buy a brand that can offer them their moneys worth. The ability to create a center of attention for new customers is largely perceptual. Because consumers do not have actual brand experience and they must go by what they hear, see and judge about a brand. The two primary ways through market receives this information is by messages controlled by marketing, such as the advertising and PR efforts and as well as uncontrolled messages such as the press stories and word of mouth. 3.2.2 Brand Equity Variables: 3.2.2.1 Brand Awareness: Brand awareness is a marketing concept that measures customers knowledge of a brands existence. At the aggregate level, it refers to the amount of consumers who know of the brand. Measurement driven conceptualization: Brand awareness is the degree to which a brand is associated with a particular product and is documented by potential and existing consumers either positively or negatively. Formation of brand awareness is the main goal of advertising at the beginning of any products life cycle in the target markets. In fact, brand awareness has influence on the buying behavior of a buyer. All of these calculations are at best approximations. A better complete understanding of the brand can occur if numerous measures are used. Brand equity is the positive effect of the brand on the differentiation between the prices that the consumer accepts to pay when the brand known compared to the value of the benefit received. 3.2.2.2 Brand Association: Brand Associations are not the benefits, but they are the images and symbols associated with a brand or a brand benefit. For instance- The Nike Swoosh, Nokia sound, the Film Stars as with Lux, signature tune the Ting-ting-ta-ding with Britannia, Blue color with the Pepsi, etc. Associations are not the reasons-to-buy but provide contacts and differentiation that is not replicable. It is relating perceived qualities of a brand to a known unit. For example- Hyatt Hotel is linked with the luxury and comfort; BMW is linked with sophistication, and superior engineering. The most popular brand associations are with the possessors of a brand, such as Mr. Bill Gates and Microsoft, Reliance and Dhirubhai Ambani. Brand associations are formed on the following basis: Customers contact with the organization and its employees; Advertisements; Word of mouth publicity; Price at which the brand is sold; Celebrity/big entity association; Quality of the product; Products and schemes offered by competitors; Product class/category to which the brand belongs; POP ( Point of purchase) displays; etc Positive brand associations can be developed if the product which the brand depicts is durable, and desirable. The consumers must be persuaded that the brand owns the features and attributes that can satisfy their needs. This can lead to consumers having a positive impression about the product. Positive brand association helps a business to gain goodwill, and hinders the competitors entry into the market. Brand association is anything which is deeply seated in consumers mind about the brand. Brand should be linked with something positive that can help customers to relate your brand being positive. Brand associations are the qualities of brand which come into customers mind when the brand is talked about. It is associated with the implicit and explicit meanings which a customer relates or associates with a specific brand name. Brand association can also be defined as the extent to which a specific product/service is familiar within its product/service or category. While selecting a brand name, it is necessary that the name chosen should emphasize a significant attribute or benefit that forms its product positioning. For example Power book. 3.2.2.3 Brand Impression/ Perception: Brand perception is actually how the public (the ones you are relating to) sights the product. Its the desired team shirt a football fan wears on Sundays. Bands poster hung in a teenagers room. An opinion voiced to a buddy. Brand experiences and perceptions are developed over time through a mixture of sources, including: Previous experience with the brand Interactions with sales, customer service, and other employees Recommendations from friends and colleagues Reviews by reputable sources Advertising Brand managers need to know that how consumers perceive and select the brands in specific product categories and market segments. One also need to know that what is important to consumers when making a brand decision, where consumers get the information about products and services, and what consumers think about your brand. 3.2.2.4 Brand Attachment: Brand attachment is what you vie for. It is critical not only to get your target customers make a purchase from you, but also to make them empathize with your brand. People are often inclined to award things with human characteristics and emotions. That is precisely what you want them to do. Making your brand more personal and you will get a chance to win your consumers lifelong loyalty and passion. Brands are shaped to distinct products from their competitors and join their consumers to them by building up their loyalty. Product promotion cannot be a easy and dull process of making profit. In order to have success, it has to affect both the rational and emotional aspects of human nature. A product selling, based only on their normal benefits and qualities, is not probable any more. As a high competition level makes it to be so. Therefore, brands need somewhat more to attract customers to their products. 