Social Welfare And The Environment Essay - 1084 Words

In this article, professor Stenzel draws a conclusion that more and more companies are focusing on social welfare and the environment by these CSR programs. In detail, three main factors, the developing concepts, large companies’ participation and the evaluation and review system, motivate more companies to focus on social welfare and environment by CSR programs. Before the terms related to social welfare and environment have been clearly defined, many companies in the U.S. and other international companies have realized that they have kinds of social responsibility and duties to improve the whole society. During their early attempts, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been adopted, and most of companies are engaging related affairs, such as improvement of communities, development of economics and extra benefits to the workforce. However, these companies are lacking of guideline and standards until the appearance of voluntary programs. They provide a standard and guideline for these companies, not only motivating companies to achieve their CSR goals but also regulating the basic principles of CSR. Programs, such as â€Å"ISO 14000 International Environmental Standards, the Global Reporting Initiative, and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices† (Stenzel 397), developed certain standards and guideline for companies t o follow. Many companies regarded the core of CSR as the protection of environment, which is simply focusing on decreasing the pollutions. In theShow MoreRelatedChild Welfare Services Is A Social Work1740 Words   |  7 PagesChildren thrive in predictable and consistent environments that allow children to feel safe and secure. Children require and parents have an obligation to provide children with the basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. Children need to experience a childhood filled with love, warmth, and positive interactions along with experiencing a childhood that is free from abuse and neglect. 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Child welfare services were specifically designed to protect children from anything that could potentially harm them including: abuse, neglect, poverty and lack of resources among other things. No matter the circumstance, in child welfare the interest of the child is always the top priority. In certain situations, this could include removing the child from the home, but the preferred option is to help the familyRead MoreThe Welfare State and Government Responses to Economic Openness1668 Words   |  7 PagesThe Welfare State and Government Responses to Economic Openness I. Introduction Economic openness is the phenomenon in which individual economies from all over the world become increasingly connected and interdependent through greater liberalization of trade and the vast movement of goods, services, and capital across borders. With the rise of globalization, positive effects have resulted from economic openness. The widespread benefits of globalization have resulted in global economic growthRead MoreEvaluation Of The Alternative Of Economic Progress1397 Words   |  6 Pagesalternative to GDP is flawless, although there are alternatives that show considerable improvement. The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), the Human Economic Welfare Indicator (HEWI), and Green GDP or Environmental Sustainability Indicator (ESI) are examples of alternatives to GDP. The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) is a progress indicator that balances income distribution and pollution costs instead of adding up all expenses like the Gross

Sociological Perspectives On Health And Social Care

Name: Amina Isa Ali ID: 845368 Unit 7: Sociological Perspectives in Health and Social Care. Tutor: Sharon Davis Date: 08/10/14 Time: 17:43 P1) In p1 I will be explaining the principle sociological perspectives in health and social care. Marxism: Marxism: In the 19th century, Marxism was inspired by two men Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. These two men were German theorists who were living in Britain. The governmental professionals are of Marxists viewpoints and beliefs. Marxism has played a massive role in the influencing of many structural beliefs and many social movements. Marx’s view on social change is due to the struggle between different classes within society who are constantly competing with each other to improve their way of life and the condition that they are in. Marxists analysis leads to the conclusion that capitalism; the currently dominant form of economic management, leads to the oppression of the proletariat; who not only make up the majority of the world s population, but who also spend their lives working for the benefit of the bourgeoisie or the wealthy ruling class in society. Since the death of Karl Marx in 1883 his viewpoints have not been viewed not to be relevant. Many times since his death his viewpoints have come up as every new generation challenges the unequal, unjust and the people who support every capitalism system and each new generation looks for ideas and a method to change the world we live in. People who are classed asShow MoreRelatedHealth and Social Care - Unit 7 (P1P2) Principle Sociological Perspectives2289 Words   |  10 PagesPrincipal Sociological Perspectives P1 P2 The principal sociological perspectives are Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism, Interactionism, collectivism, postmodernism, ‘New Right’. 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Sociology looks at the in which social structure and institutions affect our everyday life. Sociological imagination was founded by C. Wright mills in the 1950`s it is an overall understanding

Compae Free Essays

Today the United States of America has a very large constructed government that has been influenced through the ages. The Greeks romans and Judeo-Christian traditions had the biggest impact on our government today though due to the way they began their governments. Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures had similar ideas about laws and individual duties that have influenced us today. We will write a custom essay sample on Compae or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Greeks just like United States use three branches of government, they carry out laws through their executive branch and the legislative branch passes laws. The leader was chosen by lot today the president is chosen by popular vote. Judeo-Christian, Greek and Roman cultures also had differences in their views of law, reason and faith and individual responsibilities. In Judeo-Christian law, reason and faith are based on the Word of God. They believe in only one God, saying he is the creator of all things. Greco-Roman beliefs dealt with more logic. Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle believed in a supreme God but this was because of mythology where the people preferred to create their own gods. As far as law and reason, in Greece; philosophy ruled and in Roman the opinion of Caesar ruled. Greeks viewed law as something that was developed by common sense and over time through civilized logic and experience. Jews and Christians viewed laws as coming from a god. The duties of individuals under Judeo-Christian view is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all you mind and all your soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. Greco-Roman is that only Roman citizens are to be considered people and treated as people. Greeks considered those outside of Athens to be ignorant and not worth their time. These three cultures have influenced the way we think about laws even now today. We use the Judeo-Christians ideas about individual worth, ethical controllers, and the need to fight injustice. These ideals continue to be extremely important to United States government still today. This all taught us that representation and citizen participation are important features of democratic governments around the world. Romans were the first ones to give the world an idea of a republic. They had the first written legal code and idea that this code should be applied equally and impartially to all citizens. On the other hand the Greeks invented the first democracy in the ancient world. All in all these three cultures of Greek, Roman, and Judeo-Christian had one thing in common; they all influenced our government today. Even though all of them are extremely different and have different ideas based on law, faith, and tradition they are all a lot alike. They are all influential in positive ways and we owe it all to them for creating the government we have today in the United States. How to cite Compae, Papers

