Saturday, August 31, 2019

Tinbergen’s Four Questions Regarding Orca Behaviour

Introduction The type of communication used to transmit information is closely related to the animal’s lifestyle and environment. This can be seen in most terrestrial mammals which are nocturnal so use olfactory and auditory which work as well in the dark as they do during the day. Visual communication would be relatively ineffective in this lifestyle. In contrast humans are diurnal and use primarily visual and auditory signals for communication, but miss many chemical cues which many other mammals base their behaviour upon.Marine mammals often need to communicate great distances, and the water does not support visual cues over great distance. This is why whales and dolphins use primarily auditory signals. Auditory signals can travel great distances and travel four and a half times faster in water than in air (Ford, 1984). Killer whales or Orca (Orcinus orca) are very social dolphins and live in pods often consisting of family members from between four up to fifty for resident ial whales while transient pods normally are only between two and five animals (Ford, 1989).These pods communicate with each other by use of echolocation clicks, tonal whistles and pulsed calls (Deecke et al. , 2000). The three main noises have very different uses from each other. Clicks can either be produced as a single click or produced in rapid succession. Single clicks are generally used for navigation and collection of clicks and whistles are thought to be used for communication amongst members of the pod. Pulses are believed, with the assistance of single clicks, to be the method used by orcas to distinguish objects and discriminate prey (Barrett-Lennard et al. 1996). Residential orcas feed on fish, and can be frequently heard communicating with the clicks, whistles and calls because the fish have very poor hearing abilities (Wilson, 2002). The vocal behaviour of transient killer whales is quite different with the vocal communication consisting of occasional clicks and pulses (Deecke et al. , 2000). The only occasion where transient orcas display significant amounts of vocal activity is when they are active on the surface or recently after a kill.The reasons for this reduction of noise could be due to many factors which can be seen in other species interactions and behaviour. Using ‘Tinbergen’s four questions’, I will explain what necessity for this behaviour and what the origins of the silent behaviour may have been. Tinbergen’s Four Questions In 1963 Nikolaas Tinbergen published a paper â€Å"On aims and methods of ethology†. In this paper he discussed how he believed any question regarding animal behaviour should be broken down into four different questions.These four questions could be divided into two categories, evolutionary (ultimate) explanations and proximate explanations. The evolutionary explanations, which refer to the population, include evolution or phylogenetic determinants and survival value or adaptive significance. The phylogenetic determinants refer to all evolutionary explanations which are not covered by adaptive significance. These may include random processes including mutation and changes in the environment which could have impacts on the population resulting in a specific behaviour adaptation.The adaptive significance closely follows Charles Darwin’s work on natural selection where it is explained that an animal’s form has been altered to function better in the habitat and resulting in a increase in fitness for the individual. The proximate explanations are focused with dealing in terms of the individual as opposed to the population. The two different individual questions proposed by Tinbergen relate to causation and ontogeny. The causation for a display of behaviour relates to the mechanics of the body and which stimuli provides a cue for the animal to display this behaviour.Included in causation is control of hormones, motor control, central-nervous-system control and the ability to process the information obtained through senses. Ontogeny relates to the development of an individual, from conception til death. This may include a experience or a environmental factor which occurs and changes the behaviour of the animal, including learned behaviour from another individual. Causation ? Figure 1: An illustration of sound generation, propagation and reception in a killer whale. (WhalesB. C. com)The nasopharyngeal anatomy of cetaceans is strongly modified comparing with terrestrial mammals. They have one impair respiratory hole at the top of the head. It is closed near the surface by dense musculocutaneous crimps arranged so, that the salient of one of them enters into the dimple of another. They form a peculiar lock preventing the water from penetrating into respiratory tract. Above the skull around of nose passage there is a system of pneumatic sacs, connected with nose passage (Barrett-Lennard et al. , 1996).In 1964 A. V. Jablokov suppose d that sounds could be produced by forcing air through these nasal sacs. Air is forced past a set of finely striated muscular plugs or lips that vibrate or slap against each other as the lips are forced apart by the stream of air and then slapped shut by muscular tension (Ford, 1989). Transient killer whales are often very difficult to track when under water as they are typically silent. Often communicating with each other with just a single click, known as a cryptic click (Deecke et al. , 2000).The only time that the killer whales produce large amounts of vocal activity was when milling about on the surface or after killing a marine mammal. Transients have been found to only use four to six discrete calls which are not shared with the resident pods (Deecke et al. , 2004). Ontogeny Like other aspects of learning in mammalian society, I hypothesise that the newborn calves will be taught the ability for vocalisation by its parent or other pod members. There have been many studies on k iller whale vocalisations in different parts of the world including Canada (Ford, 1984), Alaska (Yurk et al. 2002) and Norway (Matkin, 1988). Each study showed that every pod has its own distinctive repertoire of discrete calls, often this phenomenon is referred to as vocal dialects. The differences in vocal repertoires can be the result of geographic isolation and when this occurs it is not dialects that are being represented but â€Å"geographic variations of vocal repertoire† (Ford, 1984). The use of repetitive calls and the specific number and type of discrete calls are what are used to classify and compare dialects. Pods often produce between seven and seventeen different types of discrete calls.Some pods share calls and are grouped together as a acoustic clan (Baird et al. , 1988). Different clans might represent different independent maternal lineages, which have persisted for many generations, developing their independent call traditions. Dialects are probably the mea ns by which pod cohesiveness and identity are maintained. Newborn calls manage to produce calls very comparable to their mothers, but the repertoire is very limited. With the arrival of a new calf to the pod, the calls of the pod and particularly the matriarch increase, especially the frequency of pod-specific calls (Ford, 1989).This is widely regarded as the method to which newborns learn the pods dialect. The majority of the learning done by the newborn is a process of imitation and trial and error. The calf does not always learn communication from a parent. In captivity a young whale was observed to have learned the calls of its tank mate, even though it had no relatedness. Survival Value I hypothesise that the because the mammalian predators can hear well under water is the reason why the transient killer whales adopt significantly reduced communication during periods of foraging.Acoustic communication can have great benefits such as organising groups for attacks and avoiding pr edation. As with all behaviour traits there is a trade off. There is a direct cost of energy required to producing the sounds and along with this is the loss of energy from lack of feeding during times of communicating. There is also a indirect cost, especially for transient killer whales, which pass information on to eavesdroppers. Eavesdroppers may include competitors (Hammond et al. , 2003), predators (Hosken et al. 1994) or for transient killer whales alerting potential prey. Various studies have documented the costs from eavesdropping for prey in the case of predators who utilise echolocation. Bats have been documented preying on frogs performing mating calls by eavesdropping on them (Fenton, 2003). Insects have also been noted as being able to avoid predation from bats by listening to their acoustic projections (Rydell et al. , 1995). Communicative vocalizations are usually not essential for prey location unlike echolocation.This is the most likely reason that transient killer whales move in silence or considerably reduced vocal communication while foraging. Evolution I believe that the evolution of marine mammals from a common ancestor hinders the transient killer whales hunting due to the retention of excellent underwater hearing by marine mammals. In Pakistan the discovery of Ambulocetus was remarkable, a three metre long mammal which resembled a crocodile. It is thought to be the transitional fossil starting the mammalian movement towards an aquatic life.By 38 million years ago mammals had fully adapted to a aquatic life with the emergence of Basilosaurus and Dorudon. Although these large marine mammals resembled modern whales and dolphins they lacked the ‘melon organ’ which allows echolocation in their descendants (Ford, et al. , 2000). In the middle of the Oligocene (33 million years ago) a animal called Squalodon is thought to have been the first to use echolocation. With a cranium which was well compressed, and a telescoped rostrum i t displayed a skull similar to modern dolphins.A big problem with the hunting marine mammals is that they all have a common ancestor, and all have retained a common lineage of very good hearing. Fish have poor hearing which allows the residential killer whales to freely use communication when hunting. Transient killer whales have been forced to change this behaviour because of their choice of prey including seals, dolphins, porpoises and whales. With all mammals having good underwater hearing they have been required to adopt a reduced vocal communication when searching for prey. ConclusionI believe that the lack of acoustic communication between transient killer whales is due to the ability of their selected prey being able to hear the clicks, whistles and pulses they generate. These sounds can be heard from over seven kilometres away and marine mammals do react to these calls (Deecke et al. , 2002). In the study by Deecke in 2002, he played the sounds of killer whales near a harbou r seal colony which resulted in most of the seals displaying strong anti-predator behaviour of leaving the water. This suggests that they are able to clearly hear the calls and understand what is generating them.I believe that other marine mammals will react in a similar way. Guinet (1992) observed the vocal patterns of killer whales around the Crozet Archipelago and came to the same result as Deecke (2004) that the killer whales were silent throughout hunting and searching, but once a mammalian kill was made the pod would greatly increase in vocal activity. While it can be a risk to produce noise after killing a prey, for fear of drawing the attention of other predators or scavengers, killer whales are the apex predator and have no natural predators.Resources Baird, R. W, Stacey, P. J. , (1988). Foraging and feeding behaviour of transient killer whales. Whalewatcher vol 22, no. 1:11-15 Barrett-Lennard, L. G. , Ford, J. K. B. , Heise, K. A. , (1996). The mixed blessing of echolocati on: differences in sonar use by fish-eating and mammal-eating killer whales. Animal Behaviour, 51: 553-565 Deecke, V. B. , Ford, J. K. B, Sprong, P. (2000). Dialect change in resident killer whales: implications for vocal learning and cultural transmission. Animal Behaviour 60: 629-638 Deecke, V. B. Ford, J. K. B, Slater, P. J. B. (2002). Selective habituation shapes acoustic predator recognition in harbour seals. Nature 420: 170-173 Deecke, V. B. , Ford, J. K. B, Slater, P. J. B. (2004). The vocal behaviour of mammal-eating killer whales: Communicating with costly calls. Animal Behaviour 69: 395-405 Fenton, M. B. (2003). Eavesdropping on the echolocation and social call of bats. Mammal Review 33: 193-204 Ford, J. K. B. (1984). Call traditions and vocal dialects of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in British Columbia. Ph. D. hesis, University of British Columbia Ford, J. K. B. (1989). Acoustic behaviour of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Can adian Journal of Zoology 67:727-745 Ford, J. K. B. , Ellis, G. M. , Balcomb, K. C. (2000) Killer whales the natural history and genealogy of Orcinus orca in British Columbia and Washington State. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press Guinet, C. (1992) Comportent de chasse des orques (Orcinus orca) autour des iles Crozet. Canadian journal of Zoology 70: 1656-1667Hammond, T. J. , Bailey, W. J. , (2003) Eavesdropping and defensive auditory masking in an Australian bush cricket, Caedicia (Phaneropterinae: Tettigoniidae: Orthoptera). Behaviour 140: 79-95 Hosken, D. J. , Bailey, W. J. , Oshea, J. E. , Roberts, J. D. (1994) Localization of insect calls by the bat Nyctophilus geoffroyi (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae): a laboratory study. Australian Journal of Zoology 42: 177-184 Matkin, D. (1988) Killer whales of Norway. Homer: North Gulf Oceanic Society Rydell, J. , Jones, G. , Waters, D. 1995) Echolocating bats and hearing moths: who are the winners? Oikos 73: 419-424 Wilson, B. , Dill, L. M. (2002) Pacific herring respond to stimulated odontocete echolocation sounds. Canadian Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences 59: 542-553 Yurk, H, Barrett-Leonard, L. , Ford, J. K. B. Matkin, C. O. (2002) Cultural transmission within maternal lineages: vocal clans in resident killer whales in southern Alaska. Animal Behaviour 63: 1103–1119 Vocal behaviour of mammal-eating killer whales A report on a unique behavioural characteristic By Michael Clark 83787877