3.2.3 Brands and brand equity: definition and management by Lisa Wood: According to Lisa Wood, an attempt to define the relationship between consumers and brands produced the term brand equity in the marketing literature. The idea behind brand equity has been debated both in the accounting and marketing literatures, and has also highlighted the importance of having a long-term focus within the brand management. Although there have been major moves by companies to be strategic in the way that the brands are managed, a lack of common terminology and philosophy within n between disciplines persists and may deter communication. Brand equity, like the concepts of brand and the added value has been discussed in the section headed the brand construct has proliferated into numerous meanings. Accountants tend to describe brand equity differently from marketers, with the idea being defined both in terms of the relationship between consumer and brand or as something that accrues to the brand owner (the company-oriented definitions). According to Feldwick (1996) simplifies the diversity of approaches, by providing a classification of different meanings of brand equity as the total value of a brand as a separable asset ; Â ± when it is sold, or included on a balance sheet; A measure of the strength of consumers attachment to a brand A description of the associations and beliefs the consumer has about the brand. The first of these is often known as brand valuation or brand value, and is the meaning generally accepted by financial accountants. The concept of measuring the customers level of attachment to a brand is known as brand strength (synonymous of brand loyalty). The third could be called the brand image, though Feldwick (1996) did use the term brand description. When the marketers use the term brand equity they tend to mean the brand description or the brand strength. Brand strength and brand description at times referred to as the customer brand equity to distinguish them from asset valuation meaning. Brand description is different because it would not be expected to be quantified, whereas the brand strength and brand value are considered quantifiable (though the methods of quantification are not covered by this article). Brand value may be thought to be separate as it refers to the actual or notional business transaction, while the other two focuses on the customer. There is an unspecified relationship between interpretations of the brand equity. This connection implies the causal chain. 3.2.4 Managing Brand Equity in Rapidly Changing Markets by Carol Holding: Several years ago, brand equity received the ultimate accolade in a capitalist society: a dollar value- sometimes listed with other intangible assets in the annual report. The highest valued brand today is Coca Cola. Its value according to Financial World is $39 billion. Thats the extra margin people will pay to get the real thing over a generic brand. On the other hand, IBMs brand, though third in value this year, was by one estimate actually negative last year. In other words, if you put the IBM logo on the product, it actually reduced the value of that product versus an unknown brand. Both of these companies, Coca Cola and IBM, have gone through enormous change, yet one managed to build its equity and one lost it. Though each companys management decisions and style had something to do with the outcomes, they also faced different types of rapid change, one far

Doctor-Assisted Suicide and the Hospitals Bottom Line :: Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide

Euthanasia and the Hospitals' Bottom Line      Ã‚   An important factor in debates over health care and treatment strategies is the issue of cost. It is tremendously expensive to provide the state-of-the-art care that the modern hospital offers. Concerns about where the money will come from to care for elderly citizens appear to be making the case for "mercy killing" even more compelling. Under financial pressure, hospitals are exercising their right to deny such expensive healthcare to the aged or seriously ill.    We reserve the right to refuse service: Most people have seen these signs at restaurants and retail shops. But now, metaphorically, some hospitals are hanging such notices over their entryways by promulgating "futile care" protocols that grant doctors the right to say no to wanted life-extending medical treatment to patients whose lives they consider lacking in sufficient quality to justify the cost of care.    Unnoticed by the mainstream press, a disturbing study published in the Fall 2000 issue of the Cambridge Quarterly of Health Care Ethics reveals how far the futile-care movement, in reality the opening salvo in a planned campaign among medical elites to impose health-care rationing upon us, has already advanced. The authors reviewed futility policies currently in effect in 26 California hospitals. Of these, only one policy provided that "doctors should act to support the patient's life" when life-extending care is wanted. All but two of the hospital policies defined circumstances in which treatments should be considered nonobligatory even if requested by the patient or patient representative. In other words, 24 of the 26 hospitals permit doctors to unilaterally deny wanted life-supporting care.    How is such medical abandonment justified? Advocates of futile-care theory cleverly shift the focus away from the physiological effect provided to the patient and toward whether the patient has the "potential for appreciating the benefit of the treatment." Thus, the Cambridge Quarterly reports that 12 of the 26 hospitals surveyed prohibit treating people diagnosed with permanent unconsciousness (other than comfort care) based on these patients' supposed inability to know they are being treated. Never mind that several medical studies demonstrate that this condition is often wrongly diagnosed (40 percent misdiagnosis according to one British report). And never mind that such patients sometimes awaken unexpectedly, as recent headlines attest. What is most disturbing is that these policies, if enforced, would prevent profoundly brain-damaged and dementia patients from receiving tube-supplied food and water because such care is considered medical treatment.