Requirements Terms Technological Process †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Requirements In Terms Of Technological Process? Answer: Introduction Woolworths Limited in regarded as one of the companies having a vast retail interest throughout New Zealand and Australia. It as well follows particular IT strategy to carry out their business with the implementation of the modern technologies to carry out their work (woolworthsgroup, 2017). It is the most attractive supermarket based on the program of loyalty. It has the biggest chain of supermarket and it has its operations in 996 stores across the country Australia. It is considered the second largest company of Australia. It has specialty in grocery, which focuses on delivering the best quality based products to the customers. It is the house of favorite brands of Australia and they are committed in giving the lowest prices to Australians every day (woolworthsgroup, 2017). The aspiration of the group, which makes the customers and team to work safely together and safety, is termed as an important value and it makes sure that the business is carried out in a more systematic way th rough the implementation of the proper IS strategy (Van Broos, 2012). The mission of the organization is to deliver the value and quality to their customers. In order to fulfill the needs of the customers, the supermarket employ more than 21, 0000 team members who would be in the position to serve 30 million customers across the brands every week. Woolworths is also a trustworthy business partner of the local manufacturers and farmers. The Woolworths store in the world, which uses the registers of cash, gives its customers its print receipts (woolworthsgroup, 2017). To keep this nature of business in mind, it is important to discuss the structure of the governance and its policies in the organization (Van Broos, 2012). The important roles that are being played by the corporate officers in the organization. Along with this, it is significant to point out the governmental policies and structures, which reflects on the regulatory requirements. In what ways the organization addresses and mitigates risk. Lastly the impacts and internal changes in the organization, which might affect the working of the organization. Governance structure, process and policies Governance structure The Governance structure of the Woolsworth organization has set forth a number of important documents and policies (woolworthsgroup, 2017). The structure of the organization reflects on the working of the organization of Australia and how they accordingly carry out the processes of business. The Board Committees of the Woolworths group of Australia includes Audit Committee IT committee Compliance and Risk Committee Committee on Sustainability Ethics and Social Committee Committee of Nominations Committee of Remuneration Board Charter, terms of Governance and Reference Policies Governance process of Woolworths group The Boards act is regarded as an important custodian of the corporate governance which incorporates the ethical responsibilities and principles based on ethics, which drives a set of directions in a route where the specific areas of the governance are needed to be approached, conducted and addressed through the process of IS strategy (woolworthsgroup, 2017; Van Broos, 2012) . It has remained responsible to the transparency and accountable to the fundamentals that would give safeguard to the values of the stakeholders. The group contains a unitary board, which consists of 15 directors, among them ten is regarded as the directors of non-executive and five executive directors (Scholes, 2015; Tricker Tricker, 2015). Audit Committee: The function of the committee is to provide an overall view of the effectiveness about the controls of the internal financial matter, in order to give assistance the board in monitoring to understand the adherence of the Annual Financial statement of the company and the related external reports. IT committee: The role of the IT committee is to look through the proper capital projects and can make the proper development and implementation, which is related to IT. It checks the growth of the important indicators of performance which incorporate the delivery of the money (Slack, 2015). Risk and Compliance committee: The role of the committee is to give assistance to the board to set a direction about how risk would be approached and mitigated while embracing the inclusiveness of the approach of stakeholders Committee on Sustainability: The primary role of the committee is to give assurance about the strategies of sustainable developments position in the group as the leader in the retail where its presence is operational. It also makes sure that the initiatives based on sustainability, its objectives are properly taken into consideration into the functions of business, and to make sure the group operates in a more responsible manner while aligning with the needs of society. Ethics and Social Committee: The role of the committee is to make sure about the activities of the group which are intended to be responsible citizen of corporate world. To give assistance to the board of an ethical organizational culture, by overseeing the conduct of a group, its approach and the manner in which the business would be conducted (woolworthsgroup, 2017) Committee of Nominations: its basic role is to give assistance to the boards with nominations, elections and appointing the directors to make sure that a transparent and process of accountability to indicate the composition of the board and committee (Slack, 2015). Committee of remuneration: The significant role of this committee is to give assurance that the value proposition of the employee promotes responsible, transparent and reasonable practices of the employment while adopting the policies of remuneration. It also makes sure that the establishment of perfect framework of remuneration and also adopting the policies of remuneration (woolworthsgroup, 2017). Board charter: The deliberations of the board are to give guidance and support by the authority of delegations, both of which have been annually reviewed. The authority of deliberations set forth the matters of delegation by the board to its committees and the groups of the executive officers. Governance IT based policies of Woolsworth group Continuous Disclosure policy: It assists the company with its obligations under the act of Corporations Act of 2001 and the listing rules of ALX. It establishes a framework to allow the Woolworths to provide the market and shareholders with direct, timely and equal access to the information, which has to be relevant about the company. It promotes in the confidence in the investor while integrating with the Woolworths and its securities. Trading Policy: Trading with the organization follows Transaction Delivery Network, which is regarded as an important electronic document (woolworthsgroup, 2017; Bodie, 2013). The B2BE TDN also initiates the connection between the other B2BE solutions and products. The groups trading policy maintains and promotes the reputation of the company. The policy details out the law, which are related to the trading insider, and details of the requirements of the company is related to the dealings of both Woolsoworths and other companies. The policy applies to the group of directors, employees and officers, consultants as well as the contractors (Wintoki, Linck Neter, 2012). Safety and health policy: the organization cares about the safety and health of the customers, team members, visitors and the business partners. They follow the principles of actively showing care to each other, being responsible for the decisions, which are needed to be taken. The company looks forward to apply the risk management to prevent the illness and injuries (woolworthsgroup, 2017). The organization looks forward to align with the laws and the other external requirements. The organization as well looks forward to provide information, instructions on training and the supervision so that the members of the team carry out the work appropriately and safely. Also the organization makes sure that the safety and health information is available (Wintoki, Linck Neter, 2012). Communication policy: In addition to initiating a communication on the regular basis with the stakeholders through the use of websites, the company utilizes its Annual General Meeting (AGM) as an opportunity to engage with the companys stakeholders and seek their work on the companys management. Woolworths also provide stakeholders who cannot attend the meeting with an opportunity to give the questions when the meeting is in advance. The company through this policy also allows the stakeholders lodge their electronically proxies (Bodie, 2013). The corporate officers and their roles Gordon Cairns as Chairman: The role of the chairman is to manage and provide leadership to the Directors of Board of the company (Goetsch, 2014). He is accountable to Board and performs as a direct communication between the management of the company and the board, through the CEO. Brad Banducci as a managing director and CEO: The leadership of a CEO is ultimately responsible for the day to day decisions of the management and also implementing the long and short term plans of the company (Goetsch, 2014). It acts as a communication between the management of the company and board and communicates to the board on the behalf of management (woolworthsgroup, 2017). William Stone as IT manager: The company follows IS strategy which incorporate the human capital management, cost management, Management of hardware and software and also looks forward to mitigate on the risk management. He works closely with the budget of business and other departments of legal within the sphere of organization. Julian Broadbent as an Independent non- executive Director: He is not engaged in the management on the day-to-day basis, but he is involved in the process of policymaking. Addition to this, the directors who are non- executive has the responsibilities to incorporate the monitoring of the director and acting according to the interest of the stakeholders of company (woolworthsgroup, 2017; Carroll Buchholtz, 2014). Holly Kramer as an independent non-executive director: Its role is to create a contribution to the board by giving an oversight of constructive challenges to the directors. Kenneth Jones as policy maker must be engaged in the consultation process. The role of the policy maker is to procure information in a careful process through the process of consultation. The development of the policies inculcates the collection of the statistical information, chairing the forums based on discussions and trying to seek information from the outside of the organization. Richard Dammery as a Chief Legal Officer: A chief legal officer which started trading the company in order to minimize its risks by giving