Engage in personal development in health, social care or children’s and young people’s setting. Essay

1.1 Describe the duties and responsibilities of your own work role. The day to day care and supervision of children aged 3months to a 1year. Planning and implementing with the staff team activities and resources to provide a rich learning environment. To be a key person I am responsible for a small group of around 6-8 children, observing and recording their learning and development. This involves taking pictures for their learning journals and commenting on their day to day activities. We also observe their current development to ensure they are at the right stage for their age in terms of speech & language. It also involves building a positive and supportive partnership with their parents/carers and families, respecting and valuing their cultures and beliefs. We aim to involve parents with all aspects of their child’s journey at Nursery including updating their individual learning plans termly. As a key worker I am heavily involved in this process, encouraging children to achieve their learning goals and to ensure I am up to date with all policies and procedures such as safeguarding, health and safety, the welfare requirements, manual handling, etc. 1.2 Explain expectations about own work role as expressed in relevant standards. Practitioner’s expectations should be to become a valuable practitioner, to be reliable and build good relationships with children and parent carers, encouraging play whilst learning, and by having children’s best interests e.g. physical activities, outings, this would help them to enjoy their growth in knowledge and assist in enhancing their development as a whole. Also practitioners should work as a team with other staff members and parent/carers in order to support the children to promote the children’s initial learning so that the children will feel confident and would be able boost up their self-esteem, and this will also help them in their future, and prepare them in further education when they move onto school. Also the expectations that are to be done in placement at a relevant standard is to supervise the children this plays a big role in child protection Act and  health and policy. Practitioners should always watch the children closely to prevent and reduce the severity of injury to children. Children often challenge their own abilities but are not always able to recognise the risks involved. Practitioners need to supervise children and identify any risks and minimise injury.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Amy’s Bread Essay

Strengths: Amy’s entrepreneurial spirit; Toy Kim Dupree-excellent right-hand manager; Already has about 50 wholesale customers, plus 30 on a waiting list; Company is finally turning a profit; Positive work environment (5 day work week, better pay than competition, benefits package, 401(k) plan, employees allowed to speak freely, low turnover); Retail business allows for higher profit margins, and now represents 25% of Amy’s business; Good niche product mix-high quality bread products, micro-bakeries; Makes herself available to the press/public, leads to word of mouth advertising; Can now secure bank financing due to Amy’s proven track record; Wholesale business (representing 75% of the business) is more stable than retail business. Opportunities: Much higher profit margins in high-end breads (black olive, apple walnut rasin-$2.40 wholesale, $3.40 retail profit with the high-end breads vs. $1.71 wholesale, $2.60 retail without high-end breads); Retail business (currently 25% of business) allows for higher profit margins and payment is only in cash; Hiring another manager could allow Amy more time to run the company; Buying 31st street location would allow for production facility expansion and the ability to cater to customers currently on the waiting list; Leasing the 15th street location could allow both retail and production expansion. Weaknesses: Bakery industry is highly competitive with low wholesale profit margins; NYC locations are very expensive; Higher labor costs due to hand-production techniques (35% of CGS); Ingredient prices are volatile; Ingredients are more expensive than the competition’s; CGS is 65% of net sales; Competitors can enjoy better economies of scale due to automated production and cheaper ingredients; 75% of the business is through lower-profit wholesalers; Current production location is too small to meet growing demand. Threats: Dieting trends (i.e. Atkins diet) could affect consumer demand for bread. Mission: To produce high-quality, handmade breads for wholesale and retail customers through our retail locations and door-to-door deliveries. Objective: Amy’s Bread has seen steady growth over the last few years. This success has overextended both the employees and the warehouse space. Amy is looking to move operations to one of two locations: a building on 31st street, or one on 15th street. The 31st street location would allow Amy to expand her wholesale business and allow her to invest in a property instead of leasing. Amy should also look into adding a manager to allow her the time to focus on the overall business. Her most profitable bread lines are the high-priced breads, she should look into increasing the number of high-priced bread. Eventually, Amy should consider opening small retail locations in New York City.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Leadership Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership Managment - Essay Example .while a satisfied customer brings along with him 3 to 5 customers. Socially active and interactive members are sought for this role and they should be highly friendly towards the customers. More than technical knowledge, the response and handling of customers is important in the customers service assistant position. Proper training and education helps improving the level of customer care and reaping maximum benefits out of the entire situation. Line manager: Line manager position of high importance as well as they ensure the smooth working of the overall organization. Their task is to ensure that the message and instructions are being conveyed accurately from top management and that the lower management and those involved in the frontline delivery are performing according to the requirement. The top management may be faced with an array of situations. Ranging from routine situations to that of emergency and unexpected. Defining the leader and leadership: Leader is the captain of the entire ship. His navigation skills enable achieving the objectives and completing the journey. However his role is not isolated and he is expected to coordinate with the unit itself. Leadership is an integrative process that involves equal participation of the members. Leaders must have the ability to take along the members with him. Involve them in decision making, bring the best out of them and provide them with all the requirements and facilities that are needed by the members in accomplishing the tasks. Leaders are also responsible for the appointment of suitable person for the suitable task. The principle of right man for the right job should be followed and a leader must be able enough to select the... This paper approves that a leader has a list of options to choose from with regard to his leadership style. While some might use the stick and carrot approach, others use total cooperative strategy that is more loosely based on the family structure where each is equal and contributes equally. While the participative theory provides the basis that the leader contributes in equal amount as do the team members. The transactional theory on other side is the contrast where the leader mostly monitors, and responds according to the performance. In such situations the leader more loosely acts as the watch dog and allows the team members to continue working as long as they are going smoothly and instructs them only when the leader feels for guiding and direction and strategy change. This essay makes a conclusion that without a leader an organization cannot expect to survive or work. Leaders are the like the pillars to the building and without them no building can with stand. However leadership without proper team work and team members cannot produce the desired results. A leader may choose any operative leadership strategy and theory as long as it is contributive enough towards the main goal of organization. The performance of team members is directly subject to the leaders’ performance and their responses. Motivation from them and guidance can improve the performance many folds while improper direction and lack of guidance can not only harm the individuals but the organization itself.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Warranties Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Warranties - Research Paper Example In case a service or product does not perform as promised, the warranty should ensure that exchanges or repairs are done in regard to the product (Martin, 2000). Basic information about warranties 1. They are loved by retailers On a factual basis, most of the retailers usually get more profit from the warranty contracts that they would get from the sale of the products. In actual sense, a consumer pays a price that is higher by approximately 20% or 10% in order for a warranty to be extended by the manufacturer. Most of the retailers would most probably subcontract the deal with a third party company for half the amount paid so as to avoid the risk that is involved with the risks. That is a strategy that may be used by companies in an attempt to maximize on their revenue. 2. The consumer may already be covered but he or she is not aware The holders of American express cards usually have the privilege of the extending the length of the warranty from the manufacturer by a year while the holders of a MasterCard or visa signature usually have the time doubled. There are also some manufacturers who may offer a discount rate that is fixed if the product’s level of damage does not reach the level of return. 3. The warrant will most probably not be used People usually enter into warrant contracts so as to reduce the risks that may be involved in case the product that has been purchased does not perform as expected. Most of the appliances that are bought with a warrant do not in most of the times break down. 4. Types of warranties 1. Manufacturer’s warranty This form of warranty is a warranty that is drafted and written by the manufacturer and included in the products that are produced by the manufacturer. The company usually guarantees that its products will be free of any defects for a specified time period after the day of purchase. The warranty however does not cover any accidental damages that are caused by the user to the product. In such an agreement , repairs or replacement of the product are usually done freely by the manufacturer (Barron, 2000). 2. Extended warranty This type of warranty is also known as a service contract. This type of warranty is an agreement that signed between the selling company and the consumer or a consumer and a store that is in offers coverage on behalf of the manufacturer for a fee. Manufacturers usually do not provide warranties that are extended but the store or retail store in which the product is purchased usually offers the warranty. The extended warranty is usually added as a cost to the price of the product. The purchaser of a product should ensure that the warranty is done in writing and he or she should not rely on the salesperson to make an explanation in regard to the warranty. 3. Store warranty A store warranty can be perceived to be another name for an extended warranty or service contract. In such a scenario, the store offers to extend a warranty for a fee. The warrant is associated wi th a risk in that if the store runs out of business, the purchaser will be left without any form of coverage (Parisi, 2000). 4. Third party warranty The warranty can also be called a service contract. The warranty is different from a store warranty on the side of the company that offers the coverage of the warranty. The consumer will have to pay for the extended warran