Essay example --

When the 20th century came around America faced many challenges such as immigration, urbanization, and industrialization. To respond to these challenges the populist ask for more government intervention to fix these problems. Imagine your favorite team losing by three touchdowns going into the 4th quarter. The only way to get back into the game is by throwing the ball. By throwing the ball more makes you try to score quicker and get back in the game faster. Government was becoming more progressive domestically and internationally. Progressivism was the reform movement that ran from the late 19th century through the first decades of the 20th century. During the movement leading intellectuals and social reformers addressed the economic and political questions that had arisen. These rapid changes brought with the Industrial Revolution and the growth of modern capitalism in America. U.S. government became increasingly activists in both domestic and foreign policy. Progressives sought to extend their vision of a just and rational order to all areas of society and some, indeed, to all reaches of the globe. For example, Upton Sinclair’s graphic description of the meatpacking industry in his novel The Jungle so deeply disgusted the American people. In response, Congress passed legislation that same year, hoping to clean up the industry and protect American consumers. All this influence of more government intervention started during the Reconstruction Era. This Era was one of the most turbulent eras in American history. It witnessed America's first experiment in mass democracy. Reconstruction remains relevant today because the issues central to it the role of the federal government in protecting citizens' rights. This entailed a dramati... ...cturing economy, propelling America's rise to become the leading power in the world. Business and industrialization centered on the cities. The building of factories and a need for labor convinced people in rural areas to move to the city. This shifted America’s demographics dramatically. The United States transformed from an agrarian to an urban nation. In response to the challenges of the 20th century, America needed a progressive movement that was directed at solving the problems created by the Rapid industrialization. It was a time of enormous changes in American life. The movement help fuel the United States become an international power and help secure its economic strength. It brought about laws aimed at relieving these problems and improving society. Even though it resulted in increased government regulation, the regulation was needed to modernize America.

Organization :: essays papers

Organization Initializing a classroom is the hardest part in teaching. It is a new beginning with the students, parents, and teachers. There is no possible way to start off a classroom by jumping into a lesson plan and expecting the students to learn. Students must be familiar with their surroundings and their classmates in order to establish a comfort level. "An educator must be well-organized and planned. The students must be able to trust the teacher and their peers that the classroom will be a safe place. It is very difficult to establish the right atmosphere with a group of students if it is not there from the first day of school" (Matthews A19). The first six week time period is usually set aside for establishing a climate with the students. There is a method known as, â€Å"morning meeting.† This is a daily scheduled routine. Every morning in the beginning of class the students are taught to sit in a circle and talk. They are first told to shake hands with the children nex t to them and become friendly with one another. Next they go around the circle giving everyone a brief introduction of themselves. For the most part, students are asked their name, age, and their hobbies. This activity not only gets the children acquainted with each other, but it also produces certain learning skills which need to be present. This teaches social skills, eye contact, self confidence, comfort, etc. The children become focused in others and interested in making friends. Without â€Å"ice breaker† events, students often have a hard time interacting with their peers. â€Å"A survey was conducted that asked children ‘How much do you like to play with this person in school?’ The lowest three females and males were then focused on for improvement of their social skills. Would you want this to be your child?† (Ladd 172). Student social skills play a large role in initializing an effective classroom setting. Now, since the students are acquainted with one another and their attention is captured, a beneficial prelude to begin teaching is established. Initializing A Classroom Teachers have a harder role than what is presumed. â€Å"†¦As ever, the discussion is couched in terms of contrasting the relative strengths and limitations of a whole class and group

Is Parliamentarism Conducive to Better Political Outcomes Than Presidential Systems? Essay

Is Parliamentarism conducive to better political outcomes than Presidential systems? My interpretation of the question leads me to believe if parliamentary systems are better than presidential systems in deriving better political outcomes. By better political outcomes this implies not only ease of making political decisions but also the manner in which the two systems function and which is better, and whether or not this leads to favourable political outcomes. Issues that I am going to discuss in this essay are going to include the functionality of both systems, the differences between the two systems and whether or not the system provides and facilitates good political outcomes. According to Bagehot â€Å"a Presidential system endows the incumbent with both the ceremonial functions of a head of state and the effective functions of a chief executive.†(Bagehot) In a Presidential system the executive branch exists and resides outside of the legislature. The executive branch does not purpose legislature but have the power to veto them. â€Å"The president has a fixed term in government and it is usually a difficult process trying to eliminate the president.†(Verney) The executive branch controls their cabinet and does not members of the cabinet serve at their will, this means the President can hire or fire anyone from the cabinet. According to Verney â€Å"Parliamentary system, consists of the head of government that are dependent on the confidence of the legislature and can be dismissed by a legislative vote of no confidence.