advice to the officers of the company and the board members on any types of regulatory or legal issues (Carroll Buchholtz, 2014). Regulatory requirements The Governance wants its vendors to align with their lawful obligations in every respect. This is a condition, which is based in supply. The standard of WQA is not determined to carry out its operation as a replacement for the vendor which gives assurance about the compliance with all the regulatory products based on safety labeling the requirements and compositional (Hall, Gardner Faraone, 2012). By rendering the standard of WQA, the organization cannot realize the Vendor from the obligations in order to comply, in the field of respects with those requirements, which are statutory. By following the act of Gramm-Leach-Bliley, it renders protection to the privacy and security about the customers and letting the customers not to disclose their information. The proper IT strategy is to maintain certain important points in mind (Hall, Gardner Faraone, 2012). To establish and implementation of the controls Give protection to the compliances issues. Identify and correct the deviations and vulnerabilities. Providing report which can give proof on the compliance of the organization. The references below would provide about an overview of the regulatory considerations for the business of Woolworths. FSANZ developed the standard of food and joint codes of practices with the industries which is covering the content about the food labeling which would be sold to Australia and New Zealand. The NMI implements the measures of trade in relation to Australia. Products for the consumers: Australia The TGA is the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) which is providing safeguard to the public health and safety through the regulation of the medical devices, medicines, tissues and blood (Coffee et al., 2015). Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, which stands for ARTG, is a database of computer of the goods, which are therapeutic. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) is an authority of Government who is responsible for assessing and registering the pesticides and the veterinary medicines for their regulation to incorporate the points of the sale of retail (woolworthsgroup, 2017). ACCC which stands for Australian Competition and Consumer Commission which is an authority of statutory which is responsible for ensuring the individuals and being compliance with the business with the competition of the commonwealth, protection of the consumer laws and a fair trading. The payment Card industry and the information of the cardholder security program (CISP) and the main purpose is to render protection against the exposure of the card holder which ensures the merchants, members and the service holders to control the information of the highest security standard (woolworthsgroup, 2017). The Governance structure of the organization reflects on the proper regulatory requirements and it also focuses on the fact that with the maintenance of the proper regulations with the channels of communication and rendering protection to the customers as whole. Risk Management The Board of the Woolworths Group accepts the responsibility for the risk of the governance. The Board takes into account about the risk management as an important business which incorporate Balancing of the risks and giving rewards to both new and existing initiatives Protection of the organization against any kinds of hazards and uncertainties. It takes into consideration about the exploitation of the opportunities which can bring improvements to the performances of the group. It focuses on the strategy, operational and financial risks. The responsibilities on the day to day basis have been identified and management of the risks stays with the management (woolworthsgroup, 2017; McNeil, Frey Embrechts, 2015). The management is responsible for the designing of the board, implementation and monitoring the system and the process of the risk management to unite with the activities on the day-to-day basis. The risk management has been decentralized into the operations of business functions. The management of risk has turned into a standardized discipline business and its application is consistent throughout the group (Wintoki, Linck Neter, 2012; McNeil, Frey Embrechts, 2015). The process of the risk management is added with the business and strategic planning which is embedded through the management of the organization, the performance of the system of the management and the reporting based on management. The operation under the terms of reference which has been approved by the board, the committee of the risk gives report to the Board which further elaborates on the risk which are deemed necessary for the process of discussion and the evaluation by the directors. The risk and compliance committees chairman are basis on the important issues to the Board and the risky profile is given on the table yearly (McNeil, Frey Embrechts, 2015) The framework of the risk management was processed and designed to give assistance to the board to give assurance that the monitor of the management continually risks and gives report back to the compliance committee of the risk on the basis of the status of risks. Information technology and Governance is responsible for controlling the governance about the other aspects of the IT, which incorporate the management risk and the compliances. The quarterly based IT report is discussed at each committee of the Risk and Compliance committee (woolworthsgroup, 2017; McNeil, Frey Embrechts, 2015). The framework of Governance, which is accepted internationally, made a confirmation that the maturity of the process of IT is desired with the levels of maturity. The assurance based on independence by the internal audit made a confirmation. The Group of the organization also made the progress is developing the appetite of the risk for managing the important risks that could be materially impacted on the business. Accordingly, the important metrics of risks have been grown with the integration of the important indicators which are clearly defined (Kaplan Mikes, 2012). Improvements Woolworths agreed on the three contracts to bring improvements in its business which is earning A$1.5 billion in the proceeds of gross as the biggest grocer of Australia revenue seeks for a return to the profitability (Laudon Laudon, 2016). The deal incorporates the selling of Woolworths hardware group and home timber to the smaller rival name Metcash for A$165 million. Woolworths is also looking forward to close down its sixty- one number of master properties and 20 sites of development to the group of investors in the Home consortium (Laudon Laudon, 2016; Easterby, Thorpe Jackson, 2012). The decision taken which means the management cans concenrate on the important business. According to the CEO of the Woolworths group, the agreement provides certainty to the masters team of the organization, customers and suppliers. It is considered as an appropriate resolution for the shareholders. The share of the Woolworths have nearly lost 30% of the value since the year 2014 (woolworthsgroup, 2017; Cummings Worley, 2014). The Woolworths needs to manage its inventory or else the shelves of the store cannot control the proper balance between the customer demand and the appropriate amount of merchandise and would fail to know the customer demand (Lam, 2014). In order to maintain the margin, the Woolworths group is needed to cut out its cost in order to satisfy the customers. The team of the process design must continue to engage the communication of business through the organization which is process centric and providing benefits to the different projects (Lam, 2014). The organization must focus on the return policies, analyze the complaints in order to reduce the problems for future use. Give training to the employees and must look forward to work with the customers in a much more professional manner. Conclusion: Therefore, to conclude it could be stated that Woolworths holding is a famous organization in the organization and it follows certain IT management strategy in terms of handling matters in the organization. It follows a systematic and proper structure which incorporate different committees and how each of the committee is carrying out their work. The process of the corporate governance likes to see forward about utilizing the IT management skills in terms of constructing policies and implementing them properly in terms of maintaining the proper guidelines of the organization. The corporate officers also play an important role while carryout the functions of the organization. However, the regulatory requirements follow the concepts of IT management while carrying out their working sphere smooth. Certain rules and regulations are being guided by the It management to carry out the smooth working of the firm. Next, it is been discussed how the organization would follow certain policies i n order to bring improvements in its sectors by developing a plan for 2- 3 years References Bodie, Z. (2013).Investments. McGraw-Hill. Carroll, A., Buchholtz, A. (2014).Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education. Coffee Jr, J. C., Sale, H., Henderson, M. T. (2015). Securities regulation: Cases and materials. Cummings, T. G., Worley, C. G. (2014).Organization development and change. Cengage learning. Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R., Jackson, P. R. (2012).Management research. Sage. Goetsch, D. L., Davis, S. B. (2014).Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson. Hall, P. S., Gardner, P., Faraone, A. (2012). Antenna requirements for software defined and cognitive radios.Proceedings of the IEEE,100(7), 2262-2270. Kaplan, R. S., Mikes, A. (2012). Managing risks: a new framework. Lam, J. (2014).Enterprise risk management: from incentives to controls. John Wiley Sons. Laudon, K. C., Laudon, J. P. (2016).Management information system. Pearson Education India. McNeil, A. J., Frey, R., Embrechts, P. (2015).Quantitative risk management: Concepts, techniques and tools. Princeton university press. Scholes, M. S. (2015).Taxes and business strategy. Prentice Hall. Slack, N. (2015).Operations strategy. John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Tricker, R. B., Tricker, R. I. (2015).Corporate governance: Principles, policies, and practices. Oxford University Press, USA. Van Marrewijk, A., Broos, M. (2012). Retail stores as brands: performances, theatre and space.Consumption Markets Culture,15(4), 374-391. Wintoki, M. B., Linck, J. S., Netter, J. M. (2012). Endogeneity and the dynamics of internal corporate governance.Journal of Financial Economics,105(3), 581-606. woolworthsgroup. (2017).Woolworths Group: Quality Brands and Trusted Retailing.Woolworthsgroup.com.au. Retrieved 12 September 2017, from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/