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Journal Entry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Journal Entry - Essay Example This not only helps us keep to the point and on the right track in the way of achieving our goals, but also makes us more confidant as we know what we want and what we need to do in order to accomplish our goals. Knowledge of self also has a good effect on others and others tend to think good of us because we are never impressed with people that are confused and unsure about what they want in life in general and in a particular setting in particular. One factor that I like about the chapter is that the author has supported the arguments with credible sources. Another factor that is worthy of appreciation is that the author has tried to make a holistic approach in discussing and analyzing various aspects of self-knowledge, be it the levels of management in an organization, or the three levels of self i.e. individual, interpersonal, and collective. Yet another factor that I like about this chapter is that it is not just a discussion of what self-knowledge is and what its different aspects are, but also mentions different exercises and activities doing which one’s knowledge of self can be increased. I did all of the activities mentioned in the chapter and as a result of this found a significant increase in my self-knowledge. These activities were quite interesting and easy to do. I intend to do these exercises and activities periodically; probably once every three months to see how I have changed as a person over the period. The author has made it very easy for the readers to understand him by not just discussing the complicated terms, but also defining them first e.g. emotional challenges and value maturity. I personally believe that knowledge of self is fundamental to one’s improvement as a human being. One cannot improve one’s personality unless one does not identify one’s flaws, strengths, and weaknesses. Reflection on

Monday, August 26, 2019

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Global Warming - Essay Example urning of fossil fuels for instance coal, oil and natural gases contribute massively to this predicament .40% of United States carbon emission comes from coal burning power plants. More consumer products and cars for transportation are in production following the high population growth rate. This reflects negatively to global warming as more fossil fuels are used in the manufacturing and processing of these products. Cutting down forests to burn charcoal together with the former contributes to accumulation of carbon air in the atmosphere. The carbon air on amassing in the atmosphere forms a cover and restricts heat into the atmosphere. Much of the infrared radiation rising from the surface is absorbed by carbon in the air (Weart, 2008). This results to global warming. Besides this, the level of methane in the earth’s atmosphere also determines the global warming level in the atmosphere. Agricultural activities for instance decomposition of products to make manure, produces a l ot of methane gas. The number of livestock in the planet is also a matter to be troubled about when global warming is concerned. Herbivorous animals produce methane during digestion. These methane ,gases add up to the atmosphere and like carbon it also forms, a blanket in the atmosphere .The only way to curb this is if humans embrace the usage of environmental friendly fuels and reduce the amount of methane in the air. For instance, governments could promote improvements in efficiency in commercial lighting or they could promote the disastrous consumption of fossil fuels (Weart, 2008). Global warming poses harsh effects to humankind. The increase in temperatures in the atmosphere translates to poor rainfall in the planet. Thus, the temperature of the earth is at high level due to carbon accumulations (Weart, 2008).This challenges the agricultural sector, as the productions would not be enough to feed the ever-growing population across the globe. This increase in temperature in the earth

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Management of resources and operations Assignment

Management of resources and operations - Assignment Example Tactically the major objective of operation management is to make use of the system of operation of the firm and offer the most appropriate solution that matches with the supply and demand condition (Dhillon, 2002; Kaynak, 2003). Thus the management of resources and operation is considered as one of the pivotal tasks of an organization. Operations management takes into account the planning and coordination of work activities. The allocation of resources is another major area of operations management. In this study, a critical analysis of Logoplaste, a Portuguese based plastic manufacturing company will be evaluated. Logoplaste: A Brief Overview Logoplaste is a Portuguese based company involved in the production and marketing of rigid plastic containers. The company is a part of the industrial group and manufactures their products for some of the highly regarded and prestigious companies of the world. Logoplaste was incorporated in the year 1976 and since then the company has continuo usly offered quality products to the customers. The company caters to a wide customer base such as the personal care sector, beverage sector, oil industry, household care and lubricant sector to name a few (Logoplaste, 2013). Logoplaste has pioneered in-house production in Europe and supplied plastic bottles to clients from different parts of the world. In the last 37 years, the company has added several feathers to its cap and has been able to achieve a strong position in the market place. Today, the company manages the operation of 60 factories across the world and also manages a staggering figure of 350 equipments. It has now presence in 16 countries which are Canada, Brazil, France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Malaysia, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, USA and the United Kingdom. In terms of management of the operation and resources, the company depends upon the managers. A detailed analysis of the company’s operation and management of i ts process will be done in the second section of this study. In the following section important theories related to operation management of a firm will be highlighted. Managing Operation as a Strategic Function Operation management is a key business function which overlaps with the other business functions such as finance, marketing as well as human resource. Eminent scholars such as James (2011) defined operations management as the management of processes required to deliver the goods and services to the end consumers. Echoing this concept, Hill (2005) emphasized on the fact that operation management is to manage the process of transformation of the organizational inputs to the end products. Hence, the role of an operation manager is to oversee and allocate the resource involved in the entire process of service delivery (Pande and Holpp, 2002). The operation management plays a decisive role in shaping the long term capability of an organization and heavily contributes to the overal l organizational development. For example, Sousa and Voss (2002) states that the management of operation and resources allows a company to satisfy the market requirements as well as make decisions pertaining to the deployment of resource (Prajogo and Sohal, 2006). Moreover, reconciliation of the market requirements is also possible with proper operation managem

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Using Perceptual Maps in Marketing Simulation Summary Research Paper

Using Perceptual Maps in Marketing Simulation Summary - Research Paper Example The three phases that this marketing simulation summary contains will include a brief discussion of the existing situation, recommending the appropriate solution to tackle the adverse situation, and finally the discussion of the results (Answers n.d). Moreover, we will look at positioning and differentiation and will try to understand the relationship between them. Positioning and differentiation of a product is extremely crucial for success of a marketing plan. Also, we will try to examine what effects does product life cycle has on a marketing plan. Sales growth chart of Cruiser Thorr has negative slope. The motorcycle has done well in the past but now it requires a serious thought. The dedicated customer segment for these cruiser bikes has grown older. So there is obvious change in liking and Cruise Thorr motorcycle is not as appealing to them as it was few years back. Even the younger consumer base for Cruiser Thorr maintains a distance from it because of the price factor. They doubt if Thorr offers proper balance between lifestyle and price that needs to be paid for it. So the purpose of this scenario remains to assess the positioning of Thor in the marketplace over given parameters. These parameters are namely Price, Lifestyle, Services rendered and Quality engineering. Price is the first P of marketing mix and is pivotal in making a buying decision. Wrong or inappropriate pricing could overshadow all other P’s and qualities that a product possesses. Younger consumers were always interested in competitively lower priced motorcycles. Here, an important decision regarding brand dilution is to be made and that what is the appropriate value. Lifestyle image of Cruiser Thorr needs an honest reconsideration. It has already been stated that older consumer cannot live the same way they used to when they were young, so there is shift in their preference when it comes to selecting a motorcycle. Under this parameter important data could be

Friday, August 23, 2019

McDonald's Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

McDonald's Marketing Plan - Essay Example The researcher states that political factors are usually beyond the control of the organization. A business needs to prepare for the changes that might occur and take the necessary action required to remedy the situation. For example, some parts of the Middle East are unstable and McDonald being from Britain should be careful of what they say since it could hurt their business. Economic factors can affect the performance of the business. For example, the recent economic recession that led to the closure of multiple businesses and the laying off countless personnel. McDonald should put measures in place to shield itself from any future problems that might occur. Social factors can relate to the cultures, values, and beliefs of the society. It consists of the population’s demographics, which include size, gender, ethnicity, and education. It helps McDonald target their business services and products. McDonald Company embodies a broad spectrum of services, so it allows useful inf ormation to them. Developments in the technology world can affect business performance in both negative and positive ways. For example, the internet and consumer behaviors have changed towards the internet; this has negatively affected McDonald because there has been as a decrease in sales in their book section. It is because e-commerce has taken business away. However, the launch of online shopping has enabled McDonald`s to expand rapidly since all their products in one place, and it has become easy to navigate. It will be beneficial to McDonald`s because people in Europe love to shop, and a one-stop shop will be a crowd puller.