†(Verney) There are two main types of parliamentary democracy which consist of the ‘Westminster system’ and the ‘Consensus system’ but there is also a hybrid of the presidential and parliamentary system which is called the semi-presidential system. The Westminster system derives from the UK and can be found in many of Britain’s ex-colonies such as India and Canada. The Westminster system tends to be a more adversarial style of debating. The consensus system can be found in Germany and Spain and tends to be more consensus style of debating system. Firstly, legislation is always a key factor to answering the question as to which of the following systems is conducive to better political outcomes. Linz argues that â€Å"in a Presidential system both Legislature and the executive can claim legitimacy since both drive their power from the votes of the people in free competition among well-defined alternatives, a conflict is always possible.†(Linz)This occurs because a Presidential system adopts the separation of powers format. Presidential systems usually but not exclusively reside in Federal countries. This allows for a separation of powers between the legislature and executive. This separation can be looked at in different forms, some advantageous and hinders to political outcomes. For example an advantage of having the separation of powers in the Presidential system is that it does not create a dictatorship type of government. The separation of powers means that in the Presidential system the executive as well as the legi slature are can both claim legitimacy, which in turn means that they can both cancel each other out. Presidents cannot impose laws and legislature cannot interfere with presidential powers. In the United States there is a supreme court that decides whether or not the legislature or the President are acting unconstitutional and thus act as a referee in the debating between the two factions of government. The presidential system is seen to be more democratic because of the conflict between the two factions of government. The congress in the US represent the different views of the people in different states and the president represents the US as a whole thus a conflict between the two bodies shows a more democratic process. The Presidential system also has fixed term elections, this is a key argument used by pro-presidential academics, and Horowitz argues that fixed term elections leads to better democratic outcomes. The reason for this thinking is because, â€Å"Fixed terms does not produce winner takes all outcomes as there is conflict between legislature and executive.†(Horowitz) A fixed term also links into the previous mentioned point about reducing the chances of an elective dictatorship as there would eventually have to be a set date for an election and thus if either the executive or the legislature has proven to be unpopular they would get voted out of office. However there are disadvantages to the presidential system in terms of fixed terms and conflicts with legislature. One key disadvantage is that the conflict between the president and the legislature produce political gridlock within the system, â€Å"the separation of powers of a presidential system frequently creates undesirable and long-term political gridlock and political instability whenever the president and the legislative majority are from different parties.†(Linz) Linz â€Å"argues that this inherent political instability can cause democracies to fail, as seen in such cases as Brazil and Chile.†Linz believed that political gridlock can prove to be costly in the forging of governments because it hinders the speed and decisiveness of democracy and thus cause democracies to fail like he mentioned in South America. Also a separation of powers in the presidential system leads both the president and the legislature to become less accountable. Both the executive and the legislature can shift blame upon each other and thus leads to less accountability come election time to the vote rs. Parliamentary systems on the other hand have their government intertwined with the legislature and government is formed form the legislature. In the UK, the Westminster model forms government form the winning party in parliament. So in a parliamentary system there is no separation of powers. The advantages of this are that it reduces the likeliness of political gridlock. Linz argues that â€Å"Parliamentarism imparts flexibility to the political process, presidential makes it rigid.†(Linz). As the government would expect to have backing from their party they have the ability to pass through legislations quicker with less hassle than a presidential system may incur. This is an advantage over the presidential system the executive is often chosen independently from the legislature. If the executive and legislature in such a system include members entirely or predominantly from different political parties, then stalemate can occur. In this form it can be said that Parliamentarism is conductive to better political outcomes than the presidential system. The passing of legislature is an important task for any government as it shows strength and can make or break a government’s reputation. In respect to this I feel that the presidential system may be lacking in terms of being able to pass legislation as it may not be able to react quick enough to changing events or situations, this is where a parliamentary system seems to be more adequate, however a parliamentary system could become gridlocked if there is a minority government with low discipline so the element f political gridlock is not only exclusive to Presidential systems. However the issue of legitimacy in the Presidential systems has the ability to cause numerous problems in the terms of legislation passing. But it can also be argued in the case for support of the Presidential system it can be argued that Prime ministers are constrained to the need of The House of Commons and thus do not act as fast as expected. An example of this is taken from John F. Kennedy work where he states, â€Å"Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain were constrained by the need to maintain the confidence of the Commons.