Are The Council of Ministers and European Council Protectors of The State †Government Research Paper

Are The Council of Ministers and European Council Protectors of The State – Government Research Paper Free Online Research Papers European integration has deepened considerably in the recent years and many are predicting it to deepen even further, towards an all-embracing state of Europe in which national boundaries and cultural identities will gradually melt into one. This scenario is definitely feared by many. However, among all the institutions of the European Union, the last stronghold of national interests still stands: the Council of Ministers, the Union’s main executive and legislative power. Alongside it is the European Council, a meeting of the heads of member states, which defines the broad political direction of the Union, and is under national influence as well. Are these two institutions the protectors of state interests within the European Union? In this essay I intend to look at the organization and functions of both the Council of Ministers and the European Council. I will also examine how they interact with the rest of the European Union, and look at the functioning of the decision-making process closely to see whether the Council of Ministers protects national interests or strives for the common good of the European Union. Finally I will conclude on what I perceive as the role of the Council of Ministers and the European Council and whether they are protecting state interests within the European Union or not. The Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers was created on purely intergovernmental grounds in 1951. The national governments felt the need to limit the supranational powers that were driving the integration forward. The Council which was then created has evolved greatly since and its powers have deepened despite the growing powers of the supranational institutions within the European Union. The Council of Ministers is not one complete body, but in fact meets in several different formations, depending on the subject area being discussed. For example, the ministers of education meet among themselves as do the ministers of foreign affairs. So all in all, the Council of Ministers has sixteen different formations. There also exists an hierarchy within these different formations: â€Å"Three Councils have traditionally met on a monthly basis, and have therefore been viewed as the most ‘senior’ formations – the General Affairs Council, made up of the foreign ministers of the member governments; the Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofin), composed of the ministers of finance or economic affairs; and the Agriculture Council.† (Hayes-Renshaw, 2002: 50). The other councils meet less frequently, but yet at least twice a year. The ministers are in these meetings strictly as the representatives of their respective governments and are authorized to commit t heir governments (Hayes-Renshaw, 2002: 51). The Council of Ministers is led by the presidency which rotates among the member states and is held up for a six-month period. Meanwhile the Secretariat-General of the Council acts as the administrative support to the Council performing also logistical and technical functions. The Secretary-General is also the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, so the tasks the Secretariat-General oversees are not to be overlooked. The Secretariat-General plays a significant role within the Council hierarchy. COREPER (Committee of Permanent Representatives) Coreper prepares the work of the Council of Ministers and is an important and integral part of the functioning of the Council. â€Å"Coreper acts as a process manager in the Council system between the ministers and the experts in the working groups.† (Cini, 2003: 157). Coreper consists of two groups: Coreper I and II. â€Å"Coreper I is made up of the deputy permanent representatives and they are responsible for preparing the so-called ‘technical’ councils.† (Cini, 2003: 157). Meanwhile, Coreper II is generally regarded the more important one and consists of the EU permanent representatives who prepare the work of the General Affairs Council and deal with issues that have broad implications. While the representatives have no formal decision-making power, they still exert a lot of influence on the ministers, and â€Å"Coreper is still an important de facto decision-making body, seen by the steady stream of ‘A points’ which are sent to the minis ters for formal adoption† (Cini, 2003: 158). Below the Coreper in hierarchy, several working groups exist: â€Å"†¦ the working group level is a vast network of national officials who specialize in specific areas and form the initial starting point for negotiations on any new proposal or issue.† (Cini, 2003: 158) They hold the specialist knowledge needed for each subject area and aim to work through all the technical and fine detail to ease the workload of ministers. The functions of the Council of Ministers Decision-making is the Council’s main function and it is in fact the European Union’s principal legislative institution. All proposals originating from the Commission must be approved by the Council. Certain decisions are taken collectively with the European Parliament through co-decision procedure, and the power of the Parliament has increased in influencing the outcome of the decisions; however the Council of Ministers still holds the main power. The decisions made collectively with the European Parliament fall under the First Pillar of the issues. Decisions within the Second and Third Pillars which consist of ‘more important’ issues such as for example foreign policy are made solely by the Council of Ministers. Within the Council decisions are made preferably through negotiation and agreements; however in some cases voting is the only way to reach consensus. There are two categories for voting rules: unanimity and qualified majority voting (QMV). In the case of unanimity any country can block the decision-making process by casting a ‘no’ vote. However, QMV is more commonly used and is based on ‘weighted’ votes (every member state has a certain number of votes proportionate to their size and population). But again, it has to be stressed that voting does not take place commonly. Member states will rather come to a mutual agreement than try to hold on to their national points of view until the very end. This shows that even the Council of Ministers, the most intergovernmental of all the European Union institutions, is not all about fighting for national benefits but instead tries to look for what is good for the Union as well. The Council of Ministers is also the executive power of the European Union. As such, its function is â€Å"to provide leadership and steer the pace and direction of European integration, seen especially in areas of diplomacy and foreign affairs.† (Cini, 2003: 149). In this task, it is aided by the European Council that sets the broad political agenda. The European Council The European Council, which is the meeting of the heads of member state governments, was established in 1974. The meetings had taken place prior to that but it was then that the European Council was institutionalized as an integral part of the European Union. â€Å"The main reason for the creation of the European Council was a growing feeling that the Community was failing to respond adequately or quickly enough to new and increasingly difficult challenges.† (Nugent, 2003: 179) The powers of the European Council at the moment (they have evolved over time and without a doubt will keep evolving as well) are the following: It defines the broad political direction and guidelines of the European Union. It guides the European Union’s development and determines the guidelines of economic policies within the Union; and it defines the general principles and guidelines for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and takes decisions for implementing CFSP. Its task is also to â⠂¬Å"decide on common strategies to be implemented by the Union in areas where the Member States have important interests in common.† (Nugent, 2003: 181) And finally, â€Å"the Council shall ensure the unity, consistency and effectiveness of action by the Union.† (Nugent, 2003: 181) Basically, the European Council is a political get-together that unites the national interests of the member states into a broad political agenda. Even if the European Council is not part of the official decision-making machinery, it still has an important role in that because â€Å"final and legally binding EU decisions may be made by other EU institutions, but major political decisions concerning the institutional and policy development of the EU are now generally taken by, or at least are channeled through and given clearance by, the European Council.† (Nugent. 2003: 182) The meetings of the European Council are prepared by the General Affairs and External Relations Council, again to ease the workload of the busy heads of states. National Interests and the Decision-making Process in the European Union In this section I intend to look at the decision-making process within the second and third pillars more specifically and see if that can offer proof of the claim that the Council of Ministers acts as the protector of state interests within the European Union. The main question here is whether member states will rather reach consensus, even if that might mean having to give up some of their national interests, or use their right to veto (or become part of a blocking minority) to ensure that national gains are reached? As mentioned before, the Council of Ministers exercises its decision-making authority especially in matters under the Second and Third Pillars. Under these pillars, which comprise of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and justice and home affairs, the European Parliament is not an official part of the decision-making machinery; even if it is allowed state its opinion on the issues. The member states can be regarded as having strong national interests in these two areas, mostly related to national sovereignty and geopolitical and economic interests. In the past, the Council of Ministers had a strong emphasis on national interests, under some informal rules, such as for example the Luxembourg Compromise: â€Å"For a long time the most important of these [the informal rules] was the Luxembourg ‘Compromise’ of 1966, under which it was asserted by the French government of the day that member states should be able to block decisions that would threaten ‘very important national interests’.† (Hayes-Renshaw and Wallace, 2005: 14) However, now Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) has become more important than unanimity voting, therefore vetoing is no longer as useful, or even possible. â€Å"Ever since QMV became an embedded option, votes have been formally taken on only about a quarter of eligible decisions, often with abstentions, rather than negative votes.† (Hayes-Renshaw and Wallace, 2005: 18) But even QMV is not often used because any kind of voting is not a common practice in the Council of Mini sters. States will rather reach consensus through lengthy negotiations. There exists some problems with QMV though which imply that member states still feel that their national interests might be threatened: weighted votes lead to larger states being underrepresented (not having enough votes relative to their population) and vice versa smaller states being overrepresented. â€Å"Even if the weight of an individual small country is limited, it is not only symbolic. It determines the extent to which the country can be an effective and valued partner in qualified majorities or blocking minorities, and thereby receive support for its national interests.† (Moberg, 2002: 267) Therefore, safeguarding national interests is still important and even if vetoing as such is not an option in most cases, blocking power remains important. Rather than clinging on to a specific national point of view, member states take a more flexible approach and team with like-minded states with shared interests. Coalitions of states tend to stay the same because â€Å"usually, states have a stable set of national interests, which in most cases are basically the same even after a change of government† (Moberg, 2002: 261). Weighting of interests is more important than mere concepts of power and blocking a decision can bring about new proposals, better suited to national interests. The importance of national interests can also be seen in the fact that â€Å"in the daily work of the EU, (†¦), the dividing line is almost never between large and small, but rather between countries with opposite interests in other respects† (Moberg, 2002: 270). Despite this, a strong consensus-culture seems to exist. Member states cannot defend their national interests all the time but they have to consider their relations to other countries too, as well as their own image. At the end of the day, work at the Council of Ministers is like any group work: everyone has their opinion but something has to give and everyone has to compromise to find a solution that pleases everyone. And in the case of the European Union, a solution that allows the Union to function and move the integration forward. Conclusion Hayes-Renshaw offers a very useful one-sentence summary of the Council of Ministers: â€Å"The Council is the EU’s chief decision-making body, the place where national interests are articulated, defended, and aggregated by ministerial representatives of all member governments.† (2002: 47). It sums up the main functions of the Council, however it is interesting that she should emphasize the fact that the Council is where national interests are represented. Cini recognizes the Council of Ministers as â€Å"the premier EU institution for representing national interests and power† (2003: 163) but highlights the fact that the Council is also more than merely the forum for national negotiation and bargaining: â€Å"It is also a collective system of governance which locks member states into permanent negotiations with one another.† (2003: 163) The Council is therefore both intergovernmental and supranational. â€Å"†¦ It blurs the traditional distinction be tween the national and European levels, between intergovernmental and supranational.† (Cini, 2003: 163) From these descriptions and the previous summaries on the Council of Ministers and the European Council, can we come to a conclusion that they are protecting state interests within the European Union? The European Union’s strongly supranational character might lead us to believe that any institution that has even a little to do with member state’s own interests is intergovernmental and safeguarding national interests and gains. This is even strengthened by the prominent roles that the Council of Ministers and the European Council have – for many outsiders, they are the Union. But as we can see from their functions and roles and positions that have been examined in this essay, we can conclude that they are indeed protecting national interests and it looks unlikely that the member states would settle for smaller representation. However, we should bear in m ind that protecting national interests is not the only function they have in the European Union and they also serve a purpose to the deepening integration and a bigger picture of Europe. Bibliography Cini, M. (2003): European Union Politics. Oxford: University Press. Hayes-Renshaw, F. (2002): The Council of Ministers, in Peterson, J. and Shackleton, M.: The Institutions of the European Union. Oxford: University Press. Hayes-Renshaw, F. and Wallace, H. (2005): The Council of Ministers of the European Union. London: MacMillan. Moberg, A. (2002): The Nice Treaty and Voting Rules in the Council, in Journal of Common Market Studies. Vol. 40, no. 2 Nugent, N. (2003): The Government and Politics of the European Union. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Research Papers on Are The Council of Ministers and European Council Protectors of The State - Government Research PaperAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropePETSTEL analysis of IndiaDefinition of Export QuotasTwilight of the UAWHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Relationship between Media Coverage and Social andCapital PunishmentOpen Architechture a white paper

How to Make Black Snake or Glow Worm Fireworks

How to Make Black Snake or Glow Worm Fireworks Black snakes, sometimes called glow worms, are small tablets that you light, using a punk or a lighter, that burn to produce long black snakes of ash. They produce some smoke (which had a characteristic, probably toxic odor), but no fire or explosion. The original fireworks used to contain salts of a heavy metal (such as mercury), so while they were marketed for kids to play with, they really werent that much safer than conventional fireworks, just dangerous in a different way. However, there is a safe way to make black snakes. You can heat baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) with sugar (sucrose) to produce carbon dioxide gas that puffs up black carbon ash (see a video). Black Snake Materials SandAlcohol or fuel oil (High-proof alcohol or lighter fluid works well for this  project)Baking sodaSugar (Powdered sugar or you can grind table sugar in a coffee grinder) Steps to Make Snakes Mix 4 parts powdered sugar with 1 part baking soda. (Try  4 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon baking soda)Make a mound with the sand. Push a depression into the middle of the sand.Pour the alcohol or other fuel into the sand to wet it.Pour the sugar and soda mixture into the depression.Ignite the mound, using a lighter or match. At first, youll get a flame and some small scattered blackened balls. Once the reaction gets going, the carbon dioxide will puff up the carbonate into the continuously extruded snake. You can also make black snakes without sand mix baking soda and sugar in a metal mixing bowl, add the fuel and light the mixture. It should work fine. These will have a distinct, familiar smell... of burnt marshmallows. Finally, rest assured that if you use pure ethanol, sugar, and baking soda, there is nothing toxic about this project. One caution: Dont add fuel to the burning snake, since you risk igniting the alcohol stream. How Black Snakes Work The sugar and baking soda snake proceeds according to the following chemical reactions, where sodium bicarbonate breaks down into sodium carbonate, water vapor, and carbon dioxide gas while burning the sugar in oxygen produces water vapor and carbon dioxide gas. The snake is carbonate with black carbon particles: 2 NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 H2O CO2 C2H5OH 3 O2 → 2 CO2 3 H2O These instructions were adapted from a tutorial given on Boing Boing which in turn came from a defunct Russian site. The Russian site suggested two additional ways to make chemical snakes: Ammonium Nitrate Black Snake This works the same way as the sugar and baking soda snake, except using ammonium nitrate (niter) instead of sugar. Mix one part ammonium nitrate and one part baking soda. This recipe is more like what you would see in commercial black snake fireworks, which are supposedly composed of soda with nitrated naphthalenes and linseed oil. Its another very safe demonstration, though not safe enough to eat, like sugar and baking soda. Ammonium Dichromate Green Snake The green snake is a variation on the ammonium dichromate volcano. The volcano is a cool chemistry demonstration (orange sparks, green ash, smoke), but its a chemistry-lab-only demonstration (not safe for kids at all) because the chromium compound is toxic. The green soda snakes are made from: Two parts of ammonium nitrateOne part of powdered sugarOne part of ammonium dichromate Mix the ingredients, add a small amount of water, and roll the result into a snake shape (using gloves is strongly recommended). Allow the snake to dry (the tutorial suggests using a hairdryer to speed the process). Light one end of the snake.  Its worth knowing how to do this demonstration if you have ammonium dichromate and ammonium nitrate on hand, otherwise, let the Russian photos suffice and play with the sugar and baking soda snakes instead.  In this case, an orange snake burns to green ash.  Another (spectacular) form of black carbon snake results from reacting sugar and sulfuric acid. Disclaimer: Please be advised that the content provided by our website is for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. Fireworks and the chemicals contained within them are dangerous and should always be handled with care and used with common sense. By using this website you acknowledge that ThoughtCo., its parent About, Inc. (a/k/a Dotdash), and IAC/InterActive Corp. shall have no liability for any damages, injuries, or other legal matters caused by your use of fireworks or the knowledge or application of the information on this website. The providers of this content specifically do not condone using fireworks for disruptive, unsafe, illegal, or destructive purposes. You are responsible for following all applicable laws before using or applying the information provided on this website.