Modern society is too dependent on technology Essay

Modern society is too dependent on technology - Essay Example Mass media which involve a great deal of technology has become part of what the modern society feeds on daily. Certainly our day today living is greatly impacted by technology. One key question that this paper seeks to respond to pertains to how dependable is technology to modern society. It is widely accepted that technology has been employed in various field for purposes of achieving efficiency. One such technology is the internet technology. It is indisputable that mass media (computer technologies, internet and phones) are the day today technologies that individuals interact with. Certainly, media technology is central to all other technologies and acts as a link. This thus implies that when addressing the subject of influence of technology on the society one cannot sideline the three mentioned above. However, this does not disregard other technologies such as marine technology, airlines technology, and military technology alongside other technological field. On a larger scale, internet serves various functions including but not limited to businesses transactions, advertisements, social networking and education, among other activities. Computer technologies started gaining popularity in 1970s. Increasing popularity of mass media and related technologies (Faithi & Marun, 2010) has made these developments correlated with a changes in the behaviors and habits of the generation today. The most affected generation has been the youths whose delinquency has been increasing across the globe, because the popularity of mass media. Education performance has also been made better or worsened (Kilburn, 2009) following the increased online education and social media. Mass media has been accompanied by various forms of entertainment that affect the young generation and for one to claim he or she is dancing to the tune of modernity, he or she must be seen to impress this technology. Soup Operas,

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Statement on Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Statement on Corporate Social Responsibility Essay What is CSR? Corporate social responsibility is a diverse term utilized by current business activists in order to define the relation of employers with other colleagues, with society and with the core activities of the organization that can benefice people and society in one way or other. Fundamentally, Corporate Social Responsibility has been illustrated as a commitment which organizations do with society in order to develop the region economically in which it used to do its core business activities. (Idowu, Filho, 2009) Today, no business can touch the apex of success until it develops proper CSR and ethical strategy. Hence, ethics and CSR has closed relation since both of these components involve human resource and their attitude towards society and other factors. CSR and Ethics: Ethics is regarded particular way of behavior of an individual towards society or some other individuals. Similarly, Business ethics indicate the attitude of an organization towards business and social matters. It is especially concerned with the issues related to ethical and moral values of that particular organization. (Chryssides, Kaler, 1993) Hence, it can be stated that business ethics is something related to the situation, decision and activities which the organization management take while keeping the ethical values under consideration, contemplating these aspects from the perspective of right and wrong. Ethics and CSR have strong interrelationship with each other since without complying with ethical codes, no organization or individual can come up with the standards of corporate social responsibility. Hence, today, for the success of an organization, it is mandatory to develop effective CSR policy and for that purpose, it needs to develop an authentic ethical policy as well. Keeping all these factors under consideration, the elements of CSR and ethics can be categorized in two different parts. Personal ethics: From business perspective, Personal ethics is related to the ethics of individuals working within an organization. For conducting corporate social responsibility, an individual has to comply with different aspects related to personal ethics. For instance, there must be strong adherence of values, contribution towards environmental sustainability, effective corporate principles to follow and experience in dealing with customers, suppliers and other components of the society as well. Organizational ethics: Organizational ethics is related to the values and principles which have been founded on the basis of right and wrong. Like individual, who has responsibility towards organization, colleague and society, organization also has responsibilities towards employers, society, customers and stakeholders. For this purpose, the organization has to develop authentic values, standards, code of ethics and guidance. No business can gain successful position without employing effective CSR policy and keeping this thing under consideration, all big, Small and medium organizations have employed CSR policies in order to make their business processes effective. HSBC Saudi Arabia: A well known organization of Saudi Arabia working with the motto â€Å"putting your needs first†, HSBC has been considered as one of the best examples in this regard. (http://www.hsbcsaudi.com/home/home_en.shtml) The example can be taken from the HSBC report (2004) in which four different trends have been promulgated including maintenance of environment, sustainable development, satisfaction of the employer and setting up new goals, visions and agendas. Similarly, three different CSR themes had been discussed including standardized ethical implication surety, poverty decrement and creating fair social scenarios. Hence, it can be considered the best example for illustrating significance of employing CSR policy in today’s business horizon. CSR And Marriott Hotel in developed and underdeveloped country: Marriot has been regarded number one hotel in UK in 2012 and the reason behind this award is the CSR policy which this organization has employed in order to get this position and come up with social requirement in develop countries like England. Hence, it has been reported in 2011 environmental report that Marriott has been assuming FTSE policies of human rights, labor standards and anti-corruption in order to make its global economic CSR policy more effective and compatible for international markets as well. (http://www.marriott.com/corporate-social responsibility/corporate-responsibility-awards.mi) However, if the analysis of Marriot hotel Pakistan is done, it would appear that the CSR policy adopted by regional management of this country is not as much effective as the other one is. This might be due to the difference in regional culture and customer demands as well. However, this branch can also maximize the profit if it will employ effective CSR policy basing it on ethical values. References: Accomplishments. Corporate Social Responsibility Awards for Marriott Hotels. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . Chryssides, G. D. Kaler J.H. (1993). An Introduction to Business Ethics. London: Chapman Hall. HSBC, . ., 2011. HSBC Saudi Arabia Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.hsbcsaudi.com/home/home_en.shtml [Accessed 18 November, 2011]. Idowu, Samuel O., and Filho Walter. Leal. Professionals Perspectives of Corporate Social Responsibility. Heidelberg: Springer, 2009. HSBC . 2004. Corporate Social Responsibility. Saudi Arabia. 21 – 22 June 2004, HSBC : Qatar.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Education Essays Pupils Special Disabilities