†(Kenned y) In the need for confronting German military build up before the outbreak of the Second World War. Another issue to contend with is how the governments are elected. In a Parliamentary system, the government is elected through the party system and thus the winning party forms government through having a simple majority in the parliament. In the presidential system, the executive is elected by the public and is directly elected. This difference between the two systems is seen in both an advantage and disadvantages. In a presidential system Voters know who they are voting for and accountability resides within the President. Horowitz states â€Å"Voters have a clear choice of Ideology to pick from.†(Horowitz) This means that there is no only the one straight choice and thus it is clear to voters who they are picking and what type of ideology this is going to represent. However a disadvantage of this is that direct election creates a zero-sum game. This is that there is only one winner and all other votes do not amount to anything and thus no coalition can be made with the oppos ition. This is seen has undemocratic and a hindrance to better political outcomes. An example of this is seen with the Bush vs. Gore election of 2000, where Bush won the election by 271 to 266. In such a close competition, where arguably almost half of the country voted against him. It seems undemocratic to have Bush becoming the President; this can lead to the polarisation of politics within that country. This is because when a president wins an election he is the head of state as well as the representative of a nation but he stands for a clearly partisan political option. But Presidential system has one up on its parliamentary counterpart as the â€Å"voters know and are in control of who they are voting for to be president, while in a parliamentary system voters vote for their constituent MP and the party decides who is Prime minister,† (Riggs) this can be seen as hindering democracy and could not be conductive to better political outcomes. However the Parliamentary system can be an advantage because it leads to power sharing and coalitions, thus it is argued makes politics more representative. An example of this is mentioned by Lijphart, â€Å"Parliamentarianism has attractive features for nations that are ethnically, racially, or ideologically divid ed. In a unipersonal presidential system, all executive power is concentrated in the president. In a parliamentary system, with a collegial executive, power is more divided. In the 1989 Lebanese Taif Agreement, in order to give Muslims greater political power, Lebanon moved from a semi-presidential system with a strong president to a system more structurally similar to classical parliamentarianism.†(Lijphart) However it can be argued that a parliamentary form of government leads to the personalisation of power by the prime minister or an ethnic group in the country. As there is no fixed terms is in the Parliamentary style of government it is argued that if a prime minister was to get voted in with a large majority, with the whip system in place, where all party members will obey the party line the government is capable of introducing any legislature, without any issue. This can be seen as being undemocratic as it would lead to an elected dictatorship. This was the case in Nigeria during the 1960s, â€Å"Under the Westminster model, during the 1960s, groups in the North managed to secure a majority in Parliament and began to seize power and excluded everyone else from power. This lead to an ethnic authoritarian rule of the country, and was the main factor for the Nigerian Biafrican War and countless military coups.†(Horowitz) This shows that Parliamentarism is just as harmful as presidential system in stifling democracy. Horowitz makes the comment â€Å"It is possible that Presidential systems helped stifle democracy in Latin America, Parliamentary systems have helped stifle democracy in Africa.†(Horowitz) To conclude, the Presidential system has its advantages to conducive a better political outcome, such as having fixed terms, direct elections and separations of power however these advantages can also act as disadvantages when viewed in another way. The parliamentary system too has its advantages to creating a better political outcomes, its advantages such as likeliness of coalition, being supposedly more representative and being more responsive in creating a stronger government also can be seen as a disadvantage when looked at in a different light. Dahl states â€Å"claims that parliamentarianism is less prone to authoritarian collapse. These scholars point out that since World War II, two-thirds of Third World countries establishing parliamentary governments successfully made the transition to democracy. By contrast, no Third World presidential system successfully made the transition to democracy without experiencing coups and other constitutional breakdowns.† This in effect argues the point that parliamentary systems have been more successful in terms of having peaceful transition from colonialism to democracy but although presidential system may not have had a successful transition to democracy but parliamentary system has not had a 100% success rate and thus we cannot say for definite if it is better than presidential system we can only assume. My research in this essay has led me to believe that the both system are conducive to better political outcomes in their own way, theoretically they are both capable of producing democratically stable countries and environments with better political outcomes, however in practice this is not always the case and thus I feel that my research has led me to be inconclusive and i have to sit on the fence when trying to realise which one cre ates a better system. Bibliography Bagehot W, (1867) The English Constitution, MacMaster University Dahl, R (1989) Democracy and Its Critics- – Yale University Press Horowitz, Donald L. (1990) Comparing Democratic Systems- The Johns Hopkins University Press Kennedy. John F. (1940)- Why England Slept?, Macmillan Lijphart, Arend (1999). Patterns of democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press. Linz, Juan J. The Perils of Presidentialism – The Johns Hopkins University Press Riggs, Fred. (1988) The Survival of Presidentialism in America International Political Science Review Verney