Do some online searching and find what is meant by21st century Research Paper

Do some online searching and find what is meant by21st century knowledge and skills - Research Paper Example They involve the aspects of skills and understanding, but many of them emphasize inclination, such as curiosity, creativity, and collaboration, that are not, strictly speaking skills. Because of the many definitions given to meanâ€Å"21st century skills† it is important to understand the framework in which this term operates. The framework for â€Å"21st century skills† should have something in common. There is a compelling rationale as to why students should study â€Å"21st century skills,† tone is for economic and the other is for civic reason. Considering the economic rationale is that the computers and machines can cost-effectively do all the sorts of job that people with only routine knowledge can do, this implies that the workplace will only require fewer people who have basic skills set and more people with higher-order thinking skills. The global marketplace is flourishing in 21st century; the completion will favor those with complex thinking and communication skills to new problems and environments. The civic rationale also advocates that students should be taught â€Å"21st century skills.† The basic civic education that is taught in schools is not enough for the 21st century. â€Å"21st century skills† will enable the student to engage as citizens who think critically. This will make them analyze any political situation critically and rationally and in turn thy can vote in an educated manner without bias. It will be crucial for them to communicate and write effectively if they are to be incorporated in the policy making board. Globalization makes the third rationale as to why â€Å"21st century skills† should be taught to schools and incorporated in the school’s curriculum. There is massive global migration in this times, international wars such as Russia and Ukraine, the internet, long-haul flights, interdependent international market, climate instability, and other factors makes any individual and in

Prescriptive and Emergent Strategic Planning Essay

Prescriptive and Emergent Strategic Planning - Essay Example The paper throws light on strategic planning process as part of strategic management that has been applied by business managers over the years. The process involves a formal analysis of the market forces and developing an operational plan to be adopted by the organization in terms of resource allocation and the control mechanism. Strategic management will involve formulating the mission, vision, values, roles, responsibilities, goals, and objectives of the organization and developing policies to be implemented to achieve these objectives. Strategic planning is one of the management tools. It involves making principles, decisions, and steps to define what an organization will do and how it will be done in relation to the expected future trends in a given market. Planners often use economic theories to formulate the operational strategies to be adopted by the organizations. Nonetheless, the future may not fit these economic models and the intended patterns according to these strategies may not be realized finally by the organization. The traditional approach to strategic planning did not consider the dynamics in the business operations. In theory, the operations of an organization can be fully planned whereas in practice it is not possible. Essentially a strategic planning process should involve developing a mechanism to respond to the circumstances that will be encountered in a business environment regardless of whether or not the conditions were known to the planners during the planning process. (Management FAQs, n.d). Since the contemporary market is dynamic and the strategic models that are developed based on economic theories may not apply, alternative approaches to strategic planning are often used by organizations. Business organizations operating in the dynamic business environment may often encounter situations that require quick responses that cannot be made through the formal strategic planning processes (The Open University, 2012). An emergent strateg y is a situation where the realized pattern is different from the pattern that was expressly intended by the planners (Mintzberg, 1994). The essence of the emergent strategic planning approaches is to manage the dynamics that is observed. The emergent strategic planning does not originate fully from the minds of the planner. Much of it is determined by the factors that are prevailing at a given time that may not favor the realization of the intended objectives and goals. This paper provides an evaluation of the effectiveness of the traditional prescriptive strategic planning in relation to the current economic climate. Another category of alternative strategic planning approaches are also considered with an emphasis on the emergent strategic planning. Prescriptive strategic planning Strategic planning is one of the tough managerial tasks in business operations since it is at times complex and very challenging. It has been pointed out that planning is ‘a formalized procedure to produce an articulated result in the form of an integrated system of decisions’ (Mintzberg, 1994, p.12). The organizations are faced by a series of decisions to make. The organizations have several needs to be accomplished, and which may not be accomplished at the same time owing to the limited resources that these organizations have. The strategic planning will involve making decisions and actions that are more significant towards helping the organization achieve some if not all of the objectives (Management FAQs, n.d). Planning involves bringing mediation and some kind of compromise/agreement between the business and the environment. It involves forecasting into the future and meditating what should be done long before the situation is realized. The prescriptive thoughts to strategic pla

Films of Alfred Hitchcock Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Films of Alfred Hitchcock - Assignment Example After he answers to this name, he is immediately mistaken for the CIA agent, named George Kaplan ("North by Northwest"). Throughout the story, Roger tries to make everyone believe that he is not Kaplan. His life becomes a nightmare because he is being tracked down. The abduction of Roger and his desperation when he tries to explain that he knows nothing about Kaplan defines one of the intriguing scenes in the film. The case of mistaken identity is the film is one of the interesting aspects that viewers are interested in. Roger’s effort to clear his name and prove that he is not Kaplan failed terribly. The fact that even his mother does not believe him makes his case more complicated. Hitchcock’s expertise in developing an intriguing plot is evident because Roger finds himself facing murder charges. There is evidence of a photograph depicting him holding a weapon. Therefore, it is impossible for Roger to deny the charges. The suspense of the story surrounds Roger’s mistaken identity. Roger is determined to find the true Kaplan something that all the viewers are interested in (Wakelin 86). However, at the end of the movie, it is revealed that George Kaplan does not exist. Roger plays his role extremely well, making the suspense so realistic. He finds himself in a strange world without anyone to turn to because he is unable to prove his innocence. He depicts his desperation t o find the true Kaplan to clear his name. He is the favorite character for many viewers because the entire story surrounds him. A close analysis of the film reveals that Roger faces a great deal of isolation. The viewers understand that he does not have a family of his own and he faces a critical case of mistaken identity. In his desperation, nobody believes that he is innocent. It is unfortunate that even his mother does not trust his story. He faces extreme danger, especially after he is framed for murder. He seems to be alone and against the entire world. The cinematography of