Education Essays Pupils Special Disabilities Pupils Special Disabilities This essay critically evaluates the success of policies to promote the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities since 1997. The essay reflects critically on recent legislation in the field and the implications of this for development, showing an understanding of how to resolve conflicting viewpoints. The essay first outlines the legislation, and policy documents, that have been enacted or published since 1997 and then critically analyses these policies in terms of answering the question of how successful these policies have been in terms of meeting special educational needs and disabilities through a review of the impact of these policies on the teaching of special needs children in mainstream schools, and the impact of this on the pupils with special needs, on the ‘normal’ children being taught alongside special needs pupils and on the teaching staff involved in teaching in classrooms containing mainstreamed special needs pupils. Special education is defined, generally, as education that is modified for students with special needs, whether these be special physical needs due to a disability or special mental needs, such as mental health problems or giftedness. The Education Act 1996 defines special educational needs thus, children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them, and children can be identified as having a learning difficulty if they have a significantly different ability to learn than the majority of children the same age as them and if they have a disability which prevents them from making use of facilities that would normally be used within that setting by children of a similar age. Students with special educational needs and disabilities have been catered for through a number of legislations since the late 1990s. The Education Act 1996 outlines the various roles and responsibilities of all those involved in the process of educating children within the UK: teachers and parents, for example. The Education Act 1996 contains statutes that are directly relevant to the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities, building, as it does, on the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. One of the requirements of the Act is that local authorities publish ‘disability statements’ at regular intervals, detailing the facilities provided by the local authority with regards to accommodating children with special educational needs and disabilities because one of the main requirements of the Act was to identify, assess and meet children’s special educational, or physical, needs in terms of meeting these needs within a mainstream school. Part Four of the Education Act 1996 was revised and was enacted as the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001. The Government launched their publication entitled Excellence for all children: Meeting Special Educational Needs in 1997, which set out a coherent strategy for dealing with students with special educational needs and disabilities. This was enhanced through the 1998 publication of the document Meeting Special Educational Needs – A Programme of Action which, when implemented in conjunction with the 1999 Disability Task Force report entitled From Exclusion to Inclusion, reinforced the necessity of considering the rights of students with special educational needs and disabilities. Essentially, the New Labour Government wanted to extend the educational provisions for students with special educational needs and disability by placing educational provision in the broader agenda of social inclusion, within the framework of rights for individuals with special educational needs and disabled individuals (MacBeath et al., 2006)n. Following these publications, and as has been seen, Part Four of the Education Act 1996 was revised and was enacted as the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 is divided in to three parts, two of which are of particular relevance for those with special educational needs and disability: Part One which made changes to the existing Special Educational Needs section in the Education Act 1996; and Part Two which deals with disability discrimination in education, amending Parts Three and Four of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Part One of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 strengthens the rights of special educational needs children, in particular the right of these individuals to be schooled in mainstream schools. Part Two of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 makes it illegal for schools and Local Authorities to discriminate against disabled people for any reason that is related to their disability: schools and local authorities have a â€Å"reasonable adjustment† duty to provide for the special needs of any individuals under their care. Since the enactment of this Act, a revised Special Educational Needs Code of Practice was developed (in 2002), which provides practical help and advice to all those involved in providing education to students with special educational needs and disabilities. Then, in 2003, a Green Paper was published, entitled Every Child Matters, which outlines the Government’s commitment to partnership with all those involved in educating students with special educational needs and disabilities, under the framework of the Children’s Services proposals. In 2004 a strategy document was published by the Government, entitled Removing Barriers to Achievement – The Government’s Strategy for SEN, which focuses on providing guidelines for early intervention, and for the provision of special educational needs. In terms of the Government’s approach to the education of students with special educational needs and disabilities, as outlined in their 2004 document Removing Barriers to Achievement – The Government’s Strategy for SEN, the Government sees it as important to remove barriers to learning and to raise both expectations and achievements, all within a framework of ensuring the application of the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. In terms of the impact of all of this legislation on the education of students with special educational needs and disability, the proportion of such students being ‘mainstreamed’ (i.e., taught within the framework of a ‘mainstream’ school, not a special school) has not been significantly affected by the legislation as many parents are still choosing to send their children to special schools, although the legislation has increased the awareness and appreciation of mainstreaming (OFSTED, 2004). From 1999 to 2003, for example, the portion of students with special educational needs and disability that were schooled in a mainstream setting remained steady, although reports from the Audit Commission have reported an increase in students with behavioural disorders being mainstreamed; conversely, since 2001, in fact, there has been a 10% increase in the number of students sent to special schools (OFSTED, 2004). Whilst the Government seems to think that mainstreaming is the best possible solution for special needs children, a recent report has suggested that school inclusion can actually be a form of abuse and that the recent policies that have been enacted to cover the education of special needs children are badly failing these children (MacBeath et al. 2006). As reported by the BBC, MacBeath has been quoted as stating, â€Å"Physically sitting in a classroom is not inclusion. Children can be excluded by sitting in a classroom that is not meeting their needs†. As reported in MacBeath et al. (2006), there is massive variability across the country as to how inclusion, and mainstreaming, is accommodated, with many schools having unresolved problems regarding inclusion of students with special educational needs and disabilities. A recent (2004) OFSTED report, which looked at the issues of special educational needs and disability and inclusion in mainstream schools found that the Government’s revised inclusion framework has promoted increased awareness of the benefits of inclusion and has led to some level of improvements in practice, but that the framework of inclusion has had little effect, as yet, on the number of pupils within mainstream schools or on the range of needs for which mainstream schools can cater, even though most mainstream schools are committed to mainstreaming special educational needs and disabled students. However, the report found that only a minority of mainstream schools meet special needs well, with expectations of achievement not well enough defined with progress in learning slower, for a vast majority of pupils, than it should be (OFSTED, 2004). Few schools were found to objectively evaluate their provisions for students with special educational needs and disability with not enough use being made of the potential for adapting the curriculum so that such students have suitable opportunities for improving their education (OFSTED, 2004). In general, classroom teaching of students with special educational needs and disability was of highly variable quality, with many lessons having many shortcomings with teaching assistants, especially, contributing to a lack of organization with regards to students with special educational needs and disability (OFSTED, 2004). Shockingly, over half the schools that were visited during the course of this report had no disability access plans and few schools liaised with special schools in order to develop better educational content for the subsequently mainstreamed pupils (OFSTED, 2004). In sum, the OFSTED (2004) report recommended that the Government and local education authorities start to work together in order to ensure that the ability of mainstream schools to teach pupils with special educational needs and disability in a better way, in terms of working closely together with special schools to forge productive links for mainstreamed special educational needs and disabled pupils, such that pupils with special educational needs and disability are enabled to play a full and active part in school life, receiving a curriculum that is relevant to their needs. Whilst noble in its aim, therefore, in terms of the actual numbers of students with special educational needs and disability being mainstreamed, and the education these children are receiving when mainstreamed, inclusion remains a significant challenge for many mainstream schools, and the education received by students with special educational needs and disability within a mainstream school setting is perhaps not as optimum as it could be in many cases, with provisions for their special educational needs and disabilities also not being as adequate as they could, or should, be (Henry, 2004). MacBeath et al. (2006) identified shortcomings in the issue of inclusion, with schools admitting they often had problems with mainstreaming of special educational needs and disabled pupils, due to issues related to resourcing and financing, admissions and capacity, balance of needs, recruitment and retention and expertise and professional development. This does not mean that inclusion policies do not work, as MacBeath et al. (2006) found that inclusion policies are often seen to work when a number of essential conditions are met, namely that staff are enthusiastic and committed, with strong teamwork across staff at the school. In addition to looking at how mainstreaming affects pupils, MacBeath et al. (2006) also looked at how teaching staff are affected by the mainstreaming of students with special educational needs and disabilities. It was found that teachers, in principle, welcome mainstreaming, but that the realities of mainstreaming in practice are very different, due to the fact that the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities are very different from those of ‘normal’ children, and that this can cause problems when deciding how to allocate one’s time as a teacher; that often special needs and disabled pupils are allocated to teachers who lack the necessary skills to be able to handle these pupils; that the nature and quality of support for teachers with special needs and disabled pupils is often not present, all of which impact negatively on the ability of the teacher to teach all of their pupils, i.e., those with special needs or disabilities and the ‘normal’ children (MacBeath et al., 2006). Thus not only do policies to promote the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities affect those children with special educational needs and disabilities, when such children are mainstreamed, these policies also affect the ways in teachers are able to carry out their job, in terms of being able to teach all children in their care equally and with equal attention. This has been noted to be of special concern when the pupils with special educational needs are children with behavioural problems (whom, as we have seen, have been steadily increasing in numbers in mainstream school settings), as these children are very demanding of teachers time, which, if the teacher pays a great deal of attention to managing these pupils behaviour can lead to the teacher having less time to dedicate to the ‘normal’ children in their class. This leads to the argument that special educational needs and disabled children should not be educated in mainstream classrooms. Seldom is the level of training sufficient for mainstream teachers to teach these children adequately, and to care for these children well enough, so that the basic care needed for these children is often not present. Conversely, if the teachers are well versed in teaching and managing pupils with special educational needs, and concentrate too much on these pupils within their classroom, this leads to the ‘normal’ children in the class missing out on the teacher’s time and attention. There is, thus, a delicate balance to be struck when a teacher’s classroom includes children with special educational needs or disabilities, between caring for that individual child and accommodating their needs, and also having adequate time for the other pupils in the class. For this reason, many educators, and many parents, argue against the idea of inclusion and mainstreaming, arguing that these policies serve no practical purpose, other than fulfilling the Government’s idea of how inclusion should ideally work. The MacBeath et al. (2006) report addresses this issue, when they ask ‘is inclusion working?’. Whilst inclusion provides social benefits for special educational needs and disabled children, in terms of them feeling more accepted by their peers, the viability of the whole concept of inclusion is brought in to question when one studies what has been happening in classrooms over the period when mainstreaming has become more commonplace. For teachers who have taught special educational needs and disabled pupils in a mainstream setting, it has been found that children with special needs often feel they have a lack of entitlement to learn and develop emotionally; that there are restrictions on learning for ‘normal’ children being educated alongside special needs children because a disproportionate amount of a teacher’s time is given to special needs children; that mainstreaming special needs children can generate feelings of inadequacy in teachers without specialized expertise in dealing with such children; that there is a great increase in the workload of teachers dealing with special needs children within their classroom and that there are massive pressures on teachers in terms of inadequate funding and resourcing by local authorities (MacBeath et al., 2006). The MacBeath et al. (2006) also addressed the impact on pupils of inclusive policies, finding that mainstreamed special needs children can benefit from interactions with their peers, but that, in the majority of cases, lack of training of teachers, and lack of resources mean that special needs pupils are not adequately dealt with and end up struggling in mainstream schools because there is a general and significant lack of expertise on the part of teachers as to how to properly and adequately deal with special needs children in a mainstream school setting. Following these conclusions, the MacBeath et al. (2006) report recommended that the implementation of policies of inclusion should not rely on individual schools to handle all the responsibility of teaching these children, rather that this should be based on a collaborative effort between special schools, mainstream schools and local authorities, and that this enhanced collaboration should ensure the best service for all children, i.e., those with special needs who are being mainstreamed and ‘normal’ children in classrooms containing pupil(s) with special needs who are being mainstreamed. It is clear that policies of inclusion, and mainstreaming, will only work, and will only continue to be suggested and developed, if this collaborative effort is strengthened and if teachers involved in teaching mainstreamed special needs children receive adequate training, allowing them to handle their special needs pupils in a way that is advantageous to those individuals, and also to simultaneously manage their ‘normal’ pupils, so that accommodating pupils with special needs does not come at the detriment of ‘normal’ pupils. For fear of a lack of adequate training and understanding, perhaps, many parents of special needs children still choose to send their children to special schools: as we have seen, the proportion of special needs students being ‘mainstreamed’ (i.e., taught within the framework of a ‘mainstream’ school, not a special school) has not been significantly affected by recent legislation, as the vast majority of parents of special needs children are still choosing to send their children to special schools and not to send them to mainstream schools (OFSTED, 2004). In terms of the success of policies to promote the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities since 1997, then, as has been seen, these policies were introduced as a way in which to further the New Labour Government’s ideas about social inclusion, but have, in practice, been ill thought out, in terms of the actual provision of support and training for teachers and teaching assistants who are actually involved, on a day-to-day basis, with teaching mainstreamed special needs pupils. Thus, whilst there is a case to be made for inclusion with regards to special educational needs and disabled pupils, particularly in terms of the social benefits of this practice for the special needs children, there have been insufficient resources devoted to making these policies work in practice, in terms of generating a collaborative atmosphere which would foster sharing of resources and expertise, between mainstream and special schools, for example. Both MacBeath et al. (2006) and OFSTED (2004) found that when mainstreaming does works, it works only because of the extreme dedication of the individual teachers involved, not because there is a framework in place to ensure that inclusion works in practice. Such was the gravity of the situation as recorded by MacBeath et al. (2006) that their report concluded with an urgent need for inclusive practice, including a â€Å"radical re-appraisal of†¦the contradictions inherent in the interface of standards and inclusion agendas†. References BBC (2006). School inclusion ‘can be abuse’. Tuesday 16th May 2006. DfES (1997). Excellence for All Children – Meeting Special Educational Needs. DfES (1998). Meeting Special Educational Needs – A Programme of Action. DfES (2001). Inclusive Schooling. DfES (2002). Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. DfES (2003a). Every Child Matters. DfES (2003b). Together from the start: practical guidance for professionals working with disabled children and their families (birth to 3 years). DfES (2004). Removing Barriers to Achievement – The Government’s Strategy for SEN. Disability Rights Task Force (1999). From Exclusion to Inclusion. Dyson, A. (2003). Special needs, disability and social inclusion – the end of a beautiful friendship? In Norwich, B. (ed.) (2003). Disability, disadvantage, inclusion and social inclusion. Henry, J. (2004). Inclusion policy fails children with special needs. The Telegraph 25th September 2004. HMSO (1995). Disability Discrimination Act HMSO (1996). Education Act HMSO (2001). Special Educational Needs and Disability Act HMSO (2005). Disability Discrimination Act MacBeath, J. et al. (2006). The Costs of Inclusion. University of Cambridge Faculty of Education. Norwich, B. (ed.) (2003). Disability, disadvantage, inclusion and social inclusion. OFSTED (2004). Special educational needs and disability: towards inclusive schools.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Critical and Significant Accounting Policies