Understanding The Growth Theory By Solow Economics Essay

Understanding The Growth Theory By Solow Economics Essay Robert Solow was born of a Jewish family on August 23, 1924 in Brooklyn. Fortunate with the opportunity to attend public schools, he had a strong academic foundation along with with motivation and mentoring he was awarded a scholarship to attend Harvard University in 1940. During his freshman year at Harvard he chose sociology and anthropology as his majors with a minor in elementary economics. At the end of 1945 Robert Solow decided to serve in the US army and later returned to Harvard in 1945. The depression at the time strongly influenced him to study the way the economy actually worked and after returning from the army he decided to switch gears and studied economics. At Harvard he was an assistant to Wassily Leontief producing the first set of capital coefficient for the output and input model sparking his interest in statistics and probability models which lead him to Columbia University for a concentration in statistics. About the same time he was also offered a position to lecture economics and statistics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which he accepted and overtime his fascination leaned more with macro economics. For 40 years Solow worked closely with Paul Samuelson and together they developed numerous work together such as: Balanced Growth under Constant Returns to Scale, (1953), Theory of Capital (1956) and A Complete Capital Model Involving Heterogeneous Capital Goods. In 1961, Robert Solow won the John Bates Clark Award which is given to someone under 40 years who have made a major contribution to economic thought and knowledge. His continued efforts and passion for macro economics resulted to him winning the Nobel Prize in 1987 for his analysis in economic growth. Over the years Solow has continued to be a prominent figure as an economist, his theory is thought all over the world from government to his theory thought in schools. The study of the factors which permit production growth and increased welfare has been a central feature in economic research for many years. Robert M. Solows prize recognizes his exceptional contributions in this area. This paper will discuss the major contributions Robert Solow made to economics in an A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth (1956), the influences for his analysis and its relevance in understanding how the economy works. Understanding the Solow growth theory is a challenge due to the number of models that he incorporates to explain growth theory. The basic model focuses on the accumulation of capital after which Solow incorporates new factors such as population growth and technology in order to show the changed result in comparison to the basic model. To aid in development of his Growth Theory, Robert Solow addressed the specifics concerning the growth of an advance industrial economy, this was first developed by Nicholas Kaldor. Kaldor has six characteristics for the economy, four of which Solow focused mainly to development the Solow model. Real output grows at a constant rate. Capital Stock grows at a constant rate Real growth and capital stock are likely to be the same Profit rates show a horizontal trend with the exception of changes in effective demand. The first three characteristics describe when an economy is in the steady state. To expand on this definition the steady state as described by Robert Solow is constant growth and capital stock. In an article, A Contribution to the theory of economic growth (1956) Solow growth model represented an addition to the Harod- Domar Model which explained growth patterns in terms of savings and capital. The main differentiation between his model and the Harrod-Domar model lay in Solows assumption that wages could adjust to keep labor fully employed. The Solow Model is neo-classical and as a results focuses primarily on the supply side. This implies that as long the supply of a good increases then economic growth can be accomplished. In this aspect it differs from the Keynesian models which focus on the demand side of the economy in areas such as: unemployment and inflation. The supply side In Solows model follows the following assumptions: One good in production with no change in technology and two factors of production, capital (K) and labor (L) deriving the following equation Y =F (K, L). The demand side for the Solow model assumes that output demand is equal to consumption and therefore there is no disposable income in the economy. Y= C + S Thus far the model describes a stagnant economy and Solow introduces dynamic factors in the model to show capital accumulation which are investment which increases the capital stock and depreciation which decreases capital stock. The saving rate in this model represents the tradeoff between consumption and investment. This means, what is not consumed is saved in the economy; this therefore increases capital stock growth or capital accumulation in the economy. In the active economy in the Solow model the production changes and is represented by the equation Y=F (K, S, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, k0) meaning output is a function of capital, savings, depreciation and capital stock. By utilizing the capital stock increases output in different periods but at some point the economy comes to a steady state as described by the Solow Model. The steady state is accomplished when output and capital are in equilibrium. It also implies that the economy will cease to grow so there is no change in capital at that point. Furthermore an economy in a positive steady state does not move from that point therefore this can also be considered as the equilibrium point The variables listed above can be divided into two variables exogenous which comprises of savings depreciation and capital stock and endogenous which are capital, income and investments. The model shows that increased savings shifts increases investments which impacts the steady rate causing it to shift also. This activity illustrates that higher savings in an economy means that there is higher capital stock thus leading to higher steady state per worker. Therefore in the economy one need to know that is the optimum level of savings is necessary to get to maximize steady state which is known was the golden rule. To recap, the steady state can be referred to as long run equilibrium in the economy and savings is critical in the model because it shows that by increasing savings the steady state can shift upward which asserts higher level of capital stock per worker. The concept of golden rule was also incorporated in the Solows Growth Theory but prior to that the golden rule was a concept by Jon von Neumann and later in the work of Edmund Phelps. In Solows Growth Theory, he makes the assumption that policy makers will consequently determine a savings rate that will maximize consumption per worker referring to it as the golden level of capital accumulation. Robert Solow did not stop here with his theory he went on further to introduce population growth in his dynamic model which also means that the labor force is growing as well. What Solow is illustrating is the effect of this exogenous factor on the population. Therefore the capital stock will be divided thinly across the increasing population. Since this increase in population is decreasing the capital stock this indicates there is a negative effect on income per worker. Solow then adds technology to the model, technology as described by Solow can improve efficiency of production and this means that there is an increase in output ultimately leading to the sustained growth in the economy. At this stage in the model, Solow uses a new production function to describe the economy Y=F (K, L, E, à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬) this means that output is a function of capital, labor, efficiency and effective worker for this economy. Solow goes on to describe what is meant by an efficient worker and this is characterized by knowledge, familiarity and ability. Output can consequently increase by the efficiency levels of workers. Efficiency in this model per effective worker can move the steady state equilibrium where capital stock per worker constant. As a result, with technological progress in this model the capital stock per worker is growing at the technology rate even in the steady state due to efficiency in the economy. We can see that even if capital is not growing in the steady state capital per effective worker is at the rate of technology. In addition, this also asserts that output per worker is also growing at a rate of technology. Combined, total output and capital stock are both growing when the two variables population and technology are present. The Solow Model therefore shows that technological progress in the economy explains sustained economic growth in the context of living standards per worker.

What Hemingway Leaves Out :: essays research papers

Earnest Hemingway is known for leaving things out in his writing. He believed that if you knew something well enough, you could leave it out and still get your point across. In the short story "The End of something", he leaves a few things out. Some things he doesn't say at all and others the reader knows something before he says it. He must have know what he was writing about because he the reader can infer certain things. In this particular story, the reader knows some things about nicks past. Hemingway doesn't say it, but Nick is an experienced fisher. This is shown by nicks actions. In the boat, Nick knows that even though the trout are feeding, they won't strike. When the trout broke the surface of the water, Nike instinctively pulled hard on one oar to turn the bait towards them. He also tells Marge not to take the ventral fin out of the perch. These things are the actions of a truly great fisherman. Another thing Hemingway leaves out is the entirety of nick and Marge's relationship. The reader gets nothing but the final scenes of a long relationship. Marjorie calls the deteriorating mill "our old ruin". This shows that they had done this trip many times. The mill belonged to neither nick nor Marge. It was their ruin because it had grown on them. Hemingway says that Marge loved to fish with Nick. This was a bond that had developed between the to of them. These two have obviously had a deep relationship. The reader can also infer what is going to happen. Nick's actions show that they are going to break up. During the entire boat ride Nick doesn't say anything but short replies to Marge.

Are you ready

If my 21 year old child or my 18 year old best friend were to ask me how they know they are married for marriage, I would not know what to say. I would probably talk about having the â€Å"right age† which to some can be early, but to others it can be a long time. I would explain the consequences of marrying early such as divorce. I would explain that marriage is not a game and that it should be taken seriously as it is a lifelong commitment, sure there are times where people go through divorce but you eve to live with that person every day.That gets me into my next point: the right spouse. If you are to marry, it should be with the person you are most comfortable with. This person should make you feel good when you are together. They should entertain you and put a smile on your face when you most need it. The person should make you feel like you are around your best friend whom you can confess your secrets and lend you a helping. The other person should help build you up and help you reach your personal goals.You should not feel like you are tied down to someone and that they are baggage. Another thing you should consider is If you want to settle down. To my child I would agree with their decision on getting married because they are older and have somewhat of a plan for their future, and are wiser in making their decision. As for my 18 year old friend, I would give her the advice to maybe wait a little longer. They are young and should go out into the world and explore all the different things you can do as a single person.I would also tell my best friend that they are younger and so their decisions are not set In stone. I would give them both this statement: â€Å"Are you ready to settle down†. Marriage will become your priority and you will not have time for many things Like going out with friends especially if you plan to bring children Into your home. My last advice for them would be to sit down and think If they see themselves settles with a family and giving up their life of leisure that they have now.

Differences between Chinese and American culture essays

Differences between Chinese and American culture essays We might think that Chinese and Americans are totally different people. Not only the way they look different, but also the different cultures. So, what are the differences between Chinese and American culture? Most Chinese families like to cook the meals at home. The family members sit around the table and share the dishes on the table together. Even when they are having their meals in restaurants, they eat in the same way too. But in America, just part of the Americans have their meal at home with their family members. That's common for them to take fast food as their meals, especially teenagers. They love to hang out and have meals with their friends, instead of their families. These actually shows that Chinese care about family union much more than Americans do. In China, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are three ideologies which have greatly influenced the Chinese, such as the importance of education, respecting the elderly and parents, respecting the ghost and the gods in order to be well-being and the wheel of life. On the other hand, most of the Americans believe in Christianity and Catholic. The Christians and Catholics often pray to God. They believe that God blesses them and they will be sent to heaven after they died. We can see that the ideologies that people believe are quite different between Chinese and Americans. Due to the great influence of Confucianism, the Chinese always treat the elderly and their parents with respect. Unlike the Americans, the Chinese will not call the names of their parents. That is kind of impolite behavior for the Chinese. As the Americans like to treat their parents as friends, they often show their emotion and tell their opinions quite straight-out while the Chinese prefer not to say but just hide in heart. In comparison, the Americans are more open-minded while the Chinese are quite conservative. In the end, I would say that both cultures have their beauty and s...

Enders Shadow

Enders Shadow This is a book that follows a series of other books starting with Enders Game. This book takes a different look at the same character ender. In the first book the main character was ender. In this book the main character is bean. Bean is a mutant but not physically. He is just abnormally intelligent. In fact he is maybe the smartest kid in the world. Except for the fact that he is only 6. Bean grew up in the streets. He was near death when he devised a plan that would start a gang. He told all the little kids to pick a bully and to beat him up into making him protect them. They Chose a boy named Achillies. But Achillies was bitter about bean choosing to beat him up and while the other children learned to love Achillies for the food that was given to them because of there newly formed gang Bean was outcast.Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (winged bean)While all this is going on the world is in dire need of a savior to protect the world from a species of alien that are threatning to destroy the world. So achielies tries to kill bean but b4 he can bean is taken into training to protect the world. Anyway it is a really good book. I suggest you read it.

Teresa of Avila Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teresa of Avila - Essay Example She was born on 28th March 1515. Early in her young age Theresa was caught between the strict but honest father and romantic mother. She was caught between detached discipline and over attachment to worldiness. Though she lead an ordinary life , the sense of sin never left her, as she was drawn more and more into the worldly things like flirting and rebelling. At the age of 16, just to discipline her, her father had to send her to the Augustinian nun’s convent for education. Though she hated it first, she found the place less strict than her father; but due to illness she had to leave the place after 18 months. When the time came to choose between marriage and religious life, she chose the later because that was the only safe place for a person tempted by sin. She left for the Carmelite convent of the Incarnation at Avila were she was almost a loner. She started to learn and practice mental prayer to keep Jesus Christ always with her. But there were enough distractions in the convent. Nuns from the rich families were more attentive to their physical appearance than to their inner spiritual life. The prestige of a nun was measured not by piety but by money.

IT Decision Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IT Decision Paper - Essay Example The project is in line with WW’s goals of achieving growth of up to 5 per cent per year and minimizing costs to free up funds for other key projects. The IT project enables WW to excel in a competitive environment. The IT project allows the Management Team to execute its tasks with ease as they check and rectify stagnant departments (ZarateÃŒ  2012). The staff also finds an easy time with keeping the company’s data and assigning duties. In addition, the IT project enables the staff to respond to concerns by customers thus improving customer care and service delivery (Davenport and Morison 2010).3. IT Portfolio Alignment The IT project is urgent and needs the immediate implementation to realize both the short and long-term targets of the company. Therefore, the project should be implemented ahead of any other project in the IT Portfolio. The project supports the management and transport sectors of the company. The IT project enables quick decision making by the company' s management team and staff.4. IT Architecture The IT project represents an overhaul of the IT infrastructure at WW. The project supports and augments the pre-existing IT infrastructure at WW. The IT project is in a way an upgrade of the IT infrastructure at WW. The project should interface with other systems in place and those in development. The system shall use the pre-existing GPS devices on trucks to send data of the location of the trucks and their loading status to the control room run by the Management Team.

Flexibility and the Contract of Employment Essay

Flexibility and the Contract of Employment - Essay Example 74). Most of the institution traditionally hire workers and require them to perform their duties during fixed time which are normally eight continuous working hours a day and in a specific places. In the modern society most of the employees and employers are shifting away from this tradition and are focusing on a variable working agreements to enable workers perform their duties according to their wishes. This has enabled workers to have time with their families and also be able to utilize their working time effectively since they only work when they are ready to work (Berndt & Hartmut 2005, p.191). This has result to gains from both parties in terms of productivity and convenience of discharge of the obligations. 1. Different Recruitment Techniques Every organization aims at acquiring the most efficient and effective workforce who are capable of improving organization’s performance and make it competent (Berndt & Hartmut 2005, p.198). Though there are many qualified job seeke rs who are ready and willing to work for such organizations, sometimes it is not easy for organizations to hire the most qualified workforce as they would wish (Lipsey & Mucchielli 2002, P.76). The approach taken by the human resource managers during recruitment and hiring of workers will determine the quality of their workforce hence the overall performance of the organization. Approaches for recruiting qualified workers Through recruiting agencies: there are numerous agencies who hire workers on behalf of the organizations (Lipsey & Mucchielli 2002, P.83). Those agencies are ran by qualified hiring personnel who have potential to establish what the organization requires in terms of manpower and look for job applicants with those particular requirements. The advantage of using agency is that agencies normally have time to scrutinize the potential workers unlike organizations which may rely on experience of busy managers with limited resources for recruiting workers. Also, agencies rarely engage in canvassing with job applicants hence there is possibility for getting the best candidates (Berndt & Hartmut 2005, p. 202). Agencies also maintain records of all job applicants hence they can easily trace the most qualified workers whenever they are required to do so hence providing a quick solution to the organizations’ needs of personnel. Also some trade associations encourage their member organizations to advertise their jobs through their websites. Therefore, job seekers can easily access the vacancies in various organizations and apply for them hence giving organizations an opportunity to select the best candidates from the list of applicants (Berndt & Hartmut 2005, p.217). The advantage of this approach is that it offers cheap method for the organization to acquire workforce since most of those association do not charge their members anything. Internal recruitment where organization selects existing workers to fill higher positions left vacant in the org anization (Lipsey & Mucchielli 2002, P.90). This approach is efficient because it enables organization to maintain its loyal workers. This instils trust and loyalty among workers because they have confidence that once chance occurs within the organization the existing employees have equal opportunity of being upgraded. This method further enables organization to save its expense they would otherwise incur in hiring workers from outside the organization. Another approach is use of eternal recruitment of employees approach to acquire workers for their organizations. This approach involves inviting job applicants from outside the