Critical and Significant Accounting Policies After Enrons scandal, accounting world underwent dramatic changes. Lots of acts were proposed or released. On May 10, 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission (which is SEC) proposed a document, that Disclosure in Managements Discussion and Analysis about the Application of Critical Accounting Policies. One year later, SEC released final rule No.72, Interpretation: Commission Guidance Regarding Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. First one introduces the framework for critical accounting policies; second one describes how to actually interpret critical accounting policies in the section off Managements Discussion and Analysis (MDA). However, even till now, people are still in confusion of the differences between those accounting policies: critical accounting policies or estimates and significant accounting policies, a way to actually and precisely disclose these two. In a more efficient way, I will go through the definition of these two accounting policies first. After that, I will introduce the intent of these two, why we use them. The last but not least, I will use a 10-K form from Apple Inc. to make an example, how we present their contents and formats appropriately. Definitions In the accounting standard codification, Financial Accounting Standards Board (which is FASB) has a definition to significant accounting policies, which is Accounting principles and methods are judged by the appropriate circumstances to present fairly financial position, according to GAAP make financial statement. (Codification, 235-10-05-3) This is very general presentation of financial statement. While, in contrast to significant accounting policies, the critical accounting policies and estimates are defined by SEC, which is Critical accounting built on assumption about uncertain matters, including period and affect Companys financial condition (SEC, 2002). It is very obvious, that just from the definition of latter: the critical accounting policies and estimates describe only uncertainties of future changes that also have material impacts. The Differences of Disclosure Intent The information of significant accounting policies is important and essential for entities financial statement users. The significant accounting policies and estimates, which is vital part of the entities financial statements, disclose fairly financial position, etc. (Codification, 235-10-50-1). Meanwhile, they are a major component of the financial statements as well. They interpret what accounting policies the entity is currently adopting. FASB also states that, the significant accounting policies can affect entitys financial position, and can be used for making economic decisions (Codification, 235-10-05-4). Because of Enron scandal, Securities and Exchange Commission intends to give more information of the entity to investors. The quality of corporate disclosures needs to be improved. I believe the intent of critical accounting policies is to disclose the accounting policies needed management judgments and estimations with the uncertainties. The critical accounting policies are the vital components in note of the managements discussion and analysis. SECs FR-60 interpreted as followed: Financial position may imply precisions, continuities and certainties that can be rapid changed in the financial status and operating environment. Thus, even general accepted accounting principles (GAAP) maybe more or less fail to present important information if it is not appropriate accompanied or clear analytic disclosed to facilitate an investors understanding of the companys financial condition, and the possible changes in the operating condition (SEC, 2001). According to above information, we should be aware of that, not only the definitions are different, but also the intents of using these two accounting policies are substantially distinct from each other. FASBs purpose of significant accounting policies cannot be served for SECs critical accounting policies and vice versa. Contents Presentation The significant accounting policies defined by FASB for the applications of accounting principles and methods have a wide range of general description. In contrast of that, critical accounting policies and estimates that proposed by SEC only estimate some of the substantially uncertain and material accounting policies. FASB specifies the disclosure of significant accounting policies should identify the accounting principles and the methods that will materially affect the financial position, and results in different operations, or cash flow. They include judgments, whether principle appropriate between revenue and asset cost during current or future period (Codification, 235-10-50-3). In this paper, I used Apple annual report as an example. In the Form 10-K/A of Apple Inc. (filed in Jan 25, 2010) include presentation and preparation, fair value measurements, financial instruments, inventories, property plant and equipment, asset retirement obligations, goodwill, foreign currency translation and remeasurement, revenue recognition, shipping costs, allowance for doubtful account, warranty expense, software development cost, income taxes, stock-based compensation, advertising costs, earnings per common share, comprehensive income, segment information. For example, Apple disclosed inventories item at (LCM) lower the of cost, or market, calculated with FIFO (first-in, first-out) method. In recognition item, the Company recognizes revenue when delivery has occurred or any persuasive evidence of an agreement exists. Moreover, in revenue recognition item, for multiple-element arrangements which may include tangible products that contain software that is essential to the ta ngible products functionality and undelivered software elements that relate to the tangible products essential software, the Company allocates revenue to all deliverables based on their selling prices (Form 10K/A, 2009). Before application, there are requirements that the critical accounting estimates should meet: at the made time of accounting estimates, the uncertain assumption; another is, any kinds of estimates used during current period and changes made in the estimate should impact the financial condition materially. There three elements that are involved in the accounting estimation: the first is to understand the accounting estimates; the second is to give a clearer comprehending to the financial condition for normal investors; the third is to disclose management discussed development (SEC, 2002). Furthermore, the critical accounting policies and estimates should be as the supplements of notes of financial statements, but not duplicate any related information that already presented. The critical accounting polices disclosure should provide relevance information deeply (SEC, 2003). From the secs intention, accountants should take strongly responsibility for the risk of estimates and changes. Moreover, accountants should be able to explain how they came out with the results and estimates. If last year a bank made a lot of relative new loans, so the report would look good. But if many of those borrowers later failed to pay, then this years report would look very bad. So for the next year, the bank management will be required to estimate how many borrowers would fail to pay, maybe a percentage, and put it in the notes of MDA. In the last years Form 10-K/A of Apple Inc. the critical accounting policies and estimates are related to inventory valuation and inventory purchase commitments, revenue recognition, income taxes, valuation of marketable securities, warranty costs, allowance for doubtful accounts along with the legal and other contingencies. In the section of inventory valuation, Apple Inc. emphasize the critical accounting estimate as followà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¡ The Company must order components for its products and build inventory in advance of product shipments. The Company records a write-down for inventories of components and products, including third-party products held for resale, which have become obsolete or are in excess of anticipated demand or net realizable value. The Company records accruals for estimated cancellation fees related to component orders that have been cancelled or are expected to be cancelled. Consistent with industry practice, the Company acquires components through a combination of purchase orders, supplier contracts, and open orders based on projected demand information. These commitments typically cover the Companys requirements for periods ranging from 30 to 150 days. (Form 10K/A, 2009à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° The inventory item that disclosed in the significant accounting policies is very straightforward and simple, like lower cost or market cost. However, here the company estimates the future inventory by forecasting, and later, if the consumers or markets demand changed, which is unpredicted, the company would write-down the records, when it needed. Also, in revenue recognition section analyzes the possible reductions to revenueà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¡ Management was making estimates based on historical experience. If a greater proportion of customers redeem the incentives other than estimated, the Company would record credits to revenue, which would have a decrease on revenue.à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ Form 10K/A, 2009à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Although, the revenue reduction is estimated by historical records, the future market condition may change, for example, the incremental price protection obligations incur. The additional reduction to revenue would be resulted in. Additionally, the company gave an estimation of unspecified software upgrade revenue: if the Companys ESP for the software upgrade rights related to iPhone would have been fluctuated either higher or lower, the Companys net sales of year 2009, would have decreased or increased up to $50 million as compared to that of last year (Form 10K/A, 2009). Furthermore, compare with just one sentence in significant accounting policies, the allowance for doubtful accounts section in the critical accounting and estimates presents the very detailed information. Besides the historical experience, the company also considers about the future economic environment, the financial condition. If there is a deterioration of financial condition, the company will have to adjust the allowance accounts, which means the adjustments are going to be made. The formats The formats of two accounting policies are significant different, because one is by FASB, and another is by SEC. The significant accounting policies are disclosed in the notes of the financial statement of item 8 in form 10-K. Under FASB codification: the disclosure format of significant accounting policies is in a summary of significant accounting policies at the very beginning of the notes of the financial statements (Codification, 235-10-50-6). Normally, there is a boilerplate of the disclosure for the significant accounting policies. Compare to the boilerplate formatted significant accounting policies, the critical accounting policies and estimates are normally presented in plain language. The disclosure format should be clear, that the investor could understand easily (SEC, 2002). With a different disclosure place, the critical accounting policies and estimates are only disclosed in MDA. Conclusion After studying both accounting policies, I find out the significant accounting policies and critical accounting policies and estimates are substantially generated by separate individuals with different disclosure purposes. Furthermore, as the supplementary of significant accounting policies, critical accounting policies and estimates normally describe some needed adjustments, if the future economic environment and customers or market financial conditions change. Post Enron period, SECs has taken a very clear-cut stand, for fear of more accounting scandals, by providing more contents about how the uncertainties, assumption, approximation and estimation would affect the companys financial statement in critical accounting policies.

Monday, August 19, 2019

lord of the flies :: essays research papers

The novel Lord of the Flies was full of challenges that the boys overcame in order to survive. Conflicts within themselves, with nature and with each other constantly test the children’s ability to endure. Struggles against the natural elements of the island, rival groups or fear of the unknown continually appear throughout the story. Some of the boys on the island did not survive the quarrels that they faced. They perished because they were lacking something that the surviving boys did not. The survivors had a natural primal instinct or a physical or mental advantage over the boys who did not make it. ‘Only the strong survive’ is an important element that runs through the novel Lord of the Flies because in order to survive the boys must turn to their primitive instincts of physical strength and savagery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the three children who did not survive the island was the mulberry colored birthmark boy. He represents the weaknesses and insignificance of all the littluns that are on the island. The littluns are younger, less developed and less experienced compared to the older children. As a result the littluns are at a disadvantage to the other boys. The mental weakness of the littluns is evident when they talk about their fear of a monster on the island: â€Å"He still says he saw the beastie. It came and went away again an’ came back and wanted to eat him.†(35). As most young children do, the littleuns confused fantasy with reality and as a result a monster was believed to live on the island. The littluns lack of maturity and concentration is shown when Ralph and Simon are building the shelters and Ralph says, â€Å"I bet if I blew the conch this minute, they’d come running. Then we’d be, you know, very solemn, and someone would say we o ut to build a jet, or a submarine, or a TV set. When the meeting was over they’d work for five minutes then wonder off.†(51). The death of the mulberry colored birthmark boy clearly shows that the littluns are insignificant to the other children on the island. When the children built the fire on the mountain and the flames caught on the canopy below Piggy realizes that the mulberry colored birthmark boy was not with them. Piggy shows the littluns’ insignificance when he says, â€Å"That little ‘un-‘ gasped Piggy-‘him with the mark on his face, I don’t see him.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Male Eating Disorders Essay -- Psychology Health Illness

Eating Disorders in Males Eating disorders have traditionally been a â€Å"woman’s problem.† It has not been until recently that we have recognized the fact that males are suffering from these deadly disorders as well. It has been generally agreed upon that anywhere from five to 15 percent of all reported cases of eating disorders are attributed to men. This paper will examine its incidence in males and the physical and psychological aspects associated with having an eating disorder. First lets look at the history of eating disorders. The very first case of an eating disorder diagnosed was actually a male. In 1689, Dr. Richard Morton described a case of â€Å"nervous consumption† in a 16-year-old male and he was prescribed restraint from horseback riding and his studies. (Carlat, Camargo, & Herzog, 1997) In the 1700s the full plump female figure was considered to be the most beautiful because it showed a sign of wealth. It was not until the 1920s that smaller female figures seemed to be in vogue. It was during this time that women began to dress more â€Å"provocatively† in flapper dresses. The Barbie doll came out in the 1940s which put an absolutely unrealistic measuring stick up to little girls. The 1960s saw an upsurgance of anorexia when Twiggy, the gaunt British actress became popular. And recently our society has seen an increase in the incidence of eating disorders, especially in men. Now lets define anorexia nervosa and bulimia. According to the DSM-IV the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa are â€Å"body image distortion, amenorrhea, and intense fear of gaining weight, resulting in body weight that is at least 15% below that expected for age and height.† (Hausenblas & Carron, 1999) The definition for bulimia is less clear. Bulimia includes â€Å"self-evaluation that is unduly influenced by body shape or weight and recurrent episodes of uncontrollable binge eating†¦followed by inappropriate compensatory behavior undertaken to prevent weight gain.† (Hausenblas & Carrron, 1999) This compensatory behavior may include use of laxatives, diuretics, self-induced vomiting, strict dieting, fasting or inordinate exercising. Unlike anorexics, bulimics are usually at or above their body weight. These diseases may result in biological problems including amenorrhea for females, gonadotropin secretion in males, electrolyte imbalances, gastrointestinal disorders, endo... ...utchins, D.E., Getz, H.G., & Hayes, G.L. (2000). Male Anorexia Nervosa: A New Focus. Journal of Mental Health Counseling. 22, 365-370. Goode, E. (2000). Thinner: The Male Battle With Anorexia. New York Times. 06/25/2000, Vol. 149, Issue 51430, Section 16, p8. Hausenblas, H.A., & Carron, A.V. (1999). Eating Disorder Indices and Athletes: An Integration. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 21, 230-258. McLorg, P.A. & Taub, D.E. (1992) Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia: The Development of Deviant Identities. In D.H. Kelly (Ed.), Deviant Behavior: A Text-Reader in the Sociology of Deviance. (pp. 203-214). New York: Worth Publishers. Phillpot, D., & Sheppard, G. (1998). More Than Mere Vanity. Guidance & Counseling. 13, 28-34. Romero, F. (1994). Adolescent Boys and Anorexia Nervosa. Adolescence. 29, 643-648. Shiltz, T. (2000). Males and Eating Disorders: Research. Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc. Retrieved on November 18, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.edap.org/edinfo/menresearch.html Zerbe, K.J. (1992) Eating Disorders in the 1990s: Clinical Challenges and Treatment Implications. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic. 56, 167-188. Male Eating Disorders Essay -- Psychology Health Illness Eating Disorders in Males Eating disorders have traditionally been a â€Å"woman’s problem.† It has not been until recently that we have recognized the fact that males are suffering from these deadly disorders as well. It has been generally agreed upon that anywhere from five to 15 percent of all reported cases of eating disorders are attributed to men. This paper will examine its incidence in males and the physical and psychological aspects associated with having an eating disorder. First lets look at the history of eating disorders. The very first case of an eating disorder diagnosed was actually a male. In 1689, Dr. Richard Morton described a case of â€Å"nervous consumption† in a 16-year-old male and he was prescribed restraint from horseback riding and his studies. (Carlat, Camargo, & Herzog, 1997) In the 1700s the full plump female figure was considered to be the most beautiful because it showed a sign of wealth. It was not until the 1920s that smaller female figures seemed to be in vogue. It was during this time that women began to dress more â€Å"provocatively† in flapper dresses. The Barbie doll came out in the 1940s which put an absolutely unrealistic measuring stick up to little girls. The 1960s saw an upsurgance of anorexia when Twiggy, the gaunt British actress became popular. And recently our society has seen an increase in the incidence of eating disorders, especially in men. Now lets define anorexia nervosa and bulimia. According to the DSM-IV the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa are â€Å"body image distortion, amenorrhea, and intense fear of gaining weight, resulting in body weight that is at least 15% below that expected for age and height.† (Hausenblas & Carron, 1999) The definition for bulimia is less clear. Bulimia includes â€Å"self-evaluation that is unduly influenced by body shape or weight and recurrent episodes of uncontrollable binge eating†¦followed by inappropriate compensatory behavior undertaken to prevent weight gain.† (Hausenblas & Carrron, 1999) This compensatory behavior may include use of laxatives, diuretics, self-induced vomiting, strict dieting, fasting or inordinate exercising. Unlike anorexics, bulimics are usually at or above their body weight. These diseases may result in biological problems including amenorrhea for females, gonadotropin secretion in males, electrolyte imbalances, gastrointestinal disorders, endo... ...utchins, D.E., Getz, H.G., & Hayes, G.L. (2000). Male Anorexia Nervosa: A New Focus. Journal of Mental Health Counseling. 22, 365-370. Goode, E. (2000). Thinner: The Male Battle With Anorexia. New York Times. 06/25/2000, Vol. 149, Issue 51430, Section 16, p8. Hausenblas, H.A., & Carron, A.V. (1999). Eating Disorder Indices and Athletes: An Integration. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 21, 230-258. McLorg, P.A. & Taub, D.E. (1992) Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia: The Development of Deviant Identities. In D.H. Kelly (Ed.), Deviant Behavior: A Text-Reader in the Sociology of Deviance. (pp. 203-214). New York: Worth Publishers. Phillpot, D., & Sheppard, G. (1998). More Than Mere Vanity. Guidance & Counseling. 13, 28-34. Romero, F. (1994). Adolescent Boys and Anorexia Nervosa. Adolescence. 29, 643-648. Shiltz, T. (2000). Males and Eating Disorders: Research. Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc. Retrieved on November 18, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.edap.org/edinfo/menresearch.html Zerbe, K.J. (1992) Eating Disorders in the 1990s: Clinical Challenges and Treatment Implications. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic. 56, 167-188.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Prehistoric Medicine Essay