Benihana Company Essay Example for Free

Benihana Company Essay Helping our guests feel welcome is as important as our cooking. And it is just as great a skill. Ever striving for excellence in hospitality, it is truly our restaurant family who has built Benihanas success. Company History: Benihana, Inc. owns and licenses restaurants in the Benihana and Benihana Grill chain of Japanese dinnerhouses. The restaurants specialize in an exhibition-style of Japanese cooking called teppanyaki. Customers sit around a communal table at which a Benihana chef slices their seafood, steak, chicken, and vegetables with lightning speed, grills their meal right in front of them, and then tosses it accurately onto their plates. The restaurants are decorated with Samurai armor and valuable art, and Shoji rice paper screens partition the dining areas. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 1996, the company had sales of over $81 million, an all-time high. By December 1996, Benihana operated a total of 49 licensed and wholly owned restaurants in 20 states as well as in Bogota, Columbia, and Aruba, Netherlands Antilles. Early History, from Tokyo to New York The founder of Benihana, Inc. was a 25-year-old Olympic wrestler from Japan named Hiroaki Rocky Aoki. He got his start in the restaurant business by working after school in his familys coffee shop in downtown Tokyo. His mother named the family business Benihana after a red flower that survived the bombing of Tokyo during World War II. Rocky was a scrapper, defending himself in the streets and schoolyards against bigger boys. He got hooked on wrestling, became a national university champion, and earned a place on the 1960 Olympic team. Although he didnt compete because he was over his weight limit, he did fall in love with New York when the plane stopped there on the way to the Games in Rome. That fall he left Japan for the United States. In 1964, Aoki graduated from New York Community Colleges School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. During the summer he earned money driving the only ice cream truck in Harlem. The job was not easy, as he explained in an article in Management Review. Every time I robbed, I get up earlier the next day and work later to make up. Every time I lose money, I get more challenge. With that philosophy, he managed to save $10,000 during the summer, which, along with a loan, was enough to start his first restaurant, Benihana of Tokyo. Aokis concept for his new restaurant, derived from specialty restaurants he knew of in Japan, was part entertainment and part food service. He wanted to offer Americans food they were familiar with, such as chicken, steak, and shrimp, prepared in a novel setting. He chose the teppanyaki tablea stainless steel grill surrounded by a wooden eating surfacewhere customers could watch a knife-wielding, joke-telling chef prepare and serve their food. His parents and brothers came from Japan to help him get started. Unfortunately, New Yorkers equated Japanese food with raw fish and werent comfortable sitting at a table with strangers. They ignored the midtown Manhattan eatery until the restaurant critic of the New York Herald Tribune gave it a glowing review. Suddenly, everyone in New York, including the Beatles and Muhammad Ali, wanted to sit around one of Benihana of Tokyos four teppanyaki tables. Within six months after the review the restaurant had paid for itself, and Aoki quickly opened another restaurant in a larger, fancier building. The new location provided the same teppanyaki-style cooking but was decorated with valuable art, Samurai armor, heavy wooden ceiling beams brought from Japan by Aokis father, and sliding Shoji screens to provide some privacy. 1965-80: Building a Company The Benihana concept combined reasonable prices with good food, and, by preparing what was eaten right at the table, held waste to a minimum. Profits were good, and, in 1968, Aoki opened his first Benihana of Tokyo outside New York Cityin downtown Chicago. That location made $700,000 in its first year and continued to be one of the companys top earning outlets. Between 1969 and 1972, the company opened six more of its own restaurants and licensed franchisees to open another ten. In a joint venture with the Las Vegas Hilton, the company developed Benihana Village, a 38,000-square-foot complex of restaurants, bars, and other entertainment venues. In 1972, the company grossed $12 million and the Harvard Business School selected Benihana of Tokyo as a case study of an entrepreneurial success story. With business going so well, Rocky Aoki could devote time to his other interests which included racing balloons and powerboats, collecting items ranging from vintage cars to slot machines and learning backgammon. Rocky wanted to play, Joel Schwartz, the companys president, explained in a 1989 Forbes article. To help oversee the chains operations and expansion, Aoki brought in a management company, Hardwicke Cos., as a partner in 1976. The relationship lasted only four years and, in 1980, Aoki ended the partnership, paying $3.7 million to break the contract. As Rod Willis of Management Review explained in a 1986 article, He [Aoki] felt the companys management style clashed with his predominately Oriental workforce, and he wanted to maintain control over each restaurants quality. The following year Aoki settled, without admitting any guilt, a Securities and Exchange Commission charge that he had improperly traded in Hardwicke stock while serving as vice-president of Hardwicke. The 1980s: Ups and Downs To help pay off the debt incurred in the split with Hardwicke, Aoki decided to take part of the company public. He accomplished this by having Benihana of Tokyo (BOT) form Benihana National Corporation (BNC) in 1982 and then taking the latter company public the following year. Investors paid the Miami-based BNC $11 for a unit consisting of two common shares and a warrant to buy another at $6. With the $5.5 million raised by selling half a million of these units, BNC bought 11 restaurants from Aoki in exchange for 60 percent of the BNC common stock and $2.5 million to pay BOTs debt. Later in the year, BNC bought another three restaurants from BOT for $7 million. In spite of the new corporate structure, Benihana of Tokyo and Benihana National Corporation remained under the management of the same group of executives. As corporate president, Joel Schwartz continued to oversee the day to day operation of both companies. Aoki, who served as chairman of both entities, retained 51 percent of the common stock in BNC and kept about 30 restaurants in the privately held BOT. Aoki developed new concepts for the Benihana food chain but he also continued to play hard, becoming a championship-level backgammon player and setting a world record in off-shore powerboat racing. The Double Eagle V, a 400,000 cubic-foot gas balloon, displayed the Benihana logo as it became the first crewed balloon to successfully cross the Pacific Ocean, with Aoki as one of the crew members. One of Aokis new concepts was Benihana National Classics, a line of Chinese gourmet frozen foods, introduced in 1984 and sold in supermarkets. Chinese cuisine was chosen when the company found that Japanese food didnt freeze well. Within a year the Classics were the best-selling Oriental frozen foods in the United States, with sales in one quarter alone reaching more than $40 million and profits climbing to over $4 million. The companys stock took off, going as high as $21.50 in 1985. In December of that year, Restaurant and Institution magazine named Benihana of Tokyo the most popular family-style restaurant in America. At that time, Benihana of Tokyo and Benihana National together operated or franchised restaurants in 60 locations, from Seattle to New Jersey, serving a total of 25,000 customers a day. Benihana Nationals frozen food success quickly attracted the attention of major food companies. When Campbell Soup and Stouffers began offering their own lines of Oriental frozen foods, however, Benihana couldnt compete. The company lost $11 million on frozen foods between 1985 and 1987 and finally sold the business, for $4.5 million, to the small company that had been producing the dinners for them. Frozen food, however, was not Aokis only new idea. In 1985, Benihana National opened its first seafood restaurant, The Big Splash, just north of Miami. Aoki believed the sea would be the primary supplier of food in the future, and, borrowing an idea from a Malaysian fish market, came up with the concept of a seafood marketplace/restaurant. Customers could choose from hundreds of varieties of fresh seafood, decide how they wanted it cooked, and watch it being prepared. The idea was so popular initially that a second Big Splash was opened. The seafood restaurants soon experienced difficulty, however, registering losses of $2.7 million during 1987. The wide variety of options ran completely counter to the tight focus and minimal waste of the Benihana steakhouses. At the Miami location, the majority of customers were retirees who resented the high prices and preferred to eat fish they were familiar with. All we sold was salmon and red snapper, Aoki told Eric Schmukler in a March 1989 Forbes article. The company closed its Big Splash outlets in March 1988. The 1988 fiscal year was a hard one for Benihana, as the company recorded a loss of nearly $7 million. Despite the companys financial problems with Classics and Big Splash, the Benihana restaurants themselves were still popular. By the end of fiscal 1989, the publicly owned Benihana National Corp. reported profits of some $1.8 million on sales of $34 million at its 20 restaurants, with Aokis privately-held Benihana of Tokyo taking in similar revenues. 1990-94: Making a Turnaround Rocky Aoki kicked off the new decade by opening a gallery in one of the Miami Benihana restaurants to display a portion of what was becoming known in the art world as the Rocky Aoki Collection. Having spent more than a year consolidating his diverse collections, Aoki told Antiques Collecting, I think its a natural to have a gallery here. More than 90,000 people eat in this restaurant every year; why not provide them with something beautiful to look at, not to mention buy, if they so desire. In a 300-square-foot space that had been the restaurants gift shop, diners could view etchings by Icarts, lamps by Tiffany and Handel, and bronzes by Remington. The publicity about Aokis collection helped generate business for the restaurant, and overall company revenues continued to grow. Profits, however, were less than a million dollars a year, and BNC stock fell below $1 a share. Angry at the situation, some shareholders sued. As Marilyn Alva reported in a 1992 Restaurant Business article, the shareholders claimed Aoki and his management team were in a conflict of interest by managing the two companies. The complainants further maintained that Benihana management had misappropriated the assets of Benihana National Corporation, passing them through Benihana of Tokyo for their personal benefit. The shareholders, however, were ultimately unsuccessful in trying to take control of the company away from Aoki. Meanwhile, Benihana management took advantage of a health-conscious American publics growing interest in Japanese food and entertainment. With the tag line, We have been the restaurant of the 90s since the 60s, Aoki and Schwartz instituted a major advertising campaign stressing the fact that Benihana had always offered healthful food. Soon afterwards, in 1993, the Atlanta Benihana of Tokyo restaurant added an 18-seat sushi bar and 35-seat Karaoke dining room to draw more customers on weekday nights. Despite the higher labor and food costs associated with sushi, the company reported an increase in beverage sales, and a lot of sampling of the $.99 sushi pieces by people waiting to eat at the traditional teppanyaki tables. Learning from its experience a decade earlier, in 1994 Benihana National Corp. decided to get into the frozen food business again. This time, however, by entering into a licensing agreement with Campbell Soup Co., the company hooked up with a major marketer rather than trying to compete with the big names. The new product was a line of frozen stir-fry kits featuring the Benihana trademark. The dinners served six people and sold for about $8.00. As Peter McMullin, an analyst with Southeast Research Partners, told Florida Review.Net, This time the strategy makes sense because it is linking with a high profile food company to help strengthen the distribution side and offsetting the razor-thin margins of retail by manufacturing with a low cost producer like Campbell. By the end of the fiscal year, revenues were over $70 million, with profits up 41 percent to $2.4 million. 1995 and Beyond: A New Company At the beginning of 1995, Benihana National announced it would buy Aokis 21 Benihana of Tokyo restaurants on the U.S. mainland, along with the U.S. rights to the Benihana trademark, for about $6.15 million. On May 16, a newly created subsidiary, Benihana Inc., acquired the BOT restaurants and, through a merger, simultaneously acquired Benihana National. BNC shareholders received one share in the new holding company for each of their shares of Benihana National. Aoki continued to serve as chairman of the new company and Schwartz as president. Benihana Inc. now owned or licensed the 43 Benihana restaurants in the continental United States along with a franchise in Honolulu. It also had the rights to develop or license Benihana restaurants in Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands. Aoki kept private his Benihana of Tokyo restaurants in Hawaii, Britain, and Thailand. During 1995, the new company took several steps to attract more customers. Benihana introduced weekend luncheon service and, following the success in Atlanta, opened sushi bars in seven locations. The company also instituted a national Karaoke contest for its patrons. In the fall, the company opened its first smaller format unit, called the Benihana Grill, in Sacramento. At 3,800 square feet, the Grill format was less than half the size of the traditional Benihana, and enabled the company to open units in smaller locations, particularly in urban areas. Schwartz had been refining this format since 1989 as an alternative to the companys more common free-standing, special use restaurant buildings. The Benihana Grill was designed to accommodate 10 to 12 teppanyaki tables, compared to the 18 tables in the typical Benihana. Analyst Peter McMullin remarked, Initial indications are encouraging even before the grand opening. With the lower capital costs of approximately $500,000 versus a stan d-alone restaurant cost of $2 million, this could become an enormous growth vehicle for Benihana. The new hours and offerings helped increase guest counts in existing restaurants by 8.7 percent and same store sales by an average of 7.7 percent for fiscal 1996. This rise, plus the addition of the Benihana of Tokyo restaurants and the new Benihana Grill, resulted in annual revenues of over $81 million. Benihanas growth came primarily from increased traffic in its existing restaurants, and the company continued to support that strategy. Early in 1996, in an effort to gain a larger share of the ethnic market, the company launched Spanish-language television advertisements in Miami and Los Angeles. In May, Benihana kicked off a two-year, $5 million ad campaign, focusing on the entertainment value of teppanyaki cooking. We want to bring the Benihana name to a different audience, company president Joel Schwartz told Nations Restaurant News in a May 6, 1996 article. The ads show that Benihana is a place the entire family can come to and have a good timea place they will see the chef perform and flip shrimp. Individual restaurants also developed innovative marketing techniques. A visit and meal at the Benihana in Bethesda, Maryland, for example, is one of the activities in the countys social studies curriculum for third graders learning about Japan. The company did not depend entirely on its existing restaurants for growth. During 1996, it also signed leases for several more Benihana Grills and expanded its franchise operations, including restaurants in Bogota, Columbia, and Aruba, Netherlands Antilles. Benihanas track record of steady growth in same store sales, rising customer count, and profitability appeared to be continuing into the late 1990s as revenues for the first half of fiscal 1997 were up over eight percent from the year before. Further Reading: Alva, Marilyn, Very Rocky Business: Aoki Besieged by Shareholder Suits, Restaurant Business, February 10, 1992. Benihana Buying Founder Aokis Units, Nations Restaurant News, January 16, 1995, p. 14. Benihana Profits Rise 67% for First Nine Months of Fiscal 95, Nations Restaurant News, February 12, 1996, p. 12. Benihana Testing Stir-Fry Kits, Supermarket News, October 17, 1994, p. 28.