They used herbalism; the practise of using herbs to heal people. In each tribe there were shamans who would ‘exorcise ill people’ demons’ and apothecary. They had medicine men who were shamans and witch-doctors. They would provide supernatural treatments like charms, spells and amulets to ward off evil spirits. If someone was ill the medicine man would initiate a ceremony over the patient where they would use magic formulas prayers and drumming. People thought that the medicine men could contact the spirits or Gods so people looked up to them. They used healing clays to heal their internal and external wounds and just after surgery. Prehistoric people also used trepanning mainly in Peru. This was when they would drill a hole in a person’s skull to relieve pressure. It was mainly done as an emergency operation after a head wound to remove shattered bits of bone. They believed it would treat epileptic seizures, migraines and mental disorders. They would keep the bit of skull around their neck as they thought it would ward off evil spirits. Nowadays people use a modernised trephine instrument in a corneal transplant surgery. Early medicine for Greeks and Romans: Hippocrates: Born 470 BCE ‘Father of Modern Medicine’ He had a theory of the 4 humours. He thought that the human body contained 4 important liquids called humours. They thought if the humours became unbalanced then people would become ill. The 4 humours were black bile, yellow bile blood and phlegm. His theory was wrong but it was a breakthrough in medicine because it made people think that illness was caused by something natural inside your body instead of the Greek Gods. Quote from a book in the Hippocratic Collection of books: ‘Man’s body†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦has blood, phlegm, yellow bile and melancholy (black) bile. These make up his parts and through them he feels illness or enjoys health. When all these elements are truly balanced and mingled, he feels the most perfect health. Illness occurs when one of these humours is in excess or is lessened in amount or is entirely thrown out of the body.’ Hippocrates invented the Hippocratic Oath which was taken by all physicians; this is still in use today. Herophilus: He was the 1st anatomist. He introduced the experimental method to science. He discovered that the brain controls how the body works, not the heart by dissecting human bodies. He also identified parts of the stomach. He did a lot of work on nerves. Claudius Galen: He was the Roman Emperor’s doctor. Galen’s work was based on the Hippocratic Collection. He was one of the Great surgeons of the ancient world. He added his own theory to the 4 humours theory. He developed a theory called the ‘treatment of opposites’. So if an illness was caused by heat he would cool them down and vice versa. Galen also emphasized the importance of clinical observation and would take detailed notes on his examination of his patients. He was one of the 1st physicians who used experiments in his medical investigation. Through that he proved that urine was formed in the kidney as opposed to the bladder. His most important discovery was that the arteries carried blood but he never discovered circulation.

English 101 Argumentation Essay

The new smoke- free policy at Suny Orange has many students outraged. Student smokers are being shunned for their addiction and are now forced to walk to the parking lot during class breaks for their fix. Our society is out casting them, even though it’s still legal, available, and enjoyable for many. However, smoking on campus presents several problems to consider. Smoking is contagious. It spreads like wild fire from one person to the next. Students may find themselves being peer pressured to smoke because it’s ‘’the cool thing to do’’, or ‘’everyone is doing it’’.Especially since our economy is in a recession, many people are stressed out, and vulnerable. A group of people smoking around a non-smoker creates a bad environment for the non- smoker, and they may be influenced into smoking. It’s no mystery that cigarettes are extremely addictive. If a student caves to peer pressure just once, they could become a slave to the habit for the rest of their life. When I left my English 101 class the other day, I witnessed a 9 year old boy skateboarding up to a student who was smoking and the boy asked him if he could have a ‘’cigg’’.The student found him amusing and told him he shouldn’t be smoking but, not before handing him a cigarette. With the ban of smoking on campus, it will greatly reduce these situations from happening. Smokers tend to litter. Seeing a smoker flick a cigarette butt on the floor is an image that is all too familiar. With the amount of people who smoke today, it’s simply bound to cause a mess. A college setting shouldn’t be burdened with a dirty landscape. It’s very uncomfortable to walk to class surrounded by garbage. Also, the littering harms our environment.Birds, fish, flowers, and many critters are at risk. The cigarette butt still contains all the harmful chemicals that are toxic. They aren’t biodegradab le so they will build up very rapidly and animals may confuse them for food. In addition, each discarded cigarette butt possesses a potential fire. If a fire where to occur many people’s lives would be put into danger because of the overcrowding O. C. C. C faces. The butt just needs to land somewhere with a little dry vegetation then; with a soft wind, it will burst into flames and spread from building to building.Unfortunately, smokers don’t seem to take this threat very seriously. The smoke cigarettes emit into the air. It’s practically impossible to walk between buildings without inhaling a lungful of cigarette smoke; especially when smokers light up just outside doorways and force everyone who wants to enter to walk right by them. All the smokers seem to completely disregard the fact that other people don’t want to be indulging in their bad habits. These smokers aren’t just polluting the air outside, but the air indoors as well.The second someo ne open the door all the smoke rushes into the building. It’s irritating to have to breathe in these harmful chemicals. It’s an instant headache when a classmate reeking of smoke sits next to me. It also doesn’t help with studying either. While leaving school yesterday I was immersed into a cloud of cigarette smoke and I couldn’t stop coughing, my eyes began tearing and I was extremely uncomfortable. Students are forced to face situations like this on a daily basis, and sadly many have become accustomed to it.I’m still trying to wrap my head around why so many students are against the new smoke-free policy. It’s not like they are being stripped of their ability to smoke their cancer causing tobacco. It’s just not worth it to have them diminishing the college’s appeal, while hurting themselves, other students, our environment, and potentially our school. Maybe in the future the college will assign designated smoking areas which don’t affect other smoke-free students but, in the meantime there will be no smoking on college grounds.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Research for a Database For a Travel Agents Essay

Introduction I have been given a task to make things easier for a travel agent called Type a Flight. Type a Flight is a travel agent which is situated in Warrington and it was established in 2005 and it also has about 500 customers. The company does all its work manually. They keep their documents in filing cabinets. So when customers call in to book flights then they have to look in the cabinets for a document. This is very time consuming and due to this problem they could loose a fantastic amount of customers because they will get tired on the phone. Filing cabinets also take up a lot of space. This is getting very difficult and time consuming as the number of customers is rising on a daily basis. One of the problems is that it takes time writing letters by hand .For this problem I have come to conclusion that I will create template letters for the company and these can be sent out to customers to tell the customers that their ticket is ready or for any reasons. The conclusion I have come to is that I am going to help the agency in every single way. My main aim is to make the agency more professional and more modern and make things easier for them. For me to do my task, I will need a computer and a few important application softwares with which I shall make a database, logo and other things. Research I had a look at a database which I was shown by my class teacher. It was called ‘Type of Flight’. In the database it had things like name, ID, gender, telephone number. Database: Type a Flight Comment: The logo is located on the centre of the switchboard. The logo is got to do with holidays and other things which the agency offers. Around the logo there are the buttons which will be needed. The database has things like name, town, address, telephone numbers, date of birth, gender postcode and other few things. The database makes things easier and quicker now. This was done by putting queries, forms and a switchboard. Tasks To do my task I have broke the task into the following five parts: 1. Getting information about the travel agency. 2. Design a logo and a slogan for the travel agency. 3. Create a database, Queries, Forms and switchboard. 4. Create a letterhead and design letter templates. 5. Writing reports at the end (User Guides). 1. Getting information about the travel agency a. I can do this task by going on the internet but I will not do it this way because on the internet it will not tell you how the agency works. b. I can also do this task by going around and asking a few people but will not use it because people might not have the correct and up to date information. c. I will do this task this by ‘Interviewing the agency manager’ because he will know the latest information and what problems there are in the agency. 1. What problems do you have in the agency? 2. How many customers does the agency have? Less than 100 100-250 250-500 More than 500 3. How are the documents of the customers stored? Filing Cabinet Other 4. What do you think of a computerized way to remove your problems? 5. Do your employees know how to use Microsoft Access? Yes No Do not know 6. Are your employees capable of using a switchboard? Yes No Do not know 7. Does the agency have letter templates? Yes No 8. Does the agency have a good logo? Yes No 9. Do the employees need a user guide? Yes No 10. What changes will the agency have if the computerized way was used? 2. Design a logo and a slogan for the travel agency a. I can do this task by using Microsoft Word but will not do it this way because it does not have many of the tools needed to make a logo but I can make the slogan on it. b. I can also do this task by using Adobe Photoshop but will not use it because the application is quite complicated for me. c. I will do this task this by using ‘Paint’ because It offers a good amount of tools which can be used to make a good logo and a slogan. 3. Create a database, Queries, Forms and switchboard a. I can do this task by using pen and paper but will not do it this way because it will be time consuming and many mistakes can be made. b. I can also do this task by using Open Office Base but will not use it because it is harder to use than Microsoft Access. c. I will do this task this by using ‘Microsoft Access’ because I can make databases, Queries, Forms and switchboards more quicker because I have used it many times before. 4. Create a letterhead and design letter templates a. I can do this task by using Microsoft Publisher but will not do it this way because it is a little hard to create a letter template but a letterhead can be produced easily. b. I can also do this task by using Paint but will not use it because it is not suitable for large amount writing. c. I will do this task this by using ‘Microsoft Word’ because this application is good for making letterheads and letter templates as it gives a step by step way of making it. 5. Writing reports at the end (User Guides) a. I can do this task by using WordPad but will not do it this way because it is not possible to put in arrows to make things clearer to people. b. I can also do this task by doing it on paper and there after scan it but will not use it because it may not be neat and professional enough. c. I will do this task this by using ‘Microsoft Word’ because I can take screen shots and then I can paste them onto the page. There after I will put in arrows and any other things if needed to label it clearly with information so that people fully understand. Input, Output, Process and Storage After my research and looking at the various tasks, I can establish what the input, output and storage of the system is. Ease of use The final product that I will make would consist of database, queries, forms and letterheads. It would be easy for the agency to use because I think the employees are more or less familiar with computers and using the applications needed. I will also supply them with a user guide. The user guide will be simple and very easy to use. It will have screenshots and clear labeling with arrows so if the employees get stuck any where then they could refer to the user guide which has clear instructions and easy step by step of using any application. After using the user guide the employees should have no doubt in using an application. Description of problem = 1 Plan of solution = 1 Methods = 1 Solution meets requirement = 1 Ease of use = 1